Category Archives: Television

J.J. Abrams sits back in the director’s chair for NBC’s Undercovers

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It’s been too long since we’ve had the pleasure of watching a J.J. Abrams-directed series premiere on television (the Lost premiere, to be exact).  According to The Hollywood Reporter, Abrams will direct the premiere episode of NBC’s upcoming spy show Undercovers.  The episode is co-written between Abrams and Felicity pal Josh Reims.  According to numerous sources the show is being described as has been described as Mr. and Mrs. Smith meets The Bourne Identity.

Abrams adds Undercovers to a growing list of other new shows he plans on unveiling in the near future.  There’s the HBO medical drama called Anatomy of Hope and a not-yet-titled FOX comedy.  With Lost beginning its heavily anticipated final season this February, Abrams better have a deep arsenal of amazing TV dramas in his pockets.  As hard as it is for me to imagine a future without Lost, news that Abrams is hard at work with new offerings gives me a glimpse of a hopeful future post-one of the best shows ever made.

[Via IGN; NYMag]

House on House; Hugh Laurie to direct upcoming episode

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You may or may not know this but Hugh Laurie is the star and one of the producers of FOX’s House.  Laurie plans on adding to his resume the position of director.  He will direct this season’s 17th episode which airs on March 22.  Says executive producer Katie Jacobs: “Hugh has been there since day one through every single episode, so he’s phenomenally smart and his instincts are [impeccable].” “This is going to be great for morale, because there’s no one that the cast and crew and the writers want to work harder for than our leader.”  Though the plot is top-secret, Jacobs hints that “it’s not a traditional episode.”  Two words:  Can’t wait.

[Via EW]

FOX announces mid-season schedule

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The past two weeks have been a tough one for television fans.  Many of our favorite shows aired their “fall finales” and will not return for some time.  FOX has released their mid-season schedule and has revealed important dates about the return of some shows.  Glee just aired its fall finale on December 9 and it will not return until April 13.  It will run straight to its season finale from then until May.  It will be paired with American Idol on Tuesday nights at 9PM.  Fringe is going on a small break before it takes off on its longer hiatus.  Fringe returns with new episodes on January 14 and will air its “winter finale” on February 4.  It will return on April 1 and run its course through May sweeps.  It will pair again with Bones on Thursday at 9PM; much to fans’ dismay, FOX has decided to keep it at this competitive timeslot with news of falling ratings.  When Lie to Me goes on vacation 24 will take its place.  24 will air a four-hour two-night premiere January 17-18 and will continue its course on Mondays at 9PM following House.   A number of new shows premiere during the hiatus phase; they include Past Life, Human Target, Our Little Genius, and Sons of Tucson.

Head after the break for the entire FOX mid-season schedule.

[Via IGN]

Continue reading FOX announces mid-season schedule →

24 Day 8 stills leak with premiere right around the corner

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The new season of 24 is almost upon us and what better way to get ready then check out the latest stills and character shots.  Of course you’ll find Kiefer Sutherland (Bauer), Mary Lynn Rajskub (Chloe), Annie Wersching (Renee), and Cherry Jones (President Taylor) there.  You’ll also discover some new players including Katee Sackhoff, Freddie Prinze Jr., and Anil Kapoor.  Catch my favorite shot of the bunch after the break.

24 Season 8 premieres Sunday January 17 in a 4-hour, 2-night event on FOX.

[Via IGN]

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Continue reading 24 Day 8 stills leak with premiere right around the corner →

FIFA World Cup matches to be broadcast in 3D (read: not in America)

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FIFA has teamed up with Sony to broadcast 25 matches of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa in high-definition in-your-face 3D.

FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke: “This propels the football fan into a whole new viewing dimension and marks the dawning of a new era in the broadcasting of sport.  We are proud that the FIFA World Cup can serve as a platform for advancing technology and the viewing experience, and are truly fortunate to have Sony as a partner in this endeavour.”

The 25 games will be broadcast live in the following cities around the world: London, Berlin, Mexico City, Paris, Rio De Janeiro, Rome, and Sydney.  I mean, who watches soccer in the US anyways, am I right?

[Via Gizmodo; FIFA]

Comcast merges with NBC, yielding yet another super conglomerate

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General Electric, NBC Universal’s parent company, is no longer its controlling parental unit.  Comcast, the largest cable operator in the US, has officially merged with NBCU.  It owns 51% of NBCU compared to GE’s slightly lower sliver of 49%.

So how does this affect you?  Well it doesn’t, yet.  It will take at least one year for the merge to finalize.  However, though, it leaves this to ponder: Now a cable company owns a major network that reaches almost every US household.  This may seem unhealthy, right?  Look after the break for some ” merger nutrition facts” regarding this matter.  A lengthly press release follows.

What about everyone’s favorite TV show streaming site, Hulu?  How will that fare in the future?  Comcast COO Steve Burke: “NBC has been careful not to put too much cable content on the Internet. We think that’s a smart strategy… We think that going forward, you’re going to continue to have free broadcast stuff on Hulu, and cable stuff on TV Everywhere.”  There’s been word of “Hulu Premium” content that users will have to pay to watch, what of that?  “That’s certainly not in the cards.”  Oh, good.

[Via Engadget; Gizmodo, here & here]

Continue reading Comcast merges with NBC, yielding yet another super conglomerate →

Trailer: Family Guy takes on Stars Wars (again!)

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Family Guy has already parodied Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope with “Blue Harvest.”  MacFarland and company are back at it again, this time spoofing Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back with “Family Guy: Something, Something, Something Dark Side.”  It releases on DVD and Blu-Ray on December 22 on FOX.

DESCRIPTION: “The saga continues as Luke (Chris), Leia (Lois), Han Solo (Peter) and Chewbacca (Brian) have evaded the dreaded Imperial Starfleet led by the cunning, conniving and curiously short evil lord Darth Vader (Stewie), setting up a new secret base on the remote ice world of Hoth. With the rebellion in trouble, young Skywalker must take the advice of his late, and rather lascivious, mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi (Herbert) and learn the ways of the farce under Jedi Master Yoda (Carl) to save the galaxy once and for all.”

[Via Gizmodo; YouTube]

Lost: The Final Season/Season Premiere airs February 2 2010

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Today ABC confirmed that the final season of Lost begins on February 2 2010.  It will be a 2-hour premiere and run from 9PM-11PM.  It follows a one-hour Lost recap episode at 8PM.

Also confirmed in the press release are the season regulars: Naveen Andrews (Sayid), Nestor Carbonell (Richard), Emilie de Ravin (Claire), Michael Emerson (Ben), Jeff Fahey (Frank) Matthew Fox (Jack), Jorge Garcia (Hurley), Josh Holloway (Sawyer), Daniel Dae Kim (Jin), Yunjin Kim (Sun), Ken Leung (Miles), Evangeline Lilly (Kate), Terry O’Quinn (Locke), and Zuleikha Robinson (Ilana).

Though not listed above, the following characters have been confirmed to guest star in some of the season’s episodes: Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet), Ian Somerhalder (Boone), Rebecca Mader (Charlotte), Dominic Monaghan (Charlie), Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond), and Katey Sagal (Helen).

Celebrate the beginning of the end by watching this fan-generated promo for Season 6.  And just try to hold back emotions (ie. tears, hair-raising intensity).

T minus 75 days.

[Via EW; LA Times]

Paging Dr. House

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Poor little girl.  She can’t stop sneezing!

Why call on diagnostics extraordinaire Dr. Gregory House?  Because according to the TV doctor she is in fact not sneezing; rather this “sound coming of out her mouth” (my words) is a tick.  The mystery lies in how it all started just two weeks ago at a sleepover and why it hasn’t stopped since that fateful night.  Sound off in the comments below with your own diagnosis.

[Via YouTube via Today]

Palm heads in a new (better) direction with new Pixi ad

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Goodbye creepy really strange non-sensical really pale you scare me zombie girl.  Hello normalcy.  Palm has decided to take a more traditional route to advertising with its new Palm Pixi WebOS-enabled smartphone.  And I like it.  Because it doesn’t disturb me like the Palm Pre ad campaign did many a-time.

The Palm Pixi will be made available on Sprint for $99 on November 15.

[Via Engadget]