Category Archives: Television

TV reminder: ‘The Walking Dead’ resumes tonight at 9PM on AMC [Update: record ratings]

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War is brewing. It’s Rick and his Prison pack versus The Governor and the wily town of Woodbury. Before The Walking Dead‘s midseason break, Rick infiltrated Woodbury to rescue Glenn and Maggie who had been kidnapped by Merle. Rick’s ambush was a success and his nemesis The Governor (who he hasn’t even met yet!) came out of it all with vengeance on his mind. Michonne killed his zombie daughter Penny right in front of him and then she gauged one his eyes out. (I think it’s now safe to say that The Governor will never see eye-to-eye with anyone from here on out.) The major cliffhanger, of course, was the surprising reunion of the Dixon brothers under not-so-ideal terms; The Governor blames Rick’s attack on the one-handed Merle, after all, because he had lied about taking out Michonne in the woods.

What will be the fate of the Dixons? What is Rick’s next move and will he continue to lose his mind during a strenuous time when he needs it most? Which side will Andrea end on when the dust settles; will she choose to stick with the one-eyed (don’t-call-him-Phillip) Governor or return to her original group at the Prison? After her battle with The Governor Michonne’s wasn’t acting like herself–has she gone soft? How will the latest addition to our group Tyrese factor into it all? The Walking Dead resumes the second half of its 16-episode third season tonight (2/10) at 9PM on AMC. Watch a preview here. The Talking Dead–now in a one-hour format airing immediately after TWD with special guests Steven Yeun and Kevin Smith–follows.

Note: Since Dead has been on hiatus, news broke that for the second time the series’ showrunner is departing. Like Frank Darabont before him, Glen Mazzara is leaving the show due to creative differences. However, you should know that Mazzara had his hand in the making of the back half of this season. His successor Scott M. Gimple (the show’s supervising producer/writer) takes the reins during the production of season 4.

Update (2/11): Back from another break and The Walking Dead reaches a new series high in ratings. Sunday night’s midseason premiere drew 12.3 million viewers, besting the previous record holder that was the season 3 premiere (that episode garnered 10.9 million viewers). Across the first 9PM airing and the three encores that AMC showed Sunday night, the midseason premiere attracted a grand total of 16.6 million viewers. That’s huge people.

“When you look at numbers like this, the first thing that comes to mind is how grateful we are to the fans of this show,” said AMC president Charlie Collier. “They embrace The Walking Dead in a way that we wanted to believe was possible but we never take for granted.The cast and crew put everything they have into making this show. They’re a phenomenally talented group who truly give their all. We congratulate everyone involved.”

Christina Applegate exits ‘Up All Night’

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Up All Night is tearing at the seams. After NBC pulled the show from it schedule in December, it decided to change the single-cam sitcom to multi-cam with a live audience and all and amidst the news of such a drastic revamp series creator Emily Spivey departed the show and original showrunner Jon Pollack stepped away as did his successor Tucker Cawley. And now, series star Christina Applegate is leaving.

“It’s been a great experience working on Up All Night, but the show has taken a different creative direction and I decided it was best for me to move on to other endeavors,” said Applegate. “Working with [executive producer] Lorne Michaels has been a dream come true and I am grateful he brought me into his TV family. I will miss the cast, producers and crew, and wish them the best always.”

Like Spivey before her, Applegate could not accept the massive creative changes happening at the show and so she bid it adieu. So what exactly does this mean for the show? NBC has yet to comment on the news, but according to Deadline the show is not dead yet and they’re looking at replacing Applegate’s with a new actress, possibly Lisa Kudrow of Friends fame.

NBC ordered five more episodes to round out Up All Night‘s second season. With an Applegate replaced it can technically live on to test its multi-cam experiment this spring. When the show’s overhaul was announced I was a bit skeptical about its future; now with Applegate out I don’t see it having one.

Update (2/12): According to Deadline, NBC has reduced the multi-cam episode order from 5 to 1 and the network is still interested in testing new waters even without the show’s star Christina Applegate. James Burrows is set to direct the episode.

[Via Deadline]

NBC cancels ‘Do No Harm’ after two episodes, benches ‘1600 Penn’

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After the extremely dismal ratings the Do No Harm pilot received, it is no surprise that the Jekyll and Hyde-esque medical drama was canned after its second airing. NBC’s midseason effort debuted to 3.1 million total viewers and a meager 0.9 rating in the 18-49 demo, making it the the lowest-rated in-season broadcast scripted series debut on any of the Big Four networks in history. Sealing its fate were its second week numbers: only 2.2 million viewers came back for more and its demo rating dropped 22% to a 0.7. This show had zero chance of survival from the get-go. Since the pilot wasn’t all that stimulating, here’s hoping that those who did tune in didn’t get too attached to this short-lived cast led by Steven Pasquale.

Not too long ago at the TCAs Do No Harm‘s executive producer David Schulner said, “I think ultimately you can only write the show that you want to watch, and this was a show that I wanted to see on TV. I wanted it to be fun. I wanted it to be thrilling. I wanted it to be a roller-coaster ride. And I wanted it to have stakes. I also wanted there to be a love story at the center of it. Hopefully those ingredients will make it different than what has come before.” Fail. And want to know the saddest part of all? All 13 episodes have been produced and the remaining 11 may never see the light of day.

Elsewhere on NBC, 1600 Penn is getting benched this week in favor of a double airing of departing comedy The Office. Now, Deadline reports that the move was made because the upcoming Valentine’s Day themed episode of The Office came in supersized and needed the extra schedule space to fit. However, you cannot shake the fact that the at-times uproariously funny, stuffed-with-heart White House sitcom is performing poorly in the ratings (most recently it scored a low 1.1 in the 18-49 demo); such a sudden pull from the schedule is certainly not a good sign.

TV reminder: Tim Kring’s ‘Touch’ with Kiefer Sutherland returns tonight at 8PM on FOX

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After spending so many years as Jack Bauer on 24, Kiefer Sutherland has landed a softer, more philosophical role in FOX’s Touch from Heroes creator Tim Kring. Season 1 played like a symphony about human interconnectedness as each installment told a myriad of interesting stories from all around our tiny world. And at the end of each one, as much as the ball of red yarn twisted and stretched it found equilibrium and all wrongs were made right. Sutherland’s Martin Bohm has a gifted son named Jake (played incredibly by the silent narrator David Mazouz) and he can see the fractures in the universe and he uses his father as a source of might to restore balance to it. Though the first season introduced some serialized material when an unseen power wanted to tap into Jake’s gift for unknown purposes, what the show did best was offer exciting, visually stirring, emotional stories with a beginning, middle, and end each week.

Fans will notice some changes in season 2. First, the story picks up right where we left off. Fate has brought Martin and Jake to Lucy (Maria Bello) and together they will search for her gifted daughter Amelia. Kring promises a faster-paced, jolting journey for our characters, and answers. The Amelia Sequence and its ramifications on the nature of things is the more compelling serialized part of the series, after all. “[Lucy] only felt that her daughter was alive — like a mother’s intuition. So [Martin and Jake] absolutely reaffirm it,” says Kring. “The second season is very much about the search for Amelia and the fact that Maria Bello and Kiefer Sutherland’s characters are now joined together – two people who are searching for answers together.”

Maria Bello has been promoted to a series regular in season 2, but social worker and Martin’s partner-in-crime Clea Hopkins (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) will not be returning. Lucas Haas, a 24 alum (he played Andrew Paige in season 4), joins the cast as Calvin Norburg, a genius Aster Corps employee with special knowledge who will cross paths with our title characters.

If you missed out on the first season of Touch, don’t fret. Due to its typically procedural nature I’m sure the season 2 premiere will make it easy for first time viewers to jump right in. Kring has created a captiviating world here so don’t miss out. Touch premieres tonight (2/8) at 8PM on FOX with back-to-back episodes “Event Horizon” and “Closer.” Starting next week and for the remainder of the 13-episode season, it will air in its regular slot Friday at 9. Check out the official season 2 poster after the break. Continue reading TV reminder: Tim Kring’s ‘Touch’ with Kiefer Sutherland returns tonight at 8PM on FOX →

TV reminder: ‘Community’ premieres tonight at 8PM on NBC (at last!)

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Call it a miracle: October 19th February 7 has finally arrived!! After an excruciatingly long wait, Community is back in session tonight at 8PM on NBC. Creator Dan Harmon is out, Chevy Chase’s character will have exited the show by the end of the 13 episode fourth season, and so a waft of change is in the air as the Greendale gang return for another year of mind-blowing metatastic insanity. Tonight’s premiere is titled “History 101” and in it everyone’s favorite Dean Pelton will take charge of a school-wide competition he calls “The Hunger Deans.” You can get a taste for what’s in store tonight and beyond by watching the “Epic Trailer” that’s embedded above. (Chang is back and his name is Kevin?!)

Do you consider yourself a true Community fan? Well you better tune in tonight at 8 and show the show some love. If you want six seasons and a movie……..

‘Game of Thrones’ gets interactive: record your Night’s Watch oath today

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Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night’s Watch, for this night and all the nights to come.

That, my friends, is the Night’s Watch oath. It is required to be recited by those who give up their lives to join the Night’s Watch, a military force that guards the enormous Wall and serves to protect the people of the Seven Kingdoms from the mysteriousness that lives beyond it. The Watch and its oath were invented by author George R.R. Martin, the man behind A Song of Ice and Fire, a collection of fantasy novels that inspired the critically acclaimed HBO series Game of Thrones. In the show we’ve been introduced to the Night’s Watch and even witnessed Jon Snow, the bastard of Winterfell, be inducted into the cold group.

As we get closer to the third season premiere of Game of Thrones, HBO is promoting the series with a fun, interactive way to feel like you’re part of it all. At mywatchbegins.com you can hit record and recite the Night’s Watch oath along with Lord Snow as the words pass on the screen, karaoke style. Then you can hear it back and share the awesomeness with your friends. (Here’s my recording!) Though there really isn’t much to it, hearing your echo behind Snow’s oath…it’s epic and empowering.

Before you get started, watch the clip above to get reacquainted with the oath. Game of Thrones returns March 31.

Super Bowl XLVII: the not quite record ratings and the commercials

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Power outage and all, Super Bowl XLVII proved to be an exciting game after all. Joe Flacco and the Baltimore Ravens dominated the game early on and the San Fransisco 49ers used the approximately 35 minutes of dark downtime to reenergize and make an unexpected comeback that nearly ended the game in their favor. When the fourth quarter came to a close, however, it was the domineering Ravens and MVP Flacco on top besting the 49ers 34 to 31.

Unlike previous years, last night’s Super Bowl did not break ratings records to become the most watched telecast in history. 108.41 million people tuned into the big game making it the third most watched TV program behind Super Bowl XLVI (111.3 million) and Super Bowl XLV (111 million). (And if you’re curious, the hyped post-Super Bowl episode of Elementary attracted 20.8 million viewers with a 7.8 rating in the 18-49 demo. These numbers are huge for the CBS freshman procedural, but they do not match the 37.6 million viewers that tuned into The Voice‘s post-game telecast last year.) Maybe we’ll see another record-breaking explosion in eyeballs next year?

Moving onto the ‘mericals. This year companies had to fork over a whopping four million dollars for a 30-second spot. I’ve posted a bunch of my personal favorites after the break, including those from Volkswagon, Oreos, Doritos, and Taco Bell and trailers for anticipated movies like Iron Man 3 (see the extended cut!), Star Trek, and Fast and Furious 6. You can rewatch nearly all of them at YouTube’s Ad Blitz center. Which are your favorites? Continue reading Super Bowl XLVII: the not quite record ratings and the commercials →

‘Bates Motel’ gets a poster, watch it come alive

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A boy’s best friend is his mother.

That’s the oh-so-approproate tagline for first season of Bates Motel, the upcoming A&E Psycho prequel series from Carlton Cuse (Lost) and Kerry Ehrin (Friday Night Lights). A poster featuring young Norman (Freddie Highmore) and Norma (Vera Farmiga) Bates hangs after the break. Above, it comes to life in a such a creep-tastic way. Highmore solidifies the role here and now; that single smirk strikes a chord and he nailed it.

Bates Motel premieres Monday, March 18 at 10PM on A&E. Continue reading ‘Bates Motel’ gets a poster, watch it come alive →

‘House of Cards’ is streaming now on Netflix

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The anticipated Netflix original series House of Cards from David Fincher and Kevin Spacey is now available to stream on Netflix. “This wicked political drama starring Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright and Kate Mara slithers beneath the curtain and through the back halls of greed, sex, love and corruption in modern Washington D.C.,” reads a press release. All 13 episodes (the first two directed by Fincher) are available to stream today.

In a surprise, bold move Netflix is offering up the first episode free for anyone to watch. “The creative team in front of and behind the camera have delivered a riveting 13-chapter narrative that we’re proud to present to Netflix members today,” said Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer of Netflix. “By offering the first episode for free, including to non-members, we are opening up this fascinating world for everyone to see and are confident they’ll want more.” An intriguing move by the company; get hooked after watching the first episode and you’re only option is to become a paid subscriber to see the rest. One wonders if they’ll do the same when Arrested Development comes around this spring?

Watch the first episode of House of Cards at Netflix.

The Lonely Island returns with “YOLO” (Featuring Adam Levine)

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Andy Samberg made a surprise return to Saturday Night Live last weekend, and he brought with him his Lonely Island pals. Samberg, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer teamed up with host Adam Levine of Maroon 5 and NBC’s The Voice and musical guest and up-and-coming rapper Kendrick Lamar to cook up a new music video called “YOLO.” It’s some of their best work yet. Watch it here. And like most of TLI’s clips you’ll have it on repeat in no time.

FRINGE: It’s time to say goodbye

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I’ve been dreading this moment but it’s time to face the music. The 18th of January marked the final Fringe Friday. Over the course of the past five years we laughed, we cried, and we believed in Olivia Dunham, Peter and Walter Bishop, Astrid Farnsworth, Phillip Broyles, Nina Sharp, September the Observer, and everybody else who came and went on this epic, far-out journey about what it means to be human. As expected the bald-headed baddies were destroyed (well, erased from time if you want to be precise) and our Fringe family went on to live their lives in peace. Even Walter who was forced to sacrifice himself and live in a distant future apart from his son and granddaughter–lord knows he’s having all kinds of fun with the scientists in Oslo, Norway talking them into accepting the “anomaly” Observer as an appropriate form of human evolution. What is humanity without the power of emotion beating inside it?

I’ll be short and sweet, just like the final season of the show. My thoughts on the series finale: It was all I hoped it would be. Intrinsically beautiful, exciting, emotional, poignant, satisfying. The series in general? One of a kind.

Over the years I shared my passion for Fringe in exactly 53 posts total including this one. From the intense teaser trailers to the unforgettable Comic Con panels to the nail-biting season renewals, Fringe has been an exhilarating roller coaster from shaky start to fantastic finish. From a mysterious plane crash to a portal aimed at the future, from The Pattern to The Plan, Fringe rose above its cult status and shined like a glimmer of hope.

After the break you can watch one last video featuring the main cast discussing the ramifications of the final episode. It’s time to say goodbye. Like family these characters will always remain in my heart. Continue reading FRINGE: It’s time to say goodbye →

FOX orders futuristic drama from J.H. Wyman & J.J. Abrams [Update: Another Abrams pilot a-go at NBC]

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With Fringe in his rearview mirror, showrunner and sometimes writer and director J.H. Wyman has a new drama at FOX to work on. Today FOX ordered to pilot an hourlong drama from Wyman and J.J. Abrams, the same auspices that brought us Walter Bishop and the rest of the Fringe family. The untitled project is being produced by Abrams’ production company Bad Robot in collaboration with Warner Bros. TV. It’s being described as “an action-packed buddy cop show set in a near future when all LAPD officers are partnered with highly evolved humanlike androids.” Yeah, count me in. Wyman is writing the script and serving as executive producer, a title he shares with Abrams, Bryan Burk, and Kathy Lingg. After the script is locked in and casting choices are made, the pilot will be made and if all goes well we’ll have another Abrams/Wyman futuristic drama on the air in the fall.

Update: Mere moments after wrapping this post news broke that another pilot headlined by J.J. Abrams was ordered by NBC. (After landing the Star Wars directing gig and two pilots at two of the major broadcast networks, somebody is having the best week ever.) This project also falls under the Bad Robot/Warner Bros. TV banners and Abrams is working closely with Alfonso Cuarón (director of Harry Potter and the Prison of Azkaban). It’s working title is Believe and the script is currently being penned by Cuarón and Mark Friedman (Home of the Brave, The Forgotten). Believe is about “the unlikely relationship between a young girl in possession of a great gift/powers — which will come into their own in seven years — and a man sprung from prison who has been tasked with protecting her from the evil elements that hunt her power.” Abrams, Cuarón, Friedman, and Bryan Burk are executive producing. Cuarón is on tap to direct.