Category Archives: News

NBC moves ‘Smash’ to Saturdays–the show is all but cancelled

News, Television, , , ,

Sorry Smashers, I’ve got some bad news. On Wednesday NBC announced that it would be banishing its musical-driven drama Smash to Saturdays at 9 starting April 6. Since Gossip Girl‘s Josh Safran took over the reigns of the show from creator and Broadway vet Theresa Rebeck, Smash tanked in the ratings in its second season. On February 5 the new season premiere to 4.5 million viewers and a meager 1.1 rating in the adults 18-49 demo. Since then those numbers have dropped and fluctuated but remained dismally low–so low that the Peacock had every right to pull it from the schedule and call it a day; the most recent airing attracted only 2.9 million viewers and fell below the 1.0 rating threshold to a 0.9. However they are playing nice with the series’ small yet passionate fanbase and they’re letting it run its full 17-episode course before (very likely) pulling the plug on this thing.

In an interview with TVLine, Safran acknowledged the move to Saturdays. “I didn’t see it coming, being relegated to Saturday,” he said. “We’re all aware the show is not successful, but I guess I had hoped we would see what happened when The Voice came back [or] maybe they’d move us to a better time slot. But I understand from the network’s point of view. We hit a number and we stuck there.”

Despite the poor ratings, Safran stands behind his creative changes. “Everyone here from the top down is incredibly proud of the work,” he admitted. “I know that there are people who have their opinions and that’s totally acceptable, but that doesn’t change our viewpoint that we’re really proud and we love the show.”

Thankfully for fans Safran says the season 2 finale (which will most likely serve as the series’ final installment) “was constructed as a series finale.” He went on, “I don’t want [viewers] to think they are going to be left hanging, because they won’t be. The season has a beginning, middle and an end… [And] it just gets better and better.”

Currently Smash airs Tuesday nights at 10PM; to reiterate the show moves to Saturdays at 9PM on April 6 and will remain there until the end of its run on May 26.

Netflix introduces a social recommendation engine with Facebook friends

News, Technology, Video, , , , ,

Netflix already does a great job at recommending to its users TV shows, movies, and documentaries based on what you watched in the past and the ratings you give the content you watch. This week the streaming company launched a new way to discover content with a social spin. Subscribers can now link their Facebook account with Netflix to see what their friends are watching. Once the accounts are linked, Netflix users will notice a new “Watched by your friends” row in the streaming site’s main menu as well as a row called “Friends’ Favorites” that features content watched by friends that they have rated with four to five stars. Additionally, friends will be able to see what you watch and rate highly; but if you’ve got a guilty pleasure you don’t want to be shared you can easily click the “Don’t Share This” button in the player. Netflix notes that by default all this social sharing with Facebook friends happens on the Netflix side of things only. If you want your Facebook friends to see what you’re watching on Facebook, you have to dig into Your Account, Social Settings to flip the switch on; there you can also stop sharing altogether if you don’t want to take part in the new social recommendation engine.

Currently the Netflix/Facebook cross-sharing initiative is live in the U.S. Netflix says they will “continue to experiment and improve our social features over the coming months and years.” Click after the break to watch a brief demonstration of this at work across Netflix.com in the browser as well as on the PlayStation 3.

[Via Netflix] Continue reading Netflix introduces a social recommendation engine with Facebook friends →

Google confirms Glass will be compatible with prescription lenses

News, Technology, , ,

Quick update from the team working on Google Glass: for those of you who wear prescription glasses, yes, you will also be able to take part in the grand experiment of wearable computing. Google explains:

The Glass design is modular, so you will be able to add frames and lenses that match your prescription. We understand how important this is and we’ve been working hard on it.

The image above features a member of the Glass team Greg Priest-Dorman wearing an early prototype version of Glass affixed to a pair of prescription glasses. Google confirms that Glass for prescription types will not be available for purchase alongside the regular (lenses-less) Explorer Edition when that releases this year. However, Google promises it will come to market later in 2013.

[Via Google]

‘Community’ cast gets the puppet treatment in upcoming episode

Image cache, News, Television, , ,

We’ve seen them in claymation. We’ve seen them pixelated and animated. And soon this season we’ll have the chance to see the Greendale Gang as puppets! At PaleyFest this week it was revealed that Jeff, Britta, Abed, Troy, Annie, Shirley, Pierce  Chang, and Dean Felton (see what I did there?) will all be transformed into puppets in an episode slated to air later this season.

Per TVLine, “The story finds the study group taking a wild balloon ride that crash lands in the woods and forces them to spend a little time with a friendly mountain man (played by Seinfeld‘s Jason Alexander). The gang gets immortalized [in flashbacks] as puppets when Dean Pelton encourages them to talk about their adventures.”

Check out the puppet still in all its glory above. Community airs Thursday nights at 8PM on NBC.

FOX renews ‘The Following’, comedy block ‘Raising Hope’, ‘New Girl’ & ‘The Mindy Project’

News, Television, , , , , , ,

Good news for fans of FOX programming this week. The “edgy” network renewed four of its shows on Monday including its current Tuesday night comedy lineup Raising Hope, New Girl, and The Mindy Project for a fourth, third, and second season, respectively; also coming back for a second season is the Monday night serial killer thriller from Kevin Williamson starring Kevin Bacon and James Purefoy The Following. When The Following returns next year it will play out over the course of 15 episodes (same as season 1), and uninterrupted if FOX brass decide to save it for midseason again.

Though ratings are relatively low for all three FOX comedies, it was expected that Greg Garcia’s Raising Hope and Liz Meriwether’s New Girl would be back for more; it’s Mindy Kaling’s The Mindy Project whose renewal surprises the most as its ratings were on the bubble of renewal and cancellation averaging 4 million total viewers and a 2.1 rating in the 18-49 demo. While FOX was quick to axe Ben And Kate earlier this season, the network is giving Mindy some more time to grow creatively. As for The Following, this show is rapidly evolving into must-see television as its dark plot twists and solid acting and bold storytelling captivate a sizable audience; the drama is averaging 11.7 million total viewers and a 4.0 rating. (And if you’re wondering, Raising Hope averages 4.5 million viewers and a 2.0 rating this season and New Girl is seeing 6.4 million viewers and a 3.5 rating.)

FOX entertainment chairman Kevin Reilly on the renewals: “From the very beginning, we felt Kevin Williamson and Marcos Siega had created a high-quality, edge-of-your-seat drama that could break from the pack, and it is exciting to see the audience responding. Kevin Bacon and James Purefoy have given us two of the most compelling characters on television and the entire cast is incredible. I’m delighted to have this thrill ride continue on Fox for another season.” On the coming-back comedies he said, “these shows are creatively vibrant, they have established a loyal and passionate audience and they will continue to define and grow the Fox comedy brand next season and beyond.”

[Via EW]

New changes coming to Facebook: the News Feed gets a “clutter-free” redesign

News, Technology, Video, , , , , ,

Heads up, Facebookers; there’s a new design update coming to the ubiquitous social networking site. Before it lands in your lap, get a quick overview of what to expect right here, right now.

After overhauling profile pages and search, Facebook’s next task is to revamp the News Feed by reducing clutter and making the site’s main portal even more personal. The site promises “you [will] see all the stories you saw in your News Feed before, but with a fresh new look.” Each story (or post) that your friends share will show up in your News Feed will be highlighted in new ways to make content discovery easier; for example, photos, news articles, maps, and events will appear larger and brighter and more colorful and vibrant. Also new is the addition of several feeds users can choose from. There’s a new drop-down menu in News Feed that allows you to dig deeper into specific content your friends are sharing. For example, the Photos feed filters out everything except for the photos your friends are posting; the Music feed tells you what your friends are listening to and provides you information about the artists you like; and the Following feed will show you the latest news from the Pages you like and the people you follow. Mark Zuckerberg says the enhanced News Feed aims to “give everyone in the world the best personalized newspaper we can.”

The new and improved News Feed is inspired by Facebook’s mobile presence. For example, the left-hand menu that users are used to exposing with a flick from the left-hand side of a tablet or smartphone’s screen will soon be accessible in desktop browsers. Also, users will have the ability to jump right to the top of News Feed whenever new stories trickle in. The main reason for porting over these mobile functions is to unify the overall Facebook experience across all devices. The “same clean look” will soon be present on our phones, tablets, and desktop browsers.

When is “soon” exactly? Facebook isn’t providing a hard date for the switchover, but the new News Feed will slowly roll out over the coming weeks on web and mobile, so says the company. If you’re itching to get your hands on the new design, you can join the feature’s waiting list right here; that site will also give you a visual rundown of it all. Facebook employees discuss the inspiration and vision for the News Feed redesign in a brief video embedded after the break.

[Via Facebook 1, 2] Continue reading New changes coming to Facebook: the News Feed gets a “clutter-free” redesign →

ABC cancels ‘Zero Hour’ after 3 airings

News, Television, , ,

And just like that, Zero Hour‘s time is up. The search for the Hank’s wife and the unravelling of the mystery involving the disciples’ secret clocks have come to a screeching halt as ABC decided to cancel the conspiracy thriller on Friday. Cancellation came because the show from Prison Break‘s Paul Scheuring couldn’t manage to find a sizable audience. In its February 14 series premiere, Zero Hour drew 6.3 million total viewers and a 1.3 in the 18-49 demo–ABC’s lowest rated in-season premiere of a scripted program in history. Things went from bad to worse as its third and most recent airing only attracted 5 million total viewers and a low 1.0 demo rating, prompting ABC to release the axe. But is it the show’s fault, really? An entertaining and intriguing thriller, Zero Hour‘s poor performance can certainly be chalked up to its placement on the schedule–you can say the series didn’t stand a chance as a midseason entry tossed in the challenging Thursdays at 8 timeslot. Previous ABC dramas like FlashFoward, Missing, and most recently Last Resort suffered similar fate there.

So what happens to the 10 remaining unaired episodes of Zero Hour? Will viewers ever receive answers to the widespread mysteries the show has laid out thus far? At the TCAs Scheuring assured audiences that every season of the show would wrap up a major thread in the end and “reset” with the introduction of a new overarching mystery. ABC hasn’t confirmed anything, but there are whispers that like with 666 Park Avenue the Alphabet network may allow the series to run its single season course sometime this summer. One can hope.

2013 Oscar winners: ‘Argo’, ‘Life of Pi’, ‘Les Mis’, ‘Lincoln’ & ‘Django’ big winners

Movies, News, , , , , ,

Family Guy’s Seth MacFarlane proved to be a very entertaining host for the 85th Academy Awards on Sunday night. This year’s Oscars also shined the spotlight on musicals and even featured the First Lady announcing the winner of Best Picture which went to Argo. In addition to taking home the most coveted prize of the night, the Ben Affleck directed film also won Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film Editing. The movie that won the most golden statues was Life of Pi with four; Ang Lee was named Best Director and the visually stunning movie also won Best Original Score, Best Cinematography, and Best Visual Effects. Les Miserables racked up three Oscars for Best Sound Mixing, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, and Anne Hathaway was named Best Supporting Actress. Daniel Day-Lewis won Best Actor for his uncanny portrayal of Lincoln and Steven Spielberg’s period piece also won Best Production Design. Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained also took home two awards for Best Original Screenplay and the incomparable Christoph Waltz won Best Supporting Actor. Elsewhere, Jennifer Lawrence’s performance in Silver Linings Playbook crowned her Best Actress, Pixar’s Brave was named Best Animated Feature, and Adele’s “Skyfall” deservedly won Best Original Song.

For the full list of winners, jump after the break. Continue reading 2013 Oscar winners: ‘Argo’, ‘Life of Pi’, ‘Les Mis’, ‘Lincoln’ & ‘Django’ big winners →

Sony introduces the PlayStation 4

Images, News, Technology, Video, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

On Wednesday Sony took the stage in New York to formally introduce their next-generation console, the PlayStation 4. Though the company failed to show industry developers, members of the press, and gamers watching a live stream from all around the world what the actual console looks like, it did reveal two new PS4 accessories (namely the DualShock 4 wireless controller and the PlayStation 4 Eye motion sensing camera) and it did go into some detail about how powerful and socially integrated the system is. Read on to learn everything there is to know about Sony’s next-gen vid-game console. Continue reading Sony introduces the PlayStation 4 →

Google Glass, future wearable technology, exposes its simple user interface (new video & pictures inside)

Images, News, Technology, Video, , , , , , ,

This week Google launched a new online portal that sheds more light on its wearable technology previously labeled Project Glass, now called Google Glass. The search giant and Android maker first unveiled Glass in April 2012 to much fanfare in the tech crowd. Later in July at Google I/O 2012 the company brought it back on stage to keep the hype going. Pictures were posted and some specs floated around, but Google kept its intriguing concept still truly under wraps. And although it still hasn’t announced a hard release date or price, Google has officially lifted the veil on what exactly Glass can do in its current stage of production and the company is giving ordinary people the chance to experience Glass first-hand this year. Continue reading Google Glass, future wearable technology, exposes its simple user interface (new video & pictures inside) →

New ‘Revolution’ web series to be live action featuring Monroe & Neville in the flesh

News, Television, ,

One web series wasn’t enough, apparently. To help fans of NBC’s hot adventure drama Revolution bide their time during the series’ extended hiatus, the Peacock is introducing a second, this time live action web series featuring the show’s stars David Lyons (General Monroe) and Giancarlo Esposito (Captain Neville). According to EW, “The story will follow Capt. Neville on a mission to hunt down and kill and those who had a hand in the attempt to assassinate Monroe. While on his journey, however, Neville will apparently stumble “upon an even greater conspiracy that could change the course of the Republic forever.”” The five-part web series premieres Monday, February 25 at NBC.com. If you haven’t already, check out Revolution‘s animated web series that focuses on Sgt. Joseph Wheatly that debuted last month. The five released installements can be viewed at NBC, right here. Revolution kicks back into gear March 25.

Update (2/25): Episode 1 is out now! Watch it after the break.

Update 2: (3/18): All four episodes of Enemies of the State are out now. You know where to find ’em. Continue reading New ‘Revolution’ web series to be live action featuring Monroe & Neville in the flesh →

FX renews ‘The Americans’ for a second season

News, Television, , ,

The day after FX aired the fourth episodes of The Americans the cable network renewed the Cold War drama for a second season that will consist, again, of 13 installments. Stars Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell make convincing Russian spies and executive producers Joe Weisberg and Joel Fields have already successfully managed to get viewers to root for the KGB. Kudos.

“The Americans has quickly established itself as a key part FX’s acclaimed drama line-up,” said FX head John Landgraf. “Executive Producers Joe Weisberg, Joel Fields and Graham Yost and their collaborators are telling riveting and deeply emotional stories and the performances of Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, Noah Emmerich and the entire cast are simply outstanding. The show is truly worthy of its widespread critical acclaim and we are confident that its quality will continue to yield a robust and passionate audience.”

The Americans airs Wednesday nights at 10PM on FX.