Category Archives: News

TCA 13: FOX’s Kevin Reilly admits a poor fall, plans for a bolder future

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FOX’s entertainment chairman Kevin Reilly took the stage today at the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour in Pasadena, California to discuss his network’s programming slate. The tides have turned against FOX this round; while The Voice and Revolution helped NBC jump to #1 in the coveted 18-49 demo this fall, FOX’s dead-out-of-the-gate Mob Doctor and its creatively sound but low rated Tuesday night comedy block (including Raising Hope, Ben and Kate, New Girl, and The Mindy Project) contributed to the net’s 24 percent decline in ratings (falling from #1 to #3) for the 18-49 crowd. Reilly came out and admitted the obvious after a critic messed up a question aimed at the network exec: “We all screw up — look at my fall,” he said and the audience erupted in laughter. “Here at FOX we are leaping into the new year, [and] no one is happier than us to turn the page.” And with that he focused the remainder of the session on specific shows like The X Factor, Glee, the upcoming thriller The Following and the violent themes surrounding it, and he shared the fate of the In Living Color reboot and when you can expect The Goodwin Games to air. Follow the bullet-points after the break. Continue reading TCA 13: FOX’s Kevin Reilly admits a poor fall, plans for a bolder future →

TCA 13: ‘Smash’s new leader Josh Safran injects NBC’s musical with new life (season 2 preview inside)

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When Smash returns for its second season this February, it won’t feel all that different but you should know that the musical drama has undergone significant behind-the-scenes changes in the interim. Right off the bat, Smash creator and Broadway vet Theresa Rebeck has stepped away as showrunner and taking her place is former Gossip Girl executive producer Josh Safran. Also, you will surely notice the absence of many season one characters including Raza Jaffrey (Karen’s boyfriend Dev), Jaime Cepero (Eileen’s annoying assistant Ellis), Brian d’Arcy James (Julia’s husband Frank), and Will Chase (Julia’s old-time crush Michael). But even with all of these players out of the picture, the show won’t deviate from its roots.

“I don’t think its changed that much,” said Safran. “It’s still the same Smash, just bigger with more music and younger in regard to some cast members.” New additions include Andy Mientus (from Broadway’s Carrie) who plays a poor kid from Brooklyn with dreams of writing for Broadway; Jeremy Jordan (from Broadway’s Newsies) plays a Brooklyn-born singer with a self-destructive streak, Krysta Rodriguez (from Broadway’s The Addams Family) plays Karen’s fun and spunky new roommate who is looking for her big break on Broadway; and Julian Ovenden (from TV’s Foyle’s War) will be Bombshell‘s John F. Kennedy. The season will also welcome many talented and musically-inclined stars including Jennifer Hudson (as Veronica Moore, a threat to Karen and Ivy), Liza Minnelli (as herself), Sean Hayes (can you say Will & Grace reunion!?), Nikki Blonsky (Hairspray), Jesse L. Martin (Law & Order), and Daniel Sunjata (Rescue Me). Also, Bernadette Peters returns as Ivy’s mom.

“There’s more than one original song per episode: bigger [and] more is something we played with,” added Safran. “We have more original songs [per episode] and diverse musical styles. I kind of wanted to represent the bigger theatrical worldview on the show this season.”

Executive producer Neil Meron admitted that the first season had its ups and its downs. “First seasons of shows need time to find themselves, to lock into what they are, especially with a show like Smash,” he said. “There are so many moving parts to figure out the mechanism. It’s a fantastic machine. When certain moments worked in season one, I dare anybody to say what could be better.” Then: “There were certain story lines that were pinpointed that you’d say, ‘Yeah, they’re right it could be a little bit more impactful.” Confirmed at a previous junction: Debra Messing’s hideous scarf collection has been tossed in the garage (and the crowd went wild). Now only if they’d get rid of her depressing son… at least Ellis the terrible has made an exit stage right.

Will Smash‘s Broadway musical Bombshell actually inspire a real show in New York City? “When we watch Bombshell moments, we think wouldn’t that be great on Broadway? But that’s where we leave it,” Meron said. “Our first priority is to make the show. It will inspire more conversation, but have we done anything about it? No.” Take that as a maybe! Announced at TCA panel was a soundtrack featuring 22 cast-recorded songs from Bombshell that will release February 12.

Smash returns Tuesday, February 5 with a two-hour installment. The space after the break is home to a brand new season 2 preview and a behind-the-scenes clip. Continue reading TCA 13: ‘Smash’s new leader Josh Safran injects NBC’s musical with new life (season 2 preview inside) →

TCA 13: J.J. Abrams and Eric Kripke promise a bigger, better, more surprising ‘Revolution’ this spring (new trailer inside)

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Revolution is on break until March and executive producers J.J. Abrams and Eric Kripke accept the extended with a positive attitude and they think viewers should as well. “When we were doing Lost, that [scheduling] helped us enormously,” Abrams said. “So when the idea came up for Revolution I was really relieved. I thought, and still think, that it will get us to a place where it will be the best possible way for the viewer to watch the show.” Added Kripke: “The little break has afforded us the ability to take a breath, look at what we’ve done, really analyze it, and make adjustments. It also supplied us a natural break point between the season’s first half and second half, and the second half sort of lives as its own continuous piece.” While Kripke maintained that “we learned that we did a lot of things right,” he also admitted that “the pace of the shocking surprises were a little too slow.” So what can viewers expect next?  The “second [half will be] bigger, better, more exciting and [with] more revelations–at the same time maintaining the format.” The shock factor will increase as well.

What else? When Revolution returns this spring, the action will continue “exactly” where we left off. “Giving [Monroe] power was more about making him an unstoppable force,” said Kripke. “We start to deliver on the promise of the title. The revolution begins.” Kripke fed the questions, “Can [the Matheson family] stick together in the face of these overwhelming odds and danger? And can you maintain your soul when you’re a warrior?”

Kripke went on to say that he’s definitely planning ahead for upcoming seasons of the show, but they’re at the “cocktail napkin sketches” state at the moment. “Because [the world is] so expansive, there’s no end to the stories we can tell,” he said.

Revolution returns March 25. Get a glimpse of what’s to come in a new trailer after the break. Continue reading TCA 13: J.J. Abrams and Eric Kripke promise a bigger, better, more surprising ‘Revolution’ this spring (new trailer inside) →

TCA 13: Exec prod David Schulner hypes NBC’s ‘Do No Harm’ (new trailer inside)

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Do No Harm is a high-concept show coming to NBC later this month that can be viewed as a modern take on The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In short, it follows protagonist Dr. Jason Cole (say it fast: “Doctor J. Cole”–get it?) who has a mysterious dual-personality. Every day at 8:25PM his dangerous, adventure seeking alter ego Ian Price consumes his body; 12 hours later he returns to his “normal” self. At the TCAs today, executive producer David Schulner talked about his new series which he originally pitched as “Dexter meets House.”

“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,” Schulner said. “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.”

What has come before are NBC shows that ring similar to Do No Harm and they are last season’s fantastic but short lived Awake and before that there was My Own Worst Enemy with Christian Slater. “I took lessons from those shows, and this is a show you’re going to want to watch. It’s thrilling and fun. That’s the big difference.” I’d say that Awake was all of those things as well, so you’ll have to tune into Schulner’s take on the fractured personality theme to see how it really compares.

How will Steven Pasquale’s Jason Cole/Ian Price interact with one another? “Ian’s a little bit like a cat,” Schulner proposed. “The cat wants to play with the mouse. It’s a constant cat-and-mouse and chess match.”

Determine if Do No Harm is a show you want to watch when it premieres January 31. Click after the break to watch a new trailer.

Update (1/7): Today David Schulner announced that actor James Cromwell (who is coming off his stint as American Horror Story: Asylum‘s Dr. Arthur Adren) will be joining the cast of Do No Harm as “Jason’s mentor, who may or may not have his best interests at heart.” Just another reason to tune in. Continue reading TCA 13: Exec prod David Schulner hypes NBC’s ‘Do No Harm’ (new trailer inside) →

TCA 13: NBC’s Bob Greenblatt pats own back for hugely successful fall season

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The Television Critics Association is back for its winter tour. It’s the time of year when the major networks and their shows talk about their fall performance and preview what’s to come midseason and beyond. Of the big four networks, NBC was up first today and man-o-man was the Peacock’s chairman of entertainment Bob Greenblatt happy to see a sea of press because this marks the first time in a long time that his network has something positive to really talk about. NBC’s had a great fall as they currently find themselves the #1 network in the adults 18-49 demographic and #2 in total viewers (still trailing CBS). “What a difference a year makes, right?” he exclaimed toward the crowd packed with press and critics. “I’m going to bore you with statistics because I’m not sure when I’m going to have the chance to do this again.” The major stats are as follows: for the first half of the season, NBC is up 24 percent and 19 percent in the 18-49 demo and total viewers, respectively. The net can thank the ultimate Monday pairing of The Voice and Revolution for their recent success, as well as high ratings for Sunday Night Football and their surging sitcom Go On. In 2012 FOX entertainment president Kevin Reilly accused the heads of the other major nets of having their heads up their asses. Greenblatt responded directly today with the most publicist quote to come out of his panel: “I can guarantee you, we don’t have our heads up our asses,” he said.

Greenblatt and NBC entertainment president Jennifer Salke used the rest of their time to discuss specific shows, new ones and old. Jump after the break for the bullet-point breakdown. Continue reading TCA 13: NBC’s Bob Greenblatt pats own back for hugely successful fall season →

TV reminder: Midseason TV is incoming

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Unlike the fall, there really is no “official” start week for new midseason TV programming. The big networks typically trickle in new dramas, comedies, and reality shows as they see fit. For instance, this week sees the premiere of NBC’s soap Deception and sitcom 1600 Penn. FOX’s highly anticipated thriller The Following won’t begin until January 21. And looking even further into the future, ABC’s National Treasure-esque conspiracy drama Zero Hour arrives February 14. For this reason, I advice you to bookmark this post and check back at your convenience so you’re aware as to when new shows like Red Widow and Do No Harm and returning favorites like Community and Smash come back to air. Here are quick links to my previously posted 2013 Midseason TV previews & schedules:

FOX // ABC // NBC // CBS // THE CW

Like always, I’ll be back to remind you about select premieres on cable periodically through the winter and spring. Happy watching!

Skrillex releases new 3-track EP called ‘Leaving’ and it may surprise you

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Skrillex has cooked up three new tracks and the producer/DJ is bundling them together in his latest Extended Play titled Leaving. Whether or not he meant this by the EP’s title, Skrillex (whose real name is Sonny Moore) leaves behind his typical affection for loud, grinding dubstep and replaces it with a calmer, more fluid take on the underground-turned-mainstream musical genre. Listeners will especially notice the difference on the track “Leaving” which features heavy drums and will put you in a trance. “The Reason” is more up-tempo to call itself a dance track. Where you might find some of the old Sonny is in “Scary Bolly Dub,” a mix with a reggae vibe that he’s played countless times live. Overall, however, if you’ve been waiting for Skrillex to release tunes that are easier on the ears now is your time.

As of today, the EP is not available for digital download via iTunes and the like. You’ll have to stream it from YouTube, but don’t complain, that makes it free! Jump after the break to listen to all three tracks. There you’ll also find Skrillex’s latest music video for “Summit” off his last EP Bangarang, a collaborative effort with his now ex-girlfriend Ellie Goulding.

What’s next for multiple Grammy winner Sonny Moore? In a recent interview with Billboard, he promises more music is on the way. “I have so much music. I have too many songs to even know what to do with. I just always make music anyway… But I want to make a record. I just haven’t had enough time to really sit down and idle myself and clear my mind and go, ‘OK, what’s the next thing I want to say? How’s it different from what I said before?’ and think of all these things. I have so much inside me, so many ideas, I’m more excited than ever to make music again, ’cause I haven’t done that for, like, two years.” Continue reading Skrillex releases new 3-track EP called ‘Leaving’ and it may surprise you →

Vince Gilligan anticipates a polarizing finale for ‘Breaking Bad’

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This summer the critically acclaimed AMC drama Breaking Bad returns for its final stretch of eight episodes. Series creator Vince Gilligan, a master of his craft, is currently wrapping up the third-to-last episode and work on the penultimate hour is nearly underway. Denise Martin of Vulture sat down with Gilligan and just yesterday posted an informative interview that delves into the mind of the showrunner as he cautiously sprints toward the highly anticipated series finale.

When asked about the evolution of Walt’s fate: “I had this strange confidence in the beginning that I had an idea [for the ending] that was sound. But I look back at the life of the series and realize I cycled through so many possible endings, it would be disingenuous to say I had always had it figured out. It has evolved in the last five years and probably has some evolving left to do.” He added, “We try to have a surprise around every corner but inevitability as well. The opposite of surprise. It’s something that I feel should and will be an important component to the end of the series. To me, that is an interesting thing and a thing to be embraced, that feeling of ‘I think I know where this is going.'”

Will Walt be brought to justice? Gilligan won’t say for sure, but here’s what’s going on in his head right now: “I’m very cornball in my own view of the world. It just makes sense to me that bad people should get punished and good people should be rewarded. I know it doesn’t work like that in real life, but there’s always that yearning. Oddly enough, I don’t feel any real pressure to pay off the characters, morally speaking.” Continue reading Vince Gilligan anticipates a polarizing finale for ‘Breaking Bad’ →

TCA 13: Carlton Cuse talks ‘Bates Motel’, series premiere date revealed

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If you aren’t amped for the Psycho prequel series Bates Motel from Carlton Cuse (Lost) and Kerry Ehrin (Friday Night Lights), you should be. Today at the launch of the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour, the showrunners and some of the cast talked about A&E’s upcoming psychological thriller.

First and foremost, Cuse made it a point to say that Bates Motel is inspired by but does not serve as an homage to Hitchcock’s classic film. “We did not want to do an homage to Psycho, we wanted to take these characters and setup as inspiration,” Cuse said specifically. “We don’t really view any of [the original movie] as canon,” he added. “The idea of an homage was just not going to be engaging to me. Making the fundamental decision to make it contemporary gave us the freedom to take these characters wherever we wanted. There’s a certain amount of baggage that comes with taking on ‘Psycho’ … making it contemporary made it become liberated from the original movie.”

Mystery and intrigue line the modernized story of Norman Bates (Freddy Highmore) and his mother Norma (Vera Farmiga). “The mythology that you think is what dictates the relationship between Norma and Norman is not what it’s going to turn out to be,” tantalized Cuse. The former Lost showrunner mentioned that his new series will not feature out-of-this-world characters or scenarios. “No polar bears, no smoke monsters — just say no right off the top. There’s no supernatural elements in play. We view this as a psychological thriller.” He confirmed that the show is in fact of the serialized sort, and it will tell a contained story with a defined beginning, middle, and end. “There is an endpoint to this narrative, absolutely. … In some general form we are going to catch up with a version of [Norman] from the movie.” Additionally: “Like all the best serialized shows, whether Breaking Bad or Homeland, it’s a kind of a story that takes ten episodes to unfold. And there’s some hooks that will hopefully carry us into a second season. We’re not just solving one particular crime. There’s a number of mysteries.” Continue reading TCA 13: Carlton Cuse talks ‘Bates Motel’, series premiere date revealed →

Want to know what ‘American Horror Story’ season 3 is going to be about?

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FX gave the green light for a third season of Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk’s anthology series American Horror Story. In tonight’s episode “The Name Game,” a clue will present itself for viewers to find and interpret and this clue will shed light on what to expect in the next season. Murphy played this game with fans last year. In season 1 episode 11 “Birth” Sarah Paulson’s character Billie Dean converses with Taissa Farmiga’s Violet and mentions an evil energy generated by places like prisons and asylums. And wouldn’t you know–AHS season 2 takes place at an insane asylum. So how will things play out in tonight’s ep?

“It’s not done like it was last year,” Murphy tells EW. “It’s a different kind of clue. You really have to be quick and watch. I made sure to put it in there for the fans because I know people loved that last year, figuring it out.”

Will it come from the mouth of Paulson’s new character Lana, or perhaps someone else will spill the beans. (My money is on Pepper!) Or maybe it won’t be a verbal clue at all but instead be something mindlessly chilling in the background. Will it come wrapped inside the lyrics of a song? If you find it, share your discovery in the comment section below. When Murphy confirms it (which likely won’t be for months–he likes to give time for the fans to figure it out on their own), I’ll post the update here.

American Horror Story: Asylum airs its fourth to last episode tonight at 10PM on FX.

Update: In EW’s post-episode interview, Murphy did not comment on the specific clue hiding in “The Name Game.” However, when he was asked if next season will be lighter he responded like this:

“I mean, I don’t think anything could ever be as dark as the mental health care system in our country. I sorta feel like for the third version I want to do something that’s a little bit more “evil glamour.” Just something that’s a little bit more…one of the things that I missed this season was I really loved having that Romeo & Juliet youth story with Violet and Tate. I want something like that again and we’re doing something like that in the third season. And we’re contemplating shooting the show in a different place. We’re contemplating shooting it in a place in the country where true horror has been. We’ve got lots of delicious plans.”

Google, Twitter and Facebook mark the highlights of 2012

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Google’s annual Zeitgeist takes “an in-depth look at the “spirit of the times” as seen through the billions of searches on Google over the past year.” At least that’s usually the case. This year, Google studied an aggregation of over 1.2 trillion searches that people typed into Google Search. Using sources like Google Trends and internal data tools the company was able compile lists that distinguish the most popular searched terms organized into topics like Images, Athletes, and TV Shows. The top 10 trending Searches worldwide this year were Whitney Houston, Gangnam Style, Hurricane Sandy, iPad 3, Diablo 3, Kate Middleton, Olympics 2012, Amanda Todd, Michael Clarke Duncan, and BBB12. The top 10 trending Events worldwide were Hurricane Sandy, Kate Middleton Pictures Released, Olympics 2012, SOPA Debate, Costa Concordia crash, Presidential Debate, Stratosphere Jump, Penn State Scandal, Trayvon Martin shooting, and Pussy Riots. The top 10 trending Consumer Electronics were iPad 3, Samsung Galaxy S3, iPad Mini, Nexus 7, Galaxy Note 2, Play Station, iPad 4, Microsoft Surface, Kindle Fire, and Nokia Lumia 920. Head over to Google’s Zeitgesit 2012 page to discover and explore trending topics from 55 countries all around the world. In addition to the 838 lists, Google’s created an interactive map that shows where and when some of the most popular terms spiked around the world. Watch Google’s inspirational look back at 2012 in the Zeitgeist video pasted above.

Jump after the break to find out how Twitter and Facebook are celebrating everything that went down in twenty-twelve. Continue reading Google, Twitter and Facebook mark the highlights of 2012 →

iTunes shares year’s top-selling songs, albums, apps & more

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At the end of the year Apple digs into its archive of music, movies, TV shows, apps, books, and podcasts to share with its customers its top-selling content. Since the iTunes Store and the App Store are so prolific these days, I deem it appropriate to take a look at what we bought up from Apple’s widespread ecosystem in 2012.

In the music department, Apple lists the 20 top-selling songs and 25 top-selling albums of the year. Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” lands at #1 on the song list and rounding out the top 5 are Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know,” Fun.’s “We Are Young,” Maroon 5’s “Payphone,” and Nicki Minaj’s “Starships.” Maroon 5 managed to land on this chart twice; “One More Night” comes in at #17. Also, Flo Rida’s hit singles “Whistle” and “Wild Ones” show their staying power securing the #9 and #10 slots, respectively. For the second consecutive year in a row, Adele’s 21 sits high as the most purchased album of the year; what follows is Taylor Swift’s Red, Mumford & Sons’ Babel, One Direction’s debut Up All Night, and Fun.’s Some Nights. The only artist to show up twice on this chart is Mumford & Sons; their 2010 effort Sigh No More keeps selling and fell in the #6 position.

In addition to these charts, Apple handpicks their own selections in a section they call “Editor’s Choice.” They named Frank Ocean Best New Artist and they had this to say about his much buzzed about release Channel ORANGE: “Deftly original, the brooding R&B outcast and Odd Future cohort spilled a can of stinging venom and vulnerability that spread worldwide.” Grizzly Bear’s Shields was awarded Best Album, Fun.’s infectious single “We Are Young” nabbed Best Song, and they enjoyed the fusion of country and gospel from The Lumineers so much to label their self-titled debut release Breakthrough Album.

The Hunger Games, Downton Abbey, Fifty Shades of Grey, Angry Birds Space, and YouTube dominated the other content categories. Click here to browse Apple’s Best of 2012 charts (the link opens in iTunes).