Category Archives: News

‘South Park’ docu goes behind-the-scenes with creators Parker & Stone

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Tonight (10/9) Comedy Central is airing a South Park documentary called “6 Days to Air: the making of South Park.” Show creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone allowed documentarian Arthur Bradford to sneak a peek behind the scenes at the making of a full 22-minute episode. The doc was shot over the course of three months at the South Park Studios in Los Angeles. According to the press release, “Viewers will get a look at Parker and Stone’s thought process as they approach a new episode and the 24/7 grind they subject themselves to each time the show is in production. The documentary also includes in-depth interviews with Parker and Stone about their working partnership and reflections on highlights from their careers, such as the making of the original short, “The Spirit of Christmas,” as well as their memorable appearance at the 2000 Oscars when they walked the red carpet in drag.”

“We wanted to make something that would appeal to both the hard-core fans and the casual viewers,” said Bradford. “Trey and Matt are two of the most interesting people I know and the way they make ‘South Park’ is completely fascinating and inspiring.”

Hop after the break to watch Parker and SNL player Bill Hader voice characters from the recent episode “You’re Getting Old” (it’s a riot!) and click here to watch some more previews.

6 Days to Air: the making of South Park airs tonight–that is Sunday October 9 at 10PM on Comedy Central.

[Via SouthParkStudios] Continue reading ‘South Park’ docu goes behind-the-scenes with creators Parker & Stone →

‘The Simpsons’ renewed for two more seasons

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The longest-running comedy in television history just extended its stay. On Friday FOX announced that the Matt Groening animated series will return for record breaking 24th and 25th seasons. By the end of the season in 2013 the series will have aired 559 episodes in total. News of renewal came after weeks of infighting between producer 20th Century Fox TV and the voice actors demanding a lower salary reduction. According to Deadline “the salary cut in the range of 30% from the actors’ current paychecks of $440,000 per episode” and the license fee for the show was also reduced due to falling ratings.

In an interview EW, executive producer Al Jean shared his excitement over the news. “Our mood is elation, mixed with a sense of ‘Man, we’ve got a lot of work to do.’ Believe me, we don’t look at this as these will definitely be the last two [seasons]. We just want to keep fighting and go as long as we can…. We really feel this isn’t an end but a beginning. It’s a cliché, but it’s the truth.” He went on to comment about how The Simpsons might end when the time eventually comes. “I don’t think we’re a serialized show and I don’t think we’re going to have a Lost finale where we reveal some truth about the world that nobody ever suspected. Whenever we do a last episode, we just hope that it would be sweet, true to the characters, funny, and give you a nice feeling for where the Simpsons would be headed.” And finally he shed some light on how long the creative team plans to keep the Simpsons train chugging. “I honestly think that 30 is a goal to shoot for. I want to put The Simpsons at 30 seasons before the end of the decade. Forty sounds insane, but 25 sounded insane 20 years ago. Having seen how far it’s gone, it’s not for me to cap it…. And Gunsmoke did 635 episodes [a record for a prime-time series], so that’s something to shoot for, too.”

The Simpsons airs Sundays at 8PM on FOX. New episodes return October 30 with the annual “Treehouse of Horrors” episode. Jump after the break for the press release that details what happens in this year’s “XXII” installment.

[Via Deadline; EW] Continue reading ‘The Simpsons’ renewed for two more seasons →

Nick’s ’90s programming block moves to primetime

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Good news: Nick’s ’90s programming block The ’90s Are All That now airs in primetime, starting at 10PM. Four half-hour shows will air from 10PM-midnight on TeenNick, and they will replay again in the block’s original space midnight-2AM. Additionally, Nick will air the block seven times a week so there will never be a night without classic Nick. Here’s a couple more new announcements. The live-action show shot on a dude ranch fondly remembered as Hey Dude enters the current lineup that still consists of All That, Kenan & Kel, and Doug. And on Friday nights, Stick Stickly hosts an interactive segment called “UPick with Stick.” Get this: Stick is voiced by Paul Christie, the same man who invented the character back in the day! Once a week the block will air episodes voted on by viewers at Nick’s website and Facebook. Rock and roll.

[Via EW-InsideTV]

Apple announces iPhone 4S, refreshed iPods, & provides release date for iOS 5 & iCloud

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On Tuesday newly appointed Apple CEO Tim Cook hosted a press event to launch the next iPhone and detail the new version of iOS and the upcoming iCloud service. Breakdown, commence.

iPhone 4S

The successor to the iPhone 4 is not the iPhone 5; it’s the iPhone 4S. It serves as an incremental upgrade to its predecessor much like the iPhone 3GS was to the iPhone 3G. The exterior design of the handset remains the same; the changes can be found on the inside. The 4S packs the same processor originally designed for the iPad 2: Apple’s dual-core A5 chip. The company says that users can expect speeds up to 2X faster than the previous iPhone. In addition, the 4S also contains a new dual-core GPU that renders graphics up to 7X faster than the iPhone 4. At the keynote games developer Epic previewed Infinity Blade 2 (out December 1) and it looks magnificent.

After speed, Apple went on to upgrade the device’s camera. The 4S sports a new 8 megapixel camera. The sensor has 60 percent more pixels allowing users to shoot 3264 x 2448 photos with crisp detail. CMOS backside illuminated allows for 73 percent more light, a hybrid IR filter allows for better color accuracy and uniformity, a five element lens setup allows for 30 percent more sharpness, auto white balance has been improved by 26 percent, and a larger f/2.4 aperture is now featured. Also, the Camera app launches much faster and the shot to shot capability is twice as fast as before; it now takes 1.1 seconds to shoot your first photo and then 0.5 seconds for each additional shot. According to Apple’s research, these speeds blaze past the Android competition. And there’s this: the backside camera shoots video in full 1080p HD resolution and features real-time video image stabilization and temporal noise reduction helps in low light conditions.

The phone’s antenna system has also been tweaked. The dual-antenna design of iPhone 4 remains, but now it can intelligently switch between both antennas to transmit and receive data more efficiently. This results in the device’s ability to download data up to twice as fast as before (HSDPA performance: 14.4 Mbps down, 5.8 Mbps up) and you can expect better call quality. The 4S is a world phone, meaning GSM and CDMA technologies are built in and users can roam internationally on both networks.

And then there was the “one more thing…” Apple announced Siri, the device’s “intelligent assistant that helps you get things done just by asking.” With the iPhone 4, holding down the home button will prompt the phone to initiate the rather crude voice-activated menu where you can say things like “Call Home” or “Play Kanye West.” Siri takes this to an entirely new level of awesome. Apple designed Siri to “understand context allowing you to speak naturally when you ask it questions.” Here are some examples to help illustrate. You can ask Siri “What is the weather like today?” and it will display the current temperature with visual aid. Then you can ask for an “hourly forcast” and it will provide that information, too. You can also say things like “Wake me up at 6AM”, “Find me a great Greek restaurant in Palo Alto”, “Give me directions to Hoover Tower”, and “Schedule lunch at Friday on noon with John Smith” and Siri will answer you intelligently. It will access the clock app to set an alarm; it will search the ‘Net for Greek restaurants and sort them by Yelp customer ratings; it will launch Maps and provide directions; and it will look into your calendar and create events for you (if there’s an event that clashes with the new one you’re attempting to make, Siri will inform you about this and ask if you want to reschedule one of them). And the hands-free interaction doesn’t end there. Siri has access to many of the apps preloaded on the 4S. You can make Siri read aloud your text messages and emails and it’s also integrated with Reminders, Safari (“Search Wikipedia for Neil Armstrong”) and Wolfram Alpha’s database (“Define mytosis”). An information pane inside the Siri interface will provide users with a list of prompts they can use. And when you ask Siri “Who are you?” it’ll answer “I am a humble personal assistant.” Ha, try it! It also does dictation; a new mic icon is now part of the virtual keyboard. Siri is an iPhone 4S exclusive, and it works over WiFi and 3G. At launch it’ll remain in beta and support English, French, and German; Apple promises over time additional languages and services will be added.

The iPhone 4S, which will ship with iOS 5 and iCloud services, releases October 14 and is now available for preorder. It’ll sell in black and white flavors at the following price points: 16GB: $199, 32GB: $299, 64GB: $399, all with new two-year contracts of course. Additionally, Sprint joins AT&T and Verizon Wireless to become a carrier of the iPhone. (Note that the iPhone 4 will continue to sell at a new low price point of $99 (8GB) and the iPhone 3GS (8GB) can be picked up at no cost. When the 4S ships on the 14th it’ll release in the US, Canada, Austrailia, the UK, France, Germany, and Japan; on the 28th it’ll make it’s way to 22 more countries and by December 2011 it’ll sell in over 70 countries and with over 100 carriers. Apple claims this’ll be the fastest rollout ever for an iPhone.

iOS 5, iCloud, and iPods after the break. Continue reading Apple announces iPhone 4S, refreshed iPods, & provides release date for iOS 5 & iCloud →

Rest in peace, Steve

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Shortly after stepping down as CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs passed away on October 5 at the age of 56. Newly appointed CEO Tim Cook released this statement to Apple employees:

Team,

I have some very sad news to share with all of you. Steve passed away earlier today.

Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.

We are planning a celebration of Steve’s extraordinary life for Apple employees that will take place soon. If you would like to share your thoughts, memories and condolences in the interim, you can simply email [email protected].

No words can adequately express our sadness at Steve’s death or our gratitude for the opportunity to work with him. We will honor his memory by dedicating ourselves to continuing the work he loved so much.

Tim

The company has signified the passing of Steve at www.apple.com by stripping the homepage of all products and replacing it with an enlarged picture of the innovative leader, his name, and the years 1955-2011. Clicking this image brings you to a new portal www.apple.com/stevejobs that contains a part of Cook’s message and a way to share your thoughts, memories, and condolences with the company and Steve’s family.

Rest in peace, Steve. Thanks for inspiring to think different and transforming the world into a better place. Your contribution to society will reign for all time.

Amazon unveils new e-Reader lineup: Kindle, Kindle Touch & Kindle Fire

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On Friday Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos introduced the e-tailer’s brand new e-Reader lineup: the $79 Kindle, the $99 Kindle Touch, and the Kindle Fire at $199.

The latest generation base Kindle is lighter, smaller, faster, and cheaper than ever. It features a new design that is 30 percent lighter than its predecessor at 5.98 ounces, 18 percent smaller, and it turns pages 10 percent faster. Its still got a 6-inch electronic ink display. The device has four buttons on its front: back, on-screen keyboard, menu, home, and a directional pad. On either side are buttons for page-turning. But there’s no physical keyboard and no touch. There’s a reason why it’s being sold at such a low price–this Kindle is the definition of bare bones. If all you need to do is read (and you don’t mind using a directional pad to navigate through menus) this is the e-Reader for you. The Kindle is available for purchase today.

An extra $20 will get you the Kindle Touch, a slightly upgraded version of the e-Reader that boasts a touch display. You won’t find any buttons or a physical keyboard on this bad boy; the user interface is solely based on touch. Like the base model, this Kindle is  lighter and smaller than before and it has an “extra-long battery life.” The Kindle Touch (also available with 3G built-in for $149) is now available to preorder, and it releases November 21.

And finally there’s the Kindle Fire, what Amazon describes as a “new class of Kindle.” It’s a tablet, really. So I betcha want to hear specs? The 14.6 ounce Fire packs a 7-inch LCD multitouch display with IPS and Gorilla Glass strength, 1GHz TI OMAP dual-core processor, 512MB of RAM, and 8GB of storage. Does that number seem low to you? Worry not! Amazon promises you’ll never have to think about storage space since you can save virtually all of your content in the cloud via the Amazon Cloud storage that’s connected to your Amazon account. All Amazon digital content is automatically backed up for free. Movies, TV shows, music, magazines and newspapers, Android apps and games, and of course books can be purchased and downloaded right on the device. Though the Fire runs on Google’s OS, Amazon has tweaked Android so much that it’s totally unrecognizable. In other words, it’s an experience you’ll only get on this device. One feature users will be privy to is the Fire-exclusive web browser called “Amazon Silk.” The company describes it as a “split browser” architecture that makes for a faster web browsing experience. And just like its E-reader brethren, the tablet uses Amazon’s Whispersync technology to automatically sync your Kindle library, last page read, bookmarks, notes, and highlights across a variety of devices. The Kindle Fire will sell for a low $199 when it hits the market on November 15.

Inspect the devices in the galleries hanging above. Read through the beefy press release after the break. Continue reading Amazon unveils new e-Reader lineup: Kindle, Kindle Touch & Kindle Fire →

AMC debuts ‘Walking Dead’ webisodes

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Today AMC uploaded a six-part web series set in the Walking Dead universe. “Torn Apart” tells the sad tale of how mother-of-two Hannah transforms into the iconic “Bicycle Girl” zombie Rick Grimes is forced to kill in the pilot episode. You know, the one pictured above. The webisodes are directed by Walking Dead FX specialist (and now co-executive producer) Greg Nicotero. Sit back and enjoy this bloody vignette; it’ll surely whet your appetite as the season 2 premiere of the Walking Dead looms. It’s under two weeks away: October 16 at 9PM.

Here are direct links to the webisodes: PART 1 // PART 2 // PART 3 // PART 4 //  PART 5 // PART 6

Mitch Hurwitz says ‘Arrested Development’ returning to TV prior to movie release

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!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yup, that pretty much sums up what everyone is feeling right now. This afternoon at a New Yorker Festival event that reunited the entire Arrested Development cast, show creator Mitch Hurwitz announced plans to bring the short-lived cult TV show back to the air prior to releasing the highly anticipated movie that’s expected to bow, um, sometime in the future. The plan is to produce a “limited-run series” (think 9 or 10 episodes) that will shed light on what each of the Bluths have been up to since we lost them in 2006.

How did this all come about? In Hurwitz’s own words: “We don’t completely own the property, there are business people involved and studios and that kind of thing. Just creatively, I have been working on the screenplay for a long time and found that as time went by, there was so much more to the story. In fact, where everyone’s been for five years became a big part of the story. So in working on the screenplay, I found even if I just gave five minutes per character to that back story, we were halfway through the movie before the characters got together.” And thus the plan to return to TV was born.

As it stands now, Hurwitz wants to focus on “almost one character per episode.” He offered the giddy audience at the event an example of how this could work. The first episode might feature oddball Buster Bluth. “The latest joke we have is that it’s Cambridge, Massachusetts, and there’s all these scientists in lab coats and they’re waiting for somebody. Buster comes through the door in a white lab coat – ‘Let’s begin’ – and they say, ‘Oh, no, you don’t get to wear the lab coat. We’re experimenting on you.’ And then we go through his life and we meet the people in his life and maybe he goes to see his therapist who he’s getting a good rate on because it’s Tobias and he’s lost his license. We can do cross overs and things like that. But it’s an unusual style of show I think and we get him to a certain point of peril in his life and then maybe we jump over to like Maeby and she’s living with Cornel West … We’ll do this kind of thing that builds the peril in their lives until they all come together, really, in the first scene of the movie.” Ha! So you get it? Each of the 9 or 10 episodes will focus on a specific Bluth and catch us up on what they’ve been up to all this time. And then when the movie releases, we’ll know what’s up and Hurwitz will be able to tell a tighter story without wasting time catching us up on all the characters. It’s win-win for everybody!

That is, of course, if the studios play nice with one another. Hurwitz added that the project “requires studios to work together that don’t typically work together, film and TV.” It’s still up in the air as to whether or not the show will air on FOX again.

Now I bet you’re wondering about a time frame; when can we expect the Bluths to return to the small screen if the studios allow it? Jason Bateman, who played the family backbone Michael Bluth, said, “There’s business left to be done, but creatively we are all on board and have a very specific plan about how it would come out and what we would do and when we would shoot it. I think we’re targeting next summer to shoot it.” “Perhaps the series is in the fall. This isn’t my decision,” Hurwitz chimed in. Later in the day, Bateman took to Twitter and shared this: “It’s true. We will do 10 episodes and the movie. Probably shoot them all together next summer for a release in early ‘13. VERY excited!”

So there you have it. Arrested Development is on track to RETURN TO TELEVISION and then make it to the BIG SCREEN. AD fans ’round the world are crying tears of joy today, as they well should be. Let’s just hope it all pans out…because it will…right?

[Via NYTimes]

This week in NEW TV: ‘American Horror Story’

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Last year I posted my Fall TV Preview. This time around I’m breaking that idea in pieces with a new kind of post called This week in NEW TV. Essentially they will serve as expanded versions of my usual TV Reminders. These posts will crop up through October as new TV shows premiere this fall. I will recommend new shows to watch and remind you when returning favorites are coming back. If you want a broader overview of all the new series airing on the big four networks, check out 2011-12 Upfronts coverage.

Note: This week contains only 1 new program, so I thought I’d take the time to comment on some fan-favorite returning series, too.

::SUNDAY::

How To Make It In America  — HBO — 10:30PM

Ben (Bryan Greenberg) and Cam (Victor Rasuk) are back to make the big dream come true in NYC. In the season 2 opener the boys return from a successful business trip in Tokyo with CRISP-branded jeans in tow. We’ll also check in with Cam’s overbearing cousin Rene Calderon (Rene Calderon) and his Rasta Mansta energy drink empire, Domingo Brown (Kid Cudi) will become a more familiar face on the show this year, and Lake Bell’s Rachel still isn’t over ex-boyfriend Ben. Now, you’re going to want to look after the break for some HTMIIA goodies: a Luis Guzman-inspired music video, a season 1 recap, a mixtape, and more! For now, look in the gallery below for some stills.

::MONDAY::

House — FOX — 9PM

In the season 8 premiere, we find Dr. Gregory House in jail. Why? Because in last season’s finale he recklessly drove his car into Cuddy’s house and nearly killed her, her daughter, and other guests. While in lockup, House meets Breaking In star Odette Annable and quickly takes a liking to her. Is it because of her looks, her brains, or both? We’ll have to tune in to find out. Rounding out the Hugh Laurie, Jesse Spencer, Omar Epps, Peter Jacobson, and Robert Sean Leonard-led cast is newcomer Charlyne Yi, a comedian best known for her Knocked Up role as the spacey Jodi. It’ll be interesting to see how she blends in with this veteran ensemble cast. It will be equally interesting to see who fills in Cuddy’s shoes to become the new Dean of Medicine; Lisa Edelstein is out (as is movie star Olivia Wilde) and word has it that the new Dean will be selecting internally. I was leaning towards Leonard as my top pick, but now I’m imaging Omar Epps in the position. We shall see… Also note that this may very well be the final season of House. Everything is up in the air for now, and we should receive word from FOX executives in the months ahead. Journey below to view some key art and stills from the premiere.

::WEDNESDAY::

American Horror Story — FX — 10PM

Here’s the new show worth checking out this week. American Horror Story comes from Nip/Tuck and Glee collaborators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk and it’s being billed as the scariest project developed for TV in quite some time. Dylan McDermott (The Practice) and Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights) headline a stacked cast that find themselves mentally trapped inside a haunted house. Described as a psychosexual thriller, [the show] centers on a therapist and his wife who, dealing with the aftermath of the husband’s adultery, move along with their kids into a new house that seems to know all about their fears and plays on them. The promotional campaign for this show has been nothing short of bizarre, and the trailer snippets that have leaked are oh-so-intriguing to say the least. You can read more about the development of American Horror Story in a previous post, and check out stills from the spooky series below.

South Park — Comedy Central — 10PM

The second half of South Park season 15 begins Wednesday night. The network hints that “everything must change” following the cynical finale that last aired. In the episode titled “You’re Getting Old” it seemed like creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker were taking a stand against their recent material by calling it stale. So they decided to make at least one major change: Stan’s parents are getting divorced. Whether or not this new development will remain canon as the new season unfolds is still up for discussion. Stone and Parker might just pull their usual and “restart” everything–who knows. When the mid-season premiere passes, let’s just hope that the material is fresh. No matter what, though, South Park has been renewed through 2013 so the pop culture icon is staying put for at least a little while longer. Continue reading This week in NEW TV: ‘American Horror Story’ →

New Line Cinema taps Kevin Tancharoen to reboot ‘Mortal Kombat’

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Ah we all knew this day would come. After proving himself worthy of rebooting the beloved video game franchise, Kevin Tancharoen has been given the reigns to direct a Mortal Kombat reboot feature film. Though his preview credits include Fame and Glee: The 3D Concert Movie, Mortal Kombat fans know that Tancharoen holds a special place in his heart for the violent and controversial game. In June 2010 a MK short film surfaced on the ‘Net and people went bananas. The nearly eight-minute long video Mortal Kombat: Rebirth reached millions of hits in a matter of days. Turned out that it was Tancharoen’s attempt to pitch a reimagined Mortal Kombat movie to the studios. Though he wasn’t immediately granted the rights to helm a movie early on, he was given the opportunity to produce a 10-part web series based in the MK universe. Apparently Mortal Kombat: Legacy and the rebooted video game that followed gained enough steam and attracted enough viewers/gamers to make Warner Bros. (New Line’s parent company) greenlight the movie with Tancharoen in the director’s chair. Oren Uziel (who collaborated with Tancharoen to make the short film) will pen the script. No word as to whether or not the actors in the web series (Michael Jai White, Jeri Ryan, Ian Anthony Dale, etc.) will reprise their role in the reboot feature film. In the end, Kevin’s wish was granted.

Update: Tancharoen shared his vision for the movie with EW. Choice quote right here: “Up to this point, we’ve only been talking ‘rated R.’ I like realistic takes on things, I like it when it’s a little darker and grittier. And I want the martial arts to feel real as opposed to balletic and super-choreographed. It needs to feel brutal, because that’s the nature of the video game itself.” As long as he can recreate what he did in the original short film (and with a much higher budget from New Line I’m sure he’ll exceed expectations) I trust Tancharoen will have no problem injecting new life into the aging, classic franchise.

[Via Deadline]

FOX picks up ‘New Girl’ with full season order

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Don’t act like you’re surprised. With all the “adorkable” marketing promoting New Girl before its big premiere last week we all knew that Zooey Deschanel wouldn’t let us down. A ratings boon during its first two weeks on air, the laugh-out-loud FOX comedy becomes the first new show of the fall 2011 season to be granted a full season order. The network has tacked on an additional 11 episodes to the original 13-episode order bringing the season one grand total to 24 episodes. The pilot received an impressive 4.8 rating among adults 18-49 (this is FOX’s highest-rated sitcom premiere of all-time); 10.1 million viewers tuned into the premiere. In week 2 the show scored a 5.2 rating and retained 92 percent of its series premiere ratings; 9.2 million viewers returned.

Network prez Kevin Reilly commented on the show’s early surge of success. “We love the charming Zooey Deschanel and the entire cast, we’re knocked out with the work that Liz Meriwether and the whole staff is doing and we are really psyched about the upcoming episodes in the pipeline. It’s great that audiences have responded so positively so far and we’re confident that even more people will embrace the show — and more comedy on Fox — this season.”

New Girl airs Tuesday nights at 9PM on FOX.

[Via Deadline; EW]

‘Hawaii Five-0’ wants more Terry O’Quinn

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TV Guide reports that Hawaii Five-0 executive producer Peter Lenkov wants to extend Terry O’Quinn’s multi-episode arc as Lt. Commander Joe White. Says Lenkov: “His original deal was six episodes, and now we’ll do another three. And we’re hoping for even more.” The EP went on to reassure fans that even if O’Quinn went on to star in Marc Cherry’s upcoming ABC soap Hallelujah he’d try to sway the Lost alum to do both. “Terry’s a guy who really wants to get his own show, and he deserves that,” Lenkov added. “That’s his goal. But we’d love to make it work where he could do both.” But rejoice Five-0 fans–in the short term, O’Quinn is here to stay!

[Via TV Guide]