Fringe returns from its extended hiatus next Friday so it’s time to brush up on everything’s that has been going on. FOX makes it easy with their latest recap video titled “Neither Here Nor There.” It serves as the thirteenth installment in the Fringe: Past + Present + Future series that was originally uploaded to YouTube intended to ease long-time viewers into season four and help entice newcomers to start watching the show. Like all the videos before it, this one is narrated fantastically by Walter Bishop’s portrayer John Noble. I don’t care whether or not you watch the show; listening to Noble’s voice is like vacationing on a calm beach and hearing the ocean waves glide by. Enough words; go on and mash play and remind yourself why Fringe is one of the best series on TV right now.
Tag Archives: FOX
’24’ movie is moving ahead, shoots this spring!
24: The Movie is happening people. Here’s the latest scoop. According to Deadline, writer Mark Bomback (Unstoppable, The Wolverine) is tweaking the script originally penned by Billy Ray (State of Play) and he will be turning it in to 20th Century Fox by the end of this year. Imagine Entertainment honcho Brian Grazer is still producing, but director Tony Scott is no longer attached to the project. It’s being reported that Fox and Imagine are currently narrowing down a list of five potential directors. And here’s the best bit of news: the studio hopes to start shooting the flick as early as April 2012. That is when Sutherland’s schedule opens up; he is currently working on the upcoming FOX drama Touch.
Bauer is back.
[Via Deadline]
FOX announces 2012 midseason schedule
FOX’s 2012 midseason schedule is out, and now we know when some of the most anticipated series of the season will debut. J.J. Abrams’ Alcatraz premieres as a two-hour pilot on Monday January 16 and the following week it will settle into its regular Monday night 9PM timeslot following House (which moves to 8PM when Terra Nova ends its 13-episode order). Alcatraz will have a 13-episode run and then Kiefer Sutherland returns to occupy his 24 timeslot with Touch on March 19. Note that FOX plans to air a “special preview” of Touch on Wednesday January 25 at 9PM following an episode of American Idol. When Glee goes on hiatus, FOX will air a slightly altered comedy block on Tuesday nights beginning March 6. The back-from-the-dead Christian Slater comedy Breaking In will air at 8:30PM, sandwiched between an encore and a new episode of New Girl; Raising Hope closes the night at 9:30PM. American Idol returns Wednesday January 18 at 8PM and will be paired with new reality series Mobbed for a spell. Beginning February 15 the singing competition will dominate FOX’s two-hour block Wednesday nights. Bones spinoff The Finder premieres Thursday January 12 at 9PM and the following week it will settle in its regular Thursday 9PM timeslot following American Idol. The latest addition to FOX’s animation domination is Napoleon Dynamite and that premieres in between The Simpsons and Family Guy (Allen Gregory‘s current slot) on Sunday January 15 at 8:30PM. Bob’s Burgers returns for a second season in that same slot on March 11. Bones returns in the spring (after a short fall run ending on January 12), along with new episodes of Glee and new comedy I Hate My Teenage Daughter. Last, Fringe and Kitchen Nightmares resume Friday January 13.
Jump after the break to see the premiere dates, and click here to preview all the new shows. Continue reading FOX announces 2012 midseason schedule
Megan Mullally joins ‘Breaking In’ as the FOX series undergoes creative changes
The show that won’t die just cast a big-name star. Megan Mullally (Will & Grace) is joining the FOX comedy Breaking In as a series regular. She will play the new boss at Contra Security, overseeing the missions played out by the ragtag team of break-in experts Cam, Cash, Josh, and Melanie. Where does season 1 Contra boss Oz (Christian Slater) factor into the shakeup at the top? That plot detail is still under wraps. The addition of Mullally is part of “significant creative changes” for the show heading into season 2, according to Deadline. The source reports that “the “mission of the week” concept where members of the Contra team go out of the office on a different assignment in every episode will be scaled back as Breaking In will segue into a more office-based comedy.” The show came so close to death (twice!), so a change in the way things will play out is expected. Creators Adam F. Goldnberg and Seth Gordon did a fine job introducing the characters during the series’ seven episode debut season; let’s hope the dynamic between all of them doesn’t change too much in round two. The entire cast is expected to return when Breaking In comes back to FOX this spring, even Odette Annable who is now a series regular over at the FOX medical drama House.
[Via Deadline]
‘Fringe’ showrunners discuss the return of Peter Bishop
Take 2. Due to the World Series airing on FOX last Friday, the next pivotal episode of Fringe–you know, the one where Peter Bishop comes back into existence and reunites with his partner Olivia and father Walter–was pushed to the following week. Well, I am excited to report that a week’s time has indeed past and the episode titled “Novation” will air tonight! Before watching tonight’s installment, take a moment to hear what Fringe showrunners J.H. Wyman and Jeff Pinkner have to say about the return of the younger Bishop. “What are the consequences of Peter being back?” posits Pinkner. Tune in to find out.
Fringe airs Friday nights at 9PM on FOX. Bonus video after the break! Continue reading ‘Fringe’ showrunners discuss the return of Peter Bishop
‘In Living Color’ reboot coming to FOX midseason 2012
Do you remember the sketch comedy series In Living Color that aired on FOX from 1990 to 1994? It was created by the second eldest Wayans brother Keenan Ivory Wayans and it featured a cast that was predominantly black including big stars like Wayans’ family members Damon, Shawn, and Marlon, Jamie Foxx, David Alan Grier, Jim Carrey and Jennifer Lopez was introduced to the world as one of the Fly Girls. Well news broke that the show is coming back to FOX as the network is celebrating its 25th anniversary later this year. Keenan Ivory Wayans is back as executive producer and this time he will play host, too. FOX has ordered two half-hour primetime specials that will air in midseason, and they picked up a series option. This means that if the sketch show performs well in the ratings, FOX can pick it up to series and allow Wayans to pump out additional episodes. (Re)introduce yourself to one of my favorite characters from In Living Color after the break, Homey D. Clown.
[Via Deadline] Continue reading ‘In Living Color’ reboot coming to FOX midseason 2012
Chord Overstreet set to return to ‘Glee’ in December
The Chord Overstreet saga just won’t die. To make a short story even shorter… Back in July it was reported that Glee stars Darren Criss and Harry Shum Jr. were going to be upgraded from guest stars to series regulars at the start of season 3. The show, however, did not pick up the New Directions member known as Trouty Mouth as a series regular and he was left with the decision to come back as a guest star or leave the show entirely. Later that same month when it was reported that Lea Michele, Chris Colfer, and Cory Monteith would not be leaving the show at the end of season 3, co-creator Brad Falchuck revealed that Overstreet was offered a deal to return for ten episodes with the possibility of becoming a series regular sometime in the future (likely by the start of season 4). Overstreet declined the offer stating that he wanted to focus on his own music career.
Since his departure from Glee, Overstreet went on to guest star in an episode of ABC’s sitcom The Middle. And now, just three episodes into the new season, Trouty Mouth is ready for a comeback. “I had the best time on Glee and couldn’t be more excited to be returning,” says Overstreet, pretty much nullifying everything that went down since the summer. Co-creator Ryan Murphy is excited about Sam’s return: “We love Chord and have always said that we wanted him back. So here’s an early Christmas present for all the Gleeks — Sam is coming back to McKinley, and just in time for sectionals!” Now that Mercedes has a boyfriend, one can only imagine how Murphy and Falchuck will work Sam back into the story naturally. Though the exact episode in which Sam returns is being kept under wraps for now, you can expect to see him return to the show in December.
Glee returns with all-new episodes November 1.
[Via EW]
‘Fringe’ prepares you to “witness the return” of Peter
Fringe fans, check out this new teaser video released by the top-notch marketing team at FOX. At the conclusion of last week’s episode “Subject 9” Peter Bishop finally returned into the fold with a (literal) splash. The show is taking a break this week and when it returns Friday October 28 at 9PM we will “witness the return” of Peter into the lives of all the characters who forgot he ever existed, namely his Fringe division partner-turned-lover Olivia Dunham and his estranged father Walter Bishop. In the clip embedded above you will see some brand new footage from next week’s ep “Novation” and if you’re slick you might just be able to catch the series of shots that fly by at the end. Now everybody say it with me: Welcome back, Peter.
TV trailer: Kiefer Sutherland in Tim Kring’s ‘Touch’
Here it is, our very first look at the upcoming FOX drama Touch. The show focuses on a father (played by 24’s Kiefer Sutherland) who discovers that his autistic, mute son (newcomer David Mazouz) can predict events before they happen. Danny Glover, Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Undercovers), and Titus Welliver–better known as The Man in Black from Lost–round out the cast. Read over this fuller synopsis after you watch the powerful trailer:
At the center of TOUCH is MARTIN BOHM (Sutherland), a widower and single father, haunted by an inability to connect to his mute 11-year-old son, JAKE (David Mazouz). After multiple failed attempts at keeping Jake in school, Martin is visited by CLEA HOPKINS (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), a social worker sent to evaluate Jake’s well-being. Everything changes when Martin discovers that Jake possesses the gift of staggering genius – the ability to see things that no one else can and the patterns that connect seemingly unrelated events. Jake is indeed communicating. But it’s not with words, it’s with numbers. Martin meets ARTHUR DEWITT (Danny Glover), a professor and an expert on children who possess special gifts when it comes to numbers. Now, it’s up to Martin to decipher the meaning and connect the numbers to the cast of characters whose lives they affect.
With the trope of interconnectedness scattered throughout the trailer and synopsis it’s little surprise that Tim Kring, the creative mind behind Heroes, is the one who imagined Touch. Everything about the trailer has been excited about this show. An emotionally charged Sutherland leads a cast consisting of veteran and young stars that show much promise here. And as for the story Kring’s itching to tell: color me happily intrigued. Touch will air in midseason on FOX.
‘The Simpsons’ renewed for two more seasons
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
This week in NEW TV: ‘American Horror Story’
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’
FOX picks up ‘New Girl’ with full season order
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.