Category: 24 (Page 13 of 25)

You know how these executive sessions work, so I’ll just do a quick run-through of the tidbits offered up by FOX’s President of Entertainment, Kevin Reilly:

* On the origins of “Fringe” coming to Fox: “We knew J.J. (Abrams) had made his new deal at Warner Bros. last year. We knew he was coming out with a show. Before he even started, Peter Liguori and I talked about who’s at the top of our list. We made the call, like, day one. We offered him a series day one. We knew the logline, that it was sort of an ‘X-Files’/’Indiana Jones’ kind of thing. Sounded good to us. And, you know, he was going to write it with Alex Kurtzman and Bob Orci. We brought Jeff Pinkner in now to run the show. And I’m happy to say that this show just feels right. You know, sometimes with these big showrunners, it’s all hype and no delivery. I actually am very happy to say that I think this one is going to deliver the goods.”

* Coming to Fox sooner than later: “Lie To Me,” created by Sam Baum and starring Tim Roth, “Courtroom K,” created by Paul Attanasio (executive producer of “House”), and “Boldly Going Nowhere,” a sitcom from Rob McElhenney (creator of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”).

* On Joss Whedon coming back to Fox, even though he’s been burned before: “Joss was a gift. The only reason Joss wasn’t on my list is because I thought there was no way he was coming back. And every time I’ve called about him, they said, ‘He’s busy. He doesn’t want to do it.’ Joss will tell you himself that he got hit in the head with a lightning bolt of an idea. He’s respected Eliza Dushku as an actress. He’s wanted to work with her. They got together. He left that lunch and said, ‘Dammit, I’ve got an idea. Now I’ve got to do it.’ And he just showed up, and the answer was yes. And I have not seen any skittishness. In fact, I’m really enjoying working with the guy. His reputation is well-earned. We’re having a good time.”

* The upcoming “24” movie – not the theatrical one that’s been rumored for awhile, but a TV movie – will be a self-contained entity which encompasses a separate day’s events…specifically, the day of the swearing in of America’s first female President. It will, however, help to set the scene for the upcoming season.

* On the controversy about there originally being no black voice actors on “The Cleveland Show” (and the subsequent addition of three black voice actors): That was the intention going in. I mean, the Cleveland character pre-existed, you know. They’ve been doing that…Mike (Henry’s) been doing that character for a long time, so we knew going in that was a fix: we’re going to have a white guy. But clearly, the idea was just to make an ethnically diverse show in front of and behind the camera, which we are. We’ve got a diverse writing staff. We’ve got an African-American guy playing a redneck character in the show. So the whole intention here was just to cast it, you know, with the best people we have, but clearly to create a largely African-American cast for the family.”

* On the negotiations with the writing staff of the new animated series, “Sit Down, Shut Up”: “I don’t mean to be evasive because I can’t really comment on it because I was hoping to have 100 percent finality on the thing by this meeting today. There are still T’s being crossed. It’s been a very, very tricky situation trying to resolve a deal on this. My presumption, what I believe is going to happen…? I know that Mitch Hurwitz is going to stay with the show. A couple of writers will probably exit the show. A couple of new writers will join or remain with the show. I’m very hopeful that, even by today, we will be moving forward with a writing staff and resolve this.”

That was the 14th, and today’s the 16th. Since there’s been no formal announcement as of yet, it seems that hope alone was not enough to score a resolution…and, frankly, I’m getting more and more depressed about it. Hurwitz’s name is, thanks to “Arrested Development,” an instant mark of quality; as far as I’m concerned, Fox should do everything in its power to get this thing wrapped up quickly, so we can see this show!

UPDATE: Nikki Finke just broke the story at Deadline Hollywood Daily that some – but not all – of the writers on “Sit Down, Shut Up” have indeed signed off on the Animation Guild’s offer, with the others “holding out for the ability to have their pension contributions applied to the WGA plan.” Hey, it’s a start, anyway…