Category: External TV (Page 224 of 419)

“Prison Break” coming to an end this season

January 14, 2009 /

We speculated late last year that “Prison Break” may be on its last legs, and Fox has now made it official.

The news probably isn’t a huge shock to anyone who has been following the series recently. Late last year, speculators thought the show would be coming to an end when Fox tacked on a few extra hours to this year’s production schedule. And with heavy promotion for Fringe, 24, and Lie to Me in full swing, it isn’t hard to see who the odd man out is.

Prison Break is currently on a little vacation, as Fox beefs up its midseason schedule with the aforementioned trio and a little program called American Idol. However, Fox did schedule a return for the final episodes of Prison Break–they begin their run April 17.

According to TVGuide.com, Fox president Kevin Reilly explained, “[Prison Break] got to a point where a lot of the stories had been told,” which is a kind way to say the show was running on fumes creatively. At least six hours of the drama are left to go, with the possibility of a few more hours added as Reilly said he wants the program to “finish strong.”

It’s about time. I’ve been blogging the show for a long, long time, and I’m happy to hear the news. The only thing worse than when a series doesn’t get enough of a chance (i.e. “Journeyman”) is when a network resuscitates a series over and over, squeezing as much money as it can out of a successful franchise to the point where all that’s left is a husk of its corpse.

Okay, that’s a little dramatic, but it’s a good time for “Prison Break” to end. Hopefully the news comes early enough so that the creators can bring about a satisfactory conclusion for the fans that have stuck around.

External TV, Prison Break, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas

TCA Tour, Jan. 2009: “The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency”

January 14, 2009 /

If you’re not already familiar with Alexander McCall Smith’s series of books about a female private detective in Botswana, then you’d be forgiven for thinking that HBO’s “The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency” was some sort of premium-cable equivalent of ABC’s defunct “Women’s Murder Club.” It’s actually a rich look into modern day African culture that has as much to do with spotlighting the gorgeous landscape and establishing the personalities and quirks of its characters as it does with solving a mystery.

Fans of McCall Smith’s novels were chomping at the bit to see who would be cast to play the novel’s central figure, Mma Precious Ramotswe. The slightly surprising victor: Jill Scott, a woman known far more for her work as a singer than as an actress. It must be said, however, that Scott does a great job in the role, offering the appropriate notes of both humor and drama throughout the production. For his part, however, McCall Smith couldn’t say whether or not she truly fit his idea of what Precious would look like, if only because it’s something to which he ever gave any thought.

“As a writer, curiously enough — and people sometimes don’t believe me when I say this — but I don’t actually see my characters,” said McCall Smith. “I hear them, but I didn’t have a picture of what Mma Ramotswe would look like. So when Jill came along, I said, ‘That’s fine. That’s perfectly all right by me.’ And indeed, I think you have certainly given me a picture of my characters which I didn’t have before. But when I actually write, I don’t see people. I just hear things. And I see a countryside, but I don’t actually see the characters, which is a strange thing. So that was fine. I thought they were just right.”

Continue reading »

Actresses, Celebrities, External Entertainment, External TV, News, TCA Blog 2009, TCA Press Tour, TV, TV Dramas

TCA Tour, Jan. 2009: “Clean House: Search for the Messiest Home in the Country”

January 14, 2009 /

As soon as I read about this series, I had two thoughts. The first was, “Oh, good, Niecy Nash had something to fall back on when ‘Do Not Disturb’ was canceled.” The second was, “Oh, God, I think my office alone could possibly get me on this show.” But as soon as the clips began, I realized that, despite our occasional moments of disrepair, there ain’t no way in hell that the Harris home could ever reach the deplorable depths of the houses that are spotlighted on this series. Some of them are so bad that you wonder how in God’s name anyone could stand to live in such conditions…which, of course, begs the question, “Is it possible that some of these people made their houses look this bad just so that they could get onto the show?”

“If they did, they had a lot to work with,” said Nash. “You know what I’m saying? It means that they had to get the clutter from somewhere. Even if they only pulled it out of the garage, it means that it existed somewhere in their space. The people who I know who did not manufacture their clutter is because it’s very difficult to manufacture clutter and filth on top of it. When it’s dirty and it’s borderline nasty, you say, ‘Baby, these people were already living like this.’ Another thing you can’t manufacture is smell. That will get you. It’s good thing we don’t have Smell-O-Vision; it’s hard on a sister’s nose sometimes.”

“Clean House” is preparing to celebrate its 100th episode (which surprises me a little bit, as I wasn’t familiar with the series until this panel), but as Nash acknowledged, not everyone is always excited about the job of spiffing up that’s been done by the show.

“One of the clients who I get asked the most about was my family where, after the reveal, the lady cried,” said Nash. “Her name was Judge Dragon, and she cried, and she carried on. But Mark Brunetz, my designer with the magic, who I work with, kind of saw that there was going to be a storm coming down the pipe, so we were kind of prepared for her to have a fit. I didn’t know it was going to be that big of a fit, but, you know we do our best, and you can’t make everybody happy all the time, can you? Anybody who’s a parent knows that. We take some bruises along the way, but it’s all right.”

The new season of “Clean House” premieres on The Style Network later in 2009.

Actresses, Celebrities, External Entertainment, External TV, News, Reality TV, TCA Blog 2009, TCA Press Tour, TV

TCA Tour, Jan. 2009: CBS newsflash

January 14, 2009 /

Nina Tassler, President of CBS Entertainment, just addressed us and offered up the following bits and pieces of information:

* Regarding NBC’s decision to give Jay Leno their 10 PM slot, “Our first reaction was to say, ‘Thank you.'”

* The success of importing “Flashpoint” from Canada has opened the door for CBS to explore different business models, and the network is exploring other potential situations as well.

* CBS will hopefully be doing a deal with Alex O’Loughlin and they are still trying to develop a series for him…so, basically, nothing’s really changed on that front. (She said approximately the same thing back in July.)

* John Mayer is in the final stage of negotiations to have a music / variety / sketch show on the network, though whether it will be a special, a series, or merely a pilot remains to be seen.

* She is very happy with Drew Carey on “The Price Is Right,” but when asked if we would be seeing a change in host, she said, “I hope not.” Mixed signals or just a poor choice of words…?

* She loved the concept for “The Ex List,” but it failed in its execution. “It never found its traction; it never found its pulse.”

* There will be an “NCIS” spin-off, which is only appropriate, given that that series spun off from “JAG.”

* They were extremely proud of the way it was executed and was received, but, “No, we’re not going back to ‘Swingtown.'” Sorry, Ross.

Actors, Celebrities, External Entertainment, External TV, News, TCA Blog 2009, TCA Press Tour, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas

The Biggest Loser: Worst Case Scenario

January 14, 2009 /

The producers of NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” have really done it now. Just when they bring in the heaviest contestants ever to show how people that big can lose weight too, they screw with the format of the show, and it winds up sending someone home far too early that really needs to be at the ranch. Are you people as annoyed as I am? Anyway, here is what when down last night on “The Biggest Loser: Couples.”

After the nine contestants were sent home last week to try and show America how easy it is to follow a weight loss regimen on your own, they showed some of them in real life adjusting, or not adjusting. Most disappointing was Dan, who weighs almost 400 pounds, not being able to find something healthier to eat than a few hot dogs.

Then host Alison Sweeney lined up everyone remaining at the ranch and made them stand on one side of a white line, then proceeded to bribe them with money to exit the show now. First $5000, then $10K, and finally $25K. Joelle was the only one seemingly enticed by money Continue reading »

External TV, Reality TV, The Biggest Loser, TV

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