Good News: The CW has awarded their highly-anticipated new drama (and personal favorite) LIFE UNEXPECTED with GOSSIP GIRL’s valuable Monday night timeslot starting January 18. Bad News: With a great timeslot comes great [ratings] expectations. [Source]
Good News: In an exclusive interview with Michael Ausiello, J.J. Abrams promises that FOX has been insanely supportive of FRINGE despite the show’s lackluster ratings. Bad News: “Insanely supportive” does not include moving FRINGE out of the most competitive timeslot in television. [Source]
Good News: This just in, ABC has freed up some desperately needed space on our PVR/DVR. Bad News: After confirming their decision to not pick-up EASTWICK for a back-nine, essentially canceling the first-year series. [Source]
Sara Rue.
Sure, at first I was annoyed that she isn’t one of the leads, but as second-banana/gal pal Penny, her bubbly personality shines far more than it probably would as one of the witchy women.
Magic is sexy.
Paul Gross. Matt Dallas. Jon Bernthal. Johann Urb. Jack Huston. Hello, Hunkapalooza. And of course, the ladies are well-represented thanks to Jaime Ray Newman, Lindsay Price, Rebecca Romijn, Ashley Benson and the aforementioned Rue.
Did GOSSIP GIRL really expect us be buy those studious students?
We totally buy that college students would opt to watch Vanessa’s documentary over attending Blair’s cocktail party. Not. Sorry, but no matter how annoying the hostess, the first rule of college is “free booze is free booze.”
Was there a light shining directly in Wentworth Miller’s eyes for the entire duration of the LAW & ORDER: SVU season premiere?
That’s the only way to explain the fact that he squinted through the entire episode. If PRISON was his BREAKout performance, this one might have shown that he’s a one-hit wonder.
How long can actors really be expected to remain in high school?
THE VAMPIRE DIARES alone features both Paul Wesley (who, as Paul Wasilewski, was playing a teen on GUIDING LIGHT back in 1999) and Kayla Ewell (who was a FREAKS & GEEKS high schooler in 2000). That’s a long time for even the slowest of slow students to be held back!
From Ty Burrell’s self-proclaimed ‘hip’ dad, MARRIED… WITH CHILDREN’s Ed O’Neil playing a crotchety grandpa (albeit one who’s married to a much younger and hotter woman) and Mitchell and Cameron, who as EW’s Ken Tucker so correctly pointed our are the odd couple for our generation, is it safe to assume that MODERN FAMILY lived up to it’s billing as the funniest new show of the fall?
Question: Which show made better use of yours (okay, our) iTunes collection? Cameron’s over-the-top presentation of adoptive baby Lily to his ‘Modern Family’ with a little help from The Lion King’s “Circle of Life” or Kurt’s GLEE-ful game-winning field goal to the tune of Beyonce’s ‘Single Ladies?’
And speaking of ‘Sophie’s Choice,’ can Congress not put aside the whole pesky health-care thing and get their act together crafting a bill that really matters. You know, like the one that we’d like to propose, banning networks (Yes, we’re talking to you ABC and FOX) from putting their two strongest offerings (MODERN FAMILY and GLEE) on the same night at the exact time. I mean seriously, WTF?! (Which we learned yesterday thanks to our new favorite clueless hipster dad Phil (MODERN FAMILY’s Ty Burrell) means, “Why the Face?!”)
You’re probably going to hear a lot about how this fall is the year of the comedy: of all the fall pilots, comedies are heading the pack in terms of buzz and praise. And ABC, who’s been a stranger to a hit sitcom for quite awhile now, is betting on a full-on Wednesday night blitzkrieg, scheduling five new shows back to back without any ratings support from an established hit. It’s the kind of high risk, big rewards gambling that seems so relevant given the…state of broadcast sitcoms.
Too bad the Alphabet Network’s opening salvo threatens to ruin the whole thing: HANK (debuting next Wednesday September 30 at 8PM), where Kelsey Grammer plays his umpteenth iteration of a blow-hard, seems so out of touch (with the national sentiment, what’s funny, what’s stupid, you name it), you’d be tempted to give up with it and just call the whole thing off.
4:41PM: The EASTWICK promotional reel is using the TRUE BLOOD ‘Bad Things’ theme for their clip package. Not cool ABC, not cool at all.
4:43PM: Luckily for Rebecca Romijn, husband Jerry O’Connell is currently in Hollywood pergatude courtesy of the train-wreck that was his short-lived FOX ‘comedy’ DO NOT DISTURB taking some time off to take care of the twins she gave birth to mere weeks before shooting the pilot.
4:46PM: In response to a reporter calling EASTWICK “DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES with Magic,” executive producer Maggie Friedman responds, “Not at all.” Which we’re gonna have to agree with. After-all, Wisteria Lane featured four lovely leading ladies, whereas EASTWICK only features three. See, totally different.
4:48PM: Unlike the movie, which was very much a product of its time (that time being the 80’s), Friedman promises that EASTWICK is contemporary, where three ordinary women are dealing with being given extraordinary powers based on their life’s journey. Quick, somebody call Tim Kring’s lawyer, line one!
You’ve read his take on the most promising fall shows and least promising ones. Now, in what we promise is our final look back at the Network’s UpFront offerings comes our very own Ken Tucker in-training Aleks Chan, with a look at the shows that fall somewhere in-between.
ACCIDENTALLY ON PURPOSE (CBS)
After the horridly ill-conceived COURTING ALEX, Jenna Elfman returns to the small screen as Billie, a San Francisco film critic who hooks up with a younger guy and – surprise – gets pregnant. Pregnancy as a premise hasn’t always worked, and the clips don’t really provide much hope that AOP will be any different, but Elfman is one deft comedienne, so if anything, it’ll be tolerable.
EASTWICK (ABC)
Also known as Charmed Lipstick Housewives and the City. Based on the John Updike novel about three women (Lindsay Price, Rebecca Romijn, and Jamie Ray Newman) who are imbued with magical powers, it looks as tawdry and superfluous as I remember CHARMED ever was – not that there’s anything wrong with that.
THE DEEP END According to the official ABC description: Sterling Law is one of L.A.’s most prestigious law firms. Each year it recruits four new young lawyers from the finest law schools worldwide. It will nurture, guide and shape these recruits into the best damned lawyers they can possibly be — or else.
According to this TV Addict: It’s GREY’S ANATOMY meets L.A. LAW. Which is something we’d usually be far more critical of, except for the fact that these lawyers include JACK & BOBBY’S Matt Long! VERONICA MARS’ Tina Majorino! TITANIC’s Billy Zane! And Broadway’s Norbert Leo Butz! (TV Addict note: Gratuitous use of exclamation marks denotes our off-the-charts level of excitement for this series)
Sara Rue.
Magic is sexy.
How long can actors really be expected to remain in high school?
From Ty Burrell’s self-proclaimed ‘hip’ dad, MARRIED… WITH CHILDREN’s Ed O’Neil playing a crotchety grandpa (albeit one who’s married to a much younger and hotter woman) and Mitchell and Cameron, who as 
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