Dick Clark and Jonathan Frid RIP, new IMAX and 24 FPS technology preview, Tron series comes to Disney XD, Seacrest, Maher, O’Reilly, Hannity extend contracts

Of course the big entertainment news is the passing of TV legend Dick Clark. Of course the conspiracy theorists are already saying that it doesn’t matter if our New Year’s Eve icon passed away because according to the Mayan calendar there will not be a New Year’s Eve because the world is going to end December 22, 2012. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Jonathan Frid, the actor who played the original Barnabas Collins on vampire soap opera Dark Shadows died at age 87. We are hoping it wasn’t because he saw the ridiculous trailer for the new Johnny Depp/Tim Burton adaptation of Dark Shadows. Although it was hotly anticipated by fans of the original show, it turns out this new version is more of a comedy spoof of the original than a real remake. We are highly disappointed and not amused at all. However the good news is Amazon.com is now selling a 131 disc DVD collection of every episode of the classic TV show in a box set for a retail price of $599 but you can pre-order it now for a mere $419.99! Comes complete with its own coffin shaped box.

http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Shadows-Complete-Original-Edition/dp/B007PZ6SYK/

I went to see Titanic 3-D last week. After a very disappointing 3-D conversion for Star Wars: The Phantom Menace I was a little bit skeptical about Titanic but it was absolutely amazing. The very best 2-D to 3-D conversion I’ve ever seen. When Rose is hanging off the back of the ship and Jack is saving her from her suicide attempt the depth of 3-D really adds to the drama of the scene. In the scene when Jack joins the upper crust of high society for dinner I really felt like I was sitting around the table with all of those people. And dancing below decks with the people in steerage and the claustrophobic feeling of the lower decks really comes alive. Even during the fastest and most complicated action sequences that 3-D held up perfectly. And in one of the final scenes as Rose clings to a piece of wood and says her goodbyes to Jack, a small lock of hair quivers back and forth rapidly as she shivers. The computer that does the conversion to 3-D has to track that little string of hair perfectly to maintain the 3-D effect and it does so flawlessly. After watching Star Wars I noticed that some of the scenes that should look good in 3-D were not shot in such a way that a 3-D conversion would make them look good. But after watching Titanic it looks like James Cameron was really thinking in 3-D way before the technology was available to shoot good 3-D or convert it. His entire style of filmmaking even in this older 2-D effort really shows his awareness of the third dimension in framing and choosing his shots. This week at CinemaCon, a Vegas convention that brings together movie producers and theater owners, directors Martin Scorsese and Ang Lee told theater owners that 3-D is the future of their business. Scorsese went on to say all of his films will be in 3-D from now on. He will not shoot 2-D anymore. Also from CinemaCon IMAX debuted a prototype of a new laser projector that produces brighter, sharper images on larger screens and the brightness extends all the way to the corners of the images. There are still some technical details to work out and concerns about the safety if somehow the laser shines directly into someone’s eyes. But they are using different kinds of lasers that are used in traditional laser light shows or rock concerts where those concerns originally came up and eventually became regulated. One more bit of new Cinema technology… Peter Jackson demonstrated some footage from his upcoming 3-D feature The Hobbit and it was projected at 48 frames per second as opposed to the traditional 24 frames per second. This provides a much smoother and more lifelike image especially on large screens. When I upgraded my TV from regular HDTV at 30 frames per second to a newer model it 120 or 240 frames per second I saw a visible difference in picture quality. If 48 frames per second ever becomes the standard we can work for amazing reality in movie imagery. Sadly 48 frames laser IMAX is still a few years away.

And now for a bunch of other entertainment news leading you into the May sweeps period. Lots of season finales and season ending cliffhangers to talk about.

In the links below read about…

Interview with producers of Ringer promises cliffhanger and three deaths!

Ask Ausiello spoilers for April 18

Preview of season 2 of Showtime’s serious Homeland to premiere in September

Interview with Supernatural’s Jim Beaver about the ghostly return of his character

Preview of remaining episodes of various Fox series

Ask Ausiello spoilers for April 24

Review of final storylines for this season of Grey’s Anatomy

Trailer for new Disney XD series “Tron: Uprising”

Very cool publicity photo of Anthony Hopkins portraying Alfred Hitchcock in an upcoming movie

Peter Jackson previews Hobbit footage at 48 frames per second rather than traditional 24. Makes movies look more realistic.

Prototype of new IMAX laser projector debuted. Promises bigger brighter screens.

 

 

Not in the links below but also of interest

 

Cyndi Lauper will guest star again on Bones as psychic Avalon Harmonia

Bree Turner who plays spy shop proprietress Rosalie has been promoted to series regular starting next season

Royal Pains returns June 6, Burn Notice June 14, White-Collar July 10

Supergirl to appear on White-Collar Smallville alumna Laura Vandervoort will guest star in an upcoming episode

American Horror Story season 2 will take place in an insane asylum. Voice judge Adam Levine will guest star on some episodes

The title of the final episode of House is “Everybody Dies” makes you stop and think

NBC has ordered a new series starring former friend Matthew Perry

Jennifer Morrison, Amber Tamblyn and Olivia Wilde will return for the series finale of House

Ryan Seacrest has signed up for another season of American Idol rumors say it’s two-year deal

ABC family network has renewed Lying Game for season 2

Alec Baldwin says he is returning to 30 Rock and according to him next season will be the shows last

This week’s winner of the “Chris Young’s Sure Sign of the Coming Apocalypse Award” goes to NBC for ordering a new Howie Mandel game show called “White Elephant”

Runner-up for the above award goes to a casting Lindsay Lohan to play Elizabeth Taylor in upcoming biopic

The Bachelor has been sued because it no longer casts African-American actors/participants

Fox news has signed Bill O’Reilly and Shawn Hannity to extended contracts

Martha Stewart will have a cooking show on PBS in the fall

Stephen King’s “Eyes of the Dragon” is in development as a movie or miniseries for SyFy Channel

Bill Maher has signed a two-year extension with HBO

True Blood author Charlene Harris has sold a mystery series to SyFy Channel

Former “Roman” Ray Stevenson who played Titus Pullo on HBO will have a prominent role in the next season of Dexter

SyFy Channel announced a new reality series “Hot Set” that is a spinoff from its makeup reality competition show “Face Off”. This one is for Hollywood production designers who have to create movie sets.

New HBO series Veep starring Julia Louis Dreyfus is getting decent ratings. I’ve seen one episode in if you like very dry political humor recommended. Think of it as West Wing written by Jerry Seinfeld. Although this show isn’t written by Seinfeld but you get my point.

Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter is doing a documentary on discovery channel about American outlaws

A new documentary titled “The Beatles: The Lost Concert” will debut May 17. Includes a complete Washington DC performance from February 11, 1964.

 

 

 


Ringer Finale Preview: Bosses Promise ‘Mother of All Cliffhangers’ and at Least 3 Deaths!


Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Gossip Girl, Weeds, NCIS, Fringe, 90210, Grey’s Anatomy and More!


Early Intel on Homeland Season 2: Will Carrie Go Rogue? Plus: The New Threat to Brody


Supernatural‘s Jim Beaver on Bobby’s Ghost Powers and Taking the Fight to Dick Roman


Spectacular May Sweeps/Finale Spoilers on Glee, House, Bones, Fringe, New Girl and More!


Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Grey’s, Vampire Diaries, Good Wife, Glee, Dexter, The Office and More!


Grey’s Anatomy Preview: A Surprise Hook-Up, Plus a Finale in Which ‘Anybody Could Go’


‘Tron: Uprising’ intense new trailer


‘Hitchcock’ Revealed By Fox Searchlight


‘The Hobbit’ Debuts At Revolutionary 48 Frames During Warner Bros. Exhib Presentation: CinemaCon


IMAX Laser Projection Prototype Clears Way For Much Larger Screens: CinemaCon

 

HBO orders more Thrones, Smits to Anarchy, Bravo orders more reality. Lauer, Letterman, Ferguson get extensions

After a brief timeout for a minor illness I’m back on the job scouring the Internet for the latest entertainment news. Actually our first news item is courtesy of my six-year-old nephew Cole… “Captain America 2” will premiere April 4, 2014. He’s already counting the days. And we have to note the biggest entertainment news is the passing of 60 minutes correspondent Mike Wallace. They don’t make them like that anymore.

In links below read about

 

A postmortem of this season of Spartacus with a surprise revelation that one other character died that you didn’t necessarily know if they died or not.

An April calendar of season finales and summer premieres. Sorry we are already halfway through April but better late than never.

A postmortem of the season finale of Showtime’s series Shameless

Ask Ausiello spoilers for April 3 (check out creepy item on Game of Thrones)

Bravo network orders 11 new reality series

ABC announces summer schedule

Ask Ausiello spoilers for April 10

A slideshow featuring spoilers from 52 season finales. Also note linked to renewal scorecard.

 

Not in the links below but also of interest

Game of Thrones season 2 premiere to record numbers. HBO announces green light for season 3!

Jimmy Smits is joining season 5 of Sons of Anarchy for a multi-episode arc

Where in the world is Matt Lauer? Staying on the Today Show after signing a long term deal worth $25 million a year

St. Elsewhere alum William Daniels will put on the scrubs again to guest star on Gray’s Anatomy as the doctor who administers finals to the residents

Neil Patrick Harris will host the 2012 Tony awards

David Letterman and Craig Ferguson have renewed their contracts with CBS through 2014. Letterman will become the longest-running late-night talk show in history surpassing Carson

Firefly Reunion April 16 on Castle when Adam Baldwin costars.

The two-hour season finale of Awake will be May 17

HBO announced the new Adam Sorkin produced drama “Newsroom” June 24. True Blood premieres June 10

Reports are that Kristen Wiig, Andy Sandberg and Jason Sudeikis are leaving SNL. Never did like Wiig or any of her characters. Will miss the other two.

Fox has renewed Bones, Glee, New Girl, and Raising Hope for another season.

Lauren Cohen’s Maggie on The Walking Dead has been officially promoted to series regular.

Fox puts Breaking In on hiatus through the sweeps. May return in the summer

John Noble reveals that Fringe has shot two different endings for the season finale depending on whether or not they get renewed for season 5

Eli Manning will host SNL May 5 musical guest Rhiannon

The merger between SAG and AFTRA has finally been approved

My favorite liberal pundit Keith Olbermann got fired again this time from current TV

This weeks winner of the “Chris Young’s Sure Sign of the Apocalypse” award: Ryan Seacrest will host part of NBC’s Olympic coverage

The 10th Doctor returns to BBC America. David Tennant will start the BBC America miniseries “Spies of Warsaw”

Starz announced Kelsey Grammer drama “Boss” will return August 17

Fox has renewed Hells Kitchen for two more seasons

Frank Miller’s “Sin City” will get a sequel again directed by Robert Rodriguez

Seth McFarlane announced his plans to reboot The Flintstones are on hold because he’s too busy

Will Farrell announced there will be a new Anchorman sequel

Hunger Games director Gary Ross has decided he will not direct the sequel. No replacement named yet.

Robert Kirkman creator of The Walking Dead is working on a new series for AMC titled “Thief of Thieves”

ABC has decided to not cancel General Hospital for the time being

 

 

 


Spartacus: Vengeance Post Mortem: The Story Behind The Finale’s Unprecedented [Spoiler]


Save the Dates: April Premieres and Finales!


Shameless Stars Reflect on Emotional Season Finale, Ponder Fiona and Jimmy’s Future


Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Castle, Grey’s Anatomy, Gossip Girl, Glee, Thrones, True Blood and More


Bravo Orders 11 New Series, Including Top Chef and Beverly Hills Housewives Spin-Offs


ABC Sets Return Dates For Rookie Blue, Bachelor Pad, Wipeout and More!


Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on HIMYM, Private Practice, Bones, Walking Dead, Parks and Rec and More!


Your Season Finale Guide: Get Exclusive Spoilers on 52 Big Finishes!