Star Trek rocks, Renewal List, Jack is back (Bauer and Barrowman), RIP Stapleton, Hannibal renewed, 2.5 Men to add Woman

One can hardly call it Entertainment News when it’s in some parts a month old but here is my next installment of Entertainment used to be news 🙂

We start off by telling you that the new installment of JJ Abrams reboot of Star Trek is awesome beyond words. If you are a general fan of action you will like it. If you are a very knowledgeable Star Trek fan (especially about the previous series of movies) you will be totally blown away. I have been critical of the first JJ Abrams Star Trek because it wasn’t what I was expecting. We were told it was Capt. Kirk, Spock, McCoy when they were young. I was looking forward to seeing what made the characters we had grown to love for so many years who they were. Unfortunately with a time travel gimmick that literally rebooted everything, these characters are no longer the same people because this timeline has developed differently. My disappointment the first time around has grown too much appreciation this time because now I can sit back and enjoy looking at the differences between the two timelines. Those differences are celebrated in this new film and add a whole other dimension to it that makes a delight for hard-core Star Trek fans like myself. I also patted myself on the back for seeing a plot twist that came. I only saw it coming about 15 seconds before it was revealed but I loved it nevertheless.

We have to pay tribute to Jean Stapleton who is most famous for playing Edith Bunker in the groundbreaking sitcom “All in the Family”. She died this past week at age 90. My favorite Edith Bunker quote was the scene where a friend of hers was asking about her love life with Archie. “Is it still fireworks like the Fourth of July?” the friend asks. Edith frowns and replies “With Archie it’s more like Thanksgiving”. That character is also famous for perfectly pronouncing the most unintelligible sentence in TV history every week. In the show’s classic opening with Edith and Archie sitting at the piano singing “Those Were the Days”, Edith sings a line that stumped viewers for years until she finally went on talk shows and explained that she was pronouncing the words exactly as they should be. Unless you knew what she was saying, it sounded like total gibberish. The sentence was (in case you never heard the explanation) was “Gee our old LaSalle ran great.” That is “Gee” as in geewhiz, “LaSalle” is a type of old car that in her experience performed beautifully (ran great). But when you run those words together quickly they make no sense whatsoever.

The other major news is that Matt Smith is leaving Doctor Who at the end of 2013. He will appear in the 50th anniversary special which will air in November and in the 2013 Christmas special which will be his last episode. Of course speculation is rampant on who will replace him. Some say it is the iconic actor who appeared in the final few seconds of the most recent episode. Others are voting for a variety of factors including Rupert Gent a.k.a. Ron Weasley from the Harry Potter movies. My nomination is Ben Whishaw who played Freddy Lyons in the BBC series “The Hour” and recently appeared in James Bond SkyFall as the new “Q”. Fans are also busy arguing over the obscure line in a very old episode that said the doctor can only regenerate 12 times. They aren’t sure whether that’s the original +12 or if it’s 12 total. Matt Smith is the 11th doctor. My guess is we will see a 12 and a 13 and however many more BBC wants to create.

Be sure to check out the first two links below which is a complete listing of network and cable shows that were renewed or canceled. Here is a brief list of canceled shows to whet your appetite: 666 Park Ave., Don’t Trust the B in 23, Private Practice, Red Widow, Zero Hour, CSI:NY, Made in Jersey, Vegas, The Cleveland Show, Fringe, The Mob Dr., Touch, 1600 Penn, 30 Rock, Animal Practice, Go on, The Office, Up All Night, Whitney, 90210, Cult, Gossip Girl, Breaking Bad (final season August 11), Being Human (BBC America version) final season premieres July 13, Enlightenment, Treme (final season debuts late 2013), The Borgias, Dexter (final season premieres June 30), The Big C, Warehouse 13 (final season to debut in 2014), Southland, Burn Notice (final season premieres June 6). Okay I lied that’s the official list of canceled series. Click on the links to learn about other series extensions and debut dates.

In links below read…

2013 Network season renewal scorecard

Cable season renewal scorecard

Interview with Julie Benz on playing the mayor of Defiance

Ask Aussiello spoilers dated May 22

Postmortem interview with producers of Grimm about season finale

postmortem interview with actor Stephen Amell about season finale of Arrow

Ask Ausiello spoilers dated May 29

Postmortem interview with show runner of Spartacus about series finale

Jimmy Fallon’s Game of Thrones Parody is a must-see for fans

Also of interest but not in links below…

Fox has announced Kiefer Sutherland will return in a “24” miniseries in May 2014. It was still cover the events of a single 24 hour period however it will only be 12 hours long. They are going to cut out the boring stuff supposedly. Chloe is almost assuredly going to return as is tech wizard girl Friday but no word on the other cast members.

CW networks Nikita will have its final season of just six episodes next year.

Jennifer Ferrin who has been pursuing Kevin Bacon on The Following will become a regular in season 3 of “Hell on Wheels”

Hell on Wheels will premiere August 3 at 9 PM

May 29 CBS pulled the season finale of Mike and Molly because it was about a tornado. On the heels of the Oklahoma tornadoes they decided not show it. It will be rescheduled.

666 Park Ave. will air its final four un-aired episodes starting June 22 on ABC

X factor judges this year will be Simon Cowell, Demi Lovato, former Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland, and Latin popstar Paulina Rubio.

John Barrowman a.k.a. black arrow a.k.a. Capt. Jack Harkness will host an upcoming ABC singing competition called Sing Your Face Off.

Rumors are American Idol is considering and all alumni judging panel such as Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, Adam Lambert, Clay Aiken. All four of the seasons judges are gone but no replacements are named yet.

Emma Roberts from Scream 4 will be a regular on the upcoming season 3 of American Horror Story

Diego Klattenhoffwho played army buddy uncle Mike on Homeland will not return next season

CBS has ordered a new series called Bad Teacher based on the movie of the same name

A&E has canceled Intervention. Will conclude with five installments starting June 13

American Idol alumni Matt Rogers will host Summer Camp a USA Network reality series

Shield alumni CCH Pounder will have a multi-episode arc on Sons of Anarchy

CW will air the remaining episodes of canceled series Cult starting June 28

Maresca Hargitay will return to SVU season 15

Comedy Central has renewed “Inside Amy Schumer” for season 2

Rob Lowe and Genifer Goodwin will play JFK and Jackie in National Geographic’s Killing Kennedy

Not only is Neil Patrick Harris hosting this week’s Tony awards. He will also host the 2013 Emmy awards on September 22

Producers of 2 1/2 Men are looking to add a female in her late teens to plate the late Charlie Harper’s daughter he never knew he had. She will debut next year’s season to replace Angus T Jones who is not returning. Still no plans to change the name of the show.

Sam Page of Mad Men and Molly Parker from Deadwood will join the cast of house of cards season 2

FX is moving a few episodes of Anger Management over to Fox network

NBC has officially renewed Hannibal for season 2

Jean Stapleton a.k.a. Edith Bunker has died at the age of 90

Marisa Ramirez has officially taken over as Danny’s permanent new partner on Bluebloods

JJ Abrams has acquired the rights to a never before produced script by Rod Serling

Former MSNBC/Current TV news man Keith Olbermann will host TBS MLB postseason coverage

Showtime has officially canceled The Borgias

Alfre Woodard will ever recurring role on upcoming season of BBC America’s Copper

Patricia Arquette will have a recurring role on next season’s Boardwalk Empire

HBO’s The Newsroom returns July 14

TNT and TBS will soon begin streaming programming on apps for tablets and smartphones

The Tony Awards have contracted to stay on CBS through 2018

Adam Levine “hates this country” for voting off his contestants. Then apologizes for his comment.

American Idol has canceled nine cities from its summer concert tour over a lack of interest.

Paul McCartney will perform a special one-hour episode of Colbert Report next Wednesday, June 12

Henry Cavill currently playing Superman in Man of Steel is in talks to play in an upcoming Man from UNCLE movie. Tom Cruise was going to start but backed out so he can work on Mission Impossible 5

Cable Renewal Scorecard


2013 Renewal Scorecard: What’s Cancelled? What’s Returning? What’s Still on the Bubble?


Julie Benz on Playing Defiance’s ‘Badass’ Mayor: Not Being ‘The Sexy One’ Is Definitely Fun


Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Vampire Diaries, Nikita, Psych, Revenge, Covert Affairs and More!


Grimm Post Mortem: David Giuntoli on Nick in a Box (‘It’s Going to Be Bad’), Wesen Sex and More


A ‘Broken’ Arrow in Season 2? Plus: Which Finale Scene Was Deleted for Being Too Revealing?


Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on True Blood, Vampire Diaries, Sons of Anarchy, NCIS, Suits and More!


Showrunner Steven S. DeKnight breaks down who survived and who died in the ‘Spartacus’ series finale and why


Jimmy Fallon’s ‘Game of Thrones’ parody will be a ball — EXCLUSIVE CLIP