I suppose it’s time to take a timeout from celebrating my 60^th birthday, playing with my new 3-D printer, and shopping for a new wheelchair. That means it’s time for a new entertainment blog. And with a lot of blockbuster movies under our belt in a few more to go this summer and with the new TV season looming on the horizon… This is way overdue.

Among the recent movies we’ve seen the new Mad Max movie was wall-to-wall action that included some kick ass female heroes in addition to Max himself who seems to be pretty much along for the ride most of the time. Some of it literally riding along tied to the front bumper of one of the bad guys vehicles. It’s gone from theaters but if you didn’t see it, you might consider renting a Blu-ray will be sure to catch it when it comes to cable. The recent Marvel movies have all been worth seeing. The new Avengers movie was everything you would expect in a big Marvel action movie. And Ant-man was surprisingly good given the idea of an insect sized superhero seems a little bit silly. While it lacks the giant set piece action sequences of something like Avengers, there was still plenty of action and great 3-D effects. Finally the new Terminator movie was absolutely a must see in 3-D if possible for any fans of the series. Although sort of a reboot using the alternate timeline excuse, it does logically fit in with the original series of movies unlike some of the plot points from the TV series Sarah Connor Chronicles which seem to only loosely fit into the cinematic universe. Suggest that you watch the first 20 minutes or so of the original Terminator before seeing this movie. Not because it’s necessary but because it will make the opening of this new movie more fun. Also Jurassic World was excellent in IMAX 3-D. Have not yet seen the new Mission Impossible but I plan to next week.

I use to create my own fault TV schedules to help me keep track of new and returning shows, schedule changes etc. The problem was each network had their own calendar but there was no way to put it all together. Now there are other entertainment websites which do a great job so we will just put a link to them. Here is the fall TV schedule from TVLine.com which is excellent. The calendar itself is an image in the middle of this article. If you click on it once you get just the image which is handy to print. If you click it again in your browser it will zoom in to make it easier to read.

Fall TV Grid 2015: What’s on When? And Versus What?

That calendar shows what the schedule will look like once everything has premiered but if you want to see day by day when new and returning series will premiere in their staggered rollout, check out this article which is a September calendar showing day by day premieres and a sneak preview of October and November as well. Similarly you should click on the image in the center of the article for a printable version. And you could click again to zoom in using your browser.

Fall TV 2015: Your Handy Calendar of 90+ Season and Series Premiere Dates

Two other TV news items which deserve comment…

It’s not unusual for a network to have what they call crossover episodes in which characters from different cop shows team up to solve a case together. You know how it goes, NCIS has a big case so they team up with NCIS New Orleans. Or maybe even crossover to an unrelated show such as Hawaii 5-0. CW network has had extensive crossovers between Arrow and The Flash. In fact they scheduled one hoping that Arrow fans would boost the ratings of The Flash when in fact the opposite happened and establish show Arrow a boost from newcomer The Flash. But it appears that Fox network is going to do a crossover the likes of which we have never seen.

The detectives from Bones and Sleepy Hollow are both going to investigate the same case together this season.

I like my superhero and my supernatural fantasy TV shows a lot but they are part of a particular genre that I think should remain to themselves. While police procedural shows occasionally border on the realm of sci-fi when they use technology that doesn’t really exist, you expect your average police drama to remain firmly rooted in reality. I don’t look down on supernatural or superhero shows as being a lesser form of entertainment. But taking what is supposed to be a reality-based show and doing a crossover with what is clearly fantasy based just seems like it takes away some of the legitimacy of the cop show and tries to add a false sense of legitimacy to the fantasy show. I am a fan of both Bones and Sleepy Hollow and I have to say I don’t like the idea at all. My guess is that people who are fans of one or the other but not both of the shows will disapprove as well. Would you watch an episode of Law and Order if Batman suddenly showed up to help solve a crime? Maybe Ambassador Mr. Spock could get his friends from the Starship Enterprise to do one of those time travel episodes and could negotiate a peace treaty in the Middle East for Madam Secretary or Homeland.

The other somewhat surprising but certainly less disturbing news is that NBC has ordered season 2 of “Aquarius”. It is a totally fictional account about a cop (David Duchoveny) chasing after cult leader Charles Manson. First of all we had excellent miniseries and books telling the real-life story of the cops chasing Manson so I can see why we needed one that was completely fictional. Also NBC allegedly in competition with Netflix decided to release the entire 12 part season online on the date of the first episode premiered broadcast. I took that (as did many) is an indication that NBC had pretty much given up on the series, knew in advance that they probably were not going to broadcast all the episodes. Typically when a show is doing badly these days (especially a summer series) they show about four or five episodes, give up, and dump the remaining episodes for online streaming just shut up the fans. I tried watching a single episode and was bored to death. While they canceled Hannibal after 2 season which I really liked. I understand why Hannibal didn’t appeal to everyone because it was very gory, stylized, artsy, over directed. But it was still intriguing to me. Oh well… Onward to the regular news…

In the links below you can read all about…

Spoilers from Inside Line dated June 29

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated July 1

Dr. Who news from Comic Con

Walking Dead news from Comic Con

Fear the Walking Dead news from Comic Con

Game of Thrones news from Comic Con

Big Bang Theory news from Comic Con

Agent Carter news from Comic Con

iZombie news from Comic Con

Grimm news from comic con

More Dr. Who news from Comic Con

The Flash news from Comic Con

More Walking Dead news from Comic Con

Once upon a Time news from Comic Con

Arrow news from Comic Con

Legends of Tomorrow Comic Con

Supergirl news from Comic Con

Gotham news from Comic Con

Supernatural news from Comic Con

American Horror Story news from Comic Con

Heroes Reborn news from Comic Con

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated July 21

Spoilers from Inside Line dated July 27

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated August 2

Not in the links below but also of interest

NBC has fired Donald Trump because of his presidential bid. Of course lots of other people are firing him because of his comments on immigration.

SyFy Channel has picked up season 3 of its werewolf series Bitten

RIP comedian Jack Carter died at age 93

USA network announced the Suits has been renewed for season 6

NBC will not have season 2 of “A.D. The Bible Continues”. I’m not sure where it left off but it seems they would run out of source material eventually wouldn’t they?

Jeffrey Dean Morgan has been added a series regular to The Good Wife

Harry Shearer has returned as a voice actor to The Simpsons after being fired during contract negotiations

Netflix announced casting of Daredevil’s Electra. It will be Elodie Yung most recently seen in G.I. Joe: Retaliation

ABC series Forever which was recently canceled is not being picked up by any other network or streaming service as hoped. This show about immortality is officially completely dead.

South Park has been reviewed for season 21, 22, and 23

Keith Olbermann has left ESPN… Again.

The revival of Twin Peaks on Showtime has been pushed back until 2017

Margo Martindale has been added to the cast of The Good Wife. I loved her characters on both Justified and The Americans so I can’t wait to see her in a new role.

Dr. Who returns September 19.

MTV has renewed Teen Wolf for season 6. Renewed Scream season 2

RIP British character actor Roger Rees known for playing Kirstie Alley’s boyfriend on Cheers and as a British foreign minister on The West Wing.

Peter Facinelli recently relieved of pharmacist duty on Nurse Jackie is joining the cast of Supergirl as Maxwell Lord

AMC network announced Turn: Washington Spies is been renewed for season 3. I gave up after one.

Orphan Black’s Tatiana Maslany FINALLY got an Emmy nomination!

RIP George Coe probably the least remembered character from SNL’s first season. More recently known as the voice of Archer’s Butler Woodhouse. Dead at age 86.

Former Crossing Jordan start Jill Hennessey returns to TV as a recurring character in Madame Secretary as Tim Daly’s new CIA handler.

HBO has renewed The Brink for season 2

Michael Chiklis a.k.a. Vic Mackey from The Shield will be a series regular in Gotham playing a cop.

FX has canceled The Comedians with Billy Crystal and Josh Gad. I could barely do one episode. It was awful.

SyFy Channel announced there will be a Sharknado 4 despite 30% drop in ratings between 2 and 3.

Former Star Trek Voyager Borg Jeri Ryan will guest star on the upcoming season of Arrow as a mayoral Candidate

TNT has renewed Rizzoli and Isles for season 7 of just 13 episodes for the summer of 2016

Showtime sitcom Happyish has been canceled

Happy 75^th birthday to Bugs Bunny

Longmire season 4 will drop on Netflix September 10 with 10 episodes

Cinemax announced Banshee will end in 2016

This week’s winner of “Chris Young’s Sure Sign of the Coming Apocalypse Award” goes to Discovery’s Destination America channel for their plans to televise the actual exorcism live.

Kalinda lives! Former Good Wife investigator Archie Panjabi will guest star on Brooklyn Nine-Nine

New AMC android series Humans has been renewed for season 2

Famke Jamssen a.k.a. Jane Gray from X-Men will guest star for multiple episodes of How to Get Away with Murder. Given her mind-reading abilities that may be difficult 🙂

Much to our disappointment Stephen Moffat has confirmed that Maisie Williams a.k.a. Arya Stark from Game of Thrones will not be playing a character from Dr. Who’s past. She will be a completely new character. Peter Capaldi has hinted that the Doctor’s granddaughter will return this season. She hasn’t been seen since the days of the first doctor. We were hopeful Maisie Williams had the part. Oh well at least we get to see her.

Starz network has renewed pirate drama Black Sails for season 4. I was a bit disappointed in the previous one.

RIP former pro wrestling Rowdy Roddy Piper age 61

Deadwood’s favorite bartender Ian McShane will have an important yet small role in season 6 of Game of Thrones. We can’t wait.

Fox has confirmed that the characters from Prison Break will come together for a sequel to episode event series.

FX has renewed The Strain for season 3 and we are very pleased.

Fantasy author Neil Gaiman will write scripts for the upcoming Starz series American Gods based on his novels.

Celebrity stunt show “I Can Do That” has been renewed for season 2 on NBC

RIP famous TV and movie producer Jerry Weintraub age 77

Regis Philbin will be an occasional contributor to The Today Show

After starring in the upcoming Batman versus Superman movie, Ben Affleck will write and direct himself in a standalone Batman movie.

RIP veteran after Omar Sharif known for Lawrence of Arabia and Dr. Zhivago he was 83

Nathan Lane will play lawyer F. Lee Bailey in American Crime Story’s episodes on O.J. Simpson trial

George Lucas, Carole King, Cecily Tyson and Rita Marino are among the newest Kennedy Center Honorees

Carol Burnett will receive a SAG Lifetime Achievement Award

AMC network will produce another season of “Making of the Mob” documentary series.

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on The Flash, Teen Wolf, Bones, Once, Castle, Faking It, Wayward Pines, The Strain and More

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Nashville, Flash, Castle, Good Wife, Originals, CSI, Mistresses, Scream Queens and More

Doctor Who @ Comic-Con: Missy as ‘Frenemy,’ Maisie Williams as Guest Star and… a Woman in the Title Role?

Walking Dead @ Comic-Con: Naked Rick, Tested Morgan, Wily Wolves

Fear The Walking Dead @ Comic-Con: California Setting, Early Outbreak Vibe Yield ‘Incredibly Different’ Tone

Game of Thrones @ Comic-Con: Arya’s Blind Ambition, Stannis’ Fate and More

Big Bang Theory Boss Chuck Lorre Shoots Down Spinoff Chatter, Throws Shade at Fellow CBS Hit Scorpion

Marvel’s Agent Carter @ Comic-Con: Black Dahlia Mystery — and New Love Interests — on Season 2 Docket

iZombie @ Comic-Con: Liv & Blaine Will Make ‘Strange Bedfellows’ in Season 2

Grimm @ Comic-Con: Juliette’s Fate Confirmed, ‘Major Problems’ for Monrosalee and More Season 5 Scoop

Doctor Who Stars, EP on Season 9: A ‘Surprise’ Resurrection, Classic Monsters and an ‘Upside Down’ Twist

The Flash @ Comic-Con: Zoom, Earth 2 Characters Play Into Season 2

Walking Dead Cast Talk Season 6’s Big Decisions, the Carol-Daryl ‘Connection’ and Rick (Finally) on the Rebound

Once Upon a Time @ Comic-Con: Dark Swan’s Fate, a Brave Newcomer and More Season 5 Scoop

Arrow @ Comic-Con: Oliver Gets a Heroic New Look, Diggle (Finally) Suits Up, Anarky Reigns and More

Legends of Tomorrow @ Comic-Con: ‘Crazy Ideas’ Fuel the ‘Bonkers’ Spinoff

Supergirl @ Comic-Con: ‘Her Gender Doesn’t Matter — She’s a Badass’

Gotham @ Comic-Con: Season 2’s Rise in Villains Will Require New Heroes

Supernatural @ Comic-Con: The Winchesters Reunite, Fan Faves Return and More Season 11 Scoop

AHS & Scream Queens @ Comic-Con: Ryan Murphy Teases Kappa Killer, Familiar Hotel Guests and More

Heroes Reborn @ Comic-Con: Showrunner Tim Kring on Returning Favorites, 5-Year Time Jump and More

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Supernatural, Good Wife, Shameless, iZombie, Scandal, Supergirl and More

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Once, NCIS, Empire, Supernatural, NCIS: LA, B99, The Middle, H50 and More

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Big Bang, Arrow, Bates, Sleepy, Castle, Twin Peaks, UnREAL, Gotham, Dome and More

Before we go on with my usual entertainment blog we have the following trivia question…

What has more deaths than the average episode of Game of Thrones? Answer: this blog.

Seriously I generally report on celebrity deaths but for some reason it seems like there were an unusual number of them this time around. While everyone is screaming and crying over the passing of fictional characters in their favorite TV shows, how many fan tears were shed for these actual human beings? These were just the ones that I found and I left out some more obscure movie and TV producers, publicity people, behind-the-scenes people you never heard of. Here’s the list.

RIP composer James Horner whose film credits include Titanic, Braveheart, Avatar who died when the small plane was piloting crashed.

RIP actor Sir Christopher Lee known for Dracula and Saruman from Lord of the Rings. He was 93.

RIP comedian Anne Meara of comedy team Stiller & Meara and mother of Ben Stiller. She was 85.

RIP Suzanne Crough who played Tracy Partridge on The Partridge Family age 52 unreleased cause of death

RIP Sawyer Sweeten who played one of Ray Romano’s twin sons on Everybody Loves Raymond dead of apparent suicide at age 19.

RIP Grace Lee Whitney a.k.a. Yeoman Janice Rand from the original Star Trek dead at age 85.

RIP contestant on The Voice season 8 Anthony Riley died at age 28 of apparent suicide

RIP standup comedian/actor Rick Ducommun appeared in films The Burbs and Groundhog Day among others.

RIP Don Mankiewicz screenwriter who created Ironside and Marcus Welby. He was 93.

RIP Jane Meadows comedian actress who is married to the late Steve Allen. She was 95.

RIP mathematician John Nash who is the subject of the film “A Beautiful Mind” died in auto accident. He was 86.

RIP Betsy Palmer stage actress who is most famous for appearances on the 60s TV game show I’ve Got a Secret and as Jason’s mom in the original Friday the 13^th movie. Trivia question answer as well. What was the name of the killer in Friday the 13^th? It wasn’t Jason. It was his mom. Down

RIP actor Dick Van Patten who was the father in “Eight Is Enough”. He was 86.

The regular TV season wrapped weeks ago and summer series are in full swing. It’s time for another installment in my entertainment blog which is as usual long overdue. This blog actually took two days to compile I was so far behind. We’re going to talk about renewals and cancellations but if you want to skip all of my analysis you can just click on these links and see for yourself what’s renewed and what’s canceled. Or read my analysis and then click to see the shows I didn’t discuss.

Here is a link to TV Line’s Broadcast Renewal Scorecard

Here is a link to TV Line’s Cable Renewal Scorecard

It was a great season with outstanding new series such as The Flash, Gotham, and Daredevil all delivering strong stories for comic book fans and nonfans alike. Geek procedurals Scorpion and CSI: Cyber both got renewed and although not really inspired they are watchable. Surprisingly Sleepy Hollow got a third season. As did Agents of Shield and Agent Carter. I think the most pleasant surprise was the apocalyptic comedy “The Last Man on Earth”. I’ve decided it is the most realistic sci-fi series ever produced even though it is hilariously ridiculous. If there was a virus that wiped out all but a handful of people, I could totally believe everything that happened in those 13 episodes. I’m very pleased it will be back. Another improbable hit the musical sitcom Galivant was consistently funny will return next year. Other geek fair includes CW Network’s “The 100” which will be back along with iZombie which I enjoyed. The second season of Halt and Catch Fire is currently airing. FX Network vampire/virus show The Strain had its strong moments and will be back for a second season. SyFy Channel is bringing back 12 Monkeys and Z Nation for return seasons but will bid farewell to Haven and Continuum when they complete their current seasons. Falling Skies starts its final season this week.

I never did get into Parks and Recreation nor Mad Men so their passing didn’t really affect me. Speaking of it shows I never watched, I did check out season 1 of Breaking Bad streaming and now I understand why it was so popular. I intend to gradually catch up. Speaking of shows I never watched. The Simpsons has been renewed for season 27 and 28.

Madam Secretary had a strong first year and I’m pleased it has been renewed. The Mysteries of Laura had its funny moments but I’m surprised it’s getting a second season. Other female centric shows that didn’t make it include Bad Judge which I really liked and State of Affairs which was a total mess. I will say a fond farewell to Covert Affairs which I enjoyed but had probably run its course. Female centric newcomer How to Get Away with Murder which I originally did not like ended up changing my opinion and I’m looking forward to its second season.

The biggest cancellation that I’m bummed about is that Brian Williams will not be returning as anchor of NBC nightly news. Instead he will be covering “breaking news” on MSNBC. I guess that means he’s going to be sitting around the office all day waiting for something bad to happen. Such a shame.

None of the new romantic comedy sitcoms such as A to Z, Manhattan Love Story, and Selfie survived. Family comedy Blackish had its ups and downs but occasionally made me laugh and will be back. Other family sitcoms such as The Millers, Dads, About a Boy and The McCarthys got the axe.

Among canceled shows that I watched that will not return we say farewell to Revenge which was fun but had run its course. Helix which I watched on SyFy Channel but I probably won’t miss it. It was creepy and strange but it just never did really deliver. I will miss Forever about an immortal medical examiner in New York City. The Mentalist probably should’ve quit a year ago when they finally put the Red John storyline to rest. It was ready to go and it did.

Surprisingly the original CSI is wrapping up but will have a two hour movie to say farewell including the return of William Peterson and Marge Helgenberger. Also from the “beyond the sell by date” was the announcement that although American Idol will return next year, it will be its last season. The Following probably should’ve ended a year early as well but will not be back. Hell on Wheels will start the first half of its final season July 18. Broadchurch is getting a third season which I’m looking forward to. Luther will get a two part miniseries late this year. Of course we say very fond farewells to Justified and Sons of Anarchy. We will miss them.

Other cables shows of interest include Cinemax period medical drama The Knick was absolutely awesome and will be back for season 2. HBO’s bizarre departures series The Leftovers found an audience (me included) and will return. I will however greatly miss The Newsroom. History channel’s Vikings delivered a bloodied good season 3 and will be back for 4. Californication was fun for a while but had run its course. Episodes and Homeland and Penny Dreadful and Shameless will all be back on Showtime but we bid a fond farewell to Nurse Jackie. Starz pirate drama Black Sails was a real disappointment this year. Not as strong as its original season but it will be back for 3. Their new series Outlander a time traveling romantic drama put in an excellent first season and will be back.

We say a fond farewell to White Collar, Psych, and Necessary Roughness however USA will continue Royal Pains season 8 and we get more Suits later this month.

Many shows are finding new life on streaming networks. The Mindy Project is moving to Hulu. Longmire will have a new season on Netflix. River Street just wrapped up season three BBC America but Amazon Prime has ordered seasons four and five. Speaking of streaming… House of Cards gets a season 4. Daredevil and Grace and Frankie also are getting additional seasons as is Oranges the New Black and Marco Polo.

On PBS we get one more round of Downton Abbey and there will be a Sherlock special late this year followed by season 4.

For a complete grid showing the tentative fall schedule check out this link from TV Line.

In the links below read…

Season ending interview with executive producer Mom

Season ending interview with Will Forte about Last Man on Earth

Interview with Flash’s girlfriend Iris (actress Candace Patton) she’s glad Iris finally knows about Barry

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated May 7 (many may be out of date already)

Postseason interview with producer of Elementary

Interview with producer of Walking Dead spinoff series

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated May 19

Spoilers from Inside Line dated May 26

Season ending interview with producer of Outlander about intense finale and season 2

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated June 4

Spoilers from Inside Line dated June 11 and 22

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated today!

Not in the links below but also in the interest.

David Lynch has resolved his dispute with Showtime and is back involved in the renewal of Twin Peaks. The schedule has been expanded to more episodes and he will direct them all.

Former Fringe and Sleepy Hollow star John Noble has been cast as Sherlock’s father and will be a series regular in the next season of Elementary. We are very well pleased.

Orlando Jones will not be back for season 3 of Sleepy Hollow as Capt. Irving

SyFy Channel is developing a series with Amblin Entertainment based on Aldous Huxley’s novel Brave New World.

Hulu is developing a drama titled “Myst” based on the 90s computer game. I don’t think I ever did finish it.

Supergirl has been ordered to series at CBS for this fall. The pilot episode was leaked online and if I was the kind of guy who downloads illegal files I could tell you it was really cool. But I can’t tell you that… Wink Wink

Although season 3 of Orphan Black just wrapped, season 4 has been approved and we are very pleased.

Rosario Dawson a.k.a. nurse Claire Temple will return for season 2 of Daredevil and may cross over to other Netflix/Marvel series.

A possible spinoff series for Agents of Shield to center on Bobbi Morse and Lance Hunter has died before it got started.

Mike Epps will star as Uncle Buck in an ABC sitcom based on the John Candy movie of the same name.

Fox romantic comedy Undatable has been renewed for season 3 in which all episodes will air live. They tried it as an experiment earlier this year and decided to go with it permanently.

Fox has order to series Lucifer based on the DC/Vertigo comic of the same name and Minority Report based on the Tom Cruise film.

Fox’s hip-hop music series Empire will get 18 episodes for season 2 instead of the original 12.

Person of Interest season 5 has been reduced to 13 episodes which may mean the series is wrapping up although nothing official yet.

Browncoat’s rejoice! Morena Baccarin has been promoted to series regular for season 2 of Gotham as Jim Gordon’s favorite medical examiner/girlfriend. We are well pleased.

Gotham’s favorite coin flipping ADA Harvey Dent played by Nicholas D’Agmosto has been promoted to series regular for season 2.

Peter MacNichol will not return for season 2 of CSI: Cyber

Harry Shearer has been fired as voice actor for many characters on The Simpsons he was offered the same deal as other voice actors on the show and turned it down. His characters will be recast.

A proposed spinoff of TNT’s Major Crimes to be titled Special Operations Bureau did not get picked up.

Bill Murray will do a Christmas special for Netflix

It was touch and go to get the main characters of Castle back for another season with lots of last-minute signings however Penny Johnson Jerald will not be back as Capt. Gates next season.

Sendhil Ramamurthy will reprise his role as Mohinder in the upcoming Heroes Reborn on NBC in the fall. Also Christine Rose is returning as we could mother Angela Petrelli. One of our favorite villains of the series.

Fox is developing a limited series reboot of Prison Break

Jason George who plays Bailey’s husband on Grey’s Anatomy has been promoted to series regular next season. Also show runners are seeking an established male actor to replace Patrick Dempsey whom they killed off this season.

Former MASH doctor David Ogden Stiers will play Dr. Isles adoptive father on Rizzoli and Isles

Producers of Game of Thrones sure us that yes he really died in the end.

Former Dr. Who Matt Smith and John Lythgoe will star in a Netflix series about Queen Elizabeth II

Missing Justified? It’s EP is developing a Western for AMC based on Elmore Leonard’s novel “Gunsites”. Justified was also based on works by Elmore Leonard in case you didn’t know.

“Bombshell” which was the fictitious will musical about the life of Marilyn Monroe which was the centerpiece of the TV series Smash is indeed going to get produced for the stage. They did a charity performance of it in New York but now it’s going to really be produced as a stage musical. No word on whether it’s Broadway, off-Broadway, or touring company yet.

USA networks “Mr. Robot” which premieres tonight has already been picked up for season 2.

A&E Networks is renaming “H2” channel to “Vice” to be managed by the people who make the HBO documentary new series of the same name.

Warner Bros. is developing a film “The Forever War” possibly to be the first in a series. It will start Channing Tatum and is based on the classic sci-fi novel series by Joe Haldeman

Martin Freeman a.k.a. Bilbo Baggins The Hobbit has been cast in the new Capt. America movie. No word on which character.

Amy Schumer has taped her first in the special for HBO which will air later this year. Date unspecified as yet.

Samuel L Jackson will star in the remake of the 1958 sci-fi classic “The Blob”. No word on whether the script includes any lines like “Get this m…f… blob out of this m…f… town”.

ABC news man George Stephanopoulos has stepped down as a GOP debate moderator after it was revealed he had donated to the Clinton foundation.

Paramount announced that “World War Z 2” will be released in the summer of 2017.

Kurt Sutter’s “Bastard Executioner” has been picked up to series by FX channel for the full.

James Frain will be the next bad guy on Gotham season 2. He will play Theo Galavan brother to Tabitha a.k.a. DC comics character Tigress.

Amazon just gender series Transparent has been renewed for season 3 even before season 2 has been released.

Jimmy Smits will star in Baz Luhrmann’s upcoming musical series for Netflix title “the Get down” set in 1970s New York about a bunch of South Bronx teenagers who live on the street. Smits will play a political boss.

Greg Kinnear will play Joe Biden in HBO docudrama about the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings.

Despite rumors it turns out there will not be a Tron 3 after all.

Eddie Redmayne who recently portrayed Stephen Hawking has been cast as Newt Scamander in the Harry Potter prequel film “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”

Spanish-language network Univision has dropped the Miss Universe pageant after producer Donald Trump called Mexican immigrants criminals and rapists. Trump blames Mexican government as the “real cause”.

Disney Channel will make an animated series “Tangled” based on the film. Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi will return to add their voices.

Jon Bernthal a.k.a. Shane from The Walking Dead has been cast as Frank Castle/The Punisher for season 2 of Daredevil on Netflix and we can’t wait.

Starz series “Power” has been renewed for season 3 just days after season 2 premiered.

Showtime’s Matt LeBlanc comedy “Episodes” renewed for season 5.

Chris Hemsworth will play Ghostbusters receptionist in all-female remake. Basically he is Annie Potts. Cast will include was McCarthy, Christian Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones..

Chiwetel Ejiofor voted by Chris Young as the actor whose name is least likely to be understood by his dictation software. He’s also playing Baron Mordo in the upcoming Dr. Strange movie.

John Sayles is writing the script for “Soul Catcher”based on the novel by Dune author Frank Herbert. Story is about a Native American activist driven by ancient spirits and injustice against his people who seeks revenge.

Demi Lovato will voice Smurfette and Rainn Wilson the villain Gargamel in “Get Smurfy” film. Third in the series.

Disney is working on Maleficent 2.

Jurassic World (which is awesome by the way) is the fastest film to reach $1 billion in worldwide box office.

Verizon has purchased AOL for $4.4 million. Shocking. Who knew AOL still existed?

Tom Holland relatively unknown young actor cast as next Spiderman for 2017 release

Netflix shares reached over $700 per share before it’s 7 to 1 stock split.

Martha Stewart is selling her company for $353 million.

After just premiering last night, Mr. Robot on USA network has been picked up for season 2.

Howard Stern says this is last season of America’s Got Talent suggests Simon Cowell should replace him.

Producers hint recently canceled Hannibal TV series may find a home on Amazon or other streaming service.

Tommy Chong says his rectal cancer is a pain in the butt but at least he gets to use more medical marijuana. Hopes to be the disease.

Mom Season Finale Post Mortem: EP Chuck Lorre on Christy’s ‘Enormous Growth,’ Roscoe’s Surprising Move

Last Man on Earth Finale Post Mortem: Will Forte Talks Outta This World Twist

The Flash’s Candice Patton Talks Iris’ Epiphany (‘I Was So Relieved!’), Grodd, Barry vs. Eddie, Unexpected Finale

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Rookie Blue, Revenge, Once, Hannibal, S.H.I.E.L.D., Bates, Hawaii Five-0 and More

Elementary Boss on Sherlock’s Spiral, [Spoiler]’s Season 4 Arrival and More

Walking Dead Spinoff’s Showrunner Talks Possible Crossovers, Prequel-y Premise: ‘We Don’t Go Full-Zombie’

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Hawaii Five-0, Vampire Diaries, Supergirl, Arrow, POI, Chi Fire, Grey’s, NCIS and More

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Gotham, Major Crimes, Wayward Pines, Extant, Hannibal, Defiance, Lumen and More

Outlander Boss on Jamie’s [Spoiler], Season 2 in France and Why [Spoiler] Went Full-Frontal in the Finale

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Bones, iZombie, Fear TWD, Empire, New Girl, Major Crimes and More

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on The Flash, Teen Wolf, Once, Wayward Pines, iZombie, Major Crimes and More

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Castle, Arrow, Bones, Rookie Blue, Beast, Defiance, Falling Skies and More

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on CSI Finale, Arrow, Supernatural, X-Files, Hannibal, Secrets & Lies and More!

Bless me readers for I have sinned. It has been seven weeks since my last blog. I’ve been busy writing electronic project tutorials for Adafruit Industries and one of my cable boxes went out. Fortunately I replaced it with a new improved model that has 1 TB hard drive space (more than double the previous box) and allows me to record or watch up to 6 channels at once in HD. The extra hard drive space is nice however my theory is that you could fill up any size drive eventually. The real thing we are celebrating is the 6 channels at once. Our former box only allowed 2 and it was hard to schedule some recordings without getting conflicts. Speaking of Bright House cable. It seems that their merger with Charter Communications we may be dead after the failure of the merger between Comcast and Time Warner.. There was significant proposition that would’ve led to long court cases and in the end they’ve decided it wasn’t worth it. I guess we go back to the bright house motto “yesterday’s technology tomorrow”. Other cable systems have had advanced capacity DVR’s for years. We are just now getting them. Oh well. On to the news such as it is. Many of the “spoilers” may have already happened but if you are as far behind watching as I am, they can still be spoilers.

Each year TV line puts out a list of major events to occur during the May sweeps. They include weddings, deaths, sex for the first time, resurrections, firings and more.

Click this link to see their extensive list and see if you can guess what’s going to happen.

Also be sure to check again at the Renewal Scorecard. Note there are multiple pages and it also contains a link to cable renewal scorecard.

In the links below read…

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated March 3

Spoilers from Inside Line dated March 12

Spoilers from Inside Line dated March 19

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated March 24

Spoilers from Inside Line dated April 10

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated April 14

Postmortem Interview with producers of Justified about series finale

Postmortem (literally) interview about big plot twist in Gray’s Anatomy

Spoilers from Inside Line dated April 24

Interview with Walking Dead EP Gail Anne Hurd about finale and other projects she works on

Also of interest but not linked…

“Fear The Walking Dead” the spinoff of “The Walking Dead” has been greenlit for a second season even though the first hasn’t even aired. Season 1 will premiere sometime in the summer with just six episodes.

Former vampire slayer Sarah Michelle Geller will lend her voice to season 2 of animated Star Wars Rebels

Zachary Quinto will guest star in season 3 of Hannibal. Season 3 premieres June 4 on NBC.

Alec Baldwin will play the mayor of New York City in the upcoming HBO series

NBC canceled “Allegiance” it’s present-day ripoff of “The Americans” remaining episodes available online

Season 5 of Homeland will be set in Germany and will take place two and half years after season 4 left off

Episodes of “Between”, a six part drama about a virus that kills everyone over age 21, will air on Netflix in weekly installments beginning May 21 rather than the binge watching format they usually use.

CBS has renewed Mike and Molly, Mom and 2 Broke Girls

SyFy Channel has renewed 12 Monkeys for season 2.

Jamie Presley will be promoted to series regular for season 3 of Mom

Despite rumors it might not make it, Sleepy Hollow has been renewed for season 3 with a new show runner

Andrew Dice Clay is getting a sitcom on Showtime

X-Files is officially returning to Fox for six episodes Duchovny and Anderson will return. Shooting starts the summer.

The best thing about Showtime announcing Masters of Sex and Ray Donovan premiering on July 12 is that the subject of this message can now contain the words “sex on my birthday”.

History Channel has renewed Vikings for season 4 and we are very pleased

AMC announced “Halt and Catch Fire” season 2 will premiere May 31

Maisie Williams a.k.a. Arya Stark of Game of Thrones will guest star in the upcoming season of Dr. Who

Fox has renewed New Girl for another season

FX has renewed “the Americans” for another season and we are well pleased

Showtime has renewed House of Lies season 5

Netflix series Bloodline has been renewed for season 2

TNT announced Maj. Crimes and Murder in the First return June 8; Rizzoli and Isles and a new series Proof premiere June 16; The Last Ship returns June 21 with a two hour premiere; Falling Skies final season premieres June 28; new series Public Morals August 17; Legends August 25.

House of Cards has been renewed for season 4.

ABC plans to reboot The Muppet Show

Director David Lynch has quit the reboot of Twin Peaks. Status of the show is in limbo.

The Last Man on Earth which is way better than I thought it would be has been renewed for season 2.

Netflix has renewed Oranges the New Black for season 4

The storyline of NBC’s canceled Revolution will be wrapped up in a four part digital comic book

The Astronaut Wives Club will premiere on ABC June 18

Season 3 of Inside Amy Schumer just premiered and is already renewed for season 4. Very funny dirty comediane

Netflix series Daredevil has already been renewed for season 2 just a few days after first season dropped.

JK Simmons will star in a sci-fi drama for Starsz about travel to parallel dimensions

USA Network has canceled ambulance comedy/drama Sirens

Reese Witherspoon and Louis CK will host the final two episodes of SNL the season

Dave Letterman will get a 90 minute special hosted by Ray Romano May 4 to send him off to retirement

Tom Selleck will star in the ninth Jesse Stone movie for TV

Bruce Willis will make his Broadway debut in production of Stephen King’s Misery

RIP TV producer Harve Bennett produce several Star Trek movies and TV shows such as the Mod Squad, $6 million man. He was 84.

RIP Robert Maysles documentary filmmaker who did Gimme Shelter, Grey Gardens, and others

RIP Sam Simon cocreator of The Simpsons from cancer at age 59

HBO film casts Elizabeth Banks as Billie Jean King and Paul Giamatti as Bobby Riggs

Fantasy author Terry Pratchett has died at age 66. Famous for Discworld novels

Andy Samberg will host the 2015 Emmy awards on Fox September 20

Emma Watson a.k.a. Hermione from Harry Potter, will play Belle in a live-action Beauty and the Beast film set for March 2017 release.

NBC sitcom and datable will have a live broadcast May 5

Steven Spielberg will produce Tom Hanks in a Cold War spy drama titled Bridge of Spies to be released in October

Greg Nicotero has signed a two-year deal with AMC network. Will continue to produce Walking Dead and spinoff Fear The Walking Dead but will also develop new projects for AMC.

RIP Alberto Watson of cancer at age 60. She is most famous for playing CTU director Erin Driscoll who fired Jack Bauer on 24. Also appeared in CW series Nikita

The NFL has officially eliminated the blackout rule. Non-sold-out games can now be broadcast in the hometown.

Showtime has ordered a series from Damien Lewis and Paul Giamatti called “Billions” about high finance

Downton Abbey sixth season will be its final

Former CSI William Peterson is joining the cast of Manhattan on WGN America Network

Craig T Nelson is coming back as Coach in a 13 episode NBC series

Hiro Nakamura lives! Masi Oki will guest star on “Heroes Reborn”. No word yet on if he will save the cheerleader and/or the world this time again.

Hugh Jackman says Wolverine 3 will be his last.

Arthur Darvill former husband to Amy Pond on Dr. who will play Rip Hunter in the new Arrow/Flash spinoff series.

From the “Why Was It There in the First Place” department WWE Smack Down is leaving SyFy Channel moving to USA Network.

Kathy Bates will return to American Horror Story for season 5

RIP Richard Dysart who played Leland McKenzie on LA Law in the 90s. He was 86

Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy have been renewed for two seasons

HBO is producing a miniseries about the Wright brothers

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Arrow, NCIS, Big Bang, Empire, Once, Good Wife, S.H.I.E.L.D., Glee and More

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Castle, Haven, Bones, Mad Men, Good Wife, Teen Wolf, Blue Bloods and More!

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Grey’s, Castle, Bones, Glee, New Girl, The Flash, Arrow, Shameless and More

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Arrow, NCIS, Empire, Game of Thrones, Grimm, Orphan Black, Bones, The 100 and More!

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Revenge, Once, Grimm, Gotham, The Blacklist, NCIS, S.H.I.E.L.D., B99 and More

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Revenge, Castle, Scorpion, Outlander, NCIS, Chicago Fire, Brooklyn and More

Justified Series Finale Post Mortem: Show Boss Talks Big Twists, Easter Eggs, a Near-Resurrection and More

Grey’s Anatomy: Patrick Dempsey Leaves ‘Grateful and Humbled’; EP Shonda Rhimes Talks Unimaginable Loss, Teases ‘New Chapter’ for Show

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Castle, Once, The Flash, Big Bang, SVU/P.D., POI, Originals, Stalker and More

‘Walking Dead’ Finale: EP Gale Anne Hurd Talks Season 6, ‘Fear’ Spinoff & That Kickstarter Campaign

Well over a month since my last entertainment update so like always some of my “spoilers” are ancient history and the word “news” definitely needs quote marks around it.

Will start off with the biggest loss namely the passing of Leonard Nimoy. I thought it was interesting that he always signed his tweets and other correspondence with LLAP which of course means live long and prosper. All I can really say about his passing is that he fulfilled that particular saying. He did live long and prospered and we all benefited from that inspiring character that he brought to life as well as the life of the man himself.

I also have to briefly mourn the loss of the NBC series Parenthood. It was one of the best written and acted dramas ever made for television. The quality held up to the very end. The storylines wrapped up in a very satisfying manner that honored the characters well. The montage sequence in the final episode gave us some amazing flashforwards into the future of the characters that made us wish we could’ve spent more time with them even more than we wish that before. I’m really going to miss it.

It’s time for renewals and cancellations of existing series. Although provided before, here is another link to the ongoing TVLine renewal scorecards

Broadcast Renewal Scorecard

Cable Renewal Scorecard

I haven’t had time to review most of the midseason new shows except for Empire which I previously reviewed. I continue to enjoy it four or five episodes into the season.

The Breaking Bad prequel series “Better Call Saul” is good quirky fun that I can highly recommend. It scored the highest premier rating of any cable TV series in history. I still haven’t seen any original Breaking Bad but I intend to catch up on the series one of these days. Perhaps after I get through seasons two and three of House of Cards.

SyFy Channel’s new series 12 Monkeys is much better than the Bruce Willis movie upon which it is loosely based. Really intriguing post-apocalyptic time travel conspiracy theory all in one series. Suggest you check it out.

I watched about 15 minutes of ABCs new Secrets and Lies and decided to skip it. It’s their version of Gracepoint/Broadchurch about the murder of a young boy. Having sat through 10 episodes each of those dramas I wasn’t in the mood for another retelling. ABC promises “Ours Is Better (than Gracepoint)” but I will just have to leave that claim untested. I’d rather watch season 2 of Broadchurch coming to BBC America in the spring.

Speaking of ripoff shows, NBC’s Allegiance which is a blatant ripoff of The Americans does appear to be sufficiently different and interesting that you should check it out especially if you like The Americans.

I’ve not had the opportunity to check out The Returned which is A&E’s ripoff of Resurrection. I’m getting a little tired of Resurrection and I’m not sure I will watch another season when/if it returns.

The jury is still out on Fox illustrious new detective series Backstrom. He’s a grumpy quirky super sleuth. Mix equal parts of Dr. House, Sherlock Holmes, and Colombo.

Speaking of midseason shows, here are links to PDF files showing premier dates and revised schedules for broadcast and cable channels. Schedules courtesy TVaholic.com

Printable Spring 2015 TV Schedule v1.01 (PDF)

Printable Spring 2015 Cable TV Schedule v1.00 (PDF)

By the way it’s pilot season. There’s lots of news about networks ordering pilots and casting information on these shows but I gave up reporting on them because so many of these pilots never get picked up that it isn’t worth keeping track of them. So while there’s a lot of news about various actors getting various roles, I just want keep up with them until they actually get picked up to series. I will note however that a potential Criminal Minds spinoff series is getting an embedded pilot. That means an episode of Criminal Minds will introduce a whole new set of characters that may appear in a spinoff series the same way NCIS New Orleans did with the original NCIS.

In the links below read…

Preview of season 3 of Orphan Black

CBS executive discusses Supergirl, CSI’s future, Criminal Minds etc.

Cote de Pablo interview about her exit from NCIS and a possible return

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated January 13

Fox executives discuss Sleepy Hollow, Bones, Possible Jack-Less 24, X-Files revival and other topics

Spoilers from Inside Line dated January 23 and January 30 and February 11 and February 16

Postmortem interview with creator of The Mentalist about series finale.

Explanation of rule changes for the Emmys. Comedy, miniseries, variety shows redefined.

Spoilers from Inside Line dated February 24

Not links below but also of interest

Lady Gaga is joining American Horror Story season 5! I cannot wait, I cannot wait, I cannot wait!

Fox has ordered a pilot for a series Minority Report set 10 years after the events of the Tom Cruise movie of the same name

CW network announced its new series “iZombie” will premiere March 17. Supernatural returns March 18 and moves to Wednesday

CW network apocalyptic drama “The Messenger” debuts April 10

CW has renewed 8 series for another season. Arrow, Jane the Virgin, Reign, Supernatural, The 100, The Flash, The Originals, and The Vampire Diaries.

CW network has hinted possible additional DC comic spinoff series perhaps Atom and a possible Supernatural spinoff series.

Showtime has renewed Shameless for season 6

Kyle MacLachian has been confirmed to be in the Twin Peaks revival. More original cast are expected

Will and Grace together again Eric McCormack will guest star on Mysteries of Laura

Woody Allen has agreed to create write and direct a new TV series for Amazon streaming

Derek Hough will be sending out the upcoming season of Dancing With The Stars to Broadway. Theoretically he’ll return.

ABC Family has renewed The Fosters for season 3

Charlotte Ross will return to Arrow to play Felicity’s mom again.

USA network has canceled Benched. I never watched it

The new teaser trailer for SyFy Channel series “The Expanse” features a zero gravity sex scene. Can’t wait 🙂

Beth lives Forever in a Flash. Emily Kinney a.k.a. Beth Greene recently deceased on The Walking Dead will guest star in upcoming episodes of Forever and The Flash.

Fox has renewed Gotham, Empire and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

Fox is jumping on the live stage production bandwagon to produce a live version of Greece starring Julianne Hough

The only thing that could ever make me want to watch Justin Bieber on TV would be a Comedy Central Roast. Amazingly he agreed to one that has been taped. No air date yet announced.

Ian McShane has joined the season 3 cast of Ray Donovan. Al and Trixie (of Deadwood) together again!

Zachary Quinto has confirmed he will not be on the upcoming NBC 13 episode miniseries Heroes Reborn.

David Tennant will star in the Jessica Jones series as Marvel villain Kilgrave

HBO has renewed Togetherness for season 2. I’ve not watched it.

HBO has green lit a miniseries about Lewis and Clark starring Casey Affleck

CBS has pulled The McCarthys from his schedule sooner than planned.

Bravo has renewed Girlfriends Guide to Divorce for season 2. Never saw it.

Mira Serino is joining CBS’ Stalker as a recurring character

Netflix has ordered a 70s musical drama from Baz Luhromann

NBC is renewing The Blacklist, Grimm, Chicago fire, Chicago PD, and Law and Order:SVU

Rosie O’Donnell is leaving The Vew, yet again.

NBC is considering a revival of the original Law and Order with the original stars.

Walton Goggins a.k.a. Justified’s Boyd has joined the cast of HBO’s Vice Principals comedy

The governor lives! David Morrissey a.k.a. the governor of The Walking Dead has joined the cast of Extant season 2

Jeffrey Dean Morgan will also join the cast of Extant

IFC announced Portlandia has been renewed for season 6 & 7

Margo Martindale will return to the Americans during season 3 and we are very pleased.

TNT has renewed The Librarians for season 2 and we are very pleased

Cinemax has renewed Banshee for season 4.

Cinemax has agreement exorcism drama Outcast written by Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman

Hulu Streaming will produce a series based on Stephen King’s 11/22/63 Nine episode series to be produced by JJ Abrams and to start James Franco. That might be worth itself.

CW network announced Beauty and the Beast season 3 premieres May 21 and has already received season 4 renewal.

Christina Aguilera will guest star on multiple episodes of Nashville

Laugh-In announcer Gary Owens has died at age 80.

Linda Park, former communications officer for Star Trek Enterprise will guest star on Castle

Missing spoilers from Michael Ausiello are because his husband passed away February 5. Deepest condolences to my favorite TV critic.

The least real reality show on television a.k.a. The Donald Trump Show a.k.a. The Apprentice has been renewed for season 15

HBO announced Last Week Tonight has been renewed for 2 more seasons. With the retirement of John Stuart I recommend this show for those going through Daily Show withdrawals.

Marvel Dreadstar is being adapted into a TV series. No details yet.

Michelle Gomez will return to Dr. Who season 9 as Missy

Lena Dunham, creator of Girls, will guest star on Scandal

Breaking the “no pilot news” rule: Walking Dead alumna Laurie Holden is joining the cast of Chicago Medical pilot

AMC announced TURN: Washington Spies season 2 premieres April 13

Ben Wloolf who played Meep in American Horror Story: Freak Show has died at age 34 from injuries sustained in a car accident.

Marisa Tomei will star as Gloria Steinem in upcoming HBO miniseries produced by George Clooney

Stephen Moyer a.k.a. Vampire Bill in True Blood will start in Kurt Sutter’s new FX drama The Bastard Executioner. Katie Sagal confirmed as female lead.

Aretha Franklin will mentor the top 16 American Idol contestants

Mark Cuban and Ann Coulter cast as leaders of the United States in Sharknado3

Showtime announced Inside Comedy has been renewed for season 4

Bob’s Burgers has been renewed for season 6

HBO has renewed Bill Maher for season 14 and 15

Game of Thrones premieres April 12

Although Letterman is leaving The Late Show on May 20, Stephen Colbert will not take over until September 8. CBS will air reruns of its scripted dramas in its place leaving Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel to do it out between themselves.

NBC sitcom Community will premiere on its new home Yahoo Streaming March 17

MasterChef Junior has been renewed for season 4

James Cameron has pushed premier dates of the three Avatar sequels from 2016-2018 a year later to 2017-2019.

We mourn the loss of Tony Verna the TV director who invented instant replay has died at age 81.

We mourn the loss of Tony Verna the TV director who invented instant replay has died at age 81.

1. Michael Sstraczynski Creator of Babylon 5 is writing Red Mars a sci-fi drama series for Spike TV

Simon Pegg who plays Engineer Montgomery Scott in the latest Star Trek films will co-author the script for Star Trek 3 with Doug Jung who created TNT series Dark Blue

Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 was the highest grossing film of 2014 with $333.18 million just edging out Guardians of the Galaxy with $333.17 million gross.

Bradley Cooper and the cast of the Broadway play The Elephant Man moving to London for a 12 week run

Warner Bros. is planning an animated feature film The Jetsons.

Emma Watson a.k.a. Harry Potter’s BFF Hermione Granger has been cast as Belle in a Disney live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast similar to the currently showing Cinderella.

Mission Impossible 5 has been moved six months earlier to premier July 31 instead of Christmas

USA Network has ordered a 10 episode sci-fi series titled Colony about an alien occupation

Ed Sabol founder of NFL films has died at age 98

HBO has renewed “Getting On” for third and final season

Allison Janney has confirmed she will appear in season 3 of Showtime’s Masters of Sex

Adrienne Palicki has been upgraded to series regular on agents of SHIELD. Portrays Hydra bad girl Bobbi Morse

Richard Dreyfus will play Ponzi scheme banker Bernie Madoff in upcoming ABC miniseries

Ridley Scott will produce a new “Aliens” film to be set after “Prometheus 2” however at this point neither film has a script.

Eddie Murphy did not appear in any sketches on the SNL 40^th anniversary special because he refused to play Bill Cosby in the “Celebrity Jeopardy” sketch. Cosby applauded him for turning it down.

The Season 3 premiere of Orphan Black will premiere simultaneously on AMC, BBC America, IFC, Sundance and WE TV April 18 at 10 PM.

Rumors say Steven Spielberg will direct Chris Pratt in a reboot of the Indiana Jones films

Chris Hemsworth will host SNL March 7

Judge Judy extends her deal with CBS distribution through 2020

Ken Burns has produced a six-hour documentary for PBS on Cancer. Narrated by Edward Herman who died of brain cancer shortly afterwards. Series begins March 30.

CSI: Cyber will simultaneously premier in 150 countries around the world on March 4 in an attempt to break the Guinness Book of Records largest simultaneous simulcast. The record is currently held by the 50^th anniversary special of Dr. Who.

Orphan Black Season 3 Scoop: Male Clone Threat, Alison’s Ex and More

CBS Boss Talks Supergirl Plan, CSI’s Future, New Criminal Minds and More

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Revenge, Scorpion, Castle, Mentalist, Flash, S.H.I.E.L.D., Orphan Black and More

Fox Execs Talk Sleepy Hollow Fixes, Bones’ Future, a Jack-Less 24, X-Files Revival, Utopia’s Failure and More

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Once, Empire, Defiance, Grey’s, Bones, The Following, Supernatural and More

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Nashville, Supergirl, Castle, Flash, Supernatural, Forever, Grey’s, NCIS, Jane and More!

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Arrow, Five-0, Suits, Vikings, Chicago Fire/P.D., Bitten, Shameless, Night Shift and More

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Good Wife, Once, Supernatural, Grey’s, Bones, Reign, Constantine, Mentalist and More

Post Mortem: Mentalist Creator Talks Red John’s Role in Original Series Finale — Plus: What’s Next for Robin Tunney?

Emmy Shake-Up: Major Rule Changes Expand Number of Nominees, Redefine Comedy and Drama Eligibility

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Arrow, Once, Bones, Teen Wolf, Castle, Five-0, Chicago P.D., Jane and More

I got so far behind on writing entertainment news that some of these “spoilers” are no longer spoilers because the episode is already aired weeks ago. I’m going to go ahead and post spoiler links as if they were timely. It could be you still got old episodes cluttering up your DVR that would make these actual news. Got all tied up designing Christmas cards and playing with robot dinosaurs.

Meanwhile I did a recap of all of my reviews of new service this season. In case you missed it here is the link. It includes some information about canceled shows and shows which have had extended episode orders. Also contains a link to Ausiello’s series renewal scorecard that tells you the odds of shows being canceled. I will not be reporting cancellations with any of these shows since they’ve already been reported in this story.

http://entertainment.cyborg5.com/2015/01/06/review-midseason-re-review-of-all-programs/

We are very sad to report the passing of Carol Ann Sucri. You’ve probably never seen her but she is a important part of one of your favorite shows. She did the voice of the unseen Mrs. Wolowitz, Howard mother on Big Bang Theory. She passed of cancer at age 62. They have not yet revealed what will happen to the character but they don’t intend to replace the with a different actress and they resisted ever having her actually appear in the show.

Also RIP Mike Nichols director of The Graduate and numerous other great films as well as pioneering improv comedian with wife Elaine May.

Also RIP Glen A. Larson age 77 created the original Battle Star Galactica, Magnum PI, Knight Rider and other shows.

Also RIP Christine Cavanaugh who was the voice of Rugrats’ Chucky

Also RIP Edward Herman age 71 of brain cancer. He was a veteran character actor that I most remember for his amazing portrayal of a guest doctor on MASH who cannot deal with the rigors of meatball surgery and ended up needing help from psychiatrists Dr. Sidney.

Also RIP veteran ESPN Stuart Scott.

Also RIP Donna Douglas who played Ellie Mae on the Beverly hillbillies. Pres. Since the last installment we had season finales of Sons of Anarchy, The Newsroom, and White Collar all of which went out with one of their best seasons ever. We will try to get caught up for the second half of the season for remaining shows and prepare for midseason replacements shows.

Normally when we say “postmortem interview” we just mean an interview with a producer or actor at the end of a series or season. As you might guess with Sons Of Anarchy and The Walking Dead, “postmortem” is a literal term regarding characters 🙂

You might want to bookmark the first of these links below which gives the midseason premiere dates for many shows. In the links below read

Midseason premiere dates calendar

Postmortem interview with Mark Boone Junior a.k.a. Bobby from Sons of Anarchy

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated November 5 (holy cow I really am behind)

Spoilers from Inside Line dated November 7

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated November 11

Interview with Big Bang producer about Sheldon and Amy’s relationship

Spoilers from Inside Line dated November 17

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated November 18

Interview with Producer of Gotham about midseason finale

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated November 25

Postmortem interview with actress and producer about The Walking Dead midseason finale

Postmortem interview with Juice from Sons of Anarchy

Postmortem interview with Gemma from Sons of Anarchy

Spoilers from Inside Line dated December 3

Interview with Morena Baccarin about a variety of her roles

Postmortem interview with producers of Revenge about killing off major character

Interview with Castle user about midseason finale plot twists

Postmortem interview with Sons of Anarchy producer Paris Barclay about the grand finale

Interview with cast of White-Collar about series finale

Spoilers from Inside Line dated December 17

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated December 24

Spoilers from Inside Line dated today!

Not in the links below but also of interest…

History Channel will have a three part miniseries Sons of Liberty about the Revolutionary war January 25 -27

Showtime is developing a drama about a presidential election that starts a second US Civil War

CBS announced that the current season of The Mentalist will be its last

Downton Abbey has been renewed for season six. I’ve never seen it.

HBO series Girls returns for its fourth season Sunday, January 11

Fox is bringing back “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader” to prime time. No dates that. Format tweaks promised.

AMC announced Hell on Wheels will return for a fifth and final season

Showtime has renewed Homeland for season 5 and The Affair for season 2

USA Network has renewed Graceland for season 3. I quit watching after about four episodes of season 1

TNT has canceled Franklin & Bash. Cited inability to know which was which 🙂 just kidding

Randy Jackson will be completely gone from American Idol this season Contestants admitted he really didn’t give them any usable advice. Scott Borchetta who is famous for discovering Taylor Swift will be the mentor this year.

TNT announced there will be no third season of Perception. Second half of season two premieres in February and will be the end.

Longmire Lives! Will return for season 4 on Netflix

VH1 is bringing back a new season of The Osbournes. Show originally ran from 2002-2005

Tommy Flanagan a.k.a.Chibs from Sons of Anarchy is the new bad guy Malcolm Black on Revenge

CBS has canceled The Millers. I watched a few episodes of the first season but it just wasn’t that good

Gemma lives! Katey Sagal and husband Kurt Sutter will work again on his new FX drama The Bastrop Executioner. The show is set in the time of King Richard III. No word on how big her part will be.

Former SAMCRO president Ron Perlman will be a bad guy in upcoming episodes of Blacklist

CW network has renewed Penn & Teller: Fool Us, Masters of Illusion, and America’s Next Top Model

Hot in Cleveland will end in 2015 it in the sixth season

HBO has ordered two series and adaption of 1973 film Westworld

So You Think You Can Dance has been renewed for season 12

Fox is considering an American remake of British cop show Luther however Idris Elba will not play the title character.

BBC America announced it will show season 4 of Luther sometime in 2015 emanates

American Dad! Has been renewed by TBS

Michael Ealy recently played an android cop on canceled series Almost Human will be the new bad guy opposite Kevin Bacon on the next season of The Following.

NBC has canceled his plans for a new Bill Cosby comedy given his recent scandals

Hugh Laurie is joining the cast of Julia Louis Dreyfus’s HBO comedy Veep

William Shatner will guest on four episodes of Haven on SyFy Channel

Queen Latifah daytime talk show has been canceled

ABC has canceled “Members Only” a drama starring John Stamos before it even airs. Must’ve been a real stinker.

George Eads a.k.a. Nick Stokes is leaving CSI

Unaired episodes of canceled ABCs sitcom Selfie are going to Hulu streaming

Walking Dead creator confirms Daryl really is straight but will introduce soon

Netflix announces House of Cards season 3 will premiere February 27

Lauren Graham fresh off her stint in Parenthood will star in and cowrite NBC comedy about late-night TV She will also play Matthew Perry’s ex-wife in the reboot of The Odd Couple on CBS starting in February

Kathy Griffin has replaced Joan Rivers on Fashion Police.

HBO rewrites drama about 70s rock produced by Scorsese and Jagger

AMC has ordered a pilot for a series based on the comic book Preacher

TNT has renewed Legends for season 2. I gave up after about four episodes

Former NCIS Cote de Pablo a.k.a. Ziva will appear in a CBS Miniseries The Dovekeepers set in ancient Israel. Starts March 31.

CBS midseason shows CSI: Cyber will premiere March 4 10 PM, Battle Creek March 1 10 PM

Two and a Half Men series finale will be February 19. Reboot of Odd Couple the same night

Emily Deschanel a.k.a. Dr. Temperance Brennan on Bones is pregnant and so is Bones. Producer confirms as they will become part of the show.

Mark Hamill will guest star on The Flash as The Trickster reprising his role from Arrow

Judge Len Goodman says he’s leaving Dancing With The Stars after the spring season. Show has not officially been renewed.

The Librarians was the highest rated premier on cable in 2014

Torchwood’s Burn Gorman is the new bad guy on ABCs Forever

SyFy Channel is developing a Superman prequel about Kal–el’s grandfather titled “Krypton”

SyFy Channel will air the fourth and final season of Continuum that is only six episodes

1. Night Shyamalan’s thriller 10 episode series Wayward Pines premiers on Fox May 14

USA Network has renewed Playing House for season 2. I never heard of it

Rizzoli and Isles has been renewed for season 6 of 18 episodes

Dave Letterman’s final broadcast will be May 20, 2015

Kirsten Dunst has joined the cast of Fargo season 2

Criminal Minds 19^th episode will be a pilot for a spinoff series about a globetrotting group of profilers

American Idol is dropping its results show similar to what Dancing with the Stars already did last year

The spinoff series of The Walking Dead will be set in Los Angeles

Vikings season 3 premieres on History Channel for 10 episodes starting February 19

Starz series The Missing has been renewed for season 2

Former JAG star David James Elliott will guest star on the upcoming Scorpion

Former Ghostbuster Ernie Hudson will play Poseidon in upcoming episode of Once upon a Time. No word yet on if you will cross a stream to get to the ocean 🙂

John Travolta will play Robert Shapiro and David Schwimmer will play Robert Kardashian in OJ themed American Crime Story. Cuba Gooding Jr. will play O.J. Simpson. Sarah Paulson is Marsha Clark.

Comedian Kevin Hart will host the first SNL of the year January 17

HBO has renewed Girls for season 5 before season 4 has even aired

Blake Shelton will host and be musical guest for upcoming Saturday night live January 24

USA Network has canceled Covert Affairs. It was a favorite of mine but it had pretty much run its course.

Netflix premiere dates bloodline March 20, Marvel comics Daredevil April 10, Grace and Frankie May 8

NBC is cutting sitcom About a Boy by two episodes down to 20

Netflix series Marco Polo has been renewed for 10 episode season 2

Gladys Knight will guest on upcoming Hot in Cleveland

Christian Bale will not be playing Steve Jobs in upcoming biopic written by Aaron Sorkin. Also the project has switched studios. Michael Fassbender will take the Jobs job instead.

Royal Pains has been renewed for 16 episodes over 2 season

Netflix is adapting Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events is a new series

Oliver Stone will direct a film about Edward Snowden

Mark Wahlberg is developing a reboot of the Steve Austin story to be titled Six Billion Dollars Man. Yes that’s Billion with a “B”. You know… Inflation

Animated feature “Animal Crackers” will feature the voices of Ian McKelln, Danny DeVito, and Sylvester Stallone

John Lassiter, founder of Pixar, will direct to Toy Story 4 to debut in 2017

Godkiller post-apocalyptic comic will become animated trilogy

NBC is considering doing a live stage production “A Few Good Men”. Aaron Sorkin will adapt his screenplay

DreamWorks animation is undergoing merger talks with Hasbro

There will be a computer animated 3-D Peanuts movie November 2015

Netflix is expanding to Australia and New Zealand

Breaking Bad spin off Better Call Saul premieres on AMC February 8

Financial consultant Suze Orman is leaving CNBC to start a syndicated show of her own

CNN to political correspondent Candy Crowley is leaving the network

Lifetime Network will show its Whitney Houston biopic January 17

Star Trek 3 will premiere July 2016 to be directed by Justin Lin who directed Fast and Furious 6

Save the Dates! Your Guide to 125+ January Returns, Debuts and Finales

Sons of Anarchy’s Mark Boone Junior on That Scene, Gemma’s Future and His Favorite On-Screen Moment

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Grey’s, Arrow, Castle, White Collar, Good Wife, Grimm, Elementary, Nashville and More

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Castle, Once, Supernatural, Brooklyn 99, Jane, Big Bang, Gotham, SVU/P.D. and More

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Homeland, Sons of Anarchy, Downton, Revenge, Grimm, Blacklist, SVU and More

Big Bang Boss Talks Sheldon and Amy’s Huge Breakthrough, Reveals Why He’ll Be ‘Sweating’ Their Next Milestone

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on HTGAWM, Mentalist, Parks and Rec, NCIS, Sons, Bones, Homeland, POI and More

Gotham EP Talks Jim’s Grim Fate, Arkham’s Ascendance, Bat/Cat Bond, a ‘Dark’ Turn and the Extended Run

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Once, Glee, Grey’s, Vampire Diaries, HTGAWM, Jane, Parks, Cougar Town and More

Walking Dead Midseason Finale Post Mortem: [Spoiler] Sounds Off on Killer Twist — ‘I Did Not See It Coming’

Sons of Anarchy’s Theo Rossi Reflects on Juice’s ‘Powerful’ Season 7 Arc

Sons of Anarchy’s Katey Sagal Breaks Down Emotional, ‘Perfect’ Gemma/Jax Scenes: ‘Charlie and I Were Bawling’

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Once, Arrow, H50, Vampire Diaries, Scorpion, SVU, PLL, Mentalist, Haven and More

Memories from the Set: Morena Baccarin Reflects on Firefly, Homeland, V, Mentalist, HIMYM and More

Revenge EP Defends [Spoiler]’s Death, Previews Emily and Victoria’s New War

Post Mortem: Castle Boss Discusses [Spoiler]’s Next Move, Espo and Lanie’s Big Decision, OLTL Reunion and More

Post Mortem: Sons of Anarchy EP on ‘Shakespearean’ Finale, Audience Satisfaction and That Crazy Car Chase

White Collar’s Matt Bomer & Tim DeKay on Series Finale ‘Twists,’ Movie Hopes

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Arrow, Once, NCIS, The 100, Vampire Diaries, Gotham, Bones, H50, Castle and More

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Bones, Once, Arrow, Grey’s, Parks, Nashville, Blacklist, Sleepy Hollow and More

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Once, Castle, Glee, Grey’s, NCIS, Chicago P.D., Criminal Minds, Librarians and More