NBC gets more Grimm and Smash, Missing a hit, JC not a savior for Disney, Izzard becomes Grandpa, HBO out of Luck

For some personal observations… If you’re not watching the new ABC series “missing” starring Ashley Judd you’re missing something really cool. Advise you to check it out. If you’re a fan of AMCs Mad Men it premieres after a 17 month hiatus this Sunday. Also watch out for HBO premiere of season 2 Game of Thrones April 1. Went to see John Carter this week. I couldn’t tell who was paying homage to whom. Had lots of Star Wars and Avatar references and similarities but then you have to realize that Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote the story decades before either of those franchises. Perhaps director Andrew Stanton was just trying to point that out to us.

 

Here is some slightly out-of-date entertainment news. In the links below read about…

CBS announced renewal of 18 shows. Two out of three CSIs still uncertain.

Interview with actor Jason Isaacs about NBC drama Awake

TNT announces return dates for several different series in June

Shonda Rimes discusses the music of Grey’s Anatomy and other topics

Interview with Nikita star Maggie Q

Interview with Megan Hilty about upcoming episodes of Smash. Also NBC has announced renewal for season 2

Interview with Walking Dead EP/creator Robert Kirkman about the season finale and season 3

This week’s spoilers from Michael Ausiello. Note the item about Castle

Doctor who gets new companion

Episode titles of season 2 of Game of Thrones revealed. Begins April 1

Another set of spoilers from Michael Ausiello

Interview with Misha Collins about the return of Castiel to the series Supernatural

 

Not found in the links below but also of interest…

60s era drama Mad Men returns to AMC this Sunday with a two-hour premiere

Soap Star Susan Lucci has landed a role in a new primetime soap titled Devious Maids

Martha Stewart will guest star in an upcoming episode of 2 Broke Girls

2 1/2 men star Jon Cryer is now submitting himself as lead actor in a comedy for Emmys rather than supporting actor

Jenna Elfman has been cast as the first lady in upcoming comedy 1600 Penn

Showtime announces “Weeds” and “Episodes” to return July 1

HBO suspended and then canceled production additional episodes of its horseracing series Luck because three horses have been injured and had to be euthanized

Hugh Laurie will direct one of the final episodes of his show House

NBC has renewed Grimm for season 2!

Kiefer Sutherland reveals “24” feature film has been delayed until at least 2013

OWN cancels Rosie O’Donnell show after five months

This week’s winner of Chris Young’s “Sure Sign of the Coming Apocalypse” award goes to MTV for announcing Jersey Shore has been renewed for season 6

Season finale of AMC’s The Walking Dead at a record high rating for the series.

Olivia Wilde a.k.a. “13” will return briefly in the series finale of House

Eddie Izzard has been cast as grandpa in the reboot of the Munsters titled “Mockingbird Lane”.

Eddie Izzard, Elijah Wood, and Donald Sutherland will play Long John Silver, Ben Gunn and Flint respectively in SyFy Channel’s version of Treasure Island May 5

Battle Star Galactica: Blood and Chrome a prequel to the BSG series is not being picked up as a series by SyFy Channel. Two-hour pilot will air but that’s all.

From Rome to Barsoom to Wash DC… Cieran Hines who previously played Julius Caesar and Tardos Mors in John Carter has been cast in upcoming series Political Animals as Sigourney Weaver’s ex-husband

30 rock will have a live episode April 26

Smash has been renewed for season 2. It’s actually pretty good. Described as “Glee for grown-ups” which is very apt

Stephen Hawking will have a cameo on upcoming episode of Big Bang Theory

Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane is working on an animated reboot of The Flintstones for Fox. He still writing the pilot but it’s already been ordered to series. Date uncertain.

Starz has already renewed “Magic City” for a second season even though the first season has not yet premiered

Josh Brolin will host an upcoming episode of SNL. I just saw him in a trailer of Men in Black 3 which looks awesome.

Disney says disappointing box office for it John Carter will result in $200 million loss

Kathy Bates will play the ghost of Charlie Harper in an upcoming episode of 2 1/2 men

Mitt Romney is scheduled to appear on David Letterman this coming Tuesday

The Pacific Princess… The 40-year-old cruiseship used in the old TV series “The Love Boat” is now being sold for scrap.

IndyCar has announced that DreamWorks animation is making and IndyCar theemed animated film about a snail that enters the Indy 500

Queen Latifah will star in a remake of Steel Magnolias for the big screen

Maria Bello is joining the cast of Kiefer Sutherland new show Touch for a multi-episode arc

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


CBS Renews 18 Total Shows, Fate of Two CSIs Left Up In the Air


Jason Isaacs Weighs In on Awake’s Mysteries, Promises the Show Will Leave You Breathless


TNT Sets Summer Premieres for Dallas, Falling Skies, The Closer’s Finale and Spin-Off, and More


Shonda Rhimes on the Music of Grey’s Anatomy – and the Show’s Dramatic Notes to Come


Nikita’s Maggie Q Says ‘Mikita’ Will ‘Come to a Place of Understanding,’ Promises ‘Big’ Finale


Megan Hilty Teases Smash’s Mother of a Twist, More Ivy/Karen Drama and Marilyn’s First Ouster


Post Mortem: Walking Dead Boss Dissects Killer Finale, Talks [Spoiler]’s Arrival, ‘Spoils’ Season 3


Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on House, Fringe, Castle, HIMYM, NCIS, Grey’s, The Killing and More!


Doctor Who Casts New Companion: Find Out When She’ll Arrive


Game of Thrones Season 2 Spoilers: Find Out What’s in Store for the First 5 Episodes!


Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Grey’s Anatomy, Bones, Parks and Rec, Revenge, Walking Dead and More!


Misha Collins Previews His Supernatural Return and the ‘Wildly Different’ Castiel to Come

 

Dinosaurs Extinct, Dano Goes Solo, Star Wars Artist McQuarrie and Disney Songwriter RIP

Here is the latest in entertainment news. In the links below find…

Inside Line by Matt Mitovich newsbriefs

Interview with Josh Charles of The Good Wife about his character’s six-month leave of absence from the law

This week’s installment of spoilers from Michael Ausiello includes intriguing tidbits about Walking Dead

Article reveals which major character of Desperate Housewives is being killed off

Interview with Walking Dead executive producer Robert Kirkman about last week’s episode and the surprise death of major character

Artist/production designer/FX expert Ralph McQuarrie passed away. Created the look of Star Wars, Raiders, original Battlestar Galactica and more

 

Not in the links below but also of interest…

 

Terra Nova has been officially canceled by Fox. Producers are shopping it around to other networks.

Sigourney Weaver will star in upcoming USA Network show Political Animals

Firefly’s Mal and Jayne are reunited as Adam Baldwin will guest star on an upcoming episode of Castle opposite star Nathan Fillion

Zachary Quinto will return to season 2 of American Horror Story as a regular character along with returning star Jessica Lange

Dano goes solo! Alex O’Loughlin will take off one episode of Hawaii 50 to “get supervised pain treatment for a shoulder injury”

Ed Asner will reprise a character he played in the original Hawaii 50 in an upcoming episode of the current version. Footage from previous episode will be intercut as flashbacks.

FX network as renewed Justified for its fourth season.

Margarita Levieva who plays the fake Amanda Clark/real Emily Thorne on Revenge is joining the cast of HBO’s Luck season 2.

Matthew Perry will guest star on upcoming episode of The Good Wife.

John Barrowman a.k.a. Captain Jack Harkness (Doctor Who, Torchwood) has been cast in the pilot of a Gilded Lilys, a period drama from Gray’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes

Season finale of The Voice will be May 8

Former Prison Break inmate Dominic Purcell will guest star in an upcoming episode of Common Law on USA Network

ABC will have a new singing competition show this summer called Duets. One reporter calls it “Singing with the Stars” because contestants will sing duets with celebrity mentors Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Nettles, Lionel Richie, and Robin Thicke

This week’s Once Upon a Time will do the red riding Hood story at last. Producers say Little Mermaid will have to wait until season two

CBS’s renewed daytime talk show “The Talk” for a third season

Julie Benz (a.k.a. Dexter’s wife) and Jamie Murray (a.k.a. Warehouse 13’s HG Wells) will star in a new series on the SyFy Channel title Defiance. Humans and aliens live side-by-side in a war-ravaged future Earth rebuilt by terraforming machines

AMC network website inadvertently ran an advertisement for the season two DVD box set. The description gave away a major upcoming plot point. It revealed which major character dies in the season finale. E-mail me if you want to know ahead of time.

Fox announced The Finder is moving to Fridays

Sam gets played again! Warner Bros. will rerelease the classic Casablanca to 500 theaters for one night only March 21. Three disc Blu-ray/DVD 70th Anniversary release to follow March 27.

Tim Burton’s upcoming stop motion animated Frankenweenie will be the first ever black and white stop motion animated film to be converted to IMAX 3-D. Will premier in other theaters and IMAX in October

It’s a smaller world after all. Disney songwriter Robert Sherman who penned “It’s a Small World after All”, “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” and other classic Disney tunes died at age 86 in London.

America’s Got Talent with new judge Howard Stern will premiere May 14 on NBC

TLC network has canceled low rated controversial show All American Muslim

James Cameron will join the expedition to visit the deepest underwater location on earth the Mariana Trench seven miles deep as part of a National Geographic team. Presumably the documentary will ensue.

Producers of Gnomeo & Juliet announced a sequel will be produced with music by Elton John

Ridley Scott’s upcoming sci-fi thriller “Prometheus” will be released in an IMAX 3-D version along with the regular versions

 

 


Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Vampire Diaries, Glee, Once Upon a Time, White Collar and More


The Good Wife’s Josh Charles Talks Will’s Time Off (‘It Will Test Him’) and The End of the Affair


Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Glee, Walking Dead, House, Once, New Girl, Vampire Diaries and More!


Desperate Housewives Death Revealed: ‘It’s Actually Brilliant,’ Says Killed-Off Cast Member


‘Walking Dead’ exec producer Robert Kirkman talks about tonight’s episode and that shocking [SPOILER!]


R.I.P. Ralph McQuarrie

 

Monkey Dies. Touch Moves. Spock Speaks

As you’ve no doubt heard, former Monkeys singer Davy Jones passed away this week. Here is more on the latest in entertainment news. In the links below read about

One of my favorite features from TV writer Michael Ausiello. His May Sweeps scorecard in which he tells you who will die, get married, get pregnant, get not pregnant, get fired etc. during the May sweeps television season. Keep checking this link periodically because he updates it as more information becomes available.

Interview with producers of White Collar about season-ending cliffhanger.

Lauren Graham talks about her character in Parenthood and her relationship with Mark (Jason Ritter)

A group of spoilers from February 28 by Michael Ausiello

Another article about White Collar season finale

The cast of this seasons Dancing with the Stars is announced

 

Not in the links below but also of interest.

James Spader will not be returning to The Office next year. Claims it was always intended to be a one-year gig.

Although I don’t generally report on pilots, Lucy Liu is going to play “Watson” in the pilot episode of “Sherlock”. Modern-day retelling of Sherlock Holmes is a pilot for CBS and will be set in New York City

Kiefer Sutherland’s new series Touch will premiere Thursday, March 22 at 9 PM where it will follow American Idol results.

Bones which was to return on Thursdays will move to Monday night at 8 PM starting April 2.

House will return to nine o’clock on April 2 and will include a rich respective episode May 21 at 8 PM prior to its series finale.

The Finder will have a spring finale on March 8 but will return at a date TBA

Alcatraz will continue with new episodes throughout March with two episodes on March 5 and a two-hour season finale March 26

Alan Ball will step down as show runner for True Blood after season five. If there is a season six he will stay on as advisor but not day-to-day show runner.

Hayley Rinehart from last year’s American Idol will guest star and perform on updating episode of 90210

FX network announced Charlie Sheen’s new sitcom Anger Management premiere June 28

Scott Bakula will guest star in upcoming episode of Desperate Housewives as Bree’s lawyer

CW network announced One Tree Hill will have its final episode April 4. Ringer is all new through April 17. Supernatural and Nikita conclude their season May 18

Leonard Nimoy will sort of guest star on Big Bang Theory March 29. In voice only he speaks to Sheldon in the dream sequence.

MTV has ordered season three of Teen Mom

ABC has ordered more episodes of Shark Tank

In this week’s installment of “Chris Young’s sure sign of the coming apocalypse” Bristol Palin (daughter of half Gov. Sarah Palin) is getting her own reality series on lifetime network

Anderson Cooper’s daytime talk show is been renewed for a second season and will move to a new studio

Lions Gate Films is producing a film of Robert Ludlum’s “The Osterman Weekend”. My mom’s favorite spy novel mainly because her maiden name was Osterman

SNL alumni Molly Shannon will join HBO’s “Enlightened”

CBS sportscaster James Brown will also be joining CBS news division doing general interest stories. He will continue to do NFL on CBS as well

Conservative Internet publisher Andrew Breitbart and cofounder of The Huffington Post died of a heart attack early this morning

NBC will air a Canadian produced medical drama “Saving Hope” starring Erica Durrance (Lois Lane from Smallville) and Michael Shanks (formerly of Stargate Atlantis) 12 episodes of been ordered

Sony pictures has licensed the rights to make a film of Valiant Comics character Bloodshed

Despite previous reports that American Horror Story would regroup with a completely new cast/setting, Jessica Lange will be returning next season

David Letterman has endorsed Rick Santorum for president. Not because he likes his politics. In fact he abhors them. He just wants someone good to crack jokes about.

There will be a new fourth installment in the Ice Age animated film franchise title” Ice Age: Continental Drift”

 


May 2012 Sweeps Scorecard: Deaths, Weddings, Pregnancies, Sex, Graduations and More!


White Collar Boss Previews the Season Finale That ‘Changes Everything’


Parenthood: Lauren Graham Sets Record Straight on Sarah and Mark’s Seemingly Doomed Fate


Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Grey’s Anatomy, Castle, Glee, Criminal Minds, Gossip Girl and More!


White Collar Boss Discusses Finale Cliffhanger, Neal’s Season 4 ‘Pursuit’ of His [Spoiler]


‘Dancing With the Stars’: And the new cast is……