Well people I messed up. It may be the end of my occasional entertainment news emails and blogs. I was using something called an RSS reader named “Feed Demon” to collect the articles from a variety of websites that I then scroll through every couple of weeks and pick out the articles of interest and post them in the email. The “Feed Demon” program was linked to a service called “Google Reader” which was discontinued on July 1. I knew it was coming and I read lots of articles about alternatives to Google Reader. Among the articles it said that even though Feed Demon was no longer going to be supported by the people who created it, it would still continue to work as a newsreader despite the death of Google Reader. I turned off the synchronization between Feed Demon and Google Reader and it looked like the program was going to continue to function.

I got tied up with working on some of my electronics projects and I spent five days writing a blog about the Paul McCartney concert (available here in case you missed it). I haven’t gotten back to entertainment news until today. When I called up Feed Demon for the first time in over a month it only downloaded two days worth of articles. Apparently the synchronization with Google Reader was more important than I thought. That means it’s been a month worth of stuff going on that I didn’t know about. For example the first link below is a set of spoilers from yesterday’s blog by Michael Ausiello and the first question from a fan was “Is there any word on who is going to replace Ziva on NCIS?” Crap! I didn’t know that she was leaving!

I think that if I continued to run Feed Demon on a daily basis it should download the articles and save them for me until I can read them. I really like the interface on this program I guess just because I’ve gotten used to it so I’m going to stick with it for now and try to remember to run it at least once a day so that when I do get around to collecting the information it should be pre-downloaded for me. If not I will have to start experimenting with one of about a dozen other Google reader replacements.

So for now here is what I know. In the links below you can read

Michael Ausiello spoilers dated July 30

Not in the links below but also of interest…

Cote de Pablo a.k.a. Ziva is leaving NCIS. The network through a ton of money at her but she won’t come back.

In the upcoming season of Arrow we’re going to meet The Flash when have his origin story. Rumors are possible spinoff.

Lisa Edelstein formally Dr. Cutter of House is joining the cast of Castle

Anna Torv of Fringe has been cast in a pilot for an HBO series

Even though this is the last season of Dexter, the show runner has been retained by Showtime and rumors are there may be a spinoff

President Obama will appear on the Tonight Show on August 6

ABC’s Celebrity Wife Swap has been renewed for a third season (yawn)

And there you have it. Two days worth of entertainment news instead of six weeks worth like you would’ve had if I hadn’t screwed up.

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on NCIS, Grey’s, Mentalist, Nashville, Castle, Good Wife, Homeland and More

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

It’s been so long since I did entertainment news that several of the articles I found talking about appealing episodes had already aired weeks ago. The major items of note are that Jimmy Fallon will replace Jay Leno as host of the Tonight Show in February 2014 and the show will move to New York. We also have to bow our heads in a moment of silence for the passing of Roger Ebert and Annette Funicello.

In the links below 

Interview with Shameless star Emmy Rossum about a recent episode.

Interview with Laurie Holden about her character Andrea on The Walking Dead season finale

Interview with Robert Kirkman about season finale of The Walking Dead and 4

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated April 2

Interview with Justified show runner about season finale

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated April 9

Not in the links below but also of interest

True Blood season 6 will premiere Sunday, June 16

The Killing season 3 will begin with a two-hour episode Sunday, June 2 Peter Sarsgaard joins the cast

David Tennant and Billy Piper have agreed to appear in the Dr. Who 50th anniversary special now filming in the UK

TBS has renewed Conan O’Brien’s talkshow through 2015

The Walking Dead is looking for an actor to play a character named Roy Stark and Army medic who is haunted by his past both pre-and post zombie apocalypse

HBO has officially renewed Game of Thrones for season 4

USA announced Royal Pains returns June 12, Covert Affairs July 16, Burn Notice June 6 followed by new series Graceland

Rumor has it that “Happy Endings” they moved to USA Network if ABC cancels it

The Walking Dead has promoted Tyreese, Sasha, and Beth two series regulars for season 4

Christopher Abbott who plays Marnie’s boyfriend Charlie on HBO’s Girls is leaving in season 3

A mixup in TV schedules caused many viewers to miss recording the last seven minutes of “The Americans” in an early April episode titled “Safe House”. They’ve decided to put the episode online.

History Channel has renewed “Vikings” for season 2. We are very happy.

Dexter returns to Showtime June 30

True Blood has announced Anna Camp will return as anti-vampire evangelist Sarah Newlin for a guest shot. I think she’s hot.

Bravo has canceled the Kathy Griffin talkshow “Kathy” after two seasons.

A&E has renewed “Bates Hotel” for season 2. I’m surprised.

“So You Think You Can Dance” returns May 14/15

Michael Imperioli will have a recurring character in season 7 of Californication

The season finale of Chicago Fire on May 15 will launch a potential spinoff series focused on Chicago police.

John Barrowman a.k.a. Torchwood’s Capt. Jack will have a guest spot on upcoming episodes of Scandal

The entire 15 episode season 4 of Arrested Development will premiere May 26 on Netflix only

Syfy Channel has renewed the American version of Being Human for a 13 episode season 4

Yvonne Strahovski will return to Dexter as Hannah for its final season

Despite rumors of a change, NBC has renewed Last Call with Carson Daly for a 13 season.

ABC has announced “Once upon a Time” may get an “Alice in Wonderland” spinoff

Drea de Matteo will guest star in several episodes of Sons of Anarchy as Jack’s ex-wife Wendy

CBS has announced 18 of its shows that are returning including Elementary. Notable omissions from the list are Vegas, Golden Boy, CSI NY. Also missing 2 1/2 Men and Criminal Minds which are likely to be renewed but are still under negotiation.

FX has renewed Justified, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, legit, and The League.

FX is going to spin off a new network tentatively titled FXX in September aimed at young adults and comedy focused

FX has green lit 10 episode limited series title Fargo based on the movie

Stan Lee will guest star on an upcoming episode Of The Simpsons

Lifetime has canceled America’s Most Wanted

MythBusters returns to Discovery May 1

Sara Barelles is leaving as a judge on NBC’s “Sing Off”. The show was thought to be canceled but will return sometime during the holidays this year.

Syndicated Judge Judy has been renewed through 2017

The DVD of History Channel’s “The Bible” sets record for fastest selling miniseries ever met 525,000 units in the first week

Natalie Dormer famous for playing Anne Bolin in Showtime’s The Tudors and currently starring in Game of Thrones will play Sherlock’s former girlfriend Irene Adler in a three episode arc. She is majorly hot!

Syfy Channel is developing to miniseries based on Larry Niven’s classic Ringworld and Arthur C Clarke’s Childhoods End

History Channel is developing a miniseries about Houdini starring Adrien Brody

CW network has pulled “Cult” from its schedule after only 7 of 13 episodes. No word yet on if we get to see the others. I kind of like the show but I won’t miss it much.

Queen Elizabeth II was given an honorary BAFTA award for playing a memorable “Bond Girl” in the opening ceremony of the Olympics

A prop phaser rifle from original Star Trek sold for $231,000 at auction over the weekend.

Robert Redford has joined the cast for the next Capt. America film scheduled for April 2014 release

Alfre Woodard has joined the cast of BBC America’s “Copper”

Patricia Arquette is joining Boardwalk Empire

Animated Kung fu panda 3 will be released December 2015

A&E announced Longmire and The Glades will return May 27

TNT announced Franklin and Bash returns June 19, Rizzoli & Isles and Perception June 25

Starz network’s Magic City returns June 14

Richard Griffiths who played Harry Potter’s Uncle Vernon has died at age 65.

Pixar is making a sequel to Finding Nemo titled Finding Dorie scheduled November 2015

Shameless’ Emmy Rossum: Fiona and Jimmy’s Relationship Plummets to a ‘Pretty Bad Place’

Walking Dead Exclusive: The Actor at the Center of the Season Finale’s Tragic Death Speaks Out — ‘It Was a Shock to Everyone’

Walking Dead Post Mortem: Robert Kirkman Talks Andrea Backlash (Including the Pliers!), Defends Rick’s Decision, Previews [Spoiler]’s Return

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Grey’s, Walking Dead, Sons of Anarchy, Glee, Shameless and More!

Justified Boss on [Spoiler]’s Shocking Fate, Boyd’s Dark(er) Path – Plus: Season 5 Scoop!

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Glee, Once, Nikita, SVU, Scandal, Grimm, Good Wife, Bones and More!

I want to kick off this installment of entertainment news with comments on series finale of Fringe and season finale of Parenthood both of which I enjoyed immensely. If you’ve not seen these episodes then skip a couple of paragraphs. By the way I was on a Doctor Who discussion form the other day and someone said “When you say the word ‘Spoilers!’ when talking about a TV show don’t you hear the word in your brain in the voice of River Song?”. So if I was capable of doing a River Song impersonation… Spoilers included below.

I really don’t have a lot to say about Fringe except that I thought the whole final season was really great. I like the fact that it had more of a continuing story rather than just the typical “weird fringe event of the week”. It was a little bit disappointing that they spent the entire season trying to figure out a method for getting rid of the Observers and in the end a lot of what they did they really didn’t use. They just sort of piggybacked on the wormhole generator that the Observers use themselves. I thought there was a tremendous acting jobs between the bad guy head Observer (I forget his name) as he sort of did his Inspector Javier hunt for the fringe team and how he was after them because they were imperfect emotional beings yet he was struggling with his own emerging emotions. I thought the humanized Observer September was a really interesting character both as an observer and as a human. And even though the child observer didn’t have any lines and just had to sit there in his makeup and look ominous in creepy I really think he did a pretty good job. I don’t know who that kid was but I will be watching for him in other movies and shows. I think the happily ever after ending for Olivia and family was a bit of a surprise to me. I was a little bit too sweet but given how much they had all suffered I understand why they did it. And I really liked what happened to Walter in the end. With all of his struggles over the unintended evils he unleashed on the world, his opportunity to redeem himself by saving the world was really appropriate. I will miss the show. I really liked it. But it’s not up on the level of say Battle Star Galactica where it’s the type of thing I want to go back and watch rerun episodes on Science Channel or marathons of episodes should they occur. It was just a fun show that I’ll miss.

Although we only got 13 episodes of Parenthood this season I thought they were pretty amazing and it wasn’t just the cancer storyline. I was definitely rooting for Jason Ritter over Ray Romano’s own a little bit disappointed there. In the final episode I was really pissed that after she gave up on Jason Ritter and picked Ray that he would up and leave for Minnesota. I forgave them however when in the end she went with him. I thought the whole adoption storyline was pretty cool. Although the final scene of all of the Braverman’s invading the judges chamber was a little bit cliché for the show as a typical Braverman thing to do I still liked it. I’m glad that Amber got hooked up again with her PTSD soldier guy and that apparently he’s getting his act together. I think the story arc that moved me the most throughout the year was Max and his struggle with Asperger syndrome as he gets into middle school age. His victory scene when they finally got the vending machine was very cool. In the season finale of all of the many tearjerker moments the only ones that really got me were related to Max. When Max said to the adopted boy “Now that you’re officially in the family you can touch my lizards” I thought that was the coolest thing she had ever done. For a moment I thought maybe it was a little bit out of character for him but I think it really illustrates how far he’s come in his attempt to learn what empathy really means. But the Max related seen that really choked me up most was when Ray Romano gives the girl the camera for Max. “This is for your nephew that doesn’t like to look at people. You look down in the top of the camera to see out. He can take people’s picture without having to look at them.” After that I would have run off to Minnesota with him myself 🙂 I guess I just thought it was amazingly clever, thoughtful, and I can’t think of what other adjectives. I suppose I empathize with Max because of his “disability” and the fact that someone wanted to find a way for him to do something fun despite his problems really got to me. I’ve not yet heard of Parenthood has been renewed. The way the episode went it could’ve been an appropriate series finale. All I’ve heard so far is that NBC executives are pleased that the ratings were way up this season. It’s definitely one of the best shows on television.

Moving on to entertainment news… This is the time of season when new pilots are being ordered and people are being cast in those pilots. I’m probably not going to cover a lot of that information because in the past I’ve gotten very excited about various pilots and who was going to be in them only to discover that the series never got ordered (for example Wonder Woman, Mockingbird Lane just to name a few.) For example NBC is currently casting a Dracula series pilot. CBS has announced a new comedy series starring Robin Williams. I’m ignoring the news because I’m afraid I’m going to be disappointed.

In the links below read about

Calendar of premiere dates and finale dates for midseason shows in February. Must see. Includes link to series renewal scorecard.

BBC America is making a film about the people who created Dr. Who back in 1963. David Bradley a.k.a. Prof. Filch from Harry Potter will play William Hartnell.

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated January 29

Interview with Spartacus Star Liam McIntyre

Interview with Valorie Curry a star of new Fox series “The Following” (I like this new series)

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated February 5

Not in the links below but also of interest…

CBS announced it is renewing How I Met Your Mother for its final season 2013/2014 in which we will finally find out who the mother is.

Annie Wersching, who played 24 FBI agent Renee Walker to guest star on revolution

Despite ABC’s cancellation of several soaps CBS renews The Bold and the Beautiful and Young and the Restless also renewed The Talk, the Price Is Right, Let’s Make a Deal

Cinemax renews Banshee for season 2

Showtime renews House of Lies, Californication, and Shameless for another season each

HBO TV series Entourage is moving to the big screen. There’s going to be an Entourage movie.

Christopher Waltz (Django Unchained, Inglorious Bastards) will host SNL February 16

Katie Couric’s syndicated talkshow has been renewed for season 2

The modern day Jekyll/Hide NBC series “Do No Harm” did no good. Got lowest rated midseason premiere of any scripted TV show ever!

Former bionic man Lee Majors will have a multi-episode arc on Dallas

CBS has renewed NCIS for its 11th season

ABC is announced Castle will have 24 episodes this season rather than the previously announced 23

From the “I don’t remember if I ordered this last time or not” department… HBO has renewed Girls for season 3

Dr. Phil has been renewed for three more years

Former half governor Sarah Palin has been fired by Fox news

In the February 11 episode of Bones, she is shot

Al Pacino will play murderous record producer Phil Spector in an upcoming HBO movie

Al Pacino will play coach Joe Paterno in a film directed by Brian de Palma

British network ITV has green lit a reboot of Thunderbirds Are Go to air in 2015. It will be a mixture of live-action and CGI

Ricki Lake syndicated talkshow has been canceled after one season

James Cameron has won a lawsuit claiming he stole the idea for Avatar.

Aimee Garcia, Dexter’s nanny, has been updated to series regular for next season

Marvel Studios will make a movie “Guardians of the Galaxy” based on their comic.

Disney announced that in addition to making Star Wars VII, VIII and IX the first of which to be directed by JJ Abrams, they have also hired Larry Kasdan and Simon Kimberg to write two additional Star Wars related films not part of the original series.

Commentator Dick Morris who predicted a Romney landslide has been fired from Fox news

DreamWorks Animation announced “Mr. Peabody and Sherman” has been pushed to March 2014 from its original plan to release November 2013

Additionally DreamWorks Animation has pulled “Me and My Shadow” from its release schedule and now list it back in “in development”. Also reported layoffs are occurring.

Bravo has renewed Top Chef for season 11

Feel the need for speed? Top Gun coming to IMAX 3-D for one week run.

AMC has announced that “The Killing” will return for a third season despite previous cancellation

The Batmobile from the 60s TV series recently sold at auction for $4.6 million

ABC has pulled “Don’t trust the B…” From its schedule.

Rumors are that Raj is finally going to get a girlfriend on Big Bang Theory

Hot for Winter: Your February Premieres Calendar

BBC America to Chronicle Doctor Who‘s Debut in TV-Movie Starring Brian Cox, Harry Potter Actor

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Walking Dead, Grey’s, Scandal, Big Bang, Nashville, Bones and More!

Spartacus Star Liam McIntyre Talks Codpieces, Full-Frontal Nudity and a ‘Devastating’ Finale

The Following’s Breakout Star Valorie Curry Dissects Emma’s ‘Misplaced’ Love of Joe Carroll

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Scandal, Bones, Big Bang, Grimm, Once, Spartacus and More!

We start off this installment of my entertainment news with my observations on seeing The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey at High Frame Rate 3-D. First some background… Computer animated movies in 3-D are genuine 3-D creations because they simply re-render the movie with the virtual camera at a different location and angle. Most of the live-action 3-D movies you see these days were actually shot in 2-D although some were shot in anticipation that they would be converted to 3-D and postprocessing. Prime example of that is the most recent Narnia movie. You will notice lots of side to side camera movement in that film. That allows the computer postprocessing process to use information from successive frames to more easily re-create a 3-D effect. But a small number of movies these days are actually shot in 3-D and the new hobbit trilogy is one of them. Not only was it shot in 3-D it was shot entirely digitally and shot at a high frame rate. The standard for shooting filmed movies has long been 24 frames per second. By comparison standard TV is 30 frames per second or up to 60 frames per second for HDTV. My first introduction to a higher frame rate was when I bought my most recent HDTV’s which have refresh rates of either 120 or 240 Hz. The way that digital video is compressed the TV can actually take 30 frames percent and interpolate the motion to fill in next to frames in between. The result is a sort of hyperrealistic movement as the camera pans or as objects move across the screen. Unfortunately the conversion inside the typical HDTV isn’t perfect and you can actually get artifacts distortions around the edges of objects. Some people don’t like the higher frame rates on HDTV’s and actually turn off the feature. On the other hand I like it a lot so I was anxious to see what a 48 frame per second film looks like that wasn’t something that had been postprocess but had actually been shot at the higher frame rates.

It takes the latest digital projectors to be able to show these higher frame rates so films like the hobbit are only being shown at HFR in a limited number of theaters. The only theater in Indiana is at a 16 theater multiplex in Noblesville at the big mall up there near the Deer Creek Music Center. With this new HFR format was previewed to critics, it was widely panned. I never did hear what the critics didn’t like about HFR. It could be that they had a batch of people who like some don’t like the postprocess HFR that HDTV’s have. Or it may just a been that they didn’t think that the effect was dramatic enough to be worth the hype. I never did figure that out.

The bottom line is I did like the HFR experience on The Hobbit very much. As various creatures are being chased through the woods with fast camera movements and during many of the action sequences I think the high frame rate definitely makes for a better experience. It was easier to see what was going on. Sometimes in action scenes everything is just a blur but not so much in this film.

I think the high frame rate is especially important on very large screens and this one was near IMAX size even though it wasn’t IMAX. Let’s do the math for a minute. Suppose you got a movie screen that is 30 feet wide and you have an object quickly moving across the screen that takes for example three seconds. That means that the object is moving at 10 ft./s measured on the screen itself. At 24 frames per second that means the object moves 6 inches every frame. If you are sitting close enough to the screen to get an IMAX like experience (that is the screen fills your normal field of vision while looking at the screen center) you can actually get a strobe effect as an object moves across the screen. Your brain can no longer merge the individual static images into a fluid motion. By doubling the frame rate you get that six-inch jump down to 3 inches which when viewed from the middle of a theater is not nearly as noticeable.

As much as I liked the HFR experience and not 100% sure that I would repeatedly drive across town to see it. As far as I know the only films made this way are the hobbit trilogy. The second part will be released sometime this year and the third part not until 2014 so I suppose the crosstown trip once a year would be a nice treat. But if more and more films are shot at higher frame rate, I’m probably not going to go chasing all over the place to see it that way. An ordinary 3-D or an ordinary IMAX 3-D experience a little bit closer to home (like Traders Point) should be enough to satisfy my eye candy obsession. On the other hand the more films they get shot at HFR the more theaters will convert to that technology. It’s the classic chicken and egg problem that has slowed the move to digital and the wider promulgation of 3-D capabilities.

Now we move on to our regular news items. In the links below read about

Postmortem interviews with producers of Homeland after the season finale (which was awesome by the way)

Postmortem interviews with producers of Dexter after the season finale (which was awesome by the way)

Interviews with producers of How I Met Your Mother about midseason break finale episode

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated December 18

Interview with Prince Charming actor about his role in Once upon a Time

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated January 3

Renewal scorecard from Michael Ausiello predicts which shows will be renewed/canceled

Not in the links below but also of interest

RIP Jack Klugman age 90

RIP Charles Durning age 89

RIP Harry Carey Jr. Western movie star age 91

RIP Gary Anderson puppeteer/producer of Space 1999, Supercar & Thunderbirds TV series

Producers of Dallas JR Ewing will get a funeral in the TV series after the death of Larry Hagman at age 81

Martin Scorsese will produce and direct a documentary about Bill Clinton for HBO

Discovery Channel cancels American Guns

Season finales of Homeland and Dexter set records for viewership for Showtime

Season 2 premiere of Smash on NBC will be Tuesday, February 5

Episodes of Scandal, Haven, Family Guy, American Dad, and The Cleveland Show were delayed for violent content because of the Sandy Hook tragedy

The Haven episode which included a shooting at a high school will air with the season finale back to back on January 17

Producers say episodes of Game of Thrones season 3 will be 57-58 minutes long compared to the typical 54 minutes. Some may go past 60.

Julianne Moore will return to guest star on 30 Rock to the series finale

HeroesandCovert Affairsalum Sendhil Ramamurthy will have a recurring role in Beauty and the Beast on CW

James Callas a.k.a. Gaius Baltar from BSG will guest star in an upcoming episode of Arrow

USA announced Psych has been renewed for a eighth and possibly final season. Season seven premieres February 27

The Walking Dead has been renewed for a fourth season however show runner Glen Mazzara who helmed seasons 2 and 3 is leaving over creative differences. Season 3 returns February 10

How I Met Your Mother has been renewed for a 9th season after Jason Segel makes last-minute decision to stay with the show.

TNT has canceled Leverage. December 25 episode was series finale.

NBC has officially decided not to pick up Mockingbird Lane the Munsters reboot to series. Pilot had poor ratings.

The Christmas episode of Dr. Who sent a ratings record for BBC America up 60% from last year’s Christmas special

Adam Levine will host SNL January 26

January 14 episode of Hawaii 50 will allow viewers to vote on the ending.

Jennifer Esposito’s “medical leave” from Blue Bloods is now permanent. She’s off the show.

USA has renewed Necessary Roughness for season 3 of 10 episodes

Canceled soap operas One Life to Live and All My Children will return as online shows.

Syfy Channel announced new series Defiance premieres April 15

Fox announced that Bones has been renewed for season 8 possibly its last

LA Reid will not return to The X Factor. Rumors are Britney Spears is out as well.

CBS is in the early stages of developing a new Twilight Zone series

Middle East cable company Al Jazeera purchases Current TV. Several carriers drop the channel including Bright House

National Geographic is making a documentary based on Bill O’Reilly’s “Killing Lincoln”. And will do documentary on “Killing Kennedy” as well.

HBO is being sued over alleged mistreatment of horses in its canceled series Luck

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will guest when the series finale of 30 Rock

A&E series Bates Motel (prequel to Psycho) will start March 18

David Tennant and Arthur Darvill returns to BBC America in eight episode series from ITV titled Broadchurch

Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte will get a reality series on E! Network

Commemorative postage stamps featuring all 11 doctors of Dr. Who will be issued in the UK.

This week’s winner of the Chris Young’s Sure Sign of the Apocalypse award goes to Justin Bieber who will host and perform on SNL February 9

Homeland Burning Questions: Will [Spoiler] Sit Out Season 3? Did SNL’s Spoof Sting? And More

Dexter Boss Discusses the Impact of Deb’s Deadly Choice, Plus: Who’ll Be Back in Season 8?

HIMYM Boss on Robin and Barney’s (Happy?) Future, Ted’s ‘Regrets,’ Season 9 and More

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Bones, Castle, Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries, HIMYM, Grey’s and More!

Once Upon a Time: Josh Dallas on the Charmings’ Future, Regina’s Regret and Hook’s Welcome

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Once Upon a Time, Bones, Office, Supernatural, HIMYM and More!

2013 Renewal Scorecard: What’s Coming Back? What’s Getting Cancelled? What’s on the Bubble?

It’s been way too long again since I did and entertainment update but I’ve been busy with a variety of other things including designing this year’s Christmas card.

We will kickoff with entertainment spoiler… This year’s Chris Young design Christmas card was inspired by a Home Depot decorating tip in a 2011 TV commercial. People who have seen the previews of it said it is very ballsy.

In the links below read…

Jennifer Esposito talks about her suspension from cast of Blue Bloods

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated November 20

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated November 28

Interview with Ron Perlman about a recent episode of Sons of Anarchy

Interview with the producers of Arrow about upcoming plot lines

Interview with Kaley Cuoco about Penny saying “I Love You” to Leonard

Interview with stars of Once upon a Time about fall finale

Interview with producers of American Horror Story about recent plot twists

Surprising reveal of who played old man on recent 2 1/2 Men episode

Not in the links below

Entourage’s Constance Zimmer will have a recurring role on Grey’s Anatomy. I thought she was hot.

CBS has canceled its new sitcom Partners. Reruns of other CBS sitcoms are taking it slot on Monday night

Lisa Kudrow’s “Web Therapy” has been renewed by Showtime for a third season. If you like dry improvised humor is for you.

Annabella Sciorra will play a shrink on upcoming episodes of Blue Bloods

Greg Germann from Ally McBeal will play a deputy director on NCIS.

ABC has canceled Last Resort and 666 Park Ave. Shows will not go past their original 13 episode order. Final episodes have been rewritten to make them into finales.

True Blood shape shifter Janina Gavankar will play a vice cop who is part of Oliver Queen’s passed on CW’s Arrow

Jamie Foxx will host the December 8 installment of SNL

Martin Short will host Christmas installment of SNL with musical guest Paul McCartney

Starz has decided not to have a season three of Kelsey Grammer’s Chicago mayor drama “Boss”. They may however do a movie to wrap up plot lines.

Freddie Highmore would play teenage Norman Bates in A&E Psycho prequel.Vera Farmiga will play the not yet dead mother.

Discovery Channel has canceled two of its longest-running series “Dirty Jobs” and “American Chopper”.

Chevy Chase is leaving Community effective immediately. Will not appear in the last two or three episodes remaining to be shot.

Downton Abbey has been renewed for season 4

Larry Hagman died at age 81

Syfy Channel has renewed Haven for season 4

Merlin season 5 will be its last. BBC will wrap it up around Christmas. Syfy Channel start season 5 January 4. Spinoff series are possibility.

Angus T Jones a.k.a. Private Jake Harper calls 2 1/2 Men “filth” encourages viewers not to watch. Later apologizes.

Upcoming NCIS episode will have case solved entirely by Ziva and Abby

Production problems have delayed BBC’s version of Sherlock season 3 until late 2013. PBS airing may slip to 2014.

Neve Campbell will play Derek’s sister in an upcoming Grey’s Anatomy

David Anders recently played Dr. Frankenstein on Once upon a Time will play a bad guy in upcoming Arrow

Audrey McDonald a.k.a. Naomi will return for series finale of Private Practice

FX announced Justified returns January 8. Anger Management and Archer January 17

Fox pushes season premiere of “Touch” from February 1 to February 8

Lisa Edelstein will appear in multiple episodes of season 2 of Showtime’s House of Lies

CW has canceled Emily Owens MD. Will complete 13 episodes.

ABC is extending Malibu Country and Last Man Standing to five additional episodes

CBS is older they straight to series adaptation of Stephen King’s 2009 novel “Under the Dome”

This installments winner of the Chris Young “Sure Sign of the Coming Apocalypse” award goes to Vinny from Jersey Shore is getting his own MTV talkshow

Liza Minnelli will guest star in season 2 of Smash

American Horror Story renewed for season 3

The Kennedys miniseries on Reelz channel is getting a sequel covering the Kennedy family from 1968 to present

Crixus is Death Stroke! Actor Manu Bennett of Spartacus fame has been cast as Slade Wilson on CW’s Arrow. That character eventually becomes Death Stroke… the masked character whom we’ve already seen but was played by different actor.

USA’s Necessary Roughness has been renewed for a third season

FX has ordered more episodes of Brand X and Totally Biased.

Fox 2000 studio and Ridley Scott are creating a new film “The Forever War” based on the sci-fi classic by Joe Haldeman

Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart will return for “X-Men: Days of Future past coming to theaters

There will be an IMAX version of the new Les Miserables musical which premieres December 25 in theaters. Unfortunately IMAX may only be in the UK.

A movie based on the Jeremiah Harm comics is in the works

Walt Disney has increased its shareholder dividends 25% which is $0.75 per share. Apparently the Force is strong with them

NBC is canceling newsmagazine Rock Center with Brian Williams at the end of the year.

Local TV in Chicago reports “Chicago Fire” TV show plane crash as real.

The original Batmobile from the 60s era TV series will go on the auction block January 19 in Scottsdale Arizona.

Dorothy’s dress from the Wizard of Oz recently sold for $480,000 at auction.

Game of Thrones has cast Will Champion drummer for the band Coldplay as a drummer.

Pittsburgh Steeler Hines Ward played a zombie in a recent episode of Walking Dead in early November.

Bob Brunner writer/producer of Happy Days who wrote the famous Fonzie Jumps the Shark episode has died at age 78.

Former Mouseketeer Bonita Lynn Fields Elder who appeared on the show in the 1950s has died at age 68

Cee Lo Green is set to guest star on Anger Management

Carrie Underwood will play Maria von Trapp in a live production of The Sound of Music to air on NBC

Kenneth Branagh has been knighted.

The first nine minutes of the new Star Trek movie will be previewed in IMAX 3-D theaters starting December 14

Jennifer Esposito Opens Up About the ‘Ugliness’ of Her Blue Bloods Suspension

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on NCIS, Grey’s, Army Wives, Glee, Revenge, Shameless and More!

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Once, Boardwalk Empire, Castle, Community, True Blood and More!

Sons of Anarchy‘s Ron Perlman on Clay’s ‘Cathartic’ Breakdown and Potential Comeback

Preview: Arrow Takes on The Huntress, One Well-Dressed Bombshell and… the Grinch?

Kaley Cuoco Weighs In on Big Bang’s Big ‘Love’ Scene (‘I Cried’), Teases Next Romantic Twist

Once Upon a Time: Jennifer Morrison, Ginnifer Goodwin Preview ‘Life-Or-Death’ Fall Finale

‘American Horror Story’: Ryan Murphy on the Bloody Face reveal and a major clue about the aliens — EXCLUSIVE

‘Two and a Half Men’ mystery actor is…..

Starting December 11, Bright House Networks here in Indiana is completely reorganizing their channel listings. You can read about the changes at their website http://brighthouse.com/newlineup. They provide a link like this where you can download a PDF of the new channel listings. I found it very confusing because they list the channels according to packages such as Basic, Standard, Digital, Premium etc. instead of listing them numerically or pointing out the new categories under which they are organized such as music, sports, news, entertainment, family etc.

I decided to make an edited version of this chart for myself to try to make sense of it. In some cases my version isn’t a whole lot better because their new reorganized system isn’t as organized as I think it ought to be. Click here to download my edited version.

Here is my commentary on what is in this chart.

The “Category” column is a way that Bright House categorizes its channels depending on which packages you have purchased. In some instances channels were listed in more than one category. I only listed one category and I was inconsistent in which of the two I chose. That really isn’t the point of this table. The analog column is a little bit of a misnomer because not all of the single-digit and two digit channels really are available on analog (i.e. without a converter box of some sort). I didn’t bother to keep track of those. It seems like the one and two digit channels are pretty much irrelevant. I wouldn’t be surprised if all the analog channels disappeared sometime soon. There are also some digital channels available if you have a digital tuner but no cable box but I’ve not noted any of those. We will have to wait and see which ones are available once the changeover takes place.

Here are some of the inconsistencies I wasn’t able to work out. For some reason channels 15 and 22 don’t seem to have a 100 series equivalent listed. It also says that HD Showcase on Demand is available on both 797 which was its existing number and 1130. Similarly HD Movies on Demand are listed in both 798 and 1600. That sort of violates the rule that all of the HD channels are 1000 and up. Public broadcasting WFYI is listed on 20, 1020, 349, and 1349. These may actually be two different sets of channels. That station has several sub channels such as WFYI 2 WFYI+ etc. some of which are listed separately. We will have to wait and see what really shows up.

I’m a little bit surprised that in this reorganization they haven’t done as much reorganizing as I might have done if I were sort everything out and starting from scratch. Here are their categories is best I can figure out.

The fact that the SD and HD channels are completely separated and that the numbering system is completely consistent between SD and HD is the very best part of this whole reorganization especially in the premium channel movie section. In the old system we had HD and SD premium channels intermixed with one another. Some were in the 200 range while others were in the 700 range.

The first group seems to be broadcast channels (3-20,1003-1020) which seems to make pretty good sense.

Is what I would call kids and family (101-128,1101-1128) which is a reasonably good grouping.

Then we get a strange mix of standard or basic cable channels (131,174-1174). I would’ve organize these much better. It starts off with TBS, TNT, FX, AMC, USA, A&E which is a nice grouping. I was going to comment that AMC ought to be down in the 600s with the other movie channels but I just noticed is duplicated there. That’s confusing. These are followed by Tru TV, Spike, G4 which isn’t too bad.

Then we go into a bunch of “educational” channels such as Discovery, History, Destination America, Nat Geo, Animal Planet, Nat Geo Wild, Investigation Discovery, C&I, Biography, H2, Military, Military History, Science, Smithsonian. Okay so we could call that a group but then we jump to Syfy, Chiller, Comedy Central, BBC America, Cloo. It seems to me they should have been listed with the other basic cable entertainment channels such as TNT, Spike etc. without all of the educational channels in between.

We get three channels of reruns (175-177, 1175) TV land, WTHR Me-TV,WXIN Antenna TV which is a nice cluster.

Next we get the music category such as MTV, VH1 etc. which is pretty well organized (182-199, 1182-1997) except I don’t know why MC on demand is 199 SD but 1997 HD.

The next category I think the cable company would probably categorize as “lifestyle” (201-244, 1201-1229) since they have a channel called “Lifestyle on Demand” this includes HGTV, food network, Cooking, travel, fitness and health, style etc. The fact that they put the grossly misnamed “The Learning Channel” in this category rather than up there with discovery etc. is proof that Honey Boo-Boo is not just the symptom, it’s the disease. I’m a little surprised that Bravo is down here rather than up with TBS, TNT, A&E and other basic entertainment channels. Also BET could’ve been up there with the weather entertainment channels. Being black isn’t a lifestyle. I’m not really sure what some of the other channels in this area are all about. Some of them such as GSN maybe should’ve been up there with the rerun category.

Religious channels are grouped nicely (251, 255-1255) These are followed by shopping channels (266-284, 1266-1268) however it’s a shame there’s no option to disable these channels. At least with them all grouped together they are easier to avoid. For some reason 298 is Movies on Demand is its old channel number. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a mistake in the original chart.

Next we get news and public affairs (301-361, 1301-1349) which includes your usual CNN, Fox News, MSNBC as well as business channels FOX Business, CNBC, Bloomberg. Also includes the weather channels, C-SPAN, government access, extra PBS channels and additional copies of the local rerun channels.

The most reorganized and best reorganized are the sports categories. It starts off with (401-409, 1401-1409) which is all of the ESPN right next to one another. Then we get local sports (410-413, 1411-1413) hometown sports, Fox sports Indiana, Big Ten. Then at 416-425, 1416-1425) we get all of the leaf networks such as NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL followed by NBC sports and CBSSports. Race fans will be glad to see (427-428, 1427-1430) which are Speed, Fuel, Velocity, Mav TV. Some of these sports channels are only available in the premium Sports Pass package such as NFL Red Zone and MLB Strike Zone and CBS Sports. The remaining sports Pass channels (435-487, 1435-1486) such as other regional Fox sports, outdoor, sportsmen, fishing etc. The extra Big Ten Network channels follow that along with Pac 12 which is part of Sports Pass. The big premium sports packages such as ESPN game plan, NBA league Pass, MLB extra innings, NHL Center ice are all in the range (500-554, 1500-1554).

Pretty much everything else is movies starting at 600. It kicks off with HMC, AMC, TCM, LMN, Sundance, IFC. Then a jumble of other movie Pass channels and standard cable movie channels such as Fox movie, and Reelz. Then we get premium “HD Pack” from 1619-1624 which is okay for things like HMC and MGM but really out of place for stuff like Smithsonian.

The rest of the movie sections are very well organized. Encore (637-647, 1637-1646), HBO (660-674, 1660-1668), Cinemax (680-688, 1680-1688), Showtime (702-711, 1702-1711), The Movie Channel (720-722, 1720 was 1722), Starz (730-735, 1731). As mentioned earlier the reorganization of this section was the most sorely needed part especially separating SD from HD and numbering them consistently. They did a great job. I still wish we could get more Starz HD channels especially Starz HD on-demand which is unavailable on Bright House.

Next we get various subscription on demand mostly adult (750-784, 1755 -1758) such as Playboy, Hustler, etc. Also included in this range are pay-per-view channels both entertainment and adult. There are some music channels in the range 792-796. The 800 series are all Spanish-language some of which are available elsewhere such as the PBS Spanish station and the HBO Spanish channels. There are more music channels in the 1795-1799 and 1951-1997 range. They are not described as HD even though they are over 1000 so there’s a little inconsistency.

ESPN 3-D is the only channel in the so-called 3-D Pass package at 1747.

Overall it’s a big improvement over what we had before but I really think they could’ve been a little more consistent in that 100s range in separating out the educational channels from the entertainment channels.

Following up on my previous entertainment news that was incomplete here’s the rest of it

In the links below read about

Interview with Jennifer Carpenter about recent episode of Dexter and the rest of the season

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello from last Tuesday

Interview with Patrick Dempsey about his signing a two-year deal to stay with Grey’s Anatomy

Walking Dead show runner explains Maggie’s goodbye to Hershel was based on a true story

Once upon a Time show others speculate what new characters they might add. (No Jack Sparrow unless Johnny Depp agrees)

IMAX version of James Bond Skyfall will actually be 26% bigger than traditional theaters. No black bars top and bottom.

Superman creators heirs lose court battle to retain rights to the character

Not in the links below but also of interest

Jennifer Esposito has been written out of episodes of Blue Bloods. She asked for a reduced schedule because of celiac disease. They reduced her schedule to zero.

Dish network has settled its dispute with AMC. Fans of walking dead rejoice

Switched at Birth will return to ABC Family Channel on January 7. Pretty Little Liars returns January 8

Arrow has been picked up for a full season at CW network. Three additional scripts ordered for Beauty and the Beast and Emily Owens M.D.

X Factor has been renewed for season 3 by Fox networks

Showtime has renewed Homeland for season 3

George lives! Former Grays Anatomy actor TR Knight will guest star on The Good Wife

Annie Wersching a.k.a. 24’s FBI agent René Walker will have a recurring role in the next season of TNT’s Dallas

CBS has ordered full season pickups for Vegas and Elementary

Adam Baldwin has joined the cast of the new TNT pilot The Last Ship. He’s filling a role that was supposed to be played by Titus Welliver read about for a family emergency

Barry Sloan who plays Takeda’s disciple Aidan on Revenge has been promoted to series regular

American Idol will premiere January 16 and 17th on Fox

Touch which was posted return this fall returns February 1 after Fringe finishes in its final season January.

The Following starring Kevin Bacon as an FBI agent hunting down a serial killer will premiere on Fox January 21

Jane Fonda will headline a new ABC comedies series called “Now What?”

Fox has ordered two additional episodes of “the Mindy Project”. Never heard of it.

ABC’s Last Resort and 666 Park Ave. get orders for two scripts each

Warner Bros. has acquired the rights to make movies based on Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer

Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg have donated $1 million each to an Obama super PAC

There is going to be a “Paranormal Activity 5” because 1-4 left so many unanswered questions

William Hurt and Bruce Greenwood are among the actors signed up for a BBC science Channel drama about the Challenger shuttle disaster

President Obama will appear on MTV election special on Friday. On Jay Leno tonight.

The season premiere of The Walking Dead was the highest-rated nonsports show in the 18-49 demographic for its week

Fox network is developing a legal drama for Greg Kinnear

Herbert Lom who played Inspector Dreyfus in the Pink Panther movies has died at age 95

Seth McFarland will be the host of the Oscars

A Charlie Brown Movie is in development slated for 2015

Russell Crowe will play Noah in a biblical epic slated for 2014

LeVar Burton and Wil Wheaton will appear together in an upcoming episode of Big Bang Theory

A casting call for the next season of Game of Thrones is looking for actors with an amputated leg

The creator of “Friday Night Lights” has asked Gov. Romney to quit using a catchphrase “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts, Can’t Lose” threatens to sue.

Ashton Kutcher has replaced Charlie Sheen in one other way. Becomes highest-paid TV actor at $24 million versus Sheen’s $20 million

Beyoncé has backed out of Clint Eastwood’s remake of “a Star Is Born”

Dexter’s Jennifer Carpenter on That Bath Scene, New Deb/Dex Intimacy! Plus: Early Finale Scoop

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Glee, Psych, Fringe, Nikita, Dexter, Grey’s, Once, P’hood and More!

Exclusive Q&A: Patrick Dempsey On Re-Signing With Grey’s Anatomy, His Relationship With Ellen Pompeo and His Hopes for the Series Finale

‘The Walking Dead’: Showrunner Glen Mazzara gives the real life backstory to that moving scene between Maggie and Hershel — EXCLUSIVE

‘Once Upon’ showrunners reveal which famous characters they’d consider adding

IMAX Boasts 26% More James Bond ‘Skyfall’

Superman rights fight goes to DC Comics, judge rules

I’m so far behind on entertainment news that this is only half of all the articles that I need to go through to get caught up. We’ll have the other half in a shorter installment in a few days.

We’re going to start this installment of entertainment news with a review of the new reincarnation of “Beauty and the Beast” on the CW network. There are actually two different beauty and the beast shows appearing this year. This one bills itself as a re-imagination or reboot of the classic Ron Perlman/Linda Hamilton show created by Ron Koslow and ran from 1987-1990. These comments are based on viewing the first episode only. However two episodes have aired at this point. This time around Catherine Chandler is played by Kristin Kreuk is attractive enough for the part and experienced in playing opposite a “superhero?” because she is most famous for her role of Lana Lang opposite Clark Kent in the CW network series Smallville. Her counterpart Vincent is played by Jay Ryan was most recently been seen in Fox networks Terra Nova. Except for these two character names absolutely nothing else resembles the previous late 80s romantic drama.

While I expected they would make some changes and perhaps update it somehow, I really didn’t expect them to gut what I thought was some of the best parts of the original. This time Catherine is a police detective rather than an assistant district attorney which is okay. It still gives her opportunity to interact with bad guys. Vincent rescues her from said bad guys at least twice in the first episode so that part is true to the original. But my number one problem with the change is that Vincent isn’t really a beast. At least not all of the time. The original Vincent’s theme song could’ve been Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way”. His back story was that he was literally born in that disfigured way, abandoned at St. Vincent’s Hospital (hence his name) and taken in by a man whom he would later call father. He lived in a community in abandoned tunnels beneath New York City with a fascinating cast of characters who were similarly outcasts of society. Much of the charm of the original game from this mini utopia society that they had created which was defended from the outside by Vincent and Catherine. This time Vincent hangs out in an abandoned factory and has a tech guy for a sidekick. The tech sidekick would’ve been a good modernization of the story if they had kept the underground community but as it is his living environment is a great disappointment.

I could have dealt with all the above with only minor disappointment but the major change that I think redefines the show in a bad way is that the beast isn’t really a beast. At least not full time. Vincent Keller (he has a last name now) signed up for the Marines after 9/11, was injected with some mysterious substance to make him a super soldier (along with others) and it turned him into an uncontrollable beast. But only part-time. This isn’t The Beast who was born this way. This is the Incredible Hulk or perhaps Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Most of the time he looks like a perfectly normal hunk of a soldier with nothing more than a nasty scar along one cheek. Only when his adrenaline is up in a case of danger does he transform into a real monster.

The whole essence of the fairytale and the Ron Koslow 1980s re-imagination was that the beauty love the beast DESPITE HIS APPEARANCE! At times in this episode Vincent has to try to convince her that he really is a beastly person. That’s not what this story should be about. His monstrousness should be self-evident.

To say that I’m disappointed is a gross understatement. I will probably give it several more episodes to try to win me over. It may have something worthwhile to offer. But if you were as excited as I was that they were bringing back a show that was well acted, well written, and had a compelling premise that the original 80s series had, you’re going to be disappointed as well. The credit still list Koslow as “creator” and he’s been given an executive producer title. I’m hoping he’s getting more than just a credit and a check in exchange for (allegedly) using his original idea. I’m hoping he really has some input down the road. Otherwise this whole thing is going to be a waste of time.

Meanwhile CW network’s Green Arrow Comic book hero series titled “Arrow” shows good promise and open to good ratings. And if your sci-fi freak NBC’s “Revolution” has potential although might not be for everyone. NBC’s sitcoms are a mixed bag. “Go On” starring Matthew Perry shows a little promise. Much of it is over the top but it has a lot of heart and tackles the subject of grief with sensitivity and humor. If you like Matthew Perry you might like it. NBC’s answer to “Modern Family” titled “The New Normal” business is good as the ABC series it rips off. The grandmothers rampant racism and homophobia is trying to be a modern day Archie Bunker type. If you’re the kind of person who laughs at things designed for their shock value of outrageousness (and in moderation I am) then you might check it out. I like it, I’m watching it, but I’m getting a feeling it’s going to get old after a while and the shock value wears off.

You’re probably wondering why I list the links to articles here and then put the links at the bottom of the page. That’s because I’m cutting and pasting the links from a program called Feed Demon which assembles RSS newsfeeds that I used to track all of these entertainment websites. But often their title of the article is different than what I want to call it. It would be too hard to link the URLs to my text using Microsoft Outlook. So I put my description of the article here and put the actual links at the bottom of the page. So see the links below to read…

Anna Torv interview about this season of Fringe

Evil Queen Lana Parrilla talks about this season of Once upon a Time

Revolution show runner discusses death of major character in other news

Stephen Ammel a.k.a. the new Oliver Queen in “Arrow” discusses upcoming plot lines.

Walton Goggins discusses his hilarious transgendered guest starring on Sons of Anarchy

Matt Mitovich’s inside line scoops for October 11

Mary McDonald talks about Major Crimes finale and looks forward to season 2 which has been recently announced

Producer Robert Kirkman discusses Walking Dead season premiere

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello from last Tuesday

Interview with Kelly Hu a.k.a. China White on CW networks Arrow

Interview with Josh Molina about plot lines in his character on Scandal

Fascinating article about the difficulties of measuring ratings in a DVR era

Interview with Nikita boss about season premiere and upcoming plot lines

Actor Robert Carlyle talks about creating Rumpelstiltskin on Once upon a Time

Map of North America in post-apocalyptic series Revolution

Article about Once upon a Time using R-rated language in scripts but not in dialogue

Not in the links below but of interest

Gray’s Anatomy show runner Shonda Rimes promises that Callie and Arizona will get over their differences over the leg amputation

Eric Dane recently deceased from Gray’s Anatomy has signed up for a new TNT postapocalypse drama “The Last Ship” about a US destroyer that survives the end of the world

Titus Welliver a.k.a. Lost’s man in black has also signed up for The Last Ship on TNT

First Canceled Show award goes to “Made in Jersey” which CBS has pulled after two episodes. I gave up after one episode.

Neve Campbell is joining Gray’s Anatomy as Derek’s sister

Deadwood’s Ian McShane is joining the cast of American Horror Story

NBC’s reboot of The Munsters titled “Mockingbird Lane” will air its pilot as a Halloween special October 26. If it does well it might get picked up as a series. Otherwise it’s in trouble.

NBC’s Revolution, Go On, and The New Normal have all received full season orders

Producers of The Walking Dead hint that they may make a prequel movie!

Hamish Linklater who played the brother on New Adventures of Old Christine has an upcoming role on The Good Wife

Psych season 7 returns February 27, 2013

USA Network has renewed “Suits” for season 3. I really like season one but it didn’t fit in my schedule season 2 and I had to drop it. May go back and watch some downloads if I get a chance.

David Keith a.k.a. “The Cape” is joining “Touch” as Kiefer Sutherland’s pal

NBC has canceled Dane Cook’s midseason replacement sitcom before even aired one episode

Marc Pellegrino a.k.a. Jacob from “Lost” reunites with Michael Emerson an upcoming episode of Person of Interest

Clark Gregg is back from the dead. He will reprise his role as agent Phil Colson in the upcoming SHIELD pilot for ABC

Syfy Channel has announced season 3 of Being Human will be January 14, 2013

HBO series Girls and Enlightened will return for their second seasons January 13

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will cohost the 2013 Golden Globe Awards on NBC

American Idol alumni Jessica Sanchez has landed an official role on Fox’s Glee

Beyoncé will headline the 2013 Super Bowl halftime

Khloe Kardashian and Maria Lopez will cohost The X Factor

Opie lives! Ryan Hearst has joined the cast of “King & Maxwell” on TNT based on the books by David Balducci about secret agents turned private detectives.

Brown Coats Unite! Castle will investigate the death at a sci-fi convention November 5. Episode directed by Jonathan Frakes

Speaking of Brown coats… The Science Channel will air a special honoring the 10th anniversary of Firefly on November 11

Polly Walker a.k.a. Clarice Willow of Caprica and Atia Julii of Rome will appear in five episodes of warehouse 13.

Olympian Missy Franklin will appear in Pretty Little Liars upcoming episodes

X walking dead show runner Frank Darabont’s. Drama LA Noir has been picked up by TNT for six episodes

Dylan McDermott will come back to American Horror Story for one episode

George Takei will appear in an upcoming Hawaii 50

The X factor episode they got messed up by the baseball rain delay will re-air in its entirety on Tuesday

Second casualty! NBC cancels Animal Practice. I couldn’t even finish a whole episode. Will be replaced by Whitney.

Brendan Fraser will star in TNT’s upcoming pilot “Legends” based on the book by Robert Littell.

Lost star Henry Ian Cusick will guest star on upcoming episode of Body of Proof

ABC’s Private Practice will end after just 13 episodes this season.

Fox network is pushing Touch to midseason. Kitchen nightmares will be on starting October 26

Fox has ordered more episodes of sitcoms “The Mindy Project” and “Ben and Kate”. I’ve not watched either

NBC has postponed the season premiere of Community

Comedian Louis CK has requested that FX network delay season 4 of his series Louis until 2014.

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin will appear on this week’s Big Bang Theory

Producers of NBC’s Revolution and that they will explain why the blackout occurred sometime before the season finale.

Jay Leno is scheduled to appear CBS’s Craig Ferguson Late Show

TNT has canceled reality competition show “The Great Escape” after one season. I kind of liked it.

BBC America’s first show Copper has been renewed for a second season

And finally the obituaries.

Gary Collins was a veteran character actor who guest starred on many TV shows died at age 74

Anna Torv Talks About ‘Tricky, Complicated’ Fringe Reunions, ‘Amber Burn’ and the Big Finale

Lana Parrilla Talks Once Upon a Time Twist: ‘It’s a Victory’ for Regina, ‘Yet There’s a Layer of Guilt’

Revolution Boss Talks Maggie’s Death, Blackout Answers and Neville’s ‘Lady MacBeth’

Fall TV Preview: Stephen Amell Reveals Arrow’s Greatest Weakness: ‘He’s Going to Self-Destruct’

Sons of Anarchy: Walton Goggins Opens Up About His Surprise, Sex-Rated Cameo

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Glee, Grey’s, Arrow, Person of Interest, Once Upon a Time and Scandal

Mary McDonnell Previews Major Crimes Finale, Shares Why Season 2 News Brought Such Relief

Walking Dead Post Mortem: Is [Spoiler]’s Death Inevitable? Romance For Andrea and Michonne?

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Castle, NCIS, Glee, Grey’s, Gossip, P’hood, Community and More!

Arrow Vs. China White: Kelly Hu Teases the CW Hit’s First (and Brutal) Super Showdown

Scandal’s Joshua Malina Previews David’s ‘Down and Dirty’ Plot to Take Down Olivia

The New DVR Ratings Surge: Why Your Playback Habits Matter (and Why They Don’t)

Arrow Vs. China White: Kelly Hu Teases the CW Hit’s First (and Brutal) Super Showdown

Nikita Boss On That Major ‘Mikita’ Surprise! Plus Scoop On Alex, Sean, Owen, Ryan and Division

‘Once Upon’: How Robert Carlyle created Rumpelstiltskin

‘Revolution’: Check out a map of North America 15 years after the blackout — EXCLUSIVE

‘Once Upon a Time’ scripts full of cursing

I don’t think I’m going to be able to complete my Fall TV schedule so I found another one online that I posted to my new team blog. Here is the link…

Fall TV schedule

Also check out the September finale and premier dates link below.

It seems we always start off with obituaries. Tony Scott directed Top Gun and a number of other famous action pics committed suicide last week at age 68. Friends and family say he was suffering from terminal cancer but those reports have been denied and/or refuted. He is the brother of director Ridley Scott. Also we mourn the loss of pioneering comedienne Phyllis Diller at age 95. Also veteran actor William Windham died recently. Although he is membered for many famous roles, I think one of my favorites was a little half-hour religious video that I often showing my Scripture classes at Saint Gabriel. It was titled “Jesus BC”. It depicts God the father, God the son, and God the Holy Spirit standing around in heaven deciding what to do about those crazy creations of theirs called human beings. Windham played God the father. They decide to send the son named “Chris” (Tim Matheson) down to earth to redeem humanity. Also Ron Palillo a.k.a. Arnold Horshack of Welcome Back Kotter died of a heart attack at age 63. Also famous film critic Judith Crist has died at age 90. And Mel Stuart director of the original Willy Wonka has died at 83. He directed 180 films.

In the links below read about…

September finale and premier dates

Michael Ausiello spoilers from August 14

Doctor Who special will chronicle birth of the series

Photos of CW networks knew Beauty and the Beast. This beast is a hunk. No goofy looking Ron Perlman here.

Michael Ausiello spoilers from yesterday

Interview with producers of Falling Skies about season finale

This weeks winner of the “Chris Young’s Sure Sign of the Apocalypse” award goes to Chris Young. See the link below.

Not in the link below other information of interest

BBC America has confirmed Doctor Who will return September 1

John Barrowman a.k.a. Torchwood’s Captain Jack Harkness will have a recurring role on CW’s new superhero series Arrow  (Green Arrow). He will play “well-dressed man” a secretive friend of the Queen family.

Will and Grace alum Sean Hayes will reunite with his former costar when he joins Debra Messing on the cast of Smash

Sharon Osbourne is definitely leaving America’s Got Talent. Blames NBC for not hiring her son Jack for Stars Earn Stripes because he has MS.

Daytime game show The Price Is Right is now hiring male models in addition to the female ones it’s traditionally used

Billy Dee Williams a.k.a. Lando Calrissian will guest star on NCIS in October. New episodes debut September 25

Kristin Chenoweth severed head injury while filming an episode of The Good Wife. She is leaving the show as a result. She was playing a political reporter.

Kate Hudson will join the cast of glee for season 4

Michael Phelps will host SNL season. Ryan Lochte will guest star on 90210

CSI Miami alum Emily Procter will guest star on a couple of episodes of White-Collar

Abby Elliott who is famous for her Zooey Deschanel impersonations is leaving SNL. Kristen Wig and Andy Samberg had previously announced departures

Actress Mayim Bialik was in a car accident but has showed up for work at Big Bang Theory.

A&E has canceled reality series Gene Simmons Family Jewels. Jimmy Fallon says it was because executives discovered it was still on the air 🙂

Revenge has recast Emily’s mentor Mr. Takeda replacing an actor with an unpronounceable Japanese name with another actor with an equally unpronounceable Japanese name 🙂

John Nobles a.k.a. Walter/Walternet has returned to the set of Fringe after being treated for a sleep disorder.

Ciaran Hinds a.k.a. Rome’s Julius Caesar and Political Animals president President Hammond is joining the cast of Game of Thrones

TNT has renewed Perception for a second season

Lindsay Wagner is returning for another guest shot on Warehouse 13. Also HG Wells is not dead. Is returning for a guest spot.

Ving Rhames will guest star on an upcoming Hawaii 50

Facts of life star Lisa Whelchel and baseball MVP Jeff Kent are among the cast members for season 25 of survivor premiering September 19

Budget cuts meant that Jay Leno has laid off 20 staff members and he took a pay cut to save others.

Jimmy Kimmel is moving his show to 11:35 PM directly opposite Leno and Letterman. Nightline will move after Kimmel

NBC has announced this will be the last season of The office. This season will premiere September 20

Michael J Fox is developing a TV series that he will star in in 2013. All four networks bid on it. NBC won.

Justin Bieber will appear in an upcoming episode of The Simpsons

Mitt Romney has promised to cut funding for PBS

Production on Iron Man 3 is being delayed because of an injury to Robert Downey Jr during a stunt

Avengers 2 will be released May 1, 2015 mark your calendars. Josh Whedon returns to write and direct.

Bob Costas will guest star on Matthew Perry’s new sitcom “Go On”

CBS has dropped its a lawsuit against ABC’s Glass House because it’s a ratings flop and no threat to CBS’s Big Brother

Kelly Ripa’s permanent cohost replacing Regis Philbin will be announced September 4. Rumors are it’s Michael Strahan

Hunger Games sold 3.8 million DVD/Blu-ray in its first weekend

2 Broke Girls  star Kat Dennings will return to her role as techno-geek in Thor 2

SyFy Channel is developing a remake of UK sci-fi series Blakes 7.

David Mamet is going to reboot classic Western series “Have Gun Will Travel” for CBS

Natalie Woods death certificate has been amended from “accidental drowning” to “drowning and other undetermined factors”

Minions Movie set for December 2014. This will be a 3-D animated movie based on the little creatures from Despicable Me

Universal Studios is going to remake Videodrome. Maybe I will understand it this time.

Vertigo has beaten Citizen Kane in a poll as best film of all time. Meanwhile tippy Hedren says Alfred Hitchcock sexually harassed her

The original Raiders of the Lost Ark will be rereleased in IMAX September 7.

Blu-ray version of Jaws is a restored version. They touched up the negative frame by frame sometimes spending four hours per frame.

Jimmy Fallon says he will not post the Oscars

Fall TV: 110 September Premiere and Finale Dates!

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Private Practice, Gossip Girl, Vamp Diaries, HIMYM, Horror Story and More

TVLine Items: Doctor Who’s Origin Tale Will Be Told, Jennifer Hudson’s Smash Teaser and More!

Exclusive New Photos: The Beauty and Her Beast

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Glee, Once, Castle, Revenge, Grey’s, HIMYM, Gossip Girl and More!

‘Falling Skies’ season finale: Showrunner Remi Aubuchon answers your burning questions!

My First (and Hopefully Last) Posting of a Cat Video