We start off this installment of our entertainment news by mourning the death of keyboard virtuoso Keith Emerson of the 60/70’s rock group Emerson Lake and Palmer. He was a classically trained pianist who produced rock versions of classical music such as Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition”, the British hymn “Jerusalem” and a very funky Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies from the Nutcracker retitled “Nut-rocker”. Their album Brain Salad Surgery was considered a masterpiece and included the much sampled “Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends…” phrase. However the true masterpiece was Works volume 1 and 2. This featured solo pieces by each of the trio and combine pieces by the group. Most notably was Emerson’s piano Concerto number 1 which showed what a phenomenal composer he really was. In it you will hear influences from such modern composers as Aaron Copeland and George Gershwin. The song “Pirates” could’ve easily been the centerpiece of a Broadway musical had they chosen to go that route. It was enough to make you want to grab your parrot and your peg leg and hit the high seas. While groups like The Moody Blues were the first to record rock music with a full Symphony Orchestra accompanying them, Emerson Lake and Palmer actually went on the road for the Works tour with a full symphony. Each instrument in the orchestra at its own microphone connected to a giant mixing board that was controlled by the conductor of the orchestra. I was privileged to see the concert at Market Square Arena when they came to Indianapolis and it was a concert I will never forget. Unfortunately it was so expensive to tour with a full orchestra that they needed to sell out every venue just to break even. While it was well attended it did not meet that goal. The acquaintance of mine had tickets to see them at Indiana State in Terre Haute later that week but the rest of the tour was canceled when they did not perform there. I felt so lucky that they did not cancel the tour a day earlier. The group reunited for a 40^th anniversary concert but had not been any new music in years. Sadly Emerson’s death was ruled a suicide.

Last Sunday on Palm Sunday fonts that were presented a “Live” musical event titled “The Passion”. Narrated by Tyler Perry and set in outdoor set in a park in New Orleans it took modern music strategically placed in a retelling of the passion and death of Jesus. It took songs that were not really intended to illustrate that story and tried to make them fit the story, Basically they took a bunch of songs about peace and love and a couple about betrayal or alienation and tried to put them in the context of the story. In some instances it worked but in others the connections were minimal. I tried to set aside the fact that I am an enormous fan of Jesus Christ Superstar and just judge it on its own merits. It should be no surprise that I would prefer listening to or watching Superstar than this particular performance. For me the only way I can appreciate it is to just enjoy the performances of the individual songs and not try to criticize how well they fit the story they were trying to tell. In that sense the performances were well done, and often quite moving. Tyler Perry’s narration that was supposed to link the songs into the story didn’t really add a whole lot. I was a bit surprised at the way he talked about the resurrection itself. He was sensitive to the fact that not everyone believes in the resurrection. His narration included many sentences like “no matter what you believe” and then went on to say that the message of Jesus is universal even if your belief in the resurrection may not be. I thought that was an amazing and wonderful concession for what was presumably a religiously motivated presentation. It set a tone that made it in no way preachy or proselytizing. I put the word “Live” in quotes because you could hardly call it a live performance throughout. I’m estimating three fourths of it had been taped in advance at various locations around New Orleans. The audience at the stage in the park viewed those scenes on giant video screens. I have to wonder if they felt cheated being told they were going to a live musical event and then standing around and watching it on TV screens. A few of the musical numbers were presented on the stage live as well as the final few numbers. It appears that the taped segments were accompanied by live musicians and backup singers on stage but it was still stretching things to call it “live”. There was also this whole subplot of people carrying a 20 foot long electronic illuminated cross through the streets of New Orleans starting at the New Orleans Superdome and ending in the park at the concert venue. Along the way they interviewed people who were accompanying the cross talking about New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina, and whatever else. That really added nothing to the event and in fact distracted from it in my opinion. The program is still available on demand and they are no doubt selling DVDs and Blu-rays of it. If you watch it at all, do so for the musical performances themselves and not for any kind of inspirational telling of the story of the passion. The performances by Tricia Yearwood as Mary the mother of Jesus were especially good as well as Seal as Pontius Pilate singing “Mad World”.

Normally the cancellation of a TV show gets a one line mention on this blog perhaps with an extra comment of my reaction pro or con. But there is a recent cancellation that deserves special note. Typically the cancellation of a long-running show when canceled midseason is news that trickles out bit by bit. For example one of the stars of Mike and Molly send out a tweet midseason that the show is not going to be renewed beyond the current running season. Sometimes an iconic show will announce in advance that this is going to be the final season. Shows like Sons Of Anarchy, Breaking Bad, and True Blood just to name a few have in advance announced and promoted “Be sure to catch the final season”. But a midseason decision to not renew is the kind of thing you generally announce quietly. That is except for the case of the CBS legal drama “The Good Wife” they decided to announce midseason that this was the final season of the biggest stage available to them. The cancellation was announced during a Super Bowl ad. I guess this is the biggest exception to prove the rule ever created 🙂 Not only is the cancellation itself a surprise but the big stage way they did it is unprecedented.

Speaking of cancellations and renewals. Here are links to Tvline’s scorecards on what is being renewed, canceled, and those shows pending with speculation on the odds

Broadcast Cancellation Scorecard

Cable and streaming shows Cancellation Scorecard

Now on to our regularly scheduled entertainment news. In the links below see…

Spoilers by Michael Ausiello dated February 6

Interview with The Walking Dead show runner about romance in the apocalypse

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated March 1

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated March 17

Spoilers from Inside Line dated March 25

Not in the links below but also of interest

Jane Pinkett Smith will return to Gotham for a couple of episodes this season as Fish Mooney

Gilmore Girls in getting a revival on Netflix

Louis CK has released a new TV series available for download on his website for $3-$5 per episode. Like his previous stand up special he’s cutting out the middleman and selling it directly himself.

SyFy Channel has ordered 13 episodes of a futuristic thriller titled “Incorporated” typical everything is run by corporations in the future (like five notes from now)

WGN America has canceled “Manhattan” after 2 seasons. The show was about the building of the atomic bomb in the Manhattan project. I watched four or five episodes of the first season and didn’t really care for it.

“Colony” has been renewed for season 2 by USA Network. I’m well pleased.

The Flash is doing a crossover episode to Supergirl despite the fact it is on a different network

NBC has renewed Shades of Blue starring Jennifer Lopez for season 2

CBS is canceled the Jane Lynch sitcom Angel from Hell after just a few episodes

Disney is making a holiday special featuring characters from Frozen scheduled for 2017

The History Channel remake of Alex Haley’s “Roots” will premiere memorial day weekend just sneaking in the deadline for a 2016 Emmy nomination

Unforgettable which was previously canceled on CBS and picked up on A&E has been canceled again.

Rock ‘n roll is here to stay. HBO has renewed “Vinyl” for season 2

ABC announced renewals of Grays Anatomy, Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder, Agents of Shield[, blackish, Once upon a Time, Quantico, The Goldbergs, Fresh off the Boat, The Middle, Modern Family, Shark Tank, Dancing With The Stars and America’s Funniest Home Videos. Still undecided Castle, Nashville, Last Man Standing, Doctor Ken, the Muppets, American crime, Gallivant, and Agent Carter.

Jimmy Kimmel will host the 2016 Emmy awards in September

Amazon prime announced that Victorian crime drama Ripper Street fifth season will be its last

Martial arts fantasy series Into the Badlands has been renewed for season 2 at AMC. I’m not really a kung fu fan but I like this one.

USA announced Royal Pains will end after season 8

CW network has renewed Arrow, The Flash, The Vampire Diaries, The Originals, iZombie, Legends of Tomorrow, Supernatural, The 100, Jane the Virgin, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and Reign. It’s top three rated shows are The Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow in that order.

Maya Rudolph and Martin Short will have a live comedy variety series on NBC starting May 31^st at 10 PM. Will also feature Kenyan Thompson.

Netflix has announced that Marvel’s Luke Cage will premiere September 30^th

Switched at Birth will end after season 5 consisting of 10 episodes in 2017.

The new legal spinoff of Chicago PD, Chicago Fire and Chicago Med will not be called Chicago Law after all. Instead it’s going to be Chicago Justice.

Peter Dinkledge will host SNL on April 2

Patrick Warburton has been cast Lemony Snicket in the upcoming series for Netflix

Cinemax has announced “Outcast” the new demon vs. humanity series from walking dead creator Robert Kirkman has been renewed for season 2 even though season 1 will not premiere until June.

The final season of Person of Interest which starts May 3. Cancellation is official.

CBS will have a summer series titled BrainDead premiering June 13. Set in Washington DC a young Capitol Hill staffer played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead discovers that the government has stopped working and bugs are eating the brains of Congress members. Sounds like a reality series to me 🙂

ABC has canceled “Of Kings and Prophets” after just two episodes. I watched about five minutes which was apparently typical 🙂

Drew Barrymore And Timothy Oliphant Will Start a Sitcom for Netflix

Elijah Wood will star in a 8 episode adaptation of Dirk Gently Detective Agency for BBC America

RIP comedian Gary Shandling age 66

Fox network has renewed Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Last Man on Earth, Gotham, Empire, Screen Queens, And Bones. Still undecided The Grinder, Grandfathered, Rosewood, Lucifer, and Sleepy Hollow. Also New Girl is considered a sure bet.

CBS has renewed Blue Bloods, Elementary, Hawaii 50, Madam Secretary, Mom, all three NCIS, Two Broke Girls, Survivor, Amazing Race, and Big Bang Theory. No word yet on Supergirl, Limitless, Criminal Minds or others.

HBO has canceled comedy series “Togetherness”

There will be a “Talking Dead” after each episode of “Fear The Walking Dead” however it will be delayed till 11:30 PM on the first episode to allow for the premiere of new series “The Preacher”

Vin Diesel has said there will be new Fast and Furious movies in 2017, 2019, and 2021. Apparently the first seven installments left lots of unanswered questions 🙂

RIP Bob Elliott part of the Bob and Ray comedy team and father of comedian Chris Elliott. He was 92.

Netflix has ordered Orange Is the New Black renewed for 3 additional seasons

Bob Costas will be the anchor of NBC Olympics coverage from Brazil. This is his 11^th time which is a record.

History Channel has renewed “Vikings” for season 6.

Mark Wahlberg and Kurt Russell will star in the film titled “Deepwater Horizon” about the oil well disaster.

RIP former Today Show host and baseball player Joe Garagiola age 90

RIP SAG-AFTRA President and actor Ken Howard 871

Lady Gaga has announced she is returning for another season of American Horror Story.

It has been confirmed that Steven Spielberg will direct Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones 5

Shemar Moore has left Criminal Minds after a recent episode.

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Gilmore, Grey’s, Arrow, Castle, Walking Dead, Good Wife, The Flash and More!

Walking Dead: EP Scott M. Gimple Reveals Why He Finally Went There With [Spoiler] and [Spoiler]

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Bates Motel, Once, S.H.I.E.L.D., The 100, Big Bang, NCIS, Nashville, Castle and More!

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Flash, Bones, Gilmore Girls, Legends, NCIS, Five-0, Outlander, PLL, S.H.I.E.L.D. and More

Matt’s Inside Line: #SuperFlash Scoop, Plus Criminal Minds, Blindspot, Once, Prison Break, B99, Jane and More

With the holidays, Christmas cards to design, and a variety of other projects keeping me busy we are again way overdue for an entertainment blog entry.

Of course the biggest story since our last installment is the release of Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens. We saw at approximately a week after it opened. Keep in mind that I never had any problems with Episode I Phantom Menace or any of the other reviled episodes of Star Wars. So my endorsement of the new episode probably isn’t very weighty. But a number of other people who did not like episodes I through III have given big thumbs up to VII so even if you are picky about which Star Wars you do or don’t like, this one is probably a good one for you as well.

As you know this blog is 90% spoilers anyway but I will give you the obligatory spoiler warning for this particular review. Consider the following…

A young person who lives on a desert planet encounters a cute robot. They go off on an adventure with a bunch of resistance fighters to fight an evil empire. Along the way they had exciting battles in spaceships, meet an evil guy in a black suit and helmet, hang out in a cantina full of aliens, encounter an elderly mentor who (I told you spoilers) ends up getting killed. In the end they go on to seek a master of the force to train them for future adventures. Quiz time: did I describe Star Wars IV: A New Hope or Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens… Answer: Yes both. Basically it’s the same plot with different characters but despite the fact that we see that all before, it still works very well. To quote the mythology of Battle Star Galactica “All of this has happened before and all of it will happen again”. The basic story is that Luke Skywalker has gone missing and we are looking for the pieces of a map to figure out where he is. We end up encountering Hon Solo and his fuzzy sidekick and their iconic spacecraft The Millennium Falcon. Harrison Ford beautifully re-creates his character. He’s exactly as you would expect that character to be after aging all these years. His brief scenes with Carrie Fisher actually show more chemistry between them than it did in the original series. They look exactly like you would expect an old grumpy couple who had gone their separate ways to behave. The seam between bad guy Kylo Ren and our new hero Rey where they are using mind Force games against one another is probably the best bit of acting you will find in any Star Wars film ever. Luke Skywalker does not appear until the very final scene of the film. The camera dwells on his face to let you soak it in there is plenty to soak. He looks AWESOME. He looks like an old Jedi ought to look. He still is the somewhat boyish looking Luke yet wrinkled with Obi-Wan style beard. It was definitely worth waiting for. One disappointing aspect of the film. Some of the more iconic images from the trailer were actually from a Force Dream hallucination that Rey has. And the voiceover narration from Skywalker about “The force was strong in my family… My father had it, I had it…” etc. appears nowhere in the movie. That is one of my biggest pet peeves is when something that appears in a trailer appears nowhere in the film itself. If you’re looking for space battles, there aren’t any. All of the ship to ship and ship to ground battles take place in the atmosphere of the planet’s. It gives a whole new look and feel to the aerial battles which is new and refreshing. I saw it in IMAX 3-D I do recommend seeing it in 3-D if you can’t get to IMAX 3-D go for normal 3-D vs. IMAX non-3-D. The plot leaves plenty of unanswered questions. Some of them have fairly obvious answers while others are a total mystery. The upcoming two sequels have been set up beautifully. We can’t wait.

On the TV side of things we want to recommend the new USA series Colony. It’s the story of a family lives in Los Angeles in the near future. The world has been invaded by aliens and they had divided LA up into three or four occupations zones separated by a 300 foot tall wall. The husband, a former police officer is refuted by the local human governor who has been put in place by the aliens. His job is to infiltrate the resistance and bring them to justice. He doesn’t realize his wife is one of the leaders of the resistance. I’ve only seen one episode but it looks pretty good.

Also check out Billions a new series on Showtime. Damien Lewis (the red haired guy from Homeland) plays a billionaire Donald Trump like character. Paul Giamatti is the federal prosecutor trying to catch him in illegal dealings. His wife is a psychologist consultant who works for the billionaire creating an interesting conflict of interest. Again we’ve only seen one episode but it looks good so far.

The jury is still out on NBC’s Shades of Blue sky Jennifer Lopez as a dirty cop who is recruited by internal affairs to rat out her fellow dirty cops. It takes a while to think of like Lopez who you would think would play a good guy to be such a crooked cop. It remains to be seen if he can pull off the role credibly or not. Again we only have one episode under our belts.

Next we had a new series on SyFy Channel called “The Expanse”. It bills itself as “Game of Thrones in outer space”. While I’m not sure quite rises to that level, it is an interesting space sci-fi story with lots of complicated political back stories driving the whole thing along. There’s plenty of action and the special effects are of exceptional quality for a TV series. Also on SyFy Channel “The Magicians”. I’m calling it Harry Potter meets The Breakfast Club with a touch of Chronicles of Narnia thrown in. A young graduate student who is socially inept and withdrawn Andrew is obsessed with a series of fantasy novels that are a ripoff of Narnia suddenly finds himself recruited into a Hogwarts like school for magicians along with a female friend of his. She gets rejected by the school and was supposed to get her memory wiped the event but somehow she retain the memories. He goes on to enter the school where he meets a bunch of other equally socially maladjusted misfits. Of course there’s some big evil force out there and it’s his destiny to fight it. The instructors at the school no more than they are saying. You will have to decide if it’s of your liking or not.

Finally we had the six episode return of The X-Files. I never watched the original series for some reason. I guess I just didn’t care for UFO plot lines. I did see the feature film and liked it okay. I will stick with these 6 episodes but I’m not very impressed. I realize that our two heroes basically very laid-back low-key characters but I thought the acting in the first new episode was horrible. Mulder was supposed off the rails obsessed with his latest conspiracy theory and Agent Scully was trying to calm him down but neither one of them seemed to have any passion in their right set of. She was trying to calm down a guy who wasn’t at all manic. It almost seemed like they were just cold reading their lines off a few cards. I also expected with just six episodes that it would be one big story spread over the entire season but as we got to the second episode it seemed as though the events of the first episode never occurred. It’s still going to be week by week. Presumably they will get back to main plot line at some point but it was much more episodic than I expected for such a short season. That tells me that the purpose behind it was to create a one-off miniseries but to perhaps test the waters for a longer come back. I will probably watch them all but I can’t call myself a big fan. At this point no regrets for missing the original series.

If you are a fan of fantasy adventure such as Lord of the Rings suggest you check out MTV’s New Fantasy Series The Shannara Chronicles. Is a 10 episode series based on the books by Terry Brooks. Pretty good stuff.

One last item… The comic book TV series currently showing are all maintaining exceptionally high quality. Arrow and The Flash are at their usual high standards. Gotham consistently amazes me. And even the new Supergirl has much to recommend. Of course the big problem with Superman or Supergirl has always been how can you really disguise yourself with just a pair of glasses at a different hairdo. But much to my surprise Melissa Benoist does an amazing job of changing her personality between the mild-mannered Kara Danvers and the powerful sophisticated Supergirl. That times it almost looks like a different actress playing the part. The stories go well beyond the typical monster of the week and have a lot of heart and depth to them. Her boss played by Calista Flockhart initially appears to be a very shallow one-dimensional character but of course in the series they flash her out to be someone really interesting, complex, and nuanced. One more comic book hero to discuss. Netflix’s Jessica Jones is every bit as good or even better than Daredevil. We are only a couple of episodes into it but it is well worth checking out. If you’ve not seen it yet, I’m going to give you one spoiler that will help your understanding of the early episodes. The bad guy played by David Tennant as the ability to mind control people. Had not known that going into the series it might’ve been a little bit difficult to follow the first episode. So that’s not so much of a spoiler as a helper to set up series. Highly recommend all of these comic book shows. We’ve not yet seen the new DC series Legends of Tomorrow but we will cover it next time.

When more or less last item. There seem to be a lot of death notices in this installment of my blog but 2 of them definitely deserve broken out into this lead paragraph section. I have to admit I was never a big fan of David Bowie but I did like Space Oddity and a couple of other of his hit songs. I know he was a great talent but I’m sorry to say I doubt I will miss him. Alan Rickman on the other hand will be very sadly missed. As many others who had eulogized him, I can’t imagine any other actor being able to pull off Professor Snape as brilliantly as he did. It wasn’t until we got to the final episodes that we really got to see the depth of that amazing character and thus to appreciate the brilliance of his performance throughout the 8 Harry Potter films. His other performances which have been eulogized I have to admit I had forgotten about but in retrospect do recall that they were brilliant. A great voice has been silenced. Be sure to check out the first of our links listing other memorable Alan Rickman performances.

Now onto the news bits…

In the links below read…

10 Alan Rickman movies to watch besides Harry Potter as recommended by USA Today

Doctor Who show runner Stephen Moffat stepping down after season 10

Read about the new “Dark Knight III” series of graphic novels from Frank Miller

Interview with Scott Gimpel EP producer of The Walking Dead about the rest of the season

Interview with producer of Gotham about the midseason finale and what’s coming next

Article describes the struggle to find 70 mm theaters to show 70 mm film version of Quentin Tarantino’s “Hateful 8”

Interview with “The Leftovers” EP about season 2 finale and season 3 preview

Spoilers (such as they are) from Michael Ausiello dated December 8. A little bit out of date aren’t they 🙂

Interview with EP of Quantico about midseason finale

Spoilers from Inside Line dated December 15

Interview with EP of Fargo after season 2 and looking forward at season 3

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated December 17

Interview with cast of Netflix series Jessica Jones

Spoilers from Inside Line dated January 19

Not in the links below but also of interest…

In addition to the news that Stephen Moffat is leaving Doctor Who, we also learn there will be no new episodes in 2016 except for the Christmas special. Season 10 will be in the spring of 2017

Sonia Braga has joined the cast of the upcoming Marvel’s Luke Cage series from Netflix. She will play Soledad Temple mother to Claire Temple (played by Rosariro Dawson as she was in Daredevil). The series will drop sometime later this year.

Kevin Bacon is trying to develop his or film series Tremors into a TV show. No network attached yet.

ABC has renewed Dancing with the Stars to premier March 21st. Curmudgeon head judge Len Goodman will return.

RIP soap opera actor David Canary 77 who played on All My Children

Wanda Sykes has joined the cast of blackish

So far the only appearance of Superman on Supergirl has been a silhouette however may have a casting call out for someone to play Kal-el. However it will be at age 13. Will explore the relationship between him and Kara.

Amazon’s series Man in the High Castle is an alternate history series speculating if the Nazis had won World War II. Promotional posters featuring swastikas were pulled from New York City subways after people complained.

RIP Al Markim age 88. Played Astro in the nineteen fifties TV series Tom Corbett, Space Cadet

In case you missed it Gotham has added a new classic Batman villain. Mister Freeze has arrived.

ABC Family Channel has renewed “the Fosters” for season 4

Journalist Linda Ellerbe who was the inspiration for the character Murphy Brown is retiring after 44 years of broadcasting. I first fell in love with her on her late late night show NBC News Overnight but for the past 20+ years she has been doing a news program for kids on Nickelodeon.

RIP John “Cha-Cha” Ciarca at 69. Played Albie Cianflone on the Sopranos

“The Wiz Live” was the first live TV program to include an audio track on the SAP channel describing the program for visually impaired viewers. Several scripted programs especially those on USA Network such as Suits have been featuring description tracks. If you see a big letter D))) symbol in the upper right corner that indicates audio narration for visually impaired. Of course even though this was a live program, it was totally scripted so it was easy to create the descriptive track in advance.

David E Kelly is producing a new legal drama for Amazon prime streaming. In most Billy Bob Thorton, William Hurt, and Molly Parker among others. It was ordered straight to series without a pilot and will drop sometime this year.

FXX has renewed “You’re the Worst” for season 3

Former Superman from Smallville Tom Welling will starting a new series for CBS titled Section 13. It is an action spy drama.

Jay Leno’s Garage has been renewed for a second season on CNBC

After season 2 of Fargo went back to the 70s it has been announced that season 3 will be set in present-day.

RIP Oscar nominated actor Robert Loggia age 85. Known for dancing with Tom Hanks on a giant keyboard in “Big”. Also had memorable roles in Scarface and Independence Day

NBC announced The Blacklist has been renewed for season 4

Showtime has announced it is renewing Homeland and The Affair for an additional season

Although billed as a one time 10 episode event series, “Wayward Pines” has been renewed for season 2. Options on all the actors have run out so it will probably have a new cast but will pick up approximately where the first series left off.

HBO has renewed “The Leftovers” for a third and final season despite the fact that me and three or four other people the only ones watching.

RIP Donna Douglas played Ellie Mae Clampett of the Beverly hillbillies. She was 81.

Chicago Med has an order of 5 new episodes brings the total to 18.

RIP actress Rose Siggins. She lost both legs at age 2 and played Legless Suzi on American Horror Story: Freak Show. Died of complications of kidney surgery at age 43.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 has raised $6.3 million on Kickstarter for a 14 episode revival

Mike and Molly is not being renewed by CBS after the end of the current season.

Kiefer Sutherland has been cast as president United States for the upcoming series for ABC titled “Designated Survivor”.

TNT announced it is canceling Legends, Agent X, and Public Morals.

TNT announced it is renewing Major Crimes for season 5 and The Librarians for season 3.

NBC has canceled Neil Patrick Harris’s “Best Time Ever”. It most definitely did not live up to its name. I couldn’t get through half an episode.

Natalie Portman will play Jacqueline Kennedy in the upcoming movie titled “Jackie” about her life shortly after the JFK assassination

Fox is interested in starting a Latino drama series that is described as a modern-day Romeo and Juliet. duh didn’t we already have West Side Story?

Vin Diesel is working on a development deal to bring his Riddick character to TV

“Fuller House” the Full House reunion show for Netflix will premiere 13 episode on February 26. The show picks up 21 years after the original but this time without the Olsen twins.

Sean Penn is scheduled to play Andrew Jackson in the upcoming HBO miniseries American Lion.

History Channel’s “Vikings” season 4 opens February 18 for a whopping 20 episodes.

Amazon series “Hand of God” has been renewed for season 2

Clint Eastwood will direct Tom Hanks in “Sully” about airline pilot Sully Sullenberger who landed an airplane in the Hudson River. Set to premiere September this year.

Sometime before season ends, Supergirl will battle her crazy doppelgänger Bizarro-Girl

RIP soap opera actress Patricia Elliott 877 played in One Life to Live.

RIP actor Brooke McCarter who played a vampire in the eighties movie “The Lost Boys”. He had a genetic liver condition and was 52.

From the “Did I already report this?” Department… ABC Family Channel is changing its name to Freeform.

Forbes magazine named Leonardo DiCaprio the most overpaid actor of the year.

RIP screenwriter George Clayton Johnson at 86. Cowrote Logan’s Run and the first episode of Star Trek

SyFy Channel has renewed “The Expanse” for season 2 and we are well pleased.

Un-aired episodes of ABC’s canceled after two weeks 80s crime drama “Wicked City” are now available online.

RIP actor Wayne Rogers 82. Played Trapper John on the TV series MASH.

RIP character actor Jason Wingreen age 95. He auditioned to play the voice of Yoda but ended up dubbing the voice of bounty hunter Boba Fete instead. He also played at bartender friend of Archie Bunker in All in the Family and Archie Bunker’s Place.

Michael Bay will direct Transformers 5 but says it will be his last time to direct the franchise.

No more DiNozzo . Michael Weatherly is leaving NCIS at the end of the season.

Inside Amy Schumer has been renewed for season 5 at Comedy Central

HBO series Girls premieres it’s fifth season. Announced season 6 will be at the last.

Hugh Laurie a.k.a. House M.D. will star in a 2 season 20 episode drama for Hulu Streaming. The show is titled “Chance” he plays the title character a forensic neuropsychiatrist.

Neil Degrasse Tyson talkshow “Star Talk” has been renewed for season 3 by National Geographic Channel

Daredevil season 2 will be released to Netflix on March 18

RIP actor Pat Harrington Jr. played handyman Dwayne Schneider on “One Day at a Time”

TNT announced Rizzoli and Isles will end after season 7

Gerald McCranie will join the cast of Castle for a multi-episode arc

The new season of Game of Thrones will premiere April 24. Talks are underway with HBO for season 7 & 8.

BBC America will have a Doctor Who Related six part series called Prey. It will be a pair of three episodes stories.

BBC America will be new series Dirk Gently’s Holistic Defense Agency based on the comic by Douglas Adams.

AMC announced that Fear The Walking Dead will premiere April 10 with a half season of seven episodes. The remaining 8 episodes will air later in 2016. AMC series “Turn: Washington Spies” and miniseries “Night Manager” a spy thriller will also premiere in April.

As if Michael Stranahan didn’t have enough to do on TV, he will host a reboot of $100,000 Pyramid game show for ABC

Hulu says that 11.22.63 based on Stephen King’s novel will have significant but authentic changes from that novel.

BBC America will air “Adele: Live in London” on Valentine’s Day.

Supergirl to appear on Supergirl. Laura Vandervoort who played Kara Zor-el in Smallville will play DC character Indigo in episode 15 of the CBS series Supergirl.

Showtime announced Shameless has been renewed for season 7.

Showtime series Penny dreadful season 3 will premiere May 1 and run nine episodes.

Showtime comedy” Episodes” season 5 will probably be its last

RIP character actor David Margulies at 78. You will remember him as the mayor of New York in Ghostbusters but he had a distinguished career in film and on Broadway as well.

Showtime’s Homeland season 6 will be set in New York City

Showtime’s Twin Peaks revival has been narrowed down to “early 2017”. Sherlyn Fenn is officially on board to reprise her character. Also one of David Lynch’s favorite actresses Laura Dern has joined the cast.

Simon Cowell is replacing Howard Stern for season 11 Of America’s Got Talent. Howie Mandel, Mel B, Heidi Klum and Nick Cannon will return. The show is moving back to LA.

Jimmy Fallon will have a Tonight Show Valentines Day special in prime time and then he show will be in LA from February 15-19.

NBC announced Seth Myers contract for Late-Night with Seth Myers has been extended through February 2021

NBC is considering yet another Chicago spinoff series this time Chicago Law. We already have Police, Fire, and Med. Perhaps after that garbageman or meter maids.

USA Network announced Playing House is being renewed for season 3. I’ve never heard of it.

Fox has renewed “Empire” for a 3rd season and “Scream Queens” for a 2nd season.

RIP actor Dan Haggerty who played Grizzly Adams on TV. Age 74

Season 4 of “the Americans” will premiere March 16. Actress Keri Russell is pregnant in real life and will have to hide her baby bump in the latter part of the season.

After Jon Bernthal plays The Punisher in season 2 of Daredevil he may have more work to do. A Punisher spinoff series is under development at Netflix.

Netflix has announced season 2 of Unbreakable Kimimy Schmidt will arrive April 15. Season 3 has been approved.

Fox’s developing a new round of the TV series “24” which will not feature Jack Bauer/Kiefer Sutherland

RIP Rutledge and Glenn Frey one of the founders of the Eagles age 67.

After Playboy announced recently there would be no more nude photo spreads or centerfolds, Penthouse has also announced it’s getting out of the print magazine business altogether and going strictly digital.

Fox Frankenstein themed series Second Chance has been moved to the rating doldrums Friday night after just two episodes. Friday is where bad shows go to die.

We can expect more Bernie Sanders sketches on SNL. Larry David will be hosting the February 6 show

For Doctor Who Matt Smith will play controversial photographer Robert Mapplethorpe with Girls star Zosnia Mamet to plate Patti Smith

RIP veteran actor Abe Vigoda who played Lieutenant Fish on Bernie Miller

Netflix announced House of Cards has been renewed for season 5. Season 4 will premiere in March.

10 Alan Rickman movies to watch besides ‘Harry Potter’

Doctor Who Boss Steven Moffat Quits

Frank Miller returns to his ‘Dark Knight’ world

‘The Walking Dead’ EP Teases Rest Of Season 6, Negan, Glenn’s Fate & Ratings

Gotham Boss Weighs In on Gordon’s ‘Bad Deed,’ the Big Freeze Tease and ‘Horrendous’ Reveals to Come

How Weinstein Co. Distribution Chief Erik Lomis Rescued 70MM Cinema For Quentin Tarantino’s ‘The Hateful Eight’

The Leftovers EP Damon Lindelof Answers Burning Finale Questions, Drops Big Season 3 Clue

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on The Flash, HTGAWM, Gilmore Girls, Walking Dead, Castle, S.H.I.E.L.D. and More

Quantico EP on the Bomber’s Identity, Ryan’s Sad Love Song and the Reveal That [Spoiler] ‘Definitely Is a Terrorist’

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on The 100, The Flash, NCIS, Castle, The Strain, Galavant, Supergirl, POI and More

Fargo Boss Talks Hanzee’s Season 1 Identity, Defends the Use of UFOs and Narrows Down Setting for Season 3

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Good Wife, Nashville, Big Bang, Gilmore Girls, Madam Secretary, NCIS and More

Jessica Jones’ Graphic Sex Scenes: Krysten Ritter, Mike Colter Kiss and Tell

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Scandal, Sleepy Hollow, Castle, The Flash, Once, Supernatural, Grey’s, Reign and More

I’ve been too busy watching TV to write about it.

The first official cancellation of the final season is a big disappointment to me. FX has canceled the new Kurt Sutter series “The Bastard Executioner” or rather it has failed to pick it up for a second season. The first season just wrapped and I really really liked it. I am highly disappointed. The show failed to get even 1 million viewers. I thought it was great and was anxious to see where it went from here. It did go out with a big episode but it was hardly a satisfying ending.

Executioner wasn’t so much canceled as it failed to be renewed. But the winner of the first to be canceled award goes to ABC’s “Wicked City” which was dropped after just three episodes with terrible ratings. It was about a man and woman who are lovers and serial killers get their sexual kicks by killing. It was also about the cops chasing them. Set in the 1980s Los Angeles. I only got to see the first episode and I thought it was a bit interesting if not great.

Other cancellations have not been as definite or obvious. Some ongoing shows have announced their final season and some new shows have had the number of scripts have had their number of scripts reduced and production has been shut down which means they are pretty much dead but just not yet officially canceled. TV Line refers to this as a “soft cancellation”. A few have already been picked up for a full season. We’ve included a renewal scorecard but there isn’t much new filled out yet except for some summer shows that will not be back next year. I didn’t write as many individual reviews as I had hoped to the season but here’s a brief we step of some winners and losers.

The new sitcom “Life in Pieces” did not hold my interest for even one full episode. Nothing to see here… Move along. The ER room drama “Code Black” had some potential but considering that I’m already watching too many shows to keep up with all of them, it was one that I had to drop. If you watch the classic “ER” TV series for 11 or 12 years you’ve seen everything that this show had to offer. In some ways it suffers from the same problems that the original ER had in its early seasons. Patients come and go so quickly that you never get into their stories at the doctor spend so much time treating them that you have trouble getting into their stories. It’s just a continuous stream of medical jargon and flying blood gauze bandages. And predictably at about the 40 minute mark of each episode they went into Code Black status as expected.

Another casualty to my watchlist was “Rosewood” about it private who works in Miami. First of all I didn’t buy the premise that a guy could be a private duty medical examiner in a major city like Miami when certainly they have city or county medical examiners on the job all of the time. While there were some nice looking women running around and it was great to see the sky driving around beautiful Miami in a fancy car, the stories weren’t that interesting, the love interest didn’t have much chemistry, and the subplot about his health issues was just boring. If it was a summer replacement show and nothing else was on I would probably watch it and Code Black.

The next to leave my watchlist that has not quite yet left is “The Grinder”. This is a sitcom with one running joke week after week. The premise is that Rob Lowe played a famous lawyer on TV and when his series is canceled he moves in with his brother who is a real life lawyer. He keeps trying to act like he can be a lawyer because played one on TV. I think the only reason I’m watching it is to see how long they can keep repeating the same story over and over again.

Speaking of “stupid premise” I’m going to continue watching “The Player” despite its stupid premise. It has enough action,, shootouts etc. to keep me interested. Some other brief comments… Quantico is slightly too soap opera in nature but I’m hooked on the story of who is responsible for a terrorist bombing. I’m hoping that the show was grossly unrealistic because if these characters are representative of who the FBI is recruiting these days, this country is a lot of trouble. They are all neurotic misfits.

Minority Report and Limitless are what I would call watchable but neither is as good as I had hoped they would be. The first couple of episodes of Heroes Reborn got bad reviews and it did take a while to get going however it eventually delivered big time and by the ninth or tenth episode it was everything that you ever liked about the original Heroes series. The characters that they brought back from the original series were fun to revisit and the new characters are very compelling. I really hope that even though this was supposed to be a limited event series I would love to see it picked up for more episodes next year. I would have to say it’s my favorite somewhat new show since it really is a continuation of the original series Heroes.

Returning favorites include all of the comic book shows Gotham, Arrow, and The Flash each of which has upped its game. And speaking of “open your game” the clear winner in that category is the new season of The Walking Dead. The action sequences get the first few episodes surpassed many action movies. To see such cinematic storytelling on a weekly series is amazing. And the plot and characters are every bit as wonderful as they have ever been perhaps better.

Also of special mention in returning series have been the incredible performances by Cameron Moynahan as the Joker -like character in Gotham. And the episode of Agents of Shield that told what happened to Simmons while she was trapped on alien planet was clearly the best episode they’ve ever done even if it was a ripoff of The Martian.

The only disappointing returning series is the new round of American Horror Story. For the first two or three episodes it was just wall-to-wall blood and gore with no story and no character. They are gradually starting to reveal a little bit of plot and we are getting to know the characters but it seems like the first half hour of the show is just a showcase of the grotesque and the real storytelling doesn’t get going until about halfway through the episode. They need to find some balance between the gross out and the storytelling.

The jury is still out on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. I like the premise of a romantic comedy TV series where people break out into song like a Hollywood movie musical. The solos are extremely clever and are reminiscent of last year’s musical Galavant and the musical episode of Psych both of which I loved. But it’s just so so as a romantic comedy story. A little bit like The Grinder is a one joke story that they keep repeating over and over.

Longtime readers of this blog know that we occasionally issue an award titled “Chris Young’s sure sign of the coming Apocalypse award”. Fortunately we have not had one of those recently. One television event that narrowly missed apocalyptic status was the decision to have a crossover episode between Bones and Sleepy Hollow. Those episodes have aired and I still think was a bad idea. They did succeed in keeping the supernatural elements out of the Bones episode to a certain extent although they did have some s’plaining to do about Ichabod Crane’s handwriting appearing in a 200-year-old document. Overall it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been but it was still a bad idea.

However with this installment of the blog we have created a new award. The first recipient of “Chris Young’s OMG I can’t believe they did such a cool thing” award goes to Gotham. Reports say that Paul Rubens a.k.a. Pee-wee Herman has been cast to play the Penguin’s father in an upcoming episode.

In the links below read…

TV Line broadcast renewal scorecard

Postmortem interview with Cameron Monahan about his Joker -like character in Gotham

Postmortem interview with producers of The Strain about the end of season 2 and what to expect in 3

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated October 13

Spoilers from Inside Line dated October 18

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated October 22^nd

Interview with Neil Degrasse Tyson about season 2 of StarTalk and other topics

Spoilers from Inside Line dated October 29

Interview with Arrow producers about recent plot points

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated November 5.

Spoilers from Inside Line dated November 11

Interview with stars of Arrow and The Flash about crossover episodes December 1-2 which will launch new series Legends of Tomorrow

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated November 18

Interview with producer of Marvel’s Jessica Jones

Spoilers from Inside Line dated October 22

Calendar of fall finale and midseason returns and premieres

Not in the links below but also of interest

HBO is considering a series based on the Watchmen graphic novel and film

CW network has ordered 5 additional scripts for iZombie bringing it to 18 episodes for this season 2. Also additional scripts for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend however we don’t know how many total that is. The report didn’t say.

CBS is developing a series based on the Nancy Drew detective stories for kids.

Peter Sarsgaard will have a recurring role in the Showtime revival of Twin Peaks

ABC Family channel is changing its name to “Freeform” starting in 2016

Animated series Bob’s Burgers has been renewed for season 7 and 8.

Despite what TV line describes as “barely detectable ratings” series “Halt and Catch Fire” has been renewed for a 10 episode third season at AMC.

FX networks has renewed Tyrant for season 3

Fox’s ordered three additional scripts for Rosewood. Quite a full season pickup but still a vote of confidence from the network.

Former King of Queens Kevin James will write and star in a new sitcom for CBS with a 13 episode commitment for the 2016-17 season. It’s a family comedy about a retired cop.

CBS announced that sci-fi drama Extant has been canceled. The story had run its course.

Blindspot has been picked up for a full season. I should’ve mentioned it in my intro to this blog. It has enough action, story, and characters to keep my interest. I think I actually like it better than The Blacklist of which is a ripoff in some respects.

Late update Blindspot has been picked up for season 2!

Fox has cut the order for Minority Report from 13 episodes down to just 10 because of terrible ratings.

David Duchovny has hinted that he may show up in the Twin Peaks revival reprising his role as transgendered DEA agent Denise Bryson.

CW network announced Beauty and the Beast will end its run after season 4. This would never worked for me and I gave up after just a couple of episodes.

Look for Arrow bad guy Damien Darhik to cross over to The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow is future episodes.

Harry Connick Jr. is going to host a syndicated daytime talk/variety show.

Laura Spencer the redheaded gal who is Raj’s girlfriend on The Big Bang Theory has been promoted to series regular. However she will still occasionally guest star as an intern on Bones.

SyFy Channel has canceled its supernatural series Dominion. Although I watched it it really wasn’t that good.

When 2 Broke Girls premiered a couple of weeks ago it was ahead of schedule. That timeslot was supposed to be for a new Jane Lynch sitcom titled Angel from Hell. That show has now been pushed to February.

Showtime’s Homeland producers need to vet their art department better. They hired in Arabic speaking graffiti artist to tag a wall to appear in the background of a scene. He wrote “Homeland Is Racist” nobody noticed until it was too late.

Fox sitcoms Grandfathered and The Grinder have received orders additional episodes and then later were picked up for a full season.

SyFy Channel says that Defiance will not return. Season 3 left Nolan and Doc flying off into the universe. A fitting ending.

ABC has picked up sitcom Doctor Ken for a full season.

NBC Universo has acquired the exclusive rights to The Walking Dead dubbed in Spanish. Season 1-3 will begin airing in early 2016

Dr. Phil has signed a multi-year that keep him on the air through the year 2020.

It’s no myth… MythBusters has been canceled after 14 seasons, 248 episodes, 2950 experiments, 1050 myths and 900 explosions. The latest season really wasn’t up to their usual standards without the assistants that were cut from the show last year. It was fun while it lasted. The final season begins January 9, 2016.

Freeform channel formerly known as ABC Family has renewed Switched at Birth for season 5

ABC has canceled its summer supernatural series The Whispers

Lindsay Wagner will guest star on NCIS as Agent Bishop’s mother. No relation to Robert Wagner place Tony’s father.

CBS has picked up Limitless for a full season order of 22 episodes

NBC has cut The Player down to just 9 episodes.

Brian Fuller will reboot Steven Spielberg’s “Amazing Stories” anthology series for NBC

ABC has trimmed its order for evening soap opera Blood and Oil to just 10 episodes.

FX network has canceled Married

Ricky Gervais will return to host the Golden Globes Awards in 2016

Walking Dead producer Scott Gimpel refuses to say whether or not you-know-who is really dead or not but he did say that the injury to Rick’s hand was not serious and would not require amputation.

NBC sitcom Truth Be Told has been trimmed from 13 down to 10 episodes.

HBO has changed its mind after initially renewing The Brink a Jack Black comedy it has now decided not to renew it after all.

Despite my inability to get through a full episode, CBS has picked up a full season order new sitcom “Life in Pieces”

Starz has renewed Ash vs. Evil Dead for a second season before the first one even began. I need to check this one out.

Norman Reedus will star in a biker themed reality series AMC in 2016

Netflix has renewed Longmire for season 5

RIP Al Molinaro died at age 86 he was the driving owner Al on happy days and on the original odd couple he was Murray the cop

A new Star Trek series will premiere on CBS in 2017

SyFy Channel has acquired a 13 episode series titled Van Helsing with a female lead daughter Vanessa Van Helsing

Former Sons of Anarchy veteran Tommy Flanagan will play a bad guy in the upcoming Gotham

Jon Stuart has signed a deal with HBO to create original digital short form material for HBO Now and HBO Go As Well as for slick rights to some future TV and movie prospects.

The revival of Twin Peaks has been pushed until 2017

David Harvey will host a reality competition series called First Impressions for USA Network that will pit comic impressionists against each other.

BBC America will have a supersized one-off episode of Luther on December 17

NBC has renewed Chicago fire and Chicago PD for their next season. Very early to be doing so.

American Horror Story has been renewed for season 6 at FX. Producers have already invited Lady Gaga to return but no word on if you will accept and what the next story will be like.

Joel Hodgson has launched a kick starter campaign to revive Mystery Science Theater 3000

CBS will have a live addition of the Late Show with Stephen Colbert to air after the Super Bowl.

Bob Newhart will come back from the dead to guest star on an upcoming episode of Big Bang theory

ABC miniseries about Bernie Madoff starring Richard Dreyfus will air February 3-4.

TNT has renewed Murder in the First for season 3.

Former NYPD Blue start James McDaniel will play the Mills sisters father in an upcoming episode of Sleepy Hollow

As a result of the Paris bombings HBO has canceled a live U2 concert from Paris. Also Supergirl and NCIS: LA postponed terror related episodes because of the Paris bombings. The concert has been rescheduled for December 7 the Supergirl and NCIS LA episodes will air eventually. Additionally Undataable dropped its live episode in favor of a rerun and was criticized for it claiming that it was a publicity stunt. Other shows had special opening sequences including SNL and Stephen Colbert

Megan Boone a.k.a. Elizabeth Kean on The Blacklist is pregnant in real life. No word about what it means for her character.

Genifer Goodwin a.k.a. Emma Snow on Once upon a Time is pregnant in real life. No word about what it means for her character.

E! Network has canceled its pop-culture talkshow The Soup after 22 seasons

Original American Idol judges Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell will return to guest start sometime during the final season of American Idol.

Celine Dion will pay tribute to the victims of the Paris attack during Sunday’s American Music Awards.

Code Black has been given 5 more episodes to bring its total up to 18.

Colton Haynes will reprise his role of Roy Harper in upcoming episode of Arrow

Marvel’s Ant Man is definitely getting a sequel which will also feature The Wasp tentatively scheduled for July 2018

Composer John Williams will be the first ever composer to receive an AFI Lifetime Achievement Award. Much-deserved.

Animated “Guardians of the Galaxy” has been renewed for a second season on Disney XD

RIP actress Maureen O’Hara who is 95. She played opposite John Wayne in several movies.

Mark Wahlberg will star as Steve Austin in a film version of Six Billion-Dollar Man to be released to theaters December 2017

A&E and documentary maker Vice Media will rename the H2 (History 2) Channel as Viceland in 2016

Amazon is developing a TV series based on Marion Zimmer Bradley’s fantasy/sci-fi books Darkover. Unlike Game of Thrones, they won’t have to worry about getting ahead of the novels. There are 25 books in the series.

RIP Melissa Masterson screenwriter who wrote ET The Extraterrestrial. She was 65.

Z Nation has been renewed for season 3 on SyFy Channel

Chloe Grace Moretz will star in a live-action film version of The Little Mermaid for Universal Studios

A remake of the 1965 series Lost in Space is coming to Netflix as a series

Disney XD announced Gravity Falls will end in 2016

FX network has announced Fargo has been renewed for season 3

Other GOP candidates are demanding equal time after Donald Trump hosted SNL if all 17 of them got their own episode it would probably extend past the election 🙂 NBC has offered candidates 12 minutes and five seconds of free advertising or promos as compensation instead.

AMC new series “Into the Badlands” earned the third-best debut ever for a cable show thanks to strong lead-in from The Walking Dead

Advanced sale tickets to the new Star Wars movie are predicted to reach $100 million by opening day

RIP Jim Perry game show host of Card Sharks and Sale of the Century was 82

Despite weak ratings CW has ordered additional episodes of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and iZombie bringing their totals to 18 and 19 respectively

RIP car designer George Barris who designed the Adam West sixties version of the Batmobile age 89

Pixar schedules Finding Dori June 2016, Cars 3 in 2017, Toy Story 4 2018 all sometime in June of those years

Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures have announced “Godzilla vs. Kong” will reach theaters in 2020

From the “I can’t remember if I already reported this department” Chris Rock will host this year’s Oscars

RIP Gunnar Hansen made 68 played the original Leatherface killer in Texas Chainsaw Massacre

CW announced premiere of Flash/Arrow spinoff series “Legends of Tomorrow” will be January 21. Also CW series “The 100” return same day.

TV Line Broadcast Renewal Scorecard

Gotham’s Cameron Monaghan Talks About Deadly Twist, His Animated Idol, Losing Sleep Over ‘Joker’ Role

Strain EPs Clear the Air on Nora’s Fate, Tease a ‘Different, Faster’ Season 3

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on NCIS, Looking, Vampire Diaries, Castle, Arrow, Scorpion, Once, S.H.I.E.L.D. and More

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Once, Scorpion, Quantico, Major Crimes, Castle, Blindspot, Supergirl and More

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Supernatural, X-Files, Empire, Grimm, Once, Gotham, Switched at Birth, Flash and More

Neil deGrasse Tyson on StarTalk Season 2: Cosmos, Comedy and Why Charlie Sheen (?!) Is a Dream Guest

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Arrow, Castle, Supergirl, Supernatural, Once, S.H.I.E.L.D., HTGAWM, H50 and More

Arrow EP Talks Oliver/Laurel Face-Off, Sara’s Future, Dig’s ‘Wound’ and More

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Arrow, Bloodline, Grimm, Supergirl, Scandal, TVD, Supernatural and More

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on POI, Castle, Arrow, The Originals, HTGAWM, Supernatural, Jane, P.D. and More

Arrow/The Flash Stars Preview ‘Bigger, Crazier’ Crossover Event — Plus: Who’s MIA? Which Reunion Didn’t Happen?

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Chicago Fire, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Supernatural, Bones, Flash, Scorpion and More

‘Marvel’s Jessica Jones’ EP Melissa Rosenberg On Luke Cage, Season 2, ‘Supergirl’ & Gender Parity In Hollywood

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Castle, New Girl, Once, The Knick, Chicago Fire, Arrow, CSI: Cyber, Gotham and More

When Will Your Favorite Shows Return From the Holidays? Save These Dates!

Time for another entertainment roundup. If you missed some of my recent reviews of new shows you can always check them out on my blog here.

http://entertainment.cyborg5.com/category/tv-review/

Let’s move on with my usual entertainment news items. Lots to talk about with the new fall schedule in the middle of kicking off. In the links below you can read

Interview with Executioner creator Kurt Sutter about his new show.

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated August 12

Spoilers from Inside Line dated August 17

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated August 24

Interview with Ron Perlman about leaving Sons of Anarchy and his new Amazon series “Hand of God”

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated September 4

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated September 18

TV Line makes 30 predictions about the fall season including first cancellations and renewals

Interview with Muppets producer about controversial adult jokes (as I predicted there would be controversy)

Spoilers from Inside Line dated September 25

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated September 30

BBC announces new young adult Dr. Who Spinoff

Not in the links below but also of interest…

RIP former Monday Night Football host Frank Gifford who died of natural causes age 84

Netflix sci-fi series “Sense8” has been renewed for season 2

CBS executive says they will promote Supergirl during CW network’s Arrow and Flash but don’t expect any crossover stories

Parker Young of Fox “Enlisted” will play a new love interest for Thea Queen in the season of Arrow

TV Land has canceled divorce sitcom “The Exes”

Ellen Burstyn will have a recurring guest starring role in CBS sitcom “Mom”

Showtime announced Ray Donovan and Masters of Sex will return for season 4 age

Showtime has canceled Lisa Kudrow’s therapy comedy “Web Therapy”

TNT has renewed The Last Ship for season 3

NBC has renewed American Ninja Warrior for another season

Jimmy Fallon will remain post of the Tonight Show at least through 2021

Arnold Schwarzenegger will take over as host of Celebrity Apprentice. No word on whether he will replace the catchphrase “you’re fired” with “hasta la vista baby”. NBC says that Donald Trump will never return to the show regardless of his candidate status.

Revenge alum Gabriel Mann a.k.a. Nolan Ross will guest star on an upcoming mysteries of Laura

Charlotte Ross will return to Arrow to guest star as Felicity’s mom

SyFy Channel has canceled Haven. Upcoming half season in October will be the end.

Jill Hennessey from the old show Crossing Jordan will play a recurring part on Madam Secretary as Henry’s new CIA handler.

RIP Yvonne Craig who played batgirl in the 1960s Batman TV series. Died at age 78 complications of breast cancer

TNT announced Maj. crimes season 4 has been expanded to 23 episodes which is an increase above the usual 19

RIP Melody Peterson who played Wrangler Jane in the 60s comedy F Troop

Although Twin Peaks started shooting last month, it probably will not reach Showtime until 2016. Also late word that composer Angelo Badalamenti is on board to score the show. It wouldn’t be Twin Peaks without his creeping music. We are well pleased.

David Boreanaz a.k.a. Seeley Booth had a bad reaction to antibiotic over the summer which delayed his return to Bones. Producers accommodated by writing a story line in which he goes missing for the first couple of episodes. He is back at work as of late August and is okay.

Former 24 star Kim Raver will guest star on Bones to help look for Agent Booth

The Strain star Mia Maestro will guest star on an upcoming episode of Scandal

There are rumors there will be a spinoff from Sons of Anarchy based on the Mayans biker gang

Defiance star Julie Benz will have a recurring role on Hawaii 50 the season

USA Network has canceled Complications after one season.

Shohreh Aghdashloo (my favorite actress whose name I will never be able to pronounce) will guest star on Elementary this season

RIP horror movie legend Wes Craven creator of Nightmare on the Street and Scream. Dead at age 76… Or is he (du du dun creepy music)?

Tom Selleck will have another Jesse Stone movie on Hallmark Channel October 18

Jim Gaffigan show has been renewed on TV land

Under the Dome which wrapped up September 10 has been officially canceled. It was time. Perhaps overdue.

NBC has decided not to revive “Coach” starring Craig T Nelson after all. No word on why.

SyFy Channel has renewed Killjoys and Dark Matter for season 2. Still no word on Defiance

Eric Stoltz will guest star on Madam Secretary as Tia Leone’s brother

Falling Skies alum Sarah Carter will have a recurring role on Hawaii 50

America’s Got Talent will be back for another season

RIP Dean Jones famous for Disney’s Love Bug films has died at age 84

RIP Martin Milner star of Adam 12 and Route 66 dead at 83

RIP Judy Carne the “Sock-It-to-Me” girl from 60s comedy show “Laugh In” dead at age 76

Teri Hatcher is joining the cast of CBS sitcom The Odd Couple

NBC sitcom Mr. Robinson has been canceled but The Carmichael Show has been picked up for season 2

Amy Schumer will have an HBO comedy special October 17

The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore has been renewed at Comedy Central

Jenna Coleman will be leaving Dr. Who at the end of the current season.

Alex Kingston will return as the doctors wife for the Dr. who Christmas special

NBC is developing a TV series that will be a prequel to the “Taken” films however Liam Neeson probably will not play the character with a particular set of skills.

RIP Jackie Collins whose books made into many movies and TV shows. Died at age 77

Vanessa Williams will guest star in a recurring role in The Good Wife

TNT has canceled life after death series “Proof” after one season.

ABC has renewed “Mistresses” for season 4

RIP Catherine E Colson who played the Log Lady on Twin Peaks. Dead at age 71

USA Network has canceled Graceland after 3 seasons

One of my favorite villains Robert “T-Bag” Knepper will guest star in the Twin Peaks revival

Cinemax action series Strike Back may live on as a feature film.

Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson and Sigourney Weaver will make some sort of appearance in the new female Ghostbusters movie

Streaming service Hulu has announced its original series will be released on a weekly basis rather than all at once like Netflix

NBC has extended its English Premier League soccer contract for six years 2021-22 season

CW network is ordered more episodes of “Whose Line Is It Anyway” and “Penn and Teller Fool Us”

CW network executive regrets that they passed on Supergirl and but CBS take it

Tracy Morgan will host Saturday Night Live October 17

20^th Century Fox is making a feature film “Victor Frankenstein” with James McAvoy as Victor and Daniel Radcliffe as Igor

RIP Bud Yorkin producer of “All the Family” and “Good Times” dead at 89

RIP Dr. Oliver Sacks who is the real life doctor portrayed by Robin Williams in the film “Awakenings”. Cancer at 82

EPIX cable network is announced its films will be moving from Netflix to Hulu. Titles include Hunger Games and World War Z

AMC network has green lit “Preacher” a supernatural drama based on the graphic novels of the same name.

CBS has renewed “Zoo” for season 2. It was the summer’s most-watched scripted series

Woody Harrelson will play a bad guy in the next plan of the apes movie titled “War for the Planet of the Apes”

“Star Trek Beyond” the next film has been delayed two weeks from previously announced release date. I will be released July 22, 2016

Disgraced NBC anchor Brian Williams returned to the air on MSNBC anchoring the coverage of the Pope’s visit

Bill O’Reilly’s “Killing Reagan” will be produced for a docudrama for National Geographic Channel in 2016 as were his previous “Killing” books.

Google’s Chromecast device is adding Showtime and Sling TV streaming services to its repertoire

There will be a “Pitch Perfect 3” film to be released August 2017

A “Jack Ryan” TV series is being produced for Amazon streaming

Background actors for an orgy scene HBO series “Westworld” were paid $600 however the union scale pay for background extras is only $157 per day.

Quiz show “500 Questions” will return to ABC for season 2

HBO is in preliminary discussions for a “Watchmen” TV series based on the comic/film

Bastard Executioner Boss Kurt Sutter on Depicting ‘Colorful Brutality’ and FX’s Decapitation Mandate

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on NCIS, X-Files, Grey’s Anatomy, Arrow, Flash, Castle, Bones, Criminal Minds and More

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Once, Arrow, Castle, The Flash, Scandal, Gotham, Reign, Haven and More

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Arrow, NCIS, Good Wife, Grey’s, Once, Castle, Scorpion, Chicago Fire and More

Ron Perlman Talks Hand of God’s Take on Faith, Sons of Anarchy Series Finale: ‘When I Was Done, I Was Done’

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Walking Dead, Vampire Diaries, Castle, The Good Wife, Bones, Big Bang, Supernatural and More

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Good Wife, Castle, NCIS, Bones, Nashville, Vampire Diaries, Suits, Sleepy Hollow and More

Fall TV Predictions: First Cancellation, Mer’s New Grey’s Love, a Once Return, Super Bang, Chicago Gaga and More

Muppets Under Fire: EP Insists ‘Adult’ Jokes Will Always ‘Work on Two Levels’

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Once, Bones, Sleepy Hollow, Vampire Diaries, Arrow, S.H.I.E.L.D., The Flash and More

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Grey’s, Castle, Sleepy Hollow, Supernatural, Nashville, Modern Family, Leftovers and More

BBC Lauching ‘Doctor Who’ Young Adult Spinoff