It’s been almost 2 months since my last entertainment blog. I’ve been so busy with programming projects, a brief hospital visit, and catching up on watching TV shows (I’m a month behind on some shows) that I haven’t had time to put together this blog. to get things started here are your official guides to what got canceled and what got renewed. Below these links are my comments on some but not all of the shows that were canceled or renewed. Then in a separate blog entry I will go back to my usual entertainment news.

2014 broadcast TV renewal scorecard
2014 cable TV renewal scorecard

Here are my thoughts on various canceled or renewed series. When I say “I didn’t know it existed” sometimes that’s literally true and sometimes we just means I never watched it and/or never had any interest in watching it. When I say “surprised” I mean that I like the show but didn’t think it would survive and I’m happy it did. Also I’m not mentioning renewed shows that I expected to be renewed. Here we go…
ABC: canceled shows I didn’t know existed: The Assets, Back in the Game, Lucky 7, Mixoloy, The Neighbors, Suburbatory, Super Fun Night.
ABC: Canceled shows I might miss: Killer Women, Mind Games (only saw a couple of episodes that kind of liked it),, Once upon a Time in Wonderland (it was a fun diversion and I sort of hate to see it go but I understand they couldn’t keep it up forever), Trophy Wife (it had potential but just never developed).
ABC: Shows I’m very glad will be back: Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD (was very pleasantly surprised it’s coming back), Once upon a Time (very happy), Resurrection (very pleasantly surprised), Revenge (big guilty pleasure).
CBS: Canceled but no surprise Bad Teacher, The Crazy Ones, Friends with Better Lives, We Are Men. Canceled but I’m disappointed: Intelligence, Hostages (although I understand why), How I Met Your Mother (I will miss it but it has run its course. Was very satisfied with the way they wrapped it up)
CBS: Renewed: Big Bang Theory (for 8, 9 & 10 Hooray!), The Millers (surprised but not pleasantly. Liked it at first but then it got way too silly), Mom (guilty pleasure),
Fox: canceled and I’m not surprised: Dads, Enlisted, Raising Hope, Rake (had potential), X factor (too much bickering among judges. Not enough focus on the contestants), Us & Them (never heard of it)
Fox: canceled and very disappointed: Almost Human
Fox: renewed and I’m happy: The Following, Sleepy Hollow.
NBC canceled: Believe (disappointed but not surprised), Community (never watched), Crisis (liked it but not surprised), Dracula (disappointed but not surprised), Ironside (very bad show. Disappointed it wasn’t any good), Michael J Fox Show (wanted it to be good but it never was), Revolution (disappointed but not surprised), Sean Saves the World (never had a chance. Very bad) Welcome to the Family (never heard of it), Growing up Fisher (not surprised)
NBC renewed and I’m happy: The Blacklist, Grimm, Hannibal (very good show!)
CW network: canceled Nikita (it ran its course but it was fun while it lasted), Star-Crossed (watched one. Didn’t go back. Not surprised), The Tomorrow People (mildly disappointed it’s canceled).
CW network: renewed: The 100 (very pleasantly surprised), Arrow (happy), Supernatural (happy), Beauty and the Beast (surprised. Didn’t care for it even though I wanted to)
A&E Network: renewed Bates Motel (never watched. Looks bad) Longmire (premieres June 2)
AMC canceled Breaking Bad (very much regret never watching), The Killing (moved to Netflix. Can’t wait to see it), Low Winter Sun (no good, not surprised)
AMC renewed: The Walking Dead (counting down days to next season)
BBC America: canceled Being Human (never liked new cast), Luther (they could bring it back anytime. Wish they would), Copper (disappointed but as long as Ripper Street has been renewed I’m okay)
BBC America: renewed: Dr. Who (of course very happy), Orphan Black (very happy)
Cinemax renewed Banshee (never got into it), Strike Back (next season will be last. Really like it)
FX/FXX canceled: Chozen (terrible show), Legit (barely watchable)
FX/FXX Renewed and I’m happy: American Horror Story, The Americans, Archer, Justified (season 6 will be last season), Sons of Anarchy (sadly next season will be last), Wilfred (cannot believe this show was even made let alone renewed for 4 seasons. Absolutely terribly bad show)
HBO renews Boardwalk Empire (gave up on it midseason. Next season will be last), Girls (don’t let anybody know I watch this), Game of Thrones (very happy renewed for season 5 & 6), The Newsroom (sadly season 3 will be last), Silicon Valley (have not yet watched but intend to. Season 2 already renewed), True Blood (season 7 will be last. Love the show but it’s time for it to go). Veep (still catching up on season 2 while season 3 underway. Renewed for season 4)
HBO canceled and I never heard of or never watched: Eastbound & Down, Enlightened, Family Tree, Hello Ladies, Treme
Showtime canceled: The Borgias (liked season 1, missed seeing season 2.), Californication (final season underway. I need to catch up. Will miss it.) Dexter (miss you very much), House of Lies (never watched)
Showtime renewed and I’m happy: Episodes, Homeland, Masters of Sex, Shameless, Web Therapy, Nurse Jackie (a bit surprised), Ray Donovan (mixed feelings about this show. We’ll see if season two holds up)
Starz renewed: Black Sails (happy), Da Vinci Demons (need to catch up but I like it)
Starz Canceled Magic City (never lived up to potential), the White Queen (possible prequel series coming which would be fun)
Syfy Channel canceled: Being Human (will miss it but it had run its course), Warehouse 13 (farewell old friend)
Syfy Channel renewed: Haven (coming back for 26 episodes hooray!), Helix (interesting to see where this one goes)
Syfy Channel undecided: Bitten (no word on season 2. I watch it when I get a chance but it’s not a must-see), Continuum (season 3 currently showing, no word on the future but I hope it comes back), Defiance (returns June 19), Lost Girl (season 5 not yet picked up by Syfy Channel. I watch it sometimes but is not must-see)
TNT canceled: King and Maxwell (too bad), Mob City (didn’t care for it), Southland (no big deal)
TNT renewed for this summer but no word beyond that: Falling Skies (June 22), Major Crimes (June 9), Perception (June 17), Rizzoli and Isles (June 17)
TV land renewed Hot in Cleveland (guilty pleasure)
USA canceled: Burn Notice (we will miss you), Necessary Roughness paren sorry to see it go but it had run its course), Psych (very sorry to see it go)
USA renewed and I’m happy:: Affairs, Royal Pains, Suits, White-Collar (renewed for shortened season)

I will try to get a regular entertainment blog out soon (maybe even later today)

Even though I never took chemistry, I understand the abbreviated version of the laws of thermodynamics which are summarized in the phrase “Entropy eventually wins”. Basically it says that the universe is constantly moving away from an organized state into a disorganized state. Entropy has attacked my entertainment blog and I did not discover it until today. My RSS reader was somehow configured to only retain the most recent 200 articles in any given website that I follow. And given that it’s been especially long time since I read any articles, there should’ve been way more than 200 articles per site on many of my favorite entertainment sites. Although that information is still out there somewhere in the World Wide Web, it would be too difficult to go retrieve. So this installment is unfortunately truncated to the 200 most recent articles in all my sources. I have reconfigured the reader to maintain 2000 articles per website and hopefully I can keep from getting so far behind in the future.

Sadly entropy also took standup comedian David Brenner who died recently at age 78. He appeared on the Tonight Show over 100 times and had several cable specials. Standup comedians today are all about “observational humor” which I love. But I miss the days when comedians told jokes. Brenner had a favorite joke that became a favorite of mine.

A guy joins the Army and get sent off to war only to find that the particular unit he is assigned to is unfortunately seriously undersupplied. His commander hands him a stick and tells them to point it at the enemy and say “Bang-ity, Bang-ity, Bang”. The guy realizes the dead man that has no other choice but to go into battle and try not to get shot. As enemy forces arrive he hopes perhaps you can scare them off with his fake gun. He points the state at an advancing soldier and yells “Bang-ity, Bang-ity, Bang!” Much to his surprise the enemy begins falling dead! He makes a giant charge into enemy lines waving his stick and yelling “Bang-ity, Bang-ity, Bang!” and the enemy is dropping like flies. Then one soldier comes marching towards him and refuses to drop. He ends up walking right over our hero knocking him to the ground. As he is lying there in pain trying to figure out what happened he hears the enemy walking away yelling “Tank-ity, Tank-ity, Tank!”

Rest in peace David. Thanks for all the laughs as silly as they were.

CW network launched a new sci-fi show called “The 100” that may be worth checking out. It’s sort of a mix between Defiance, Oblivion, a teen romance show, and Lord of the Flies. The human race has escaped a postnuclear apocalypse earth to live in orbiting space station. The totalitarian government in space gives the death penalty for every offense because resources are so short. However juveniles are jailed until their 18^th birthday when they are either paroled or killed. 100 of these juveniles get sent back down to the surface of Earth to see if it’s viable. I’ve seen one episode of the two that have aired. I’m going to stick with it for now. I’ll keep you posted.

In the links below read…

TV line Cable show renewal scorecard

TV line prime time show renewal scorecard

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated March 18

Spoilers from Matt’s Inside Line dated March 20

spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated March 26

Odette Anabel formerly of House and Banshee will star in the ABC summer drama series Astronaut Wives Club

CBS’s shooting a pilot called How I Met Your Dad from the same people who made HIMY-Mother. Greta Gerwig will be the mom.

Queen Latifah will guest star in an upcoming episode of Hot in Cleveland

Chris Coifer will write an upcoming episode of Glee

The Flash will not be appearing on Arrow but two characters from his upcoming spinoff will appear. Danielle Pennebaker will play Caitlin Snow will play a bioengineering expert who lost her fiancé in the particle accelerator accident at central city STAR labs. Speculation is she will involve into Killer Frost. Carlos Valdez plays Cisco remote a STAR Labs genius who may become Justice Leaguer known as Vibe.

Showtime announced season 2 of Masters of Sex will be in the summer paired up with season 2 of Ray Donovan

Upcoming SNL hosts include Anna Kendrick and Seth Rogen

FX has ordered a new sitcom called The Comedians starring Billy Crystal and Josh Gad. It’s behind the scenes at a late-night talkshow

Astronaut Wives Club has cast Dexter’s Desmond Harrington as Alan Shepherd

NBC has renewed Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, Grimm, Parks and Rec have been renewed

Hal Linden will guest star on 2 Broke Girls as Max’s landlord

USA Network has green lit two new medical series Complications about an ER doctor who saves the life of a boy whose life is in danger from criminals. And Rush about the Hollywood concierge doctor who only takes payments in cash and keeps clients secrets

History Channel has renewed Vikings for season 3. I’m loving season 2 right now.

Lots of news about upcoming Fox series Gotham which was originally billed as an origin story for Commissioner Gordon. However now it’s been revealed several villains including Penguin, Catwoman etc. as well as a 12-year-old Bruce Wayne will appear in the show.

BBC America has ordered its first original comedy series titles Almost Royal about two young British aristocrats. Show will debut following season finale of Orphan Black season 2

American Horror Story: Freak Show a.k.a. AHS 4 will see the return of Jessica Lange Kathy Bates, Sarah Paulson, Evan peters, Angela Bassett, and Frances Conroy. Denis O’Hare and Emma Roberts are in talks to return to the show which takes place in Jupiter Florida in a carnival in 1950

HBO’s True Detective will compete for Emmys as a drama series rather than as a miniseries.

Syfy Channel’s Defiance will return June 19 forward by the new series Dominion which is based on the movie Legion

BBC America’s zombie miniseries In the Flesh returns for six episodes Saturday, May 10

Michelle Borth who plays Catherine on Hawaii 50 is leaving at the end of the season

Upcoming sequel films for 2015 include Avengers: Age of Ultron, Mad Max: Fury Road, Fast & Furious 7, Jurassic World, Terminator: Genesis, Fantastic Four, Ted 2, Star Wars: Episode VIII, Alvin and the Chipmunks 4, Mission Impossible 5, untitled Jason Bourne film, untitled James Bond film. And non-sequels 50 Shades of Gray, Ant-Man and Assassin’s Creed

NBC announced Last Comic Standing returns May 22 with judges Rosanne Barr, Keenen Ivory Wayans, and Russell Peters

RIP longtime character actor James Rebhorn who died of melanoma. His most recent role was Carrie’s father on Homeland

Arc Light Films has put on hold plans for a film called Deep Water about a plane that crashes en route from Sydney to Beijing. Survivors battle sharks in open waters. Not a good time to make a movie like that they decided.

Warner Bros. will film the Mitch Albom Novel “The First Phone Call from Heaven”

This week’s winner of the Chris Young sure sign of the upcoming apocalypse award goes to Fox for a new reality series titles “I Want to Marry Harry”. 12 American women were whisked off to a British estate to film a reality competition in which they were told the winner would marry Prince Harry. The whole thing was a hoax. They used a Harry look-alike.

Britain’s Sky Atlantic HD channel will simulcast the season premiere of Game of Thrones in the UK at the exact same time it appears on HBO in the US. I guess they’re taking a hit from BBC/BBC America’s Dr. Who simulcast policy to cut down on piracy. My guess is Game of Thrones will retain its throne as the most pirated show on the Internet.

Warner Bros. announced the sequel to “The Lego Movie” will premiere May 26, 2017

NBC is reviving the Heroes franchise for the 2015 season. It’s set in the same universe as the original “save the cheerleader” heroes but with all-new cast and characters. Will be 13 episodes.

Being Human US version will end after this current season finishes

The animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars has its sixth and final season of 13 episodes now streaming on Netflix.

TV line Cable Renewal Scorecard

TV line from time renewal Scorecard .

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on HIMYM, Glee, Once, Parks, Supernatural, Arrow, Reign and More

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Blacklist, Mentalist, Glee, NCIS, Scandal, Once, S.H.I.E.L.D. and More

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Good Wife, True Blood, P’hood, Game of Thrones, Scandal, TVD and More

My new computer is running well. 99% of stuff has been transferred from the old machine. I’ve released a new version of my software for sending and receiving infrared signals from a TV remote using Arduino microcontrollers. Which being that I finally have time to do another installment of my entertainment blog.

The weather as nasty as it’s been I’ve not been able to get out to see any movies. So there’s nothing to report there. I have watched a few awards shows and I’m pleasantly surprised to see Gravity get so many nominations. I really liked it a lot but then I’m a sci-fi freak. It doesn’t have a chance of winning against the other competition but as they say “it’s just an honor to be…” (labeled not good enough like all the other nominees who didn’t win).Late news… Gravity director Alfonso Cualrón did win best director from the Directors Guild and tied for first place with “12 Years a Slave” the Producers Guild. So perhaps an Oscar isn’t completely out of the question at least for him.

In TV news I’m kind of liking the new season of American Idol with judge Harry Connick Junior. I really liked him when he was mentor a couple times. He’s not afraid to tell it like it is but he does it in a slightly nicer way than Simon Cowell ever did. He’s also hilariously funny at times. Also glad to see that they are cutting back on the making fun of bad contestants. They really haven’t done that much since Simon left. And as one other TV critic recently noticed we seem to have an absence of sob stories about contestants who have overcome some great tragedy thanks to music. Maybe some of the sob stories will be revealed later.

Because it’s been a while since I did one of these, some of the “spoilers” aren’t much of a spoiler anymore. Sorry for getting behind.
It’s that time of year when shows are being renewed or canceled. Bookmark this link for TV Line’s Renewal Scorecard

Typically there is a lot of news about pilots being produced. I used to follow those but there were so many pilots that disappointingly never made it to air (i.e. Wonder Woman a few years ago) that I always decided to wait for the real thing. However this year TV Line has put together a list of pilots and who is starring in them. So I’m including this link in case you’re really interested. Both links include multiple pages categorized by network.

In the links below read about…

• Spoilers from Matt’s Inside Line dated January 16
• Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated January 21
• Postmortem interview with creators of Sleepy Hollow about the season finale
• Spoilers from Matt’s Inside Line dated January 29
• A look at Peter Capaldi in his new Dr. Who costume. He calls it “a Rebel Time Lord” look.
• Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated January 28
• Fascinating interview with “Gravity” cinematographer about techniques he invented the film
• Article about a guy who is preserving last silent films on DVDs called “Accidentally Preserved”. It’s funded by a Kickstarter campaign.

Not in the links below but also of interest…

• CBS announced Survivor Braves vs. Brawn vs. Beauty will premiere February 26. Amazing Race All-Star premieres February 23.
• At a time when soap operas are dwindling CBS has renewed daytime soaps Y&R and B&B as well as the rest of its daytime lineup The Price Is Right, Let’s Make a Deal and The Talk for a new season.
• CBS announced a new summer series Extant starring Hallie Berry will premiere July 2. Season 2 of Under the Dome premier June 30
• CBS has hinted that it would consider another season of Hostages presumably with a different cast and plot line even though the first season had very disappointing ratings.
• Now that Michael J Fox has wrapped shooting his sitcom there is a chance he will return to guest star on The Good Wife. Also in the recent Good Wife episode about “Thick Trick” he was supposed to pit Diane against the firm of Florick/Agos but Christine Baranski was tied up filming “Into the Woods” so they switched and had Will do it.
• Now that CBS’ new series Intelligence has wrapped shooting, Meghan Ory can return to “Once upon a Time” in her role as Ruby/Red Riding Hood.
• CW network has ordered a spinoff of Veronica Mars for its new digital streaming service CW Seed. Also the Veronica Mars movie hits theaters March 14
• Producers have revealed that the next season of American Horror Story will take place in 1950 and that Jessica Lange will return is brushing up on her German accent.
• Former House costar Anne Dudek will guest star on an upcoming episode of Grimm
• Kathy Bates will guest star on an upcoming Mike and Molly as an old friend of Molly’s mom
• Jane Alexander will guest star on CBS’ Elementary as Sherlock’s longtime penpal
• HBO has renewed Real Time with Bill Maher for 35 episodes season 13 starting January 2015
• Fargo a TV series based on the Coen Brothers film premieres April 15 on FX story Martin Freeman and Billy Bob Thornton
• CW network president says Supernatural will be renewed as long as the ratings continue to hold up. Reality series Breaking Pointe will not return. Two new reality series come to CW later this year. Barber Battle by Cedric the Entertainer and a magician competition called “Penn & Teller: Fool Us”.
• Benjamin Bratt will guest star in the new “24” series. His job… Find Jack Bauer!
• Showtime announced season 6 of Nurse Jackie in the final season Californication will prepare April 13
• A while back Michael Ausiello said he had use of an actor who was getting a new series that he could not reveal it because that actor was currently playing a lead character in another show and was about to get killed off. If you guessed Sons of Anarchy’s Ron Perlman you are right. I did not guess it in advance but when he got killed off I was 99% sure that was who they were talking about. His new job is playing a judge who is a married man with a call girl girlfriend on the side who has a religious awakening when he starts hearing voices through his ventilator-bound son which might be the voice of God. I guess that makes it Sons of Anarchy meets Joan of Arcadia set in a courtroom. It will appear on Amazon streaming service. I’m not excited.
• Showtime confirms Mandy Patinkin will definitely return for season 4 of Homeland
• Gilligan’s Island star Russell Johnson A.K.A. the Professor passed away at age 89
• Joan Allen will star in the six episode new season of The Killing which will be released on Netflix
• A&E is developing a reboot of Michael Landon 80 Series Hwy. to Heaven
• Warner Bros. is releasing the 60s Batman series to DVD
• Dave Madden played manager of the Partridge family has died at age 82
• ABC has ordered another Toy Story special “Toy Story That Time Forgot”
• ABC has refused to comment on rumors that it has put in a bid to show Thursday night football from NFL
• Next season NCIS will reveal the mysterious second wife of Agent Gibbs!
• Mary Steenburgen will appear in upcoming episodes of Justified
• NBC has announced its next live musical will be Peter Pan and will air December 4. No casting info.
• NBC has ordered 10 episodes of Emerald City. In modern-day Wizard of Oz story featuring a 20-year-old Dorothy was unwittingly sent on an epic and bloody battle for control Oz.
• NBC will shoot a season of Celebrity Apprentice in the spring for possible inclusion in the fall schedule.
• Billy Crystal who was Jay Leno’s first guest on the Tonight Show will return for his final show February 6.
• NBC programming president Robert Greenblatt can’t figure out why they can’t get an audience for “Sean Saves the World” or “The Michael J Fox Show”. Maybe it’s because they’re no good?
• Follow-up on previous item… Production has been halted on Sean Saves the World which means it’s effectively canceled
• A major character from Once upon a Time will be killed off and will be leaving the show for certain
• BBC America’s series Ripper Street will return February 22 for season 2. Very good stuff.
• The cast of Walking Dead will appear on Conan O’Brien February 6
• NBC has canceled plans for a Murder She Wrote reboot
• Mork and Mindy will reunite when Pam Dauber guest stars on The Crazy Ones with Robin Williams
• SNL head writer Colin Jost will take over the Weekend Update chair when Seth Meyers moved to late-night replacing Jimmy Fallon who is replacing Jay Leno
• Ellen Pompeo and Patrick Dempsey at both the new two-year deals to remain on Grey’s anatomy
• Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonanio will return as Nick’s mother I’d Grimm
• J August Richards is returning to Agents of Shield when his character Mike Peterson gets turned into the Marvel character Deathlok… A cyborg who first appeared in the comics 40 years ago
• USA Network has picked up a new courtroom comedy titled Benched
• Despite what I said earlier about not covering pilots… This is big enough news on its own. Sharon Stone will star in a pilot action drama Agent X for TNT. Too early for word on series pickup
• Stephen Fry will appear as the British Prime Minister in the new “24” series which will be set in London
• NBC has ordered a pilot The Money Pit based on the 1986 Tom Hanks/Shelley Long movie
• AT&T U-Verse assures viewers that the dropout of signal during the Grammy awards same-sex marriage scene was a technical glitch and not purposeful
• Syfy Channel has renewed Haven for 26 episodes. 13 in the fall and the other 13 in 2015
• Major news John Noble has been promoted to series regular on sleepy Hollow for season 2 (also Abby’s sister Jenny)
• Animated film The Nut Job which set box office records for non-studio animated film will get a sequel cleverly titled The Nut Job 2. Will premiere January 15, 2016
• Bill O’Reilly will interview Pres. Obama during the Super Bowl pregame shows
• TNT has acquired “Transporter: The Series” an internationally produced syndicated thriller based on the movies. Season 1 will premiere this fall. Season 2 begin shooting in February and will appear on TNT as well.
• HBO will not renew Family Tree nor Hello Ladies for second seasons. “Getting On” may get renewed.
• Ben Kingsley will appear in Night at the Museum 3. Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Owen Wilson etc. will return
• Hugh Jackman will play Blackbeard in Warner Bros. new film “Pan
• Michelle Obama will appear on Jimmy Fallon’s first week when the Tonight Show
• Fox is buying controlling interest of YES network which shows New York Yankees games. Maybe they will use the proceeds to pay for that new Japanese pitcher.
• DreamWorks will produce a live-action version of “Ghost in the Shell” based on the famous Japanese animated film
• Mira Sorvino will star in a BBC America series Intruders about people who seek immortality by possessing other people’s bodies.
• Rosie O’Donnell is returning to The View
• Sundance Channel is reinventing itself SundanceTV (without a space between them). Like that’s going to help things.
• Quentin Tarantino is suing website Gawker for leaking the screenplay of an upcoming movie. He’s threatened to cancel making the movie.
• Guns vs. God: Schwarzenegger’s new action movie Sabotage will be released March 28 as will a biblical movie titled Noah. Take your pick.
• After Time Warner Cable rejected a buyout bid from Comcast, now charter cable is bidding and would end up settling some of the TWC assets to Comcast to pay for the deal.
• Lindsay Vonn will not be skiing in the winter Olympics however she will appear as a commentator for coverage on NBC. She cannot travel so will appear from a US studio on Olympic coverage and on the today show
• A Cappella music fans will be pleased to learn Universal Studios will make Pitch Perfect 2. Actress Elizabeth Banks will make her directorial premiere.
• This week’s winner of the Chris Young’s Sure Sign of the Coming Apocalypse Award goes to ABC for renewing game show “Bet on Your Baby” in which contestants wager on what their kids will do next.
• Forest Whitaker is in talks to appear in Taken 3 with Liam Neeson
• In 1998 comedian Louis CK made the black and white self financed comedy that made it to Sundance Film Festival but never got released. Starting today you can purchase a download for just $5 from his website.
• Marvel comics will publish new Star Wars titles in 2015
• Actress Barbara Lawrence played Gertie Cummings in the film version of Oklahoma has died at age 83
• Hong Kong movie mogul Run Run Shaw practically invented the kung fu movie genre has died at age 107. I have this image of him on his deathbed with his lips moving out of sync but he died before we could hear what he was actually saying 🙂 sorry I couldn’t resist.
• Director JJ Abrams announced that the script for the do Star Wars movie is complete. Filming will begin in May.

I’m transitioning from my old computer to my new one. This will be the last entertainment update created on the old computer. I’ve got my Feed Demon program loaded on the new machine but I need to clean out all the old articles from the old one first.

Since our last installment I’ve seen Hobbit 2 and Hunger Games 2. Both were every bit as good as I hoped they would be. Both ended on pretty big cliffhangers somewhere counting down the days already to the final installments of both franchises.

We’ve also had the Dr. who Christmas special featuring the end of Matt Smith as the doctor. Not quite as emotional as David Tennant’s last episode or Billy Piper’s still a fine sendoff.

To get your TV watching up-to-date for the new winter season we start off with a couple of links to printable PDF TV schedules updated for the new January shows.

In the links below read…

Printable winner 2014 broadcast TV schedule from TVaholic.com

Printable winner 2014 cable TV schedule from TVaholic.com

Interview with producers of Revenge about recent episode

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated December 17

Spoilers from Matt’s Inside Line dated December 19

NBC has announced Hannibal will return for 13 episodes starting February 28. I loved the first season.

Interview with producers of Nikita about series finale

Interview with show runner of Homeland about season finale

Interview with Damon Lewis about homeland season finale

Not in links below but also of interest

NBC has green lit the miniseries titled  “A.D.”which takes up where the History Channel series “The Bible” left off right after the crucifixion.

Lifetime will make a TV movie about Ann Curry getting fired from the today show

Fox has renewed Master Chef Junior for season 2

HBO’s Game of Thrones was the most pirated TV show of the year for the second  year running. Beat out breaking bad and walking dead

Demi Lovato has confirmed she is leaving X factor

Rumors say Jay Leno is in talks with CNN for a talk show

Judy Davis will play the bad guy in the new 24 TV show season

Katie Couric’s talkshow is ending after two seasons

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals finally did something I agreed with. They are calling for the end to “Duck Dynasty”. I don’t care about the ducks… I just think it’s a stupid show. And a stupid controversy surrounding it.

Nick Nolte is joining the cast of Fox networks remake of Broadchurch which has been renamed Gracepoint encase I didn’t already report that.

James Cameron will make his Avatar sequels in New Zealand to take advantage of tax breaks

President Obama has been offered a cameo in the upcoming season of House of Cards. He didn’t say no but he didn’t say yes.

Frank Darabont is suing AMC networks saying he is not yet received a penny of money for the profits for The Walking Dead.

Usher and Shakira will be back as judges for The voice on February 24

JK Rowling is going to coproduce a Harry Potter prequel play on London’s West End

Paul Rudd will play Ant-Man in an upcoming movie

Printable Winter 2014 TV Schedule v1.00 (PDF) – New as of 12.19.2013.

Printable Winter 2014 Cable TV Schedule v1.00 (PDF) – New as of 12.19.2013.

Post Mortem: Revenge Boss on Why [Spoiler] Shot Emily – Plus, Scoop on that Memory Twist, Victoria’s Upper Hand, Aiden’s Past and More

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Homeland, Once, Revenge, NCIS, Bones, Carrie, TVD and More

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Bones, Castle, NCIS, Once, Arrow, Supernatural, TVD and More!

Nikita Boss on That Shocking Twist and Amanda’s Fate – Plus, the ‘Mikita’ Ending You Didn’t See!

‘Homeland’ interview: Showrunner explains Brody’s fate, season 4 plan

‘Homeland’: Damian Lewis talks finale tragedy

Well after a week in the hospital, multiple bouts of computer problems, and the design and implementation of a computer-generated Christmas card I finally have a few free minutes to do and entertainment blog. My new computer is sitting in a FedEx warehouse in Indianapolis scheduled for delivery tomorrow so this will be the last installment on my trusty old desktop. Some of the so-called “spoilers” may have already occurred because this is so late but perhaps you are far behind on your TV and movie watching as I am in the spoilers will still be spoilers. To get you caught up quickly be sure to check out the first three links in my list below. They are a calendar of Fall finales and January premieres, a series renewal scorecard for prime time TV, and a series renewal scorecard for cable shows. You might want to bookmark those renewal cards because they keep getting updated as new announcements are made.

The first thing I have to share with you is my unending love for the NBC singing competition show “The Sing-Off”. In the competition between 10 a cappella singing groups. There is absolutely no musical accompaniment whatsoever. So the groups not only have two sing their songs, they are 100% responsible for their own arguments and they simulate not only beatbox drums but a variety of other instruments. The judges on the show are probably the most competent and entertaining judges in all reality competition. They are the medicine that cures all of the ills of shows like The Voice, X Factor, and American Idol. My beef with The Voice judges/coaches is that they were very very rarely say anything negative or critical about any of the acts. On X Factor the judges do more squabbling with one another and bad mouthing their mentoring choices than they do giving honest feedback about the acts. And in both X Factor and Dancing with the Stars if the judge does dare make any nonpositive comment, the audience boos so loud you can even hear them. Even constructive criticism is met with ridiculous levels of disdain from the studio audience. On The Sing-Off the judges are real judges they are not mentors assigned to particular groups. And they do give really honest and constructive criticism to the groups about how they can make the next performances better. The studio audience is small but is probably nothing but friends and family of the contestants themselves. The producers have apparently instructed the studio audience to let the judges do the judging because it is very rare that the audience goes off on a judge for giving constructive notes. When asked really does give an outstanding performance, it makes the praise of the judges much more credible because you know that they are not afraid to critique the acts.

The judges themselves however are still every bit as entertaining as any other judges in reality competition TV. Ben Folds is probably the most lovable nerd on television short of Big Bang Theory. He’s probably the most musically intellectual judge on television but still very funny. Sean Stockman has plenty of a cappella credits to his name as one of the original members of Boys 2 Men. And pop/country Jewel rounds out the judging trio replacing Sarah Baralles who judged in previous seasons. This season the show is being shown multiple episodes per week over a two-week period. You’ve already missed the first couple of episodes which should be available on demand. The next new episode is Monday night on NBC. I highly highly recommend this show. If you’re not a fan of a cappella music it can turn you into one very easily.

The other big news story that deserves comment is the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who which was celebrated couple of weeks ago with a special episode featuring at least three different actors (spoilers I will tell you how many it really was) portraying the iconic trying traveler The Doctor. It was an action filled and touching dramatic episode sprinkled with great humor and plenty of inside jokes to please Whovians (Dr. Who fans). The episode was also shown in 3-D which was used to great effect in many places. It was the highest rated show ever to air on BBC America. After the Saturday premiere, the 3-D version was shown in theaters across the US and earned $4.2 million from a single showing even though presumably 99% of the attendees had already seen the episode on TV. It was the number two box office film of the day behind Hunger Games 2 .A slew of Doctor Who related specials were also shown on BBC and BBC America. There was also a two-hour dramatic movie about the people who created the TV series back in 1963. It was mostly about actor William Hartnell who was the first actor to portray the doctor. It was very entertaining, very touching and well done. Overall it was a great tribute to a great TV series. Matt Smith who is the 12th (or is it 13th) person to play the Doctor is leaving the show after this year’s Christmas special to be replaced by Peter Cappelli.

As I’m composing this email/blog I just received a news alert that iconic British actor Peter O’Toole has passed away at age 81. He had eight Oscar nominations for such iconic films as Lawrence of Arabia 1963, Beckett 1965, The Lion in Winter, 1969. He also received an honorary Oscar in 2003. Among my favorites of his films however are some of the lesser-known ones such as Venus 2006 and My Favorite Year 1983 both of which earned him an Oscar nominations. However I think my all-time favorite was Creator in 1985 in which he played Dr. Harry Wolper, an aging professor/doctor who is trying to create human life in a test tube in a sad yet touching attempt to clone his dead wife. Is a very funny yet at times melancholy performance that I have watched many times and could watch over and over again. Memorable performances by Vincent Spano and Mariel Hemingway as well. If you’re in a mood to remember the old boy and watch a Peter O’Toole movie, check this one out.

You’ve probably also covered that action star Paul Walker of the Fast and Furious franchise died in a car accident at age 40. He was not at the wheel.

Fans of Psych… Don’t forget the special two-hour musical episode tonight on USA Network.

Now on with the usual program… In the links below read

A must-see calendar of December finales, January premiere’s etc. don’t miss it exhalation point

Interview with Kurt Sutter, Maggie Siff and Katie Sagal about season finale of Sons of Anarchy

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated November 26 (geez I am behind!)

A look at The Mentalist now that the Red John story has wrapped

Interview with producers of The Good Wife after their 100th episode

Interview with Stephen Moyer about what happens to Bill in the final season of True Blood

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated December 3

Interview with Jimmy Smits about the second the last episode of Sons of Anarchy for this season

Interview with Jeff Perry (Cyrus from Scandal) about plot twists involving his character

Writers Guild nominations for TV

Spoilers from Matt’s Inside Line dated December 5

TVLine mixtape. Music from your favorite TV shows week of December 7

Screen Actors Guild nominations for TV only

Details about the upcoming Netflix only season 4 of The Killing

Interview with producer Robert Kirkman about the midseason finale of The Walking Dead

Not in the links below but also of interest

Fox animated series The Family Guy: big surprise by killing off the dog Brian Griffin. Rumors are he may get a surprise resurrection as a Christmas miracle

Forward today show and ABC news host Katie Couric is moving to Yahoo news. She will continue to host her syndicated talkshow Katie.

Andrew J West is joining the cast of The Walking Dead in the second half of the season in a character named Garth who does not appear in the original comics

Martin Sheen will start in The Whale for BBC/Animal Planet. A two-hour film based on the true story of whaling ship The Essex which was said to be the inspiration for Moby Dick

Amy Brenneman will guest star in CW networks Reign as princes Mary’s mother

CW network as renewed Reign, The Originals and The Tomorrow People all new series this year. I tried Reign and although I like these royal period pieces, this one didn’t work for me. Skipped The Originals. Tomorrow People is watchable if you are diehard sci-fi fan like me.

Alec Baldwin’s MSNBC talkshow has been canceled after just four episodes. He recently shouted anti-gay epithets at a paparazzi.

John Corbett will return to guest star on Parenthood as Drew and Amber’s dad

BBC America has renewed its new fantasy series Atlantis for a second season

Alex Kingston a.k.a. Doctor Who’s wife Dr. River Song is returning to CW’s Arrow as Dinah Lance

The Blacklist has been renewed for season 2

James Brolin will return to guest star Castle as Rick’s father

Season 2 of the Netflix series House of Cards will premiere February 14

SyFy Channel has ordered a series titled Dominion based on the 2010 supernatural film Legion

ABC is cutting season 3 of Scandal from 22 episodes to 18 episodes because Kerry Washington is pregnant and they are not writing the pregnancy into the storyline.

AMC has announced Low Winter Sun was too low rated to be renewed.

Fox has cut episodes of its new sitcom Dads from 22 episodes down to 19

Showtime has announced that season 7 will be the final four Californication which will return in April

This week’s “sure sign of the pending apocalypse award” goes to The Sportsman Channel for creating a new reality series for Sarah Palin

Megan Mullally will guest star on Sean Saves the World

Showtime series Episodes have been renewed for season 4

Favorite bad guy Robert Knepper a.k.a. Prison Break’s “T-bag” will join the cast of Arrow as Tockman a.k.a. “Clock King”. He will also star in the final two installments of Hunger Games as Antonius. He is currently appearing in Mob City on TNT.

Matthew Perry will reboot The Odd Couple for CBS.

Hawaii 50 has promoted Chi McBride plays Capt. Lou Grover to series regular

Christopher Gorham a.k.a. Augie on Covert Affairs will guest star very briefly on Once upon a Time

MBC is considering a werewolf series from the producers of its current Dracula series. Can Frankenstein be far behind?

ABC has acquired the rights to show Peanuts specials through the year 2020

HBO will tape performances of Billy Crystal’s one-man show “700 Sundays” for future airing

Sky Dance productions will reboot the Terminator series with a trilogy of movies beginning in 2015 and a possible TV show

The Amazing Spiderman 2 will get an IMAX 3-D release this spring

Showtime will air the Rolling Stones documentary Return to Hyde Park on December 20

Tom Cruise is developing another Jack Reacher film based on the novel “Never Go Back”

Star Wars VII, the first at the helm of producer JJ Abrams will premiere Christmas 2015. I’m disappointed they are breaking with the tradition of a month of May release

Save the Dates! Your Guide to 150+ December Finales, January Premieres and More

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

 2014 Renewal Scorecard: What’s Cancelled? What’s Returning? What’s on the Bubble?

Sons of Anarchy Post Mortem: Maggie Siff, Katey Sagal, Kurt Sutter on Deadly Finale, Plus Scoop on Season 7 — ‘Jax Is Completely Untethered’

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Good Wife, Scandal, HIMYM, Sleepy Hollow, Following, Once and More

The Mentalist 2.0: 10 Things to Know About Señor Jane, Chief Lisbon and Life ‘In the Future’

Good Wife Post Mortem: EPs Robert and Michelle King Talk Episode 100′s Mother of a Twist, Will and Alicia’s Future, Kalinda’s New [Spoiler]

Stephen Moyer on True Blood’s ‘Sad’ Series Finale, Possible Happy Ending for Bill and Sookie

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Arrow, HIMYM, Once, Good Wife, Hannibal, Scandal, Sleepy and More

Sons of Anarchy Post Mortem: Jimmy Smits on Nero’s Shocking Discovery and Next Week’s ‘Brilliant’ Finale — ‘It Leaves You Breathless’

Scandal’s Jeff Perry Talks Blindsided Cyrus, Fitz/ Olivia Roadblocks and the ‘Exquisite Hell’ Ahead

Breaking Bad, Orange Is the New Black, House of Cards Lead 2014 WGA Nominations

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Once, New Girl, H50, Haven, Arrow, S.H.I.E.L.D, Mentalist, Reign & More

TVLine Mixtape: Your Favorite Songs from The Walking Dead, Grey’s, Sons of Anarchy and More

SAG Award Nominations: Breaking Bad, Big Bang, 30 Rock Lead the Pack, Kerry Washington, Mayim Bialik Sneak In; Orange, Mad Men Shut Out

The Killing: Season 4 Promises Military-School Mystery, Plus Linden’s… Mother?

‘The Walking Dead’: Creator Robert Kirkman on the killer midseason finale and what’s next

Here’s the latest entertainment news…

I have to say I’m once again hooked on American Horror Story. It took me quite a while to get into the first season but I stuck with it and in the end it paid off. The second season had lots of memorable moments but overall I enjoyed it. This latest one grabbed me from the opening. Of course I’ve always been a big fan of Kathy Bates. And seeing Jessica Lange suck the life out of a guy to the sounds of Inna-Godda-Diva (or however it’s spelled) was just way too cool. AHS isn’t for everyone. It is definitely an acquired taste but overall I love it.

Next week looking forward to Enders Game. I read the original short story in Analog Science Fiction Magazine and the normalized version later as well as numerous sequels which were of lesser quality. Seeing it in IMAX 3-D is going to be totally awesome. And what’s not to like about Harrison Ford and Ben Kingsley?

However the biggest news is that the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special is going to be shown in theaters in 3-D with additional behind-the-scenes footage on November 25 which is 2 days after it will show on TV. It will be simulcast on Saturday in several major cities and then we’ll go nationwide to 300 theaters on Monday the 25th. Three Indianapolis theaters will show the event. The article is linked below. You can click on the links to find the theaters listed.

We are introducing a new recurring link this week. You’re already familiar with 2 recurring links from the site TV Line which are spoilers from Michael Aussiello and Matt’s Inside Line. The site now has a recurring feature called “Mixtape”. They link to music videos of songs which have appeared as background music in the past weeks TV shows. Especially liked Cyndi Lauper’s version of “At Last” during the Bones wedding. And while still not like about Stevie Nick’s “Edge of 17” which appeared in American Horror Story this week? While not every song is a winner and some of the shows I don’t even watch and neither do you, I’m going to include the link whenever available for those times when you just have to hear that cool song one more time.

Finally… I don’t usually post trailers on this blog but this one is worth sharing. Fox showed an extended trailer for its reboot of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos this time starring Neil Degrasse Tyson and written by Sagan’s widow Ann Druyan. The trailer was shown during the World Series but in case you missed it here is on YouTube.

In the links below read

Doctor Who 50th anniversary special to show in theaters in 3-D November 25

Mix Tape dated October 26

Interview with producers of Bones about the wedding

Spoilers from Michael Aussiello dated October 22

Inside Line spoilers dated October 24

Fox network reveals midseason schedule and start dates. Note Idol results show will only be 30 minutes.

Interview with Dylan McDermott about his role on Hostages and possible return to AHS

Cinemax has renewed Strike Back for a fourth and final season

Interview with Person of Interest Sarah Shahi

Spoilers from Michael Aussiello dated October 29

Interview with Elizabeth Mitchell about her role on Revolution

Not in the links below but also of interest

The Walking Dead has been renewed for season 5. Current Showrunner Scott Gimpel will return.

Showtime has renewed Homeland and Masters of Sex for an initial season each

ABC is considering resurrecting canceled series Body of Proof

Sherlock (British version) will premiere on PBS January 19

Whoopi Goldberg’s voice has been cast as the voice of the wife of the rabbit in Once upon a Time in Wonderland

NBC is considering rebooting Murder She Wrote this time to star Octavia Spencer

USA has renewed Suits for season 4

Fox’s new sitcom “Dads” has been picked up for a full season order bringing the total to 22

NBC says it hasn’t given up on Celebrity Apprentice even though it’s not on any current schedules

Gilles Marini and Mary Lynn Rajskub will guest star and possibly recur in upcoming episodes of 2 Broke Girls

RIP Marcia Wallace was a voice on The Simpsons and played Bob Newhart’s secretary on The Bob Newhart Show. She was 70.

RIP Hal Needham. The famous stuntman also directed the Smokey and the Bandit movies.

RIP Nigel Davenport. Veteran British actor whose film roles included A Man for All Seasons and Chariots of Fire

New Fox cyborg robot show Almost Human is adding John Larroquette to the cast as a robot scientist. That is a scientist who makes robots. Not a scientist who is a robot. At least I think so?

The Fox network American version of British detective series Broadchurch has been retitled Gracepoint. Both versions star David Tennant.

Morris Chestnut has joined the cast of the new TNT spy series Legends

Kerry Washington is expecting a baby. No word on how they will handle that issue for her character on Scandal

CBS is preparing a spinoff series for How I Met Your Mother since it is ending this season.

This week’s winner of the “Chris Young Sure Sign of the Coming Apocalypse Award” goes to CBS who’s going to air an I Love Lucy special with colorized footage.

Discovery channel and Science Channel will both air their first scripted film “Challenger Disaster” starring William Hurt as Dr. Richard Feynman who was the chairman of the committee investigating the Challenger shuttle explosion. 9 PM on November 16.

‘Doctor Who’ 50th anniversary show to be screened in more than 300 theaters

TVLine Mixtape: Your Favorite Songs From Grey’s, AHS: Coven, Reign, Bones and More

Bones Wedding Post Mortem: EPs Talk Christine’s Absence, Brennan’s Original (and ‘Unsuitable’) Vows — Plus: New Big Bad’s Moniker Revealed!

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Grey’s, Bones, Coven, Sons, Psych, Carrie, Vampire Diaries and More

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on NCIS, The Mentalist, Bones, Grey’s, Castle, Criminal Minds and More

Fox Unveils Midseason Schedule, Sets Dates for Idol, The Following — Plus: Glee Takes a Breather

Dylan McDermott Confirms ‘Intimate’ Hostages Twist — Plus: Another Horror Story In His Future?

Person of Interest: Sarah Shahi Ponders Shaw’s Sex Life (Um, Knives?), Talks Love/Hate With Root

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Once, Arrow, PLL, Dracula, Glee, Bones, Criminal Minds and More

Elizabeth Mitchell Dishes on Revolution’s Nixed Necking, Reuniting With ‘Terrifying’ Lost Hubby

A little bit overdue but here’s the latest installment of my entertainment news.

I went to see “Gravity” in IMAX 3-D. I know what awful lot about movie special-effects and I have absolutely no idea how they did some of those scenes. The whole thing was absolutely awesome. You must see it in the theater preferably 3-D and if possible IMAX 3-D. Really edge of your seat kind of thing from start to finish.

In other news… According to the overnight ratings of the Colts versus the Broncos last night, 71% of the televisions in the Indianapolis area were watching the game last night. Way to go Colts.

Apparently in this season of The Mentalist we’re finally going to find out who is the dreaded serial killer Red John who is responsible for killing Patrick Jane’s wife. I’ve got a suggestion for a show ending plot twist. I think Patrick Jane is Red John and doesn’t know it himself. I think he’s got a split personality survey fight club kind of thing. I’ve not heard any pundits or other TV writers suggest this. This is all on me. But it sure would be fun if it was true. I’m going to try not to be disappointed if it isn’t.

There comes a time when you can’t watch every TV show and you have to cull the herd as it were. Usually its new shows that just don’t make the cut such as Ironside but occasionally you have to let go of an old friend. For me it’s Boardwalk Empire. I love the first couple of seasons of the show but last season that seem to go downhill and I never could regain interest this season after three or four episodes. I’ve deleted the remaining episodes from my DVR and said farewell to Nukie and the boys.

In the links below read…

Interview with NCIS Showrunner about life after Ziva

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated October 8

Interview with producers of American Horror Story about opening episode

Matt’s Inside Line spoilers dated October 10

Interview with Andrew Lincoln of The Walking Dead about what’s coming up for his character

Interview with NCIS: LA executive producer about 100th episode

Spoilers from Michael Aussiello dated October 15

Interview with Theo Rossi about his character on Sons of Anarchy

Interview with producers of Covert Affairs about the second half of the season which recently premiered

Interview with Tim deKay about his character in this season of White-Collar

Link to a new teaser trailer for 50th anniversary Doctor Who special episode

Very funny video clip of the Alice in Wonderland bunny rabbit accidentally targeting Snow White’s crotch

Not in the links below

Lady Gaga and the Muppets will do a holiday special together. Good mix.

NBC is planning a reboot of the 80s detective series Remington Steele but this time it’s a half-hour sitcom

Despite the retirement of the Detective Munch from Law and Order: SVU, Richard Belzer may still be playing the role as a recurring character. That character has been on 10 different TV series.

Agents of SHIELD has been picked up for a full season of 22 episodes

CW network has ordered additional scripts for its new series The Originals, Tomorrow People, and Reign. Originals is a very unoriginal vampire show that I only watched about five minutes. Tomorrow People chose province as a bunch of people who have telekinetic powers. You might want to check it out. Reign is a medieval period drama. I thought it was going to be a ripoff of Once upon a Time but apparently it’s more like a toned down version of some of the cable series such as The Borges, The Tudors and White Queen.

ABC Family Channel has renewed The Fosters for season 2

NBC is developing a sitcom for actress Meg Ryan

Fox’s canceled midseason sitcom Us and Them. I never saw it.

Michael Cudlitz a.k.a. Southland’s officer John Cooper has been promoted to Sgt. on a different show. He will play Sgt. Abraham Ford in upcoming episodes of The Walking Dead

MTV has renewed Teen Wolf for season 4 and it will be followed by a half-hour talk show called Wolf Watch for fans to talk about the show.

WGN America cable channel is launching two scripted series Salem about the 17th-century Massachusetts witch trials and Manhattan about the project to build the first atomic bomb.

Lifetime network is developing the fifth announced Wizard Of Oz inspired show. This one titled Red Brick Road about a road that leads to the darkest and most dangerous parts of Oz.

ABC will live televised the wedding of the latest Bachelor contestant and his intended

I have seen network as renewed Comedy Bang Bang for a third season in 2014

The Walking Dead season premiere had a record-breaking 16.1 million viewers. Highest in series history.

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will host the Golden Globe awards in both 2014 and 2015

Arrow will meet Black Canary in episode 4 this season

Kerry Washington will host SNL November 2. Musical guest Eminem

HBO series Gurgles will return for season 3 January 12

Despite starring in her own sitcom The Millers, Margo Martindale will return to The Americans on FX next season. She plays such a great bad guy I really thought it was a waste of her talent to stick her in a sitcom. I’m glad she’s coming back.

ABC has ordered additional scripts for The Goldbergs (which I didn’t care for) and Trophy Wife (which is turning out to be a guilty pleasure for me).

Glee creator confirms that next season will be the final season.

Fox has ordered a 13 episode adventure drama tiled Hieroglyph set in ancient Egypt.

TNT has renewed Franklin and Bash for season 4

Michael Aussiello reports a hit drama series is going to kill off a major character but he won’t say which one. That actor already has a new series but they cannot pronounce it until his character is killed off in the other series. I will keep you posted.

NBC has canceled new sitcom Welcome to the Family. I watched one episode and thought it had minor potential

NBC has canceled Ironside. Final episode will be October 27. Specials will occupy the timeslot through November and December and then it will be filled by Chicago Fire spin off aptly named Chicago PD. I watched one episode of Ironside and I’m disappointed to report it did not hold my interest.

New Fox sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine has been picked up for a full season

Rock Star Marilyn Manson will play the voice of Shadow on Once upon a Time

Fox has canceled a new animated series starring the voice of Jane Lynch before it has even aired a single episode. The network didn’t like the first couple of episodes. Producers may try to shop it around.

As I predicted CBS’s “We Are Men” has been canceled. I gave up after one episode.

Fox has ordered six additional scripts for sitcom Dads

CBS has ordered additional scripts for The Crazy Ones, The Millers, and Mom

George Eads will return to CSI in November as criminalist Nick Stokes after a hiatus

Carol Burnett was awarded the Mark Twain prize for American humor by the Kennedy Center

NBC has put Parks And Recreation on hiatus while it sorts out schedule changes

Marvel Studios is producing four TV series and the miniseries (with total of 60 episodes) to be shopped around to cable networks, Netflix, Amazon and others. No word yet on what they will be producing.

Woody Allen is creating a new film called “Magic in the Moonlight”starring Emma Stone and Colin Firth

Ovation arts network is returning to Time Warner/Bright House after being dumped from the ratings. The network is going to add original programming so they’re giving it a second chance.

HBO series True Detectives starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson will premiere January 12

Comedy Central had to air a rerun of South Park because a power outage kept the producer from finishing the episode on time.

Cinemax series Banshee season 2 premiere January 10

SyFy Channel’s makeup reality series Face-Off has been renewed for a sixth season. We are very happy.

Mira Sorvino will be a recurring character on TNT’s Falling Skies next season

Charlie Hunnman a.k.a. Jax on Sons of Anarchy has decided not to take the starring role in the movie version of 50 Shades of Gray after all. Cites his busy schedule. Search is on for a replacement.

NCIS Boss Talks Of Life After Ziva and Deflecting S.H.I.E.L.D. — Plus: Abby Gives McGee [Spoiler]

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Glee, Nashville, Arrow, Bones, Castle, Walking Dead, HIMYM and More!

American Horror Story: Coven Premiere Post Mortem: 12 Burning Questions Answered!

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Bones, Once, Castle, Scandal, Supernatural, Walking Dead and More!

Ominous Walking Dead Spoiler: Andrew Lincoln Warns of ‘Painful’ Midseason Finale

NCIS: LA Boss: Episode 100 Is ‘Chris O’Donnell’s Best Work’ — Watch a ‘Shocking’ Sneak Peek

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Bones, Walking Dead, Nashville, NCIS: LA, Sleepy Hollow and More

Sons of Anarchy’s Theo Rossi Breaks Down New, ‘Animalistic’ Juice: He’s ‘Gone to a Different Place’

Covert Affairs EPs Preview Annie and Auggie’s Latest Struggle, Power Shake-Ups and More

White Collar’s Tim DeKay: In Season 5, Peter and Neal ‘Have Got to Address Their Relationship’

Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Video: Eleven Can’t Run From ‘The Day of the Doctor’

‘Once Upon’ promo blunder: Snow White’s magic crotch!

I guess humans aren’t the only dead things come back to life in “The Walking Dead”. Apparently CompuServe lives again at least in the prison library.

I was watching the season premiere of The Walking Dead and as Carol was having her story time/knifing lesson in the prison library I did a double take and quickly hit the rewind button on the DVR asking myself “Did I see what I thought I saw?” Indeed I had seen the all-too-familiar type style and the word CompuServe. One of the books on library shelves behind her was “Using CompuServe”. I later managed to get a screen capture and by doing some searches on Amazon determined that this was the 1995 edition called “Using CompuServe Special Edition“. A variety of other vintage computer books can be seen on the bookshelf including “Delphi Unleashed” (two copies in case one is checked out), “OS/2 WARP”, and “Using Harvard Graphics”.

In another section of the bookshelf we can see books on JavaScript 1.1, JavaScript Unleashed, Using Excel 4, Using Turbo Pascal 6, and Visual C++ Unleashed. About the only book that I saw that might be useful was “Fire Officer’s Guide to Disaster Control“. I’d never heard of the book and I don’t know why it was filed in among a bunch of 1990s computer reference books but at least it might be remotely useful in the zombie apocalypse.

Here is a screen grab where Carol is reading the storybook. I’ve adjusted brightness and contrast on all of these images. You can click on the images for full resolution.

Screen Grab from “The Walking Dead” s04e01. Carol reading book.

Here are a couple of 200% blowups of portions of the above image.

Close-up of part of the bookshelf

Close-up insert of some of the books.

Here is another screen grab where Carol is holding a knife.

Another Screen Grab from “The Walking Dead” s04e04

Close-up of the second grab.

I’ve been so busy watching new TV shows I haven’t had time to read or write about them. This week’s installment is almost a full week late. I’ve not watched all of this newly premiering series that I had hoped to catch but I already have my first nominees for series most likely to be the first canceled. My nominees are “We Are Men” which I was kind of looking forward to seeing Mr. Monk back on TV. But I could barely get through one episode it was so bad. Also flashback 80s sitcom The Goldbergs was exceptionally lame. Michael Ausiello predicts Lucky 7 or Betrayed will be the first cancellation. I did not watch Lucky 7 and although I’ve recorded Betrayed by me delete it before I watch it based on his opinion. I was concerned that Blacklist was going to be a bust because it was so heavily promoted by NBC. Sometimes when they overhype something it’s a bad sign. In this case I was very pleasantly surprised that it is an awesome show. I again recommend it and Hostages. Breaking news “Lucky 7” wins as for show to be canceled. Blacklist gets full season order of 22 episodes.

I recently posted a message on Facebook saying that I was not that big a fan of The Voice because I thought too much of it was fake. The idea that you get up there and really don’t know who you want to be your mentor until you’ve actually seen who turns around is just totally bogus for me. If I was a singer I would have my first second third choices already made up and unless my first choice just totally yawned at my performance there would be no decision be made. Shortly after that I did hear one contestant say “I’ve been thinking about this for a long time” which was the first on his thing I’ve heard out of the contestants mouth. But in our first linked article below we have a video blog between a TV line website funded and former American Idol Melinda Doolittle as they break down their favorites on the first week of The Voice. I direct your attention to a section of that video about three force of the way in in which they present evidence for the idea that the blind auditions are not really 100% blind. Ceelo asked the question about a guy who “sounded like a soldier” and guess what… The guy was a soldier! Later Blake as the guy about the guitar he’s playing and guess what? The guy had a story about his guitar. I agree with Melinda this is ample evidence that the judges have some foreknowledge of at least the back story of particular contestants. And if they’re getting coached about back story then they might also be getting coached by producers about the relative merits of particular contestants.

In other singing competition news… I absolutely love the new Four Chairs middle round of X Factor. It’s got to be torture for the contestants themselves because obviously the first four contestants to perform are going to take a chair even though they haven’t got a snowballs chance in hell of keeping it. It’s good dramatic TV. But what I like about it most is I think it’s fair. It really gives you a sense of which contestants were the best along the way. One of my other pet peeves about The Voice is I don’t like the battle rounds because you get the opportunity for a pair of bad singers to go against one another and a pair of good singers going against one another. In the end you don’t get the best singers. The ability to steal a contestant has mitigated that problem a little bit but I still like Four Chairs much better than battle rounds.

In the links below read…

The video blog about The Voice that I spoke about earlier

Interview with Lisa Edelstein about her upcoming guest starring on Castle and her exit from House

Interview with Stana Katic about upcoming season of Castle

Interview with producers of The Good Wife about season premiere and other episodes

Spoilers from Michael Ausiello dated October 1

Interview with NCIS producer about Ziva’s final episode

Matt’s Inside Line spoilers dated October 4

Also of interest but not linked below…

John Barrowman will return to Arrow this season

CBS has renewed Unforgettable for a third season

Michael Rappaport will guest star as the bad guy in the upcoming season of Justified

CNN Films has scrapped its plans for a Hillary Clinton documentary

NBC has backed out of its plans for a Hillary Clinton miniseries

IFC is producing a 10 episode half-hour series, Garfunkel & Oates. They are female comedy/folksinger duo was seen on Tonight Show and other places. They are very funny.

James Spader may have some scheduling conflicts if The Blacklist gets picked up for a full season. He’s the bad guy in the upcoming Avengers movie

Paget Brewster will return to Criminal Minds for their 200th episode

MythBusters will have a special zombie episode October 17 featuring characters from The Walking Dead

NBC will not renew its summer series Camp for a second season. I never watched it.

David Tennant will start in the American version of Broadchurch playing the same role he did in the British version only he will use an American accent. The British version will go into production of season 2 soon. American version starts shooting early 2014. I just finished watching BBC version and it was awesome.

Amber Tamlyn is now officially a series regular on 2 1/2 men

ABC has renewed summer replacement drama Motive for season 2. I liked it as a summer show that it would probably not make the cut in a regular-season. The premise is they show you the victim and the killer in the first few seconds and you have to figure out why.

Former ER doc Sherry Stringfield will guest star multiple episodes on CSI

Wilfred has been renewed for fourth and final season. Moves from FX to FXX. Never watched. Look too stupid to me.

Covert Affairs has been renewed for season 5 and we are very happy.

Fox renews Sleepy Hollow for second season. The first renewal of any new show on any network this season.

Dennis Haysbert will guest star on Trophy Wife. Jury still out on this show but it may become one of my guilty pleasures. Or it may just be too kooky.

Nathan Filion will guest star on an episode of Community

Kim Raver has signed on to appear in the new 24 series as well as William Devane who played her father

The six episode final season of Nikita will premiere November 22

And the loser is “Lucky 7”. ABC canceled it after just two episodes. Reruns of Scandals will fill the slot

Halley Berry will star in new CBS sci-fi drama “Extant” scheduled for summer 2014

Fox has renewed The Simpsons for season 26

Blacklist has earned a full season pickup of 22 episodes

Sting will appear in an episode of Michael J Fox show

David Letterman has renewed his contract through 2015

Bob Newhart will reprise his Emmy-winning guest starring role on Big Bang Theory along with recent DWTS contestant Bill Nye the Science Guy

Sadly Ironside debuted to the lowest rated follow drama ever for NBC

Mark Burnett is creating a reality show for NBC which will launch contestants into space on Virgin Galactic

AMC will have a mega marathon of Walking Dead leading up to the season premiere later this month

Colin Hanks is joining the cast of the FX series Fargo

Seth McFarland and Mark Wahlberg will star in Ted 2 to hit theaters June 2015

ExxonMobil is suing FXX network because the way the two X’s overlap in the logo resembles Exxon’s logo. Can Dos Equis be far behind?

Daytime show Rachel Ray has been renewed through 2016

As if being Capt. Kirk wasn’t enough, Chris Pine will play Tom Clancy hero Jack Ryan in an upcoming movie directed by Kenneth Branagh.

Rest in Peace Tom Clancy whose books The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games and others have been made into blockbuster movies.

Gravity starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney said in October premiere record of $55 million. I plan to see it this week.

Reality Check: Week 1 Standouts on The Voice! Plus: Are the Coaches Really Flying ‘Blind’?

Lisa Edelstein Talks Castle Making Nice With McCord (and Her Unimaginable House Exit)

Castle: Stana Katic Surveys Kate and Rick’s New Hurdles, Their Destiny and… Wedding Plans?

The Good Wife Scoop: EP Robert King Answers Burning Premiere Qs (Where’s Kalinda?), Sheds New Light on Upcoming Will-Alicia Throwdown

Ask Ausiello: Spoilers on Grey’s Anatomy, Nikita, Scandal, Once, Revenge, Good Wife and More

NCIS Boss Spills Secrets Behind Ziva’s Exit: What Changed? Was a Kiss Cut? Could She Return?

Matt’s
Inside Line: Scoop on Once, Glee, Scandal, Hell on Wheels, H50, Castle, Trophy Wife & More

Been busy working on broken computers for friends so this week’s installment is a little late

Went to see the original Wizard of Oz in IMAX 3-D last night. Will probably do a separate blog post on that but the short version is it was wonderful.

Critics are panning the Emmy broadcast for being too depressing with all those extended obituaries. I didn’t know that but I just thought Neil Patrick Harris wasn’t really very funny. His mid-show song and dance number wasn’t funny at all and that’s why people like the song and dance numbers is because they usually have lots of really clever lyrics. This one didn’t.

Speaking of obituaries let us offer a rest in peace to Ray Dolby of Dolby labs who developed numerous patented technologies to make film and TV sound better. Before the digital age, movie sound was encoded optically along the edge of the film and sounded pretty bad by today’s standards. Things did get better when they started putting magnetic recording tape along the edge of the film and recording and playback the sound to movies that way. However the quality of sound you get from magnetic audiotape depends heavily on the speed at which the tape moves past the recording and pickup head. Film moves relatively slow through a projector and so does the magnetic strip with the audio. You get a lot of hiss and noise inherent in the tape. You can electronically filter out those high frequencies but that also filters out part of the sound you want to hear. Filtering it makes it sound mushy instead of crisp. Dolby came up with the bright idea that we should record those high frequencies of the actual soundtrack at a much louder volume than normal. Then when you lower the volume of those high frequencies, the signal that you want comes out even but they hiss and noise gets the volume turned way down. Dolby noise reduction revolutionized audio playback on both films and audiocassettes. A variety of other digital innovations in surround sound also bear the name of Dolby labs. Don’t ask me how they work because I don’t know. I just know that the first time I ever heard six channel Dolby surround sound at the Eastwood Theater on the original Star Wars I was blown away just by the sound of the Fox fanfare before anything else came on the screen. Thank you Ray Dolby.

And continuing to speak of dead people… You probably note that the subject of each weeks blog post is not determined by which story is the biggest but is determined by how cleverly I can summarize the stories in a catchy way. One of my pithy little headlines of which at the time I was quite proud for being so clever in retrospect was in poor taste even for a tasteless guy like me. In reporting the death of British TV journalist David Frost who had an historic multipart interview with Richard Nixon I summarized it as “Frost joins Nixon” meaning that he was dead as well. However I’m pretty sure Nixon is rotting in hell not so much for his crimes but for being such a hypocrite whereas we all hope Sir David is in a much better place.

One minor news item that I think is sort of big. Aereo TV Internet streaming service is expanding to new cities including Indianapolis. If you’re not familiar with it, here’s how it works. Cable companies have to pay local TV stations in order to carry their signal that you can receive it free over an antenna. The Aereo service build the facility with thousands of tiny antennas and assigns one to each customer. It then records the HD digital signals coming in over the air and will stream them to you over the Internet. You basically just rent their antenna and they do not have to pay TV station cable fees. For those who are cutting cable and relying on services like Hulu and Netflix this is a way to get your local TV streaming. I’m not sure what the cost is but it’s cheaper than basic cable and doesn’t require any installation. See the links section for an article about copyright battles faced by the service.

In the links below read

Article about Aereo Internet streaming service and its legal battles

Matt’s Inside Line spoilers dated September 19

Interview with Cristin Millioti who plays the mother on how I met your mother

Postmortem interview with Dexter executive producer about series finale (spoilers)

Interview with creator of Castle without first episode and what’s coming throughout the season

Interview with actress Ming-Na Wen about her role on Agents of SHIELD

Interview with producers of Revolution about upcoming season

Interview with Jessica Capshaw a.k.a. Arizona on Grey’s anatomy about what’s in store for her character this season

Interview with Amber Tamlyn about her role on 2 1/2 men

Matt’s Inside Line spoilers dated September 26

Interview with producers of Once upon a Time about upcoming season

Not in the links below but also of interest

AMC has announced the final two episodes of Breaking Bad have been expanded to 75 minutes each

E! Entertainment channel has canceled the Ryan Lochte reality series after one season

Stacy Keach, Dean Stockwell, and Barry Bostwick will guest star in an upcoming episode of Fox’s new show Enlisted

Stephen Macht will guest star on Suits. He is the real is father of series star Gabriel Macht

Susan Sarandon will guest star on Mike and Molly

NBC is creating a miniseries about the life of Johnny Carson. No word on who will play him that most people hoping it’s Kevin Spacey

We are sad to hear BBC America has canceled “Copper” after two seasons. Second season ended last week.

TNT is ordered a drama series titled Murder in the First produced by Stephen Bochco. Sort of like The Killing they will take 10 episodes to solve a murder

Fringe veteran John Noble will be a recurring character on Sleepy Hollow

New ABC sitcom Super Fun Night which will premiere October 2 actually start with episode two instead of the first one. No reason given why. Not a good sign.

Mouse left TNT has canceled King & Maxwell after one season

NCIS is planning a New Orleans-based spinoff series

Vanessa Redgrave is joining the ABC drama series The Black Box about a woman who is a neuroscientist who suffers from mental illness. It’s my perception we see that before. 🙂

FX network has renewed The Bridge for season 2 and we are very happy.

Lifetime Channel has canceled Army Wives

Fox has ordered straight to series drama titled Gotham. It will tell the story of Batman’s pal Commissioner Gordon

Agents of SHIELD had the highest rated debuting drama series in 4 years for any network

ABC has renewed Mistresses for season 2. I never watched it

CBS has ordered 13 episodes of a detective drama titled Battle Creek from the producers of Breaking Bad and House. Will air in the 2014-2015 season

HBO has renewed Boardwalk Empire for season 5

Robert De Niro will replace the late James Gandolfini in its upcoming limited series Criminal Justice. Series loosely based on BBC series of the same name.

Fox has renewed Bob’s Burgers for a 22 episode fifth season

Amy and Bernadette on Big Bang Theory have renegotiated their contracts for big raises. Series stars contract expires at the end of the season so look for them to get a big pay raise next year.

Larry King will guest host ESPN 2’s Oberman while Keith Olbermann gets a day off

Apple iTunes has refunded angry fans of Breaking Bad for only selling them half a season on a season pass

British network ITV has renewed Law and Order: UK for season 8

Oprah Winfrey Network has acquired the broadcast rights to Lee Daniels the Butler. No surprise there.

Disney is planning a film about the 1997 chess match between Gary Kasparov and a computer

Wikileaks has leaked the script of the film Fifth Estate which is about WikiLeaks. Calls the film irresponsible, counterproductive, and harmful.

Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence will star in a remake of East of Eden

Aereo Chief Says Don’t Compare His Service With Alki David’s FilmOnX

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on Bones, Castle, The Mentalist, Once, The Good Wife, Suits and More

HIMYM’s Cristin Milioti Promises Fans Won’t ‘Be Let Down’ By What’s Ahead for Mom/Ted (& Lily!)

Dexter Series Finale Post Mortem: EP Reveals Why [Spoiler] Had to Live and [Spoiler] Had to Die, Talks Alt Endings and Dissects That Final Scene

Post Mortem: Castle Creator Previews ‘Fun’ New Obstacles — Plus: Is There a [Spoiler] Coming?

Revolution Boss Previews ‘Grimier’ Season 2, Charlie’s New ‘Tude and ‘Shattered’ Mathesons

Jessica Capshaw Talks Grey’s Anatomy Infidelity and the ‘Long, Load Road Ahead’ for Calzona

Amber Tamblyn on Two and a Half Men’s ‘Queer’ Addition and What She Would Look for in a Girl

Matt’s Inside Line: Scoop on New Girl, Castle, Once, The Blacklist, NCIS, SVU, Sex and More!

Once Upon a Time Creators Address ‘Plotty’ Past, Preview a Future of Neverland Conflict, Charming Bonding, ‘Heat’ for Regina and More