TV News from TV Gal
| January 19th, 2006Over at TV Gal, a Fox Entertainment executive is quoted saying that Arrested Development still has a chance:
“Basically we’ll wind up looking at where our development is,” he later added. “We’ll wind up seeing what those four episodes (airing Feb. 10 as a season finale) do. We anticipate those four episodes will be populated by the loyal audience and we’re in dialogue with Mitch all the time.”
Bur of course, those last four episodes are being aired in a two-hour lump opposite the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. So when he says we’ll be “Seeing what those four episodes do,” he means “we’ve driven the final nail into the coffin.”
In other Fox news, Malcolm in the Middle has been canceled (I like the show, but yeah, it’s time); Sam’s murderer on Reunion, had it not been canceled, would probably have been Sam’s daughter; Prison Break will return March 20th; and there are unverified rumors that Futurama will get a new season.
Non-Fox bits of news from TV Gal: Gilmore Girls is going to be back next season, but it looks like writer/creator Amy Sherman-Palladino may move on to a new project. I hope this won’t be like the last two Joss-less seasons of Buffy. (Then again, the West Wing has been great this season - and there is simply no show on TV with more kick-ass, powerful female characters. Although I’m now dying of curiosity to see how they write the Leo character out of the show.)
In the “that sounds interesting” category, “Farscape creator Rockne O’Bannon is developing Cult, about a TV show that’s twisting the lives of its audience, starring Matthew Bomer.” I have no idea who Bomer is, but I loved Farscape (after the terrible first season).
And in the “say it ain’t so, Joe” category, “Ellen DeGeneres and her brother Vance are concocting a live-action comedy called My Dog Sparky, depicting contemporary American family life from the point of view of the family dog, who will be voiced by Ellen.” I really, really want to like Ellen - I loved her old sit-com, and her stand-up act - but Sparky sounds like it would have to climb long and high to reach “vomit-worthy” level.
Finally, an interesting story about when Monty Python sued ABC for broadcasting edited versions of Flying Circus.
January 19th, 2006 at 5:53 pm
Wow. It’s like a postmodern riff on The Killing of Sister George.
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January 19th, 2006 at 7:32 pm
‘In the summer of 2002, a plague of unknown origin destroys every last sperm, fetus, and fully developed mammal with a Y chromosome - with the exception of amateur escape artist Yorick Brown and his surly male helper monkey Ampersand.’
– from http://www.dccomics.com/features/Ylastman/
Sorry. Sorry. I know this is waaaay off topic, but I thought it was too funny not to post it.
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January 19th, 2006 at 7:57 pm
In the “that sounds interesting” category, “Farscape creator Rockne O’Bannon is developing Cult, about a TV show that’s twisting the lives of its audience, starring Matthew Bomer.” I have no idea who Bomer is, but I loved Farscape (after the terrible first season).
Now now, be fair. The first season of Farscape was mediocre only until Scorpius walks into the bar at the Gammek Base.
Anyway, I’ll check the show out on the strength of it being developed by O’Bannon alone.
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January 20th, 2006 at 6:02 am
be frank with you, it is highly unlikely the show is coming back. But no definitive, final answer has been made on that,” he said. “Basically we’ll wind up looking at where our development is,” he [...] Continue reading at Alas, a blog … posted7:49 pm at Alas, a blog
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January 20th, 2006 at 12:54 pm
Maybe Arrested Development should die. A lot of shows would be better if they were short lived. I wish they would decide that “Lost” should only last 3 seasons, and then opt for a spinoff or a sequel series. “Novelas” in the Spanish/ Portuguese speaking world only last for a predetermined number of episodes, and they all tell a coherent story together. Wouldn’t it be great if they made series like this in the US? They could spend two years making a series out of a really good book.
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January 20th, 2006 at 1:19 pm
Oh, but we always opt for quantity over quality. It’s the American way.
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January 21st, 2006 at 6:42 pm
Ain’t no good reason to buy a TV untill Joss man starts producing again. Just sayin’.
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January 21st, 2006 at 8:08 pm
Yes, but Arrested Development isn’t done, or even declining. The 3rd season has been, on average, stronger than the 2nd. It’s hard to predict the future quality of TV shows, and I’ve been surprised by sharp declines and comebacks before, but I expect AD has a good season or two of near peak-level material still to go, and boy do I want to see it.
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January 23rd, 2006 at 12:11 pm
Yeah, Farscape season 1 isn’t bad. It’s inconsistent, and not as brilliant as the show got later, but it already had lots of the elements that would make it interesting. And then Scorpius shows up and it starts to get REALLY good.
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