TV Chatting

If you, like me, are a child of the 80’s, then I’m sure you remember Super Dave Osborne - the bumbling Evel Knieval wanna-be whose stunts always ended in grievous bodily injury.  Turns out he is still alive and coming back to TV in a series of half hour specials on Spike TV.

Bob Einstein will again play the self-described “greatest daredevil superstar entertainer of all time,” in a four-part mockumentary-style series on Spike TV premiering this summer. The show will chronicle his preparations for a weekly death-defying stunt.

Einstein originated the character, which was part of the 80’s Showtime hit Bizarre. Super Dave went on to have his own Showtime series which ran from 1980-1985. He spun off the character into the animated series Super Dave: Daredevil for Hire, Super Dave’s Vegas Spectacular, and his own feature film The Extreme Adventures of Super Dave. Einstein recently revived the character for an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

My heart broke just a little bit this morning when I found out that former Monkee Peter Tork has cancer.

Tork announced via his website that he has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma and will undergo extensive surgery today in New York.  The cancer is uncommon and generally grows slowly on a person’s head and neck. It’s most frequently found in the salivary glands but in Tork’s case was discovered on the lower region of his tongue.  Doctors say preliminary findings from a biopsy show the cancer has not spread beyond the initial site and Tork says his prognosis is good.

Tork, 67, was the bassist for the 60’s made-for-TV band.  He was known on The Monkees as “the dummy,” a stark contrast to his real persona.  Though the show only aired from 1967-68, the band garnered a loyal following from fans.  In 1986, for the 20th anniversary of the show, MTV ran a marathon which kickstarted a reunion tour and fueled the success of the band and show once again.  Tork toured with bandmates Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz on and off throughout the 1980’s and 1990’s.  He continues to make music today with his current band, Shoe Suede Blues.

In the 1990’s he was seen on television as Topanga Lawrence’s father on the sitcom Boy Meets World, as well as a guest character on 7th Heaven. In 1995 Tork made a guest appearance on the TV show Wings, playing himself at an auction bidding against Crystal Bernard’s character for the Monkeemobille.

Peter remains cheerful about his condition and hopeful about the future.

“I am extraordinarily grateful, amazed and humbled by the encouragement, affection and support I’ve received so far,” Peter says of the reaction from friends and family to the news of his illness. “Barring any complications, I fully expect to honor a performance date I have this June with Shoe Suede Blues,” Tork states. “We’re appearing in Manchester, Connecticut and I’m looking forward to that and all our tour dates.”

Wondering if your favorite show is coming back for the 2009-10 television season?  Here’s a list of what I have found so far.  These are only the ones who have been officially renewed.  If you don’t see your favorite here, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not coming back.  I’ll try to keep this updated as more shows are renewed. 

ABC Family
Greek
Lincoln Heights
The Secret Life of the American Teenager

A&E
The Cleaner

AMC
Mad Men

BBC America
Primeval

CBS
Flashpoint
Survivor (2 season renewal)

(more…)

U2 will perform an unprecedented five nights in a row on The Late Show with David Letterman from March 2-6.  The band will appear to plug the release of their upcoming album, "No Line on The Horizon."

The performances mark the first time ever an artist has played Letterman’s show for five consecutive nights. The White Stripes did something similar in 2003, when they performed a week-long residency on Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

The last time U2 performed on Letterman’s show was in 2001; prior to that Bono and Larry Mullen Jr. were interviewed by Letterman in 1997.  Their new album hits stores on Tuesday, March 3. The album, U2’s 12th, features the band’s current hit single, "Get On Your Boots."  The Late Show with David Letterman airs on CBS weeknights at 11:30 pm ET.

When Conan O’Brien takes over on The Tonight Show in June, he will have a familiar face at his side.  His former Late Night sidekick, Andy Richter, will join him as the show’s announcer.  It will be the first time the two have worked together daily since Richter left Late Night With Conan O’Brien nine years ago.

Richter was O’Brien’s comedic sidekick on Late Night from the beginning of the show in 1993 until 2000. He has since worked as an actor and writer, most recently guest starring on an episode of Chuck.  On the new incarnation of Tonight, Richter will not only announce but also star in comedic pieces. 

"We have a proven chemistry that will be an incredible asset to The Tonight Show, " O’Brien said. "I’m looking forward to working with Andy on a daily basis again, particularly since he owes me $300."

The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien begins June 1 from a newly constructed studio.  O’Brien left his Late Night duties last week to prepare for his new job.

NBC has given a pilot order to Parenthood, a dramedy a based on Ron Howard’s 1989 feature starring Steve Martin.  Friday Night Lights creator/exec producer Jason Katims wrote the adaptation. 

ABC has handed a pilot order to Threesome, a comedy from Family Guy’s Ricky Blitt. The show centers on a thirtysomething guy who hasn’t quite grown up. He finds himself torn between his needy best friend and the newfound love of his life and her teen kids.

ABC also greenlighted Let it Go, which will star Lauren Graham (Gilmore Girls) as a a self-help guru who teaches women how to "let it go’ but fails to follow her own advice when her perfect boyfriend dumps her. 

CBS made its first drama pilot pickups last week:  The U.S. Attorney project, from "The Unit" co-exec producer Frank Military, is an ensemble legal show about a team of federal prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan; Back centers on a man who returns home, only to discover he had been reported missing eight years earlier, after Sept. 11. He must learn how to reconnect with his family and a world that moved on without him; and Washington Field, about the National Capital Response Squad, a unit comprising elite experts in different areas who travel around the world, responding to events that concern the U.S. national interest.  They also greenlighted a spin-off of the hit NCIS.

I have updated all of my pilot posts with this info.  For a list of all of the pilots to date, check out:

Fox - http://www.tvchatting.com/fox-pilot-orders-for-2009-10-season/

CBS - http://www.tvchatting.com/cbs-pilot-orders-for-2009-10-season/

NBC - http://www.tvchatting.com/nbc-pilot-orders-for-the-2009-10-season/

ABC - http://www.tvchatting.com/abc-pilot-orders-for-the-2009-10-season/

I’ll also be putting together a rundown of cable pilot pickups very soon.

We’ve got all the Super Bowl commericials right here for your viewing pleasure.  Just scroll through this widget. 

What were some of your favorites?  Some of the ones I liked were:

• Pepsi Max: I’m Good
• NBC: LMAO
• NBC: Heroes Football
• Bridgestone: Taters with Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head
• Priceline.com: Negotiator
• Cheetos: Chester the Cheetah
• H&R Block: Death and Taxes
• Teleflora: Talking Flowers
• Bridgestone: Hot Item
• CareerBuilder.com: Tips

NBC also had some great ads for their Monday night lineup including the “Feelin’ Alright” spot, which gave me a good laugh.  I was also excited to see the trailers for Transformers 2, Star Trek and Land of the Lost. 

Head over to Hulu.com and you can vote for your favorites. They’ll announce the most popular ads on Tuesday.

To date, these are the pilots on tap for the 2009-10 season at NBC:

Dramas

Day One 
Team: Jesse Alexander 
In the aftermath of a global event that devastates the world’s infrastructures, a small band of survivors strive to rebuild society and unravel the mysteries of why the event took place and what the future has in store.

Southland (picked up to series)
Team: Ann Biderman, John Wells, Christopher Chulack
Chronicles the lives of a group of police officers in Los Angeles.
Starring: Regina King, Kevin Alejandro, Benjamin McKenzie, Michael McGrady, Tom Everett Scott, Arija Bareikis, Shawn Hatosy

Lost and Found
Team: Chris Levinson, Wolf, Nena Rodrigue, Peter Jankowski
Centers on Tessa, an offbeat LAPD detective who, after butting heads with the higher-ups, is sent as a punishment to the basement to work on John Doe and Jane Doe cases.
Starring: Katee Sackhoff, Brian Cox

Mercy
Team: Liz Heldens
Combining the drama and humor of real life, this show takes an unflinching look at three nurses bound together in friendship by the highs and lows of their personal and professional lives.

Legally Mad (series commitment)
Team: David E. Kelley
Set in a Chicago law firm and revolves around an aging partner and his daughter who works with him as well as a host of eccentric characters around them
Starring: Charity Wakefield, Hugh Bonneville, Kristin Chenoweth, Jon Seda, Kurt Fuller

Trauma (director contingent)
Team: Dario Scardapane, Peter Berg, Sarah Aubrey
High-octane emergency medical procedural out in the field

Lost in the ’80s (not going forward)
Team: Bob Brush, Eric Tannenbaum, Kim Tannenbaum and Mitch Hurwitz
"Fast Times at Ridgemont High" meets "The Ice Storm," an ’80s version of "Wonder Years."
Starring: Billy Campbell

Comedies

Off Duty
Team: Jason Mantzoukas, Scot Armstrong, Ravi Nandan, Bradley Whitford
Single-camera buddy comedy about cops who can’t leave their job at the station.
Starring: Bradley Whitford, Romany Malco, Bonnie Sommerville

Unt. Jon Pollack (cast-contingent)
Team: Jon Pollack
Single-camera comedy about a powerful woman in the high-stakes world of hedge funds.

Via The Pilot Log

NBC has announced that Conan O’Brien’s last day hosting Late Night will officially be February 20.  SNL alum Jimmy Fallon will take over when the show comes back from repeats on March 2.

O’Brien will then take over for Jay Leno, who will exit his Tonight Show job at the end of May.  O’Brien’s Tonight Show debut will be June 1.

Of course, Leno will be back on the airwaves next fall when he hosts the somewhat controversial five-night-a-week Jay Leno Show at 10 p.m.weeknights on NBC.

Ricardo Montalban, best known for his role as Mr. Roarke on Fantasy Island, died Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 88.

Montalban won an Emmy for his portrayal of a Sioux chief in the miniseries How the West Was Won.  He was also well known as the villainous Khan in the Star Trek television series, a role he reprised in the second Star Trek film, The Wrath of Khan.

*****

Actor Patrick McGoohan died Tuesday in Los Angeles after a short illness.  McGoohan created and starred in the cult classic 1960’s series The Prisoner. He won two Emmys for his work on Colombo.   His last major role was as King Edward Longshanks in the 1995 film Braveheart.

AMC is currently working on a revival of The Prisoner. They announced in a statement Wednesday that they hope to honor McGoohan’s legacy with the project.

At this morning’s TCA Press Tour session, Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly announced that Prison Break will be ending it’s four season run this spring. Reilly said the show had basically run its course creatively and the network felt that this season’s storyline was a natural ending point for the show.  He also promised that there is a "cool ending" planned. 

The show is on hiatus now but has 4 episodes remaining.  Reilly said there is a chance they might add a couple more.  Those episodes will be shown on Fridays, beginning April 17.  It will take over the 8pm slot after Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles ends its season. 

Prison Break stars Dominic Purcell, Wentworth Miller, Michael Rapaport, Amaury Nolasco, Robert Knepper, Jodi Lyn O’Keefe, Sarah Wayne Callies and William Fichtner.

Fox is has picked up the comedy ‘Til Death for a fourth season despite the fact that they chose to remove the show from their schedule earlier this year. To date, only 7 episodes of the show have been aired with another 15 in the can and ready to air as a midseason replacement. 

While the 22 episode pickup seems unexplainable with the show’s low ratings, it would seem that Sony Pictures has made Fox an offer they can’t refuse. Variety reports that Sony gave Fox a bargain on the show in hopes of reaching the 80 episode mark. That magic number is what the show needs to reach to be viable in syndication.

Things don’t look quite as rosy for the dramas Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles and Prison Break. Ratings are down and a renewal doesn’t seem likely at this point for the fan favorites.

Via TV by the Numbers

Dwayne Johnson, formerly known as The Rock, has been announced as the host of Nickelodeon’s 22nd Kid’s Choice Awards.   The show, which lets kids choose the winners, is notorious for “sliming” it’s host and guests.  It will air Saturday, March 28 beginning at 8 pm ET/PT on Nickelodeon.

"For the first time Dwayne Johnson will host the ceremony, and we are very excited for him to make his mark with his big presence and kid-friendly style," says Marjorie Cohn, Nickelodeon’s EVP of development and original programming. "Dwayne is a pop culture icon and a Kids’ Choice veteran who has been a presenter and a nominee for Favorite Male Movie Star. Our audience loves him."

Johnson starred in the Disney flick The Game Plan and in last summer’s Get Smart.  His next movie is another kid-friendly Disney vehicle, Race to Witch Mountain, in which he plays a cab driver taken for a ride by two paranormal teens. It is slated for release in March of this year.

"Every spring I look forward to three things: the Easter Bunny, bass fishing with my bare hands and the brilliance of fluorescent green slime flying through the air at someone’s face. That’s why it’s so cool for me to be hosting this year’s Nickelodeon’s Kid’s Choice Awards!” says Johnson.  “What’s great about this event is that it honors kids by honoring their opinion. The best way to do that is by me leading millions of kids into total chaos, crazy fun and endless buckets of slime!"

At the Television Critic’s Association panel for The Beast this morning, A&E President Bob DeBitetto took the stage to announce that Patrick Swayze would be unable to make it.

"Patrick has asked that I tell you that he has checked himself into the hospital for observation after coming down with pneumonia," DeBitetto said. "As anyone who has had a friend or family member who’s undergone treatment for cancer must know, chemotherapy can take a toll on your immune system and illnesses are an unavoidable part of it."

He continued, "Patrick did want me to tell you that he was very sorry he’s unable to attend this morning, but he plans to get back to promoting The Beast as soon as he is back on his feet and feels well again. Patrick also asked me to tell you that he is unbelievably proud of the work that he and the entire Beast team have done."

Swayze, who shot to fame in the late 80’s and early 90’s with movies like Dirty Dancing and Ghost, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2008, after the pilot for The Beast had been completed.  He continued to work on the show throughout his illness and completed the season in November.  He spoke with Barbara Walters recently about his battle.  ”One thing I’m not gonna do is chase staying alive,” Swayze told Walters. ”You spend so much time chasing staying alive, you won’t live.” 

The Beast premieres on A&E on January 15.  The interview with Barbara Walters is available for viewing at ABCnews.com

The final episode of the premiere season of Crash airs tonight, January 9, at 10 pm ET/PT on Starz.

In this episode, Anthony and Ben pay a visit to Ben’s former partner; Eddie has a confrontation with Mr. Park; Bebe joins the search for Axel; longtime housewife Christine attempts to try her hand in the job market; and Inez steps over the line in her dealings with Kenny.

Sir Paul McCartney’s new single, “Nothing too Much, Just out of Sight,” will be featured in the season finale of Crash tonight.  Here is the new music video for the song, which features some tense moments from the final episode:

Crash stars Dennis Hopper, Ross McCall, Arlene Tur, Clare Carey, D.B. Sweeney, Brian Tee, Jocko Sims, Luis Chaves and Nick Tarabay.