TV Chatting

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.

Former Alias and Big Shots star Michael Vartan will co-star opposite Jada Pinkett Smith in TNT’s upcoming series Time Heals.  Pinkett Smith will play Christina Hawthorne, a strong but caring director of nursing at a North Carolina, N.C., hospital.  Vartan will play Tom Wakefield, the director of medicine at the hospital. Vartan replaces Jeffrey Nordling, who played the role in the pilot.

Geoff Stults has landed the lead in the ABC drama pilot Happy Town as Tommy, the town’s newly appointed sheriff who has to solve a murder, the town’s first crime in seven years. Lauren German has also joined the cast as a suspicious new resident of the town.

Martin Henderson has joined Inside the Box, the new ABC drama from Shonda Rhimes. The show is set in a Washington network news bureau and centers on Catherine, an ambitious female news producer, and her colleagues pursuing "the story" at all costs while juggling their personal animosities and crises of conscience.Henderson will play the male heartthrob type, Jake.  Jake is Catherine’s right hand — charismatic, with a great sense of humor and great chemistry with her.  Lloyd Owen has also joined the cast as a suave Englishman tapped to replace the retiring bureau chief.

Jericho alum Lennie James has joined CBS’ untitled legal drama about the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan. He will play a former assistant DA who works as a paralegal after getting disbarred.  Jason Clarke has also signed on to play the powerful, charismatic section chief who oversees four lawyers and a handful of paralegals in their overlapping cases.

Read the rest of this entry »

Though the BBC has not given us a firm air date yet for the long awaited Torchwood mini series, Children of Earth, they have released the official trailer.  Reports put the five episode series airing sometime during the first part of this summer, possibly late June or early July. According to BBC America president, Garth Ancier, the network will air the five episodes on consecutive nights just as they are doing in the U.K.  U.S. viewers won’t have a long wait after the BBC airing either.  The show will air in the U.S. on the same day as in the U.K.

Torchwood: Children Of Earth and will follow the team as they embark on a single action-packed adventure, battling for the future of the human race against the fiercest force they have encountered.

Returning for the third installment of the Doctor Who spinoff are Johhn Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness, Eve Myles as Gwen Cooper and Gareth David-Lloyd as Ianto Jones. Also returning are Kai Owen as Gwen’s husband, Rhys Williams, and Tom Price as PC Andy. 

Special guest stars in this installment will include Peter Capaldi as Mr Frobisher – a civil servant who is hiding a terrible secret; Paul Copely as Clem – the survivor still haunted by his past; and Liz May Brice as Johnson – the cynical covert government agent determined to expose Torchwood.

As soon as a firm premiere date for Torchwood: Children of Earth is announced, I will let you know. So stay tuned!

Fans of the new TNT show Trust Me will have an opportunity to discuss the series with the entire cast during an exclusive live webchat at http://tnt.tv immediately following the all new episode of the show on Monday, February 9th.  The chat will begin at 11p.m. ET and run through midnight.

Eric McCormack, Tom Cavanagh, Monica Potter, Griffin Dunne, Sarah Clarke, Mike Damus and Geoffrey Arend will all be available to chat with fans.

Trust Me is a new series about two best friends who are also a successful creative team at a large Chicago ad agency.    Mason (McCormack), an art director, is a responsible, workaholic family man, while Conner (Cavanagh) is a single, impulsive copywriter who is always looking for ways to mix pleasure with business.  Their yin-yang relationship is put to the test when Mason is named a creative director of the agency, making him Conner’s boss. 

Trust Me airs Monday nights at 10pm ET on TNT.

The CW is making a big switcheroo, and as part it, bringing back Reaper a full 3 weeks earlier than originally announced. 

Reaper will return on March 3, taking over the Tuesday, 8pm slot that 90210 has occupied.  Don’t worry, though, 90210 isn’t going anywhere.  It will simply slide into the 9pm slot. Privileged will end its season on February 24th to accommodate the earlier start date for Reaper. All 13 episodes of Reaper will air in a row, without repeats.

Of course, this isn’t necessarily good news for Reaper as it seems to be the sacrifice in the deal as it goes up against ratings giant American Idol. 

Reaper stars Brett Harrison as Sam Oliver, a young man who finds out that his parents sold his soul to the Devil (Ray Wise) in order to save his father.  As part of the deal, on his 21st birthday, Sam has to go to work for the Devil collecting escaped souls and returning them to Hell.  He gets help from his buddies Sock (Tyler Labine) and Ben (Rick Gonzalez) but tries to keep his new job a secret from the girl he loves, Andi (Missy Peregrym).

If you haven’t watched the show before, give it a shot. You can catch up on last season’s episodes at CWtv.com

It turns out all that chemistry between Fringe’s Anna Torv and her co-star Mark Valley was real!  A rep for Torv confirmed on Monday, February 2nd that the actors were indeed married in a secret ceremony that took place sometime over the holidays. 

Valley plays John Scott, the evil (or maybe not evil), dead (or maybe not dead) lover to Torv’s Olivia Dunham on the Fox hit.

The couple has been quietly dating for several months and apparently even some of their fellow castmates didn’t even know they were together. 

Valley took part in a conference call with reporters last Thursday and when asked about Torv, kept it strictly business.  "I think [Anna] is just a fantastic actor and I really like working with her," he said. "She’s my favorite on the show, to be honest with you."  Looks like Mark was telling the truth there!

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.

Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl begins at 3 p.m. ET and repeats continuously until 5 a.m.

ABC will offer the Wipeout Bowl I: Cheerleaders vs. Couch Potatoes, a football-themed version Wipeout during half-time.  You can switch over and watch the antics if you don’t care for Bruce Springsteen.

TCM will begin its annual 31 Days of Oscar celebration. Sunday’s movies include Bye Bye Birdie (10 a.m.), Artists & Models (2 p.m.) and Ace in the Hole (8 p.m.)

TBS and FX will have something for the ladies.  “Chick Flick” marathons run all day with TBS broadcasting Clueless, My Best Friend’s Wedding, Failure to Launch, What Women Want and My Big Fat Greek Wedding beginning at 11:30 a.m..  FX’s offerings include Little Black Book, followed by Maid in Manhattan, 13 going on 30 and The Devil Wears Prada.  Their “chick flicks” kick off at 2p.m. ET.

Several networks are offering up marathons of favorite shows.  Here’s a rundown of some of those:

TNT - The Closer (noon-11 p.m.)
USA - House (11 a.m.-4 a.m.)
A&E - The Sopranos (noon-4 a.m.)
Oxygen - America’s Next Top Model (11 a.m.-11 p.m.)
Food Network- Food Network Challenge (3-9 p.m.),
BBC America - Doctor Who (3-8 p.m.)
Bravo - Law & Order: Criminal Intent (6 p.m.-2 a.m.) 
Hallmark - I Love Lucy (8:30 a.m.-3 a.m.)

Of course after the big game, make sure you tune back to NBC for the big post-Super Bowl episode of The Office. That will probably be around 10:30 p.m. ET depending on how long the game runs. 

Thanks to Zap2It!

If you are one of those who couldn’t care less about the big game on Sunday, but you would like to see the commercials, you don’t necessarily have to sit through the football to catch the ads.  NBC will make the spots available on NBC.com, SuperBowl.com and Hulu.com immediately after they air on television.  NBC.com and Hulu.com will have ads available for posting on blogs or web pages.  At Hulu.com, viewers will be able to vote for their favorite ads.

I’m not sure if this will also include some of the highly anticipated spots for NBC shows like the 3D Chuck commerical or the Heroes football spot, but I suspect it will.  We’ll post some of the favorites here!

The big game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals will kick off at 6:18 p.m. ET.  Coverage begins on NBC at 4:30 pm.  The halftime show will feature Bruce Springsteen (sometime around the 8 p.m. hour).

As you probably know by now, George Clooney will be making a much-buzzed about return to the show that made him a star.  Sources tell TVGuide.com that both George Clooney and his ER love Julianna Margulies, the supercouple Dr. Doug Ross and nurse Carol Hathaway, will appear in one episode before the show ends on April 2. Both actors are reportedly filming their scenes this week, on a closed set.

It is also being reported that Oscar winner Susan Sarandon will appear in scenes with Clooney.

Clooney and Margulies join a growing list of former ER cast members making appearances in this final season.  We have already seen Anthony Edwards as Dr. Mark Greene in a flashback in which we also saw Laura Innes, as Dr. Weaver.  Alex Kingston guested on the Jan. 15 episode as Dr. Elizabeth Corday and Noah Wyle is due back as Carter for the final four episodes.

DreamWorks and Pepsi are planning to show 3D commericals during the Super Bowl this Sunday, February 1 and NBC is going to take full advantage of the Super Bowl viewership and pull out all the stops promoting its shows too.  That includes a 3D promo for Chuck.  Chuck will also air a 3D episode when it comes back next Monday, February 2nd at 8pm ET.

To get the full effect, you’ll need to pick up a pair of free 3D glasses at your local supermarket.  If you don’t have them yet, it’s not too late.  Here is a list of participating retailers:

• Kroger
• Ralphs
• Frys
• Safeway/Vons
• Supervalu
• Food Lion
• A&P
• Pathmark
• Coburns
• Fairway
• Fresh Brands
• Hy Vee
• Nash Finch
• Roundy’s
• Winn Dixie
• K-Mart
• Dollar General
• Hess (Select Stores Only)
• CVS (Select stores only)
• Meijer (on 1/31)
• Target (on 1/31)

I found mine on the beer aisle at my local Kroger, so make sure you check there!

To date, these are the pilots on tap for the 2009-10 season at Fox.

Dramas

Masterwork
Team: Paul Scheuring
An adrenalized race against time to recover the world’s most sought-after artifacts and works of art in the vein of "The Da Vinci Code" and "National Treasure"

Maggie Hill
Team: Ian Biederman, David Nevins
Genius comes with a price: A brilliant female surgeon endures adult-onset schizophrenia and thrives.

Human Target
Team: Jon Steinberg, McG 
Based on the DC Comics title, the show centers on Christopher Chance, a mysterious freelancer who offers a very unique form of security for hire — he assumes the identities of people in life-threatening danger, becoming the "human target" on behalf of his clients.

Untitled David Hudgins reincarnation
Team: David Hudgins, Lou Pitt , MJ Rose
Past-life investigators use the concept of reincarnation to solve mysteries of their clients’ previous lives in order to resolve their problems in the present

Eva Adams
Team: Kevin Falls, Jamie Tarses
Womanizer is transformed into a woman and must endure the same kind of abuse her used to doll out; based on the Argentinian telenovela "Lalola."

Comedies

Absolutely Fabulous
Team: Christine Zander, Mitch Hurwitz, Eric Tannenbaum, Kim Tannenbaum, Ian Moffitt, Jennifer Saunders
Based on the British series of the same name.

Walorsky
Team: Brian Gatewood, Alessandro Tanaka, Ravi Nandan, Scot Armstrong
In the tone of "Bad Santa," an ex-cop turned security guard patrols a mall in Buffalo. His life is centered around Buffalo sports and doing the least amount of work possible. But when he is assigned a young idiot partner, he is forced to grudgingly get involved with the people that he is assigned to protect.

The Station
Team: Kevin Napier, Ben Stiller, Stuart Cornfeld, Jeremy Kramer
A covert CIA operative and his workmates are embedded in a South American country and must navigate their mission to install a new dictator in this banana republic with its own unique set of challenges.

Two Dollar Beer
Team: Mike Binder, Michael Rotenberg, Jonathan Levin
Set in Detroit, a blue-collar couple and their extended family and friends deal with the reality of their long-standing roots in this community slowly becoming less relevant as the rest of the world slowly passes them by.

Sons of Tuscon
Team: Tommy Dewey, Greg Bratman, Harvey Myman, Jason Felts, Justin Berfield
In the spirit of "Slums of Beverly Hills," a charming but misguided hustler is hired by three young brothers with considerable resources to act as their "Father" while their real one serves time in prison for a white collar crime.

Boldly Going Nowhere (pilot to be reshot for fall consideration)
Team: Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, Adam Stein, Michael Rotenberg, Nick Frenkel, Wayne McClammy
A high-concept comedy about what happens day to day on an intergalactic spaceship helmed by a rogue captain.
Starring: Ben Koldyke, Tony Hale

Glee (picked up to series)
Team: Ryan Murphy
The hourlong comedy centers on Will, a thirtysomething Spanish teacher at an Ohio high school who has the daunting task of taking over the school’s glee club, which has become a heaven for outcasts.
Starring: Matthew Morrison, Lea Michele, Jayma Mays, Cory Monteith, Jessalyn Gilsig

Save Us Then the Whales (cast-contingent)
Team: Sameer Gardezi
Single-camera comedy set at a politically incorrect nonprofit organization.

Sincerely, Ted L. Nancy (presentation)
Team: Barry Marder, Chuck Martin, Gary Auberbach and Rob Lee
Centers on a regular guy who, after suffering through too many faulty products and customer service mishaps, decides to take on the corporations by writing letters that "seek to avenge the consumer frustrations of people everywhere.
Starring: Kevin Sussman

The Emancipation of Ernesto (not going forward)
Team: Emily Kapne, Wilmer Valderrama
Centers on Ernesto, a guileless innocent embarking on an epic quest to find his father amid a Los Angeles landscape polluted with excess.
Starring: Wilmer Valderrama, Hector Jimenez, Sarah Wright

Via The Pilot Log

To date, these are the pilots on tap for the 2009-10 season at CBS.

Dramas

House Rules
Team: Michael Seitzman, Mark Gordon, Deborah Spera
Follows the freshman class of congressmen/women as they begin their careers in Washington, D.C.

Back
Team: Dean Widenmann, Craig Zadan, Neil Meron 
A man returns home only to discover he had been reported missing eight years earlier, following 9/11. He must learn how to reconnect with his family and a world that moved on without him.

U.S. Attorney project 
Team: Frank Military
Legal ensemble centered around a team of federal prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan.

Washington Field
Team: Ed Bernero, Jim Clemente, Tim Clemente
Set in the elite Washington Field office of the FBI that protects national interests, this team of agents with exceptional and diverse skills is called together for only the most critical cases.

Untitled NCIS spinoff (shoots in February)   
Team: Shane Brennan, Tony Wharmby
Spinoff from the crime procedural

Comedies

The Fish Tank (single-camera)
Team: Cathy Yuspa, Josh Goldsmith
A teenager finds himself living the dream when his parents give him the house to himself five days a week.

Untitled Mitch Hurwitz (hybrid, pilot + five scripts)
Team: Mitch Hurwitz (W), Jim Vallely (w), Eric Tannenbaum, Kim Tannenbaum
Starring: Jason Biggs

Tick Tock (cast-contingent)
Team: Bill Kunstler
Centers on an unconventional single mom in her 30s who decides to focus all of her energy on finding love.

At Last (cast-contingent)
Team: Shana Goldberg-Meehan
Multi-camera comedy about Lucy and James, in their mid-30s, decide to get married but realize they have a lot of baggage, friends, ex-lovers, etc.

The Karenskys
Linwood Boomer, Gail Berman, Lloyd Braun
Multi-camera comedy a woman who returns to her hometown when her husband’s job.

There are sure to be more announced very soon. I’ll update this post as more information comes available.

Via The Pilot Log