This has got to be one of the greatest casting coups of all time. Carol Burnett is guest starring in Season 2 of Glee as — get this — Sue Sylvester’s mother! Sue (played by the hilarious Jane Lynch) mentioned in an episode in Season 1 that her parents were rarely around when she was growing up, because they were “famous Nazi hunters.”
EW’s Ausiello Files first nabbed the incredible scoop, and also confirmed that Burnett will be appearing solo — Sue’s father will not be appearing. (I’m thinking that only one person could successfully costar next to Burnett in such a role, and that’s Harvey Korman, who unfortunately passed away two years ago.)
Can’t you just see this comedy legend as a cigar-chompin’, big-gun-totin’, tough-as-nails Nazi hunter? Seriously, if there’s one person on the planet who could actually take on Sue Sylvester, it’s Carol Burnett. This is beyond perfect casting; it’s flawlessness incarnate. No word yet on when Burnett’s episode will air, but my DVR is already set to record.
As if the cast of Glee weren’t already the outcasts of McKinley High, now in season two they will be tackling an even more weird and alienating subject matter, the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Co-creator Ryan Murphy announced plans for the Rocky Horror spot at Comic-Con (SDCC) over this past weekend.
The second season of Glee will debut on Sept. 21 @ 8 PM ET on Fox.
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It’s official: Steve Carrell is leaving The Office.
Come May, when the show’s seventh season ends, Carrell will make his exit to head for greener pastures (aka, the big screen). But Carrell seems to think that the show’s ensemble is strong enough to live on without him, maybe even allowing The Office to introduce some new blood in the form of a new boss.
The show is an ensemble, but Carrell’s gloriously deluded manager Michael Scott has nearly always been the instigator behind the fictional office staff’s antics. Sure, Jim and Pam are the show’s romantic heart. And Rainn Wilson has transcended Dwight Schrute’s punchline of a character to create genuine comedic pathos. But I just can’t imagine The Office without Steve Carrell.
How about you? And who would you nominate to take over Michael Scott’s office in Season 8?
Okay, am I in some kind of alternate reality? Because I thought Glee was just ending its first season. Yet Fox, in a nearly unprecedented move, has announced today that it’s renewed the show for a third season.
A second season renewal was announced late last year, but traditionally networks wait to be certain that ratings hold in the current season before ordering another. Renewing a show for a season that won’t air for more than a year is just about unheard of. But reportedly, Fox execs were so pleased with the reception Glee got at the annual upfronts presentation, they decided to show confidence in the show by giving it an official two season renewal instead of just one.
Not that I’m looking a gift horse in the mouth. I adore Glee, and I certainly hope it sticks around for as long as it can. But this preemptive move seems foolhardy at best.
It looks as though NBC’s celebrated, 20-year-old series, Law & Order, is coming to an end. Despite indications earlier this year that the show would go on to a record-breaking 21st season, negotiations have fallen apart for next season and NBC is reportedly on the verge of dropping the show altogether. Law & Order has, for years, trailed behind its spinoff, L&O: Special Victims Unit, in the ratings. (SVU is in no danger of being canceled.) Meanwhile, the latest spinoff for the franchise, Law & Order: Los Angeles, is still set to premiere this fall.
It also looks likely that NBC’s Heroes won’t be getting a fifth season. The show has struggled in the ratings for years, but it’s held on despite storylines that have wavered between ridiculous and so-so. But NBC is not blind to the show’s dogged fans, who still hope for some kind of proper ending, and are considering giving Heroes a 2 or 4 hour wrap-up movie/miniseries at some point next season.
Meanwhile, over at ABC, a number of high-profile shows have gotten the axe, including FlashForward (which the network once hoped might become the next Lost), the long-running Scrubs (which jumped networks from NBC not too long ago), Better Off Ted (which is universally loved by critics, but has too few viewers), and Romantically Challenged.
Ahead of its upfront presentations next week, Fox has announced five new series it has picked up for the Fall 2010 season, as well as two (somewhat unexpected) renewals: Lie to Me and Human Target. Neither of those shows are huge hits in the ratings, but Lie to Me has an A-list star, and Fox might be looking to Human Target to fill the “action hour” void that 24 is going to leave on the schedule.
The five new shows Fox ordered are:
- RideAlong – an hour-long police drama from creator Shawn Ryan about a cowboy-style cop and a female police chief who try to clean up the streets of Chicago.
- Midland – a drama about a con artist working in the oil industry. (Boy, that show practically writes itself, doesn’t it?)
- Keep Hope Alive – a single-camera comedy from creator Greg Garcia about a single parent.
- Traffic Light – another single-cam comedy centering on male relationships.
- Wilde Kingdom – a single-cam rom-com starring Will Arnett as a hedonistic Beverly Hills resident who falls in love with an environmentalist, charitable woman who hates his lifestyle and values.
It looks like with those last three, Fox is hoping to build an entire night of back-to-back live-action comedy as a companion to its entirely animated Sunday night of comedy.
NBC has picked up three new series for its fall season — ahead of the much-anticipated “fall upfront” announcements that are coming in a few days.
Perhaps most exciting of the three is The Event, a high octane conspiracy thriller starring Jason Ritter (pictured) as an everyman who investigates the disappearance of his fiancee, and unwittingly begins to expose the biggest cover-up in U.S. history. His quest will send ripples through the lives of an eclectic band of strangers, including the newly elected U.S. President, the leader of a group of mysterious detainees, and the main character’s own father-in-law. NBC’s press release states, “Their futures are on a collision course in a global conspiracy that could ultimately change the fate of mankind.”
Outsourced is a new comedy by one of the producers of The Office. It’s about a culture clash that occurrs when an “all-American company” that sells novelty items outsources its call center to India. Todd Dempsy stars as the company’s new manager who learns that he’s being transferred to India to run the new call center.
Lastly, Love Bites is an hour-long romantic comedy anthology (there’s three words you don’t see together often), featuring three loosely connected, modern stories of love, sex, marriage, and dating. Each episode contains multiple vignettes, all illuminating the theme of love with an edgy, irreverent spin. Becki Newton and Jordana Spiro anchor the series with their ongoing tales of attempted romance, while other characters will come and go each week.
NBC is proving to be the most web-savvy network of the new season, as it’s already registered Twitter accounts for all three series: @NBCTheEvent, @OutsourcedNBC, and @NBCLoveBites.
May 18th is the date that you’ll be able to get your hands on the last Glee soundtrack planned for Season 1. Along with Volumes 1 and 2, and the special Power of Madonna soundtrack, Volume 3 marks the fourth disc the freshman show has released, making Glee quite the cash cow for Fox.
Volume 3, entitled Showstoppers, will be released in two flavors: a basic, 14-song disc for $11.99, and a deluxe edition with 6 extra songs, for $14.99. Volume 3 features songs from the final episodes of the season, so one assumes that the performances featured in the show choir’s Regionals competition will be included. Here’s the full track list; songs marked with a * are exclusive to the deluxe edition.
1. Hello, Goodbye
2. Gives You Hell
3. Hello
4. A House Is Not a Home *
5. One Less Bell to Answer / A House Is Not a Home
6. Beautiful
7. Home *
8. Physical
9. Total Eclipse of the Heart
10. Lady Is a Tramp
11. One
12. Rose’s Turn *
13. Dream On
14. Safety Dance
15. I Dreamed a Dream
16. Loser *
17. Give Up the Funk
18. Beth *
19. Poker Face *
20. Bad Romance
With an endearing cast, whip-smart writing, and an irresistible mix of music, comedy, and heart, Glee has become a true phenomenon in a remarkably short period of time. Season 1 is being topped off by a multi-city concert tour featuring the entire cast. Season 2 premieres this fall.
TV Land Awards is over but people are still talking about the Glee tribute during the awards show. Glee bagged the “Future Classic” award, and though I love Glee this kind of award is obviously a “let’s-wait-and-see-if-that-does-pan-out” thing. What we can be sure though is the “TV Land Glee club’s” rendition of “Don’t Stop Believing” is a mega hit. The performance included David Hasselhoff and Marilou Henner as the lead singers (is that what Rachel and Finn will look like 30 years from now?). Other glee club members include: Todd Bridges, Joyce Dewitt, Jamie Farr, Marla Gibbs, Howard Hesseman, Shirley Jones, Richard Karn, Richard Moll, Marion Ross, Jimmie Walker, Marcia Wallace and Fred Willard. The twist of having the old and familiar faces on TV paying tribute to the new is just totally fun and surprisingly good to watch. The original Glee rendition was better of course but theirs wasn’t live, was it?
Other shows that took home an award on the 25th include:
Love Boat – Fan Favorite Award
Charlie’s Angels – Pop Culture Award
Everybody Loves Raymond – Impact Award
Also honored during the awards were Bosom Buddies, now on its 30th anniversary; Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner, for being legends in comedy; and Farah Fawcett, whose tribute was presented by Ryan O’Neal.
A recent episode of South Park has drawn dire predictions that border on threatening from a website called RevolutionMuslim.com. The episode in question, “200″ (which was, as the title suggests, the show’s 200th episode) depicted the Prophet Mohammad in a bear costume.
In response, U.S.-based Islamic group RevolutionMuslim.com made not-so-veiled threats against South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, suggesting that “they will probably wind up” like a Dutch filmmaker who was killed by an Islamic militant because he made a film that accused Islam of condoning violence against women.
RevolutionMuslim.com has refuted the claims that they were making veiled threats against the South Park creators, but their website is unavailable at the time of this writing (though you can read an archived version of their post about 2/3 of the way down this archived page), which suggests that the site has either crashed or intentionally been taken down. The post RM made about South Park included contact information for both Comedy Central and Stone & Parker’s production company, as well as — much more damningly — what appears to be the location of a Colorado mansion where the two men live.
Why would the website suggest that Stone & Parker will likely be attacked by Islamic militants, and then provide directions to their home, if not to incite violence against them?
I’m no fan of South Park, so don’t get me wrong. I understand its irreverent appeal, but it’s too basement-level disrespectful for my taste. If anybody should expect to draw fire from those they offend, obviously it should be the people behind South Park, who have made a living out of insulting everything that somebody out there considers “sacred.”
But there’s no excuse for RevolutionMuslim.com’s irresponsible behavior, insinuating that someone should outright attack someone else. The group is claiming “freedom of speech” when questioned about their inflammatory article. But whoever said that freedom of speech implies freedom from responsibility?
