By Robin posted on September 7, 2010 · No comments
Holiday season is nearly upon us, and NBC and DreamWorks are planning a pair of brand new half-hour animated specials to commemorate Halloween and Christmas.
Scared Shrekless, scheduled for October 28th, finds Shrek challenging his friends Donkey, Puss in Boots, his wife Fiona, and the franchise’s other fairy tale characters to spend the night in the former Lord Farquaad’s haunted castle. It’s planned to be paired with a rerun of last year’s Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins From Outer Space.
Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special, airing November 24th, features panda bear Po having to choose between his family and his duties as Dragon Warrior when he’s asked to host a winter feast at the Jade Palace. It will be paired with a rerun of last year’s Merry Madagascar.
By Robin posted on September 2, 2010 · No comments
You know, just yesterday I was wondering to myself where Ron Moore — the brilliant storyteller behind Syfy’s modern reimagining of Battlestar Galactica — was going to turn up next. Sure, he’s got Caprica, the prequel to BSG, going strong, but the day-to-day work on that show is being handled by others. And last year, he developed a new pilot for Fox called Virtuality, but it was so high concept that it got canceled before it ever aired. The two-hour pilot was all that was filmed, and Fox aired it as a movie-of-the-week.
So it’s with some excitement that I bring you the news that Moore has signed an exclusive development deal with Sony Television, and that NBC has snatched up his first idea, which is described as a story “set in a world ruled not by science but by magic.” The shorthand going around Hollywood is that it’s an “adult version of Harry Potter,” though knowing Moore, I’m sure there’s way more to it than that. (After all, the same could be said about The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and the reception that movie got would hardly be the kind of thing NBC would be eager to sign on for.)
Even bigger news is that NBC has shelled out something close to $2 million in a pay-or-play development deal for the series.
As much as I enjoyed Virtuality, it would probably be a smart move for Moore to do something a little more audience-friendly and accessible. Here’s hoping big things will come of this!
NBC has been snatching up genre-friendly shows left and right lately. This season alone they’re debuting The Event, Undercovers, and The Cape, alongside the 4th season of fan-favorite Chuck.
ABC has announced the full cast for the eleventh season of Dancing With the People Who Desperately Want to be Stars, and it’s full of the usual tabloid staples and stars of yesteryear. The complete roster is as follows:
Michael Bolton
Brandy
Margaret Cho
Jennifer Grey
Rick Fox
David Hasselhoff
Florence Henderson
Kyle Massey
Bristol Palin
Audrina Patridge
Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino
Kurt Warner
Camera-shy Palin and camera-hungry Sorrentino are the big news here. The rest are standard Dancing fare: you’ve got the athletes (Fox and Warner), the young (Massey and Patridge) and the not-so-young (Henderson), the comedian (Cho), and the oddball (Hasselhoff). Personally, I’m thinking that Brandy and Dirty Dancing star Jennifer Grey have an unfair advantage, with prior dancing experience. But hey, that’s never stopped the casting directors before.
AMC has officially released its 4-minute trailer for Frank Darabont’s zombie drama The Walking Dead, as seen at Comic-Con last month. It’s chilling and intense, and you should watch it now:
The good news: It won’t cost existing HBO subscribers anything extra.
The bad news: You’ve got to wait another six months.
“HBO Go” is the name of the pay-cable champ’s forthcoming online service, which will be available not just on the iPad, but on the Net, on mobile devices, and more. But don’t expect to see the network on Netflix anytime soon; HBO makes more money from it’s own direct subscribers, and continues to shun Netflix’s overtures.
Syfy’s lighthearted dramedy Eureka has been renewed for a fifth season.
The show is currently airing its fourth season, which premiered with a time travel episode that cleverly altered several aspects of the modern-day status quo. Battlestar Galactica’s James Callis also joined the cast this season, further helping to freshen up the show. The alternate timeline story has gone a long way toward keeping the show — about the bemused sheriff of a scientifically-advanced town — from growing stale.
Poor Friday Night Lights. Despite its critical acclaim and high quality production, it’s been on-the-bubble practically since its debut. Given extended life via a special deal with DirecTV, the show has continued to air despite its low viewership, but it couldn’t last forever.
Season 5 will start airing in late October on DirecTV — commercial free! — and then sometime in 2011 on NBC. Its finale will serve as the conclusion to the show. Season 5 is comprised of thirteen episodes. Past cast members including Jesse Plemons, Taylor Kitsch, Scott Porter, Adrianne Palicki, and Zach Gilford, will appear in a handful of episodes to wrap up their characters as well.
Syfy, the network formerly known as Scifi, has development on a television show based on the classic novel The Lotus Caves. Bryan Fuller, creator of Pushing Daisies, is writing the script alongside collaborator Jim Grey.
After their successes with Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Rubicon, and the strong buzz surrounding the upcoming The Walking Dead, AMC has jumped at the chance to order their fifth original series. Quickly becoming a home for high-quality storytelling, AMC has greenlit a full, 13-episode order for the first season of a new untitled series from writer and executive producer Veena Sud of Cold Case.
Formerly titled The Killing, the serialized drama ties together three distinct storylines that revolve around the murder of a young girl in Seattle. The three storylines follow the detectives assigned to the case, the grieving family of the victim, and the murder suspects. AMC says that the story also explores local politics as it follows politicians connected to the case. Over time, it will become clear that there are no accidents, that everyone has a secret, and while these characters think they’ve moved on, their past isn’t finished with them yet.
The series stars Mireille Enos (pictured above) as the lead homicide detective investigating the murder, Billy Campbell as Seattle’s City Council President; Michelle Forbes as the victim’s mother; Joel Kinnaman (also pictured) as an ex-narc cop who joins the homicide division, and Brent Sexton as the victims father.
The untitled series is based on a Danish TV series called Forbrydelsen that’s hugely successful overseas. Director Patty Jenkins (Monster) is helming the pilot that’s slated to premiere sometime in 2011.
You know, just yesterday I was wondering to myself where Ron Moore — the brilliant storyteller behind Syfy’s modern reimagining of 
