20th Century Fox Says No Further Development
Posted by Christopher Stone Categories: Prime Time, Cable, FOX, Cancellations,
20th Century Fox Television, the studio behind the series, has thrown in the towel for Arrested Development. The studio announced that AD creator Mitch Hurwitz is ready to call it quits. For three seasons, Arrested Development was the darling of critics and award givers, but failed to be a ratings’ winner, or even a serious contender. In February, Fox, the network, not the studio, burned off the series’ final four episodes in a suicide time-slot, opposite the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics.
For a while, Arrested Development had hoped to find a new home on Showtime, but a deal to bring AD to cable was arrested in its development. With Mitch Hurwitz’s decision to move on, the Showtime deal is DOA.
Read More 
| Variety
Gallery: 20th Century Fox Says No Further Development
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If after eyeballing Sharon Stone this weekend at your local multiplex in Basic Instinct 2, you want to see even more of the sexy siren, relax. La Stone is coming to a television screen near you on Sunday. The blond bombshell, who makes 48-years-old look like the new 30, has a three-episode story arc on Showtime’s Huff, beginning with Sunday’s season premiere.
Sharon plays a hard-drinking public relations executive who dumps her legal woes, and herself, in the well-deserving lap of the attorney played by Oliver Platt. Does Stone go all the way? Let’s just say, once again, the star follows her basic instinct, and she doesn’t leave in a huff.
Gallery: Sharon Stone In A Huff
The Sopranos: Mayhem
Posted by Christopher Stone Categories: Prime Time, Cable, HBO, The Sopranos, Features,
Watching Paulie Walnuts barge in on Colombian money launderers in the opening moments of this episode evoked memories of Eliot Ness busting Al Capone in The Untouchables. Of course, Paulie doesn’t look much like Kevin Costner, and Ness didn’t limp away with a million in cash and a wounded nut-sack. At “Mafia General Hospital,” Carmela and her children waited impatiently for Tony’s vitals to stabilize. Did viewers believe for a nano-second that Tony would die? Let’s get real. Without Gandolfini’s full participation, Season Six of this series wouldn’t have happened.
Click to continue reading The Sopranos: Mayhem
Gallery: The Sopranos: Mayhem
I love Monk on the USA Network. For one thing, Adrian Monk, the obsessive-compulsive, but lovable, detective played to Emmy-winning perfection by Tony Shaloub, reminds me of some of my own obsessive-compulsive, but lovable, family. For another thing, I’m fascinated by the thought processes that allow Monk to solve San Francisco’s most puzzling crimes.
I loved the series even more when his nurse-assistant was Sharona Fleming, played to perfection, if not Emmy-acknowledged, by Bitty Schram. Beginning in the second half of Season Three, Monk’s sidekick became Natalie Teeger, well-limned by Traylor Howard. The chemistry between Shaloub’s Monk and Howard’s Teeger is very good. The chemistry between Shaloub and Schram was Brangelina great.
In announcing Schram’s departure in the Summer of 2004, USA claimed producers were looking to take the series in a different direction. But rumor was Schram believed that she wasn’t getting enough screen time. I hope the rumor was untrue. With 99% of the Screen Actors Guild living below the national poverty line, mental cruelty, illness, family emergencies, and better roles, should be the only reasons for an actor to quit a hit, award-winning gig. As for screen time, how much has Bitty Schram grabbed in the two years since leaving the goose that laid her golden, award-winning egg?
Gallery: I Love “Monk”
I stopped watching movies on broadcast television when I moved out of my parents’ home and into an apartment with basic cable. To me, motion pictures are art. Even a godawful movie is art, if bad art. I equate them to bad paintings. You know the ones that I mean: those huge canvases, empty except for a black dot in the middle. Tone-y art galleries peddle them for about $7500.00 a pop. I don’t want the breasts covered on my Venus replica, and I don’t want my movies edited for content, length, or commercial interruptions.
For years, I loved watching full-length, uninterrupted movies on American Movie Classics. Then the network began interrupting the classics for commercials. I haven’t watched AMC since, maybe you haven’t, either. Right now, my favorite destination for watching classic movies on television is Turner Classic Movies. That network has the most impressive library of motion pictures on TV; they are shown unedited and uninterrupted, and movies filmed in a widescreen process are most commonly broadcast that way.
Gallery: Watching Movies on Television
For those who know Liza Minnelli primarily as Lucille 2 on Arrested Development, Showtime is about to reveal why the now dissipated diva is a living legend: Just watch Liza With a “Z,” Showtime, premiering on Saturday, April 1. Today people think of Minnelli, the daughter of show business royalty Judy Garland and Vincent Minnelli, as an over-the-hill performer whose life is plagued by inconsistent performances, health catastrophes, and marital woes. Back in Spring 1972, when Liza With a “Z” was filmed at Broadway’s Lyceum Theater, Liza was young and glamorous, at the top of her game. Directed by another show business legend, Bob Fosse, the NBC-TV Special showed Minnelli at her best (and there was none better), singing and dancing to the music of Kander & Ebb (Cabaret, Chicago), as well as joking, and reminiscing her way to an Emmy Award. Liza also has an Oscar and multiple Tony Awards.
The program hasn’t been broadcast since NBC-TV’s re-airing in September, 1973. Throughout the 1980s, the false rumor persisted that the landmark special had been lost. Gratefully, it was not. For the Showtime airings, Liza With a “Z” has been restored, digitally re-mastered, and will include previously deleted scenes. If you’re not a Showtime subscriber, not to worry. The DVD will be released on April 4.
Read More | Showtime
Gallery: Showtime To Play Liza With a “Z”
Sopranos Holds Strong, Big Love Is Flaccid
Posted by Christopher Stone Categories: Drama, Cable, HBO, News,
HBO’s muscular Mafia megahit, The Sopranos, attracted 9.2 million viewers to the network on Sunday. However, the premium channel’s freshman entry, Big Love - which follows The Sopranos - managed to lose almost 6 million of its buff lead-in’s audience, registering a limp 3.4 million viewers. Dubbed ‘Desperate Housewives in Utah’ by cynics, Big Love premiered on Sunday, March 12, to a less than stellar audience of 4.6 million.
For the uninitiated, Big Love stars Bill Paxton as a Viagara-propelled polygamist who juggles three beautiful wives and legal woes in present-day Utah. As the over-extended husband/father/businessman, Paxton is supported by the wonderful Ginnifer Goodwin, Jeanne Tripplehorn, and Chloe Sevigny, as the wives who perpetually get short shrift.
Read More | Hollywood Reporter (Subscription Required)
Gallery: Sopranos Holds Strong, Big Love Is Flaccid
In case you were wondering how the creators of South Park would react to the recent departure of Isaac Hayes—make sure to tune in tonight. As we mentioned last week, Hayes left the show because he felt that the comedy’s affinity for religious bashing had gone too far. Those involved with the show felt that his displeasure really had to do with a specific episode about Scientology.
Although the Hayes announcement was only recently made, co-creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker were able to quickly crank out a response in time for tonight’s season opener. The episode, called ‘The Return of the Chef’, will feature Chef. Question is—who will be voicing him, if anyone? Stay tuned!
Read More | People
Gallery: Chef Returns To South Park
Comcast To Offer Independent Films
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Cable, On Demand/PPV, Cable/Satellite,
For those who know me, it’s no secret that I don’t like to venture out much to watch independent movies. It’s not because I don’t like them—in fact I tend to enjoy more independent features than I do movies from major production companies. And it’s not because I’m cheap—though I do find current ticket prices extremely outrageous.
It’s because I hate the thread-barren seats. And the smells. And the sticky floors. Everything that I associate with a cheap movie theater. Call me a snob—but I don’t like being uncomfortable when I’m watching a movie. And now thanks to IFC, I may not have to be any more.
Starting Wednesday, March 22nd, Comcast will be teaming up with IFC to offer up about two dozen movies per year at the same time they are released in theaters. Big indie hits already associated with IFC include My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Boy’s Don’t Cry and Fahrenheit 9/11. The movies, available through Comcast’s On Demand service, will be priced at $5.99.
Read More | Comcast
Gallery: Comcast To Offer Independent Films
Isaac Hayes Leaves South Park
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Animation, Comedy, Cable, Syndication, Talent,
After years of bashing everything under the sun, it looks like an episode about Scientology may have been the straw that finally broke Isaac Hayes’ back. The musician, best known in recent years as the voice of ‘Chef’ on South Park, has finally reached his satirical limit and quit the show. Apparently, he felt the show’s reputation for religious bashing had finally gone too far. In a statement given to People magazine, the 63-year-old Hayes states: “There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins.”
Given his willing participation in previous episodes, co-creater Matt Stone wonders if Hayes’ decision has something to do with Scientology specifically, and not religion overall. Turns out that ‘Chef’ is a Scientologist in real-life (who would have guessed?). As many faithful followers of the show know, a November episode of the show was devoted to bashing the often-criticized belief. According to Stone, it was only when that episode aired did Isaac’s opinions come forward. “(We) never heard a peep out of Isaac in any way until we did Scientology. He wants a different standard for religions other than his own, and to me, that is where intolerance and bigotry begin.”
No word yet as to how the creators will do away with the character…
Read More | People
Gallery: Isaac Hayes Leaves South Park
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