‘24′ Officially Slated For 2009 Return
Posted on February 17, 2008
In news that shouldn’t surprise anybody, Fox has confirmed that their hit drama, 24, will return in January 2009 to ensure that they can air the entire seventh season of the show uninterrupted. The latest season was set to air last month, but the WGA strike, which started all the way back in November, halted production, and subsequently, they had only eight complete episodes.
“A January 2009 start seemed the best way to comply with viewers’ wishes that a season’s episodes run without interruption to conclusion”, read a statement from Fox. Anticipation was high surrounding Jack Bauer’s latest day of a nightmare, which sees the show relocated to Washington D.C. from Los Angeles, but this delay represents the strike’s biggest casualty thus far.
The CW also announced that they have decided not to order any more Girlfriends episodes, meaning that the comedy will bow out without a fanfare. However, NBC said that 30 Rock, The Office, Scrubs, and ER will all return with fresh episodes on April 10, with My Name Is Earl one week earlier on April 3 with a one-hour special. New material for One Tree Hill, Smallville, Supernatural, Gossip Girl, and Reaper will start airing between April 14 and April 24, while pretty much all of the CBS dramas, including the CSIs, Criminal Minds, and Ghost Whisperer, have been slated for late March/early April returns.
CBS Renews ‘CSI’s, ‘Big Bang’, And Seven More
Posted on February 15, 2008
Following NBC’s announcement just a couple of days ago that the network is renewing Chuck, Life, and Heroes, CBS decided to follow suit and name eleven shows that have earned berths to the 2008-09 season, including ratings-juggernaut CSI, along with its two spin-offs, Miami and NY, and freshman half-hour comedy The Big Bang Theory.
Cold Case, Criminal Minds, Ghost Whisperer, NCIS, Numb3rs, Two and a Half Men, and Without a Trace also have reason to celebrate, as they join the previously announced Survivor and The Amazing Race in the renewals list.
However, there was notably no mention for other comedies, How I Met Your Mother, The Rules of Engagement, and The New Adventures of Old Christine, giving the impression that CBS wants to see how strong their ratings are for their end-of-season episodes before picking them up. Also missing were Shark, The Unit, and freshmen series Cane and Moonlight.
WGA Strike Over
Posted on February 13, 2008
After fourteen long and hard weeks, WGA members have voted to end the strike that started all the way back in November 5, with a resounding 92.5% for it (some 3,500 for and 283 against). This vote comes after the WGA announced that they had a tentative deal with the AMPTP over the weekend. The deal is set to be ratified within the next ten to twelve days.
“The strike is over”, said WGA West president Patric Verrone in an LA press conference. “Our membership has voted and writers can go back to work. This was not a strike we wanted but one we had to conduct in order to win jurisdiction and establish appropriate residuals for writing in new media and on the Internet.”
The deal will see specific residual rates in new media for the writers. They are set to receive 0.36% for the first 100,000 television show downloads for Internet sales, and 0.7% afterwards. And for episodes streamed on an ad-supported website, 2% of residuals will go towards the writers after the initial streaming window is closed.
Now that writers are going back to work as early as today, what does that mean for your favourite shows? Well, rejoice if you’re a Lost fan. Producer Carlton Cuse told Variety, “We’ll have to compress some of the storytelling we planned for this season, and that may not be a bad thing. Damon and I feel like we know how we can finish it off and still make it a really, really great story.” An extra five episodes are likely to be filmed, ending the fourth season with thirteen. Not too shabby.
Most of the veteran shows are set to be going back into production too, including the CSIs, Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, House, Smallville, and Supernatural with an estimated four to six episodes for each. Heroes, however, will wait until the fall to launch its third volume entitled ”Villains”. Prison Break’s future has not yet been determined, while the seventh season of 24 looks like it’ll be launching on January 2009. Half-hour comedies like 30 Rock and How I Met Your Mother have the advantage of being able to shoot potentially up to nine or ten episodes before the season ends.
A lot of the freshman programs, though, will be saved for a relaunch in the fall, Pushing Daisies (whose renewal for the second season was announced last week by ABC), Dirty Sexy Money, and Chuck being the main ones. Gossip Girl and half-hour long The Big Bang Theory are the two confirmed exceptions right now. Bionic Woman, Big Shots, and Journeyman amongst a few others aren’t expected to shoot any new episodes ever. In one word, “axed”.
With the time it takes to write, film, and produce, post-strike episodes will probably air during April and May — in time for the May sweeps.
Photo by Brad Herman
Top 30 Television Episodes of 2007: 20-11
Posted on January 16, 2008
20. Gilmore Girls – To Whom It May Concern (Season 7, Episode 12)
I’m going to risk being mobbed by all the fans here and say that I never really got into Gilmore Girls. Too many annoying minor characters to take the show seriously. It probably isn’t a coincidence that one of the rare few episodes that I loved saw no Lane, Michel, or Kirk. Then again, it might have been the fact that Christopher finds Lorelai’s character reference for Luke, the one that had her spewing all the qualities she sees in Luke that she wishes to see in her husband. A heartbroken Christopher quite rightly states that it read “almost like a love letter”. In addition, “To Whom It May Concern” achieves an unprecedented first for the show by making the wait for next week’s episode excruciatingly slow after Richard’s unexpected collapse during one of Rory’s lectures.
19. Smallville – Freak (Season 6, Episode 15)
A lot of people have been raving about “Justice” being the highlight of Season 6. While I agree it was a terrific hour of entertainment (with the Flash, Aquaman, Cyborg, Green Arrow, and Superman all banding together to take down 33.1, how can it not be awesome?), my personal highlight was “Freak”, Michael Rosenbaum’s debut as a director and a Chloe-centric episode in which she discovers that she’s the very thing she used to document on her very own Wall of Weird: a meteor freak. Better paced and filled with more tension – Clark heat-visioning you? Triple ouch – “Freak” serves as key groundwork for the season finale at the dam. It’s also an increasingly rare episode where Lana Lang becomes surprisingly likeable for one week. Rosenbaum, sir, you are a genius.
18. How I Met Your Mother – Spoiler Alert (Season 3, Episode 8 )
Remember when I said “Showdown” (#22) didn’t quite reach the level of “Slap Bet”? That missing ingredient can be found right in “Spoiler Alert” – an episode about bad habits and how you generally don’t notice them until someone points it out to you. Though this particular half-hour may not have mustered as many laughs as Barney’s foray into The Price Is Right did, it doesn’t rely on Neil Patrick Harris. It’s an impressive ensemble episode that is very reminiscent of “Slap Bet”. Everyone has their moments – from Marshall singing to Lily inexplicably and ridiculously loud munching with candyfloss (and Ted’s priceless irritation) to Barney being Barney – and it’s episodes like these where I absolutely love the show. To me, How I Met Your Mother is much more than how Ted meets his future wife. It’s about a group of close friends living their lives together, and “Spoiler Alert” demonstrates this perfectly.
17. Grey’s Anatomy – Haunt You Every Day (Season 4, Episode 5)
By far the best episode of Grey’s since mid-Season 3, and one we’ve been waiting for an incredibly long time. Folks, this was the moment when the show regained its mojo and came close to achieving the same standard as they did with Season 2. (We still miss you, Denny.) The way Meredith put her mother to rest with the Chief at the end of the episode by rinsing her ashes down an OR sink was incredibly moving and the perfect farewell to Ellis Grey. Couple that with some great humour (Olivia forming a “Nurses United Against Mark Sloan” club – haha), and yeah, I stand by my initial comment and believe that this compares to Grey’s sophomore season. Even the subplots pack plenty of drama and laughs, from Ava’s bittersweet return to George and Izzie’s drunken sex finally made public. The show just needs to be a little more consistent now.
16. Scrubs – My Musical (Season 6, Episode 6)
“My Musical” doesn’t come anywhere near to Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s “Once More, with Feeling”, an episode that I regard as one of my favourites of all time. But to compare the two is like apples and oranges, and anyone who watched this expecting it to be on the same ridiculously high level should be more aware how different these two musical episodes are. Put simply, Scrubs makes up for the lack of depth, emotion, and storytelling by providing half an hour of pure entertainment. It’s just great, mindless fun that you can watch over and over again without getting bored. It does border on being outrageously silly at times with “Ev’rythin’ Comes Down to Poo”, but the third act really does steal the show with the hilarious “Guy Love” and the upbeat group finale “Friends Forever”. Fantastic performance by Stephanie D’Abruzzo as the lead patient, and kudos to writer Debra Fordham for making the daring project a success.
15. CSI: NY – Snow Day (Season 3, Episode 22)
Let’s get this out of the way: I don’t watch a lot of crime procedurals. Yet somehow, CSI: NY blew me away with its surprisingly action-packed Die Hard-esque season finale. That’s right, I said “action-packed”, and yeah, I likened it to Die Hard. When drug lords infiltrate the entire building with guns galore and when it becomes Mac’s job to save the day almost single-handedly, how can you not make that comparison? The most impressive thing about this episode, though, is that it still manages to keep the CSI element amidst all the action, investigating who these men are and what they want. Add that to the fact that it doesn’t turn into Rambo and cleverly uses the whole scenario to sensibly develop characters and relationships, and you have one stellar episode that ultimately converted me into a regular CSI: NY viewer. A special mention goes to CSI’s seventh season finale, “Living Doll”, but it didn’t quite get my heart pumping as much as New York did.
14. Dexter – There’s Something About Harry (Season 2, Episode 10)
As if our favourite serial killer, Dexter Morgan, didn’t have enough worries on his mind, what with the whole Bay Harbour Butcher investigation going on and, of course, him holding the persistent Doakes captive in a cage after he discovered his secret. So, to find out gradually over the episode that his father had committed suicide because of his guilt in channelling Dexter’s dark tendencies into killing those who deserve it and in the end “creating a monster” must have been damn devastating for the antihero. James Remar really shines in his small recurring role as Dexter’s father. His shocked reaction when he came upon his son gleefully cutting up one of his earlier victims said it all. So did the puke that followed. (Ew.) It is during this episode that we are reminded that Dexter isn’t a normal person. He doesn’t have genuine feelings like the rest of the characters do, and this is not only supported by the suicide of Dexter’s father, but also by Doakes becoming completely unresponsive towards him when he kills someone practically in front of his eyes.
13. Supernatural – All Hell Breaks Loose, Part I (Season 2, Episode 21)
Hell doesn’t literally break loose in the first part of Supernatural’s season finale (that comes in the second!), but the cliffhanger of this otherwise transitional episode had me completely stunned: they freakin’ killed Sam Winchester. Of course, we know Eric Kripke doesn’t have the stones to permanently bid farewell one of the two brothers that make the show, lest the ever-so-rabid fanbase send death threats and whatnot to his mail (and I’m not exaggerating when I say that Supernatural has by far the most loyal, vocal, and crazy fans I’ve seen this decade, despite its modest viewing figures). But no one – no one who watched the trailer prior to the episode, of course – expected at all to see Jake actually deliver that killing blow. I’ve got to admit, Jensen Ackles had my throat dried up when his character was begging Sam to hang on. He never really stood out during his brief stint on Smallville, but he’s perfect here.
12. Lost – Greatest Hits (Season 3, Episode 21)
I’ve never really cared much about Charlie since mid-Season 1, so for one episode to come along and make me sympathise with him is definitely noteworthy. His admirable decision to accept his fate for Claire and the rest of the survivors was touching and towards the end of the episode when he swam into the Looking Glass, I was scared he was going to get killed. I was scared he would drown right at that point unceremoniously. That’s powerful television. A friend said to me right after the airing that Charlie’s main flaw prior to this sequence of events was failing to accept responsibility, and I couldn’t agree more. From drug addict and has-been rock star to one heck of a brave saviour, his journey on the island is now complete. Regardless of what happens in Season 4, Charlie will always be a hero in my eyes.
11. 24 – 9:00AM – 10:00AM (Season 6, Episode 4)
The fourth and final part in the two-hour season premiere back in January should have been in my top five. Curtis dying wasn’t a huge shock (the omission of the actor’s name from the main cast didn’t go unnoticed), but the fact that it was Jack who had to pull the trigger left quite a large impact on myself. Then, less than ten minutes later, there was the ultimate “holy fucking shit” moment, the moment that all of a sudden made me silent: a nuclear bomb actually went off in the middle of a populated area. And then, we were thrown another curveball, that there were four more of these motherfucking nukes out there. So why the heck did it miss the top ten? Retrospection. Instead of being a jaw-droppingly awesome episode that set the scene for a great season of 24, it became a jaw-droppingly awesome episode that led to mediocrity and the show’s worst season yet.