Fox Announces Post-Strike Schedule
Posted on February 20, 2008
Rejoice, if you watch Fox, for they have revealed their plans for the rest of the season. Hugh Laurie medical drama House is slated for an April 28 return, on Mondays instead of Tuesdays, while Bones will be back two weeks earlier on April 14, eventually leading in to House. Post-strike episodes of half-hour comedies Back to You and ‘Til Death are set to air on April 16.
As for freshman series, dramas New Amsterdam and Canterbury’s Law premieres on March 10, with Parker Posey comedy The Return of Jezebel James starting on March 14. Unhitched, a comedy starring Craig Bierko (Boston Legal) and Rashida Jones (The Office), premieres on March 2.
In other completely unrelated news, Monk has been renewed for a seventh season by NBC-owned USA Network. The show, starring Tony Shalhoub as a detective with an obsessive-compulsive disorder, will return in July.
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
The Aftermath: Your Comments
Posted on February 9, 2008
Because the countdown attracted a small amount of interest, I see no harm in showing some of the reader questions and comments I received (primarily from responses to entries in my personal blog).
It looks like you know what you’re talking about in regards to the telly. I wish I had enough spare time and patience. – Scott
Patience is a fickle thing. I mean, I endured the whole seventh season of Gilmore Girls (and was rewarded with a couple of diamonds in the rough), but couldn’t last more than a few episodes of Bionic Woman. Most of the time, though, it’s not really patience. It’s more that I enjoy what I’m watching, getting past the fact that there will inevitably be bad episodes from time to time.
I love Gilmore Girls. Great show, not to mention Alexis Bledel is smokin’. Smallville has lost some of its thunder, but it’s still hot, especially the new season like Clark and Lana making the world shake [during sex]. – Vincent
By now, you know where I stand on Gilmore Girls, so I’ll move onto Smallville. Being honest, I’ve not been impressed with its latest season. Season 6 was pretty solid overall with the introduction of the Green Arrow (and having Lex finally showing signs of going into the dark side), as well as some great episodes in “Reunion”, “Justice”, and “Freak”, but now it feels like the writers are running out of ideas. All of a sudden, we have a gazillion Kryptonians, and I still think Lana’s outstaying her welcome with no importance other than to delay Clark’s step to becoming Superman. I don’t find it at all surprising to see that the show has hit series low ratings this time, either. Each to his own, though. It’s great to see that you’re still enjoying it.
(Re: #13 – All Hell Breaks Loose, Part I) How great to have Supernatural come in at lucky thirteen! So well deserved, of course. I’d have picked “In My Time of Dying”, “What Is and What Should Never Be”, and “All Hell Breaks Loose, Part II” amongst my favourite episodes, but in reality, all of them are great. Yes, Jensen Ackles is phenomenal [when Sam dies], but you ain’t seen nothing if you haven’t seen the rest of his amazing performances as Dean Winchester. This truly is the role he was meant to play, and he finally has the writing support to showcase what an amazing actor he is.
The beauty of this show is how every episode gives us action, drama, horror, and great brotherly insights, and then every so often, they throw in these deeply moving, very emotional angst moments that take your breath away and reveal even more about the Winchesters. Jensen and Jared [Padalecki] are mesmerizing, accomplished actors, and the writers of Supernatural give them the material to consistently knock it out of the ballpark. Supernatural is the best show on TV, and everyone needs to tune in and see what they’ve been missing. – bjxmas
This is what I mean when I say Supernatural has some of the most devoted, passionate, and crazy fans I’ve ever seen (this isn’t a dig – I’m rather jealous, because there isn’t a show that I’m just as fond as you are for Supernatural). You’ve summed up the show surprisingly well, though, behind all the gushing praise (whether it’s deserved or not, that’s up for debate…I’ll shut up now before I get shot). It excels in a lot of areas, and is genuinely creepy at times. Sure, the dialogue is occasionally clunky and Jared Padalecki’s acting is a little weak at times (…and I think I’ve signed my death warrant), but that’s not enough to keep me from looking forward to each episode every week. I totally agree that the writers do an excellent job at continuing to make the brotherly bond really genuine and heartfelt. “A Very Supernatural Christmas” is the perfect example.
For the record, “In My Time of Dying” is a 2006 episode. If it were a 2007, I’m sure it’d make my top ten. Speaking of my top ten, you must be delighted that “What Is and What Should Never Be” ended up with such a lofty position, and even more so that I’ve credited Jensen Ackles so much in that particular commentary that I’m starting to sound like you.
(Re: #16 – My Musical) “Lack of depth, emotion, and storytelling”… WTF? Every episode is built on all three? Am I misunderstood? – themovi3nut
Now, there’s two ways of interpreting your question. I’ll assume you’re sane and pretend you asked, “wait, are you being silly and stating that each Scrubs episode is built on depth, emotion, and storytelling?” I was merely comparing Scrubs’ musical with Buffy’s. Scrubs is a comedy through and through, so one wouldn’t expect it to produce a musical anywhere near on the same level as “Once More, with Feeling”. But like I said, “My Musical” isn’t meant to be compared to it – dare I say, the pinnacle of one of the greatest series ever (that’s right, not “Becoming, Part II” or “The Body”!) – and I did compliment it a huge amount by providing excellent mindless fun and entertainment. If you had asked, “but wait, isn’t each Scrubs episode built on depth, emotion, and storytelling?” we’d be here all day as I have the inability to stop ranting.
Pushing Daisies is a great show and that episode was indeed worthy of a mention, but I am surprised not a single House episode made your list. I am particularly referring to the one with “Big Love” getting Cuddy’s panties. Great list, though. I definitely enjoyed reading through it. – Jon
Thanks for the compliment. I agree that “You Don’t Want to Know” (the House episode you were referring to) was particularly strong, but along with “Half-Wit”, “Act Your Age” (I’m a sucker for House-Wilson interactions), and “Alone”, they missed the cut. However, did you know that “Three Stories” topped my 2005 list?
It’s funny that Dexter is #1, because that’s the one show I didn’t recognise at first, but then I realised [the first season] doesn’t premiere until later [this month in the US]. – Tyler
You need cable! Showtime’s where Dexter’s at, unless we’re talking about the show’s terrestrial debut on CBS (which will undoubtedly be inferior with all the editing and cutting due to swearing and nudity). So yeah, you need cable, because I’m confident that the original, uncensored episodes will remain far, far superior.
(Re: #3 – Through the Looking Glass) That episode of Lost really was unbelievable. I bet the person in the casket is Charlie, but that would be kind of predictable. – Tish
Actually, I’d say the person in the casket would be boring, and the option not many people would be expecting because of that reason. Having seen the first two episodes of the fourth season, I’m willing to bet reasonable money that the deceased is someone amongst the “Oceanic Six”. Maybe he/she was driven to suicide because of the guilt at leaving “them” behind on the island – the very same guilt that has made Jack suicidal? As for “them”, I’m confident its Abbadon’s recruits (the four parachutists).
(Re: Top Ten) Well, since I don’t watch “TV” (I’m a kid at heart and watch Cartoon Network, The Simpsons, Family Guy, George Lopez, and anything else that looks interesting), I might as well comment with something interesting like: Two of these episode titles are by Guns ‘N Roses and Led Zeppelin respectively. But in all seriousness, Dexter sounds like a thrilling show. - Eddy
To anyone not in the know, Eddy’s referring to “Welcome to the Jungle” (Guns ‘N Roses) and “What Is and What Should Never Be” (Led Zeppelin). “Wishin’ and Hopin’” is a Dusty Springfield song, too, I believe. And yes, Dexter is awesome.
(Re: #5 – Company Man) Good choice on the Heroes episode. It wasn’t my favourite from the whole season, but a tense and exciting episode nonetheless. – Paul
My main beef with Heroes – even though it’s a great show on the whole – is that it’s split up into so many initially unrelated sub-plots. What I neglected to say in my commentary for “Company Man” was that another reason why I loved it so much was because it spent the entire duration on one storyline. The attention the Bennets received really showed. That’s not to say the other episodes are bad and lacking depth – that’s certainly not the case – but there’s a real difference. Also, if there’s a sub-plot that you’re generally not interested in (e.g. Hiro searching for the sword; Simone in general), that’s obviously going to negatively impact your impression of the episode, depending on how much screentime and how little advancement these stories get within that timeframe. Of course, the advantage of having many of these sub-plots running beside each other is that storylines tend to progress faster (unless they’re filler).
On the other side of the coin is Lost. That particular show has undergone a lot of criticism in the past for not progressing the story fast enough or not answering enough questions. As I’m sure you’ll know even if you don’t watch the show, each character tends to get an episode to themselves before the spotlight moves onto the next the following week. Quite the opposite of what Heroes does, but the key to why Lost beats it in character development. To summarise? Both storytelling techniques have their strengths and weaknesses.
(Re: Top Ten) I liked the third episode a little bit more than the first for Pushing Daisies myself, but I picked the pilot for my [own top ten list of 2007 episodes], because I thought it was an original concept, and it was a more refreshing experience, since it was the first episode. “Wishin’ and Hopin’” was a great episode of Grey’s Anatomy, and “Company Man” from Heroes came so close to making my top ten as well. As for #3 and #1, you know I loved those. I just realised that my #1 was third on your list, and my #3 was first. That’s pretty cool! – Anthony
Just in case any of you were curious, his #2 was 24’s 9–10AM hour (at #11 on my list), #4 was Heroes’ “Landslide”, #5 was “Rosemary’s Baby” of 30 Rock, #6 and #7 were “The Deposition” and “Local Ad” respectively from The Office, #8 was Prison Break’s “Sweet Caroline”, #9 was “Crash Into Me, Part I” from Grey’s (my #25), and #10 was Pushing Daisies’ pilot, “Pie-lette”.
A man after my own heart, it seems.