Supposedly Dancing With the Stars wanted to go more towards A-List celebrities this time around, but apparently they use a different alphabet then the rest of the world.

Apparently they decided to go with a mixture of people who USED to be on the A-List, and then add in some people you’ll be left scratching your head about until they eventually get voted off the show.  There’s a few easy picks for early eliminations, and a couple that might stick around … you know, like every other season of the show.

The professional partners for each dancer will be announced on Aug. 31st and I;ll make sure to update this past as soon as they are announced.

• David Arquette – Actor and part of the fairly eccentric Arquette family.
• Ron Artest – Mandatory male sports star of the season.  At least this time he’s a basketball player.
• Chaz Bono – Son of Cher and Sonny Bono, transgender rights activist.  (Now legally a man, Chaz was born a girl)
• Elisabetta Canalis – Model and former girlfriend of George Clooney.
• Kristin Cavallari – Actress … and I use the term loosely.
• Nancy Grace – The insanely irritating “legal expert.”
• Rob Kardashian - Yes, those Kardashians.
• Carson Kressley – Fashion expert and formerly of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.
• Ricki Lake – Actress and former talk show host.
• J.R. Martinez - Severely burned soldier from Iraq who is now a motivational speaker and actor on All My Children.  Definitely who I am rooting for.
• Chynna Phillips – Actress and singer
• Hope Solo – Goalie for the U.S. Women’s Soccer team.

In an effort to fill the hole left by the end of Smallville, The CW is working on developing a series based on the DC Comics character Deadman.

According to Deadline, Supernatural creator Eric Kripke is currently readying a development treatment for a Deadman series that will follow the original stories from DC Comics.  For those of you unfamiliar with the character, which is probably 99.9% of you as who ranks as a D list character as best, Deadman was a man named Boston Brand who was killed while he was a well-known trapeze artists.

Upon his death, a made up Hindu Goddess gave him the power to possess the living to try to find his killer.  Along the way he ends up helping other people he jumps through.  After finally finding his killer he continues with helping others.

If this sounds like a mixture of The Crow and Quantum Leap, well, yeah, kinda, except Deadman first appeared in 1967.  Most people would never realize this and think that a TV series based on the character was a rip off, but he actually did come first.

Beyond that, I can almost see this working as a TV series 20 years ago, but these days, and with The CW involved, I have nothing but reservations.  This is a network known for producing half-assed television shows, so I see this being nothing more than another of their excuses to make an over dramatic piece of tripe.  I’m sure they’ll throw in a love interest, lots of longing shots, musical montages … you know, just like Smallville.

Of all the characters in the DC Universe, and this is the one they pick to make into a series?  DC never ceases to amaze me.

Are you ready for a sixth Star Trek TV series? Apparently some people think we are.

Multiple sources are reporting that David Foster, a writer/producer who used to work on Battlestar Galactica, has gone to CBS with a pitch for a sixth Star Trek television series.  Despite the fact that J.J. Abrams 2009 film set up an alternative timeline that completely ignored the five television series and numerous movies in the franchise, but apparently this new concept is set in the time after Star Trek: Voyager, the fourth series and the one that pushed the timeline the furthest into the future.

Apparently the new series will continue along the original timeline and ignore the new film chronology.  Not a big deal, it did seem silly to me to throw out decades of history so, sure, why not, go ahead and run two different timelines.

How close is this to reality?  “The series concept is fully developed, subject to change, of course, with a solid 5- to 7- year series plan, pilot script and conceptualized finale that intends to define Star Trek for generations,” Foster told The New York Post.  A pilot script has been completed and far more development than your normal pitch, but the official presentation has still yet to happen.

Will it get to air?  Who knows.  Mr. Foster says that this series will return more to the original roots of the series than some of the later incarnations did.  You can interpret that a lot of different ways, but my hopes is it will be less about technobabble and how many ridges the make-up department can fit on a nose, and more about telling actual stories and morality tales.

One of the biggest concerns is that apparently the concept focuses on younger characters, so I’m fearful we may get “Teen Drama in Space,” but we’ll just have to wait to see.

Does this mean I may finally have to update my “Who is the Best Star Trek Captain” post?

The second season of The Walking Dead kicks off on Oct. 16th, and it only makes sense that a big promotional push would happen at San Diego Comic-Con. What I’m not sure anyone was counting on was over four minutes of footage to be shown.

Judging by what is shown in the below footage, the television adaptation will continue to mix original storylines in with what happened in the comic.  The fact that the character of Shane is still with the survivors (I’m not saying if he died in the book or just left the group) tells us that things definitely are still diverging from the original story, but then we see “the farm,” and we’re suddenly pulled back into the book.  (please tell me the prison and the Governor are coming up … please, please, please)

All that being said, I would say easily 95 percent of this trailer shows us things that never happened in the book, and while I’m okay with some divergence, if you’te doing to call this The Walking Dead, couldn’t we be at least a little bit closer?  At this point they should have just gone with a different name and said, “Inspired by the comic book series, The Walking Dead.”

Despite my grievances with the series at the end of season 1, I’ll still be watching.

I know people are always looking for new ways to make revenue, but sometimes it reaches a level that just boggles the mind.  And when it goes to some of these extreme levels, you have to wonder how effective it could even be.  Do people really pay that much attention to advertising?

Case in point, some eagle-eyed viewer of a How I Met Your Mother rerun from 2007 spotted an ad for the new Kevin James movie Zookeeper that just came out this weekend.  No, it didn’t run during the commercial slots, it was in the actual episode itself, digitally inserted there so as to just be residing in the background.  The Consumerist posted comparison photos of the scene.

And now the original scene.

The original scene was taken from a DCD release of the show, and as you can see there was no book or magazine on the table behind the character.

Does this type of advertising even work?  Did anyone see this rerun and immediately go, “Leaping lizards!  I must now go see Zookeeper!”?  I highly doubt it.  Someone, somewhere, is selling advertisers a bill of goods, and I can’t believe anyone with even a modicum of sense would say, “Wow, I bet that would really work to get our product’s name out there.”  I’m not sure if I’m more annoyed with the ad rep or the schmuck that fell for it.

In general I don’t find TV ads have even the remotest impact on me anymore.  Even if I’m not zipping through them on my DVR, and I let them play naturally, I pay no attention to them.  I know they are full of questionable claims and results that they will only live up to under the most perfect of conditions.  And product placement in shows?  Absolutely no impact on me.  But digitally inserting magazine ads into a show in the background?  How does that even begin to have any influence on anyone?

Somewhere, someone is getting a gold “Thank You” watch for coming up with this idea while another exec is getting busted down to the mailroom for buying it.

Apparently someone told NBC that all of the other networks had already released their fall 2011 premiere dates, and perhaps it was time they join their brethren in this.

NBC Fall 2011 Season Premiere Dates

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8
8/7c NFL Kickoff Special 2011
8:30 p.m. Sunday Night Football

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 11
7 p.m. Football Night in America

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13
10 p.m. Parenthood

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14
10 p.m. Up All Night
10:30 p.m. Free Agents

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19
8 p.m. The Sing-Off (two hours)
10 p.m. The Playboy Club

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20
8 p.m. The Biggest Loser (two hours)

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 21
8 p.m. Up All Night (regular time period debut)
8:30 p.m. Free Agents (regular time period debut)
9 p.m. Harry’s Law
10 p.m. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22
8 p.m. Community
8:30 p.m. Parks and Recreation
9 p.m. The Office
9:30 p.m. Whitney
10 p.m. Prime Suspect

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23
9 p.m. Dateline NBC

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21
8 p.m. Chuck
9 p.m. Grimm
10 p.m. Dateline NBC (regular time period debut)

It seems like the season just ended, and already the networks are starting to put their Fall 2011 premiere dates out there. For whatever reason, NBC hasn’t stepped up yet with when their shows will debut, but the other four broadcast networks have.    Get set for the week of Sept. 12th as all of the shows start kicking off then.

UPDATE: NBC Fall 2011 Season Premieres have finally been announced.

ABC Fall 2011 Season Premiere Dates

Friday, September 16
10:00 p.m. 20/20

Monday, September 19
8:00-10:00 p.m. Dancing with the Stars
10:00-11:00 p.m. Castle

Tuesday, September 20
9:00-10:00 p.m. Dancing with the Stars the Results Show
10:00-11:00 p.m. Body of Proof

Wednesday, September 21
8:00-9:00 p.m. The Middle (special one-hour premiere)
9:00-10:00 p.m. Modern Family (special one-hour premiere)
10:00-11:00 p.m. Revenge

Thursday, September 22
8:00-9:00 p.m. Charlie’s Angels
9:00-11:00 p.m. Grey’s Anatomy (special two-hour premiere)

Sunday, September 25
7:00-9:00 p.m. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (special two-hour premiere)
9:00-10:00 p.m. Desperate Housewives
10:00-11:00 p.m. Pan Am

Wednesday, September 28
8:30-9:00 p.m. Suburgatory
9:30-10:00 p.m. Happy Endings

Thursday, September 29
10:00-11:00 p.m. Private Practice

Sunday, October 2
7:00-8:00 p.m. America’s Funniest Home Videos

Tuesday, October 11
8:00- 9:00 p.m. Last Man Standing (special one-hour premiere)

Tuesday, October 18
8:30-9:00 p.m. Man Up!

Friday, October 21
8:00-10:00 p.m. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (time period premiere)

Sunday, October 23
8:00-9:00 p.m. Once Upon a Time

After the jump you’ll find CBS, FOX and The CW.

Continue Reading ->

Saturday Night Live Japan debuted last week, and to be quite frank, it’s almost creepy.

Readers of this blog know I’ve followed Saturday Night Live since its very first episode. Through the bad years and the good, I’ve been there, and I have no plans to ever tune out because it’s just a part of my life now.  However, what I didn’t know was that foreign versions have been launched in France and Spain.  This came as a bit of a surprise to me, and I only learned of those two because the news came out that Saturday Night Live Japan was going to air its first episode last weekend.

Considering the peculiar sense of humor of the Japanese, I wasn’t quite sure how the show would translate, but then I saw the opening credits.

They got Don Pardo, the voice of the American SNL since the first episode to do the cast read? Epic! Not to mention that the opening shots are filmed in the exact same style as the American credits, which is also fairly cool.  From what I heard about the rest of the episode, the humor was much more slapsticky than the American version, which holds more true with your usual Japanese style of comedy.  It could also somewhat harken back to the early days of our version, but my suspicion is that it is much about about what the Japanese are used to.

The biggest difference?  Their version will only air once a month.  Yikes.

The Walking Dead season 2 has gone into production in the area surrounding Atlanta, and AMC has wasted no time in releasing some non-spoilery promo pics.

While I certainly had my issues with the first season of The Walking Dead, I’m sure I’ll be back for season 2.  Sadly, the first images released are not doing anything to help my issues with the show as now it seems that whatever causes the zombies is also capable of changing their bone structure?

In this first image, check out the African-American gentleman on the right.  Perhaps his flesh is rotting away, sagging so much to reveal his bone structure?  Then why is the rest of him not suffering a similar fate?

If it was just this one picture, I’d chalk it up to poor make-up design, but … enlarged eyes and sockets?  Sure it’s creepy looking, but since when did zombie plagues start changing us from humans to to deformed creatures?

Good job, AMC picking the creepy images, but you left me unsettled in the sense of I have no clue what you’re planning to do to annoy me this year.

NBC is pinning a lot of hope on its new drama series The Playboy Club, and despite not premiering until Sept., that’s no reason to get more footage out now.

Set in the 1960′s at the Chicago Playboy Club, the series follows the lives of some of the Bunnies and the customers that come to the club. You can read the full description in the NBC upfront synopsis, but as I said then, this is not a series that should be airing on traditional commercial television.  Perhaps on a cable channel like A&E or HBO this show would make sense, but on NBC?  All I can see is this series going badly.

Check out this footage and you be the judge.

Are you seeing what I mean? While I fully believe stories can be done without sex, this is a show that would seem to scream, “I need nudity, and it is essential to my narrative!” No, what we’ll get is a ton of teasing, innuendo and it will all finally grow into a nuisance.

I predict nothing but doom for this series.  Maybe in the 1980′s or 1990′s it could have worked, but 2011 when you have shows like Mad Men, Breaking Bad and so on, something you know can’t even attempt to push the boundaries because of where it airs?  Good luck with that.

Oprah Winfrey has closed the door on her show after 25 years on the air.

… Thank heavens that’s over.

I’ve been pretty clear over the years I’ve had this blog that I just plum don’t like Oprah.  Now, my dislike for her doesn’t quite reach my level of hatred for Rachael Ray, but she’d have to kill someone to catch up with “The Evil One.”

I’ve never cared for Oprah, but whens he first popped back int he mid-80′s, she seemed mostly harmless.  Then came the “Oprah’s Favorite Things”, “Oprah’s Book Club”, O Magazine and on and on.  She was no longer just some harmless little talk show, she had turned into the leader of something that closely resembled a cult.  Whatever she told her group to do, they did it, and gladly.  She could make and break authors (and some of them nearly broke her …), she could bring corporations to their knees by promoting their products and then sometimes she carelessly threw around her power like she did with the school in Africa.

Will never understand how this woman came to mean so much to so many people.  She was a talk show host.  Period.  She did not cure a disease.  She didn’t bring a baby out of a burning building.  She didn’t even help an old woman across the street.  She talked to a whole lot of people and yelled their names.  This somehow turned her into a media mogul that unleashed people like Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz and … yes … Rachael Ray (like I didn’t already dislike Oprah enough).

The only solace I take in all of this, her new OWN Network is not doing well an the numbers are dropping rapidly on the fledgling cable network.  Apparently her magic somehow didn’t carry over to a channel dedicated to her.  Fine by me.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have any ill will towards Oprah, I just think she was … well … useless.  She was no different than any of the other hundreds of talk show hosts that have existed over the years except that she was spectacular at self-promotion.

After 25 years, Oprah is off my daily airwaves, and I couldn’t be happier.  Adios, Oprah, your only redeeming quality was your love of Cocker Spaniels.

Justin Timberlake returned for his fourth time hosting Saturday Night Live, and, yes, the “Dick In A Box” guys came back for this third video.

Last time Timberlake was on SNL, we got “Mother Lover“, a sequel to the original “Dick in a Box” sketch.  Andy Samberg and Timberlake were spotted earlier this week filming a scene with Susan Sarandon and Patricia Clarkson, pretty much guaranteeing us a third video of these characters who are apparently stuck in the 1990′s.

Joining in on the fun this time was the episode’s musical guest, Lady Gaga.  While I didn’t find it quite as funny as the previous two installments, after multiple viewings it has definitely grown on me.  I present you with, 3-Way (The Golden Rule).

(please note: this video is sure to be going up and down for a while, I will continue to replace it as often as I can for viewers outside of the United States)