Slings and Arrows

I've been watching the Canadian show Slings and Arrows, which is pretty funny and entertaining. I'm currently halfway through the second season (it goes fast since there are only 6 episodes in a season). But the premise and basic setup of the show are very similar to Studio 60, and it just goes to show how Studio 60 could have been a really fun and entertaining show, but instead was just awkward and pompous. sigh.

Also, this link to the futon critic lists all the shows that have already been renewed for 2007-2008.

TV 2007-2008

Via tvtattle.com, here's a list of some of the hot shows for the fall season. Unfortunately, it doesn't really give you a synopsis of what the shows are about, so if you're really interested, you can cross-reference with the futon critic's very extensive coverage of pilots in development... One of the pilots that is listed as close to hot in the first link is Nurses, which stars Eliza Dushku (Faith from Buffy). The OC's Josh Schwartz seems to have a pilot for the CW that is looking good. I watched one episode of the BBC's Football Wives and really didn't like it (too campy - I know, can there be such a thing?), but it's looking hot at ABC, so I'll be curious if this translates well.

License to Wed

Pop Candy has a link to the trailer for the new Mandy Moore/John Krasinski movie License to Wed. I have to admit that I was really excited about this movie (it has Mandy, and Jim from the Office!), but then I realized that it also had (dun dun) Robin Williams. Yes, it's going to be one of *those* movies. Other equally damning headliners would have been Jack Black or Ben Stiller. And then I watched the trailer. And it's terrible. I'm debating whether to delete the movie off my queue now. But I think there continues to be a danger that I will relapse and decide that I should still watch the movie, because of Mandy and John.

Also, I'm very sad that recently Mandy has done some interviews where she's been a bit embarrassed that she was the singer of the song Candy. Mandy, don't turn your back on that! I still have it on my iPod. And based on some early comments on her new album (which is posted streaming somewhere, I think), it sounds like Candy and I Wanna Be with You may have been better eras in her record history...

Goodbye girls

`Gilmore Girls finally gets cancelled (courtesy of gecko). Thank goodness, since gecko and I would probably have kept watching even despite the decline...

Bird book

The tomcat bought me the book Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World's Most Revered and Reviled Bird and I started it last night, which appears to have been a tactical error because I stayed up much later than I should have reading. The book is fun and light, and tells you all sorts of weird facts (my favorite kind of fact!) about the birds.

TV by the book

A writer who used to work on Dawson's Creek has written a memior about working in TV. Sounds like it might be a fun inside look at the television business, so I think I'll put this on my reading list (from tvtattle.com)

Wired for fashion

From tvtattle.com, a cool article about the wardrobe designers for the Wire

DWTS

Last night's Dancing with the Stars featured a cute segment called Dance Center, with Kenny Mayne doing a Sports Center knockoff. The commentary was reasonably funny, but the best part was the telestrator slowmo recaps of specific parts of dances. I've always thought that this would be funny and entertaining to have commentary on the dancing, with replays, so I'm thrilled to see it in, even if it was a joke. One can only hope they'll incorporate it into the show!

Dead Like Me isn't so dead?

I'm incredibly excited that Dead Like Me (the cancelled Showtime show) might have a straight to DVD movie. I'd love to see the original cast do this, although who knows if that's possible... I think Mandy Patinkin is on a CBS show... Anyway, this is a totally awesome show, and since totoro currently has netflix, I think he should watch this as well!

Britney

Britney Spears finally gives us some news that's not about her divorce, her clothing (or lack thereof) or crazy antics. She's back to work, people! One can only hope that she's going to release an album, but not go crazy in the process. I'm looking for some fun new dance tunes!

BBC shows online

It looks like the BBC is also going online, they have approved this thing called the iPlayer for online viewing of TV episodes. I don't understand everything in this article, since I'm still not sure what "series stacking" means, but it looks like it'll be something similar to the services that all the major US networks have now.

Hopefully this means it will be easier to watch certain BBC shows without having to resort to waiting for their DVDs to be released or hope that BBC America doesn't suck. I just started watching MI:5 as per nyanko's recommendation, and so far it is another striking example of how they make shows slightly differently over there (other than the fact that their "seasons" are about 1/4 an American season).

cupcakes at home

Williams Sonoma is stocking a cupcake mix (from the LA based cupcake chain Sprinkles). That sounds yummy!

Nielsen ratings + DVRs

The Nielsen ratings finally have numbers that take into account people who watch later with DVRs. It's interesting to see what shows seem to have a lot of DVR viewers.

Dancing With The Stars

So, American Idol did the From Justin to Kelly movie a while back, and while I never saw it, a movie I'd definitely go see is one with a bunch of the professional dancers from Dancing with the Stars. I think Apolo Anton Ohno's partner, Julianne Hough seems like a dead ringer for Kate Hudson (less so in the picture on her bio page) and could probably do an equally good job of acting, so I'd vote for having her in the DWTS movie. However, I shouldn't really slam American Idol since I've recently heard a couple of songs from past Americal Idol people which I've liked, so I think I'm going to buy them...

Studio 60

NBC is actually going to broadcast the remaining Studio 60 episodes starting on May 24th. I hadn't gotten around to killing the season pass, and unfortunately, even though the show hasn't been very good, I don't think I can stop myself from watching the rest of the episodes to see if it eventually hit a good groove. I think I just really like Sarah Paulson too - I have watched a bunch of crappy vehicles with her (Leap of Faith, anyone?), and I truly cannot justify watching those unless I have an excuse like inexplicably liking one of the actors...

No more drive

Aaaaand that was fast... Fox Cancels Drive. At what point can we start calling Nathan Fillion a show-killer? I like him, but I'm not sure I gravitate toward him as a leading man. But he was on Firefly, and was getting a bigger part on Miss Match before it got cancelled, and now this? Seems like he's well on his way to show killer status.

Traveler

There were some good early reviews of the ABC midseason show Traveler and it's hitting the schedule earlier than expected, on May 10th. The show is about two guys who get framed for a crime; it sounds like a fun summer show...

TV schedules for 2007-2008

The 2007 Network Upfront Presentations are scheduled for May 14-17, which is just around the corner. I'm pretty excited to see how things will shake out, but it might be fairly sad if some good shows get cancelled. Although I have to say that there are shows that I used to be attached to, but won't be that sad if they get cancelled (Veronica Mars). Rumors have been posted that make things look pretty bleak for Veronica Mars and Studio 60. I'm cautiously optimistic about Friday Night Lights, and it sounds, sadly, like Gilmore Girls will probably get an abbreviated season (maybe 16 or 18 episodes) for next year. However, I've seen posts that said that the latest GG episode might have been the best of this season, which really isn't saying much, but at least it indicates some improvement. I keep hoping I'll cut down on my TV watching and maybe some key cancellations will facilitate that.

60 Things Worth Shortening Your Life For

Barry Sonnenfeld documents 60 things that are worthy of shortening your life. I'm assuming this is in my most recent Esquire issue, but I haven't read it yet. I don't care much about the scary dangerous things, but the list of food stuffs is pretty intriguing...

CBS WATCH!

I was browsing the newstand a couple days ago and came across the brand spanking newCBS WATCH! magazine, which is apparently a new magazine designed to sell the stars on on the CBS shows while publicizing their shows. The feature article is all about JLH (aka Jennifer Love Hewitt or the Ghost Whisperer). I was tempted to buy it since it's only $1.99, but it looked so lame, it didn't even seem worth the money. In contrast, I was totally willing to spend $5 on the InStyle Home magazine, and in the past I totally bought some other TV related magazine (but that wasn't limited to just one procedural heavy network), even when it was also total crap but at least prettier when I picked it up and flipped through it. Anyway, it's entertaining to look at the website see the content they are squeezing out of their stars (Eric Close on vacation, Navi Rawat talks about Miami, Danny Pino gives back to the community). I wonder if they have to have equal coverage for all their shows...