The Weekly Round-Up (Oct. 12 to 16)
Here are the sci-fi based entertainment news items for this week (October 12 to 16):
NEWS
ABC has ordered 12 more episodes for freshman sci-fi series FlashForward, meaning that the first season is 24 full hours.
FOX has confirmed they will air all 13 episodes of unrated series Dollhouse especially given the recent announcement of how well the show performs in the 7 plus day DVR viewings.
As of right now FOX does not plan to cancel any shows through the fall, but that’s not to say they won’t simply pass on ordering the “back 9” for any of the new shows.
FOX is reducing its episode order for the midseason crime drama Past Life to just seven episodes, including the pilot. The series is about a team that uses past life regression to solve crimes. It is expected to air after American Idol on Tuesday nights.
NEW DEVELOPMENT SLATE
The CW announced their development slate for the 2010-2011 season. Among the 7 potentials was this:
• Rob Thomas‘ Plymouth Rock – a series about a group of young astronauts who must travel to a distant planet in order to colonize and save the human race;
ABC is opening The Gates, handing a 13-episode order to a crime drama set in a gated suburban community. The series is to center on a big-city cop who becomes chief of police in a seemingly sleepy planned community only to discover there’s much more to the residents than meets the eye.
NBC has given a script order to drama Welcome to Hitchcock, from writer/executive producers Steve Mitchell and Craig Van Sickle (The Pretender TV series and movie event Alice) and executive producer Teri Weinberg about a skilled but restless police detective who, in search of his missing brother, relocates to the city of Hitchcock, Calif., where he soon discovers a world of half-truths, peculiar characters and unanswered questions lying beneath the town’s sparkling, friendly, blue-sky veneer of tradition and family values.
NEW SEASON TALLY
The following is another run-down of the general state of the TV shows for the fall season – not just the sci-fi(ish) based shows, but excludes half-hour comedies:
What have been the highs and lows for the new season thus far? For CBS, it is returning hit NCIS as well as its spin-off series NCIS: Los Angeles and Tuesday night companion The Good Wife. The latter two both being picked up for a full season recently. The lows for the network however, are Three Rivers and Cold Case.
Over on ABC, Grey’s Anatomy may have dropped in the ratings since last season, but it is still holding its own and newcomer FlashForward is not quite a ratings gangbuster, but it, too, received a full season order and can be crowned the top new series for the network. The lows include the new comedies Hank and The Middle (which has been picked up for a full order despite its low ratings) and new drama Eastwick, which is struggling.
NBC has its work cut out with The Jay Leno Show already eating up 5 hours of primetime programming. The only real highlight for the network is the continued success of half-hour comedy The Office. Unfortunately, one-time hit Heroes and the new medical drama Trauma are both failing in their timeslots.
FOX has perennial hit House to lead the pack, but don’t overlook the power of Bones, as it beat ABC new favorite FlashForward in the ratings last week. The losers for the network are the comedy Brothers and the drama Dollhouse, which despite losing a considerable amount of viewers in its short two week run (and which already struggled to make a renewal last season) has their DVR viewers to thank for its hanging on by a thread.
Lastly, there is the CW, which can already boast the first cancellation of the season in The Beautiful Life. On the other hand, the new series The Vampire Diaries is off to a tremendous start, beating out all other shows on the network. The low light can be shone on the reimagined series Melrose Place, which is struggling in the ratings. The same could be said of the long-running series Smallville, but like FOX’s Dollhouse, this series has its DVR viewers to thank.
BOX OFFICE NEWS
Joss Whedon’s horror flick The Cabin in the Woods has been delayed a full year by MGM Studios, being moved from February 5, 2010 to January 14, 2011. The reason for the delay officially is that early test screening responses have been so good that the film is undergoing a six month post-production conversion into 3D. Drew Goddard (Cloverfield) directed and co-wrote the feature.
Ian Somerhalder (The Vampire Diaries) has joined the cast of the gothic fairytale feature Cradlewood, which is a story about a young woman whose new boyfriend is not only heir to a major fortune but hides a baffling, disconcerting secret that’s tormenting him. Filming kicks off in Melbourne, Australia in 2010.
AS HEARD ON
The songs played during the finale of Drop Dead Diva were “Don’t Wait” by Dri; “If You Wanna Go” by Joy Williams, “Definition” by Alex Mills, “I Like You Baby” by Oh Darling and “Piece of Mind” by Castaneda.
Group of young children sang “Believe It Or Not,” the theme song from The Greatest American Hero on Heroes this past week.
Music featured on The Vampire Diaries this week included “21 Guns” by Green Day; “Down” by Jason Walker; “Enjoy the Silence” by Anberlin; “Fader” by The Temper Trap; “Stood Up” by A Fine Frenzy and “Weight of the World” by Editors.
The Twilight Saga: New Moon movie soundtrack is available for (legal) download today via iTunes.
CASTING SCOOP
Jolene Blalock (Star Trek: Enterprise) joins season two of Legend of the Seeker as a recurring “Sister of the Dark” trying to destroy Kahlan (Bridget Regan).
Mark Sheppard will appear in the 10th episode of Supernatural – the final hour of the series of 2009. He will play a “pivotal” demon named Crowley.
Bruce Davison will have a recurring role on Ghost Whisperer.
Todd Stashwick (The Riches) has been cast in a recurring role on Heroes, where he will play Eli, a member of the traveling carnival who has close ties to the carnival’s evil ringleader Samuel (Robert Knepper).
Mike McMillian, who plays the sinister Church-owner Reverend Steve Newlin on True Blood has confirmed that he’s returning to the show for season three. However, there is no word on when he and on-screen wife, played by Anna Camp, will return.
RUMOR PATROL
ABC is reportedly standing behind under-rated (and low rated) new drama Eastwick (at least for now). T hey are calling it their “quiet success story” because they “put very little marking money against it”. Time will tell if they stand behind their word or not, though.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Some movies to look out for this coming week include:
The Syfy movie The Dunwich Horror will air at 7 PM on Sunday, October 18 and stars Dean Stockwell and Jeffrey Combs. The premise is about opposing parties seeking the missing page of a sinister book.
The movie Wolvesbayne will air on Syfy on Sunday, October 18 at 9 PM and is about a werewolf hero (Jeremy London) takin on a vampire cult. Co-stars include Yancy Butler and Mark Dacascos.
And, here is a list of the sci-fi(ish) based shows that will be airing this week:
Sunday, October 18:
Dexter on Showtime at 9 p.m.
Monday, October 19:
Heroes on NBC at 8 p.m.
Wednesday, October 21:
Eastwick on ABC at 10 p.m.
Thursday, October 22:
FlashForward on ABC at 8 p.m.
NOTE: New episodes of The Vampire Diaries and Supernatural will air next week just in time for Halloween.
Friday, October 23:
Dollhouse on FOX at 9 p.m.
Ghost Whisperer on CBS at 8 p.m.
Medium on CBS at 9 p.m.
Smallville on the CW at 8 p.m.
Stargate: Universe on Syfy at 9 p.m.
Sanctuary on Syfy at 10 p.m.
NOTE: Please check your local listings for the correct air dates and times for all of the above.
Have a great weekend!
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