Could Lost Be Coming to Hulu?
March 28, 2009 by brian
You’ve probably seen those Hulu commercials with Eliza Dushku, who even looks hot as an alien sent to eat our brains. We could possibly soon see Evangeline Lilly threatening to exterminate the human race in commercials for the NBC Universal TV/Internet venture.
Paid Content is reporting that Disney could grant access to its ABC programming in exchange for equity in Hulu. The service would certainly benefit from having a show like Lost, which warrants repeat viewings to figure out what the heck just happened. There’s still no clear indication whether Disney programs like Aaron Stone would be part of the deal.
The sci-fi tinged commercials with Dushku and Alec Baldwin are part of a huge national branding campaign to make Hulu a household name. Getting the Disney empire behind Hulu would be a gigantic step in garnering that name recognition.
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Prinze Joins No Heroics Cast
March 20, 2009 by brian
Freddie Prinze Jr. is returning to ABC with another comedic venture, this time joining superhero spoof No Heroics. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the show will focus on a B-list group of heroes.
Prinze is on hand to play Ultimatum, a cocky alpha male with wealth, fame and power who tortures one of the B-lister heroes. Before this jaunt, Prinze starred in Freddie, which had a brief run on ABC in 2005.
The superhero genre is rife for satire, with The Incredibles and the hit cartoon adaptation of Ben Edlund’s Tick comics showing how it can be done. For an example of how not to do it, one need look no further than the live action Tick adaptation.
Life on Mars Ending, But Will Get Closure
March 4, 2009 by brian
After coming under fire for letting Dirty Sexy Money, Eli Stone and Pushing Daisies drift off into oblivion, ABC will allow Life on Mars to finish its story.
Variety confirmed the American revamp of the British sci-fi series will end this season, but ABC has informed producers so they can resolve the story in 17 episodes. Ironically, the British original ran only 16 episodes as a closed-ended series. That show then spun into the 1980s with Ashes to Ashes, a show following Lt. Gene Hunt. No such luck for the American series.
The American version was troubled from the beginning, undergoing a total overhaul and recastings before the pilot aired. It was generally well received by critics, but after a strong showing for its heavily advertised premiere ratings kept dipping.
I’m just going to save the phrase “generally well-received by critics but still canceled” and keep copying/pasting for future reference. Still, if there’s a silver lining here it is that the show will get to wrap up its storyline. Hopefully that’s the beginning of a trend not just at ABC, but at all the networks.
Image: Bauer-Griffin
FOX Moves Idol Against Lost
February 19, 2009 by brian
What, you thought FOX was merely content to kill its own sci-fi shows? No, the network is now setting its aim on former ABC juggernaut Lost. The Hollywood Reporter’s James Hibberd tells us American Idol is moving to 9 p.m. Wednesday nights, putting it head to head with Lost for the rest of the season.
ABC’s former watercooler show is losing viewers weekly and having a heavyweight like Idol move into the same timeslot is not good news. FOX’s new project Lie To Me will move to 8 p.m. Wednesdays. The Tim Roth vehicle has more than held its own against Lost, so it makes sense FOX would want to see what it does without any big competition.
I’m a Tim Roth fan, but sheesh. Taking into account Psych and The Mentalist, Lie to Me gives us three TV shows on the air right now about a guy that can tell who the criminal in the room is just by looking at them. Yet somehow shows like Sarah Connor can’t draw an audience. Dismayed sigh.
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Pushing Daisies Final Episodes Up In Air
January 7, 2009 by brian
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Wow, it just keeps getting worse for fans of canceled ABC show Pushing Daisies. This season’s eleventh episode was scheduled to air tonight, but show creator Bryan Fuller told EW’s Michael Ausiello that ABC has pulled it.
There’s apparently no word on when, or if, ABC will air any of the remaining episodes. Fuller had reworked the show’s final episode to tie up all the leftover plot twists.
This isn’t an entirely surprising move. With Lost and Life on Mars returning soon, and ABC’s shiny new toy Scrubs being unveiled, it makes sense they’re not keen to promote Daisies’ swan song. If these final few episodes don’t end up getting aired, it’s still a sad development for fans of the show.
ABC Adapting Fables for TV
December 9, 2008 by brian
ABC is jumping back into the fantasy fray with plans to bring Bill Willingham’s acclaimed comic Fables to TV. The Hollywood Reporter says ABC has greenlit a pilot for the comic telling the stories of fairytale characters living in exile in modern day New York.
In the book, The Big Bad Wolf has seen the error of his ways and is now the sheriff of Fabletown. In the comic’s first story arc, Wolf has to solve the murder of Rose Red, Snow White’s sister. Suffice it to say Red is - not so Snow White.
Apparently NBC contemplated the same idea in 2006 but nothing came of it. The way things are going at NBC these days, that’s probably best for Fables fans. Here’s hoping ABC nails it. Because if a network owned by Disney can’t make fairy tales come true, who can?
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ABC Ready to Flash Forward
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The Hollywood Reporter brings the scoop about Flash Forward, an adaptation of a Robert J. Sawyer novel about what happens when the entire world passes out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds. They awake with horrifying visions of the future.
According to the Reporter, ABC wants to make Flash Forward a companion show for its hit Lost. Joseph Fiennes is apparently ABC’s choice for the lead, a detective trying to put his life back together while trying to prevent the impending catastrophe. The network is also planning to bring aboard John Cho, who will play Hikaru Sulu in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek revamp. Cho may be most famous for his role as Harold Lee in the two Harold and Kumar comedies.
Sounds like this could be a perfect companion piece for Lost. ABC’s been trying to find such a show since Lost became one of the network’s most watched shows. They’ve looked for shows with sci-fi and fantastic elements with previous casualties including Invasion and the recently axed Eli Stone. Next up is a pairing with British sci-fi redo Life on Mars beginning in January.
ABC Drops Pushing Daisies
Critically acclaimed fantasy show Pushing Daisies is no more, done in by second season ratings that never lived up to expectations. It was quite the bloodletting at ABC yesterday as word is that Eli Stone and Dirty Sexy Money also got the boot. E Online’s Kristin dos Santos confirmed the bad news about Daisies with executive producer Bryan Fuller Thursday.
Fuller said there are already discussions with DC Comics to do a comic book that will wrap up the show’s ongoing storyline. That route has already been followed by Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel. Both those shows continued on in comic book form after their premature cancellations. There are also talks for a Pushing Daisies movie. There’s a precedent there as well as Joss Whedon’s Firefly wrapped up its story in a big screen version with Serenity.
The scuttlebutt now is that Fuller will return to his former producer role at NBC’s struggling Heroes, hoping to save it from a similar fate.
Life on Mars Tonight: Tuesday’s Dead
November 13, 2008 by brian
Tonight, Detective Sam Tyler has to deal with a strange hostage situation that may be connected to his own - strange situation. Also, he gets a phone call from what sounds like his mother in 2008 begging him to wake up.
Life on Mars will soon be leaving its Thursday night digs to be paired with the returning Lost on Wednesday nights. ABC is hoping the two sci-fi shows will play well together, not unlike FOX’s decision to pair up Dollhouse and Terminator on Fridays.
What do you think, readers? Are you ready to follow Life on Mars to a pairing with Lost or is it too soon to be jerking a new show out of its time slot?
Life on Mars: Things to Do in New York When You Think You’re Dead
November 6, 2008 by brian
Tonight on Life on Mars, the 125th Precinct is caught in the middle of racial tensions between Black and Puerto Rican factions. A Black girl is thrown off a building and there’s a Puerto Rican murder suspect. The Black Liberation Army wants to handle the matter in its own way and I’m guessing it will not involve Miranda rights or writ of habeas corpus.
As a bonus, Whoopi Goldberg guest stars. After election season on The View, I’m imagining a full-scale riot may be a quieter gig for Whoopi.