chrryblssmninja

I've only watched most of the second half so far, but...

THAT THIRD COLUMBUS GOAL WAS INSANE


oh, and is anyone interested in the upcoming midseason series Kings?

When I saw the description back in upfront season, I found the concept interesting, but I didn't think they could pull it off.

KINGS -- "Kings" is an inspiring exploration of the timeless David vs. Goliath struggle. The show is set in a modern metropolis under siege where the fighting has gone on for too long and cost far too many lives. When David Shepherd (Christopher Egan, "Resident Evil: Extinction"), a brave young soldier, rescues the king's (Golden Globe winner Ian McShane, "Deadwood") son from enemy territory, he sets events in motion that will finally bring peace. Suddenly, David is thrust into the limelight, earning the affections of women -- including the king's daughter. When he's promoted to captain, he becomes the reluctant poster boy for hope. But for David, the line between his allies and enemies will blur as the power players in the kingdom go to great lengths to see him fall. From the director (Francis Lawrence) of the blockbuster movie "I Am Legend" comes the ultimate story of David vs. Goliath, and there's no telling who will win. Sebastian Stan ("Gossip Girl") also stars. "Kings" is a production of Universal Media Studios; Michael Green (NBC's "Heroes") is the executive producer. Francis Lawrence ("I Am Legend") is the director and executive producer and Erwin Stoff ("I Am Legend") also is executive producer.

But then I saw this teaser trailer, and I was v v impressed. Maybe this thing can work out after all.

And whoa shoot, it's getting ER's old timeslot.

Brian Cox will play the rival king, and Maculay Culkin to guest?

NBC's old upfront press release.
oh, right, I forgot they're bringing Merlin to NBC. I've seen flist squee about it, but I tried the first five minutes and even Anthony Stewart Head couldn't keep me watching. (yeah, I know the main appeal of the show is the two boys, but I didn't feel like waiting) But I'll give it another try when it comes here. I think my family would want to watch it too.

First,

Happy Birthday, pablo___!


Have a superfantastic day, Lease.

Now, more upfront stuff.

More on ABC and CW, via yahtzee63:
ABC has a wide array of pilots being considered for midseason, including eight comedies and nine dramas: "Bad Mother's Handbook," "Five Year Plan," "Never Better," "Roman's Empire," "This Might Hurt," "Fourplay" (previously "Untitled Kohan/Mutchnick Project"), "Single With Parents" (previously "My Brother's Hot (And Other Dilemmas)" and "In the Motherhood" on the comedy front and "Captain Cook's Extraordinary Atlas," "Castle," "Cupid," "Finnegan," "Good Behavior," "Prince of Motor City," "Untitled David Hemingson Project," "The Unusuals" and "Section 8" on the drama side.

The only ones of these I know anything about are:
"Cupid," aka the possibly brilliant, possibly ghastly redo of Rob Thomas' unfairly canceled 90's show about a man who might be the Roman god Cupid exiled to earth or may just be a crazy man trying to be a matchmaker. I loved the original but am not convinced they can catch that lightning in the bottle again; and "Prince of Motor City," which is sort of like "Cane" was this year, but in Detroit, with cars instead of sugar.

I heard horrible things about "In the Motherhood." "The Unusuals" sounds potentially interesting. And I remember "Cupid!" I was too young to really understand everything, but I remember it!

( full premise of the new 90210. Really, read the whole thing. )

And now, for CBS.
Story on 2008-2009 season

The shows:
Eleventh Hour - Drama - Premiering: Fall 2008
Premise: Accompanied by his beautiful blonde bodyguard, a government science advisor travels the country investigating abuses of science and crimes of a scientific nature. The project is based on a British miniseries.
First Impressions: There's the "Dark Knight" teaser with the tagline "Why so serious?" which may apply to "Eleventh Hour" as well. The pilot appears to have taken its cloned babies plotline directly from the British original and director Danny Cannon has given the show his trademark stylized look. Rufus Sewell looks to be a capable and compelling lead, but why did the clips screened for advertisers feature Marc Blucas -- presumably in what is just a one-off guest appearance -- far more than Marley Shelton, the show's second lead? Even if the clips weren't instantly outstanding, this is a slam-dunk in the post-"CSI" slot.
Stars: Rufus Sewell ("Dark City"), Marley Shelton ("Sin City")
Rufus Sewell has a dramatic face. But hee the description "beautiful blonde bodyguard." Unless she's like Mercy from the Superman comics/animated series. Then that would be fantastic.

The Ex List - Comedic Drama - Premiering: Fall 2008
Premise: Successful thirtysomething business owner Bella has everything she could possibly want. Except for a man. When a psychic tells her she's already dated her future husband, Bella has to go through her past romantic history to find the perfect man who got away. The catch? If she doesn't find the guy in the next year, she'll die alone. The series is based on an Israeli format.
First Impressions: Elizabeth Reaser looks fantastic. And there should be plenty of female appeal for audiences coming out of "Ghost Whisperer." But what would possibly make any man watch this latest incarnation in the "Beautiful, successful woman who just isn't complete without a phallus in her life" genre? The best part of the clips were Eric Balfour, playing a hilarious caricature-of-type as a dickweed boyfriend from the main character's past. If he returns, perhaps we'll watch again.
Stars: Elizabeth Reaser ("Grey's Anatomy"), Rachel Boston ("American Dreams"), Adam Rothenberg ("Mad Money"), Alex Breckenridge ("Dirt"), Amir Talai ("Campus Ladies")
Chick-flick version of "New Amsterdam." Though without the cool immortality and crime-solving aspect (why do they always give the more interesting things to the guys?). Except it's based on another show. But still.

The Mentalist - Drama -Premiering: Fall 2008
Premise: Patrick Jane, a detective and independent consultant with the California Bureau of Investigation, used to pretend to be a psychic medium, but now he just uses his powers of observation to solve crimes, as his unorthodox methods and questionable past occasional rub the other members of his unit the wrong way.
First Impressions: For college students, I'd like to propose a great drinking game to start when "The Mentalist" premieres this fall: Whenever Simon Baker's character -- a former fraudulent psychic turned ultra-observant crimefighter -- spots a clue and they cut to a tight close-up of Baker squinting his eyes, take a shot. You'll be drunk by Act II. That being said, Baker has good eyes and he looks like a charismatic lead. He's surrounded by a good enough cast that viewers may soon get over the impression that "The Mentalist" is suspiciously like a certain USA show only with fewer laughs. The pilot looks to be loaded with recognizable guest stars.
Stars: Simon Baker ("The Guardian"), Robin Tunney ("Prison Break"), Owain Yeoman ("The Nine"), Tim Chang ("Rambo") and Amanda Righetti ("The O.C.")
Dude, my mom likes Simon Baker. Hey, he's cool.
And I liked Owain Yeoman as the nicer bank-robbing brother on "The Nine."

Project Gary - Comedy - Premiering: Fall 2008
Premise: Divorced after 15 years of marriage, Gary has to move on with his life with his gorgeous new girlfriend, while also staying close to his two kids, his ex-wife and her new boyfriend.
First Impressions: From Jay Mohr to Paula Marshall to Larry Miller, "Project Gary" is full of people who have been known to be funny. And even Jaime King was a hoot on "Kitchen Confidential," but this multi-camera laffer feels awfully sitcom-y and familiar. After having to play restrained for a season on "Ghost Whisperer," Mohr looks like he's having funny yelling and hamming it up.
Stars: Jay Mohr ("Ghost Whisperer"), Paula Marshall ("Out of Practice"), Jamie King ("Kitchen Confidential"), Laura Marano ("Back to You"), Ryan Malgarini ("How to Eat Fried Worms")
Ah, sitcom premises.

Worst Week - Comedy -Premiering: Fall 2008
Premise: Magazine editor Sam has a great job and a beautiful fiance, but whenever he gets around her conservative parents, disasters tend to follow.
First Impressions: What will the viewer threshold be for watching a nice guy humiliated on a week-to-week basis? The clips we saw seemed to feature a whole season's worth of scatological, sexual and slapstick embarrassments, which will all be packed into a 22-minute pilot somehow. And some of them were funny. As fans of "The Winner" and "Kitchen Confidential" know, Erinn Hayes has a rare combination of sex-appeal and anything-goes humor, while nobody does a disapproving slow-burn like Kurtwood Smith. There's no doubt that star Kyle Bornheimer has everyman appeal, but... and let's not make this seem too harsh... will viewers be distracted by his slightly crossed eyes?
Stars: Kyle Bornheimer ("Jericho"), Erinn Hayes ("The Winner"), Kurtwood Smith ("That '70s Show"), Nancy Lenehan ("My Name Is Earl")
Just go curse yourselves with that title, fools.

Harper's Island - Horror Drama - Premiering: Midseason
Premise: A group of family and friends head to a secluded island off the coast of Seattle for a destination wedding. In addition to being picturesque and romantic, the island is also infamous as the site of a homicidal maniac's killing rampage seven years earlier. When people start turning up dead, that becomes a major concern.
First Impressions: It's "My Big Fat White Horror-Wedding," or "Reunion" meets "Big Day" meets "Friday the 13th." "Harper's Island" looks like the sort of knock-off slasher film that usually gets released in January and makes a lot of money without being screened for critics. But those sagas of cute, thin white folks getting butchered only need to last 90 minutes, while this show will somehow have to sustain 13 episodes.
Stars: Elaine Cassidy ("Felicia's Journey"), Ryan Merriman ("Final Destination 3), others TBA
If done very, very carefully, could have been awesome. But CBS doesn't do high-concept well. Even its supernatural shows are procedurals.
Check out the video clip.
Production looks very cheap, and dialogue too bland for fun. Most of the actors look bland as well, 'cept for one guy who looks a bit like Cillian Murphy. But that was just for one shot.

TWOP snarksters can be hit-or-miss, but the one who is covering upfronts is pretty good, capturing the insane atmosphere of the event while commenting on the shows too. Well, besides the haterade on Craig Ferguson. Maybe it was an off day for the Scotsman, though.
The CBS upfront
ABC
The CW

Oh, and I came up with some ideas for shows.
One is inspired by all the rich and pretty people shows presented by the CW yesterday. It's titled "Opportunity Valley." Basically a mix of all the different upper-middle class to upper class high school environments in Silicon Valley. I'll expand on it if anyone asks. But the pilot starts with a double suicide. At least, the guy goes through with it. The girl doesn't. Cut to title.
Second one I'm bringing up because "Harper's Island" above reminded me of it. I want to make an American miniseries of "Battle Royale." The Japanese novel that was made into the controversial movie. I will keep the characters Japanese. I've made extensive notes on how to translate the novel into 6 episodes. This is something I've been stewing on for a while.

okay, sleepy time now.

I'm way behind on flisting, but I should have enough time to catch up tomorrow.

first, Happy belated Birthday to kerlin!

Monday marked the start of TV upfronts. It was NBC's day.

The Fall 08-09 schedule

NBC's "in-front" Experience: Conan O'Brien's disembodied voice boomed over the loudspeaker.
"If you didn't get a seizure walking through this, you'll probably never get a seizure," the future Tonight Show host intoned.

interesting Heroes bits
from the 2nd article above: I did, however, learn that the cast of Heroes has been back at work since May 1, that Adrian "Nathan Petrelli" Pasdar had worked the red carpet outside the Experience (though the show's publicist demurred when I asked if that meant Nathan isn't actually dead)
from the Twitter updates: Milo and Quinto goofing on each other at the put-your-head-on-a-character photo booth.
not from upfronts, but whatever: Masi Oka guest stars on Japanese Kat-tun show

main information (a.k.a. if you don't want to read the links)
- Friday Night Lights to return for third season
-secret spinoff of The Office is still top-secret
- - Late Night with...Jimmy Fallon
- NBC has even gone so far as to lay out its schedule for summer 2009, promising Canadian drama "The Listener," cooking competition "The Chopping Block" and a pair of shows from the producer of "Ice Road Truckers" for 14 months or so from now.


New Shows (all info from here)
America's Toughest Jobs - Reality - Premiering: Summer 2009
Premise: Twelve contestants venture out of their comfort zones to tackle jobs like logging, oil drilling, driving on icy roads and extreme fishing.
any other suggestions for tough jobs, flist?

Chopping Block - Reality - Premiering: Summer 2009
Premise: "Hell's Kitchen" with a different tyrannical chef
I see.

Crusoe - Drama - Premiering: Fall 2008
Premise: Described as a combination of "MacGyver," "Castaway" and "Pirates of the Caribbean," this take on Daniel Defoe's adventure tale follows a man who has been shipwrecked on a tropical island for 28 years, but is still determined to return to the wife -- and life -- he left behind.
Stars: To Be Announced
So has he been rescued?
mustnotmakepolarbearsmokemonstercomment

Kath & Kim - Comedy - Premiering: Fall 2008
Premise: Based on the Australian comedy series, a self-absorbed young woman separates from her husband and moves back home with her divorced mother who is herself discovering that life doesn't stop at 40
Stars: Molly Shannon ("Saturday Night Live"), Selma Blair ("Hellboy"), John Michael Higgins ("The Break-Up"), Mikey Day ("The Underground")
Promising cast.

Kings - Drama - Premiering: Winter 2009
Premise: A soldier rescues a king's son from enemy territory and is thrust into the limelight, setting off a chain of powerful events in this take on the classic David vs. Goliath struggle.
Stars: Christopher Egan ("Resident Evil: Extinction"), Ian McShane ("Deadwood"), Sebastian Stan ("Gossip Girl"), Allison Miller
what's the time period?

Knight Rider - Drama - Premiering: Fall 2008
Premise: Based on the '80s series, the classic KITT car has become even cooler. Thanks nanotechnology!
Stars: Justin Bruening ("Cold Case"), Deanna Russo ("NCIS"), Sydney Tamiia Poitier ("Veronica Mars") and Bruce Davison
Forget the Hoff - go meta with a Moritz Volz appearance.

The Listener - Drama - Premiering: Summer 2009
Premise: A 24-year-old paramedic uses his ability to read people's minds to solve crime.
Stars: Craig Olejnik ("The Runway") and Ennis Esmer ("The Path to 9/11")
you wish it was the new "Scrubs."

Merlin - Drama - Premiering: Winter 2009
Premise: Using modern story-telling, this fantasy series is set in Camelot but follows Merlin and Arthur as young men before they became legends.
Stars: Colin Morgan ("Doctor Who"), Bradley James, Anthony Head ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer"), Richard Wilson, Angel Coulby and Katie McGrath ("The Tudors")
ANTHONY. STEWART. HEAD.

My Own Worst Enemy - Drama - Premiering: Fall 2008
Premise: A middle-class efficiency expert/suburban family man shares his body with a a trained killing machine in the latest take on the classic Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde dynamic.
Stars: Christian Slater ("The Good Shepherd," "True Romance"), Mike O'Malley ("Yes, Dear"), Saffron Burrows ("Boston Legal")
more: On "My Own Worst Enemy," meanwhile,[Saffron] Burrows will play the therapist to one of the two sides of Slater's split suburban dad/superspy identity -- and the girlfriend to the other.
so then it's Jekyll + Hyde + Desperate Chuckwives. or something.

The Philanthropist - Drama - Premiering: Winter 2009
Premise: After the death of his only child, a billionaire playboy begins going to extreme measures to help those in need around the world.
more on "The Philanthropist": "Battlestar Galactica" executive producer David Eick is in talks to take over as executive producer of the show, which is about a billionaire who uses his means to help those in need, sometimes going outside the law to do so.
a non-butt-kicking Batman.

Shark Taggers - Reality -Premiering: Summer 2009
Premise: Marine biologists use cutting-edge technology to track and hand-tag the ocean's top predators.
lol Discovery Channel envy

the Fall-summer-winter schedule diagram

non-NBC content
"Scarlet" is fake TV show, really ad campaign for TV sets
Dude, they had David Nutter named as producer. Which sounded awesome. I suspected something, though- the actress, Natassia Malthe, looked too fake and model-pretty to be a real lead. Oh right she was in Elektra.
Check out what could have been at the Scarlet series Youtube page.
early review of pilot scripts for J.J. Abrams' "Fringe" and Joss Whedon's "Dollhouse"
Cast updates for "Caprica": Esai Morales as Grandpa Adama
Eric Stolz as rival
Set 50 years before "BSG," "Caprica" follows two rival families -- the Graystones and the Adamas -- as they grow, compete, and thrive in the vibrant world of the 12 Colonies.

Stoltz will play wealthy computer engineer Daniel Graystone, who, after a family tragedy, creates something technologically amazing that will change the future of Caprica. Could it be a Cylon?
ooh

Today’s upfront focus: CBS.
Story +lineup
"Kid Nation," in which a group of youngsters occupy a 19th century ghost town for 40 days
Strange.
the Swingin' '70s ensemble drama "Swingtown"
uhhh
Here are helpful descriptions and comments on the new shows by yahtzee63.
Some official descriptions…
THE BIG BANG THEORY : “The chemistry between this gaggle of geniuses and a delightful damsel is about to undergo a stimulating series of inter-personal experiments.”
Oh please no.
Executive produced by Tony and Emmy Award winner Hugh Jackman ("The Boy from Oz," "X-Men"), VIVA LAUGHLIN is a mystery drama with music about eternal optimist and freewheeling businessman Ripley Holden, whose sole ambition is to run a casino in Laughlin, Nev. Occasionally using upbeat contemporary songs to accentuate the drama and humor and advance the story, the series is based on the hit BBC show "Viva Blackpool."
Aww, inconvenient timeslot for me. I hope it’s a remake on par with The Office (US).

CANE stars Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Jimmy Smits ("The West Wing") in an epic drama about the external rivalries and internal power struggles of a large Cuban-American family running an immensely successful rum and sugar business in South Florida...Eddie Matos ("General Hospital"), Rita Moreno ("West Side Story"), Michael Trevino ("The Riches"), Lina Esco ("CSI: NY"), Sam Carman ("Bones"), Alona Tal ("Veronica Mars") and Polly Walker ("Rome") also star.
Yay Latino power! Caribbean Latino, even more. Interesting cast, from the cool Rita Moreno to…Alona Tal, Jo on Supernatural. Hey, what does this mean for Jo…I was okay with her…

MOONLIGHT: is about Mick St. John (Alex O'Loughlin, upcoming "White Out"), a captivating "undead" private investigator who uses his acute vampire senses to help the living... instead of feeding on them.
So it’s like Angel, except less fun and special? I want the Amber Tamblyn zombie comedy instead!!!

Ooh look I found more links!
ABC previews: Photos Video
CBS previews: Photos
NBC previews: Video
And you must watch the Bionic Woman preview, if only to watch the fight between the show star Bionic Woman and the original, crazed bionic woman played by none other than Katee Sackoff, Starbuck on Battlestar Galactica! It’s by the same producers too…do they have a thing for remaking sci-fi shows from the 70’s?

Aww, cool! HBO’s making a Flight of the Conchords series. I posted about them a while ago…“New Zealand’s 4th most popular folk parody duo” is totally awesome. You can watch an episode on their myspace! See my source for more info on the show.

I guess I’ll release some movie links today.
David Boreanaz, Sub-Mariner? Sub-Mariner is one of my favorite comics characters, and David Boreanaz has really become a good leading man. But I don’t think they quite fit.
The official website for The Dark Knight is up, just a teaser pic for now.
Amy Winehouse is the next Bond girl?

Via cleolinda: Stills from The Dark is Rising (hi Christopher Eccleston!) and Persepolis, the film adaptation of a great graphic novel about a young girl living through the Iranian Revolution.
Oh, and Maria Bello will replace Rachel Weisz in Mummy sequel
Make your own Pirate flag!

And let’s throw in some Star Wars and Conan:
Conan O’Brien interview with Star Wars Rocks
Some fun quotes:
“As a real aficionado, my true favorite is the obscure, never released Episode 2A: The Passive-Aggressive Email Chain of the Sith.””
“Which character do you identify with the most in the entire Star Wars saga and why?
Princess Leia -- because I almost made out with my brother once, too.”
Hee, he was interviewed by Cal TV too.
Time to end with another great link from Cleo: check out this headline. Who shot first?

Three really tiny things I wanted to say about Heroes:
-Hey Marvel fans, anyone think that the virus is like this show's "Legacy?"
- Kirby Plaza! Jack Kirby shout-out!
- And did anyone catch the issue of Hulk: Gray in the comics that Candice gave Micah! Woo! Drawn by Tim Sale (the guy who does Issac's and Peter's paintings), written by Jeph Loeb, and generally awesome, you must read Hulk: Gray.

This week is upfronts, when networks announce their lineups for the upcoming fall season. NBC started off. Here’s the full story and lineup, and comments from yahtzee63 about it are here.
"Journeyman," a sci fi-tinged drama about a man ("Rome" star Kevin McKidd) who inexplicably travels through time, will get the 10 p.m. Monday spot after "Heroes,"
Uhhhhhh…interesting. Not sure it’ll turn out good, though.
Bionic Woman only got me interested when I heard that Katee Sackhoff (Cara “Starbuck” Thrace on Battlestar Galactica) might have a supporting role.
What is “The Singing Bee?” No, wait, I think I can guess…it’s a contest…oh dear

Heroes: Origins
Oh my geekery explodery wooo -thump- and yay Charlie-Jayma Mays mention!
We need a Heroes Day. Lost has 8/15, what’s a good number for Heroes?
Oh, and glorfindelghost had some Heroes pics from the upfronts here.

This past week has really been exhausting. That past Monday, though, the school put up some swings under some trees, which was an excellent way to beat the stress (and that day’s heat). Finished my last final on Saturday. Sunday was Mother’s Day, so we took my mom out for a big brunch before she went to work. After her work, we went to the school carnival. It was great seeing damagedlilacs there with mi pequeña Perlita. It was also great ramming into them in the bumper cars. My mom won some small stuffed snakes in one of the carnival games. I named mine Shiina Shoniwa, after two of my favorite rock star heroines. Today I started fixing up all the things I left around during school. Also finished up Disc 2 of Battlestar Galactica Season 2 and I’m so glad we have Disc 3 on hold at the library. My mom also pointed out that the guy who plays Helo (Tahmoh Penikett) was Lex’s supersoldier Wes in the latest episode of Smallville.

Some Heroes links:
Via gossy16: fun interview with Adrian Pasdar, Malcolm McDowell, and Cristine Rose Aww cool, McDowell’s nephew is Alexander Siddig (Dr. Bashir in Star Trek DS9 and the good prince in Syriana.
TWOP has posted Part 1 and Part 2 of a Jack Coleman interview you can listen to.
And, one BSG link: Yep, 4th season to be last. Too bad. Although knowing the end date is quite the storytelling advantage. ETA: Okay, maybe not the final season...

I’ve made some assorted icons over the past few months (music and soccer and tv oh my!), but I’ve never had time to post them. And THEY ARE MANY. So I’ll just post some smaller batches up now and later. Since this post is pretty much Heroes-centered, I guess I’ll put the Heroes ones up for now.

2 Claude
2 Peter
2 Peter w/Nathan
2 Nathan
1 Nathan w/Angela
3 Hiro
5 Sylar
1 Sylar w/Mohinder
2 HRG
1 Charlie
1 Mr. Muggles
5 cool random

( Heroes icons, non-spoilery for my international friends who don't download )
I’ll try my best to have links + upfront news posts each day this week.