Shark is to get another seven episodes, despite being not very good (despite having James Woods heading the cast list). Of all of CBS’s new shows, that only leaves the fate of The Class undecided. Given that it’s actually funny, I’m hoping CBS will see the light and commit to a full season.
I’m With Stupid being remade for the US
If you worked for a US network and you wanted to remake a sitcom set in a home for the disabled, who would you get? The Farrelly Brothers, of course. So naturally, that’s whom NBC has hired to retool BBC3’s I’m With Stupid.
That’s quite handy since both 30 Rock (which is very good) and 20 Good Years (the second episode of which I only got halfway through, it was so bad) are not doing at all well in the ratings. Perhaps NBC was right to talk about cutting back on its scripted comedy.
Why Smith was cancelled
Smith had the dubious honour of being the first of this season’s new shows to be cancelled. It only lasted three episodes, and many people are wondering why it was killed off so quickly. Turns out, each episode cost $3 million to make (the pilot cost $8 million). I reckon that would explain it.
Unnecessary remakes of our time, number 17: Hellraiser
Clive Barker is working on a bigger budget remake of the seminal Hellraiser. Given there have now been eight Hellraiser movies, the question has to be, “Why?”
Holy frack: Last week on US TV
Quite a stupendous week in US TV for various shows that have been up and running for a few weeks. Battlestar Galactica‘s fourth episode, Exodus Part 2, shifted upwards the quality threshold for TV sci-fi by about 10,000 feet, alternating between tear-jerking tragedy (I certainly had a sniffle at one particular scene) and staggering action that probably blew the show’s budget for the next decade. If you’re ever going to give Battlestar Galactica a look in, UK viewers, that’s the one to watch.
Meanwhile, Jericho has suddenly turned properly interesting, five episodes in. Both Skeet Urich and Lennie James’ characters have revealed themselves to be a gadzillion times more interesting than anything up to the third episode had really promised. Despite a saggy middle section that featured yet another “disaster of the week”, the episode also had a promising opening as well as very, very promising ending that indicates a whole load of interesting things are going to be happening soon. Looking around at the various spoiler zones, I’d say that these aren’t false promises either. So hang in there until the fifth episode, potential Jericho viewers in the UK: it’s worth it now.