Tuesday’s news

Ooh. No train to catch today. Time for some leisurely news.

Film

  • Talks are on for Constantine 2. Why?
  • Gerard Butler is to be Snake Plissken in an Escape from New York remake. Maybe.
  • Watchmen stuff

Commercials

  • Oh goody. Another Coke Zero ad, this one with Wayne Rooney. Sounds better than the last one, though. [free registration required]

Theatre/Doctor Who

British TV



US TV

  • Which shows are doomed and which shows are coming back next season
  • An interview with Malcolm McDowell about his appearance in Heroes
  • A great big blow-by-blow account of a crucial scene in the next episode of Heroes
  • Spoilers from Kristin, including an unexpected promotion to series regular for one Heroes character next season; some deceased Lost characters are back in flashbacks; plus Ugly Betty stuff.
  • Life on Mars has been pushed back, because they’re having trouble finding a lead.
  • Moves are afoot to cut back on the Law & Order franchises
  • Eliza Dushku comes back to Fox for a soapy drama about nurses
  • Christina Applegate, Jean Smart and Amy Brenneman get pilots. Plus Melanie Griffiths gets a recurring role in Viva Laughlin!
  • So Rob Morrow, Fisher Stevens and Chad Lowe go skiing. And they get lost. It’s not a joke, but it is funny.

The by-jingo it’s early Wednesday news

Do you know you have to be at the US embassy at 8am for your i-visa interview? Bah.

Doctor Who

  • Troughton story The Web of Fear gets its first episode aired on BBC4 on Sunday 18th March as part of a London Underground season.

Film

  • Just when you thought there was no way for cinema to get crasser, now come plans to adapt John Milton’s Paradise Lost, getting rid of the dull bits, Adam and Eve being nude, etc.
  • M Night Hasbeen’s new film has been greenlit by Fox

Music

  • As though we cared, The Wurzels reveal who the mystery guest vocalist is on the re-release of “I Am A Cider Drinker” (it’s for charity though)



British TV

  • The DVD of Life on Mars, series two, is out on 16th April. It’ll feature a documentary about the Camberwick Green moment from episode 5.

US TV

  • The Black Donnellys gets okay ratings for its second episode, although others argue it’s a worrying slide.
  • Heroes will be back on April 23rd. Here’s the promo with clips from the next episode.
  • Zach Braff’s sorted himself a good deal to stay with Scrubs
  • An interview with Ronald Moore, exec producer of Battlestar Galactica
  • More pilot casting news. Anyone remember Party of Five?
  • Steve Coogan is to appear in Curb Your Enthusiasm as a psychiatrist
  • Create your own BSG video using SciFi’s BSG videomaker toolkit. You could win a prize
  • He may had jury duty, but he still has spoilers. Michael Ausiello lets us know useful things about Lost. Plus he seems to think a certain thing wasn’t permanent after all on BSG. Was RDM conning us?
  • Kristin talks to the producer of House about what’s to come and what’s past
  • Tim Robbins has a pharma-related drama planned for Showtime
  • Eddie Izzard and Minnie Driver’s The Riches is going to premiere online this week

Things I learnt from watching television last week

24: As long as something exciting happens all the time, I can watch the most mindless drivel.

30 Rock: Manatee. Hee, hee!

Battlestar Galactica: It is possible for Starbuck to be boring.

Heroes:
Even people you suspect can’t act will start acting if you give them something to do. “Claire-bear” can reduce a grown man to tears. Sniff.

Jericho: Flashbacks are only interesting if you give a monkey’s about the flasher. If you know what I mean.

Lewis:
Occasionally the writers can be funny. Lewis “not a professional Northerner”? Hee hee!

Lost:
Oh yes. Lost used to be fun. I remember now.

Primeval: As long as something exciting happens all the time, I can watch the most mindless drivel. Also, the right backing track for a flock of dodos is Kasabian’s “Club Foot”.

The Unit: Eric Haney should be allowed to write episodes, too, not just Lynn Mamet as I suggested last week – another lesson learned. Also, all previous attempts to write realistic war dialogue have been rubbish: if it was authentic, we wouldn’t understand a word of it, as Haney has just proved. I had to watch it twice to work out what was going on.

Monday’s March news

Doctor Who

  • Video footage of the possible last scene for John Barrowman in the next series of Doctor Who. No sound to spoil things
  • David Tennant’s video diary is on YouTube, now the Beeb has done a deal with Google

Film

Art



British TV

  • Neil Gaiman gets bewildered by the UK release of Neverwhere

US TV

  • Sort of spoilers for Tuesday’s House. And for The Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll. Yey?
  • Chris Showerman (what did his ancestors do?) has been cast as Flash Gordon
  • Spoilers for Heroes. And more spoilers. And more!
  • Sarah Connor Chronicles talk. Yes, Summer Glau is an evil female terminator
  • Joss Whedon talks about Buffy, Firefly, Wonder Woman and the Buffiverse movies that never happened
  • How Lost got a VW camper van onto the island
  • Spoilers for BSG
  • Pamela Anderson has a new TV show in the works
  • Amber Tamblyn is to star in the disturbing Babylon Fields pilot
  • 24 spoilers

Guess who’s back Wednesday news

Doctor Who

  • No need to lock up your daughters from the 31st March. They’ll be staying in voluntarily to watch David Tennant in the new series of Doctor Who

Film

  • There’s a video game based on The Golden Compass coming out this year.
  • Another film that didn’t need one gets a remake. This time it’s Cronenberg’s Scanners.

Theatre

British TV

US TV

  • The Black Donellys‘ ratings weren’t very good. Begorra.
  • Freddie Prinze Jr has another show. Wisely, his name isn’t in the title.
  • Lucy Liu’s coming back to tele for Cashmere Mafia
  • Las Vegas will be back for a fifth season, but without James Caan or Nikki Cox
  • Jack McBrayer (Kenneth the page in 30 Rock) only gets recognised by pages.
  • Lots of spoilers over on Ausiello as usual. Most notable that I can talk about here are Goran Visnjic not renewing his ER contract, a new female character is coming to Lost, and one of Close to Home, The Unit and Jericho is to get cancelled. Also, interesting stuff about Heroes, House and 24.