Tag Archives: ABC

The Muppets Set for a 2015 Reboot on ABC

It’s time to get things started.

The Muppet Show ran from 1976 through 1981, and stared, among others Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, and the always heroic Great Gonzo. Jim Henson’s group of puppets have been icons for near 40 years, and now thanks to Disney, a new generation of fans have fallen in love with Kermit and crew. ABC knows how much of a hot commodity the Muppets are, which is why rumblings of the network rebooting them for a new TV show are making the rounds.

Continue reading The Muppets Set for a 2015 Reboot on ABC

Trailers for 37 New TV Shows…Yes, 37.

I come to you today a conflicted woman. Those pilots I so looked forward to and thought would find legs? Well it turns out there’s a reason I’m not a network executive. That reason being I don’t think like a network executive as evidenced by the fact that so few of those pilots I predicted would make it to air actually will. On one hand, I’m disappointed because there were some great ideas that are no longer and on the other hand there are some trailers for these new shoes that look very promising. See? Conflict. But enough chit chat – let’s watch some trailers for all the new TV shows…

**note: I did not include all mid-season shows. There will be plenty of time to look at those, these are mainly the fall premieres.**

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NBC cleaned house. Especially when it comes to their sitcoms. The only ones that were renewed were Parks and Recreation and (somewhat amazing) Community. The rest of them, including every new show they premiered this year? Gone. Sadly there have been murmurings that NBC is purposefully abandoning the style of shows they used to air, like 30 Rock and the freshman now canceled sitcom Go On, and are instead looking for things more broad reaching, family oriented, even going so far as to say they want shows more like those on CBS. That’s right folks… NBC is courting the lowest common denominator. Oh joy.

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http://www.nbc.com/assets/video/widget/widget.html?vid=n36728

Former government agent, current FBI Most Wanted, Raymond “Red” Reddington has been on the run for years but now is coming to the FBI with a proposition; he wants to help them hunt down another of their Most Wanted, terrorist Ranko Zamani. Of course, as the name implies, Zamani is not the only person on Red’s list.

Meh, I suppose it has potential but it seems a little like a combination between Law and Order and Fox’s The Following.

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http://www.nbc.com/assets/video/widget/widget.html?vid=n36763

Johnathan Rhys Meyers is discarding period garb to have sex with beautiful women. It seems as if we’ve seen this before. Oh, yea. At least this time he’s doing it as a vampire instead of as King. I’ll admit, this looks promising especially with the people involved behind the camera, and Meyers isn’t really a schlub, so things are in Dracula‘s favor.
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http://www.nbc.com/assets/video/widget/widget.html?vid=n36743

I do believe I said I’d eat my hat if this show made it to series so if someone really wants to see me do that I shall. This is exactly the type of show one might expect to see on CBS so congrats NBC!, you did exactly what you set out to.

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http://www.nbc.com/assets/video/widget/widget.html?vid=n36745

Before seeing this trailer I thought it was going to be crappy. I have since changed my tune. Out of all of NBC’s new shows, this looks to be the most intriguing. I’m hoping that the trailer isn’t hiding the triteness that so many family sitcoms fall victims to because it looks pretty decent based off this small glimpse.

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http://www.nbc.com/assets/video/widget/widget.html?vid=n36744

Not even the beautiful Blair Underwood can make me watch this. Sorry.

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http://www.nbc.com/assets/video/widget/widget.html?vid=n36742

I’ll admit, I liked Yes, Dear for a mindless afternoon of sitcom viewing. There is on way on earth I’m going to make sure I watch this drivel. I mean really NBC? This? I’m insulted. You are better than this. Come on.

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So yea, NBC? Not really hitting it out of the park this year. Of course in addition to these gems is the Chicago Fire spin-off Chicago PD. Are there more depressing words than “Chicago Fire spin-off”? I don’t think so. I’d love to come back to this in a year and be completely wrong about these shows but I think we all know, I won’t be.

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If you haven’t been to our site before you might not have heard, but we are really excited for ABC’s new show, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. We aren’t overly thrilled with having to type that out each time, but for the show itself there is definite excitement. You can catch up on all S.H.I.E.L.D. news here, here, here, here, and here but for right now let’s look at what else ABC has in store for this coming TV year.

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I want to like this. I want this to be good. I fear neither of those things will happen. This saddens me. Oh well, maybe I’ll be proven wrong.

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While this does look promising, how long can the premise last? It takes place in one night. 11 hours of one night in a bar? I don’t even want to be in a real bar in my real life for 11 hours in one night, much less in a TV bar for an entire television season. This just seems like it would get really old, really quick.

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Now we’re talking. I can actually see myself watching this and enjoying it. Granted much like Mixology, I do wonder how long they can keep the show going before telling us how exactly the kid is back from the dead, but that’s part of the fun with shows like this so I’m thinking it will be good.

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So, ummmm, I like it? I am a huge fan of Once Upon a Time and even though the Wonderland version doesn’t look quite as good, mainly because it’s just the one character, I’ll probably still watch it. I mean it’s got the same people behind it (Adam Horowitz especially) as OUAT and I imagine they won’t deviate too far from what makes that show successful so I’m guessing Wonderland will be around awhile.

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I’m can’t tell you how happy I am that this made it to series! Finally a show that I was looking forward to before series orders were announced that has help up to my expectations. You know how I feel about sibling relationships! And if you don’t… I like them!

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No.

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Extremely underwhelmed. Do we really want to relive to 80’s so soon? Nope.

However, I will have to resist the urge to burst into song each time REO Speedwagon comes on. It’s an impulse I just can’t control.

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This is a good example of a promising (if formulaic) premise that seemingly gets lost when making the jump from paper to screen. One can hope that it’s just one of those shows that has a crappy trailer but ends up being a good show.

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This was a better idea when it was called Bad News Bears or Little Giants. Enough said.

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I imagine if you watch and like Revenge, you will watch and like Betrayal. I won’t but I guess there are people out there that will.

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I’m going to hold out judgement on this one until it airs because it could go either way. My gut feeling is it’s going to go bad but my gut has been wrong before so who knows.

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An interesting group of pilots. ABC seems to be a fan of large ensemble cast shows this year. Combined with the “we are a dysfunctional family” sitcoms, well we’ll just have to wait and see who ends up still breathing come next May.

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It is no secret, I hate CBS. There have been very few shows on CBS in recent memory that I’ve watched and enjoyed but each year I think to myself, “this is it, this is the year I will be a CBS fan!” and not surprisingly that lasts only about a week. This year doesn’t seem like that will change, with the exception of maybe one show.

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Will Arnett, Margo Martindale, and Beau Bridges – what’s not to like? Well so far it looks like The Millers. I really expected more from those three fabulous actors signing on to something together but sadly this just does not look that good.

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In what seems like a common theme this year, I just can’t see this show having any longevity. Unless they are only giving us a glimpse of the first two episodes, I can’t imagine there is much of a story that can be told while the President is waiting for surgery. It’s a shame because Toni Collette and Dylan McDermott would be nice to watch together.

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I loved this show back when it was called Chuck. Yea, yea it’s a drama and it’s nothing like Chuck because that was a comedy and this is serious business but I think we can all agree, it’s Chuck. I’ll probably give it a shot because it’s Sawyer but that’s about it.

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Allison Janney does not need a laugh track. It is a crime that Allison Janney has a laugh track. Have I mentioned that Allison Janney is on a show with a laugh track? This saddens me. Add in Anna Faris and make this a Chuck Lorre show which means it will be very predictable and pedantic and this is probably one of the most depressing series orders of the year. So much wasted talent in yet another Chuck Lorre show on crappy CBS.

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I think it would be best if people don’t get attached to this one because I can’t even fathom it lasting more than a year if even that long.

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This is the only CBS show that I’m actually looking forward to and it has everything to do with Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar. I mean it’s Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar! The ad agency aspect seems a bit overplayed these days but I’ll still give it a shot.

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Outside of The Crazy Ones, I imagine my streak of hating CBS will not be threatened. It’s nice to know that there are some thing in life that remain constant. Thank you CBS.

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Fox has the distinction of having both the worst new show and, in my opinion, two of the best new shows of the year in their ranks. Way to go Fox, covering all the bases. I’m impressed.

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This show should never have made it this far, plain and simple. Sgt. Bilko was a great movie with a similar premise but Enlisted? Well it looks like that puppy that Bilko wanted to make him feel better just took a dump on the TV screen and called it a sitcom.

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I am the one person in the world that loved Kate & Leopold. The idea of a person from one time long ago somehow finding his way to modern day is one that I enjoy watching. I also really like treasure hunt/mystery types of things like National Treasure. It appears as if Sleepy Hollow has both of these elements so it’s not hard to imagine that I’ll be making sure I catch this show.

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I’m almost afraid to say this too loud in fear that an executive will hear it and retaliate with cancellation but, I like it. A lot. Very interested in seeing how this one plays out.

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I really expected more out of Christopher Meloni. Not only that but is there really a market for shows based in the 90’s? I feel like the first time I heard Prince on an “oldies” station. At least The Goldbergs is the 80’s which you can recognize by the clothes and decor right away.

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This is pretty much my middle of the road show of the year. If it makes it, that’s great; if it doesn’t, meh no big deal. Although I did really enjoy the moment where he tells the room full of people eating lunch that people really do taste like chicken. An entire show of moments like that? Yea, I’ll watch.

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How on earth does an actor like Giovanni Ribisi end up in crap like this? Seth Green I can see because he’s an odd duck that we all love and adore the more for it but Ribisi? Just doesn’t seem right.

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Very intriguing. I’ve watched every episode of Gangland so I consider myself somewhat of an expert on gang relations and this show looks like it captures them quite well. Must remember to set the dvr for this one.

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These next words are not ones you will see very often: This looks like someone has done a good job at remaking a British show. If you haven’t seen Gavin & Stacey, find a way to remedy that because it is a great show. When I first saw that they were remaking it I cringed because let’s be honest with ourselves here, as a rule Hollywood sucks at remakes. Yes, I know there are obvious exceptions to that rule but it doesn’t change the rule. We suck. With any luck, it appears as if Us and Them does not. Finger crossed!

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It should come as no surprise that just from trailers, my favorite new show is Andy Samberg’s really talented ensemble comedy, Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Andre Braugher in a comedy? Can not wait. Terry Crews, Joe Lo Truglio, and Chelsea Perretti? Seriously, I can’t wait for this show. Seems almost cruel to throw out a trailer and then be like, oh yea but you won’t see any more of this for another five months, hahahaha sucks to be you!

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Out of all the networks, I think Fox actually has the strongest prospects out of Us and Them and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Now it’s just the awful waiting game to see if the powers that be let the shows find their audience or if they act like whiny brats and cancel at the first sign of trouble. Here’s hoping for the former.

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Outside of a few exceptions, obviously one of those being Arrow, there isn’t much on The CW that I watch mainly because I’m almost 35 years old and don’t spend a lot of time writing fanfic on my favorite OTP ship of Dean and Castiel. That being said, some of these shows don’t look all that bad if you don’t expect them to be more than the angst filled pretty people vehicles that they are.

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This was actually one of the pilots I was hoping would get picked up because the whole idea of aliens being integrated into a “suburban high school” was so odd that I just had to see it. Of course as soon as I say I don’t watch CW shows because I’m ancient compared to their intended audience… well Star Crossed star Matt Lanter (also the voice of Anakin Skywalker in The Clone Wars) just turned 30 so perhaps the CW is aging? Or not – he plays a high schooler. One way to prolong your Hollywood career I suppose.

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Mark Pelligrino – that’s all the reason you need to watch. Oh and Oliver Queen/Stephen Amell’s cousin, Robbie Amell, is the lead but really, Mark Pelligrino.

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Vampires. If you like vampires, I’m sure you’d like this. If you don’t, then don’t even bother.

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I imagine this is not at all what the people behind The 100 were going for but with this clip all I could think of was the YouTube video that made the internet rounds awhile back of the chimps who were used for testing purposes and then released outdoors for the first time after they were “retired”. I’d rather watch that video (through the tears because that shit is sad) on repeat than watch this show.

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You know? It doesn’t seem like it’s going to be that bad and like I said when looking at the pilot orders, it’s got Anthony Head and anything with Anthony Head is something I’m going to watch.

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Nothing really that surprising or out of the ordinary for The CW but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing as they have rabid fans and whenever you can successfully create fandoms, you just keep doing what you’re doing.

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So there you have it! A look at the new shows coming up this year. Some, like Brooklyn Nine-Nine have definite promise while others, Back in the Game, really should have just sat this one out, but overall, not a bad… nope, that’s a lie. For the most part, these are some crappy shows. A few bright spots but as a whole this is a bad year for new shows. Back to the drawing board network execs! There’s always next year.

New ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ Trailer! More on the Team, Agent Coulson, and Just Who is the Hooded Hero J. August Richards is Playing?

It seems like Marvel Studios can do no wrong (depending on how you feel about Iron Man 3) with the latest trailer released for the upcoming Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. series on ABC. We also learned recently that ABC will be airing the show as part of their Tuesday evening line-up, which is pretty terrible right now. Hopefully it won’t hurt the show prematurely, but certainly gives ABC fans something to look forward to on Tuesdays. Enough talk, let’s check out this trailer.

Continue reading New ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ Trailer! More on the Team, Agent Coulson, and Just Who is the Hooded Hero J. August Richards is Playing?

Seven seconds of S.H.I.E.L.D. *UPDATED* – Full Trailer w/ Luke Cage?

That’s all the world needs to get excited for the newly announced ABC show, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. It’s packed quite a bit of action in just a few short seconds.

Exploding buildings? Check.
Right hook to jaw? Check.
Beautiful women in what looks to be some type of interrogation situation? Check.
Crystal vase to face? Check.
Agent Coulson? Check, check, check.

As a fan of social media, I get a little giddy when I see companies/networks/shows embrace things like a well-crafted hashtag. No vagueness or abbreviation that no one really gets, rather ABC went straight to the point with #CoulsonLives. That could easily be seen as a trending topic and likely will be, perhaps even tomorrow night when ABC will show a longer preview of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. tonight during Once Upon a Time‘s season finale.

S.H.I.E.L.D.

S.H.I.E.L.D.

As promised, the full trailer aired Sunday night during Once Upon a Time and it offers a much better look at the upcoming series. More specifically, it looks like we might know who J. August Richards is playing.

Dost my eye deceive me? Or could that be Richards as Luke Cage? Sure does seem like it is. Of course there was plenty of other eye candy there what with even more explosions, and fighting, and action in general. Then there’s Lola. Oh Lola, what a beauty. However, I’d be lying if this Air Force brat’s heart didn’t skip a beat when that beautiful plane rolled out of the hangar.

S.H.I.E.L.D. plane

That right there is something to write sonnets about. Just beautiful.

Anyway, enough of my prattling on about an iron bird, enjoy the trailer and tell us what you thought of it in the comments below!

Joss Whedon’s S.H.I.E.L.D. Gets A Title Change

It looks like S.H.I.E.L.D. is no more. Well at least the title is no more. According to EW.com, apparently there comes news that the title is being changed to (or at least referred to for the time being as) Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. While we can all debate why, they also included a show summary that everyone can read up on before we debate this title:

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Joss Whedon (MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) shows us not all heroes are super with MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.

Fresh from his role in the summer’s box office smash, MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS, Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) returns to the worldwide law enforcement organization S.H.I.E.L.D. He puts together a small, highly trained, team of Agents to tackle the cases that haven’t been classified yet, the new, the strange and the unknown. That team consists of straight arrow Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), an expert in combat and espionage; pilot and martial artist Agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen); and brilliant if socially awkward scientists Agent Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker) and Agent Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge). They’ll be joined by civilian new recruit and computer hacker Skye (Chloe Bennet).

Prepare for an epic adventure that showcases the hope and wonder of the human spirit. This is a world of Super Heroes, aliens and the unusual – of action, spectacle and world spanning stories. The show will speak to the human condition through the lens of our very human, non-powered S.H.I.E.L.D agents – that together we are greater than we are apart, and that we can make a difference in the world.

Executive Produced and co-written by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen (Dollhouse, Dr.Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog), Jeffrey Bell (Angel, Alias) and Jeph Loeb (Smallville, Lost, Heroes) comes Marvel’s first live-action TV series, MARVEL’S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.

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agent of shield
Credit: nerdlunch.net – Also not a photo from set…

So let’s break it down quickly: I think it’s an odd move. I mean, it shouldn’t be surprising because Marvel wants to tag their branding on everything now (Marvel’s The Avengers ring a bell?) but it’s just too much at this point. Plus just saying S.H.I.E.L.D. would have just made enough waves as a short and efficient attention grabbing title. EW speculates because ABC might want to separate its title from FX’s The Shield but I can’t buy that because the series isn’t running anymore and enough time should have passed so confusion would not be made. Even the ‘Agents of’ part comes off as redundant because who else would we be following in S.H.I.E.L.D.? The Janitors of S.H.I.E.L.D.? The Real Housewives of S.H.I.E.L.D.? (Crap, call Bravo now and tell them to stop that idea from getting on the air.) Regardless, this is all done for the advertisers as Joss & ABC prepare the pilot to show off in May to generate some ad sales so who knows, we might get the title change back or perhaps something more ridiculous might be in hand. Although does it matter? We could probably just stop and declare this the best pilot of the fall season and they could name it whatever they want because even an appearance from Hasselhoff as a Nick Fury doppelganger couldn’t stop the me from watching.

Could USA Provide a Happy Ending for Happy Endings?

Well ABC did all they could to try and sell Happy Endings on Friday nights (please read this in the sarcasm font). Sadly, when the show returned from its unplanned hiatus, it did so to less than stellar numbers. I’m sure now ABC will have to go ahead and cancel the sitcom, as the people they turned to and pleaded to help save Happy Endings have let them down.

Let’s all take a moment of silence.

Now with that nonsense over, what could the future hold for the “no really it looks like a crappy Friends knockoff at first but give it a chance, it’s good” show? Well in a move much like that of Cougar Town (also an ABC sitcom) last year, it appears as if Happy Endings might be heading to cable. Deadline reported this week that the basic cable channel USA, home of Psych, is looking to pick up the sitcom.

Happy Endings, USA

One has to imagine that USA is looking at Cougar Town‘s move to TBS and seeing how they’ve not only done better than on ABC, but also bringing in a demographic that TBS had previously not seen much of. However I don’t know that the same will happen in this case. TBS was known mainly for Law and Order reruns, not original content. Then they brought on Conan (who just signed a contract through 2015) which certainly brought new viewers to the network. Cougar Town was just an add on to that. When Happy Endings first showed signs of being canceled, I thought that a  Cougar Town/Happy Endings block could do quite well on TBS, but apparently USA thinks that it would fit better over there. They have been looking to develop more half hour sitcoms to round out their schedule that is filled with show like Royal Pains and Suits (as well as hour after hour of Law and Order reruns, seriously what is it with Law and Order?)

With Pych likely being canceled, they could also eying Happy Endings to be a replacement for that. USA’s original shows aren’t bad, actually some of them are quite good, but I do think bringing on a show like this and the publicity it brings, could only mean good things for the network.

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Only You Can Save ABC’s “Happy Endings” – Well You and Everyone Else…

Even though the powers that be over at ABC moved Happy Endings to the death march that is Friday nights, they want you, the viewing public, to know that if it gets cancelled, it is your fault. In a move that is somewhat reminiscent of Fox’s “Get Arrested” campaign way back in 2005 (it does not seem like it was that long ago), ABC has gone the “save Happy Endings” route with the newest promo for the March 29th return of the sitcom.

VIDEO REMOVED BY YOUTUBE

Let’s be clear, I hate this move. I hate it for many reasons.

One – it really doesn’t matter if I tune in on Friday nights to watch Happy Endings because I am not a Nielsen viewer. I don’t know any Nielsen viewers. So telling me that my watching the fun gang of friends on Friday night will save the show? Incorrect.

Two – They have no intention of keeping Happy Endings around. If you want a show to survive, you don’t follow the “NBC’s foolproof plan to cancel Community” method of scheduling. Newsflash, people don’t watch a lot of TV on Friday nights. They certainly aren’t tuning in to catch a sitcom they might have just heard of for the first time when they saw this promo.

Three – I’d place good money that ABC will base their decision on overnight numbers from this one episode. Again, this is only based on Nielsen viewers on a Friday night. Digital and DVR numbers are not incorporated into the overnight returns so all those people who decided to just DVR the episode and watch it later in the week, they will have no effect which basically means this promo is pointless. Surprise, surprise.

Four, and finally – Is Celebrity Wife Swap really more important than Happy Endings? Really? If ABC was so concerned with the show sticking around, why on earth would they put yet another stupid reality show in a spot where it might have had even the slightest chance of catching viewers?

The whole things just reeks of corporate ridiculousness and in the end, it’s the fans of the show that will end up disappointed.

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Why would ABC deny the world of 23 episodes a year featuring this woman? Why? Not only is Eliza Coupe gorgeous and funny but seriously her on-screen marriage with Damon Wayans Jr. is one of my favorite TV marriages in many years. They are hysterical! Jane and Brad are one of the biggest reasons to love this show.  [Editor’s Note – Realizing I may never have another opportunity to bring this up, I just have to say Jane Kerkovich-Williams (Eliza Coupe) has the sexiest legs on television. Wow, I feel better now.]

It’s also a bit more agonizing to know we are watching the last episodes of the show when they are bringing in a third sister! Jane and Alex and crazy enough but can you imagine a sister who is apparently even more “Jane” than Jane? Not only that but it’s ADA Cabot/Mrs. Bobby Flay/Liz Lemon’s lesbian love interest herself, Stephanie March. Le sigh, I’d love it if she had a chance to return as a regular to a show, and can see her fitting perfectly with Jane, Alex, and the rest of their friends and by “fit perfectly” I mean “annoy the crap out of and we get to see Max’s reaction to her and it would be awesome.” (Speaking of Max, it looks like he’s getting a new love interest!

Between March as the third sister, Michael McKean as Dave’s dad, and Megan Mullaly and Andy Richter as Penny’s parents, the extended families of the Happy Endings family is so awesome its seems almost a crime to cancel. I guess all that’s left is to just enjoy the remaining episodes and pray that Nielsen viewers don’t have much of a social life on Friday nights.

Might as well enjoy some pictures of our favorite friends and their hijinks over the last couple years to try to soothe the pain.

*Several pictures lazily collected from Tumblr.

The ABCs of Death: 26 Directors, 26 Ways to Die, and a New Trailer…

Trailer Addict have now put up the red band trailer for the new movie The ABCs of Death. The movie synopsis is this.

[box_dark]Twenty-six directors. Twenty-six ways to die. The ABCs of Death is  perhaps the most ambitious anthology film ever conceived with productions  spanning fifteen countries and featuring segments directed by over two dozen of  the world’s leading talents in contemporary genre film. Inspired by children’s  educational books, the motion picture is comprised of twenty-six individual  chapters, each helmed by a different director assigned a letter of the alphabet.  The directors were then given free reign in choosing a word to create a story involving death.[/box_dark]

If this has got you excited about the movie, then watch the trailer on the link below.

This is not a new concept by any means, independent film companies do a lot of ABC related competitions to attract new film makers and films today sometimes can have up to two or three directors working together to create a movie. But never on this scale. Looking at the trailer it is really hard to say anything other than WOW. There is so much crammed into this movie I am hard pressed to know where to start. I saw some true splatter horror in there with a bit of Saw style self-mutilation, some really trippy things with people dressed in animal masks, a creepy old man and a woman with a bow, an claymation toilet monster, man vs beast (maybe this will carry on from where The Grey left off) and some kind of classic POV monster movie action.

There is a fair bit of gore crammed into this trailer which must have put a smile on you gore hounds faces. It certainly did with me! I do not want to bring the tone down here, but for all you flesh loves out there I did notice some nudity early on in this too, so you guys are catered for as well. Seems the anthology movie is making a comeback with this and V_H_S using the method, it reminds me of the mid 70’s when this type of movie ruled the cinema screens. With so many people on board there is bound to be some tripe stuck in here, but also the sequences I doubt will go on later than 10 minutes or so, other wise we are in for a long viewing experience. It will be interesting to see how this film comes together and if they decide to use a framing device like your classic Tales From the Crypt style stories. I know I will be waiting in line to watch this as you had me at 26 directors.

Agent Coulson Lives!

Last night, if you weren’t distracted by baseball or football, you might have heard something from the northeastern part of this great country that sounded a little bit like the shriek of a schoolgirl.

Actually, it was a shriek, from not schoolgirls, but rather fangirls. And fanboys. And just fans in general. Why would millions of fans squeal in communal delight? The answer is simple:

That’s right friends and neighbors, the fan favorite, Agent Phil Coulson has become the first confirmed member of Joss Whedon’s upcoming ABC pilot, S.H.I.E.L.D.

The reaction to Agent Coulson’s death in The Avengers was one of heartbreak. All around the world people huddled together in comfort for the loss of a character who was beloved from his first appearance in 2008’s Iron Man. He was probably most loved by the man who portrayed him, Clark Gregg. Gregg is a self-professed geek and lover of comics and of course, Agent Coulson. So you can only imagine how it felt to sit at the Marvel panel during the New York Comic-Con and watch an “In Memoriam” tribute video to the character. Reports are that Gregg was actually moved to tears. Can’t say that I blame him.

A video of Joss Whedon started playing, saying that they had always wanted Gregg as “part of the Marvel Universe… even after his death,” and as if sent by the angels himself, Kevin Feige entered, wearing a shirt that read “Coulson Lives” and announced that Gregg would indeed be reprising the role of Agent Coulson in S.H.I.E.L.D.

Why is this such big news? Well it’s always fun to hear about our favorite characters that we all believe have died, only for them to come back to life, or find out they never died in the first place. But I think with Coulson it’s a little bit more than that. I think it’s because he is one of us. He’s a fan. Watching him meet Captain America and having that awestruck look on his face, I don’t think there’s many people who, when meeting their heroes, wouldn’t have the same reaction. Then to watch him “die” trying to protect his hero and company, I mean come on, who wouldn’t want to go out like that?

On top of that, after the massive success of The Avengers with Joss Whedon at the helm, it is exciting just to hear any news about the new show. Geeks have experienced both the highs and the lows of Whedon television shows. On one hand you’ve got the success of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, on the other hand you’ve got the great losses of Dollhouse and of course, Firefly. So when news comes out like this, a major character in a wildly successful movie blockbuster is part of the cast of the TV show, we just hold our breaths and hope that it’s enough to convince the network to stick with it.

So there you have it- Agent Coulson lives to see another day. Are you excited as I am?