Oh my Goth, Abby is going to L.A.!
Pauley Perrette’s NCIS lab rat-slash-tattoo enthusiast will cross over (for real) to NCIS: LA this November, sources confirm to me exclusively.
While Abby has talked to the Left Coast expansion team on the phone, this will be her first time touching down at LAX. Sadly, it looks like it won’t be much of a vacation, READ FULL STORY »
This just in: Sources confirm that The CW has picked up The Vampire Diaries for a full season and Melrose Place for, well, a sorta-full season.
The back-nine order for Diaries was a no-brainer. The Kevin Williamson-produced thriller scored The CW’s best premiere ratings ever and has been a consistent demo dynamo on Thursday night.
Melrose, meanwhile, has been a ratings misfit, which explains The CW’s decision to pick up only five additional episodes instead of the typical nine. Of course, that number could go up if Heather Locklear is able to work her ratings magic next month.
Thoughts?
PHOTO CREDIT: Wesley: Andrew Eccles/The CW; Simpson-Wentz: Frank Ockenfels/The CW
I just realized that headline is a tiny bit intentionally bait-and-switchy misleading. What I meant to say is Aimee Teegarden is taking over as my acting coach. Allow me to explain: Among the things I gained a greater appreciation for during my visit to Friday Night Lights‘ Austin-based set last week was the difficult job the show’s bleacher babes have pretend-reacting to what they’re being told is happening on the field. Over and over and over again. As you’ll see in the below video, Teegarden graciously agreed to teach me some of her signature moves, including “The Touchdown,” “The Injury,” and, “The Tornado.” I think we can all agree I’m a pretty fast learner. (BTW, look for more video from my FNL set visit — including interviews with Kyle Chandler and Jesse Plemons — early next week.)
It’s the news Murder, He Wrote Castle fans have been waiting for: ABC has picked up the Nathan Fillion dramedy for a full, 22-episode season!
The second-year show has been holding onto a decent chunk of its Dancing with the Stars lead-in, so the back-nine order wasn’t a total surprise. Still, it’s nice to get the official confirmation!
That brings to five the number of shows ABC has given the full-season green light to. In addition to Castle, the net has picked up The Middle, FlashForward, Cougar Town, and Modern Family.
Photo Credit: Michael Desmond/ABC
It’s a showrunner’s prerogative to change his mind. So, although he insisted he wasn’t killing off any characters in this November’s big Wisteria Lane plane crash, Desperate Housewives boss man Marc Cherry has decided, on second thought, to kill several, including one that my mole says is a fan favorite. But who? Beats me, but frontrunners for the ill-fated fan fave, as far as I can see, are: READ FULL STORY »
If I hadn’t been warming to Glee already, this for sure would’ve begun defrosting me: Dollhouse-keeper Joss Whedon has agreed to direct one of the back nine episodes that Fox just ordered.
Turns out, the genius who gave us not only the “Once More, With Feeling” musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer but also Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog is a big fan of Ryan Murphy’s new phenom. So when Twentieth (the studio behind Glee) approached him about the gig, pretty much his only reservation was scheduling. READ FULL STORY »
EW has exclusively learned that Lea Michele’s Spring Awakening co-star, Jonathan Groff (seen most recently in Ang Lee’s Taking Woodstock) is coming on board Glee for five or six episodes playing the lead male singer of Vocal Adrenaline, the group already seen performing “Rehab” and “Mercy.” Says Glee co-creator Ryan Murphy, “He is a male diva…a miva.” Groff’s character will also serve as a potential love interest for Michele’s Rachel.
Photo Credit: Marion Curtis/Startraksphoto.com
NCIS grad Sasha Alexander is about to get very close to House and Wilson, literally and (possibly) figuratively.
A House insider confirms to me exclusively that Alexander has been cast as House and Wilson’s genetically-blessed new neighbor. (As I previously reported, the BFFs will make their living arrangement permanent when they relocate to fancy new digs next month.)
According to my House mole, READ FULL STORY »
Even back in 2008, Wife Swap‘s producers knew Richard Heene — a.k.a. balloon boy’s dad — made for good TV. When speaking to EW one year ago for our Fall TV Preview issue, executive producers Stef Wagstaffe and Mike Gamson insisted their season 5 premiere, which featured the Heene family, would turn heads. “The dad in the family, he’s like this mad scientist,” Wagstaffe said. Here’s more of what Wagstaffe and Gamson had to say about the family.
EW: What can we expect out of season 5?
SW: Well, we’re kicking off the season with a very exciting show featuring a family of tornado chasers. And we have swapped them with a family that has made a business out of safety proofing. So you can imagine both families are questioning each other about their lifestyle changes. Really exciting change and the storm tracking family is out of this world. The dad in the family, he’s like this mad scientist. He has all these amazing theories that he’s trying to prove all the time and when they go storm chasing, they all pile into their SUV and literally drive right to the edge of a storm, and then he jumps out, jumps onto his motorbike with a camera strapped to his head and a rocket strapped to his back and drives right into the eye of the storm.
EW: And how does the safety-conscious wife deal?
SW: They didn’t actually hit a full-blown tornado, but they were in extreme weather conditions. And he was treating her exactly how he treats his wife, so he’s like, “Where’s this, where’s that? We have no time! Hurry up!” So it was really high-octane. I think even for the crew as well, it was one the most exciting shoots we’ve done. [The safety wife] was an amazing woman in her own right. We weren’t sure obviously with her cautious background how she would respond. And she was kind of disbelieving but she rose to the challenge. She went along with it and she really coped fantastically with this guy who was like a tornado himself. She really was amazing. We were really, really proud of her.
EW: Do we see any blow-ups?
MG: Oh yes.
SW: Well, the storm-chasing episode was pretty stunning from that point of view. The scientist dad and safety mom really – they had a very strange time because they really butted heads. Incredibly butted heads, like a couple we haven’t seen for a long time.
EW: Why?
SW: Because their philosophies were so wildly different and also the scientist dad has a very strained out attitude towards women. He sees that women after 25 are used up and not worth talking to. So obviously, safety mom, who is a very self-possessed woman, found that incredibly frustrating. So they just were constantly arguing about the parenting choices, the fact that these guys were basically sexist, but by the end of the swap, the scientist dad, he basically wrote a power ballad for her and sang it in the table meeting. He really sings it, and he’s emoting, and he’s singing it like a ’70s ballad, giving it all that he’s got. It was really quite a turnaround. That’s why it’s the first show of the season, because he’s just so entertaining.
Photo Credit: ABC
Genoa City fans who were holding out hope that Victor Newman will stay should start prepping their goodbyes now: Eric Braeden told EW.com exclusively today that “it’s the end of the road” and he’s “pulled the plug” on any more talks to stay on The Young and the Restless. In September, Braeden walked off the set of the soap that he’s called home since 1980 after an ugly contract negotiation with Sony. The production company wanted Braeden, 68, to take a pay cut but the actor opted to leave, instead. Braeden told EW that he has since made a counter offer (he offered to take a “substantial” pay cut on the top of a voluntary 10% reduction he took two years ago) but it apparently wasn’t enough for Sony. Braeden’s last appearance on the soap will air Nov. 2.
“We reached an impasse in the negotiations,” Braeden told EW.com. “I have shown flexibility, they have shown none. It is over. I pulled the plug. That’s it. No more. If I show good will, I expect it to be reciprocated. If there is a rigid attitude on the other side, what is there to to negotiate? That’s a sign of utter disrespect. I will not negotiate with people who remain aloof and arrogant about the whole thing. Not after 30 years, I won’t do that. I’m saying this with a great amount of sadness because I’ve had nothing but respect for my fellow cast members, I have deep respect for the crew who has done an extraordinary job year in and year out, and I have enormous respect for (head writer) Maria Bell.”
Sony and CBS did not respond to requests for comment but an insider with knowledge of the negotiations said Braeden, who had been earning a seven-figure salary, would continue to earn a seven-figure salary if he agreed to a pay cut. The cast and crew of Restless – which, at 5.12 million, is the most-watched soap in daytime today – have taken pay cuts over the last year, the insider said. Braeden says he was the first cast member to offer to take a pay cut two years ago.
Like most soaps today, Restless can’t command the same kind of rich license fee from CBS that it used to because of the softening ad market in daytime – thus Sony’s attempt to lower production costs. However, Sony continues to make money off the popular drama by selling its reruns overseas and to Soapnet.
Braeden said he’s exploring new opportunities but declined to elaborate. “It’s slowly sinking in (that I’m leaving),” said Braeden. “It’s sad.”
Photo Credit: Monty Brinton/CBS
James Hibberd
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Lynette Rice
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