UPDATE: Major death clue revealed!
Come season-finale time, characters are always dropping dead on us. (Case in point: The looming fatality on Smallville.) But a certain increasingly popular primetime drama’s decision to kill off one unlucky stiff really surprised me. Why? Put on your thickest blind-item specs, and I’ll tell you! READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Frederick M. Brown/Getty ImagesIn a surprise announcement, TBS announced today that Conan O’Brien will headline an 11 p.m. late-night show for the cable network in November. His program will serve as a lead-in to TBS’ fledging Lopez Tonight, which will shift to a midnight time slot. The network said O’Brien only began talking to execs there last week, and Lopez even called O’Brien himself. “I can’t think of anything better than doing my show with Conan as a lead-in,” Lopez said in a statement. Added O’Brien, “In three months I’ve gone from network TV to Twitter to performing live in theaters, and now I’m headed to basic cable. My plan is working perfectly.” READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Liane Hentscher/FoxOn April 29, Fox’s just-renewed Fringe will take a page from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Scrubs by staging a musical inside inside the mind of mad scientist Walter. READ FULL STORY »
Talk about a sweeps stunt: Law & Order: SVU‘s May 5 episode will find Benson and Stabler playing house! READ FULL STORY »
Has Friday Night Lights found its next Tim Riggins?
Sources confirm that producers have recruited relative newcomer Grey Damon to join the season 5 cast in the series regular of Hastings Ruckle, a sexy, laid back basketball player who ends up joining the Lions as a wide receiver. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage.comI’m officially getting old. I know this because Holly Marie Combs has just been cast as the mother of a teenager! READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Armando Gallo/RetnaIf April 9 was Charlie Sheen’s last day on Two and A Half Men, there was no sign of it on the Burbank soundstage where the sitcom shot its seventh season finale. One attendee who spoke to EW.com described the taping as “business as usual.” The cast got a standing ovation before and after the taping and no one gave any sort of goodbye speech – at least not in front of the studio audience. A season-ender wrap party, which is customary, was scheduled for the night of April 10.
Earlier Friday, People.com posted a statement from Sheen that hinted that the taping – which marks the end of his current contract – could be his last. “If tonight’s show is the end for me as Charlie Harper, so be it. Another journey has begun. I take from the experience 161 shows filled with a kaleidoscope of amazing experiences, memories, friendships and gratitude. I remain humbly inspired.”
Sheen went on to explain that “approaching the start of the current season and as far back as June ‘09, I submitted my terms for season eight to Warner Bros. and CBS respectfully.” And yet Sheen did not indicate any plans to outright quit the show that’s made him the highest paid actor in primetime - which have led many in Hollywood to assume that he is holding out for an even bigger payday. Warner Bros. TV had reportedly offered him nearly $1 million per episode, up from the $850,000 he receives today – though Sheen said the claims were “without merit.”
“A negotiation ploy is something you do to get the best possible deal,” Sheen’s publicist told People.com. “Charlie told them what he wanted a year ago.”
Sheen is still facing jail time for charges of felony menacing, criminal mischief, and third-degree assault from the dispute with his wife, Brooke Mueller; a trial date has been set for July 21. The 44-year-old can afford to take a step out of the spotlight, especially since he has a stake in Men’s syndication profits (not to mention the $18 million or so he raked in for this season). And it certainly would not be unprecedented for a sitcom to go on without one of its stars; Laverne & Shirley did it without Cindy Williams in 1982, albeit to painful results.
Any significant change would surely hurt ad sales for Men, which reportedly commands north of $220,000 for a 30-second spot. It could also prompt CBS to bump the show from its 9 p.m. perch on Mondays in favor of The Big Bang Theory. It seems far more likely that Warner Bros. may persuade its volatile star to work an abbreviated schedule in order to assure fans and Madison Avenue that while Sheen may be down, he’s definitely not out.
Image Credit: Everett CollectionCBS has yet to announce how it will fill the void in daytime once As the World Turns ends its 54-year run in September, but it’s looking more likely that the network will go with a game show. There was early speculation that CBS could pick up a CBS/Paramount-produced talk show hosted by Valerie Bertinelli, but a new version of Pyramid appears to be a safer bet (a syndicated talk show for Bertinelli remains in development at the network’s sister studio.)
The network confirmed that it plans to shoot a new pilot for Pyramid, which was originally considered as a replacement for Guiding Light until the network decided to go with a redux of Let’s Make a Deal instead. The project from Sony will be exec produced by Michael Davies (Who Wants to Be A Millionaire).
Rumor has it the eye may also shoot a pilot for Password, which first aired in 1961 and was hosted by Allen Ludden. CBS launched a prime time version dubbed Million Dollar Password that was hosted by Regis Philbin in June 2008; it attracted 10.69 million viewers. Still, that remake was yanked after a second, abbreviated season. CBS wouldn’t comment.
Replacing a pricey soap opera with a cheaper game show certainly wasn’t a bad idea for CBS, despite raising the ire of rabid soap fans who fear the death of the genre. Let’s Make a Deal hosted by Wayne Brady is averaging 2.43 million viewers, up 12 percent from what Guiding Light was attracting. The game show has also posted gains among women 18-34. CBS is still enjoying success with soap mainstays The Young and the Restless and The Bold and The Beautiful, which rank No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, among total viewers.
For more on CBS daytime:
As the World Turns’ exec: ‘We are committed to finding a new home’
Image Credit: Todd Williamson/WireImage.com; Michael Kovac/FilmMagicA critical new detail has emerged about Mandy Moore’s role in Grey’s Anatomy‘s two-hour finale on May 20: She’s married to Ryan Devlin! READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Brian Bowen Smith/FoxIn all the hubbub following last night’s emotionally draining 100th episode of Bones, a cold, hard truth has gone overlooked: The episode failed to solve the big mystery from the previous week’s ep — what the frak was on page 187 of Brennan’s new book? We know it involves a unique sexual technique that Hodgins invented and presumably performed on Angela. But what… is… it? At a party thrown in honor of the milestone episode earlier this week, we grilled the cast. Then, unsatisfied (though amused) by their answers, we went to series creator Hart Hanson and executive producer Stephen Nathan to find out their dirty little secret! READ FULL STORY »
This just in: Comedy Central has tapped writer-comedian Chris Gethard to replace Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite) in its Will Ferrell-produced sitcom Big Lake, sources confirm. Gethard, an Upright Citizens Brigade regular, has written for Saturday Night Live and the Onion News Network.
Heder dropped out of the project last month for creative reasons.
The series, which centers on a young man (Gethard) who moves back in with his parents, co-stars Saturday Night Live’s Chris Parnell and Horatio Sanz.
Image Credit: Albert L. Ortega/PR PhotosWhile still leaving the door open for an 11th hour negotiation ploy, Charlie Sheen issued a statement to People saying that if tonight’s taping of Two and A Half Men “is the end for me as Charlie Harper, so be it.” “Another journey has begun,” he continued. “I take from the experience 161 shows filled with a kaleidoscope of amazing experiences, memories, friendships and gratitude. I remain humbly inspired.”
The seven-year-old sitcom is set to tape its final episode of the season tonight on the Warner Bros. TV lot. It also marks the end of Sheen’s multi-year contract that has paid him a reported $800,000-plus per episode, which made him the highest paid actor in primetime. A cloud of uncertainty has enveloped the sitcom’s future when Sheen reportedly told friends last week that he hoped this year would be his last. “Much speculation and rumor has arisen from my current status surrounding Two and a Half Men,” Sheen said in his statement. “All of the numbers reported in the press are false. Claims from ‘inside sources’ regarding offers from the studio as well as my salary, on their best day, are without merit. Approaching the start of the current season and as far back as June ‘09, I submitted my terms for season eight to Warner Bros. and CBS respectfully.
“Both parties have known the score for over a year,” he continued. “In no way, has this been a hasty or negligent eleventh hour surprise. I offer this information out of love and respect to my crew, my on-set family, my writers, executive staff, as well as my real family, my dear friends and my loyal fans. We tape the final episode of the season this evening.”
Sheen’s publicist Stan Rosenfield said the actor was not attempting to wrangle more money out of Warner Bros. TV. “A negotiation ploy is something you do to get the best possible deal. Charlie told them what he wanted a year ago.”
It seems unlikely that CBS would want to continue the comedy without its popular star. Some insiders believe there’s still a chance Sheen may agree to an abbreviated schedule so Warner Bros. TV can fulfill its contract with CBS (the network already signed on the bottom line for two more seasons of the show, which is still primetime’s most-watched comedy). It wouldn’t be unprecedented for the sitcom to carry on without Sheen. Back in 1982, the final season of Laverne & Shirley aired without co-star Cindy Williams, albeit to pitiful results.
For more on Charlie Sheen’s status on Two and a Half Men:
Charlie Sheen wants out of Two and a Half Men
Two and a Half Men without Charlie Sheen: Would you watch?
Image Credit: Giovanni Rufino/The CWSpotted: Absolutely no sign of Taylor Momsen (Jenny) when Gossip Girl returns next season. READ FULL STORY »
James Hibberd
@James_Hibberd
Lynette Rice
@EWLynette
