We know that production on “Big Love” was delayed because of the WGA Strike, but what will it look like when it returns? Over at Margene’s Blog, she discusses the pregnancy as it continues during the hiatus.

And the reason I’m perfect for this job is because I have the time. Bill brought it up real casually a few weeks ago and I didn’t really know how he or Barb or Nicki would feel about me working for Weber Gaming, but all I’m doing is taking phone calls, and like I said, I can’t do much more than sit on the couch anyway so while I’m sitting on the couch, why not answer the phone and try to move a few slot machines, right?
…
I can’t go out anywhere anymore. I look like the Outback Steakhouse blimp and I pee every nine seconds, so instead of doing nothing, I throw on a hands-free head-set and clock in for a few hours.

The ‘blog’ has always mirrored the timeline on the show, so I wonder how much will have changed between seasons 2 and 3? Will we start the season with the birth? What of this job Margene has with Weber Gaming? In a show whose strength is in its characters, I’d hate to miss out on the character development.

Last year, Trey Parker and Matt Stone (creators of “South Park”) made an unprecedented deal with Comedy Central that allows them to maintain complete control over their show, while still giving them tons of money. Part of the fruits of that deal have been announced that puts all the episodes of “South Park” available for free on their site.

NEW YORK, March 25, 2008 — South Park Digital Studios LLC, the joint venture between “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone and COMEDY CENTRAL, a division of MTVN Entertainment Group, a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), announced today the launch of the new southparkstudios.com, which will feature free, streaming, full-length episodes and clips from the entire 12 seasons of the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning animated series. The site which rolled out a beta version last Wednesday has already received over three million page views, over two million video plays, and more than a million streams of full episodes.

This is a great approach to digital distribution. Instead of a clearing house like Hulu, you go right to the source to get your shows…support the artist, so to speak. The only negative is not being able to download an episode to your iPod/Zune/Archos for that plane/car ride. But overall, “sweeeeet”.

Fans of “Jericho” hand managed to bring the show back from the dead for a second season. But hopes of a third were squashed by CBS. This hasn’t stopped the shows creators from looking to continue the series in other forms. SciFi Wire has an interview with Carol Barbee, executive producer:

If Jericho is not picked up for another season by a TV network, Barbee said that she could envision it living on in some other form. “There’s definitely an Internet series to be had, and we always talked about a graphic novel, and … a movie,” Barbee said. “I mean, there are lots of things that I could easily see as a way to continue the story.”

The article also describes the 2 separate endings that were filmed. One cliff hanger, and the one that was aired–the series ender. It seems that they’re going to attempt to keep the show alive with a movie (didn’t work for “Serenity”) or web series. I can see it working as a web series because they don’t need mass appeal. Podcasts/WebSeries’ serve a niche, and aren’t required to have broad appeal.

Personally, I didn’t watch a single episode, but the show did interest me. I didn’t have room for it on my TV-watching schedule, but had planned to pick up DVDs one day. It looks like that time has come.

Was it time for “Jericho” to go?

Last night was the reported episode of “How I Met Your Mother” with Britney Spears guest starring. HIMYM has been struggling in the ratings, and CBS used the high-profile guest appearance in an attempt to boost ratings. Well, it worked. Variety has:

A guest appearance by Britney Spears propelled CBS laffer “How I Met Your Mother” to the highest demo ratings in its three-year run Monday…
…
According to preliminary nationals from Nielsen, “How I Met Your Mother” (4.5 rating/12 share in adults 18-49, 10.6 million viewers overall) was a solid second to ABC’s “Dancing” in the 8:30 half-hour among adults 18-49 and total viewers and edged out the hoofing hit in adults 18-34 with the night’s highest rating in that category (3.6/10).

It looks like they got what they wanted, but will it stick? I don’t know. The episode wasn’t a typical episode as the ensemble was not as involved as usual. It wasn’t a bad episode, but I don’t believe it was a good episode for new eyeballs to see.

Britney was fine in her performance. She didn’t get in the way as I feared she might. The role could have been filled by just about any actress, which is good, and she pulled it off. Sarah Chalke was very good in her role (replacing Alicia Silverstone) as the tattoo removing doctor. Her and ‘Ted’ had good chemistry, and the “2 minute date” at the end was great. I just felt it was an uneven episode…not the best one to bring in new viewers.

What did you think?

Could Eliza Dushku be joined by some of her former Buffy castmates in Joss Whedon’s new series, Dollhouse?.

Joss Whedon had this to say to TV Guide’s Michael Ausiello about the casting of eight supporting roles on Dollhouse:

“I just want to make sure I get the right people. And I don’t want to give the impression that it’s just me and my friends having a party. Some [Buffyverse alums] might work out fine. But I’m not going to just seek out people that I already know are great.

Apparently, Whedon has read some yet-to-be-named members of the Buffyverse for these supporting roles. Personally, I wouldn’t be opposed to Whedon casting some of these roles with BTVS alums. What are your thoughts? Any particular members of the Buffyverse that you’d like to see on Dollhouse? If I had to pick just one, my vote would be for James Marsters - with or without the British accent.

Debuting in less than two weeks on the BBC is the new season of “Doctor Who”. If you are in a BBC country (or use the appropriate proxy server), you can view the 3 trailers (Ood, Sontaran, and Dalek) on The BBC YouTube channel, or on the official website. For the rest of us, here it the theatrical trailer that was show a few weeks ago.

(Click here for video)

The Ood, Sontaran and Dalek trailers are really just teasers, and don’t give much of any insight into the season. The theatrical trailer is much more revealing than the official BBC One trailer. But, they all do help get excitement going for the new season.

I posted last week my praise for the new comedy, “The Return of Jezebel James”. Well, after down playing and under promoting the show, FOX has decided to cancel the show without giving it a chance to grow. Ausiello has the scoop:

Fox has closed the book on Amy Sherman-Palladino’s post-Gilmore Girls comeback vehicle, The Return of Jezebel James, after three abysmally-rated outings. A Fox spokesperson confirms that the comedy has aired its last episode.

I just don’t understand it. Fox has a long history of not allowing shows to find an audience (Wonderfalls and Firefly are 2). I’m not sure how many episodes of Jezebel James are already in the can, but I hope that if they are more complete they put them up on the web for us to see.

The show had much potential. Too bad.

“Samantha Who?” debuted this season, and has remained fairly low profile. I find it to be of excellent quality, and very entertaining. TV Guide’s Ausiello has a report of Jerry O’Connell guest starring on an upcoming episode.

Carpoolers may have stalled at ABC, but the network is still making use of star Jerry O’Connell. Sources confirm to me exclusively that O’Connell has hitched a ride to Samantha Who?, where he’ll play someone from Samantha’s past. His episode is scheduled to air on April 28.

I find Jerry to be a very good comedic actor (wasted on “Carpoolers”). I look forward to he and Christina Applegate on the screen together. Maybe, if successful, he’ll be back for most guest spots.

“Samantha Who?” is a very light comedy that really got my attention this season. I first watched it just to see what Applegate was up to, but fell in love with the show right away. I’m looking forward to new episodes coming Monday April 7th 9:30/8:30c.

What was originally setup as a three season story has now been stretched to four. Writer/producer Nick Santora posted on his Myspace blog that the 4th season is a go:

So we got word on Wednesday that we are officially picked up by the network for Season 4. This is great news. We are all very excited. We are moving offices onto the Fox Studio Lot next week and we had to say goodbye to the offices that were our home for the past 3 years … not really that sad because, well, c’mon, it’s just a frickin’ building. But my new office is about half the size with just a tiny window which normally would suck except for one thing … I get to go to work everyday with people I love and respect and I get to be creative. So I don’t really give a rat’s ass what our new offices look like! — it should be a nice weekend leading into an even better week of diving head-first into Season 4! Best, Nick

I have say I have mixed feelings about this. Because of the WGA strike, “Prison Break” didn’t get the season finale it needed. But on the other hand, it has suffered problems for being stretched out. “Prison Break” is apt to suffer as “Lost” does with drawn out storylines. It would be great if they would pick an “end” and start to develop towards it.

There was rumor that a stike-less 3rd series would have been a launching point for a female version of Micheal to launch a spin-off. Because of the shortened season, her character was never introduced.

That all being said, I still enjoy watching, and will tune in for next season.

Veteran Jennie Garth is returning to TV for CBS in a new pilot, “My Best Friends Girl”. Popcrunch has the story:

Jennie Garth is returning to television — in a CBS pilot called “My Best Friend’s Girl.” Jennie Garth was last seen on TV on “Dancing with the Stars” and the sitcom “What I Like About You,” costarring Amanda Bynes.

In “My Best Friend’s Girl,” Jennie Garth will play ex-wife to one character (played by Josh Cooke) who dates his best buddy (played by “Carpoolers” Tim Peper). Let the hilarity begin.

I enjoy Garth, but wasn’t fond of her last show (”What I Like About You”). Hopefully this one will be a little less formulaic and we can enjoy Jennie again.

Milo Ventimiglia, one of our most powerful Heroes, is going to be Live on our sister-site’s podcast,The Movie Blog: Uncut, this Wednesday:

The show will automatically start streaming live here on The Movie Blog at 9pm EST (6pm PST). You can call in, or join in the live interactive chat board to ask your questions and make your comments that we’ll be reading while on air. It should be much fun. Spread the word, and we’ll see you Wednesday!

The Movie Blog Podcast is always excellent, but I image most of the TVSB readership is familiar with it. I really like Milo, and the interview ought to be terrific. Go on over on Wednesday and join the chat-room. Don’t miss it.

CBS has issued their final word, despite the fact that the internet is full of buzz that Jericho is just getting better every week, they’ve canceled the show. Again. The Hollywood Reporter says:

“The March 25th episode of Jericho will be the series finale,” CBS said in a statement. “Without question, there are passionate viewers watching this program; we simply wish there were more. We thank an engaged and spirited fan base for keeping the show alive this long, and an outstanding team of producers, cast and crew that went through creative hoops to deliver a compelling, high quality second season. We have no regrets bringing the show back for a second try. We listened to our viewers, gave the series an opportunity to grow, and the producers put a great story on the screen. We’re proud of everyone’s efforts.”

We’ve talked a little here before about fan campaigns and if they are worth it. So was it worth it to bring Jericho back for this one extra season?

The reviewer is just as surprised as you must be, in this article from Variety:

Not surprisingly, the “Rock Monster” narrative becomes a bit wobbly by the time it reaches its climactic section, but it’s still a cut above most of these movies, which tend to have a mailed-in quality. Too bad the channel’s programmers didn’t recognize as much, scheduling the telepic against CBS’ NCAA basketball coverage in much of the country…

It seems this movie, while being about a large monster made out of rocks, actually contains nods to other horror films, competent acting, and fun scenes among the gore. How in the world did this get greenlit, and why is it on Sci-Fi Channel?

(I mostly kid, I have enjoyed at least two Sci-Fi Pictures films in recent memory).

Buffy’s little sister will be moving to Manhattan, according to The Hollywood Reporter:

Trachtenberg will play Georgina Sparks, a character who appears in the novels on which the series is based. Georgina rolls into Manhattan from rehab, shaking up and torturing the life of Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively).

Trachtenberg seems to be doing well, and I think it will be interesting to see her on Gossip Girl. But while she seems to be working a lot, her roles don’t really seem to be taking off and getting her all that much buzz.

While I never liked Dawn on Buffy (did anybody?) I do think it’ll be great to see Trachtenberg take on a character like this.

The episodes of course will air during sweeps.

The CSI empire is expanding again, this time they’re taking over amusement parks. Variety reports:

Half-hour production will let audience members witness a fake crime, then guide them through the “whodunit” process by using the scientific techniques featured in the series. Parkgoers will act as witnesses, suspects and crime investigators.

I’m highly intrigued by the idea, because I am fascinated by forensics. But CSI is not really a show about forensics (or at least, not an accurate one). But there is an interesting point later in the article when they say the crime will not be a murder because it’s a “family friendly” show.

How exactly is crime and investigating crime “family friendly?” I’m not saying that kids shouldn’t be allowed to view the show, or that kids can’t benefit from learning about how crimes are solved. I was raised by a police officer, so fingerprinting and forensics were dinner conversations. But it’s very different from saying the CSI: Live show will be PG and that it will be family friendly.

I also wonder if we might be reaching the saturation point with CSI. How much of a good thing is too much? How long with the nation’s love affair with Gil Grissom last?

So would you take a trip to Six Flags: Magic Mountain to check out CSI Live? And if you do, will you take pictures and tell me all about it?

The cast of Buffy the Vampire Slayer got together, five years after the show went off the air, to remember the good times. CNN has the highlights:

Gellar also reminisced about auditioning 11 times before landing the role of Buffy Summers.“All my friends felt sorry for me because I was on a midseason replacement on a network no one had heard of on a show based on a movie that wasn’t all that,” the 30-year-old actress said.

Whedon made sure to say that there was little to no chance for the show to come back on the air, or any sort of official reunion to happen.

But I have been keeping up with the Season Eight comics that have been coming out monthly for the last year or so. I’ve been enjoying them, and while I miss the show I was actually glad it bowed out when it did, rather than overstaying it’s welcome.

As rabid as I think Buffy fans still are, I think most of them have moved on. So while a reunion movie would be sweet, I’d rather just see the cast get together and talk about the good times.

Now if Fox would just let the “Buffy Horror Picture Show” events to start back up again, all would be well.

Update!

I’ve found an excellent article on TV Guide that contains much more juicy information from the panel!:

Quote of the day: Summing up the appeal of writing for a show like Buffy, Greenwalt said, “There’s nothing like taking all your pain and misery and shoving it into good-looking people’s mouths.”

This article has a lot more information, and Buffy fans should definitely go check it out. They also have a little more context for Whedon’s remarks about a Buffy movie:

Whedon acknowledged that “so many stars would have to align” in order to pull off a Buffy movie. “But,” he added, “I think it would be really cool.”

I still think that a Buffy movie wouldn’t really be necessary or needed. But if they brought back Oz, I’d be first in line for my tickets.

David Tennant’s “Doctor Who” is getting ready to debut his next season on BBC this April. The official synopsis for the opener is:

Donna Noble is determined to find the Doctor again - even if it means braving the villainous Miss Foster and her hordes of sinister Adipose, as Russell T Davies’s Bafta Award-winning time-travelling drama returns for a fourth series. But when the alien threat escalates out of control, can Donna find her Time Lord before the march of the Adipose begins?

I’m excited about the new season. The spoilers that have come out promise a big season, filled with familiar faces. Also, I’m glad the Sci Fi and BBC have arranged for the Sci Fi Channel airings to only be a couple of weeks behind the BBC. It’s working well with “Torchwood”, and it’ll keep us in the U.S. from having to find other ways of watching.

With the final season of Battlestar Galactica looming on the horizon like a Cylon baseship, the cast of BSG made a recent appearance on Late Night With David Letterman.

Letterman’s Top Ten List for March 19th was titled the “Top Ten Reasons to Watch the New Season of Battlestar Galactica”. If you missed it, you can catch the video over at Youtube.

The cast members come on stage completely in character, poking fun at themselves, Letterman, US politics, the war in Iraq, and even Lost! What does this really mean for the beloved SciFi series? I think it’s an affirmation that it’s finally hit the main stream. People who don’t have the faintest clue what an FTL drive is have now been given a glimpse into the world of BSG. Will it be enough to spark their curiosity and garner new fans? I got a real chuckle out of it, and it’s a must-see for all BSG fans. Any particular reason stand out for you? I know that Reasons 5 and 6 really stand out, but I think my favourite was Reason 1. Talk about art reflecting life!

After receiving the last new episode before a 5 week hiatus, I was left wanting more. This episode filled in many blanks, and setup for the season climax ahead.

The “previously on Lost” at the beginning of the episode reminded me how much this show has changed. In season one it was nothing but mystery. We had absolutely no idea what was going on, and every new thing was intriguing. “Lost” was very much a character driven story in those days. In contrast, we’re now inundated with nothing but answers, and character development has taken a huge back seat. Yes, we may not have the “answers” people think they want, but each episode seems to do nothing but fill in the blanks.

“Meet Kevin Johnson” did just that, filled in the blanks between Micheal and Walt leaving, and the current “Lost” timeline. In fact, the show was almost entirely a flash-back, but that was necessary. Harrold Perrineau is a terrific actor, and I was glad to see him back…even though it looks to be for a short time. I really did think that they’d use the time-shift, and Michael would have been off the island for years, not months (thereby explaining Walt’s growth spurt), but he was only gone a few months…so real time had passed.

Who do we trust in this case, Ben or the captain? Did Ben fake the crash, or Widmore? Either way it appears that “Lost” is morphing into a corporate drama, with Widmore vs. Mittelos Bioscience. I’m enjoying Ben Linus, and whenever he is on screen he steals the show (”Then consider yourself one of the good guys”).

Also, ABC again goes against producers wishes (“not going public with any further clarifications right now“) and during the promo confirms Aaron as a member of the Oceanic Six. For some reason it felt anti-climactic, but I’m sure the circumstances of Aaron’s “rescue” will more than make up for it. We have 5 weeks to speculate about the coming “war”. Who will live? Who will die?

What are your thoughts on Kevin Johnson?

“Carnivale” was a low rated masterpiece shown on HBO a couple of years ago. One thing that made it amazing was the performances by the ensemble cast. Two of those cast members are making their way to Seattle Grace. TVGuide has the story:

Amy Madigan has booked a multi-episode arc on Grey’s Anatomy, sources confirm to me exclusively. The Oscar-nominated thesp … is playing a psychiatrist who, and I’m just speculating here, may be the one to help Meredith get over her commitment issues…

Meanwhile, Madigan’s former Carnivale co-star, Clea DuVall, will fill the “everywoman housewife” role I teased in last week’s Ask Ausiello. Her George Clooney-esque husband will be played by Jason O’Mara…

Adding new blood to Grey’s is a good idea, even for short periods. This is injecting new talent without the stunt casting that some series fall into. Both actresses are amazing, and I’m always personally impressed with DuVall.