The Prime Times: Patriotic Housewives Edition

By on Mar 11, 2011 in In Brief |

No need to bother reading as many television blogs as I do. Here’s the news you should know: The Guardian reported that American television shows like Desperate Housewives, Friends, and The Late Show with David Letterman are doing more to win over the minds of Saudi youth than $500-million worth of American propaganda. NBC’s pilot Wonder Woman has found its hero and villain—Adrianne Palicki (Friday Night Lights) and Elizabeth Hurley (Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery), respectively. Aaron Sorkin—a screenwriter who just won an Oscar for The Social Network and whom I admire for creating The West Wing and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip—is returning to the small screen with an HBO drama about a cable news show. Before we get too sweet on HBO, though, bear in mind that the network passed on the comedy series Tilda, about a powerful Hollywood blogger. Why they would pass...

The Blogging Dead

By on Dec 26, 2010 in Announcements |

Due to a fair amount of personal upheaval and a great amount of procrastination, this blog has been broadcasting dead air for the past three months. My bad. But I’m back now and ready to continue commenting upon my own (and enabling your) television addiction. Much as I would have loved to keep the Lost rewatch going, a change of residences took priority. But I’ll get back to the Island soon. In the meantime, please look forward to the Second Annual Primie Awards, celebrating the best in television over the past year… or, at least, television that I’ve seen so far. (I’m woefully behind on The Walking Dead.) We will now return to your scheduled programming. I promise.

The Prime Times: Part Labrador, Part Russell Crowe Edition

By on Sep 9, 2010 in In Brief |

Television news and scoop, right off the grill: The next season of Dexter will feature laudable thespians Julia Stiles (Save the Last Dance) and Jonny Lee Miller (Trainspotting, Eli Stone). A failed FOX pilot was rescued by A&E: the cable network ordered 13 episodes of Breakout Kings, a drama about an unlikely alliance between U.S. Marshalls and ex-cons. Mystery Science Theater 3000, a 90s-era show that lovingly lambasted terrible B-movies with snarky commentary, now has installments available for viewing on Hulu—with movies like Secret Agent Super Dragon, Giant Gila Monster, and Horrors of Spider Island. David Strathairn—star of Good Night, and Good Luck and recent Emmy winner for his work on Temple Grandin—has been cast in a new Syfy series called Alphas about crime-fighters imbued with superhuman abilities. And Syfy’s new series Three Inches—a show about crime-fighters...

The Prime Times: Let’s All Go to HBO Edition

By on Jun 22, 2010 in In Brief |

You want the latest skinny? I got your latest skinny right here. Dustin Hoffman is migrating to television to headline HBO’s new series Luck, created by David Milch (Deadwood). Variety reports that the show will center on “several eclectic personalities who ply their trade on the horse-racing circuit,” including Hoffman’s character, “a man in his late 60s just released from four years in prison who’s autodidactic, intelligent, and deeply involved in gambling.” The show is predicted to debut in January. The network is also developing a yet-to-be-titled series in which Kevin Kline will portray a man just released from prison fifteen years after murdering his mistress. Was he cellmates with Dusty Hoffman? And hey, Diane Keaton is going to HBO, too! Along with Ellen Page! The duo will star in Tilda, a show roughly based on the life of notorious...

The Prime Times: Get Your Fill Edition

By on Apr 18, 2010 in In Brief |

Yes, this installment of The Prime Times is chock-full of fortifying TV scoop. Yumm-o! Steven Spielberg is in talks with FOX to develop a dinosaur drama! (That sentence begged for an exclamation point.) The project, tentatively titled Terra Nova, would see a family from the future travel to prehistoric times. But obviously, it might be too ambitious a project to produce: think of how hard it’d be to round up all the dinosaur actors in Los Angeles and fly them out to some remote jungle to start filming. ABC family renewed Greek for a fourth season, which creator Sean Smith says will be its last, telling Entertainment Weekly, “We’re all looking at this as an opportunity to come back, wrap up the show, and end strong. ABC Family could’ve ended it, but they gave us this opportunity and I don’t want to squander it.” A&E is getting back into the drama...

The Prime Times: Post “Lost” Edition

By on Feb 26, 2010 in In Brief |

Lordy lordy, do I have a ton of news items to share. Let’s waste no time: Most excitingly, William Keck at TV Guide reports that Terry O’Quinn (Lost’s Locke) is pitching a series in which he and Michael Emerson (Ben) star as “suburban hit men juggling family issues.” My buddy Andy says he might not be able to see these Emmy-winners as anything other than their iconic Lost personas, but I think that we’ll eventually get accustomed to them portraying different characters. Eventually. And speaking of shedding past roles, SCI FI Wire tells us that James Callis (Battlestar Galactica’s Gaius Baltar) has joined the cast of FlashForward and will appear in this season’s last handful of episodes. The fate-defying drama returns March 18 for an uninterrupted run of 13 installments. Nip/Tuck’s series finale airs on Wednesday, which means I...