Six Feet Under alum (and star of Fox's upcoming Return of Jezebel James) Lauren Ambrose will voice KW, one of the giant creatures in Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are. Ambrose replaces Michelle Williams, whose voice was deemed a not-so-perfect match with the producers' vision.... Disney Feature Animation's Bolt (nee American Dog, and featuring the voices of John Travolta and Susie Essman), will be released in 3-D when it opens next Thanksgiving.... Jet Li will net 100 million juan (about $13 million) for his next movie, The Warlords, marking a record for an actor in a Chinese-language film.
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As if the implications of the writers’ strike weren’t already giving us migraines, along comes Fox to make our heads explode with its latest incomprehensible schedule announcement, covering the strike-impacted midseason from January to April (consider most everything you read from here on subject to change). The first piece of bad news was expected: The seventh season of 24 is being postponed indefinitely, until Fox can ensure the entire season can run intact and uninterrupted. Who knows when that will be? Another blow: Fox is finally living up to its threat to move Bones to Fridays, effective Jan. 4, where it will be paired with repeats of House (the Fox equivalent of Law & Order, considering how often the hit medical drama will be peppered throughout the network’s new and unimproved lineup).To try to help make sense of it all, let’s look at the schedule night by night:Monday: With 24 out of the picture, the new big-ticket midseason item is now the action-pa...
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If you could just ignore those pesky months between September and December, Fox would be sitting pretty. The challenge each year for this network is how to schedule a fall start that will live up to the blockbuster spring finish provided by late-arriving shows like American Idol and (even a diminished) 24.In the last of the week’s Upfront presentations, Fox Entertainment president Peter Ligouri made the curious choice of putting himself in the middle of a 24 parody, trading exchanges on the phone with clips of Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland, not in attendance in New York this year) from 24, in which Jack addressed “the president.” The ticking-clock (ticking bomb?) metaphor isn’t the most natural fit for a sales presentation, you’d think. And given that the first thing anyone in Los Angeles (where I’ve been the last three weeks) wants to talk to me about is the steep decline in 24’s quality this season, is this really putting your best foot forward? ...
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3:50: Fox upfront. The words still send shivers down my spine. As you recall, the network's presentation last year was widely considered to be the single most grueling upfront in the history of upfrontmanship. The post-traumatic stress still hasn't worn off.3:51: Good news. Fox has clearly learned from their mistakes. In stark contrast to last year, the check-in process was easy-breezy. Even better, the air conditioning is working! Now if we can wrap this thing up in under two hours, almost all will be forgiven.4:01: I'm in complete denial about the VM thing, BTW. Just thought I'd share. Ooooh, the show is starting... with a 24 parody!4:05: Jack Bauer urges Fox president Peter Liguori to keep this year's presentation under an hour! LOL!4:06: They're bringing all their stars out onstage. Fox always has a good talent turnout at these things. 4:08: Well, most years they have a good turnout. The only Prison Breaker in attendance is Sucre (Amaury Nolasco)!4:09: No Kiefer Sutherland, but ...
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The new dramas premiering this fall are K-Ville, starring Anthony Anderson and Cole Hauser as police officers in post-Katrina New Orleans; and New Amsterdam, the first American television project from Oscar-nominated director/producer Lasse Hallström, featuring newcomer Nikolaj Coster Waldau as a unique New York City homicide detective.The new comedy slated for fall is Back to You, from executive producers Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd. Set at a TV news station in Pittsburgh, the sitcom stars Emmy Award-winners Patricia Heaton and Kelsey Grammer, and is directed by James Burrows.The new unscripted series that will premiere this fall include The Search for the Next Great American Band(working title), a reality competition from the producers of American Idol, which will do for undiscovered groups what Idol has done for singers. From the producers of Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, Nashville (working title) is an unscripted docu-soap featuring a group of ambitious you...
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