Jennifer Hudson
The soundtrack for the last week in TV — and virtually every other medium — was provided by the late and lavishly lamented Whitney Houston. Her sudden, untimely death on the eve of the Grammys helped boost that annual spectacular to its highest ratings since the peak of the Thriller furor (a statistic reminding us of the equally resounding loss of Michael Jackson in 2009). LL Cool J, the Grammys' engaging host, opened the show with a prayer — when's the last time that happened? — as the proceedings took on the feel of a celebration and memorial, when they weren't busy crowning Adele the new Queen of Pop. (And how much fun was she on 60 Minutes?)
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The Munsters
Remember last fall's The Playboy Club and Charlie's Angels? Both shows quickly fizzled — but their failure didn't sour the networks on period dramas or remakes. Both trends are hot again as pilot season gets underway this winter.
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Shaun Cassidy
Shaun Cassidy is prepping a trip to the Old West in a new project he's developing with director Thomas Schlamme (The West Wing) at NBC.
Set in 1840, The Frontier follows a group of disparate travelers in Missouri as they...
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Shirley Jones, David Cassidy
I think I love this: Shirley Jones will guest-star on ABC Family's Ruby & the Rockits, playing mother to David and Patrick Cassidy, her real-life stepson and son, TVGuide.com has learned exclusively.
Shaun Cassidy, another of the actress' sons with the late actor Jack Cassidy, executive-produces the new comedy. He joked that Jones got the role the old-fashioned way.
"She slept with the producer," he tells TVGuide.com. "Although in her defense, I was two years old at the time and afraid of the dark."
Watch Alexa Vega talk about the Cassidys
Ruby & the Rockits stars David and Patrick as ...
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A British Invasion...? If only. U.K.-born Toby Stephens (Die Another Day) has landed the lead in Inseparable, a prospective pilot for Fox, says the Reporter. Pitched to the network before the strike by Shaun Cassidy (Invasion), the drama is pegged as "a modern-day Jekyll-and-Hyde tale" in which a partially paralyzed forensic shrink harbors a split personality — his other self being a charismatic criminal. Inseparable, it should be noted, has not yet been picked up by Fox as a pilot. But with this pre-season being so unusual, networks are in some cases locking up talent first .
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Question: Will Invasion be back this fall? I love that show
Answer: Under normal circumstances, I'd say something really mean to you for asking such a ludicrous question. But since I have some Invasion poop to impart, I'm going to restrain myself and just be thankful someone asked an Invasion question at all this week. Now, while I was talking to Tyler Labine about Boston Legal, the Chatty Cathy shared with me a personal conversation he had with series creator Shaun Cassidy about what would have happened during Season 2 of Invasion. True, I wasn't exactly the most religious Invasion viewer, but I know big scoop when I hear it: "Shaun told me Larkin was going to [be presumed dead]. I was going to get all militant and shave my head, and Russell and I were going to join forces against Tom. Tom was
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Question: As a fellow Invasion fan, what did you think of the series finale? I thought it was pretty close to perfect — it would have been perfect if we had a second season to look forward to. So much action, so many questions answered and so left unanswered. The possibility that Larkin would start the second season as a hybrid — along with the subtext I read into Russell and Mariel's relationship — promised more emotion along with the sci-fi for a second year. Now that CW has passed on picking up the series, do you think Shaun Cassidy and company might pull a Joss Whedon and release a feature movie to tie up the loose ends and continue the story?
Answer: For my analysis of Invasion's first-rate finale, check out my Dispatch from the morning after. As to Invasion's future, it's an awfully long shot. The show would have to do well in the afterlife: in repeat viewings on Sci Fi or wherever, and in DVD sales for sure, which is what helped Joss Whedon make his dream of a movie version of
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Question: Thanks for your support of Invasion this season. I was a little sad but not surprised to see that it had been canceled. I consider it a fascinating experiment that yielded some wonderful results, like Shaun Cassidy's other series, American Gothic, although it certainly wasn't for all tastes. Best of all, it brought the talents of William Fichtner, who was able to simultaneously convey both menacing and sympathetic qualities, to my attention. I will miss Sheriff Underlay most of all. I don't consider it a "waste of time" to have taken a chance on a series that had a high chance of failure. It was worth it to see something interesting and a little different. So tell us what you think now that the decision's in. What do you think about Invasion and about investing time and love in low-chance shows?
Answer: I couldn't agree more with the praise for William Fichtner, one of the more original villains-turned-heros I've ever witnessed. I liked Invasion when it was too slow for many,
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William Fichtner, Invasion
ABC's Invasion is back with a bang tonight (10 pm/ET), sharing the first of two new shocker-filled episodes... before taking a five-week break. (Do not get me started.) Still, what's ahead is super stuff, led off by this week's episode, which is fittingly titled "The Fittest." TVGuide.com enjoyed a rather candid convo with none other than shady Sheriff Tom Underlay himself, film vet William Fichtner.
TVGuide.com: Invasion is so much fun. You must be camped out by your mailbox waiting for the next script, eh?William Fichtner:
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Question: Any scoop on where we're going with this whole Invasion thing? I usually don't go for sci-fi, but I'm digging this show.
Answer: You and me both. At ABC's press-tour party on Saturday, series creator Shaun Cassidy was calling tonight's episode — in which William Fichtner gets shot — the series' best yet. (What? Him biased? Pshaw.) "[Underlay] is dying on the floor of his living room and he flashes back to the last time he almost died in a plane crash 10 years ago," revealed Cassidy, who added that viewers will "have to watch three more episodes" to learn the identity of the shooter. Anything else big coming up? "Dave (Tyler Labine) is greeted by a doppelganger version of himself that didn't quite take."
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