Jill Hennessy by Mitch Haaseth/NBC, New York by Scott Odgers/VH1, Melissa Joan Hart by Kwaku Alston/The WB
You know, a lot of folks are making a big wahh-wahh about Katherine Heigl’s decision to remove herself from the Emmy race. Whatever. But to dump on the Grey’s Anatomy writers to excuse her less-than-award-worthy performance this season? Child, please. The day her sucking is the fault of the writers is the day I fit into clothes at Abercrombie & Fitch again. Besides, the whole “roles for women” gripe doesn't hold. Just looking at a few recent DVD releases, it’s clear that fun roles are out there...even if they aren’t tailor-made to win ungrateful, overpaid half-talents the Emmys they think they deserve just for showing up.Crossing Jordan — Before the joy that is Bones, there was this cadaver-heavy crime drama and after what I’m pretty sure was an excessive amount of time to wait, the first season of NBC’s sexy coroner is finally here. And let’s all just agree right now that Jill Hennessy needs to do more TV. Maybe she can hook up ...
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Crossing Jordan courtesy Universal Studios
Dr. Jordan Cavanaugh likes sticking her nose where it doesn't belong, and her obsession with solving murders takes her out of the lab and onto the streets. She often butts heads with police, and she steps on toes to recover evidence and solve cases, but there's always been one case that she's been unable to solve - the murder of her mother. All 23 episodes, presented in widescreen, are available on this 5-disc set. Special features include audio commentaries with Creator Tim Kring, Producer/Director Allan Arkush and composers Lisa Coleman and Wendy Melvoin; deleted scenes and interviews with the producers and cast members (4 separate interviews). — Gord LaceyBuy Crossing Jordan Season 1 on Amazon.com.
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Chyler Leigh by Evan Agostini/Getty Images, Scott Garfield/ABC
There's no doubt about it: New TV hits can bring old, short-lived shows to DVD.Just ask Taye Diggs, who's hot enough in Private Practice that his 2006 effort, Day Break, will hit stores at the end of this month. Or Kim Raver: Her old show, Third Watch, was in hugely high demand for a DVD release... but the studio didn't actually pull the trigger on getting it out (early last month) until Raver was cast in the new series Lipstick Jungle. Christina Applegate is doing well with Samantha Who?, so naturally more season-set releases are getting dug up for Married... with Children (Season 8 hits in a couple of weeks). Ditto for Party of Five, which finally returns to DVD later this month, thanks to Matthew Fox's current hit show, Lost. (Jennifer Love Hewitt's good-enough turn in Ghost Whisperer doesn't hurt there, either!)This phenomenon is not only limited to cast members, either. With Heroes having hit superpower levels in the ratings, is it any wonder that creator Tim Kring's previous s...
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Bionic Woman: Volume 1 courtesy Universal Studios Home Entertainment
New releases announced today, January 30:Ben 10: Secret of the Omnitrix will be coming out May 6 Bionic Woman: Volume 1 will be coming out March 18 Crossing Jordan: Season 1 will be coming out May 6 Two and a Half Men: The Complete 3rd Season will be coming out May 13 Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Giant Gila Monster will be coming out February 5 The New Maverick (Pilot Telefilm for Young Maverick) will be coming out May 20 Visit TVShowsOnDVD.com for the complete stories on these and other news items.
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Angie Harmon in Women's Murder Club by Danny Feld/ABC
My loyalties are so divided on Friday nights. I want ABC’s so-so new crime drama Women’s Murder Club to do well enough to bring some much-needed eyeballs to the charming romantic comedy Men in Trees, which finally returns from a cruel nearly eight-month hiatus. With James Patterson’s name as a selling point for Murder Club (though he’s not writing this series any more than he appears to be penning half of the books that go out with co-writers’ names on his ubiquitous book jackets), the show certainly has a shot at commercial success, even on a night that’s widely considered a graveyard. Remember: This same night, and this same time period (9 pm/ET), is where the original CSI launched to even less fanfare, and the rest is TV history.But I also don’t want anything to take audience away from Murder Club’s competition, most notably NBC’s ever-fragile Friday Night Lights, which offers another superb episode this week. Even if like many observe...
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Kristin Chenowith in Pushing Daisies by Scott Garfield/ABC
The early ratings are in, and it looks like the combination of aggressive promotion and laudatory media buzz paid off for the first round of ABC’s delightful Pushing Daisies, which handily won its time period Wednesday and is off to a solid start. Honestly, though, if any of the reality alternatives had prevailed (especially CBS’s snooze-inducing Kid Nation and the is-that-still-on stupid briefcase show over on NBC), I think I’d be wearing a black armband in to work for the rest of the season. I’m dying to see a second episode of Daisies, and am trying to pretend I’m not worried that ABC hasn’t supplied one yet. (A year ago, I was dazzled by the pilot of The Nine, an episode the series never again lived up to.) Still, after watching an opening hour as filled with wonder and whimsy as Daisies’ pilot (or “Pielette,” as the episode was titled), how can anyone express anything but hope?My other top Wednesday night priority was seeing how Priv...
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Question: I've been watching episodes of Crossing Jordan on A&E for a few weeks now and find it pretty entertaining, so I looked up the date of the new season premiere and read that NBC had canceled it. Just like that, on a cliff-hanger? I know it's been on for six seasons, but what bothers me most is how it ended. The finale didn't feel like a series finale. The producers clearly didn't know they weren't getting another season. Are the rumors of its cancellation true? If so, how disappointing. By the way, how did the Emmys not nominate Walton Goggins for his fantastic performance on The Shield this season?!
Answer: The snub of Walton Goggins was deplorable, but it probably has more to do with The Shield being relatively and unfortunately under the radar compared to the higher-profile shows that filled that category (Lost, Heroes, Grey's Anatomy, The Sopranos and, yes, Boston Legal). As for Crossing Jordan: It's hardly a rumor. It's finished. At least two of its stars are on new fal ...
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Upfronts week — the near-euphoric annual event where television enthusiasts such as you and I anticipate the new and returning fare heading our way — is upon us. Though some scheduling news has started to leak out — NBC has renewed Medium and fan-fave bubble show Friday Night Lights but is possibly crossing Jordan off its list — the official presentation of each network's fall schedule begins Monday with the Peacock showcasing its feathers, and concludes Thursday when the CW answers such questions as, "What will fill Gilmore Girls' void?"This here blog, my friends, is one to bookmark, as it will serve as a veritable clearinghouse for any and all news coming out of the upfronts. Each morning we will hurry to the fore the latest unveiling of network lineups, then throughout the day supplement it with expert insight from the likes of Matt Roush, Stephen Battaglio and Michael Ausiello.With the fun about to start, I leave you with these burning questions, which will, ...
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As scooped by the Ausiello Report Thursday afternoon, NBC has redeemed itself for The Real Wedding Crashers by scheduling a second season of Friday Night Lights — this coming on the heels of an early pickup for Medium. Now, as next week's upfronts draw even closer, the bad news is trickling in. Despite recent chatter that Crossing Jordan might cheat the grim reaper, the New York Times is reporting that the six-year-old drama has booked a date with the coroner. The same article has Scrubs checking out, though the sitcom could possibly find a reprieve at the hands of ABC.
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Jill Hennessy by Paul Drinkwater/NBC
Here are seven words I never thought I'd type: Crossing Jordan may be back next season.Multiple sources connected to the drama tell me that prospects for a seventh season are looking up. That's quite a turnaround from what I heard just a few weeks ago, which was that Jordan was showing signs of rigor mortis. "Everyone was expecting to get shut down," acknowledges a Jordan insider. "But just last week, NBC started to give indications that the show might return. There's even been some money allocated for next season."Reaction to this shocking development? Is another season of Crossing Jordan cause for celebration? And, more importantly, what might this mean for NBC's other bubble shows — most notably Friday Night Lights? Post your comments/theories below!
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