It's almost a given that a show with tons of music will have at least one song replaced when it comes out on DVD, but what if that one song is the theme for the show? The earliest theme-song replacements occurred on Dawson's Creek and Married... with Children, the former using the international theme, and the latter using a sound-alike song, but the replacements didn't stop there. Since then we've heard new theme songs for Life Goes On, the international theme for Las Vegas, a butchered theme for Baywatch, George Lopez uttering some words instead of "Low Rider" and the season 3 theme being used on season 2 of Happy Days. Why is this happening?Most songs are licensed on a per-play basis, so the theme song costs are multiplied by the number of episodes in the season. A $20,000 song quickly becomes $440,000 for the season, and the studios are telling us that the recording companies hold this songs hostage, knowing that it's the most important song to license. Sony delayed the third sea...
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The best thing I saw on Super Bowl Sunday? Pan’s Labyrinth. But that’s a different story (or a different column). Anything to get out of doors (even in the frigid cold) to skip the first few hours of pre-Super Bowl hype.The worst thing I saw on Super Bowl Sunday? A typically unpleasant, thoroughly predictable episode of Criminal Minds that followed the big game. More on that later.In between, we had a game played in torrential rain that had plenty of reversals (how slippery was that football, anyway?) and was plenty exciting, especially to a former Indiana resident and current Peyton Manning fan. The buzz about Super Bowls is that this is usually the one night of the year when you actually watch the ads and zip your TiVo through the game. This year, that would have been a mistake.I lost count of the number of moronic Bud Light ads I had to sit through just to get to the two memorable ads for classic Budweiser. As usual, there was a classy one involving Clydesdales, this ye...
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UPDATE ON ROB LOWE: Be sure to check out Brothers & Sisters exec producer Jon Robin Baitz' brand-new TVGuide.com blog entry regarding Lowe joining the cast.As first spilled by the Ausiello Report, former West Winger Rob Lowe is joining ABC's Brothers & Sisters as a Republican senator and romantic interest for Calista Flockhart's Kitty (and no, that was not a euphemism). Lowe will appear in at least six episodes; Mike has the details.... Per Reuters, Alicia Witt (Cybill) will star in Blue Smoke, a Lifetime movie based on the Nora Roberts best-seller about a female arson investigator haunted by a pyromaniac stalker. Scott Bakula, Talia "Adrian!!!" Shire (as Witt's mother) and Matthew Settle (Brothers & Sisters) also star.... Relative newbies Rachel Specter (Entourage), Brendan Miller (Accepted), Anna Osceola, John Keefe (The Practice), Christopher Todd (The Sopranos) and Jocelin Donahue will populate the Comedy Central pilot Not Another High School Show, which promises to ...
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If there were any justice, TV would ease up on the glut of crime and legal dramas. But that's hardly likely, and Fox's cynical Justice (Wednesdays at 9 pm/ET) knows it all too well.
Realizing how pointless it would be to try to reinvent the courtroom drama, Justice embraces the fact that our post-O.J. society is saturated with true-crime coverage and fake-crime stories. That's why TV itself (embodied by a fictional infotainment show, "American Crime") is a major character in Jerry Bruckheimer's latest fun-to-watch procedural.
As the head of a glamorous L.A. law firm, Victor Garber sheds the tight-lipped restraint of Alias' Jack Bristow and taps into his theatrical roots as cocky
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Question: I heard that WB was going to air its entire first season before the merge with UPN. Is there any truth to this rumor? With so little on the air this summer, reruns of the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and other classic WB shows would bring some much-needed humor to TV.
Answer: A slight (but significant) correction: what WB is planning to do on its last official Sunday night, Sept. 17, is rebroadcast the first episodes of such signature series as Felicity, Angel, Buffy and Dawson's Creek. (Shows continuing on at CW were not considered for this stunt, which is why 7th Heaven and Smallville aren't on the list.) Believe me, you wouldn't want to watch WB's first season on the air, which mainly consisted of one lousy sitcom after another.
Also regarding the WB/UPN-to-CW switch, Amanda asks: "What exactly will happen when WB and UPN unite? Since I already have both channels, will I have two CW channels?" Not a silly question, because this is an unprecedented situation
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Question: Do we know yet which actress is going to play Bones and Brennan's sexy new boss, Dr. Camille Saroyan, on Bones? Answer: Yes! The role has gone to the lovely Tamara Taylor. Lost fans know her as Walt's mom, but TT also had recurring gigs on NCIS, Party of Five and Dawson's Creek. She also was one of the few reasons to watch UPN's short-lived
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Gabrielle Christian, South of Nowhere
If you are a fan of The N's South of Nowhere, you might be sad that you still have to wait a while for new episodes — especially since the high-school series left on a bit of a cliff-hanger, with gal pals Spencer and Ashley locking lips. Since Nowhere started filming again this week, TVGuide.com spoke with star Gabrielle Christian, who plays Spencer, for a sneak peek at what to expect next season.
TVGuide.com: You're just getting ready to start production. Have you seen any scripts?Gabrielle Christian: We started shooting on Monday. We've had one table read and we're actually starting by filming Episodes 3 and 4 first. We've heard the overall story.
TVGuide.com: Is the second season going to pick up where the first one left off?Christian: The first episode of this season takes place the day after the end
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Sarah Lancaster, What About Brian
Sarah Lancaster recently turned 26, but she's already racked up more TV credits than most actors claim in a lifetime. Her first role was as Rachel on Saved by the Bell: The New Class. Since then she's appeared on Dawson's Creek, Boston Public, That ‘70s Show, Scrubs, 7th Heaven, Six Feet Under and Everwood, to name a few. Now, the sultry beauty is the female lead in What About Brian, a new ABC series (sneak previewing Sunday at 10 pm/ET, then airing Mondays at 10) from executive producer J.J. Abrams (Lost). TVGuide.com caught up with the grizzled TV vet to find out what Brian's all about.
TVGuide.com: How would you describe What
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Criminal Minds guest star Amber Heard previews CW network's best bet.
Sometimes my job gets spooky. Minutes after I Q&A'd Tara Lipinski (re: an upcoming Malcolm in the Middle), a TV Guide colleague asks if I want to chat up Amber Heard, an ingénue-on-the-rise who plays a big role on tonight's Criminal Minds (9 pm/ET on CBS) but more interestingly got the edgy film role Lipinski just told me she had to pass on. Alpha Dog (in theaters May 12), though, is but one of the many gigs Heard is about to hit you with. In fact, you may be looking at the fledgling CW network's first breakout star. You be the judge.
TVGuide.com: Get this: I just interviewed Tara Lipinski, who opted to pass on a role in Alpha Dog because of the, um, required nudity. That's the gig you wound up with, right?Amber Heard: I definitely think it is. Th
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Ryan Shea and Donna Martin, Cheerleader Nation
Can Ayrica juggle practice and tending to her baby sister? Will Ryan choose her boyfriend's basketball game over a team formal? Does a bad grade mean the boot for Amanda? It's Bring It On meets Dawson's Creek when Lifetime premieres Cheerleader Nation (Sunday at 10 pm/ET), an eight-episode series chronicling the Dunbar High School (of Lexington, Ky.) cheerleading squad's pursuit of a third straight national championship. Perhaps no one on the team has it as rough as sophomore Ryan Shea Martin, whose mom, Donna, is the varsity coach! TVGuide.com talked to the duo about bringing their real mother-daughter issues to reality TV.
TVGuide.com: When you signed on for this, were y
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