Deadwood's Ian McShane will play King Silas in Kings, a new series inspired by the story of King David (Aussie actor Christopher Egan) and reportedly a lock for NBC's 2008-09 slate. Sources tell the Reporter that the Peacock on Wednesday will also announce series pickups for Knight Rider, the Christian Slater spy drama My Worst Enemy and The Philanthropist, which centers on a billionaire who sets out to help others.It is hoped that NBC will also confirm the rumored DirecTV pickup of Friday Night Lights. The Wednesday upfronts reveal is the earliest in the network's history, and at least six weeks ahead of the standard May fanfare. As long as it's bringing us more series news, faster, I'm all for it. How 'bout you? — Anna Dimond
read more
Question: There was talk earlier in the year about a four-hour conclusion to Deadwood. Now that David Milch's John from Cincinnati has been mercifully put down, is there any chance we might see new Deadwood episodes?
Answer: I'd like to be able to use the strike as a convenient way to duck this question, as I do so many others these days, but the fact is that HBO and David Milch are already at work developing a new series (about police corruption in New York in the '70s), or at least they will be when they're allowed to get back to work again. So I think you can just kiss Deadwood goodbye. Unless, of course, a miracle happens and they suddenly announce it's a go. Which didn't seem to be much of a priority last time the critics got together with HBO leaders ...
read more
Fresh from playing a milkshake-sipping serial killer on Criminal Minds, Keith Carradine is now hunting for one on Dexter (Sundays at 9 pm/ET, Showtime), as an FBI agent assigned to Miami after bodies are discovered in a harbor. Carradine shares his thoughts on his new role, his famous family and his Deadwood experience.
TV Guide: You play Agent Lundy, who is investigating the Bay Harbor Butcher. Tell us about him.Keith Carradine: I come in with this reputation as a star in the serial-profiling world. It makes Dexter sit up and take notice. He realizes he really has to watch himself now.
TV Guide: What do you like about him?Carradine: He's not cocky
read more
Question: Not only do I think Damages was the best new show to air this summer, I now have to say it is the best show on television! I usually can't stand it when shows do flashbacks, then revert to real time and go back and forward again. But Damages does it so well, and that device makes its stories all the more compelling. Here's my question, though: Will Damages be back for a second season? I ask because they have killed off so many of their major players; will enough cast members be left to do a second season, and if so, what storyline could they possibly come up with next? Glenn Close's performance is out-of-the-park superb. Most times Patty is cold, calculating, vindictive, cruel (remember the doggie?) and downright nasty. (Didn't we all love it when Ellen told her off and even again last week when she declined to come back to the firm?) That makes it all the more compelling when we see even the slightest humanity or compassion from her. She is riveting. Also, I've been a fan of ...
read more
Question: You have dealt with the issue of swearing on cable rather extensively in the past several columns; it seems to be an issue that is touching a nerve. I wonder if it's possible to admit that, no matter how opposed to censorship one might be, there is something about certain words that causes a mental or physical reaction. The F-word in particular is hard to stomach for many otherwise liberal-minded people, even in small doses. It always angers me when I'm watching a perfectly acceptable PG-13 movie, and just because the filmmakers can insert one F-word into the mix, they do. It's understandable that many viewers in the post-Sopranos era would be disturbed by the trend. Even David Chase grossly overdid it at times. But it certainly is possible to write entertaining, realistic television without these words. Look at Arrested Development, where the "scripted" bleeps were among the funniest things on the show. I think it's a blessing that this lamented masterpiece did not go to HBO ...
read more
