Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel courtesy The CW
Two years after signing off the airwaves, the WB is returning with new programming — as well as some of its most memorable series — but not on TV. According to an article in the Hollywood Reporter, the Warner Bros. Television Group is reviving the network as a website, where viewers will be able to watch free streaming episodes of Gilmore Girls, What I Like About You and Everwood, as well as all other WB-produced shows. (The site's "working title," wb.com, currently jumps to a general Warner Bros. Studios roundup of movies, TV, DVDs, etc.)The WB, which merged with UPN in 2006 to become the bastion of twentysomething programming that is the CW, aired a string of fan-favorite shows in its 10-year existence, including Dawson's Creek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. It's not clear yet whether non-Warner Bros. shows will be available on the site, but new Web-minisodes are reportedly in the works, with series aimed at the WB's core audience.Warner Bros. hasn't confirmed the ...
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I bet all you Meredith-haters screamed "Yes!" when Cristina said: "Everything is not about you, Meredith." I would've laughed harder had they not used it in the coming attractions and promos, but either way, that was a good line regardless of how you feel about Meredith. I personally enjoyed Meredith tonight in this commitment-themed episode — especially in the closing scene when she finished Derek's sentence by suggesting he "take some space" and clear his head, as if she understood, followed by her "I'm here for you" to Cristina. How about that troublemaker sister of Derek's, though? Seems like Nancy flew in to town just to stir the pot, but I liked that she and Derek played nice at the end, even after she admitted to being one of the many women who had slept with Mark Sloan. Lame opening scene, though, with Meredith's barging in to the trailer as Derek's standing in just a towel and not immediately telling (the "slutty intern") Meredith, "She's my sister." That was Embeth Da...
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Question: Why is ABC shelving Invasion for six weeks? It's the best new drama of the year. Period. (Sorry, I'm just not onboard with Commander in Chief, despite what the Emmys and Globes say.) Invasion isn't a Lost clone. It's unique and mesmerizing, in a freaky kind of way. Please say it's coming back. If not, I think I'll borrow a phrase from Dave and blame this on a "government conspiracy." It seems that year after year, the quality shows I love get the boot (Jack & Bobby, Freaks and Geeks, Angel and Felicity.) Just once, I'd like a quality show to get the chance to stick around as long as some of those silly, never-ending sitcoms.
Answer: This is a messy mid-season, no doubt. (And, for the record, ABC is shelving Commander in Chief in March for six weeks as well.) But it's common practice for networks to pull some shows (especially shows like Invasion, which tend to repeat poorly) to make room to try out others during the spring. I agree, though, that this will do more harm than
...
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Question: A while back, I saw a preview for a movie with Johnny Knoxville in which he's confessing to a priest and his confessions are so bad the priest kicks him out of the church. I haven't heard about it since, but would love to know the title.
Answer: I haven't seen the trailer to which you're referring, but Johnny Knoxville has two completed movies kicking around, one awaiting a belated release and the other playing theaters on a regional basis. The Ringer, a broad comedy directed by Barry Blaustein and executive produced by Bobby and Peter Farrelly, stars Knoxville as an all-around failure who comes up with
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Question: Can you tell me how many shows that premiered last season are still on the air? For example, does Fox have any returning shows that premiered last season that are coming back? If none of them is, then is that because the shows were not given enough time to draw an audience, or because they were scheduled poorly, or because they really did not have a chance because they were just terrible? Can you comment on all the networks using the above criteria? IMO, the problem is that shows are canceled prematurely.
Answer: I'll start with Fox, since that seems to be your primary gripe. Keep in mind its schedule was a mess, with summer shows and reality filler bleeding into fall, and many shows not starting until much later. Of the fall shows, only House, a genuine hit, survived, along with negligible late-season starters American Dad and Stacked (but for how long?). Most of what Fox aired was truly terrible (Jonny Zero, Point Pleasant), so I think Fox is better off this fall with newer,
...
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Poor Christine Lahti. You'd think being married to a former executive producer of The West Wing would guarantee her a role in any of his future projects. Not necessarily. According to the Emmy-winning actress, her husband, Thomas Schlamme, didn't initially see a part for her in Jack & Bobby (debuting Sunday). That's his new WB drama about a conflicted single mom raising two boys — one of whom is destined to be president of the United States. Here, the 54-year-old Chicago Hope alumna talks about her role as future first mother Grace McCallister, and how she persuaded her husband to keep it all in the family.
TV Guide Online: In the pilot episode, Grace smokes pot. Any reservations about playing a professor, a woman of influence, who uses marijuana?Christine Lahti: It's probably not good for her. Certainly not for the kids. No, [I don't have any] reservations. In fact, one of the things I loved about her the most is that she'
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We're at the midway point of press tour and that can only mean three things: At least half of the journalists here have started recycling their underwear; the backlash against the host hotel has reached a fever pitch; and folks are starting to place bets on which shows are going to be axed first. (My pick? CBS's ghastly John Goodman sitcom Center of the Universe.) Helping TCA members celebrate Hump Day is WB, which previewed its fall schedule Wednesday for the increasingly cranky press corps. Here's a rundown of all the day's memorable moments.
WELCOMING REMARKS9:10 Keith Marder, WB's joyfully antagonistic communications director, kicks off the day with his traditional press-tour comedy routine. First up is a joke about former WB chief
Jordan Levin, who Marder says left the network to figure out who starred "in the reality version of
Crossing Jordan." It bombs, but he assures us, "It will get better."
9:11
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