matt.mitovich

Full-Season Orders for ABC's Brothers, CBS' Home

ABC likes Sally Field, they really like her. As such, the network has greenlit Brothers & Sisters for a full season, making the family drama its second series (after Ugly Betty) to get that back-nine boost. B&S is this fall's second-highest rated new series in the 18-49 demo, behind only NBC's Heroes. CBS, meanwhile, has granted Close to Home, which is up 5 percent in total viewers  if not rather unrecognizable  compared to its freshman year, a full-season order, as well.

Tue, Oct 17, 2006

No-Longer-Dancing Star to Explain Exit

Sara Evans, who last week announced not just the end of her marriage but her exit from Dancing with the Stars, will explain why she is leaving ABC's dance show in a taped interview to be played during Tuesday night's telecast, her attorney tells the Washington Post. In divorce papers filed Thursday, Evans claimed that her husband, Craig Schelske, cheated on her, verbally abused her, drank excessively and watched porn in their home. A spokesperson for Evans' hubby tells the Post that Schelske "was completely caught off guard" by the legal action, and "does not want to play this out in the media." In response, the American media said in a statement, "Pfft. It's hot copy."

Tue, Oct 17, 2006

Rosie Says "Yes" to Nip/Tuck Spin-off

As first teased nearly two months ago, FX is hot for Rosie O'Donnell  that is, for her to star in a spin-off of Nip/Tuck, reprising her role of lottery winner-turned-surgery addict Dawn Budge. "They're in talks to do a show that would film in New York," where Rosie tapes The View, her rep tells the New York Post. As for a rumor that Nicole Kidman wants in on the prospective pilot, "I don't know about [that]," says the flack.UPDATE: A source just tipped me off to the fact that in a Monday-evening Ask Ro update on her website, O'Donnell told a reader, "talks r over. i said yes" to the spin-off deal. 2 cool.

Tue, Oct 17, 2006

Casting About: Nip/Tuck's Carver Catches Cold

Speaking of Nip/Tuck, TVGuide.com has learned that Bruno Campos (aka Quentin/"the Carver") will guest-star on this season's ninth episode of CBS' Cold Case, playing a dead man who serves a key role (via flashbacks) in solving a mystery.... Joe Mantegna is the studio-executive boss of Debra Messing's ex-husband in USA Network's spring 2007 limited series, The Starter Wife.... Clea Lewis (Ellen) will play Andy Richter's wife on the NBC mid-season comedy, Andy Barker, P.I. Lewis replaces Amy Farrington, who filled the role in the pilot.

Tue, Oct 17, 2006

Leo Captains "Extreme Makeover: Entire Town Edition"

Environmental activist actor Leonardo DiCaprio has partnered with Survivor alum Craig Piligian's Pilgrim Films and Madison Road Entertainment to create E-topia, a reality series that will take a down-and-out town and rebuild it into an eco-friendly community. Noting that it's "incredibly ambitious" to "take an American town that has been destroyed and bring it back to its former glory, and then some," Piligian tells Variety the end result will be "a stronger, better, cleaner... prototype for the future." Albeit with probably no flying cars.

Tue, Oct 17, 2006

Coming Soon: Mars Vet's New Crimefighters

Per the Hollywood Reporter, the CW has committed to a pilot for a one-hour action-comedy from Veronica Mars executive producer Diane Ruggiero. Described as "Sex and the City meets Batman," the series centers on two very different young women who unite to fight crime after a mysterious event endows them with superpowers they can use only when they are together.... House creator David Shore and writer Peter Blake are developing an NBC drama revolving around a female cop, says Variety.... Bindi Irwin, the 8-year-old daughter of the late "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin, will star in Bindi, the Jungle Girl, a wildlife series to air on the Discovery Kids network early next year.

Tue, Oct 17, 2006

At the Movies: Eddie Murphy Boards Starship

Per Variety, Eddie Murphy and director Brian Robbins, who have the comedy Norbit due out in February, already are reteaming for Starship Dave, the story of a crew of miniature aliens trying to save the doomed world. Murphy will play their human spacecraft and captain.... Howard and Karen Baldwin and David E. Kelley, who previously have teamed on Mystery, Alaska and From the Hip, are producing a feature based on the origins of the World Hockey Association and hockey great Gordie Howe.... Per the Hollywood Reporter, Diane Lane is an FBI agent tracking a ruthless online predator in Untraceable, a thriller to start shooting in February.

Tue, Oct 17, 2006

Short Cuts: Heroes, The Simpsons and More!

Do you love Heroes as much as I do? Or do you want to see what the buzz is about? NBC is airing three encore episodes this Sunday from 8 to 11 pm/ET. The sad news: The original plan, says Broadcasting & Cable, was to fill Sunday Night Football's off-week vacancy with a Friday Night Lights triple play. What does that change of heart mean?.... Fox invites fans of The Simpsons to create their own promo for this year's "Treehouse of Horror" Halloween episode by logging onto TheSimpsons.com/treehouse. The best edit wins a trip for two to The Simpson's May 2007, 400th-episode gala in Los Angeles.... John Mark Karr, the one-fry-short-of-a-Happy Meal guy who falsely claimed to have murdered JonBenet Ramsey, sits down for a one-on-one interview on today's The Dr. Keith Ablow Show.

Tue, Oct 17, 2006

Salma Hayek Puts Her Betty Foot Forward

Ugly Betty executive producer Salma Hayek, who thus far has only been seen in the background on the ABC comedy's telenovela-within-a-show, will appear in a four-episode arc beginning with the Nov. 2 episode. Hayek will play Sofia Reyes, a newcomer to "Mode" who will leave a lasting impression on Betty and Daniel. (As she should, being the one who signs their paychecks and all!)

Mon, Oct 16, 2006

Ratings: Every-1 Watched 100, Heaven Slips

FRIDAYRiding on the coattails  and them some!  of like-minded lead-in Deal or No Deal (which won the 8 o'clock hour with 11.4 million viewers to Ghost Whisperer's 9.95 mil), the 9 pm series debut of Bob Saget's 1 vs 100 was watched by a mob of 12.55 mil, followed not very closely by Close to Home (11.1 mil). (For more on 1 vs 100, read Angel's Surfer Girl blog.) Men in Trees, meanwhile, was down 350,000, to 7.15 mil.At 10, Numbers (with just shy of 11 million viewers) again topped Law & Order (a season low of 9.4 mil).SUNDAYThe only stories this week were NBC's football coverage (Broncos-Raiders) being down almost 4 million (to 9.4 mil); Housewives placing first at 9 but again with a new low (20.02 mil, down 750,000 week-to-week); and CW's transplanted Monday dramas  7th Heaven (3.15 mil) and Runaway (1.8 mil)  bringing in, across the two hours, nearly the same viewership as the Chris-All of Us-Girlfriends-The Game sitcom quartet, though Heaven was down m...

Mon, Oct 16, 2006

Spider-Man's Amazing Story to End?

Just how dark and tangled a web will MJ's superhero beau weave in Spider-Man 3, due out in May 2007? "You can see on the poster that it's literally black!" Kirsten Dunst told TVGuide.com at a press gathering for Marie Antoinette (in theaters Friday). Not only does the franchise's third entry  which features the introduction of Venom, Spidey's black-goo-based polar opposite  promise to be the grittiest, it might even bring Peter Parker's blockbuster big-screen adventure to a close. "We're not sure [if this is the final entry]," Dunst said. "Might be, might not be. But it's always been something I can [do] when it's coming up, so it's weird that it maybe won't be part of my life anymore."

Mon, Oct 16, 2006

Betty's Sitting Pretty for Full Season

ABC has given a full-season order to the freshman comedy Ugly Betty, which has averaged 14.8 million viewers in its first three weeks.... Meanwhile, not ones to raise the white flag just yet, Fox's down-but-not-out rookie comedies 'Til Death and Happy Hour, which air opposite Betty, have received orders for three additional scripts.... And as reported here on Saturday, NBC has opted not to shelve the ratings-rich ER for a mid-season hiatus, as originally planned.

Mon, Oct 16, 2006

Box Office: Grudge Unmatched

Despite the fact that the always-lovely (and probably just busy) Amber Tamblyn never did call me for that Q&A... The Grudge 2 topped the weekend box office with a $22 million haul (compared to $39.1 mil for its predecessor). Rounding out the top five were The Departed ($18.7 million), Robin Williams' Man of the Year (opening with $12.55 mil), Open Season ($11 mil) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning ($7.75 mil).

Mon, Oct 16, 2006

Coming Soon: Bruckheimer Eyes Treasure Hunt

Prolific producer Jerry Bruckheimer and original CSI helmer Danny Carron are reuniting to exec-produce for CBS a National Treasure-esque action-adventure hour about a wealthy benefactor who funds a team of archaeologists to find artifacts, says Variety.... SVU show-runner Neal Baer is returning to his ER roots to develop an Upstairs, Downstairs-type look at two L.A. hospitals serving very different clientele.... ABC has ordered six episodes of October Road, a onetime fall season candidate that now may debut in spring or summer, and which concerns an acclaimed novelist (Bryan Greenberg) who returns to his hometown to teach at the local university. The pilot also stars Tom Berenger and Geoff Stults.

Mon, Oct 16, 2006

GQ Names the Most Stylish Films

Cary Grant was workin' it, fo' sho. A list published in the November issue of GQ names Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest as the most stylish film of all time, meaning the looks it brought to the silver screen went on to have the biggest influence on the sartorial scene. Also making the top 10: Breathless (1959), Ocean's 11 (1960), Purple Noon, 8 1/2, A Hard Day's Night, How to Steal a Million, Blowup, Bullitt and Get Carter (1970). Conspicuously, no Clan of the Cave Bear.

Mon, Oct 16, 2006

Little Miss Hits Oscar Race Running

Fox Searchlight's little indie that could, the critically revered Little Miss Sunshine, now is hoping to work its magic on voters for the Oscars and Golden Globes. The summer crowd-pleaser became the first film to officially throw its hat into the awards-season ring when it sent out screeners to the 6,000 members of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences and Hollywood Foreign Press last week. Namely, Fox is hoping to buck tradition by scoring a nod in the Oscars' typically comedy-unfriendly best picture category. Let's hope this effort doesn't stall like that damn VW bus.

Mon, Oct 16, 2006

At the Movies: O.C. Cutie Is Hayden's Honey

Per Variety, now that the character has been reconceived as a 25- (versus 20-) year-old, The O.C.'s Rachel Bilson has replaced Teresa Palmer as Hayden Christensen's leading lady in the sci-fi thriller Jumper.... Friday Night Lights' Peter Berg is set to direct Tonight, He Comes, in which Will Smith stars as a superhero in existential crisis.... With World Trade Center now behind him, Oliver Stone next may bring to the big screen Jawbreaker, a look at how America responded to the terror attacks by invading Afghanistan. In other words, the first one was free, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.... Per the Hollywood Reporter, Step Up's Jenna Dewan has joined the Revenge of the Nerds remake.... John Goodman will play a drug-ring boss in the vigilante drama Death Sentence.

Mon, Oct 16, 2006

ABC Courts Judging Amy Star

Amy Brenneman has inked a talent-holding deal to star in a fall 2007 project for ABC, says the Hollywood Reporter. The pact reunites Brenneman with the network where she appeared on NYPD Blue during its first season. The actress then went on to star {and net three Emmy nods) on CBS' Judging Amy from 1999-2005.

Mon, Oct 16, 2006

Fox to Slurring Sports Guy: You're Outta There!

Fox Sports fired analyst Steve Lyons after he made comments deemed ethnically inappropriate during Friday's Detroit Tigers-Oakland A's game. Lyons was talking to analyst/former MLB manager Lou Piniella when Piniella, who is Hispanic, referred to certain players being frio versus en fuego. Piniella also likened getting good production from unexpected players to "finding a wallet." Lyons quipped that Piniella was "habla-ing some Espanol," then said his own wallet was suddenly missing. "I don't understand [Piniella], and I don't want to sit too close to him now," he added. Says a network spokesperson, "Steve Lyons has been relieved of his Fox Sports duties for making comments on air that the company found inappropriate."

Mon, Oct 16, 2006

Short Cuts: Kathie Lee Hates Orphans, and More!

Kathie Lee Gifford is taking on the role of kid-hater Miss Hannigan in a staging of Annie, playing at Madison Square Garden from December 6-30.... Today cohost Meredith Vieira launches her first blog today on iVillage.com.... The Tyra Banks Show welcomes reality-TV clans the Hogans and the Carters next Monday, Oct. 23.

Mon, Oct 16, 2006

Ratings: Six Degrees Cools Off Further

The latest Thursday-night ratings race netted out the same as last week, with CBS' Survivor: Cook Islands (15.74 million viewers), ABC's Grey's Anatomy (22.82 mil) and NBC's ER (14.37 mil) topping their respective hours, and Ugly Betty (13.81 mil), CSI (21.58 mil) and Shark (14.14 mil) again proving to be formidable second-placers.The most noteworthy week-to-week movement came from Smallville (4.93 million, up 330,000) and Supernatural (3.7 mil, up 400,000), while Six Degrees, hampered yet again by significant 10:30 tune-out (minus 2.1 million heads), slipped a half-mil from last week and is now down 34 percent from its Sept. 21 bow.

Fri, Oct 13, 2006

Disney Channel Does the Fright Thing

For the occasion of this Friday the 13th, and as an early nod to Halloween, Disney Channel is airing appropriately themed episodes of four series: Tonight on The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, a scary-movie outing has a surprising effect on Zack, while on Saturday Hannah Montana finds series star Miley Cyrus playing three roles; The Replacements' Todd, Riley and Buzz investigate spooky neighbors; and The Emperor's New School has "Yzma trying to destroy the annual Kuzcoween holiday" (whatever that means).Speaking of Friday the 13th, be sure to check out my new Trivial Matt'rs blog entry concerning all things Jason Voorhees.

Fri, Oct 13, 2006