Question: Why did UPN cancel Kevin Hill? Answer: I'm sorry, but with everything I've got on my plate this week (upfronts, season finales, a sore throat, a surprise visit from Chris Daughtry) my tolerance for inane questions is even lower than usual. If you don't have intelligent and, more importantly, timely Qs for me, please step aside.
Question: I noticed that you didn't mention Jeffrey Dean Morgan in your scoop on the Grey's Anatomy cast contracts last week. Should Denny-lovers take this as a sign? Answer: Yes, you should. And here's an update on those Grey's pacts: As partially confirmed by Shonda Rhimes herself in my blog Q&A, Kate Walsh (Addison) and the returning Eric Dane (McSteamy) are now on board for all of Season 3. They were originally only committed through mid-season.
Question: Christa Miller recently announced that she's pregnant with her third child. Is Jordan the one who is pregnant in the Scrubs season finale? Answer: Now that the episode has aired I can officially answer this question: Yes! I can also tell you that J.D.'s new girlfriend (played by Elizabeth Banks) is expecting. So that makes three pregnancies at Sacred Heart next year! If this were any show other than Scrubs, I'd be really worried!
Just returned from ABC's upfront presentation and soiree at Lincoln Center and I wanted to share with you the good news: I came face-to-face with Grey's Anatomy information Nazi Shonda Rhimes and guess what? We didn't come to blows! Quite the opposite, actually. We had a nice little chat about Monday's action-packed season finale and the show's big move to Thursday night. And I even got up the courage to ask her something about next season. Now that's guts, my friends. Ausiello: Was it a difficult decision to kill off Denny?Shonda Rhimes: Well, he was written to die. I knew what was going to happen when we created the character. But it was hard because he became such a part of our cast. Everybody loved him. Sweetest guy. He and Izzie have this amazing chemistry. And I personally was like, "He's my imaginary husband! He can't die!" It was necessary for the arc of the Izzie character and where she was going and what was going to happen to her for that moment to happen.Ausiello: Did yo...
Straight from the horse's mouth, Rob Thomas just e-mailed me to confirm that Veronica Mars has been renewed for a third season. The show got a 22-episode order that, depending on ratings, can be reduced to 13. Very reliable sources, meanwhile, are also telling me that One Tree Hill will be back and that Everwood is, in fact, dead. Talk about injustice.
ABC's official fall schedule just crossed the wires and those crazy kids over at the Alphabet net are moving Grey's Anatomy to Thursdays at 9 pm. The complete press release is below.ABC UNVEILS 2006-07 PRIMETIME SCHEDULESix New Comedies, Six New Dramas and Three New Alternative SeriesWill Join a Slate of Returning ShowsNew Series Include “Betty the Ugly,” “Big Day,” “Brothers & Sisters,” “Day Break,” “Help Me Help You,” “In Case of Emergency,” “Greg Behrendt’s Wake-Up Call,” “Just for Laughs,” “Let’s Rob…,” “Men in Trees,” “The Nine,” “Notes from the Underbelly,” “Set for the Rest of Your Life,” “Six Degrees” and “Traveler” Returning Series Include “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Lost,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Dancing with the Stars,” “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” “...
Just returned from NBC's upfront festivities and before I get to the highlights, let me get to a major lowlight: I heard from two separate sources this afternoon that Everwood is, in fact, dead. I'm choosing not to believe it until I hear something official on Thursday, but I thought you should all be prepared for the worst. (Scroll down to my previous blog posting for some "positive" news about Veronica Mars.) Now, here's a quick recap of NBC's big day:* Tina Fey's comedy 30 Rock and the football soap Friday Night Lights looked the most promising based on the clips shown. The audience laughed out loud several times during the 30 Rock promo, and I swear I thought the Friday Night trailer was going to get a standing ovation.* The trailer the network put together for Heroes was a little too cheesy for my taste, but I still believe this is gonna be one of my fall faves. * The clips for Aaron Sorkin's pricey Studio 60 got a chilly reception from the crowd — not to mention an indust...
Just received a fresh batch of Upfront intel and the buzz is that CW will order 13 episodes of Veronica Mars next season. Multiple sources close to the show confirm that this is true, but until CW makes it official on Thursday morning, I'm listing this as just a rumor. My take? Thirteen episodes is better than zero episodes.
NBC just announced its fall schedule. Here's the official release:NBC is loading its new 2006-07 primetime schedule with six new dramas and four new comedies that accentuate distinctive talent, quality concepts and cornerstone dramas that will allow the network to play offense — especially with its new weekend showpiece in "Sunday Night Football." The annual program announcement was made today by Kevin Reilly, President, NBC Entertainment, before the advertising community, affiliate stations and press at Radio City Music Hall. "The face of NBC is changing," said Reilly. "We took the first step this season with Thursday hits 'My Name Is Earl' and 'The Office.' Next season we'll add momentum and excitement with the addition of 'Sunday Night Football' and establish a foundation of quality across the week by standing behind shows that each say something about who we are." Highlights of the Fall 2006-07 season include two previously announced new dramas: "Studio 60 on the Sunset Str...
Hopefully this isn't a harbinger of the week ahead, but I woke up this morning with a killer sore throat and a weather forecast calling for five consecutive days of rain. And to top it all off, my building's hot water has been shut off due to "emergency repairs." Ever take an ice-cold shower before? Not fun.If it were any other Monday, I would have injested another six shots of Nyquil and crawled back into bed. But as you know, this is no normal Monday. Today marks the kickoff of upfront week and I am bound by oath to bring you as much scoop about the networks' new and returning shows as I can without killing myself. First up is NBC, which unveils its fall sched at Radio City Music Hall today at 3 pm/ET. Among the announcements the Peacock will make: Scrubs will be back for a sixth season! That's one down, two (Veronica Mars, Everwood) to go. Think positive thoughts, people. And if you know a good sore-throat remedy, send it my way.
As promised, here's my interview with CSI's veggie-lovin' babe Jorja Fox. Spoilerphobes, read at your own risk!Ausiello: Hi, Jorja.Jorja: Sorry I'm a few minutes late. My very good friend, Eric Szmanda, who plays Greg Sanders, just did his last scene of the season, so there was a good three minutes of hugging going on.Ausiello: You won't see him now until July? Jorja: No, I'm probably going to see him tomorrow night. He and I are very close. Tomorrow is my wrap day, so I think we're gonna all go out tomorrow night and have drinks after work. He'll probably start drinking today; I'll be waiting until tomorrow.Ausiello: What's going on in your final scene?Jorja: I can't give anything away, but we have a cliff-hanger at the end of this season that I think you guys are going to have a field day with. All I can say is that it's going to be good and it's going to come completely out of left field. I think everyone's going to end Season 6 with their jaws dropped. Ausiello: Does it involve ...
It's confession time again: I've known for weeks that Lost was going to send Libby (Cynthia Watros) off to the big island in the sky at the end of last night's episode, and, just like with Ana Lucia, I kept my big, spoiler-obsessed trap closed. And once again, my restraint has yielded a pretty nifty reward — an exclusive postmortem courtesy of exec producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse! Ausiello: Why did you kill off Libby?Carlton Cuse: We felt like we had run out of story for her. It happens. While we did develop the romance with her and Hurley, we didn't see enough in the way of avenues for where to go with that character. And we were starting to think about what sort of stories we were going to be telling for the characters in Season 3, and we just didn't have enough for Libby that we were excited about. That was on one side. On the other side, we thought, well, shooting Ana Lucia is going to be dramatic, but what will really make it incredible for the audience is that i...
Question: No fair going weeks without any info on Battlestar Galactica. The show has resumed shooting, so there should be something to say. Or were you just a fair-weather Cylon when you said it was one of your new faves? What gives? Answer: Simmer yourself. I'm talking to exec producer David Eick today at 2 pm/ET, so send me your questions at askausiello@tvguide.com. And please write "Battlestar Q" in the subject line. Fair-weather Cylon, my arse.
Question: Got any spoilers on The Shield? And has there been some sort of hint about a Season 6? Answer: No news on the chances of a Season 6, but here's some prattle on the remaining 10 episodes of Season 5. In the fourth episode, Mackey and Co. will do the unthinkable: They'll find someone to replace Lem on the Strike Team. According to casting breakdowns, the new guy is described as a 30- to 32-year-old male who is "confident without arrogance. He takes his job seriously but not personally — so he finds something amusing in most everything. He has a sense of humor." He'll need one.
Question: I know that you're a Carnivale fan, so I just wanted to give you a heads-up about the Season 2 DVD release. It will be available on July 18 and here's a link to all the details. Answer: Thanks for the info! And thanks to all you Carnivale freaks who wrote in with scarily comprehensive CarnyCon testimonials. I felt like I was there myself.
Question: OMG, Veronica Mars was amazing. What was in the case Kendall gave to Keith? Answer: That's the million-dollar question, and one of the few series creator Rob Thomas wouldn't answer. You see, I anticipated that you guys would have tons of questions about the finale, so I got Mr. Mars on the horn yesterday and grilled him for 30 minutes straight about the four-star climax. (There was also some mild gushing, but it was mostly grilling.) Warning: If you haven't seen last night's episode, do not read. Major spoilers throughout. Ausiello: What's in the briefcase?Rob Thomas: (Laughs) That one I'm not going to answer. Ausiello: I knew it was a long shot. Care to shed any light on what Kendall asked Keith to do?Rob: Um, not really. I really want to keep that a secret. The thing I'll say about it is, it's pressing enough for him to stand up his daughter at the
Question: Please tell me about Libby's fate on Lost! Answer: Good things come to those who wait… until immediately after tonight's episode. That's when I'll tackle all things Libby-related (with the assistance of Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse) in my Ausiello Report blog. Just like last week, it's not to be missed — the episode or the blog posting.
Question: You are my favorite person in the whole world! Anything interesting about the season finale of Invasion? Answer: Babies will be born, both human and alien. And someone will go missing.
Question: I heart you. Damn, I was sure Reid was going to be "the big death" on Everwood. What else can you tell us? Answer: TVGuide.com's Allison Corneau spoke to Rina Mimoun a few days ago and here's what she had to say about "the big death" on May 22: "For the people who are affected by it, it's certainly tragic, and there's definitely one person who's affected most of all. I suppose I could tell you the three people who it looks like could die, and then people could take their guesses. You've got Bright in a serious problem, after a major drunken incident at a bar that causes him to go flying through a sheet of glass. You've got Rose, with the scare returning. And Andy's father coming back to town will always cause speculation. When a very old man comes back to town to meet his grandchildren
Question: I have been hearing some icky rumors about Law & Order SVU's Stabler and his new partner "getting together" next season. Please tell me it's not true. What a smack in the face to Benson-Stabler fans.Answer: You know what they say about rumors: Most of 'em are true.
Question: Is it just me, or does sex = death on Lost? I mean, first Shannon and now Ana Lucia. Are they trying to send us a message? Answer: I don't know why everyone is so surprised about this. When I spoke to Carlton Cuse in December, he said point-blank, "If you have sex on the show, you're pretty much going to end up dead." Get with the program, people.
Question: Please, please, please tell me Bright isn't the one to die on Everwood. Answer: Sorry, but I'm not going there. You'll find out in 11 days.