First Look: Damon Lindelof Inspires a Lost Homage on Phineas & Ferb
Lifetime Renews Devious Maids for a Third Season
After a down-to-the-wire negotiation, Lifetime has sealed a deal to bring back the Marc Cherry-produced soap Devious Maids for a third season. Lifetime picked up 13 new episodes to air sometime in 2015. "Marc Cherry has created a uniquely twisted world that blends his...
First Look: Paul Reubens Is Definitely Not Pee-Wee Herman on NBC's The Blacklist
Paul Reubens — the actor sometimes known as Pee-Wee Herman — joins NBC's The Blacklist for at least two episodes next month, and TV Guide Magazine has the first look at his character. Reubens plays Mr. Vargas, a mysterious fixer for the underground criminal world. He first appears in the episode "Dr. Linus Creel," which airs on Monday, Oct. 6 at 10/9c. In the episode, Red (James Spader) warns Liz (Megan Boone) that a social-psychological experiment may be behind a series of killings at the hands of seemingly nonviolent people.
TNT Orders Fantasy Action Pilot Lumen From Steven Spielberg's Amblin TV
As Falling Skies prepares to end its run next year, TNT is turning again to Steven Spielberg and his Amblin Television shingle for another epic action/adventure project. The cable network has ordered the Amblin pilot Lumen, which centers on a family locked in another world. Also on board: Author James Frey (A Million Little Pieces) and his Full Fathom Five production company.
First Look: Disney Channel's Jessie Gets Animated on Marvel's Ultimate Spider Man: Web-Warriors
Disney Channel has scheduled the first crossover between a Marvel property and one of its live-action series. In the animated series Marvel's Ultimate Spider-Man: Web Warriors, characters from the network's tween sitcom Jessie will team up with Spider-Man to save Halloween. The special crossover between Jessie and Ultimate Spider-Man: Web Warriors will air on...
The Networks Are Eager to Get You On Demand and Off Your DVR
As the fall TV season gets underway, you're going to hear a lot about "live-plus-3-day" and "live-plus-7-day" ratings in the coming weeks. More viewers are watching TV on a delayed basis, and network executives would prefer that everyone stop talking about next-day ratings, which don't capture the full audience snapshot, and instead wait to include several more days of time-shifted viewing.
Exclusive: Charlie Sheen Pursues a Return to Two and a Half Men
As Anger Management nears the end of its 100-episode order, Charlie Sheen is bracing for what may be the FX sitcom's wrap. Simultaneously, his previous series, Two and a Half Men, is also about to end — and Sheen would like to be a part of that send-off. Sheen tells TV Guide Magazine that he has approached Two and a Half Men with an idea about how he could make a return to the sitcom. "I've reached out to them and they've reached back," he says. "We're trying to figure out what makes the most sense. If they figure it out like I've presented it to them and they want to include me in some final send-off, I'm available and I'm showing up early. If not, it's on them."
As the Fall Season Begins, Will 4 Remain TV's Magic Number?
As the official 2014-2015 TV season kicks off on Monday, Sept. 22, we're about to find out whether TV's unofficial "Rule of 4" will strike again. What's the "Rule of 4"? Quite simply, in the past few decades, years that ended in "4" have turned out to be game-changing seasons in network TV. In 1984, The Cosby Show premiered and immediately revived a moribund NBC, as well as the entire sitcom genre. By 1994, NBC was struggling once again — until Friends and ER came along and made the Peacock Network an unstoppable force for the rest of the decade. By 2004, it was ABC on the ropes, until Lost and Desperate Housewives debuted and turned that network around.
Aubrey Plaza to Voice Grumpy Cat in Lifetime Movie
Lifetime has found the voice of Grumpy Cat: Parks and Recreation star Aubrey Plaza. It won't be much of a stretch for Plaza, who...
In the Wake of Longmire's Cancellation, What's Next for A&E?
It's duck and cover time at A&E. Since reality megahit Duck Dynasty lost more than half its audience over the past year, the cable network has been dodging bullets. Most recently, A&E executives canceled Longmire after three seasons, surprising the show's producers and angering fans.
Reality Check: In the Wake of a Cops Death, a Producer Reflects
The death of Cops crew member Bryce Dion, who was accidentally shot by a police officer during a robbery in Omaha, Neb., stunned the tight-knit reality TV community. Wicked Tuna and Dirty Jobs producer Craig Piligian, who is unaffiliated with Cops, spoke with TV Guide Magazine to explain how camera operators, audio technicians, and their teams are the unsung heroes of unscripted television.
First Look: Bryan Fuller's High Moon Pilot to Air on Syfy
Hannibal executive producer Bryan Fuller's space action pilot High Moon didn't make it to series, but Syfy has repackaged it as an original TV movie, set to air Monday, Sept. 15 at 9/8c. Set a century from now, High Moon centers on the ragtag mix of spies, miners, soldiers and entrepreneurs who live on the moon, where a race is underway to mine its resources. An alien plant promises to change the world — or bring about its doom.
Watch My Show: You're the Worst's Stephen Falk Answers Our Showrunner Survey
FX's half-hour comedy You're the Worst, which finishes up its Season 1 run next Thursday, Sept. 18, has turned into a sleeper hit for the cable network. Critics have warmed up to the show, which stars Chris Geere and Aya Cash as two people who have soured on relationships yet find themselves drawn to one another. Desmin Borges and Kether Donohue also star in the anti-romantic comedy, which comes from creator Stephen Falk (Weeds, Orange is the New Black). Falk filled out our TV Guide Magazine showrunner survey to explain why You're The Worst isn't the worst.
Meet Dan Piraro, the Bizarro Host of Fox's Utopia
Utopia executive producer Jon Kroll first met Dan Piraro, creator of the subversive comic strip Bizarro, a few years ago at San Diego's Comic-Con International. The two hit it off, and even developed a TV pilot together for the Travel Channel. That show never made it to air, and Piraro gave up on his TV dreams.
Fall Preview: Meet the Hilarious Black-ish Trio
It's a weekday morning on the Black-ish soundstage, and Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross are made up as if they just rolled out of bed: Ross's hair is a crazy mess and Anderson's pajamas are in wrinkled disarray. In other words, they resemble an average, frazzled American couple waking up to a noisy family, ready to face another day at their demanding jobs.
NBC Developing Sitcom Inspired by Bar Trivia Games
Combine Friends and Cheers, then sprinkle Hollywood Game Night on top and you've got the idea behind Pub Quiz, a new comedy in the works at NBC.
Rapper Ja Rule to Star in Unscripted MTV Family Comedy
Ten years after he first hit it big on the charts, rapper-turned-actor Ja Rule has partnered with Queen Latifah to film his home life for MTV. Latifah is among the executive producers on Follow the Rules, which has been ordered to series by the cable network. The half-hour "comedic docu-series" will center on Ja Rule and his family, including wife Aisha and their two sons, Jeffrey Jr. and Jordan, as well as both his and Aisha's mothers. (Their oldest daughter, Brittney, is in college.)
Exclusive: Disney XD Sets Premiere Date for New Comedy Kirby Buckets
Disney XD has set a premiere date for Kirby Buckets, an ambitious new comedy that mixes animation with live action. The show will launch Monday, Oct. 20, at 8/7c, followed by a new episode of Lab Rats at 8:30/7:30c. Kirby Buckets stars Jacob Bertrand (Marvin Marvin) as a 13-year-old who aspires to be a famous animator. The show follows Kirby and his best friends Fish (Mekai Curtis) and Eli (Cade Sutton) as they navigate their unusual small town. Kirby's animated characters (whom only he and the audience can see) also show up.
Watch My Show: Welcome to Sweden's Greg Poehler Answers Our Showrunner Survey
The NBC sitcom Welcome to Sweden couldn't get much more personal for Greg Poehler. Not only is it based on his life — he married a woman from Sweden and moved there — he also stars as, Bruce, a money manager to the stars who follows a woman to Stockholm (where much of the show was filmed). Then there's Poehler's sister, Amy, who serves as an executive producer and appears in multiple episodes.
Exclusive: Producer Mike Shoemaker Gives the Backstory on This Year's Emmy Telecast
In planning this year's Emmy Awards, host Seth Meyers and his executive producer, Mike Shoemaker, took a cue from the Golden Globes. Shoemaker, who spoke with TV Guide Magazine behind the Nokia Theatre right after Monday night's telecast, says he and Meyers wanted to emulate how the Globes open by going straight to the jokes.
Exclusive: Full House Cast and Producers Mulling a Revival
Could a Full House return be in the works? The family sitcom, which aired on ABC from 1987 to 1995, is still a ratings juggernaut via repeats on Nick at Nite. Now Warner Bros. TV is mulling a new take on Full House, with some of the original cast intact.
The Secrets of the Primetime Emmy Telecast, By the Numbers
It's crunch time for Primetime Emmys executive producer Don Mischer. The live TV veteran and his production partners Charlie Haykel and Juliane Hare face a daunting task on Aug. 25: Hand out 26 awards (more than most televised awards shows), give host Seth Meyers room to shine, keep the show entertaining and make sure it ends in three hours. "On any live show, you can work on it for three years and the last month you work around the clock," Mischer says of the frenzy in the past few weeks to finalize this year's show, which airs Monday on NBC at 8/7c and 5 p.m. on the West Coast. "A lot of things aren't decided until the last few weeks."
