Television News

The cable channel has picked up its freshman drama series "Hell on Wheels" for a second season. There's no official word yet, but Deadline reports a deal is done. Word from AMC is likely to come next week. The series, centered around the building of the transcontinental railroad in the years after the Civil War, had a big opening in November, scoring 4.4 million viewers for its premiere. That was the second-biggest premiere for an original series in AMC's history, behind only "The Walking Dead." Its ratings have fallen some since then, but it typically draws better than 2 million viewers per week, which is a pretty good number for AMC. "Hell on Wheels" stars Anso…

Would it have been better not to have seen Daniel Shaw before he was revealed to be the mysterious prisoner the Omen virus released? Sure. The show clearly wanted it that way -- we saw his feet and body in the breakout scene, but his face was out of frame until he surprised Sarah in Castle. But it's a testament to the show that even though those of us who saw the promos could connect the dots and realize Shaw was the one pulling the strings, "Chuck vs. the Santa Suit" still managed to be full of holiday awesomeness. Appropriately, the return of Shaw echoed the last episode with Brandon Routh in a lot of ways: He went through Sarah to get at Chuck, he once again unde…

Silverstone is said to be playing the part of Eden, a potential love interest for George, being played by Sisto. Apparently, Eden's "unusual" line of work even comes between George and Noah, and it's got to be some pretty powerful stuff to break up that bromance. There has been no word yet on whether Eden and George actually hook up, so I guess we'll have to wait until it airs to see if any sparks fly between these two characters. Let's just hope that they'll do a little "rollin' with the homies" for old times' sake. Click here to view the article

Juliet and Shawn go away for a "grown-up" vacation, where they encounter a couple, Clive and Barbie, who turn out to be a couple of conmen. Shawn and Juliet thwart their racket, while simultaneously solving a murder committed by "Arrested Development's" Tony Hale. The real interesting news, though, is that Shawn was going to propose. What is awesome is that all along, I thought he was going to. But when it didn't happen in the hot-air balloon, I thought I must be wrong. But instead of it happening, Gus finds Shawn's hidden ring in the Nintendo that was stolen from Shawn's room by Clive and Barbie. Didn't the look on Gus's face just break your heart a little? In an a…

Linda Hamilton will reprise her role as Chuck's (Zachary Levi) mom, Mary, in the two-hour series finale. And that, alas, is about all we can tell you at the moment. "If I said anything" about the circumstances of Hamilton's return, "I'd be ruining too many good spoilers," co-creator Chris Fedak tells TV Guide. "Chuck" is in its final week of filming, and the cast and crew have already shot the last scene of the finale (though not the last scene ever, since they're going out of order). "There were a lot of tears," Fedak says. "... We have been cherishing each day as we've neared the end." Fortunately for the rest of us, that end won't come for a while. "Chuck" …

According to today’s announcement by David Nevins, Showtime’s President of Entertainment, production will begin on season seven in 2012 in Los Angeles. Seasons seven and eight will each consist of 12 episodes. Season six of DEXTER is executive produced by John Goldwyn, Sara Colleton, Scott Buck, Manny Coto and Michael C. Hall. The series also stars Jennifer Carpenter, Desmond Harrington, C.S. Lee, Lauren Vélez, David Zayas, and James Remar. DEXTER opened its sixth season in October and continues to earn impressive ratings, most recently delivering its fifth consecutive week of growth. Season-to-date, the series is averaging 5.12 million weekly viewers on all platfo…

South Park, cable’s longest-running animated series up-to-date, is headed for the 20-season mark. Matt Stone and Trey Parker , the creators of this comedy, have closed a new deal with Comedy Central for three more seasons. The deal will keep the series on running through 2016, extending its run to 20 seasons. “The collective genius of Matt and Trey knows no bounds,” Comedy Central’s president Michele Ganeless said. “Week after week and season after season they continue to surprise and delight South Park fans, and that includes all of us here at Comedy Central. We’re thrilled that the adventures of Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Cartman will continue through 2016.” Click …

According to Variety, "Harry Potter" director David Yates is said to be working with Jane Tranter, head of L.A.-based BBC Worldwide Prods, to develop a "Doctor Who" movie. David says, "We're looking at writers now. We're going to spend two to three years to get it right. It needs quite a radical transformation to take it into the bigger arena.". We've heard lots about a possible film for a long time. Johnny Depp's name was floating about among others. There is widespread debate among Whovians about whether or not a new person should play the good Doctor or if one of the previous Doctors from the re-imagined series should play the role. Before directing "Harry …

Revenge and Suburgatory both passed the ratings test last night with ample performances. Suburgatory drew 8.75 million viewers and a 3.0 rating in the adult demo, just a tick down from last week. Revenge did the unthinkable and grew to a 2.7 rating from last week's 2.4. I bet ABC execs couldn't wait to push the "pickup" button when they saw that number. Just a quick note about Suburgatory: It's surprisingly good. Do check it out. As for Revenge, I find it to be a riveting drama with several familiar faces and suspenseful twists at every turn. It's worth a quick view! View full article

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Listen, I really value our relationship. I travel all over the country chasing down the cast and creators of your favorite show to get you the scoop you're fiending for, and in return, you guys keep me endlessly entertained with your comments and tweets and occasional profanity-ridden battles over who is going to end up with who. It's all very mutually beneficial. But something's been bugging me, and I just can't bite my tongue any longer. Recently, there's been some negative energy toward my favorite character, the adorably clueless Matt Donovan (Zach Roerig). Matty made #1 on a certain list of the worst things about "The Vampire Diaries," and a reviewer who has been mix…

The Showtime thriller is switching out Season 5's showrunner with Scott Buck going into the sixth season. Buck's not exactly new to "Dexter," having been a co-executive producer since Season 2, but now they're ready to hand him the power. He's written the last three season finales. He used to write and produce for "Six Feet Under," which also starred Michael C. Hall. [Deadline] CBS has friended Rita Wilson and F. Murray Abraham. The two will visit "The Good Wife" for a February episode that's inspired by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and "The Social Network." [EW] "Eden" has been populated. USA's pilot has cast "Heroes" Nick D'Agosto as John Sparks, a concierge for an …

In the category of fastest rumor-squashing, Simon Cowell has knocked down speculation that George Michael will be a judge on "The X Factor" on FOX next fall. Reports of Michael's supposed involvement started making the rounds Thursday morning (Dec. 14); within a few hours, Cowell had issued a statement saying Michael won't be a judge on the show. ["Extra"] It's a bad time to be a spinoff at Syfy. The cable channel has decided not to renew "Stargate Universe" for a third season; the 10 episodes scheduled to air in the spring will be the show's last. [Deadline] A pair of "Smallville" episodes ("Shield" and "Abandoned") are among the TV nominees for the American Society of C…

The American version of "Torchwood" is staffing up quickly after the proposed series bounced back and forth between networks, landing at Starz. Earlier this week, we reported that Mekhi Phifer enlisted to join Captain Jack and now the team has found their villain. According toDeadline, film star Bill Pullman has signed on as a series regular. The star of popular nineties films ("Independence Day," "While You Were Sleeping") returns to the small screen as Oswald Jones, a convicted criminal who gets off on a technicality and becomes a media success. In typical "Torchwood" fashion, clever Orson gets involved in a plot that could cause international havoc and the team wi…

With a cast as fun as "The Vampire Diaries" regulars are, there's no end to the silly behind-the-scenes stories. We were on set with Zap2it's good friend Catalina Walsh as she got the backstage scoop from all your favorite stars. Paul Wesley, who was happy to do interviews despite having to come to work on crutches due to a badly sprained ankle, laughs, "It'll be interesting to see a Season 2 gag reel. On this set, we have fun, but we also take it really seriously, too. It's been so intense and we want to make it good so I can't think of any moments off the top of my head that are hilarious. We're always playing pranks on each other. That's incessant." Sara Canning,…

[imgleft] [/imgleft] Here at Zap2it we try to provide you with thoughtful, thorough television coverage for all of your favorite shows. We're along for the ride as you analyze mythology, discuss theories, and nitpick plot holes. But occasionally, we just need to sit back, forget about dissecting the characters, and just enjoy how darngorgeous they are. Such is the case with these newly released"Supernatural" promotional pictures of Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, and Misha Collins. We love the matching outfits - with a little choreography, some cornrows, and creative facial hair, these guys could be part of the broodiest boy band in the history of time. So fee…

RIP Marv. On the special two-hour season finale of "Burn Notice" Thursday, Dec. 16 (beginning an hour earlier at 9 p.m. ET), Brennan (Jay Karnes) -- who was last seen in the back of a car with men who had just killed Marv (Richard Kind) -- is trying to put the pressure on Mike (Jeffrey Donovan) to take out some government agents. The wounds, they're still fresh, so Mike is really not happy with this request. But Brennan has the flash drive with the list of burners and is threatening to release some data. Hmm. You know what also sucks? Larry (Tim Matheson) is pro-killing too. Let's see how this argument plays out: ">" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"…

Late Tuesday, Dec. 14, Julia Stiles finally chimed in on her Golden Globe nod, hours after the nominations were announced and all the other stars had already given their statements of varying amounts of glee. The actress, who nabbed the nomination for her guest starring turn in "Dexter," was apparently at some "undisclosed location out of the country," according to a Showtime publicist. "It's bizarre receiving the news in such a remote place where internet access is difficult and phones are impossible, but I'm glad I checked my email," Stiles says in a statement. "I'm beyond thrilled! It was an honor to be part of the show, and to have my work reco…

Friday night has long been known as the place where good television goes to die, but "Fringe" is refusing to go quietly into that good night. When the series returns after the holidays, you can find Walter, Olivia, and Peter at 9 p.m. on Friday on FOX, right after "Kitchen Nightmares." In a new promotional trailer, the "Fringe" team pokes fun at the nay-sayers, acknowledging that historically, shows that get bumped to Friday don't tend to fare well when upfronts roll around in the spring. "Death! Delicious, strawberry flavored death!" rants Walter (John Noble) in a memorable clip that will forever haunt us. While showing us ominous clips about TV's graveyard, the pr…

Boosting its meta quotient just a bit,"30 Rock" is up for 3 Golden Globes -- including nods for starsTina Fey and Alec Baldwin and best comedy -- despite the fact that a recent episode focuses on how easily swayed the Hollywood Foreign Press Association is by attention and bribes. November's "Brooklyn Without Limits" features a storyline about Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) trying to earn a nomination for his film, "Hard to Watch," after an interview with a few members of the HFPA. This reminds Jenna (Jane Krakowski) of the time she tried to do it herself, when she starred in the Lifetime original movie "Sister, Can You Spare a Breast?" She tells him to invite th…

We were pretty shocked that The Hollywood Foreign Press had no love for "True Blood's" Season 3 in the Golden Globes 2011 nominations. The Zap2it obsession was neither nominated in the best drama category nor did any of the actors get a nomination. The series was previously nominated for both Season 1 and 2. And Anna Paquin has been nominated twice, and took home a trophy. So, what's up with the Season 3 snub? Season 3 focused on some pretty heavy relationship stories between Sookie, Bill (Stephen Moyer) and Eric (Alexander Skarsgard) and literally broke down the Vampire hierarchy in a brutal season-long battle. Plus, we're always shocked that Nelsan Ellis' complete tra…

Tasty treats from the world of television ... Virginia Madsen is joining the cast of "The Event" when it returns from its three-month hiatus next year. She'll play the widow of a senator from Alaska who takes his place in Washington; the show initially apporached "Friday Night Lights" star Connie Britton before hiring Madsen, an Oscar nominee for "Sideways." [Deadline] David Hasselhoff will be back on "Got Talent" -- just not in this country. The Hoff is takingPiers Morgan's spot as a judge on "Britain's Got Talent" next year; Morgan will be too busy with his CNN show and "America's Got Talent" to do "BGT" as well. ComedianMichael McIntyre is also joining "BGT." [Gu…

The fifth season, which concluded with "The Big One" Sunday night (Dec. 12), averaged more than 5 million viewers per week, making it the series' highest-rated season to date. The finale itself nabbed 2.9 million viewers from the 9 p.m. (2.5 million) and 11 p.m. (401,000) airings combined. This is on par with the series' stellar Season 4 finale and a good 40 percent up from the premiere's 1.77 million viewers. When all is said and done and watched On Demand/Live+7, the Season 5 finale could boast as many as 6 million viewers. In "The Big One," Dexter (Michael C. Hall) concludes his search for Lumen (Julia Stiles) , who's been kidnapped by Jordan, the leader of a group of …

"America's Next Top Model", which will begin Cycle 16 on February 23, will now be followed by the new weight-loss reality show, "Shedding for the Wedding," hosted by Sara Rue. "Life Unexpected," which is unlikely to return for a third season, will take a bow on January 18 with a special 2-hour finale event after reaching a ratings high last week. Find the full detailed schedule below. Tuesday, January 18 8:00-10:00 p.m. Life Unexpected (Season Finale) Monday, January 24 8:00-9:00 p.m. 90210 (Original Episodes Return) 9:00-10:00 p.m. Gossip Girl (Original Episodes Return) Tuesday, January 25 8:00-9:00 p.m. One Tree Hill (Original Episodes Return) 9:00-10:00 p.m. Hellcats (…

Former "ER" star Mekhi Phifer, late of FOX's "Lie to Me," has been cast in a lead role opposite John Barrowman and Eve Myles, Deadline reports. He's playing a CIA agent named Rex Matheson, who "become embroiled in the Torchwood legend and investigate what Torchwood is or was," as creator Russell T. Davies put it last summer. Rex is described as a character who's rising in the agency's ranks and has a very sharp sense of humor. In casting Phifer, Starz and the BBC (which are co-producing the new season) have gone in a different direction than what was reported earlier in the fall, when "Dollhouse's" Enver Gjokaj and former "One Tree Hill" star Chad Michael Murray were rumo…