Midnight

CBS has signed the star to a talent holding deal, meaning he will headline a new project set for next fall. Sources say the actor was offered the deal the same day The CW decided to not give "Life Unexpected" a full-season order. Polaha is thus far the only dramatic actor on CBS' roster this pilot season. [Deadline] "Grey's Anatomy" and "Private Practice" creator Shonda Rhimes is creating a new series for ABC set in the world of public relations crisis management. The show will be based on the career of legendary public relations consultant Judy Smith, who worked with Bill Clinton, Michael Vick and New York Governor David Paterson. Not much is known about the project (it doesn't have a title yet), other than it is being developed for the 2011-12 season and will revolve around the life and work of a PR pro and her dysfunctional team. [Vulture] "Lost" alum Doug Hutchinson (he played Horace Goodspeed) is heading to Lie To Me. The actor will guest star as Lane Bradley, whose rising career as a police detective comes to a screeching halt when his infant daughter is kidnapped. Bradley is described as an intense individual who is controlling of his wife and son and blames his wife for the kidnapping, but he naturally has a few secrets of his own. The episode, "Gone Baby Gone," will air later this season. [Movieline] View full article

The New York Post says the show's high-tech stunts went "completely awry," including wires dropping on the audience, scenery missing pieces and the show's star Natalie Mendoza was suspended helplessly in midair during the climatic end to Act I. As Mendoza finished the number "Rise Above" while suspended over the audience, a wire malfunction left her there -- for seven or eight minutes, while stagehands worked to figure out the problem. In the first act alone, the show was halted four times for technical difficulties. At one point, Spider-Man himself (Reeve Carney) was left dangling above the stage as backstage crew members leapt at his feet to haul him back down to earth. The theatergoers left the performance grumbling about feeling like "guinea pigs" and that the show felt like a "dress rehearsal." This was the first preview performance, with an official opening night set for Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2011. Hopefully the snafus can be worked out before then. Follow Zap2it on Twitter and Zap2it on Facebook for the latest news and buzz Photo/Video credit: Vogue Source: http://blog.zap2it.c...st-hanging.html View full article

Franco and Hathaway each have a movie out right now, Franco's "127 Hours" and Hathaway's "Love and Other Drugs." Both films have been getting good reviews. Franco has even been in the conversation for an Oscar nomination, while Hathaway is considered more of a long shot. It would certainly be a different way to go from last year's hosts of Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. But after our initial surprise, we found ourselves liking the idea. Franco would certainly be a breath of fresh air, while Hathaway has proven her comedic chops in movies like "The Princess Diaries" and "The Devil Wears Prada." Hathaway would be the first female host since Ellen DeGeneres in Feb. 2006 and only the third female host since 1987 (Whoopi Goldberg being the other one). What do you think? Gutsy risk with high reward potential? Or bad idea jeans? The Oscars air Feb. 27, 2011. Follow Zap2it on Twitter and Zap2it on Facebook for the latest news and buzz Photo/Video credit: Getty Images Source:http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/2010/11/oscars-report-james-franco-anne-hathaway-to-host.html View full article

Nielsen died late Sunday afternoon (Nov. 28) of complications from pneumonia at a hospital near his home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., his family says. His wife and "dear friends" were by his side. Nielsen's career spans some six decades, beginning with appearances in live TV dramas in the early 1950s. He made his feature film debut in the 1956 sci-fi classic "Forbidden Planet" and worked steadily through the 1960s and '70s in both film and television. His movie credits from that time include "Tammy and the Bachelor" (1957), "The Plainsman" (1966) and "The Poseidon Adventure" (1972), and he appeared on numerous TV shows ranging from "Peyton Place" to "The Streets of San Francisco." Prior to "Airplane!," the bulk of Nielsen's work had been in dramas, but directors Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker wanted someone who could play things absolutely straight in the midst of their anarchic comedy. Nielsen fit the bill perfectly, delivering line after memorable line in "Airplane!" without the slightest wink to the audience -- which only made them funnier. He re-teamed with Abrahams and the Zucker brothers in 1982 for the short-lived series "Police Squad!," which parodied the stolid cop shows of the era (some of which Nielsen had previously guest-starred on) with the same brilliance. The show lasted only six episodes, though it did earn Nielsen an Emmy nomination for best actor in a comedy series. His character, Frank Drebin, would live on in three "Naked Gun" movies beginning in 1988. He continued his comedy career in later films like "Spy Hard" and "Dracula: Dead and Loving It," and more recently he played the president in the third and fourth "Scary Movies." Below are two clips featuring Nielsen at his best. The first is perhaps his most famous line from "Airplane!," and the second is the the opening 10 minutes of the first "Police Squad!" episode. Follow Zap2it on Twitter and Zap2it on Facebook for the latest news and buzz Photo/Video credit: Getty Images Source: http://blog.zap2it.c...-naked-gun.html View full article

A recent update on PostSecret, the addictive site where people anonymously share their secrets via postcard, claims that one of the male cast members of the Harry Potter movies is the unknowing father of a child. The postcard (above) features pictures of Jason Isaacs, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Oliver and James Phelps, Tom Felton and Alan Rickman and the following handwritten text: "One of these men is the father of the most amazing little girl in the world. He's never met her, he never will. He probably can't even remember my name." Felton, 23, and the Phelps twins, 24, took to Twitter to laugh off the postcard. Wrote Felton after sharing a Twitpic of the postcard: "My friend just found this on the web! just to confirm that I can be cancelled out of this equation lol!" James Phelps ("To clear things up, this isn't me. Funny, but nothing to do with me") and Oliver Phelps ("Apart from making me laugh, i can honestly say its 100% not me") offered similar sentiments. The other actors on the postcard have yet to say anything. Follow Zap2it on Twitter and Zap2it on Facebook for the latest news and buzz Photo/Video credit: PostSecret Source: http://blog.zap2it.c...love-child.html View full article

Can any of us really predict how we'd act under such extreme circumstances? In Sunday's (Nov. 28) episode "Wildfire," Shane (Jon Bernthal) considers breaking at least one of the Commandments -- on top of the whole "commit adultery" and "coveting thy neighbor's wife" ones, anyway. So yeah, Shane apparently has coveting issues. He's coveting Rick's (Andrew Lincoln) family hard, and killing him with friendly fire could be the answer to regaining that makeshift family Shane once had. It's pretty sad, really. Shane, not to prey on the weak, but Andrea (Laurie Holden) just lost her sister. Instead of trying to steal someone's family, why not try to offer support where it's needed? She's also single. Source: http://blog.zap2it.c...nt-breaker.html View full article

Because what comes next is three months of nothing -- and recent TV history has not been kind to shows that go off the air for a substantial length of time in-season. After Monday's episode, "The Event" will go away for three months before returning Feb. 28 for a 12-week run to conclude the season. (New drama The Cape will fill the 9 p.m. Monday spot in January and February.) We get at least some of NBC's thinking in giving it the break -- serialized shows like "The Event" don't tend to repeat well, and the network can use its late-season NFL games (including the first round of the playoffs) to hype "The Cape" and hope people tune in. But it's also a pretty big risk to take "The Event" off for that long. "Lost" and "24" had some issues when they followed traditional scheduling patterns in their early seasons, but ABC and FOX eventually figured out how to run them in mostly unbroken blocks. And last season, ABC tried the long-hiatus gambit with two shows -- V and FlashForward -- and it didn't really work in either case. "FlashForward" is the more apples-to-apples comparison with "The Event." ABC aired 10 episodes of the show last fall, then put it on a three-month-plus hiatus before returning it to the schedule in mid-March. Like NBC's show, "FlashForward's" ratings had shown a downward trend (though not as steep as "The Event's" has been) in the fall, and after the return, its numbers tailed off even more. "FlashForward's" first episode back in the spring drew 6.6 million same-day viewers, which wasn't a huge dip from the 7.3 million who watched the final fall episode. Two weeks later, however, the show was barely above 5 million viewers, and it stayed there pretty much through the end of the season. "V" only aired four episodes last fall before its long break, but its audience also eroded in the spring. The first episode back drew 7.3 million same-day viewers, compared to 9.2 million in its final fall installment. (ABC did, however, renew it for a second season, which debuts in January.) By giving "The Event" such a long break, NBC will effectively have to mount two marketing campaigns for it -- and the second one will have an even bigger task than the first one. Not only will the network have to remind people who've been loyal to the show so far that it's coming back, but it will also try to convince viewers who have spent 10 weeks not watching the show that it's worth it to join in midstream. We have to wonder if, rather than giving "The Event" a three-month hiatus, restarting the show in January and having it run through late March wouldn't serve the show better. Its same-day ratings are pretty meager (though it is one of the more heavily DVR'd shows on TV this season), and it's hard to envision them improving much after such a long break. Follow Zap2it and Zap2itRick on Twitter and Zap2it on Facebook for the latest TV, movie and celebrity news. Photo credit: NBC Source: http://blog.zap2it.com/...entence.html View full article

Unfortunately, despite its obvious quality, Caprica has not been able to build the audience necessary to justify a second season. The remaining first run episodes of Caprica will be removed from the schedule as of next Tuesday, November 2. The final 5 eps will be re-scheduled to air at a to be announced time in the first quarter of 2011, & will conclude the run of the series. Thanks again to all the awesome fans who watched and supported the show, and to the AMAZING cast and crew. View full article

TNT has canceled exec producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s Dark Blue, the show about a group of undercover cops starring Dylan McDermott, according to Variety. Blue had not performed well for TNT in its second season, averaging 2.2 million viewers per episode. The network has the second season of Ray Romano’s Men of a Certain Age slated to begin in December. Source: http://news-briefs.e...-blue-canceled/ Click here to view the article

Though the freshman comedy has not been officially canceled, the network’s decision to not order additional episodes is concerning — this could mean Wilde might be running off the air sometime soon. The show had been suffering in the ratings: Two weeks ago, the series attracted just 2.9 million viewers. (That number, however, came with some silver lining: It was an 18 percent increase from the week prior.) Fox also decided to bench the series for November sweeps. Source: http://insidetv.ew.com/2010/11/19/running-wilde-fox-no-back-nine/ View full article

If only Allison had seen this coming: CBS has cut 'Medium's' season 7 episode order to 13 episodes. Is this it for Allison DuBois? According to Deadline Hollywood, CBS has not canceled the Patricia Arquette series -- yet. Its keeping all options open. The series about a mom of three who can speak to the dead has done well in syndication on Lifetime and is averaging more than 6 million viewers on Fridays at 8PM. This isn't the first time 'Medium' has faced danger. The series originated on NBC, but was almost perpetually on the bubble. Its last season on NBC averaged 8.45 million viewers. When NBC canceled it, CBS scooped it up and paired it with 'Ghost Whisperer' on Fridays. During season 6, 'Medium' aired Fridays at 9PM ET and averaged 7.79 million viewers. CBS played a similar game with 'Numb3rs,' another Friday drama. The network cut its episode order to 13 before canceling it last May. Once the 13 episodes of 'Medium' are finished, creator Glenn Gordon Caron will remain at CBS as part of a development deal. Source: http://www.tvsquad.c...celed-season-7/ View full article

The news was confirmed on Twitter by co-executive producer KristieAnne Reed. “ABC gave us the word,” she tweeted. “We will only make 13 episodes of The Whole Truth.” The drama only averaged 5.3 million viewers (ranked No. 69 among all primetime shows) and a 1.5 rating/4 share among adults 18-49 (ranked No. 72). It’s unclear how many of Truth‘s remaining unaired episodes will see the light of day; an original episode is still scheduled to air on Wednesday. ABC already announced a Plan B scenario for the timeslot that will begin Nov. 3 with In the Spotlight with Robin Roberts: All Access Nashville. The special will feature the Good Morning America anchor interviewing some of country music’s biggest stars. On Nov 10., ABC will preempt all of its Wednesday programming for the Country Music Awards. Earlier today, ABC extended full-season orders to fellow rookies No Ordinary Family and Better With You. Source: http://ausiellofiles...uth/#more-12052 View full article

Eddie who is best known to fans for his portrayal of Agent Pete Lattimer on the hit Syfy series, Warehouse 13, talks to Stuart about how (amongst other things) he got the role, how much of him is in the character and how he ended up in a career that was completely different from his degree. Interview aside, listeners will be able to get one final chance to bid on the fantastic auction items before the 2010 Sci Fi Guys auction closes for good. The items people can bid on are: A Starhyke Super pack (Signed DVD and goodies, £60 current bid), A rare Season 1 Heroes Cast signed poster(£150 reserve), A signed Amanda Tapping poster(£40 current bid), A Signed Merlin promo picture (£20 reserve), A rare Comic-Con exclusive signed Stargate Universe poster (£80 current bid), A set of limited edition Star Trek The Movie (2009) posters (£40 current bid) and a signed SFBall programme (signed by Kate Mulgrew and Jamie Bamber amongst others, £50 current bid). To bid all you need to do is post your bid on the Sci Fi Guys twitter feed (www.twitter.com/thescifiguys) or email your bid to stuart@dtrn.co.uk). The auction will close at the end of the show and all bidders will then be able to pay via paypal using the donate@dtrn.co.uk as a reference on paypal. All funds raised this year will be used to help keep the show on air and provide new production equipment to allow for that. This week will also see Geek Club replaced with a discussion about the forthcoming 2010 Red Shirt Awards (The Shirties) and will give listeners the chance to discuss who they think should be nominated for what and also what new categories should be added. The guys will also be taking a look at this weekends’ London MCM Expo (www.londonexpo.com) event and giving you a rundown of whom and what you can see at London’s own comic con. The anarchy begins at the usual time of 8pm (For those in the UK) on Wednesday 27th October live from www.dtrn.co.uk with the guys also discussing all of the week’s news and giving their opinions and much more. Listeners can also interact live with the guys via the shows show twitter feed which can be found at www.twitter.com/thescifiguys or they can join the forums and use all the new features which include a chat function, at www.dtrn.co.uk/smf. Source: http://www.dtrn.co.uk/smf View full article