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J.J. Abrams projects

Bill Sullivan — Fri, 15 May 2009 12:00:11 +0000

J.J. Abrams is a man much in demand. If he isn’t trying to sort out the labyrinthine plot twists of Lost, he’s counting his money from Cloverfield ($170 million box office worldwide) or busy developing Fox’s most anticipated new series (Fringe). Then there’s the not-so-low-profile assignment of creating the next Star Trek movie, which opened to critical raves and big box office numbers earlier this month.

While Abrams is clearly one of the hottest producer-director types around, success isn’t all that new to him. Here are some of the projects he helped head up — an interesting collection of hits, with a couple of misses:

Renewed TV series 2009-10

Bill Sullivan — Tue, 05 May 2009 19:59:48 +0000

Is your favorite TV series coming back in the Fall, or will you be looking for something else to watch when the leaves turn brown?

At least some of the answers are in. While many a series awaits placement on the schedule, a fair number already have had their fates decided.

Here’s a list of who’s coming back so far, courtesy of TV Guide.

24, FOX
30 Rock, NBC
90210, CW
The Amazing Race, CBS
American Dad, FOX
American Idol, FOX
America’s Funniest Home Videos, ABC
America’s Next Top Model, CW
The Bachelor, ABC
The Big Bang Theory, CBS
The Biggest Loser, NBC
Brothers & Sisters, ABC
The Celebrity Apprentice, NBC
Dancing with the Stars, ABC
Desperate Housewives, ABC
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, ABC
Family Guy, FOX
Friday Night Lights, NBC/DirecTV
Fringe, FOX
Gossip Girl, CW
Grey’s Anatomy, ABC
Heroes, NBC
Kitchen Nightmares, FOX
Law & Order: SVU, NBC
Lost, ABC
The Office, NBC
One Tree Hill, CW
Parks and Recreation, NBC
Private Practice, ABC
The Simpsons, FOX
Smallville, CW
Southland, NBC (for 13 episodes)
Supernanny, ABC
Supernatural, CW
Survivor, CBS
‘Til Death, FOX
Two and a Half Men, CBS
Ugly Betty, ABC
Wife Swap, ABC

To keep up with who else is coming or going, visit TVGuide.

Star Trek movies

Bill Sullivan — Mon, 04 May 2009 08:06:27 +0000

When J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek goes into wide release, it will make for an interesting experiment. Can the creative genius behind the likes of Lost, Alias and Cloverfield breathe life into a legendary science fiction franchise fallen on hard times?

The newest installment — which takes up the story of Kirk, Spock, et al from their younger days — is the first Trek movie since 2002. The franchise hasn’t had a first-run TV presence since Enterprise went off the air in 2005.

As a new Star Trek film tries to capture the public’s fancy, here’s a look back at the 10 theatrical releases that preceded it:

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Star Trek Generations

Star Trek: First Contact

Star Trek: Insurrection

Star Trek: Nemesis

To read about plot lines and see all kinds of photos and extra features, check out StarTrek.com.

AFI’s top TV shows of 2008

Tom Kessler — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 14:44:56 +0000

The American Film Institute released its top 10 list of TV shows for 2008:

Breaking Bad — AMC
In Treatment — HBO
John Adams — HBO
Life — NBC
Lost — ABC
Mad Men — AMC
The Office — NBC
Recount — HBO
The Shield — FX
The Wire — HBO

Source: American Film Institute

Top TV series 2008

Bill Sullivan — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:58:30 +0000

If your own life provides all the “reality programming” you need, and dancing really isn’t your thing, television may well be the vast wasteland critics often make it out to be.

As networks shy away from creative (read: expensive) projects, finding something interesting to watch can be a real challenge. As 2008 fades into the record books, Time looks back at the year that was in TV, identifying the 10 series the editors considered worthy of note.

Here’s the list:

1. The Shield

2. Mad Men

3. Presidential election

4. Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog

5. The Wire

6. Breaking Bad

7. Lost

8. Battlestar Gallactica

9. Architecture School

10. Chuck

Haven’t heard of about half of these? Me, too.

To read more about ‘em, and to catch a slideshow, check out Time.

Entertainers of the Year

Bill Sullivan — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 14:02:57 +0000

Each year since 1990, Entertainment Weekly has selected its Entertainer(s) of the Year.It’s a diverse list, featuring everyone from Bart Simpson to J.K. Rowling, with all kinds of folks in between.

Some, you’ll remember fondly. A few, you may barely remember at all.

Ready to revisit some blasts from the past? Here goes:

2007: J.K. Rowling

2006: Cast of Grey’s Anatomy

2005: Cast of Lost

2004: Jon Stewart

2003: Cast of The Lord of the Rings

2002: Denzel Washington

2001: Nicole Kidman

2000: Russell Crowe

1999: Ricky Martin

1998: Leonardo DiCaprio

1997: Ellen DeGeneres

1996: Rosie O’Donnell

1995: Cast of Friends

1994: Tom Hanks

1993: Steven Spielberg

1992: Cast of Saturday Night Live

1991: Jodie Foster

1990: Bart Simpson

To read more about all these, and to see a slideshow, visit Entertainment Weekly.

TV.com best show of 2008

Bill Sullivan — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:58:59 +0000

As 2008 winds to a close, those “Best of…” lists will be showing up everywhere.

TV.com gets an early start, inviting readers to vote for the Best Show of 2008. Here’s the final four list of nominees:

To cast your ballot, or to see other “best” lists, visit TV.com.

Best TV Pilots

Bill Sullivan — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:30:54 +0000

How you debut isn’t everything, but first impressions do count. TV Guide recently put together its list of the 10 Best TV Pilots ever, looking back at how some successful (and, in some cases, not quite so successful) series got started.

Here’s the list:

1. Lost (2004)

2. 24 (2001)

3. The Shield (2002)

4. The Sopranos (1999)

5. 30 Rock (2006)

6. Football Wives (2007)

7. Desperate Housewives (2004)

8. Saturday Night Live (1975)

9. ER (1994)

10. Alias (2001)

To read all about the original picks, and get a different take, visit Time magazine.

EW Top 100 TV Shows

Bill Sullivan — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:08:36 +0000

Entertainment Weekly celebrated its 25th year by compiling a series of “best of” lists covering the top movies, albums, books, etc., produced between 1983 and 2008.

Part of that project involved determining the 100 best TV shows of that era. To give you an idea of how all that turned out, here are the Top 10:

1. The Simpsons, Fox, 1989-present
2. The Sopranos, HBO (1999-2007)
3. Seinfeld, NBC (1989-98)
4. The X-Files, Fox (1993-2002)
5. Sex and the City, HBO (1998-2004)
6. Survivor, CBS (2000-present)
7. The Cosby Show, NBC (1984-92)
8. Lost, ABC (2004-present)
9. Friends, NBC (1994-2004)
10. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The WB (1997-2001); UPN (2001-03)

Ready to see the rest? Visit Entertainment Weekly.

Primetime Emmy Nominations

Bill Sullivan — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:32:30 +0000

The 2008 Emmy nominations are out. In case you’ve been thinking that the networks are becoming increasingly irrelevant, voters within the industry would seem to agree.

AMC’s Mad Men and FX’s Damages came away with best drama series nominations, and stars from more “off brand” cable channels turned up in major acting categories. Four of the six nominees among leading actors in a drama were from cable, and three best actress acknowledgements went to cable series stars.

With The Sopranos gone, HBO failed to land a best drama series finalist for the first time since 1998, but consoled itself with an Emmy-best 85 overall nominations, 23 of which went to the historical drama, John Adams. 30 Rock led all sitcoms with 17 nominations.

Here are the survivors in some of the top categories. The winners will be announced Sept. 21 on ABC.

Outstanding Comedy

30 Rock (NBC)

Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)

Entourage (HBO)

The Office (NBC)

Two and a Half Men (CBS)

Outstanding Drama Series

Boston Legal (ABC)

Damages (FX)

Dexter (Showtime)

House (Fox)

Lost (ABC)

Mad Men (AMC)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock (NBC)

Tony Shalhoub, Monk (USA)

Lee Pace, Pushing Daisies (ABC)

Steve Carell, The Office (NBC)

Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men (CBS)

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

James Spader, Boston Legal (ABC)

Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad (AMC)

Michael C. Hall, Dexter (Showtime)

Hugh Laurie, House (Fox)

Gabriel Byrne, In Treatment (HBO)

John Hamm, Mad Men (AMC)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Tina Fey, 30 Rock (NBC)

Christina Applegate, Samantha Who? (ABC)

Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS)

America Ferrera, Ugly Betty (ABC)

Mary Louise-Parker, Weeds (Showtime)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters (ABC)

Glenn Close, Damages (FX Networks)

Mariska Hargitay, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC)

Holly Hunter, Saving Grace (TNT)

Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer (TNT)

To see the rest of the list, visit emmys.tv