Squee! It’s…

Nostalgia squee tonight, as Bess Armstrong pops up on Criminal Minds. Now, I got fooled last week into watching Criminal Minds (Randy Mantooth=totally worth it), but I found it to be one of those off-putting crime procedurals where putting beautiful young women in torture-bondage situations where they are fighting for their lives passes as entertainment. [...]

THE WIRE, FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS Recognized by WGA

The Writers Guild of America, West and the Writers Guild of America, East today announced nominations for outstanding achievement in television, radio, news, promotional writing, and graphic animation during the 2008 season. Obviously, we only care about television. And we’re excited, because finally someone has given The Wire and Friday Night Lights their due. And [...]

LIFE ON MARS: Intruding on My Kingdom of Awareness

ABC’s Life on Mars continues to be what it is. The moments ripped straight from the British version are adequate, if not as well executed as those in the original. (I still suspect they’re more fun for people who haven’t seen them before–I know I enjoyed the foot chase in Speedos more the first time [...]

Bacon in Britain

You may have noticed a dearth of Bacon-related activity lately, even with new episodes of, well, just about everything. While suspicious deaths were taking place at Pushing Daisies‘ abbey (can’t wait can’t wait can’t wait) and vortices were opening up on Heroes (can wait can wait can wait a good long time) and Life was [...]

LIFE ON MARS: If You Haven’t Seen It, It’s New to You

In fairness, that was NBC’s misguided slogan once, and the remake of Life on Mars is on ABC. But I’m curious to hear what folks who aren’t familiar with the BBC original think of the new version, which is for about 75% of the pilot a shot-for-shot redo of the brilliant British show (the small [...]

Splattered Cops the Way They Were Meant to Be Played: Marathon of BBC’s LIFE ON MARS Sunday

I confess to feeling grim–grim–as the premiere for ABC’s Life on Mars approaches this week. The new version rips off the basic premise of the BBC’s original–modern police detective is hit by car; wakes up in the 1970s unsure if he’s trapped in his own injured brain or in the genuine past. In addition to main character Sam Tyler’s [...]

Guide to October 2008 Series Premieres

THE EX LIST (CBS)
Premieres: Friday, Oct. 3 at 9:00 PM
Time slot: Fridays at 9:00 PM
A comedic drama about a woman (Elizabeth Reaser, Grey’s Anatomy) who begins to revisit her past relationships after she’s told by a psychic that she’s already dated her future husband and if she doesn’t find him in the next year, she’ll [...]

Bacon Bits: LIFE ON MARS, PUSHING DAISIES and More

- Harvey Keitel has signed on to play Gene Hunt in ABC’s revamped remake of Life on Mars, replacing Colm Meaney. Um,  Meaney was kind of the only thing that looked good about the project in the first place.
- Lee Pace and Anna Friel have all the scoop on the second season of Pushing Daisies.
- [...]

ABC Announces Fall Premiere Dates

This morning at the Television Critics Assn.’s press tour ABC unveiled the premiere dates for its fall schedule:
Friday, Sept. 19
10-11 p.m. “20/20″
Monday, Sept. 22
8-10 p.m. “Dancing With the Stars” (special two-hour performance show premiere)
10-11 p.m. “Boston Legal”
Tuesday, Sept. 23
8-9 p.m. “Opportunity Knocks” (new series debut)
9-11 p.m. “Dancing With the Stars” (special performance show)
Wednesday, Sept. 24
8-9 [...]

LIFE ON MARS Finally Makes It to ABC’s Fall Schedule

Only one new scripted series has found its way onto ABC’s 2008 fall schedule, announced this morning at a press conference in New York: the long-delayed adaptation of Life on Mars. Otherwise, this fall’s ABC lineup looks an awful lot like last fall’s ABC lineup.
ABC Entertainment president Stephen McPherson did officially announce the network’s acquisition [...]