Is Shannen Doherty really coming to the new 90210?
The new 90210 has yet to air but it’s already created a tremendous amount of buzz. The return of actresses Tori Spelling and Jennie Garth from the original series has made news, as well as Luke Perry’s words that he won’t be coming back and Jason Priestley letting the world know he’d be available to direct.
But what about Brenda?
Well, in his new perch at Entertainment Weekly, Michael Ausiello reports that his sources — producers Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah — have confirmed that Miss Shannen Doherty is in formal talks to join 90210 in her original role, Brenda Walsh.
Shannen, who is known for being a bit of a bitch on the set — she had troubles on both Beverly Hills 90210 and Charmed — isn’t signing on the dotted line until she knows the story lines.
If she’s as persnickety as reported, she may be the type to count lines. You know, “Why is Jennie getting 12 lines in that scene while I’m only getting 8?” Yeah, that kind of stuff happens.
Ausiello reports that La Shannen is also asking for considerable coinage, i.e. more money than the producers have proffered. She could be negotiating, looking for the best possible deal, but the likelihood of this deal is already looking iffy. How important is it to the CW to have Shannen on the show? Will she ensure that the drama even makes it to the end of the 2008-09 season? Does anybody?
Even if money and story issues are worked out, Ausiello points out the potential personality conflicts if Shannen is signed. She’s had squabbles with Jennie Garth and Tori Spelling during the first series run. Would those acrimonious old feelings crop up again if the writers put Brenda and Kelly and Donna in a scene together?
The word is that Shannen is willing to keep the past in the past, and they’re all older and — presumably — wiser, so maybe it’ll work out.
Here’s what I think, if Shannen Doherty is necessary to make 90210 a hit, the producers will sign her. If the other actors don’t like it, too bad. Suck it up. The chances of a successful run will outweigh whatever qualms in casting. They’d sign Godzilla if they thought it would ensure high ratings. (Is Godzilla available?)
Also, what’s the worst that could happen? Shannen acts up and they have to fire her, it’s as simple as that in my world. Why over complicate matters?
Antonio Sabato, Jr. checks in to General Hospital - Night Shift
SOAPnet has landed a big star to anchor the second season of General Hospital: Night Shift. As TV mentioned previously, Antonio Sabato, Jr., who was rumored to be returning as Jagger Cates, has signed on the dotted line. When Night Shift returns to SOAPnet on Tuesday, July 22, the character of Jagger, played by Antonio Sabato, Jr. will be front and center.
Jagger Cates has not been involved in General Hospital since 1995, so presumably he’s older and wiser. But since Antonio is still playing the role, he’s going to definitely be as gorgeous as ever. Interestingly, if Antonio is booked, what’s the likelihood that Steve Burton will be there as Jason?.
Jagger’s storyline includes Stone Cates, but that’s not the same Stone as before. Jagger’s younger brother, Stone, died of AIDS. This Stone is Jagger’s five year old son whom he’s named for his little brother. When Robin Scorpio meets Jagger again, and learns about Stone, it will be highly emotional
Stone was the love of her life — before Patrick Drake, who’s her current love and the father of her unborn child. Stone also is the man who passed on his HIV to Robin. She’s currently pregnant and handling the medical issues inherent with trying to have a baby when you’re HIV positive.
Antonio started on General Hospital before graduating to Melrose Place. His last soap gig was on The Bold and the Beautiful as Dante Damiano. As for non-acting, he’s currently appearing on NBC’s Celebrity Circus.
Will CBS Rebuild Jericho? Get the Scoop on the Fan Fave's Future!
Nielsen can measure butts in seats, but it sure can't measure hearts and minds. In further proof (as if we needed more) that the numbers don't tell the whole story about the popularity of a show, Jericho fans are making like the characters on the show and refusing to go down without a fight.
Taking a cue from Roswell's bottles of Tabasco, Arrested Development's bananas and Jake Green's "Nuts!" battle cry in the finale, Jericho fans are inundating CBS with nuts—eight tons of nuts so far! Nutsonline.com (in business—but presumably not online—since 1929) has been the semi-official hub of this effort, so if you would like to toss a few Brazil nuts in the general direction of the Eye network (is it just me or did that sound dirty?), check out the nutsonline.com Jericho support page—and while you're there, don't miss the awesome YouTube video of a Nuts! delivery.
Furthermore, the save Jericho petition currently has nearly 80,000 signatures! If you want to participate in the campaign, sign your name on the digital dotted line and then swing by jerichorallypoint.com and jericholives.com to join forces with other fans!
My inbox is full of reports about your progress, so I thought a rundown might be in order to tie it all together and keep the ball in play. Go Panthers! Er, wait, that's the wrong show. Anyway, I tracked down to a bunch of Jericho peeps to get the scoop on the show's future, and here's what I know:
The Fallout: Jericho castmember Brad Beyer (Stanley Richmond) and I spoke yesterday afternoon, and he told me, "We consistently held 8 or 9 million viewers, even going up against Idol, so everyone was really surprised and shocked that we were canceled. You have to move on and let go, but you see all this fan support and you keep that tiny bit of hope in your heart." And Jericho producer Karim Zreik emailed me to this effect: "We were all stunned when we didn't get the second-season pickup, but our fans have completely surprised us. This outpouring of support means the world to the Jericho cast and crew. Knowing that Jericho touches so many people has completely humbled us. I don't know what's going to happen next. CBS and Paramount are still weighing their options. We hope to know more by next week."
Postapocalyptic Landscape: Brad tells me: "People are auditioning, and the writers are trying to find work. I think our great producers have been really hanging in with the show. They're really still fighting for us." Show runner Carol Barbee has a deal with CBS Paramount, so if the network wants more Jericho from her, she's ready and willing to serve up more story. That said, I'm told Carol's best friend created the new series Swingtown, which is also set up at CBS Paramount, and if Jericho does not continue, Carol would join Swingtown as an executive producer… (If she goes, can Skeet at least become a swinger?)
CBS Has Heard You: As Brad points out, "I think in the end it's CBS' decision, because they own the show." Given that most of their shows cater to the geriatric set, I honestly think CBS had no idea how many young, web-savvy fans Jericho had. CBS president Nina Tassler posted a note praising your efforts on behalf of the show. However, as of press time, CBS was still telling me there had been "no change" in the status of the show.
What Next? As Brad told me, "There are so many different things kicking around right now; I don't know how realistic it is for any of them, but I hope we can wrap it up for the fans—and for us, because we all love doing it so much!"
And if you ask me, leaving the fans cliffhanging for all of eternity would just be plain…nuts. Ba-dum-bump.
Jon Favreau Talks Iron Man 2 And Alcoholism
Mere days after Iron Man exploded onto our screen to $200 million worldwide and a massive 94% thumbs up on Rotten Tomatoes, a release date of April 30th 2010 was set for Iron Man 2. Very good news indeed, but what does director Jon Favreau have to say about a sequel? Has he already signed the dotted line? Has he any ideas for possible storylines? Well he spoke to EW, and here’s what he had to say.
“We’ve been speaking informally about it,” Favreau told EW. “In concept we would all love to work together again. But I found out about the announcement last night, so it’s not something that — we would definitely love to collaborate more with the sequel. There’s no formal arrangement yet, but in theory we would all love to see it happen…. There’s definitely a lot of ideas that we all have now. This type of movie is based on serialized materials, so it lends itself very easily to [many different sequel possibilities]. There’s definitely a level of enthusiasm from myself and the cast to tell more stories.”
He also spoke about a storyline involving Tony Stark battling alcoholism, which has been rumoured to feature in the sequel.
“Demon in a Bottle is one of the very strongest story lines of the of the series, and Iron Man is not a comic book character who is known for having wonderful storylines. He’s known for having great suits, great characters, but the villains kind of get thin at times, and it’s so very dated when you look at Communism and the metaphor. Politically, much of it doesn’t hold up well. And the Mandarin is incredibly challenging in that respect. So we have challenges ahead of us. Demon in a Bottle tends to be one that, from a storytelling perspective, is compelling to all of us.
You can read more here!