Coster-Waldau lands lead in Virtuality
According to the interview with Ron Moore that Brad wrote about, Virtuality is scheduled to start shooting in July. That’s like, soon. So a leading man would be a fantastic thing to have. Here comes Nikolaj Coster-Waldau to the rescue. The former star of New Amsterdam is staying with Fox to take the lead in the two-hour pilot. If any crazed fan groups were whittling away at some old-world furniture to send in to the network to save New Amsterdam, they can stop now.
Virtuality tells the tale of Earth’s first starship, making its way on a ten year journey to a distant solar system, where no man has gone before… To pass the time during the trip they go into virtual reality machines, assuming different identities and having whatever adventures they choose. That’s what we know so far, but I’m assuming that somewhere along the lines something goes drastically wrong so we have some real world conflicts that can’t just be switched off. Moore wrote the script with his Galactica pal Michael Taylor and Peter Berg is slated to direct.
Gone, Baby, Gone: Get the Complete List of This Season's Canceled Series
Confused about what’s coming back next season and what’s off the air for good? We are too, so for everybody’s edification, we have compiled a complete list of the major broadcast networks’ canceled shows for this season, including Jennifer Westfeldt’s Notes from the Underbelly, Skeet Ulrich’s Jericho and Molly Sims’ Las Vegas.
Fair warning: Reality shows may be resurrected at any time, in the grand tradition of, well, American Gladiators. Click in to get the list. (Awww, Journeyman, we hardly knew ye…)
ABC
Big Shots
Carpoolers
Cashmere Mafia
Cavemen
Just for Laughs
Men in Trees
Miss/Guided
Notes From the Underbelly
October Road
Oprah’s Big Give
Women’s Murder Club
CBS
Cane
Jericho
Kid Nation
Moonlight
Power of 10
Secret Talents of the Stars
Shark
Viva Laughlin
Welcome to the Captain
CW
Aliens in America
Beauty and the Geek
Crowned
CW Now
Girlfriends
Life Is Wild
Online Nation
Pussycat Dolls Present
Fox
Back to You
Canterbury’s Law
K-Ville
Nashville
New Amsterdam
The Next Great American Band
The Return of Jezebel James
Unhitched
NBC
1 vs. 100
Amne$ia
Bionic Woman
Clash of the Choirs
Journeyman
Las Vegas
My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad
Phenomenon
Quarterlife
The Singing Bee
Any particular cancellation still sting? (I want Frances O’Connor and Cashmere Mafia back!) Post your pet-TV-show-extermination peeve in the comments!
Whedon, Abrams, 24 Prequel, Oh My
Fox speaks geek.
The network unveiled falland springschedules fit for Comic-Con, replete with new series by Joss Whedon and J.J. Abrams, a Family Guy spinoff, a returning Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and a 24 prequel.
The autograph lines are to the left.
Today's announcements were not all fanboy fun. There were sober assessments of American Idol. There were cancellations, most notably of the heavily promoted comedy Back to You.
And there was a ringing endorsement of Paula Abdul.
"We love Paula. She's coming back," Fox Entertainment President Kevin Reilly said of the oft-judged Idol judge.
But asked if he was happy with Idol overall this seasonthe show is down 5 percent on Tuesdays, and 10 percent on Wednesdays, neither an unusual decrease for television, circa 2008Fox Entertainment Chairman Peter Liguori sounded surprisingly like he wasn't. Not entirely, anyway.
"I would say I'm satisfied creatively," Liguori said, "but not necessarily satisfied with the performance."
"Both the network and the producers really want to take a look at the show for next year."
No specific changes were discussed. And after Reilly reminded that Idol, seven seasons old and still bigger than anything else on TV, was "not exactly in its death throes," Liguori chimed in, "This show still has a lot of juice in it."
Out of juice were the likes of New Amsterdam, Unhitched, The Return of Jezebel James, K-Ville, Nashville, The Next Great American Band and Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton's Back to You, all shunned for spots in the fall and spring.
Though Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles was never as big as its big premiere in January, it earned a fall berth. Ditto for 'Til Death, a perennial borderline show that will live to see its third season.
24, which sat out all of this past season because of the writers' strike, will launch its long-delayed seventh season in January. Viewers' reward for the wait: the two-hour prequel that'll air in November. Fox says the story will find Jack Bauer in South Africa. In the timeline of the series, it'll take place "a few months" before the clock on season seven begins ticking.
In all, Fox announced two new fall shows, including Fringe, a sci-fi-ish thriller from J.J. Abrams featuring the prime-time return of Dawson's Creek's Joshua Jackson.
Dollhouse, the Joss Whedon project starring Eliza Dushku as the leader of gang of personality swappers, will launch in the spring as part of Fox's annual American Idol-is-back schedule.
The other new shows:
- Do Not Disturb (working title): A fall comedy about the antics at a hotel, starring Carpoolers survivor Jerry O'Connell.
- Sit Down, Shut Up: A spring animated series about the antics at a high school, from Arrested Development's Mitchell Hurwitz.
- The Cleveland Show: The Family Guy spinoff, set for a spring launch, starring the Griffin family's neighbor, Cleveland Brown.
- Secret Millionaire: A new reality series in which millionaires are dispatched to rub elbows with the little people, and make their rich selves feel better. Oh, and do good and stuff, too.
Here's a night-by-night look at Fox's fall lineup:
Sunday: The OT (football postgame show), The Simpsons, King of the Hill, Family Guy, American Dad
Monday: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Prison Break
Tuesday: House, Fringe
Wednesday: Bones, 'Til Death, Do Not Disturb
Thursday: The Moment of Truth, Kitchen Nightmares
Friday: Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, Don't Forget the Lyrics
Saturday: Cops, America's Most Wanted
And here's a night-by-night look at Fox's spring schedule:
Sunday: Various reruns, The Simpsons, King of the Hill/Sit Down, Shut Up, Family Guy, American Dad/The Cleveland Show
Monday: Dollhouse, 24
Tuesday: American Idol, Fringe
Wednesday: Bones, American Idol (30 minutes), TBA comedy
Thursday: Hell's Kitchen, Secret Millionaire
Friday: Bones, 'Til Death, Do Not Disturb
Saturday: Cops, America's Most Wanted
Head over to Watch With Kristin for more on the new TV schedules!
New Amsterdam Probably Won't Live Forever
Though final decisions have not been made, and there are a wealth of fans who are just dying to see Nicolaj Coster-Waldau’s New Amsterdam come back this fall, sources are saying that sadly, it isn’t looking good for a second season.
Fox did give New Amsterdam a vote of confidence, having it premiere in the coveted post-American Idol slot last month. And though it drew a respectable 13.7 million viewers, I'm hearing that might not be enough. (Even last year’s The Wedding Bells earned slightly higher post-Idol ratings, and still that series disappeared quietly.)
Fox boss Kevin Reilly recently told The Hollywood Reporter that Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Back to You are the two most likely freshman candidates to return for a sophomore season, implying that other shows such as New Amsterdam just haven’t caught on with audiences.
Think he’s wrong? I know some of you most certainly do! Sound off in the comments below and let him see the Amsterdam love…
The final decision will be made by mid-May, in time for the New York upfronts, where Fox will announce its new schedule.