11 posts tagged “drive”

All of the sites I read are reporting a rumor that first surfaced several months ago that ABC will announce that Lost will end after two more seasons. The root of this round of rumors is Kristen at E! Online. She's right probably less than half of the time. The announcement is expected to come at the upfronts on May 15th. The only thing that makes this kind of interesting is that ABC is also supposed to announce that they'll run future seasons nonstop a la 24. So when Lost finishes this season in 3 weeks, it won't return until January and then run consecutively until May. This is supposed to be a response to the ratings tank when Lost returned from its multi month "break". Many serialized shows took the "mid season finale" route this year and all of them took a ratings hit because of it when they returned. It matters a lot less for the procedural shows like CSI, which are ratings juggernauts anyway. People don't like to pay attention to 22 episodes of a story strung together, especially if there are multi week gaps between episodes. That also helps explain the popularity of tv on dvd. You can't miss an episode and be hopelessly lost watching on dvd. The worst that can happen is you might have to wait for Netflix to get you the next disc. Uh-oh, I feel a bit of a rant coming on. Mostly because I'm still pissed at Fox for killing Drive. Serialized dramas scare a lot of people. Especially serialized dramas on Fox. Fox has a history of putting on shows with interesting concepts, getting a number not big enough to keep the show on the air interested, and then yanking the show before anything gets resolved. Drive being the latest example of this. Most of the comments I saw about Drive before it aired (including my own) went something like this: "Hey, that show looks good." "Yeah, but I'm not going to watch it because Fox is just going to cancel it." "Even if they don't, I'll just wait for the dvds and watch the whole season at once." "If it lasts that long." Anyone else see the circular logic in that? Fox has screwed their audience one too many times for people to give risky shows a chance. The other networks less so, but still. It's why the CW pressured Veronica Mars in to becoming more like a procedural and less with the season long mysteries. Does Fox have any serialized shows other than 24 now? How many hours of American Idol do they show a week? Also note that 24 pioneered the idea of the non stop season. Although 24 is a slightly different case, with each season being more or less self contained.

Whew, ok. I feel like Frank the Tank coming out of his debate haze in Old School.

What was my point? Hard to say. I think it was that if this Lost rumor is true, the producers have 44 or so more episodes to clear this crap up and show that they actually know what they're doing. I've got to give them some credit for giving themselves a deadline of sorts. It's better than it going on too long like the X-Files. However, I think they could have done with a deadline a lot sooner. Now they're in a race to wrap it up before too many people lose interest and it gets canceled instead. So are enough people committed to this show to return to it if they make us wait until January? I'm not sure the network execs can win this one. No gaps = losing fewer viewers for the duration of the run. Starting with the rest of the shows in the fall at least guarantees mindshare before they gaps happen. Will people care if they have to wait so long? (Yes, I'm willfully ignoring the BSG part of this argument. It's different.) I think Lost is kinda screwed either way.

As I have been predicting since long before the show ever aired, Michael Ausiello over at tvguide.com announced this afternoon that Fox has canceled Drive after airing only four episodes in three weeks. I'd say it's got to be a new record, but I think Tim Minear's last show on Fox lasted just as long. They only promised to air six episodes anyway. Would it have killed them to at least show all six that are in the can? Drive wasn't the best thing on tv, but it was nowhere near the worst. It wasn't getting stellar ratings and apparently it was getting clobbered by Dancing With the Stars(!?!). I wonder how many more shows Tim has to have canceled before he's done with his contract. Nathan Fillion too. Sheesh. Way to go Fox.

I love Heroes. Even the moments you knew were coming were pretty sweet. And at least one jaw drop surprise. The only disappointing thing about this episode is that now there are only four more episodes. I won't say anything more because I know some of you haven't seen it. So go. Now. Watch.

On the other hand, I can't quite make up my mind about The Riches. I'm watching it right now (commercials suck) and every time I think I'm done with it I can't seem to turn it off. It's fascinating and twisted, and it certainly has its moments. I'm just not sure it's actually good. Clancy Brown is guest starring next week. That could be fun.

Which brings us to Drive. It started last week with a two night, three hour debut. I watched all three hours. And then promptly forgot it was on tonight before Heroes. At least Fox is posting the show on myspace so if I miss it I can catch up. It's an interesting idea, and the writing is pretty good. I think they're running the first five or six episodes in a row, and I'll stick around to see how those go. It was worth the price of admission alone to see that wicked little smile on Nathan Fillion's face at the end of the third hour.

I'm now two weeks behind on 24. And I miss seeing The Daily Show and Colbert every day. It's hard to remember to watch it at 10:00 after prime time. It's bad enough that prime time is from 7-10. Who's home by 7? Seriously.

And I think there's a leak in my dishwasher. Add that to the list of things I miss from home. A non-leaky super quiet dishwasher. Now that this project is wrapping up, I'm ready to come home. Although (here's a sentence I never thought I'd write) I'm looking forward to going to Cleveland this weekend. I'm going to visit the college roommate. Half the fun of flying to Cleveland is that when you fly back it's like time travel. I leave Cleveland at 8:30 and arrive in Chicago at 8:30. Whoa.

I've also been reading (shocker!) since I spend about two hours on the train every day. I finished the Barack Obama book, The Audacity of Hope last week. It was in interesting read, but I'm still not sure what he's about as a candidate. I think he's a smart dude. And moderate. Big on the "be excellent to each other" philosophy I'm fond of. Now on Diana's suggestion I have moved on to The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood. I'm enjoying it but I'm not sure I get it just yet.

I'm several days behind the curve. So you've probably seen some of these already.

-The Sopranos resumes tonight for its final nine episodes.
-Teaser for Grand Theft Auto 4.
-The Black Donnelleys has been pulled. Now what is NBC going to do? Additional airings of the new improv show Thank God You're Here apparently.
-30 Rock has been picked up for next season.
-A good interview with Starbuck. No spoilers.
-SciFi is running a BSG marathon of all of season 3 May 16-18 and a Heroes marathon on May 19th.
-An online game of Marry, Boff, Kill. As seen on 30 Rock.
-HBO has greenlit a scripted movie about the 2000 election called Recount. Sydney Pollack is set to direct.
-The CW finally announced an official return date for Veronica Mars. May 1.
-Standoff, which was supposed to return last month (it even showed up in the to do list for about a day) has been pushed to June 8th. It's still going to be on Fridays. I think Fox is just burning off the episodes they've already filmed. This show is dead.
-Kevin Williamson's (Dawson's Creek) new show Hidden Palms is starting May 30. It was scheduled to be a mid season replacement, but the CW has moved it to the summer.
Curtis Hanson (LA Confidential) has signed a multi year deal to develop tv shows for CBS.

Fox strikes again: They've already announced they're splitting up the new series that I've been harping on for months, Drive, in two parts. The first six episode/five night set to air starts on April 15th and ends May 7th. And then they're airing the other 13 episodes "at a later date". Now I kind of hope this show is bad so I won't be upset when it doesn't actually return.

And on Lost (spoilers): Once again more questions than answers. Sawyer's going to be pissed when Jack comes back and he's no longer the "leader". Did Juliet handcuff herself to Kate? What's she playing at? I don't trust her. I've read some interesting speculation that Kate might be pregnant (Sawyer) and that's why Juliet is hanging close by. Does she know where the Others went? And wasn't it awfully convenient that they just happened to be by one of the magic fences that we didn't know existed until two weeks ago? And it turns out the smoke monster can't scale fences. Just another reinforcement for me that they're making it up as they go along. Is Hurley some sort of puppet master? We saw it in very explicit terms this episode, but maybe he's been working all along at, whatever he's up to? And Locke? WTF?! Has he become a "good person" or why else are the Others letting him tag along to their new location? He blew up their sub! Ben must need him for something (the whole island healing thing?) and he's so easily manipulated that he's probably just going to get screwed again. Seriously, why? I have to admit, I'm barely hanging on to Lost. I think I was web surfing and watching at the same time. Having to watch in real time with commercials doesn't help.

The CSI marathon on Spike has pulled me in. I can't stop watching. I need to go do laundry. I need to wash dishes. Or maybe just go to bed.

I just finished watching The Riches. I have to admit I was skeptical. I've seen Eddie Izzard do an American accent before and I was kind of dreading an hour of it. Aside from the few times when he sounded like he had marbles in his mouth it didn't bother me that much. This show was really interesting. It was pitched as a black comedy, but there was very little to laugh at in this show. It was very dark. What humor was there was was so black it's only kind of amusing in retrospect. The pilot was very much a setup for the rest of the season. As, I suppose, all pilots are supposed to. I really have no idea how it's going to go, but I was riveted by the pilot. I'm going to keep watching this show. FX is airing the pilot a couple more times before the next episode on Monday. I suggest you set your tivo or tivo-wannabe device.

On the other hand, I still haven't seen the Black Donnellys or The Winner. Maybe I'll get around to it now that a lot of shows are in repeats before their final surge in to spring. And I'm still looking forward to Drive, which starts April 15th.

I finally got around to watching last week's Lost. I used to be so in to this show. It's still enjoyable but I certainly don't love it like I used to. These people are so terrible at communication. There have to be better ways to introduce conflict. Sayid doesn't tell Locke the bunker is lined with C4, Locke doesn't tell Sayid that the computer is asking it questions about hostiles and for f*ck sake hasn't Locke learned not to push buttons on computers?! Jeezy Creezy! And like you couldn't all see the ping pong thing coming. It's great that we're having a moment with the people on the beach but don't you think they'd be better off telling us what that big four toed thing we saw at the end of last season was? Yeah, let's meet the black lady who was one of the main kidnappers of Jack, Kate and Sawer, find out she speaks Russian, and is pals with the eyepatch man (gosh, all that sounds kind of interesting, oh wait...) and then kill her?! Yeah, I'm probably complaining too much for a show I still watch and like. I just need to reset my expectations a lot lot lot lower. It was interesting to hear from the creator of Heroes last week that they are conscious of the backlash hitting Lost this season. It's hard to make a serialized drama and keep people interested. I think Lost and Heroes are trying two different approaches. I'm enjoying Heroes so much, but it's still in its first season. I guess I should reserve judgement until Heroes hits its third season and see if it still holds up. But right now Heroes is appointment tv, and it took me six days to get around to this weeks Lost. And don't even get me started on BSG. Okay, fine, I'll say something about BSG. More space battles please. That is all.

Whew. I've been busy enough lately that I haven't been updating. That and nothing earth-shattering has happened anyway. So here's what's on my little entertainment brain...

First and foremost I guess I should mention that the Oscars are on tomorrow. Since I haven't seen a single nominated movie, I care less about them this year than usual. Of course the tivo is set. Of course I'll watch it. But I'm not making an event out of it like I sometimes do. Also on Sunday nights, my new reality series The Amazing Race. So far I've only seen one episode, but it's really entertaining. This is an all star edition, and the best quote of the show came from one of the other contestants: "We know Rob and Amber because, obviously, we live on the planet." Bwahahaha! I think it's hilarious that we have an all star of all stars reality tv couple. How many shows have they been on now? I lost count. And so far I don't miss Survivor.

The Black Donnellys starts this Monday. NBC did that thing they did with Studio 60 where they made the pilot available from Netflix. And, shocker, I didn't actually get it. So I'll be watching Monday night with the rest of y'all to see how it is. It's getting middling reviews. And I've even seen some people who say that the pilot is really good and they're still not going to watch it. It certainly won't kill me to have one less hour of tv on Monday nights. It also looks as if NBC is rerunning the pilot on Thursday in ER's slot. They've really been promoting it, so I guess that makes sense. Oh, and speaking of which, anyone want to lay odds on whether Studio 60 is coming back? I think it's dead. I guess if The Black Donnellys does even worse in the same slot it might come back. But they'd probably just replace it with a rerun of Deal or No Deal.

Heroes is officially my favorite show on tv. BSG has been sucking wind a little lately and Lost is staging a comeback, but I'm still not sold. I just think the execution of Heroes is so great. There's actual content and story progress every week. And it's just ridiculous enough. It's not postmodern ironic like it could have gone, and it treats the viewer like an adult even though it's basically a comic book in tv form. Now if they could just find a way to excise the Niki/Jessica subplot or at least make it interesting, it could be even better. And why does Mohinder have to be such a sucker? I guess because he thinks Sylar is locked up somewhere that the psycho riding with him to find all the other "gifted" folk is just a little odd? I think the killing of the super hearing lady proves Sylar isn't thinking things through. I'd suspect that Mohinder is going to catch on at some point and I think it would have been smarter to follow him around to find all these people first and then pick them off menu-style starting with the most badass powers first. Instead he kills the first one they come across? Seems rash. I'm still loving the Peter character development. I never understood the motivation of Claude teaching him, or even why Peter thought he could in the first place. But it seems to be working. Turns out all Peter needs is some sort of proximity to the power and it alters his DNA or some such nonsense. It's shaping up to be an epic battle between Sylar and Peter. They'll have the same powers, but Peter might not know about all of them. Classic good vs evil. I'm also still enjoying the ambiguity of which side a lot of the characters are on. Or the fact that some of them aren't on any side but their own (see: Nathan). And I totally didn't see the Simone thing coming this week, but I can't say I'll miss her. Just gives Peter something to be super pissed about. I think in the next couple of weeks we get to finally meet Linderman. Will it be when Hiro gets his sword? I could go on forever about this show (clearly). So great, so much fun.

I'm enjoying the second mini mystery on Veronica Mars more than I enjoyed the first one. The death of the Dean is so much more interesting than the rape storyline. I really like the twist of the forensics professor who literally wrote the book on the perfect crime being the chief suspect. Now if they could just bring the regulars back in to the fold, I'd be satisfied. I miss Wallace. Several interesting twists this week, the biggest being that Keith is back as Neptune's sheriff. Too bad it had to happen at the expense of Lamb, he was such a great foil for both Keith and Veronica. What's going to happen to Keith's open investigations? And does this mean that Veronica can now get whatever info she wants in a slightly more legit fashion? I think father and daughter will butt heads over some of the legalities of V's activities now that Keith has to be above reproach.

And I'd be remiss if I left the return of Lost out of the discussion. So here's a question. Have we learned anything we actually care about? We've been given tidbits about the Others, learned that Jack's tattoos mean something akin to Stranger in a Strange Land (hence the title of the episode), and learned that Desmond can see that Charlie is going to die and he's trying desperately to stop it, but knows he can't. We caught a glimpse of the captured Tailies and saw some of the abducted kids. And then learned exactly zilch about what they've been up to and why they're just roaming around on exile island like that. "Just here to watch"?! WTF? Oh, ok, we learned that Ethan (season one, abducted Claire, shot by Charlie) was the Other's only surgeon until they grabbed Jack. So, that seems like a poorly thought out plan sending the doctor to go undercover and do dangerous stuff. I take that as another sign that the writers are still making it up as they go with no actual plan. I did enjoy Desmond's timebending flashback episode. It was entertaining storytelling, but what exactly was the point? So the jury's still out on Lost, I guess. I've really enjoyed the first two episodes back from the break, but it all still has the patina of "this better be going somewhere good" in my mind. And I think the move to 10:00 was stupid. It's hasn't won the timeslot since the move, and I only see the numbers trending down. So maybe we won't have to wait until year five for some answers, just so long as they give us some before it gets canceled.

I have recorded and not watched The State Within, the BBC miniseries about terrorism. Supposed to be really good. I'll write about it after I've seen it. But it reminds me that the new Robin Hood is coming up on BBC America. I think I mentioned it already, but it starts March 3. There are some other new shows coming up that I'm looking forward to. Fox made it official that Drive will start on April 15 with a two night premiere and they've been promoting the heck out of it, which is great. I hope it's good. Other than Eddie Izzard's new show, The Riches (March 12), I think that's it for my interest in the midseason shows. I sure hope so, because I think you'd all agree that I don't actually need to be watching any more tv.

Then of course there are the British shows that are not technically available. I've started watching season two of Life on Mars, and have finally become intrigued enough to consider Torchwood. Maybe this summer when there's no other new tv on. I'm also hearing good things about The Wire and Rome, both available on dvd now.

I've officially started watching 30 Rock, thanks to a glowing recommendation from Lynn and Scott. So now I've got all of the Thursday night comedy block on NBC, minus The Office, which I still have no desire to watch. I watched the Joss directed episode, which was the only time I've ever made it through an entire episode. It was ok. Loved that the episode he directed had a vampire theme. Genius. I think NBC has finally found another great set of Thursday shows, and I hope they don't screw it up. Oh, right, they're pulling 30 Rock to debut the new Andy Richter show on March 15th. I guess it probably gives it a decent shot at being watched, but is it a smart move? And if it takes off, where will they put it when they bring 30 Rock back?

Not sure I've said anything about the current season of 24 or not yet. It's still very much 24, but it's lacking that certain something this year. Still entertaining in a five-year-old-telling-a-story way and just as over the top as before, but not as stellar as last season. I think the Chloe-Morris-Milo love triangle is pointless. And while it was an interesting idea to make Jack's family part of the baddies, it didn't carry as much weight as I thought it would. They're just too one dimensional. Which is a stupid statement to make given that it's 24 we're talking about and a two dimensional character is almost too much to ask for. The guest actors have been a little disappointing as well. Chad Lowe and The Biscuit have been given really uninteresting characters to play considering they're contemplating assassinating the president. Although I have to admit it was fun to see The Biscuit get his ass kicked last week. All the president had to say was that he valued his input and he decides that maybe it's not such a good idea to kill him in the next hour? Sissy. I hope they give Ricky Shroeder more to do when he arrives on the scene.

I don't think I have any useful gossipy entertainment tidbits to drop on you today. I've not really been paying attention. I keep hearing that Britney Spears has finally lost it. But I almost feel bad for her. I said almost. Too bad she's such an idiot. Anybody who looks to Paris Hilton for guidance is, well, words fail me for how idiotic that is.

I'm sure there are a bunch of random newsish things out there, I'll hunt around later and see if there's anything else to report.

Well now, see what happens when I actually write about the shows and not just news about the shows? Long winded much? We'll see how this goes for the future. I'm not sure reviews are up my alley, but I enjoy thinking out loud about the shows.

Another weekend, another mild technology disaster. Proving once again I am technology kryptonite, another attempt to modernize the tivo was thwarted by the mere fact that it was me trying to do it.

On the other hand, the install of the Wii went flawlessly. Yes, I sacrificed sleeping on on Sunday morning to go stand in line to buy a Wii. After being thwarted at the Albany Target, I ended up at the Pinole Toys-R-Us with plenty of time to spare and some hot Krispy Kremes. Today my shoulder is a little sore from all the tennis and bowling, I think. The other game I got because they made me buy a bundle to get the system is called Rayman's Ravin' Rabbids. It defies description.

And now for your Monday entertainment update:
I think last night's BSG was potentially the worst episode they've made giving Black Market in season 2 a run for its money.

The Police played Roxanne to start off the Grammy Awards last night. It then took me 10 minutes to watch the rest of the show. The Dixie Chicks won a bunch of stuff.

As expected, The Police announced a reunion world tour to start in May. And they're not coming to the Bay Area!? WTF? Guess that makes that decision easier. Also reuniting this summer, Van Halen with David Lee Roth, Genesis with Phil Collins, and Crowded House.

New Heroes and a special two-hour 24 tonight. Twice the torture for the same price!

Life on Mars resumes this week in the UK. I'm very excited about this and don't think I can wait a year for it to show up on BBC America.

Speaking of BBC America, there's a miniseries coming up that's getting great advance notice called The State Within. It starts on Saturday and if I don't melt down my tivo before then, I'll be recording it.

And since I'm on a BBC America kick, the latest revision of Robin Hood starts on March 3. This has already aired in the UK to less than stellar notice but I'll probably watch it anyway since I'm a sucker for all things Robin Hood.

The episode of The Office that Joss Whedon directed is on this Thursday. The promo, which I will spare you from here, is on youTube and it's hi-larious.

Anthony Bourdain guest blogged on ruhlman.com about his fellow food network chefs. Turns out he only hates most of them.

Fox is actually backing a Tim Minear show. There was a good looking promo for Drive during last night's Simpsons.

Other than O'Reilly vs Colbert today, the one show I had to watch tonight was Smallville.  The recurring Oliver Queen/Green Arrow subplot finally came to fruition tonight.  There was so much about this episode that was awesome.  First, the Green Arrow is finally putting together the Justice League.  He's been trying to enlist Clark all season, but Clark had no idea that he'd recruited Victor Stone (Cyborg), Arthur Curry (Aquaman) and Bart Allen (Impulse/Kid Flash). We've met all these guys before in different episodes, and I thought that was cool that the writers were introducing some of the Justice League characters.  It's kind of fun watching Clark be the outsider of this little team of burgeoning superheroes.  It's amusing to me that Green Arrow gave Clark his "Boy Scout" moniker in this  storyline.  Second, The Flash is played by Beaver from Veronica Mars.  Sweet.  They introduced his character three years ago before Veronica Mars existed.  And third, Chloe's codename as mission coordinator is "Watchtower".  The writers are having fun with this and incorporating different eras of the Superman mythology.  The shot where they're walking away from the building that Oliver has just destroyed is pure Justice League opening credits.  Unfortunately, it appears it was a one-shot.  I hope they come back to this, because it's way more fun than the soap opera aspects of Smallville, but that's its bread and butter, I suppose.

In other news, Colbert vs O'Reilly was nowhere near as interesting as I had hoped.  Colbert was in character for both segments.  It was certainly more Fox News than I ever needed to watch.  The post-game on the Factor was frightening in its "Culture Wars" ridiculousness.  They were talking about how a conservative comedian would never succeed on Comedy Central.  Well, duh, for no other reason than the conservatives don't know how to make with the funny.  Conservative comedian, meet Mr. Oxymoron.  O'Reilly on Colbert was funnier, but O'Reilly was still acting like he had a big stick up his ass.  It's *comedy* for pete's sake.

The Television Critics winter meetings have been going on for the last week or so.  Not much interesting to report.  NBC has officially renewed Heroes and My Name is Earl for next season.  And Fox released its schedule for the Spring shows.  Drive has been scheduled for Mondays at 8, before 24.  It starts with a two hour pilot on Sunday April 15, which is remarkable because the last Tim Minear show on Fox (Firefly) was cancelled before they decided to air the pilot at all.  Then it moves to its regular Monday slot on April 16.  Standoff returns early March, moving to Friday nights.  I'm not expecting this one to be renewed for next season.  And CBS has ordered two more seasons of Survivor.

Now I know it only takes three inches of snow to paralyze Portland.  They drive around on studded tires all winter long up here, but apparently that's just for the ice storms.  The media coverage was fantastic.  KATU channel 2 did something like four hours of live weather coverage.  Pretty much all the schools closed.  It's quite pretty.  Here's the view from the back door of my cousin's house (where I am comfortably ensconced):

IMG_0189

I took advantage of the day today to get caught up on Smallville.  It's really a silly, cheesy show, but I can't help myself.  I'm still really enjoying the Green Arrow subplot.

I'm almost caught up on 24 as well.  If we can't make it out of the house to see Children of Men tonight, I have a feeling that's what we'll be doing instead.

Saw Stranger than Fiction last night at one of the local McMenimans theaters.  Good movie.  Meta in that same sort of way that Adaptation was, but I liked Stranger Than Fiction more.  My only question is, was the movie so meta that they meant to have the boom mic in as many shots as it was in?  Or was it just sloppy filmmaking?  I'd like to think they meant to do it, but I'm really not sure.  I've already seen two movies in a theater in 2007, putting me about halfway to my total for last year.  Admittedly, both were in pub theaters but maybe that's what it's going to take.

The Bagdad in SE Portland is a really beautiful old school theater with the balcony intact and not turned in to a separate theater like many of the theaters of its day.  I think they had four or five or the McMenamins beers on tap there.  Oregon really is a beer heaven.  I've been drinking nothing but local beers since I got here on Friday and I don't think I've had the same thing twice.  (Shameless Plug) I also went to the Lucky Labrador brewery/resaurant in NW on Quimby between 19th and 20th yesterday for lunch.  The manager is none other than my cousin Lauren.  The beer is fantastic and all brewed on site.  Yummy.

Other random tidbits to make the post vaguely relevant: The latest rumor about Drive is that it will be on Monday nights at 8.  Which is a way better timeslot than Thursdays at 9.  Maybe Fox realized it was a bad idea?  That would be a first.  I'd still rather the show was on later so that it could get as interesting as possible, but if it has a prayer of not getting cancelled in a different timeslot, I'm all for it.

Alexandra Pelosi (yes, that Pelosi), who made the documentary Journeys with George about the last presidential campaign is taking on evangelicals in her latest project for HBO called Friends With God.  Popular topic these days.  It premieres on January 25.  Not enough to make me get HBO, but I'll look for it on dvd.

The Lost guys claim they have an endgame and are thinking about ending the show at 5 seasons.

The Golden Globes were on last night.  I didn't watch, and it appears the only thing I care about at all is that Hugh Laurie won for House.

Bill Lawrence, the creator of Scrubs, claims there might be a seventh season after all.  With Zach Braff, who has been saying for months that this is the end.

Queer Eye for the Straight Guy has been cancelled.  I honestly didn't even know it was still on.

Sting is seriously mulling a Police reunion for this year.  30 years already?  Wow.

A sequel of Alien vs Predator is in the works.  Then again, there's also a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie on the way.

I can't believe I haven't mentioned this yet, but 24 returns this Sunday with a two hour premiere followed by two more hours on Monday night.  It resumes its regular Mondays at 9 schedule after that.  Yes, it's up against Heroes.  Hmm.  Glad I don't have to choose.  Last season of 24 was soooooo good.  I'm really looking forward to this.

And since it's about that time, a couple of people have asked me if there are any new midseason shows that I'm interested in.  Pretty much no.  There's a show called The Black Donnelys that looks interesting, but it doesn't yet have a premiere date.  It's waiting for something else to be cancelled, I suppose.  I haven't really heard anything good about any of the other new shows yet.  I think the EW that's supposed to have arrived already is the winter tv preview, but the Berkeley post office is enjoying it first, I guess.

Kevin Williamson, the creator of Dawson's Creek has a new show coming up.  It's called Hidden Palms.  Doesn't really matter what it's about, it's Kevin Williamson, so it will be teen angsty and too smart for its own good.  Will I watch?  Maybe.  Probably will check it out and then get hooked.  Curse you Kevin Willamson!  It's also not yet on the schedule.

And of course I'll be watching Drive when it comes out in March.  Fox, in its infinite wisdom has put this show in the death slot on Thursday nights against CSI, Grey's Anatomy, Supernatural and Scrubs.  The OC lasted, what, 4, 5 episodes in this slot before it got cancelled?  And it was a succesful show before.  Way to go Fox, once again throwing your weight behind a Tim Minear show.  I hope after you cancel Drive he'll be done with his contract with you so he can go make a show that will last someplace else.  Of course, I really hope it'll be a good show and do well in the slot after American Idol on Thursdays.  That was the timeslot that launched House, after all I think.  But House wasn't competing with that lineup at the time.  It only had to face CSI.  I hope at least some of those shows are in repeats when Drive launches to give it a fighting chance.