Perhaps the only endeavor more difficult than saving post-Katrina New Orleans was creating a television series that intimately captured the perspective of the disaster-torn city. But that is exactly what Steve Zahn and the ensemble cast of HBO's freshman series Treme have done under the guidance of The Wire's David Simon and Eric Overmyer. Zahn portrays a passionate disc jockey and musician whose frustration with the Big Easy's snail-like rebuilding pace leads to brilliant anti-administration country songs and random displays of passive-aggressive rage. As the series nears the end of its freshman season, Zahn phoned Movieline yesterday from his Kentucky farm to discuss his transition into television, his hope that Treme will cover the BP oil spill and the one biopic he'd love to headline.
more »
Teen heartthrob Justin Bieber wasn't booked on the Late Late Show last night, but that didn't stop Craig Ferguson from devoting an entire segment to him. In fact, the Late Late Show host opened his show by thoughtfully quill penning an open letter to the star. Meanwhile, over at Lopez Tonight, Jonah Hill warned guests about riding in cars with Morgan Freeman and P. Diddy. Click through for those segments, as well as the other highlights you missed last night while calculating your own 285% raise.
more »
· Comedy Central has confirmed that Attack of the Show host Olivia Munn is "trying out" to become a Daily Show correspondent. Be on the lookout fanboys: her audition includes a few pre-taped segments that will appear on the show over the next few weeks, and if all goes as planned, they will not demand exhausting scene-by-scene reshoots. In addition to her G4 gig, Munn will also be co-starring in NBC's sitcom Perfect Couples next season. [THR]
Joseph Fiennes practices wizardry, the FCC disapproves of bestiality, and more TV Bites after the jump.
more »
In April, TBS lured Conan O'Brien over to its cable channel with a compensation package worth of a broadcast network star: an estimated yearly salary of $10 million, an 11pm time slot, and ownership of his show. It's an expensive gamble, but TBS plans to milk its Coco commodity for all it's worth -- and when it comes to the amount they're charging advertisers, they may have gone overboard.
more »
We glimpsed CBS's new offerings for fall a few weeks ago and felt positively about the Tiffany Network's potential. Now, three of the trailers from our initial appraisal have evolved into full-fledged, super-edited previews. Join as we see how William Shatner, Alex O'Loughlin, Scott Caan, and a couple of unknown actors playing Overeaters Anonymous attendees fare in multiple scenes alongside flashy new graphics.
more »
As we've learned from the plights of Patton Oswalt and Ryan Devlin this spring, no one is ever really safe from the pilot season recasting phenomenon. The latest actors to be cut just as their pilot goes to series are Tate Donovan and Christina Chang, who were quietly dismissed from ABC's superhero series No Ordinary Family after creator Greg Berlanti decided there wasn't much he could do with their characters. Both actors were told that they could still maybe return to the series in guest star capacities. [EW]
Ultra-indies (and Noah Baumbach) dominate the week on-demand -- all the better to feed your inner malcontent, opt out of the "event" movie business, and keep it cheap and at home...
more »
The telegenic nerds of The Big Bang Theory are renewed for their fourth season, but months ahead of their new time-slot debut, the show's three main stairs want hefty raises: a 285-percent increase from $65,000 to $250,000 an episode. Big Bang Theory's ratings jumped in season three to about 14.2 million viewers each week, nearly double its first season draw. Still, a six-figure raise is the kind of maneuver usually associated with a bona-fide frontliner like Charlie Sheen, not ensembles (unless you count Friends). Is this trio in the wrong?
more »
If you could not make it to Carrie Fisher's one-woman Broadway show, HBO has got the remedy for you: The premium cable network announced a feature-length documentary today that will include interviews, archival clips and footage of Fisher's June 25 show at the South Orange Performing Arts Center in Orange, NJ. Fisher's act is based on her memoir Wishful Drinking, which chronicles her life as the "daughter of Hollywood inbreeding." World of Wonder Prods. will co-produce the project. [Variety]
Wrestling superstar Chris Jericho has been slated to host ABC's new game show Downfall, where contestants must plummet from a skyscraper if they mess up enough. There's a semi-proud history of game shows with "falling" conceits, but the casting of Chris Jericho provokes an uncomfortable question: Is the era of the born-and-bred game show host over? As '90s stars like Carnie Wilson and Alfonso Ribiero snatch up emcee opportunities on the Game Show Network to pay the bills, we forget that the procedure of reading questions, dispensing prizes, and yelling "Wrong!" at strangers was once the vocation of a smaller, privileged class. Is a viewer revolt the correct response?
more »
So You Think You Can Dance's audition caravan rolled into Chicago and Los Angeles last night, the proud homes of the Sears Tower and eye-searing towers of pollution. Overall, the ladies earned more direct tickets to Las Vegas, but the two most memorable auditions of the night swung towards the XY half of the audition pool. Prepare thy proudest "That's my baby!" shrieks for two adorable gents -- one who exemplifies small-town values, and another who won't let deafness stop him from dancing.
more »
Last night, Stephen Colbert took a break from discussing the millions of gallons of oil that are spewing into the Gulf to rap about another incident -- specifically, the "craziest f#?ing thing" the Comedy Central host has ever seen. Hint: it involves a bull, a horn and a hole through the neck. Click through for that gory clip, as well as the other highlights you missed last night while trying to fix the BP oil spill.
more »
Warner Bros. TV has officially pulled the plug on The New Adventures of Old Christine. After CBS surprisingly canceled Christine last month, ABC toyed with the idea of reviving the Julia Louis-Dreyfus series but could not afford the license fee. The network opted out of reviving the other hit that CBS canceled unexpectedly, Ghost Whisperer, last week. [Deadline]
· Amy Ryan has joined the cast of In Treatment for its third season at HBO. The Oscar-nominated actress will play the new therapist of Gabriel Byrne's character. Dianne Wiest, who earned two Emmy nominations for playing Dr. Paul Weston's psychotherapist the first two seasons, is exiting the show. Debra Winger is also joining the series as a former star battling an anxiety crisis about her career. [Deadline]
The Tonight Show gets a new jam, Julia Stiles joins the ranks of serial killers, and more TV Bites after the jump.
more »
Remember two weeks ago when Kelly Bensimon suffered a nervous breakdown on a remote island during a taping of The Real Housewives of New York City? Some critics suspected that the mental unraveling was drug-induced, but Kelly claimed that it was simply the result of relentless bullying. In response, Bensimon has released a PSA-type video of her own about bullying -- specifically to explain when it is OK and when it is not OK. Join us after the jump to play along.
more »
