[David D.]

Okay, finally sorting through the week in Cynopsis TV industry news, with a focus on Geek-related stuff and shows I know from forum chat some of you lot like and care about. I will go in reverse chronological order-- the latest news first, and later in the message will be things that you've probably already heard by now. I will skip any WGA Strike reporting stuff here since we already have a thread for that, and get right to the renewals, new shows in development, etc.

First off, GOOD NEWS FOR RESCUE ME FANS:

FX has ordered up a 5th season of Rescue Me, with 22 new episodes set to begin production in the spring.

Next up- a podcast to Cable TV transfer:

fuse has given the go-ahead for Talking Metal on fuse, a one-hour pilot that translates the metal/hard rock podcast on iTunes to television. The show premieres November 9 at 1230a and will be hosted by Mark Strigl and John Ostronomy, both metal/hard rock experts. The show will offer fans inside information on metal/hard rock artists while the hosts interact with members of Megadeath to Guns N' Roses. Talking Metal on iTunes has a worldwide audience that averages 100,000 downloads per month and the talkingmetal.com website averages between 1-2 million hits per month.

Can Crankcast TV be far behind?? (I'd watch!)

The next two items show that murder is alive and well:

ABC ordered three more scripts of Women's Murder Club the new drama based on the James Patterson mystery novel series starring Angie Harmon. ABC has now given a green light for more episodes to other freshman series Samantha Who?, Pushing Daisies and Private Practice.

So all you Angie Harmon fans breathe a sigh of relief and come back off the ledge, it's not over yet.

Court TV is set to begin a new chapter of Murder By the Book next Monday at 10p. Each of the thirteen new episodes of season two will feature a different author providing insight into true crime stories that have fascinated them. Some of the authors to be featured include Sandra Brown November 5, David Baldacci November 12, followed in subsequent weeks with Lee Child, Lisa Gardner, Linda Fairstein, Elizabeth George and Nick Santora among others. The series is produced by Digital Ranch.

Looks like A&E wants to give Ghost Hunters a run for its money by sending in the Undergrads (and, I would bet, the Co-Eds):

A&E Network will debut a new real-life series Paranormal State with double episodes December 10 at 10p. The series will reveal the case files of the Paranormal Research Society (PRS), a group of Penn State University college student researchers. The PRS team since 2001, led by student founder Ryan Buell, travels the country investigating cases involving missing persons, demonic possession, exorcism and more. Paranormal State is produced by Four Seasons Productions International and Go Go Luckey Productions for the network.

Kudos to HBO for an ambitious commitment to a new program on the next one:

HBO's new series In Treatment starring Gabriel Byrne will kick off on Monday, January 28 at 930p. Now see if you can follow how this will work. HBO has ordered 45 episodes, all of which will air over the course of 9 consecutive weeks, reports Variety. In Treatment is about a psychologist (Byrne) and his patients. Each full episode Monday-Thursday will represent a one-on-one session with each of four patients. On the fifth day, Fridays, the therapist takes the couch as he sees his analyst played by Dianne Wiest. So every Monday it's the same patient for five straight weeks, every tuesday the same patient, and so on. As a quick refresher, HBO will schedule repeats of the previous week's "session" at 9p leading into the new episode at 930p. HBO2 will also run repeats nightly and in vertical form on Saturday nights.

These next two items definitely fall under the 'You're already heard about it' category, but just in case:

Fox has given a seven episode order to a new Joss Whedon project called Dollhouse. The scifi project is about a group of men and women used for different assignments and between those assignments their minds and memories are wiped and they live in a dollhouse type environment. One of the women, Echo played Eliza Dushku, tries to find out who she was before her memory was wiped.

Moved to the back burner is a spinoff series of Heroes at NBC called Heroes - Origins. NBC had ordered up 6 episodes and had planned to bring out the spinoff midseason. For now, and perhaps due in part to a pending WGA strike or perhaps because ratings thus far this season are slightly off from last season, the project has been tabled.

Dennis Miller has been signed to host the new Mark Burnett gamer on NBC, Amnesia. No firm date on the launch of this project, tho it is expected to be brought out this season.

No word yet whether or not hosting this show will help Miller recover his memories of a time when he was edgy, relevant and funny. (Sorry, couldn't resist)

This is part one. More in a sec...

[David D.]

I only put this next one in because Uncle Frank is a HUGE fan:

ABC ordered a full-season pickup of the comedy Samantha Who? and will move ahead with the remaining back nine episodes. Samantha Who?, starring Christina Applegate, joins two other ABC dramas Private Practice and Pushing Daisies which have also received full-season pickups.

File this next one under, "Because You Know What's Street? A Family Doc-Soap on Oxygen Network, Motherf*cker!":

Oxygen will roll out a new original series Coolio & The Gang in second quarter 2008 starring '90s rap star Coolio. The six half-hour episodes will focus on Coolio as he raises six teenagers while juggling his career and new business deals. The series is produced by Oxygen and RDF USA.

And you thought Bryan's definition of Science Fiction made you scratch your head? (Sorry, Bry, said with love) Just check out the way the Sci-Fi channel seems to define their brand:

USA Network and Sci Fi have ponied up for a handful of Lionsgate films, according to Daily Variety. For a cool $20 million, the two cablers have picked up the rights to Saw II, 3:10 to Yuma, Good Luck Chuck, Chaos, Crank, The Condemned and War, among others. Both Yuma and Chuck are still to be additionally cleared on a broadcast network or potentially to a second cable network. Crank and Chaos become available to USA and Sci Fi in 2009, while the majority of the others will make their way over in 2010.

I tell you the editors who have to get Saw II ready for prime-time have their work CUT out for them! Sorry... that pun was just too godawful to resist. Wait, wait... The network editors working on Saw II will have to make a lot of CUTS! Ah Christ it's Friday get me out of here... Sorry. A few more...

Raise your hand if you think Court TV is about to hitch their entire brand to a fading star. Or, at least I hope so. And besides, I love mixing metaphors:

In anticipation of its upcoming makeover January 1 from Court TV to truTV, the network revealed its new tagline: "Not Reality. Actuality." with a promise to viewers to offer programming involving real situations, real stakes and real people. The network also unveiled plans for two new series:

Sky Racers about Desiree Horton, a female news helicopter pilot in Los Angeles.

One False Move follows people whose jobs and adventures take them to the edge of disasters

.

But if OJ does a runner in his White Bronco again DURING an episode of Sky Racers, will they become Court TV again?

Based on the UK series Spaced, Fox's new comedy pilot project is about a man and woman who pretend to be a couple to get cheaper rent rates. This project is from Wonderland Sound and Vision, Warner Bros. TV, and Granada producing.

I heard that neither Pegg or um... the other guy who isn't Pegg (Sorry other guy! Don't worry, you're rich anyway!) are not creatively involved in this at all. Which doesn't bode well. It might be like making the American version of The Office, only without Gervais and Merchant involved as EPs. Hmm..

This next one is determined to try to get my girlfriend to want a third cat.:

Animal Planet started production on Petfinder the new one-hour original series set to premiere early next year based on the website that matches people with pets from their local animal shelter. The first 13 episodes will be shot in hi-def in and around the Los Angeles area. Wildlife expert Jarod Miller and celebrity dog trainer Dina Zaphiris will co-host the production from 3Ball Productions.

Good Lord. Puppies and Kitties in Hi-Def. Dangerous.

This next one gets my 'Hey, Ira Glass Thought of that About Five Years Ago' Award:

Ever wonder what it would be like living on a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier that is 24 stories high and equivalent in length to three football fields with 5,300 Navy personnel? PBS' new series Carrier reveals daily life on board the USS Nimitz. Almost 2,000 hours of hi-def footage was shot on board ship during a six-month deployment to the Persian Gulf from May to November 2005 with three months spent in combat in support of ground troops. Carrier debuts April 27 through May 1, 2008 from 9p-11p each night on PBS affiliates (check local listings in your area). The series, produced by Icon Productions, LLC and Carrier Project, Inc., and is presented by WETA/Washington, D.C., with funding provided by the CPB/PBS Challenge Fund.

Lastly, a bit of Digital Media/TV news. The next poorly armed knight rides out against the YouTube Dragon:

Expected to launch today is the beta version of the online video site Hulu.com, set up by NBC and Fox to rival the major viral video sites such as YouTube, Veoh and Google. Available on the site and full shows from NBC and Fox, as well as programs provided by Sony and MGM, including The Office, King of the Hill, The Simpsons, Monk, and older programs such as The Pretender, Picket Fences and Miami Vice. The site also promises to offer up to ten feature films, among them The Blues Brothers and The Breakfast Club.

Okay. More than enough to chew on.

I would like to report that this week-- for the first time in the three or so weeks that I've been doing these weekly wrap-ups-- I watched some TV!

'Course, it is the first season of Deadwood on DVD. Which is fantastic, of course. That's something, though, right?

(I figured you were dying to know)

[Frank Castle]

22 more eps of Rescue Me is great news! Love my FX!!

Treatment could be a lot of fun!! I'll give that a try.

And thank you Mr. D, you never cease to amaze me with your knowledge of guilty pleasures. Christina Applegate is a true living icon and her show is the most gritty, intelligent, thought provoking show in TV history!

PS - I just made a call to NYPD, your car should be getting towed in 4.....3.....2.....

[David D.]

Admit it, Frank-- You were heartbroken when the Broadway revival of Sweet Charity (starring Applegate) closed before you could get there.

And I would pay to get any car the NYPD tows out of the impound lot... because I don't own one

[Ross]

Making an americann Spaced? Ooooooookay.

[Frank Castle]

And I would pay to get any car the NYPD tows out of the impound lot... because I don't own one

I meant they were coming for your bus/subway pass and walking shoes!!!!!

And your little dog too!

This post has been edited by Frank Castle: 02 November 2007 - 11:21 PM

[choanata]

"Coolio and The Gang" - I can't imagine this show gets many viewers, but since it's on Oxygen, it doesn't really need a lot of viewers to be considered a hit for them.

Sci-Fi gets horror movies makes sense, since they are constantly showing those crud sci-fi/horror movies they make themselves all the time. But "Good Luck Chuck"? I don't get the sci-fi connection, and I saw the movie.

I love that Court TV slogan. "Not Reality. Actuality." And then the next sentence sums it up, "Real situations, real stakes and real people." But obviously, it's not reality TV.

And I think "Spaced" will probably end up being more of the American version of "Coupling", dreadful. I can't really see that concept working in America, it's like Busom Buddies but without the cross-dressing?

[RedRight88]

Animal Planet started production on Petfinder the new one-hour original series set to premiere early next year based on the website that matches people with pets from their local animal shelter. The first 13 episodes will be shot in hi-def in and around the Los Angeles area. Wildlife expert Jarod Miller and celebrity dog trainer Dina Zaphiris will co-host the production from 3Ball Productions.

{Insert Ellen Degeneris joke here}

[Lobo]

Making an americann Spaced? Ooooooookay.

How long have people been asking for an official Region 1 release, instead of having to buy foreign imports (if they have a region free player, or hacked their player so it's region free) or bootlegs, or else download foreign DVD rips?

If the American version sucks, few people will be inclined to take a chance that the U.K. version is better, and if its good, uh, same result.

[BillDoughty]

If an American version of Spaced finally gets us Region 1 DVDs of the original series, then I'm all for it.

As for that A&E ghost show, if it knocks Ghost Hunters down a peg or two, I'm all for it. I have it on good authority that GH fakes it like a porn star.