Channel Surfing: 7.19.06
Covering "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" Season Eight
Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch column managed to score a first look at an image that many Buffy fans have been waiting an eternity for.
Dark Horse Comics has released the cover image of the new Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic book, which will envision what might have been had there been an eighth season of the supernatural drama.
Like the series, which slayed its last vampire in 2003, the comic book will be written by Buffy mastermind Joss Whedon. Joss currently writes a little comic you may have heard of -- Astonishing X-Men -- and previously wrote a fantastic (if terminally delayed) Buffy comic spin-off called Fray and a three-issue mini-series that bridged the gap between his Firefly series and the Serenity feature. Pencils will be provided by Georges Jeanty, though I have to agree with Blog@Newsarama and say that the cover art looks suspiciously like the work of the talented Jo Chen (just check out the covers of Runaways).
Where did things leave off when Buffy left the airwaves? PopWatch offered the following precis:
While the new Buffy series isn't slated for release until October, attendees at this weekend's Comic Con in San Diego (myself included) can pick up a copy of the first issue now.
Netflix Subscribers to Catch Sneak Peeks of NBC's "Kidnapped" and "Studio 60"
NBC announced today that it would offer a preview of the pilots of two of its fall drama pilots, Kidnapped (reviewed here) and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip to Netflix's 5 million subscribers.
The Peacock hopes to fan the flames of, er, fandom by getting a leap on their competitors and allowing the general public to catch a sneak peek of their series, in advance of the scheduled fall premiere dates.
Netflix subscribers will be able to view the pilot episodes to Kidnapped and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, as well as sample trailers from some of other NBC's fall offerings, on August 5th.
"Aquaman" to Sleep with the Fishes; Its Star to Take Aim at Green Arrow
The CW has confirmed once and for all that it will not be ordering its Aquaman pilot to series, either for the fall or midseason or... ever. The failed pilot (reviewed here), produced by the creators of Smallville, starred Justin Hartley and Ving Rhames. (What's most surprising to me is that I learned about two weeks ago that the network actually paid for the entire project to be completed in the last few weeks, including instrumental score, even though it had no intentions of ordering the series.)
But this isn't the last that Aquaman's Justin Harley has seen of the televised DC Universe, as Dark Horizons is reporting that the actor has been cast as Oliver Queen (a.k.a. Green Arrow) for a multiple-episode arc on Smallville. Hartley is expected to appear in more than seven episodes next season and joins new cast addition Aaron Ashmore (Veronica Mars) as The Daily Planet's Jimmy Olsen.
In an interview with the July 24th issue of TV Guide, Smallville and Aquaman co-creator Alfred Gough discusses the next season of Smallville and the character of Oliver Queen/Green Arrow:
Smallville will premiere on the new CW network on September 28th at 8 pm ET/PT.
What's On Tonight
8 pm: Rock Star: Supernova (CBS; 8-9:30 pm); America's Got Talent (NBC; 8-10 pm); Blue Collar TV/Blue Collar TV (WB); The One: Making a Music Star (ABC; 8-10 pm); So You Think You Can Dance (FOX; 8-10 pm); America's Next Top Model (UPN)
9 pm: Criminal Minds (CBS); One Tree Hill (WB); Eve/Cuts (UPN)
10 pm: CSI: New York (CBS); Law & Order (NBC); The One: Making a Music Star (ABC)
What I'll Be Watching
10 pm: Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares on BBC America (9 pm ET).
If you missed your Monday night fix of Gordon Ramsay, here's your chance to catch him again before this British import departs the U.S. airwaves (for now, anyway). On the season finale of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares ("La Gondola"), Gordon finds himself at the dreadful La Gondola restaurant, an Italian eatery trapped in the 1970s where the chef is one of the worst that Gordon has ever encountered. Seriously, after Hell's Kitchen, that's saying a lot.
10 pm: Project Runway on Bravo.
It might only be the second episode, but I am already obsessed with this reality show, hosted by Heidi Klum, the former object of desire of inbound Gilmore Girls showrunner David Rosenthal. I'm a little perturbed from what I heard about alleged fraud committed by one of the contestants but I'm dying to see what happens on tonight's episode.
Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch column managed to score a first look at an image that many Buffy fans have been waiting an eternity for.Dark Horse Comics has released the cover image of the new Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic book, which will envision what might have been had there been an eighth season of the supernatural drama.
Like the series, which slayed its last vampire in 2003, the comic book will be written by Buffy mastermind Joss Whedon. Joss currently writes a little comic you may have heard of -- Astonishing X-Men -- and previously wrote a fantastic (if terminally delayed) Buffy comic spin-off called Fray and a three-issue mini-series that bridged the gap between his Firefly series and the Serenity feature. Pencils will be provided by Georges Jeanty, though I have to agree with Blog@Newsarama and say that the cover art looks suspiciously like the work of the talented Jo Chen (just check out the covers of Runaways).
Where did things leave off when Buffy left the airwaves? PopWatch offered the following precis:
"Well, you may recall the show ended with the creation of an army of Slayers. Now they're organized, and the tide has turned in favor of the good guys. Ah, but you know how much Whedon hates winners: Soon an 'old enemy' surfaces (Dark Horse is cagey on Big Bad's identity), and Dawn starts 'experiencing serious growing pains.'"
While the new Buffy series isn't slated for release until October, attendees at this weekend's Comic Con in San Diego (myself included) can pick up a copy of the first issue now.
Netflix Subscribers to Catch Sneak Peeks of NBC's "Kidnapped" and "Studio 60"
NBC announced today that it would offer a preview of the pilots of two of its fall drama pilots, Kidnapped (reviewed here) and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip to Netflix's 5 million subscribers.
The Peacock hopes to fan the flames of, er, fandom by getting a leap on their competitors and allowing the general public to catch a sneak peek of their series, in advance of the scheduled fall premiere dates.
Netflix subscribers will be able to view the pilot episodes to Kidnapped and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, as well as sample trailers from some of other NBC's fall offerings, on August 5th.
"Aquaman" to Sleep with the Fishes; Its Star to Take Aim at Green Arrow
The CW has confirmed once and for all that it will not be ordering its Aquaman pilot to series, either for the fall or midseason or... ever. The failed pilot (reviewed here), produced by the creators of Smallville, starred Justin Hartley and Ving Rhames. (What's most surprising to me is that I learned about two weeks ago that the network actually paid for the entire project to be completed in the last few weeks, including instrumental score, even though it had no intentions of ordering the series.)But this isn't the last that Aquaman's Justin Harley has seen of the televised DC Universe, as Dark Horizons is reporting that the actor has been cast as Oliver Queen (a.k.a. Green Arrow) for a multiple-episode arc on Smallville. Hartley is expected to appear in more than seven episodes next season and joins new cast addition Aaron Ashmore (Veronica Mars) as The Daily Planet's Jimmy Olsen.
In an interview with the July 24th issue of TV Guide, Smallville and Aquaman co-creator Alfred Gough discusses the next season of Smallville and the character of Oliver Queen/Green Arrow:
"He will start to form the nascent Justice League. He's trying to find like-minded people with special powers and put a more formal structure in place. Ultimately Clark will see the value of what he is trying to do but as he's gotten older, Clark has become more cautious. He will always be there to help out, but he doesn't want to be part of a formalized organization."
Smallville will premiere on the new CW network on September 28th at 8 pm ET/PT.
What's On Tonight
8 pm: Rock Star: Supernova (CBS; 8-9:30 pm); America's Got Talent (NBC; 8-10 pm); Blue Collar TV/Blue Collar TV (WB); The One: Making a Music Star (ABC; 8-10 pm); So You Think You Can Dance (FOX; 8-10 pm); America's Next Top Model (UPN)
9 pm: Criminal Minds (CBS); One Tree Hill (WB); Eve/Cuts (UPN)
10 pm: CSI: New York (CBS); Law & Order (NBC); The One: Making a Music Star (ABC)
What I'll Be Watching
10 pm: Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares on BBC America (9 pm ET).
If you missed your Monday night fix of Gordon Ramsay, here's your chance to catch him again before this British import departs the U.S. airwaves (for now, anyway). On the season finale of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares ("La Gondola"), Gordon finds himself at the dreadful La Gondola restaurant, an Italian eatery trapped in the 1970s where the chef is one of the worst that Gordon has ever encountered. Seriously, after Hell's Kitchen, that's saying a lot.
10 pm: Project Runway on Bravo.
It might only be the second episode, but I am already obsessed with this reality show, hosted by Heidi Klum, the former object of desire of inbound Gilmore Girls showrunner David Rosenthal. I'm a little perturbed from what I heard about alleged fraud committed by one of the contestants but I'm dying to see what happens on tonight's episode.