Pundits have convened for the Television Critics Association winter press tour in Los ,.geles. Check here for complete coverage from Multichannel News.
Jan. 14. 2009
Falco Cuts Carmela Ties For Showtime's 'Nurse Betty'
Los Angeles-- Edie Falco has left HBO and her role as a Mafia wife Carmela Soprano behind for Showtime and a turn in a comedy Nurse Jackie. >>>
Showtime's Greenblatt Details 'L Word' Spinoff
Showtime President of Entertainment Bob Greenblatt spilled some details of the recently-piloted The L-Word spin-off: It will star The L Word’s Leisha Hayley and will be a “very different, substantially different show” from L-Word, he says. >>>
Online Expansion Fuels Showtime's Sub Growth
Los Angeles -- Showtime "continues to thrive" despite daunting economic conditions, growing by 1 million subs, to 16.5 million customers, through the end of 2008. >>>
Jan. 11, 2009
Critics Tour Scenes: Bugs, Bollywood
Los Angeles — Isabella Rossellini is host of the lasciviously titled Green Porno, which will launch its second season this year on Sundance Channel. The series is about the sex lives of creatures. >>>
Jan. 10, 2009
Current Partners With Rotten Tomatoes On Review Show
Los Angeles – Current TV unveiled plans Saturday for a new movie-review show in conjunction with Rotten Tomatoes, as well as a new weekly series that’s evolved from a short-form segment on the network. >>>
Starz Creates Friday-Night Comedy Block
Los Angeles – Starz, continuing its expansion into original programming, is creating a one-hour Friday-night comedy block starting March 20, scheduling a veteran show and a new series back to back, officials said Saturday. >>>
BET Steps Up Inauguration Coverage
Los Angeles -- Black Entertainment Television is pulling out all the stops in its coverage and celebration Barack Obama’s presidential inauguration ceremonies. >>>
BBC America Series Slides Into New 'Skins'
Los Angeles—Fans of the controversial BBC America teen drama Skins will find the latest season featuring a totally new cast. >>>
Thursday Night's A A Beach For Travel Channel
Los Angeles--Travel Channel will spend Thursday nights on the beach beginning in March as the network debuts a new reality series, Bridget’s Sexiest Beaches. >>>
Jan. 9, 2009
HBO's Out Of Africa With New Series
Los Angeles-- Africa is not the first place most networks look to shoot a new drama series, but the continent serves as a picturesque backdrop to Home Box Office’s new show, The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. >>>
Ferrell Promotes HBO Project Pair
Los Angeles – Box office favorite Will Ferrell, wearing “2009” New Year’s Eve eyeglasses and a hat with ear flaps, addressed TV critics via satellite from New York Friday to tout two HBO projects that he is
involved in. >>>
Byrne Marks Tour's Second Major Cancellation
Los Angeles – Actor Gabriel Byrne, star of HBO’s In Treatment, was the second big cancellation Friday at the Television Critics Association press tour here. >>>
Bacon Reflects On HBO's Emotional 'Taking Chances'
Los Angeles—Actor Kevin Bacon Friday said that his new HBO movie, Taking Chances, will help drive home the meaning of casualties of war, no matter how you feel about the conflict. >>>
Kardashians Say 'Keeping Up' Keeps Them Together
Los Angeles—Kim Kardashian and her clan, whose reality series will have its third-season opener March 8 on E! Entertainment Television, told TV critics Friday that their show has brought them closer together and that other families identify with them. >>>E! Sweet On 'Candy Girls'
E! Entertainment Television has given an eight episode order to Candy Girls (working title), a docu-soap that will follow the lives of women trying to make it as “eye candy” in A-list hip hop music videos. >>>
Controversial Former Minister Is Subject Of Latest HBO Doc
Los Angeles—Defrocked minister Ted Haggard is breaking his silence about his fall from grace as a minister in an upcoming HBO documentary The Trials of Ted Haggard. >>>
Swayze Cancels A&E Appearance After Being Hospitalized
Los Angeles – In a surprise turn, actor Patrick Swayze, who is fighting pancreatic cancer, cancelled his appearance at the Television Critics Association winter press tour for A&E Network Friday after checking himself into a hospital for pneumonia. >>>
Style Greenlights 'Ruby' For Second Season
Los Angeles—The Style Network has ordered a second season of its biggest hit ever, Ruby, and set a March 1 debut date for its new docu-series about Marie Claire magazine, officials said Friday. >>>
Discovery IDs Zahn For Development
Investigation Discovery has signed former CNN journalist Paula Zahn to a production deal. >>>
MTV's DiSanto Touts Two Of 'Unprecedented Slate'
Los Angeles -- Tony DiSanto, MTV executive vice president of series development and programming, promised critics "an unprecedented set of series launches" during 2009, but the network decided to promote two to TV critics here: T.I.'s Road to Redemption: 45 Days to Go and How's Your News?>>>
Logo 'Drags' Out New Modeling Series
Los Angeles—Look out, America's Next Top Model. Logo's about to roll out its own glamour competition with RuPaul's Drag Race.>>>
Comedy Central Tackles 'Important Things'
Los Angeles—Daily Show contributor and stand-up comedian Demetri Martin gets his own gig in Important Things with Demetri Martin, beginning in February on Comedy Central. >>>
Jesse James Ratchets Up Risk In Spike Series
Los Angeles—Motorcycle designer Jesse James leaves the Monster Garage for the daredevil world in Spike's upcoming Jesse James Is a Dead Man, a series showing him attempting the death-defying stunts he's always wanted to try. >>>
Nick Brings 'Madagascar Penguins To Small Screen
Los Angeles—The penguins from the DreamWorks Animation SKG franchise Madagascar are the first to break out as stars of their own series, the first product of a production deal between Nickelodeon and the animation shop.>>>
'Inventors,' BBC Co-Production Come To Discovery This Spring
Discovery Channel unveiled its slate of new spring programming Friday. >>>
'NASCAR Wives,' Wedding Bells At TLC
TLC is debuting its new series NASCAR Wives Jan. 24 at 10 p.m. >>>
Animal Planet To 'Walk The Lion'
Six months alone in the African wilderness among an aggressive pride of “problem lions” that don’t trust human beings. It’s all part of the job for zoologist Dave Salmoni, Animal Planet’s resident large predator expert and host of the upcoming six-part series Walk the Lion, which premieres this spring. >>>
Jan 8, 2009
Nat Geo Specials Take To Air, Sea
Los Angeles—Research firsts, including the first video footage of a blue whale calf and the necropsy of a 37,000-year-old baby mammoth, are the topics of two of nature specials upcoming on National Geographic Channel. >>>
AMC's Breaking Bad Promises More Fun Mistakes
Los Angeles—Fans of AMC's Breaking Bad may wonder where the macabre ideas come from for plot points in the award-winning series, and creator Vince Gilligan gave TV critics a simple answer: He's always been a big fan of Popular Science. >>>
Kattan's 'Hero' Takes On Mumbai
Los Angeles—It's hard to say what's more challenging about IFC's upcoming original mini-series: trying to generate interest in a Bollywood-themed story starring Saturday Night Live alum Chris Kattan as a leading man, or the fact the production will be shot in Mumbai, the site of deadly terrorist attacks in November. >>>
Sundance Channel Books Eco Trip
Los Angeles—Sundance Channel will bolster is "green" programming block with new series and documentaries debuting this spring, including a series tracking popular products such as a cotton T-shirt from raw components to its finished product. >>>
Like It Or Not, WeTV Introduces Healthy Programming Alternative
Los Angeles—WeTV had a tough job Thursday, kicking off the cable portion of the Television Critics Association meeting here by selling writers who normally subsist on energy drinks, cookies and fatty snacks from the mini-bar on a show devoted to healthy eating. >>>
