Category: Television

FRIENDS May See a Joey Spinoff After All
Rumors flared up last season that NBC was looking to make a spinoff of FRIENDS that would star Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani. They died down quickly, however, when the FRIENDS cast began negotiating for a tenth season. Now, they’re coming back again, as NBC is expected, according to industry sources, to seek ou the Joey spinoff once again. A concept for the show must still be hammered out – would Joey move out of New York or stay? Also, sources say that “several” members of the current FRIENDS cast would be invited to join the show.

FRASIER Preparing for The End
Although no official announcement has been made yet, insiders at Paramount TV and NBC have begun reporting that next season (2003-2004) will indeed be the last for FRASIER. NBC’s contract for the show is up in May 2004 and there have been no moves to renew it. The show has experienced weaker ratings this season and a $5 million per show fee doesn’t help FRASIER’s cause. Should the show end next season, it will close with eleven seasons, exactly the same number of seasons for CHEERS, which it spun off of.

Jessica Simpson Returns to ‘That ’70s Show’

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) – Pop singer Jessica Simpson and Osbourne scion Jack will be doing some TV time traveling in the next couple of weeks.
Both will guest-star in episodes of “That ’70s Show,” which is moving to Wednesdays beginning this week to accommodate the return of “American Idol” to the FOX schedule.
Simpson, who appeared on the show’s season premiere as Annette, Kelso’s (Ashton Kutcher) California fantasy girl, reprises her part in two episodes beginning tonight. Annette comes to Point Place to see Kelso, which sparks feelings of jealousy in former girlfriend Jackie (Mila Kunis). She then tries to hide those feelings from her current beau, Hyde (Danny Masterson).
Osbourne will appear in a later episode, playing a DMV customer who has a disagreement with Fez (Wilmer Valderrama).
FOX also announced that comic Bob Goldthwait will appear on the show Wednesday, Feb. 26. The episode will also feature Seth Green and Fred Willard.

ANGELS TOUCH DOWN
Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu star in an action-packed ad for “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle.” The ad is set to air Super Bowl Sunday.
The 30-second ad for the Angels sequel, subtitled “Full Throttle” and starring Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu and Drew Barrymore, will cost a whopping $2.1 million to air.
That’s the going rate for Super Bowl ads this year – a rate that’s up 10 percent from last year.
And at that price, ad agencies are pulling out all the stops to catch viewers’ attention and get the most bang for their buck.
The girl crime fighters’ only serious competition in a lineup otherwise lacking in babes could be Destiny’s Child’s Beyonc√à Knowles.
Knowles is shooting a Pepsi ad with director Spike Lee – although it’s not certain to be ready by game time.
No matter. Pepsi bought three ad slots, one of which is set “at home” with the Ozzy Osbourne clan.
Meanwhile, Anheuser-Busch heir August Busch IV is waiting until the last minute to choose from the 20 ads that the beer company produced (at $250,000 each) for the Super Bowl telecast. He has 11 slots to fill.
One will feature Busch himself talking beer; another has country singer Tim McGraw saying, “Drink responsibly”; Cedric the Entertainer is certain to appear again for Bud Light, and the company’s trademark Clydesdales will also be trotted out.
Celine Dion, who will perform “God Bless America” live before the game in San Diego (Shania Twain is on at halftime), will also star in three new black-and-white spots as part of her $14 million, long-term deal with car manufacturer Chrysler.
Endorsement king Michael Jordan is the only celebrity slated to appear for two brands during the game: Gatorade and Hanes T-shirts.
Also look out for Reebok’s first Super Bowl spot in nine years, and Willie Nelson talking about tax problems for H&R Block.
Ads you won’t see include one for Las Vegas tourism, which the NFL deemed inappropriate because it promotes gambling, and the controversial Miller Lite spot with two hot women mud-wrestling in their underwear, since Budweiser is the “exclusive” beer advertiser of the Super Bowl.

WILL & GRACE & FRIENDS
Madonna, Demi Moore and Minnie Driver among the big-name guest stars appearing on Will & Grace this season. Moore and Driver will show up during the upcoming February sweeps, and Madonna will pop in for May sweeps.

Show to Examine Michael Jackson’s Face
LOS ANGELES – The face of pop singer Michael Jackson will be the subject of a special edition of NBC’s news magazine “Dateline” next month.
“Michael Jackson Unmasked,” set to air at 10 p.m. EST Feb. 17, will be “the inside story as told by some of the people who knew him best,” according to a network statement. Further details about the program weren’t given.
For years, Jackson’s appearance √≥ particularly his increasingly smaller nose and lighter skin tone √≥ has been the subject of intense scrutiny and speculation.
In announcing the program to television critics last week, NBC Entertainment President Jeff Zucker said “Dateline” can encompass a variety of stories in its three hours each week.
The series can “run the gamut from important, serious shows like Tom Brokaw’s fantastic hour on Iraq to ridiculous but fascinating hours on Michael Jackson’s face,” Zucker told the Television Critics Association.
Jackson, 44, last made headlines in November when he dangled his son, Prince Michael II, from a fourth-floor balcony in Germany. The baby wasn’t hurt and Jackson quickly apologized, calling it “a terrible mistake.”

Fox Renews Homer, Hank
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) – Mmm … renewal!
Fox has greenlit two more seasons of animated powerhouse “The Simpsons” and another year of its Sunday benchmate “King of the Hill.”
The “Simpsons” renewal through May 2005 means the show — Sunday night’s top-rated series among adults 18-49 — will make it through a jaw-dropping 16th full season and roughly 360 episodes, allowing Homer and Co. to edge past “The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet” to claim the mantle of longest-running laffer in TV history.
“Watch out, ‘Gunsmoke,’ you’re next,” quipped Al Jean, showrunner and executive producer of “The Simpsons.” (“Gunsmoke” ran for a record 20 years.)
For “King of the Hill,” the one-year extension through May 2004 will bring Hank Hill and his Texas brood to the end of their eighth season.
“I don’t feel like we’re an aged show at all,” said Greg Daniels, co-creator and exec producer of “King.” “I view it like dog years, so I’m hoping we’re in our prime … (on the way) to 15 years.”
Fox Entertainment president Gail Berman praised both shows, claiming “The Simpsons” could be “the most extraordinary television show maybe even in the history of the medium.
“In its 14th season, the show is doing some of its funniest episodes and best numbers,” she said.
“King of the Hill,” meanwhile, has “aided in the branding of our network as the only broadcaster that’s been able to tackle primetime animation,” she said.
“This show does anything we ask it to do,” Berman said, noting its ability to draw an audience in many different time slots. “And they consistently put out one of the funniest shows on TV.”
Indeed, “King” is expected to move back to 7:30 p.m. Sundays from 8:30 p.m. in March to make room for new Fox comedy “Oliver Beene.” Daniels said he’s OK with the shift.
“I’m not surprised if we have to step aside and make room for new shows; I hope one day to be back if they have the need,” he said.

Frasier And Sam To Reunite
Kelsey Grammer has agreed to make a guest appearance on the February 16 episode of CBS’ BECKER.

BUSTING OUT: ABC upsizing its January 22 episode of The Bachelorette to 90 minutes to face off against the 90 minute premiere of Fox’s American Idol. Also, the Alphabet confirmed the third installment of The Bachelor will premiere on March 26.
GET GONGED: The WB planning to air a new version of The Gong Show, the late-1970s series that showcased the worst that talent had to offer, though the show’s original cocreator and host, Chuck Barris, will have nothing to do with this update–he sold the rights to the show long ago.
TOOL TIME: Tim Allen agreeing to star in a Home Improvement reunion show on ABC that will show clips and bloopers and take questions from the studio audience. No air date has been set yet.

‘SOPRANOS’ SHOOT FOR JANUARY
HBO is gunning for a January ’04 return for “The Sopranos” – 13 months after the fourth season ended.
And this is after making its fans wait 16 months between seasons the last time around.
“We are planning on January,” show producer Brad Grey told reporters yesterday.
Grey attributed the yearlong delay to series star James Gandolfini (Tony Soprano), who will be filming a movie.
“Jim’s going to go do a picture . . . It may push us a little bit, but we were planning on January,” he said.
“Maybe even [starting] a little earlier, but I’m thinking with Jim doing the picture, we may have to wait a little on that.”
Production on the fifth season is set to kick off in March.
“The Sopranos” ended its third season in May 2001 – then took 16 months off before returning last September in what was viewed by many fans to be somewhat of a disappointing season.