Category: Television

Here Is Some Information About This Year’s Halloween Episode of THE SIMPSONS
Details have emerged about the thirteenth annual SIMPSONS Halloween episode.
TREEHOUSE OF HORROR XIII will, as usual, feature three seperate stories. In the first, Homer creates clones of himself to help with housework, but one of them ends up chopping off Ned Flanders’ head. In the second, Billy the Kid comes back to life to campaign on a gun control platform and take over the town. In the third, Homer discovers The Island of Dr. Hibbert, rampant with half-human, half-animal species.
The episode will air November 3rd.

Wanna know more…

Younger MacGyver Reinvented at the WB
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) – The man who can short-circuit a nuclear missile with a paper clip and stop an acid leak with a candy bar is back — but this time in the guise of “Young MacGyver.”
The WB has made a production commitment with producer Paramount Network Television to pick up a new version of the action drama “MacGyver.” But the new version of the series will focus on MacGyver’s nephew. The original series starred Richard Dean Anderson and ran from Sept. 1985 to Aug. 1992.
“Young MacGyver” will follow the twentysomething hero as he leaves school and winds up joining the Phoenix Foundation — the good-guy organization his uncle belonged to — on a lark. Once there, he discovers that he’s incredibly adept at stepping into Uncle MacGyver’s shoes.
“Our MacGyver will be a little more irreverent than the original,” said Carolyn Bernstein, senior VP of drama development at the WB. “It will have a lot in terms of the same elements of the original series, but with a brand-new cast of characters and updated for present day,”
WB and Paramount plan to start casting for the new “Young MacGyver” shortly. It is targeted for a 2003 bow.
The original “MacGyver” was the last show to pop a solid number for ABC in the pre-“Monday Night Football” time slot. Indeed, Paramount first approached ABC about the “Young MacGyver” project, but the network passed.
“Young MacGyver” comes on the heels of another franchise that the WB reinvented with a young slant — the teenage Superman of “Smallville.”
“We would never look a gift horse in the mouth, if given a familiar, adored franchise that came our way and we could age down to make it appealing to our audience,” Bernstein said.

CTV launches Canadian version of ‘American Idol’
TORONTO (CP) — There’s going to be a Canadian idol.
CTV announced Wednesday a deal with private partners to produce a home-grown version of the hit U.S. reality series American Idol: The Search For a Superstar.
The concept was put together at a TV marketing convention in Cannes last week and the series is expected to go to air next year.
CTV says the American Idol finale last month — the one that made young Texan Kelly Clarkson a household name — was watched by 2.1 million viewers in this country.
“Canada has a rich history when it comes to music,” says Susanne Boyce, CTV programming president. “Our musical success stories, both nationally and internationally, are truly remarkable. I can’t wait to see the finalists for Canadian Idol.”
Organizers are making plans for auditions in several major cities across the country.
Solo performers will be judged on their talent, ability and style as the contenders are whittled down to a long list of 50 and a short list of 10 hopefuls. The viewing audience will then vote for their favourite contestant.
A host has yet to be selected.
Complete details will be “unveiled shortly,” CTV says.
The series would likely be in competition not only with its American cousin, but with Popstars on Global TV, which plans a search for a solo artist in its next round.

Jimmy Kimmel takes Bill Mahr’s old spot next January
ABC’s new late night comedy show – starring “Man Show” co-host Jimmy Kimmel will air live in New York, feature a band and maybe a second banana.
“It’s going to look like every other #*@&ing talk show,” Kimmel told The Post.
“But I haven’t figured out the whole sidekick thing yet,” he said. “I was thinking of having on guest sidekicks that come in for a week like Mike Douglas used to do.
“I think that would be a fun way to do it.”
Kimmel’s new show is set to debut in January, after the Super Bowl, in the timeslot that once belonged to Bill Mahr’s “Politically Incorrect,” 12:05 a.m. It will be filmed in Los Angeles and air live on the East Coast.
But until now relatively few details about the show have come out.
Kimmel’s time is currently split between planning the ABC show, recording the voices of foul-mouthed puppets for his Comedy Central show, “Crank Yankers,” and taping segments for “Fox NFL Sunday” with his cousin Sal Iacono. He recently wrapped up taping his final season on “The Man Show.”
The new half hour ABC show is expected to be heavy on entertainment and celeb guests – a far cry low-brow “Man Show” humor that turned Kimmel into big name in dorm rooms and fraternity houses across the U.S.
“I wouldn’t be comfortable airing ëThe Man Show’ on ABC,” the network’s entertainment group chairman, Loyd Braun, told a reporter.

REVAMPED
CBS announcing a new format for The Early Show, along with a new set of hosts: former CBS morning anchor Harry Smith, NBC Sports fixture Hannah Storm, current Early Show news reader Julie Chen and Dallas news anchor Rene Syler.

Yummy, Yummy, Yummy!

For the goodness of Dan-Kind, Maxim Magazine gets Enterprise’s Vulcan Super Hottie Jolene Blalock to unlock her clothes.
Can pointy-eared aliens be sexy? Find out for yourself!
(Clip on Cover girls and and enjoy! OUCH! I’d like two pickets to Tittsburgh, please!)

REN & STIMPY Resurrected
The Ren & Stimpy Show is returning to TV with all-new episodes early summer 2003 on the new TNN, and creator John Kricfalusi couldn’t be happier.
This time around, his ground-breaking, irreverent show is being programmed in the adult viewer block, which gives him all the opportunity he needs to explore Ren & Stimpy’s special gross world of wacky.
So, what are R&S fans going to be able to see? “There’s going to be a sequel to ‘Firedogs,’ and there’s going to be two of the best ‘pooing’ sequences ever animated,” Kricfalusi said with glee.
Kricfalusi will also continue the R&S tradition of creating fake commercials, like the one for “Log,” where a big, brown log is promoted as a cool toy like Slinky or Hot Wheels. This time, John K. has created a new faux commercial for a very distant cousin to My Little Pony–a donkey toy–called “My Little Ass.”
“Is your Little Ass pink or purple?” Kricfalusi asked, before launching into a witty, wicked song parodying syrupy TV cartoon theme music. “There’s a rainbow over Ass CanyonÖ” he sang, continuing to a chorus of “My Little AssÖ. my sweet Little Ass!”
But all is not well in Ass Canyon, because the My Little Ass(es) have a dastardly foe–a mean rooster called “Wrinkly Old Cock.” “Don’t let Wrinkly Old Cock rub up against your Ass!” warned Kricfalusi.
For Kricfalusi, it’s all about freedom of creative expression. He wants the right to be crude, rude, and ultimately entertaining.
In the Ottawa International Animation Festival program booklet, Richard Meltzer wrote: “I hold these truths to be self-evident: That without the Ren & Stimpy show, you don’t get Beavis and Butthead or South ParkÖ am I right, or am I right?”

FALL FAILURES
ABC making the Ben Affleck-produced Push, Nevada and the time-travel series That Was Then the first casualties of the new TV season, canceling both on Wednesday, according to the Los Angeles Times. The network’s MDs is reportedly in critical condition, as well.

Faith Hill Set For ‘Saturday Night Live’ Debut
Faith Hill will make her debut appearance on Saturday Night Live this Saturday (October 12). The singer will perform the title track and one other song from her upcoming album, Cry, which hits retail outlets Tuesday (October 15).
Faith spoke about appearing on the show. “I spend a lot of time in New York, so I love going there,” she said. “Saturday Night Live is a show that I’ve watched since I was old enough–since I was allowed to watch it. I, first of all, don’t think I’m cool enough to be on the show, but they think I am, I guess.”
As a fan of the NBC show, Hill is looking forward to just being part of the night. She explained, “I’m excited. I don’t know how I’m gonna prepare. I’m just gonna–I don’t know–just have the best time of my life. I’m lookin’ forward to it. It’ll be a lot of fun.”
Among the singer’s many upcoming media appearances are stops at The Late Show With David Letterman (October 15), The View (October 16), and The Today Show (October 18). Saturday Night Live, hosted by Sarah Michelle Gellar, airs at 11:30 p.m. ET/PT.