Category: Television

Screenwriter Robert Towne Joins Writing Staff of ‘Mad Men’

Veteran screenwriter Robert Towne is among Matthew Weiner’s new recruits to “Mad Men’s” writing staff for the upcoming seventh and final season, which AMC announced Monday will unfold in two seven-episode batches in spring 2014 and spring 2015.

Towne is serving as a consulting producer for the AMC/Lionsgate TV drama series. He won an original screenplay Oscar for 1974′s “Chinatown” (a source of many oft-quoted lines including: “Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown”). He earned three other Oscar screenwriting noms, for 1973′s “The Last Detail,” 1975′s “Shampoo” and 1984′s “Greystoke: the Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes.” Recent credits include “Mission: Impossible II,” “Without Limits” and “Days of Thunder.”

Another film vet, Patricia Resnick (“Nine to Five”), is also on board as a consulting producer. Comedy scribe David Iserson, an alum of “Saturday Night Live” and laffers including “New Girl” and “United States of Tara,” has signed on as a co-producer. And writers’ assistant Carly Wray has been upped to staff writer from writers assistant last season.

Exec producers for season seven, along with creator Matthew Weiner, are Scott Hornbacher and Janet Leahy.

Tina Fey, Arcade Fire Set for ‘SNL’ Season Premiere

Tina Fey is returning to Saturday Night Live to host the season premiere on September 28th. This will mark Fey’s fourth time as host since her departure from the series in 2006, reports Variety. Arcade Fire is scheduled to perform as the show’s musical guests.

Following Fey’s opening of the season, Miley Cyrus is set to host and serve as musical guest on SNL for its October 5th show, and Bruce Willis will host on October 12th, with Katy Perry performing.

The cast for the series’ 39th season remains in flux since the departure of Jason Sudekis, Bill Hader and Fred Armisen last season. Seth Meyers will remain on board until December before moving on to host Late Night.

Arrested Development’s Mitch Hurwitz Is Working On The Movie Now

Will the Arrested Development movie ever happen? That’s been the question before and after the fourth season of the beloved Fox comedy landed on Netflix. From what series creator Mitch Hurwitz says, it’s looking like the answer is yes. Or hopefully, anyway. While Hurwitz notes that he doesn’t own the property outright and seems reluctant to confirm with all certainty that the movie is a go, he did say that he’s working on it now and he sounds optimistic that the film could happen.

Seven years after its final episode of Arrested Development aired on Fox, Arrested Development made a major comeback, thanks in part to Netflix. The subscription video service debuted all fifteen episodes of the comedy series’ fourth season in May, bringing the Bluths (and Funkes) back to the small screen. While the fourth season did update us on what’s been going on with the dysfunctional family in the sizable gap between seasons, it left off unresolved, leaving fans to wonder when we’d see the next installment, and whether or not that would be on the big or small screen. From what Hurwitz Rolling Stone that he’s working on the movie right now:

“I’m working on the movie right now. I can’t get into much more detail because I don’t want to scare anybody off. I don’t want to be presumptuous about it. I don’t own the property outright – it’s a 20th Century Fox property. But everybody seems really into it and really eager to make a movie.”

Hurwitz goes on to express hope that the movie will happen “as soon as possible,” but he’s hesitant to speculate on exactly when, as he doesn’t want to put false information out there. “Right now, I’m trying to do something else for Netflix and a movie project and things. I’m always sort of superstitious about talking about this stuff before it happens. It’s the best way to guarantee it doesn’t happen.”

That seems like a realistic way to approach the situation, lest he unintentionally string fans along for what could be a while (but hopefully won’t). Cast availability will likely be an issue, as it was for the series’ fourth season. Bringing the entire cast back together for Season 4 was surely tricky, given the stars’ other commitments. While that will likely be the case again for the film, Hurwitz did point out that it may be more doable to get them back together for the movie, considering the shorter commitment required to make a film, by comparison to the six-month commitment required for a TV season. It’s with that in mind that I feel much more optimistic about the prospect of a movie coming next, as opposed to another season on Netflix. If there was one notable area where Season 4 fell short, it was how divided the cast was. Breaking up the episodes by character plot was likely the best solution possible to deal with the cast’s limited availability — and how all of the character plots and events braided together from the beginning of the season to the end was seriously impressive — but there was a noticeable shortage of moments were more than two or three lead characters were in a scene together at the same time. And given the chemistry of the cast, that was disappointing. If the film does get off the ground, hopefully the cast’s schedules will allow them to film more scenes together.

In the meantime, Rolling Stone says Hurwitz’s ultimate goal is to make the film and then do another season of the series. I imaging imagine that would suit fans just fine, especially if it means getting the Bluths back together for more antics. If you agree, feel free to celebrate this update by rocking out with the FakeBlock app.

Leno’s Last ‘Tonight Show’ To Air Feb. 6; Staff Paid Until September

The Jay Leno-hosted Tonight Show will air its last episode on February 6th, and, per terms of his show exit deal with NBC, the cast and crew will be paid until his contract expires in September. Tonight ep Debbie Vickers made the announcement today to the staffers at the show, informed sources report. It’s unclear how many crew and staff were at the meeting at the show’s Burbank lot. At one point it was reported Tonight had about 170 staffers in total, including some contract workers. NBC declined to comment on today’s news.

The announcement isn’t a total surprise. At NBC’s Upfront presentation to advertisers in May, the network officially announced that Jay Leno would end his 22-year run on Tonight Show during the week leading up to the 2014 Winter Olympics – which start February 7th. NBC also announced Jimmy Fallon would replace him during the second week of the Sochi games, on Monday, February 24th, when ratings are at their highest, followed by the debut of Late Night With Seth Meyers at 12:30 AM. Fallon’s Tonight Show will be broadcast from New York City; Lorne Michaels is exec producing, and Fallon’s Late Night writer Amy Ozols has been named producer.

Vickers’ announcement was made one week after NBC Entertainment chief Bob Greenblatt confirmed the network is having talks with Leno about “various ideas” for Leno after he ends his run on the late night show in February. “Nothing would make us happier for Jay, a la Bob Hope, to have presence at the network, we’re really hoping to do that, post February,” he told TV critics at Summer TV Press Tour 2013. Talks to replace Leno – this time – started when Greenblatt joined NBC at the beginning of 2011, Greenblatt said, adding that the timing after the 2014 Winter Olympics was decided “to give Jimmy Fallon the best chance of succeeding. We really believe in Jimmy Fallon.”

Leno has continued to dominate late night TV ratings — he clocked his biggest numbers with President Obama’s Tonight Show visit last night since his last visit to the show nine months ago. And, in his final May sweep before handing over the Tonight Show anchor desk to Fallon, Leno won the key ratings period from April 25-May 22. Tonight bettered time-slot rivals Late Show With David Letterman at CBS and Jimmy Kimmel Live at ABC in every key sales category, and matched its highest margin of victory over Letterman in the 18-49 viewers in nine years. Against Kimmel, Leno grew its 18-49 lead compared with the February sweeps from 12% to 30% in 18-49 and from 39% to 42% in total viewers. But, NBC is having no second thoughts about the transition, according to Greenblatt, who dismissed the numbers as something NBC predicted it would se when the network announced it would be Jay’s final year. “The same happened with Johnny Carson — and Jay’s previous final year,” Greenblatt said.

‘Last Man Standing’: Willie Robertson and ‘Duck Dynasty’ family to make acting debut

“Duck Dynasty” stars Willie Robertson and Uncle Si Robertson are headed for Hollywood from Monroe, La. The pair will make their acting debut on ABC’s “Last Man Standing” when its new season premieres in the fall.

Season 3 will see Tim Allen’s Mike Baxter surrounded once again by forces that challenge all of his beliefs and ideologies. At the same time, Mike continues to play odd man out in a house full of women — his wife, Vanessa Baxter, played by Nancy Travis, and three daughters, Kristin (Amanda Fuller), Mandy (Molly Ephraim) and Eve (Kaitlyn Dever).

The season premiere of “Last Man Standing” airs Sept. 20 on ABC. “Duck Dynasty” will see its Season 4 premiere Aug. 14 on A&E.

Michael J. Fox on the ‘Family Ties’ to His New Show

Michael J. Fox’s four kids might find some familiar scenes in their dad’s new NBC sitcom, about a husband and father with Parkinson’s disease who decides to go back to work after taking some time off.

“There are some things taken from [my] life,” he tells reporters Saturday at the Television Critics Association press tour. “For example, my youngest daughter, when she went to camp a couple of years ago, took us aside and said, ‘I’m warning you, when I go camping and you see pictures on the Internet, I’m trying out a new smile.’ And we transposed that to the daughter on the show, when she doesn’t like the way she runs, so she rehearses a new running method. There’s little snips and pieces of the experience of raising teenagers.”

The Michael J. Fox Show, which makes its debut on September 26, marks the 52-year-old’s return to a regular series role after an absence of 12 years. Fox left Spin City in 2001 to spend more time with his wife, Tracy Pollan, and their kids and focus on seeking a cure for Parkinson’s disease, which he was diagnosed with in 1991.

“I spent that time with my family during their formative years and enjoyed that,” he admits. But after guesting on shows like The Good Wife, Boston Legal and Rescue Me, Fox felt like it was time to get back to doing what he knows best.

“It’s what I love to do and it’s what I’ve enjoyed throughout my life. And I just thought, ‘Why can’t I?'” he says.

With six episodes of the new show filmed, Fox says he’s “really happy with how it feels to be back at work,” and while stories from his real life are being written into the show, so are some of the people – his wife and former Family Ties costar just filmed a guest role.

“Tracy actually just did an episode of the show and she was great,” he reveals. And Fox is hoping to see more Family Ties and Spin City costars appear on the new show.

“As characters come up we’ll certainly mine old friendships and work to get them involved,” he admits. “I think that would be great.”

The show’s executive producer Sam Laybourne reveals that they are currently casting Fox’s TV parents … paging Alex P. Keaton’s mom and dad – Michael Gross and Meredith Baxter!

Dan Harmon Confirms Return to Community

Dan Harmon is officially returning to Community.

The show’s creator confirmed the news via Twitter Saturday after a follower asked him to “give a straight answer” regarding whether or not he would be coming back to the NBC comedy for season five.

“Yes yes yes! I’m back I’m back I’m back. You can thank @joelmchale,” Harmon tweeted Saturday.

Harmon’s Twitter confirmation comes just a few days after he revealed he was extended an invitation to return to Community, but didn’t confirm at the time whether he would accept it.

Happy Endings writers David Guarascio and Moses Port replaced the showrunner during the show’s fourth season, after Harmon was fired by Sony a little over a year ago.

Following Harmon’s announcement, Community star Gillian Jacobs cheered on his return, tweeting, Welcome back, ‪@danharmon! E Pluribus Anus!”

Bill Hader Leaving ‘SNL’: Season 38 Of ‘Saturday Night Live’ Will Be His Last

Bill Hader is leaving “SNL,” the comedian announced in an interview with The New York Times. His last show will be the Season 38 finale of “Saturday Night Live” on Saturday, May 18, 2013.

“It was a hard decision, but it has to happen at some point,” Hader, who joined the series in 2005, told The New York Times. “It got to a point where I said, ‘Maybe it’s just time to go.'”

The futures of Fred Armisen and Jason Sudeikis are also up in the air as “SNL” breaks for the summer before Season 39. But one other departure is certain: Seth Meyers. Meyers will leave “Saturday Night Live” and take over as “Late Night” host when Jimmy Fallon move to “The Tonight Show,” replacing Jay Leno. However, Meyers will stay with “SNL” through the fall before he takes over “Late Night.”

Last season, Andy Samberg and Kristen Wiig left the series. Wiig, who recently returned to host “Saturday Night Live,” got an emotional sendoff during the Season 37 finale, but Hader said don’t expect something similar for him.

“My joke was, we’ll start singing ‘Ruby Tuesday’ and just say bye to Kristen again,” he told The Times. “I can just do a little wave at goodnights, and that signifies it.”

For more on Bill Hader’s “SNL” departure, click over to The New York Times.

Hader’s last “Saturday Night Live” episode airs Satruday, May 18 at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

’24’ will ‘Live Another Day’ in 2014, FOX confirms

Jack Bauer is officially back: FOX has confirmed its plans to bring “24” back to its airwaves next year.

The show will return in the summer of 2014 as an event series called “24: Live Another Day.” Kiefer Sutherland has signed on to play Jack Bauer again, with the story picking up several years after the last season, which aired in 2009. There’s no word yet on any other casting.

“Live Another Day” will run for 12 weeks and keep its real-time format, but FOX Entertainment Chairman Kevin Reilly says it may skip hours here and there.

“As [executive producer Howard Gordon] would design the season, the spine of the 24 episodes was really about 12 hours. Those were where the big events occurred, and then there were little twists and connective tissue in between,” Reilly told reporters on a conference call Monday (May 13). Each episode of “Live Another Day” will still unfold over the course of an hour, but viewers won’t see as much of the in-between hours. “It may go 7 a.m., 8 a.m., 10 a.m.,” Reilly says, depending on how the story comes together.

Reilly says the return of “24” grew out of the network announcing it was making a push into limited-run series, and Gordon and the “24” team’s frustration at trying to design a feature film based on the show.

“As they got into the feature film, I think they all agreed that ’24’ compressed into two hours is not ’24,'” Reilly says. “Talking about it over the last couple of years, they kind of got their juices flowing again, and when we announced this new [miniseries] franchise, a little light bulb went off for Howard. He said, ‘Wait a minute. Why are we killing ourselves trying to crack a feature when this is the perfect format?'”

“Live Another Day” will probably be paired with another scripted series in the summer of 2014 — Reilly mentioned the drama “Gang Related” as one that might hold until then. Another limited series, the thriller “Wayward Pines,” is currently set to launch in the late summer next year and carry into fall.

Seth Meyers Taking Over ‘Late Night’ From Jimmy Fallon

Starting next year, every week night will be Saturday night.

The “Saturday Night Live” takeover of NBC’s late night lineup continues. With Jimmy Fallon leaving “Late Night” to host “The Tonight Show” next year, the network has tapped his former “SNL” castmate Seth Meyers to sit in his chair.

Meyers leaves “SNL” after 12 seasons, eight of which he served as head writer and seven of which he hosted “Weekend Update.” He won’t have to change bosses, however; Lorne Michaels will be the executive producer of Meyers’s “Late Night.”

“I only have to work for Lorne for five more years before I pay him back for the time I totaled his car,” Meyers joked in a statement. “12:30 on NBC has long been incredible real estate. I hope I can do it justice.”

Buzz about who would replace Fallon began even before official confirmation that he would replace Jay Leno as “Tonight Show” host. Names like Howard Stern and Chelsea Handler were thrown around, but Meyers seemed to be a frontrunner from the beginning thanks to his relationship with Michaels.

“We think Seth is one of the brightest, most insightful comedy writers and performers of his generation,” said Bob Greenblatt, chairman of NBC Entertainment.

“His years at ‘SNL’s Weekend Update’ desk, not to mention being head writer of the show for many seasons, helped him hone a topical brand of comedy that is perfect for the ‘Late Night’ franchise.”

Meyers’s move to “Late Night” does beg the question whether he and Michaels will update the format to be more similar to “Weekend Update” and Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show.”

And there are even more questions about the future of “SNL” — who will succeed Meyers as head writer? And perhaps more importantly to fans, who will be the new “Weekend Update” host(s)?