Category: Television

‘Conan’ Renewed Through November 2015

TBS has extended the run of “Conan” through November 2015.

The move keeps O’Brien in place on the network he joined in November 2010, after he left NBC’s “Tonight Show” and Jay Leno returned as its as host. NBC plans to replace Leno with Jimmy Fallon by next fall, which would mean O’Brien will keep his current show at least a year longer than Leno will keep his.

The deal also keeps Andy Richter as the announcer for “Conan.”

“When we invited Conan O’Brien to come to TBS, we knew he would bring with him a passionately loyal following of young adults,” said Michael Wright, president and head of programming for TBS, TNT and Turner Classic Movies.

“Conan and his colleagues at Team Coco have gone far beyond that by making ‘Conan’ the top late-night brand in the digital arena. We are proud to extend our relationship with Conan as he continues to forge the future of late night,” Wright added. “I just wish we didn’t decide to tell him on April Fools’ Day.”

Jay Leno Disses NBC Executives On ‘Tonight Show’ After Robert Greenblatt Email Controversy

Jay Leno may have received some less-than-pleasant emails from NBC chairman Robert Greenblatt after repeatedly mocking the fifth-place network, but that’s not stopping him from working his employers into his “Tonight Show’ monologue.

The “Tonight Show” host poked fun at NBC’s low ratings when Greenblatt made an appearance on his show on Feb. 28, after which a chain of tense emails was sparked between the two. On Monday night, Leno began his monologue with some St. Patrick’s Day material, first ribbing Carnival cruise line for their overflowing toilets, then dissing NBC executives by comparing them to the snakes of Ireland:

“You know the whole legend of St. Patrick, right? St. Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland — and then they came to the United States and became NBC executives. It’s a fascinating story.”

Leno’s contract with NBC has been extended past 2014 after he was forced to take a 50% pay cut to prevent massive staff layoffs in the summer of 2012, a setback he also used as fuel to mock NBC during his monologues.

Rumors of Leno’s eventual depature from the “Tonight Show” — and his subsequent replacement with “Late Night” host Jimmy Fallon — have been reported by multiple sources but vehemently denied by NBC. Following such reports, radio host Howard Stern was rumored to be considered for Fallon’s “Late Night” spot if he were to take over for Leno, but Stern quickly deflated the rumors, calling them, “An insult.”

‘Sherlock’: Creator Mark Gatiss tweets title of Season 3, episode 1 — ‘The Empty Hearse’

Production started up for “Sherlock” Season 3 on Monday (March 18), and those involved with the show wasted no time in getting the (very mild) spoilers out to fans worldwide. Most importantly, co-creator and writer Mark Gatiss posted a set photo and the title of episode 1.

So how does “Sherlock” begin its third season? The episode will be titled “The Empty Hearse.”

Gatiss’ message reads as follows:

“Exclusive! Ep 1 will be called ‘The Empty Hearse’. The game is on!”

The message comes with a photo of a clapboard announcing the first scene will begin filming. Since Gatiss is involved with pretty much every aspect of “Sherlock” — in addition to his writing and producing, Gatiss also appears in the recurring role of Sherlock’s brother, Mycroft Holmes — we can probably trust him to give us valid information on the title.

What does the title mean? Considering recent plots and the habit of “Sherlock” to make subtle changes to original Sherlock Holmes stories, there is probably a loose connection between “The Empty Hearse” and the 1903 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle short story, “The Adventure of the Empty House.”

One of the main highlights of the original story is Sherlock explaining how he managed to survive his presumed death in a struggle against the villain Moriarty. As fans will recall, the television version of Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch) also appeared to have died at the end of Season 2. Of course, he’s still alive, so finding out how that works will be an interesting part of the Season 3 premiere.

The plot of “The Adventure of the Empty House” involves a Moriarty lieutenant, Colonel Sebastian Moran, trying to take out a wax effigy of Holmes visible from the empty house across the street from 221B Baker Street. Although this obviously has no ill effect, Sherlock does make his public reappearance after a three-year absence. There is also a murder to be solved — a young gambler is found shot to death in a closed room.

Will any of these plots make it into “The Empty Hearse”? It’s hard to say — in addition to the modernization of the stories, “Sherlock” takes a lot of liberties with plot. It will, however, be months until we find out for sure, so let the speculation begin!

Melissa McCarthy hosting ‘Saturday Night Live’ for second time April 6

Melissa McCarthy bagged an Emmy nomination for her first stint hosting “Saturday Night Live” in 2011, so it’s no surprise she’s set for a return engagement on April 6.

Us Weekly broke the news that the “Bridesmaids” Oscar nominee is headed back to the show, and we’ve got to wonder if she’ll bring buddy Kristen Wiig with her (at least for a cameo?).

McCarthy’s career is red hot at the moment thanks to the smash success of “Identity Thief.” The backlash to the nasty comments made by film critic Rex Reed in his review of that film only cemented McCarthy’s status as one of America’s current sweethearts.

Frankly, after a run of pretty mediocre/terrible episodes, “Saturday Night Live” could use a little boost this season. Though it’s possible another popular host, Justin Timberlake, will get the show back on track when he returns this weekend.

‘The Mindy Project’ casts Chloe Sevigny as the woman who broke Danny’s heart

We’re finally going to meet Danny Castellano’s ex-wife on “The Mindy Project,” and Chloe Sevigny sounds like a perfect casting choice for the role.

Sevigny is set to appear in the final three “Mindy” episodes of Season 1 as Christina, the war photographer ex-wife of Danny (Chris Messina) who broke his heart with her extramarital affairs. According to E!, Christina will return because of the letter Danny wrote her about their relationship but never intended to mail. A concerned Morgan (Ike Barinholtz) secretly mailed it for him in the episode “Bunk Bed.”

We’re guessing Danny won’t be thrilled when he finds out that happened, but it’s obvious from his pizza joint conversation with Mindy at the end of “Harry & Mindy” that Danny still has serious feelings for Christina. It’ll be fascinating to see what her return sparks in Danny, and we can’t wait to see Sevigny playing off Messina, whose performance has been one of the consistent highlights of “Mindy’s” first season.

Sevigny won a Golden Globe for her role on “Big Love” and has since recurred on “American Horror Story: Asylum” and starred in the single season DirecTV drama “Hit & Miss.” She’s currently attached to A&E’s pilot “Those Who Kill.”

Jon Stewart to take ‘Daily Show’ hiatus to direct film

He’ll work on his directorial debut, ‘Rosewater,’ about a journalist who was held in Iran.

It’s no joke. Jon Stewart, who’s anchored Comedy Central’s The Daily Show since 1999, will take a 12-week hiatus to make his feature directing debut.

Stewart’s project is Rosewater, an adaptation of Maziar Bahari’s memoir Then They Came for Me: A Family’s Story of Love, Captivity and Survival published in 2011. It tells the story of Bahari’s travels to Iran in June 2009 to cover the country’s presidential elections for the BBC.

What was planned as a one-week trip turned into a nightmare when Bahari was held in an Iranian prison for 118 days and was subjected to brutal interrogations by a man he knew only by his scent — rosewater.

Bahari was accused of being a spy, and one of the pieces of “evidence” used against him was an appearance he made on The Daily Show.

Stewart, who wrote the Rosewater script, will leave the show for about 12 weeks this summer, and Daily Show regular John Oliver will guest-host eight weeks of new shows.

Dexter Ending After 8 Seasons, Says Les Moonves

Dexter’s killing spree appears to be coming to an end.

Seemingly making good on Showtime boss David Nevins’ premonition, CBS Corp. chief executive Les Moonves told investors today that the upcoming eighth season of the Michael C. Hall-led series will be its last.

The cable network has yet to make an official announcment. Moonves’ remarks came during a conference call as part of Deutsche Bank’s 2013 dbAccess Media, Internet & Telecom Conference.

When asked during the 2013 Winter Press Tour about the future of the serial-killer thriller, Nevins promised that there was “a clear endgame in place; I just can’t talk about it just yet. The decision of when to end Dexter is ultimately a creative decision and will be made on creative reasons.”

Looking past Dexter’s demise, Moonves also took the opportunity to tout Showtime’s next big offering, Ray Donovan, starring Liev Schreiber.
Dexter returns for its eighth season on June 30, its first-ever summer premiere.

Jimmy Fallon could replace Jay Leno by next year: Report

Jimmy Fallon might do what Conan O’Brien attempted to do back in 2010: Replace Jay Leno in the coveted Tonight Show seat.

According to a report by The Hollywood Reporter, NBC is planning to announce Leno’s retirement as soon as this May, with the change going in effect in time for the 2014 TV season. Leno’s replacement at 11:35, sources say, will almost surely be Jimmy Fallon, who’s been helming the 12:35 Late Night hour. NBC has denied the story, while a rep for Leno said “we do not speculate on rumor.”

Of course, we’ve heard this before. A few years back, Leno stepped down to give the spot to O’Brien — and we all know how that worked out. But the landscape has shifted since then — most notably thanks to the youthful Jimmy Kimmel Live, which ABC recently slated as The Tonight Show‘s direct competitor. Beyond that, whispers of Letterman’s retirement (his contract is up in 2014) have been turning into soft murmurs. A move by NBC to install Fallon in the 62-year old Leno’s spot would pit the two Jimmys against one another for the ever-important target demo.

Ben Stiller to guest on ‘Arrested Development’

It’s neither trick nor illusion: Ben Stiller will appear on the revived Arrested Development, EW has learned. The film star will reprise his role as Tony Wonder, rival magician to GOB (Will Arnett), in one episode during the new season of the cult comedy, which Netflix will stream in May.Exactly how he fits into the plot is being kept under wraps. But it may not be a bad idea to check the dumbwaiter.

Stiller guest-starred as Wonder in seasons 2 and 3 of Arrested, which originally aired on Fox from 2003 to 2006.

The upcoming season will also include guest spots with Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Conan O’Brien, Isla Fisher, and John Slattery, among others.

‘Arrested Development’ Won’t Get Second Netflix Season

Arrested Development’s revival on Netflix will last just one new season, the company’s CEO, Reed Hastings, told investors yesterday, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

“Arrested is a unique property, we don’t anticipate being able to do season five, six and seven,” said Hastings. “We have less of a stake in it. It is really a fantastic one-off, which is coming together incredibly. I think it will be amazing for us, but think of it as a nonrepeatable amazing.”

Q&A: David Cross on ‘Arrested Development,’ Cutoff Shorts and Overpowering the Grid

The return of the beloved cult comedy (which originally aired on Fox from 2003-06) was announced back in October 2011, and Netflix picked up exclusive rights to air the series the following month. With the entire original cast returning, as well as creator Mitchell Hurwitz, Arrested Development’s fourth season is set to air in May, with all 14 new episodes premiering at once.

Hastings said that Netflix’s current goal is to “build shows and develop franchises over the long term. In that way, Arrested Development is a wildly successful tactic as opposed to fundamental to the strategy.” He pointed to the company’s other endeavors, such as the Ricky Gervais comedy Derek, and the recently debuted political thriller House of Cards, staring Kevin Spacey. Another possible reason for just the one season, as one company official told The Wall Street Journal, is that it would be very difficult to reunite the show’s entire cast again.

While Hastings seems certain about Arrested Development’s new run only lasting just one season – he added in a conference call that Netflix got the show under “unrepeatable circumstances” – a spokesperson later clarified to HitFix that the company would like to produce more of the show in the future.

“We’re hopeful there will be more seasons,” the spokesperson said. “If anyone can pull it together, it’s going to be [content chief] Ted [Sarandos]. But by no means is this the end of it. We’re definitely planning to do more with them. We have first rights, so it’s not like you’d see it anywhere else. We’re absolutely hopeful there will be more.”

Hurwitz has said that he would like the show’s new fourth season to serve as an introduction to the much-rumored Arrested Development movie; however there’s still no word on whether the film is happening.