Category: Television

Twin Peaks Revival Will Have 18 Episodes

The forthcoming third season revival of Twin Peaks on Showtime will now feature 18 episodes, all directed by David Lynch, reports Welcome to Twin Peaks.

Series stars Sherilyn Fenn and Sheryl Lee reportedly revealed the information during a Twin Peaks panel at Crypticon in Seattle this weekend, according to various sources.

Lynch, who co-created the series and directed a number of episodes including the pilot and Season Two (then series) finale, will co-write the episodes with Mark Frost, his co-creator, who will write a companion book set during the missing two decades-plus between seasons.

Original series composer Angelo Badalamenti will reportedly compose new music for the series, and Twede’s Cafe in North Bend, Washington, will be restored as the original Double R Diner set.

The series had originally been expected to run for nine episodes, which would be directed by Lynch, with the possibility of more down the line if the series was successful. Lynch briefly walked away from the project when budgetary negotiations with Showtime broke down, but recently came back with an unspecified amount of additional work to do on the show.

BoJack Horseman Returns in July

The first season of BoJack Horseman started out kinda silly — and then over 12 episodes kept its silliness but also developed into TV’s most accurate depiction of depression. Netflix ordered a second season shortly after the first premiered, and now there’s a firm release date: BoJack, Diane, Todd, Mr. Peanutbutter, et al. will return for a 12-episode second season Friday, July 17. (The whole season will be posted at 3 a.m. EST.)

The new episodes pick up not long after the first season, with BoJack in his dream role as Secretariat. But he’s still BoJack, and thus still a miserable jerk — except now he’s trying change, to be a, uh, horse of a different color. How many times can “Jellicle Cats” gets stuck and unstuck in one’s head before July 17? Oh, a bunch.

Veep Renewed for Season 5 and Silicon Valley for Season 3 by HBO

HBO wasted little time in renewing two of its ongoing franchises that have the privilege of airing on the same night as Game of Thrones.

In a blanket announcement today, HBO gave Veep starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus as new President Selina Meyer, a Season 5 order. They also gave Mike Judge and Alec Berg’s Silicon Valley a Season 3 order. Both renewals came less than a day after each show’s current season premiere episodes debuted.

The next seasons of Veep and Silicon Valley will run 10 episodes as per each respective show’s current season trend.

With the renewals, all four of HBO’s Sunday evening original programs are now set for 2016. Game of Thrones Season 6 was picked up at the same time as Season 5. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver was also picked up more recently.

The fun connection with Veep’s renewal is that art imitates life with Hilary Clinton announcing her official bid to run for the President of the United States. Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ character followed a similar path in becoming the first female U.S. President, a achievement Mrs. Clinton is aiming for.

‘Supergirl’ takes flight on CBS

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a series order for Supergirl.

CBS Wednesday picked up the superhero saga as a series for the fall schedule. It is one of many series orders that will be made in the next week as networks put together their fall lineups. Supergirl is based on the DC Comics character.

Melissa Benoist (Glee, Whiplash) will play the central character, Kara Zor-El, who escaped to Earth when her native planet, Krypton, was destroyed. Now 24 and possessing the same powers as her famous cousin, Superman, she decides to stop hiding her superhuman abilities and instead to embrace them, becoming “the hero she was always meant to be.”

Calista Flockhart (Ally McBeal, Brothers & Sisters) will portray Cat Grant, “a self-made media mogul and founder of CatCo. Cat Grant started her career as a reporter and has built her company into a global powerhouse.” Kara works at CatCo as Cat’s assistant.

The cast also features Chyler Leigh (Grey’s Anatomy) as Alexandra “Alex” Danvers, Kara’s “confident foster sister,” whose fascination with Kara’s powers inspires her to become a bioengineer; Mehcad Brooks (Necessary Roughness, True Blood) as James Olsen, a former Daily Planet photographer who is the new art director at CatCo; and David Harewood (Homeland) as Hank Henshaw, a onetime CIA agent who now runs the Department of Extra-Normal Operations (DEO).

Supergirl features Greg Berlanti, an executive producer of CW’s successful Arrow and The Flash, in that same behind-the-scenes role, where he will be joined by Ali Adler, Sarah Schechter and Andrew Kreisberg.

Jon Stewart’s final Daily Show to air Aug. 6

Jon Stewart just moved one step closer to ending his days as host of The Daily Show.

The 52-year-old comedian announced on the Monday edition of his acclaimed Comedy Central series that his last day on the job will be Thursday, Aug. 6. He revealed his departure date at the end of the broadcast, quipping “I will be wearing a suit, I will more than likely be showered…” When the audience was slow to respond, he added: “I’m sorry. I’ll be wearing overalls and I won’t shower,” which received much louder cheers. Stewart also mentioned that fans will have a chance to win tickets to the final show at omaze.com/dailyshow, with proceeds going to the Night of Too Many Stars charity.

Back in February, Stewart told a Daily Show audience that he was leaving the news-satirizing series, which has received heaps of Emmys and critical praise under his 16-year tenure. Today’s announcement confirms that he’ll be winding down just as the presidential race starts heating up—which Stewart cited in a recent interview as one of the reasons he’s calling it quits. “I’d covered an election four times, and it didn’t appear that there was going to be anything wildly different about this one,” he told the British newspaper The Guardian, also noting that he wasn’t “getting the same satisfaction from doing the show.”

A few weeks ago, Comedy Central announced that South African comedian/talk show host and new Dail Show correspondent Trevor Noah would replace Stewart. After controversy flared over some of Noah’s old off-color tweets, Stewart defended him on a Daily Show broadcast, saying: “I do hope you give him an opportunity to earn that trust and respect because my experience with him is that he is an incredibly thoughtful and considerate and funny and smart individual… I’m excited for where he’s going to take the thing. And I’m going to watch.”

It’s official: Netflix orders Full House revival

Everywhere you look… there’s an old TV show coming back to life. In this case, Netflix has ordered a 13-episode revival of Full House, titled Fuller House—though not for the obvious reason.

The multi-camera comedy sequel will focus on original cast members Candace Cameron-Bure, Jodie Sweetin, and Andrea Barber. John Stamos, who will act as a producer, is also slated to guest-star, while discussions with original cast members Bob Saget, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Dave Coulier, and Lori Loughlin are ongoing.

In Fuller House, the adventures of the original series continue on with D.J. Tanner-Fuller (hence the show’s title) now pregnant and recently widowed living in San Francisco. DJ’s younger sister and aspiring musician Stephanie Tanner (Sweetin) and her BFF and fellow single mom Kimmy Gibbler (Barber)—along with Kimmy’s feisty teenage daughter Ramona—all move in to help take of DJ’s two boys, the rebellious J.D., 12, and the neurotic Max, 7.

“As big fans of the original Full House, we are thrilled to be able to introduce Fuller House’s new narrative to existing fans worldwide, who grew up on the original, as well as a new generation of global viewers that have grown up with the Tanners in syndication,” said Cindy Holland, Netflix’s vice president of original content.

In a joint statement, executive producers Robert L. Boyett, Thomas L. Miller, and Jeff Franklin said: “The continued support of Full House fans of all ages for the last 28 years has been astounding. It is an honor and a thrill to catch up with these beloved characters and explore their lives today. The love you saw on the show was real. The cast has remained a loving family off screen all these years. We are as excited as our fans to finally bring Full House back to life.”

Stamos announced the new project, which will debut in 2016, on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

Full House revival eyed by Netflix

Another series reboot/revival/reunion? Sure, why not? Netlfix is near a deal to bring back Full House in a 13-episode revival of the classic ABC sitcom.

Candace Cameron Bure (D.J.) and Andrea Barber (Kimmy) are both said to be on board, with John Stamos, Bob Saget, and Dave Coulier potentially in the mix too, according to TV Line, which first reported the news. The working title: Fuller House. There’s no deal yet at this point, however.

Full House went off the air in 1995 after eight seasons. In the last year we’ve seen revivial orders for ABC’s Twin Peaks (now at Showtime), Fox’s The X-Files, and ABC’s Coach (now at NBC).

Netflix and Warner Bros. had no comment.

Meet The Daily Show’s New Host

Trevor Noah! You know Trevor Noah, the 31-year-old South African comedian who only made his first appearance on The Daily Show in December. The rumor had been going around all weekend and was confirmed by Comedy Central this morning. Noah, who speaks six languages, has been doing stand-up internationally for years, and his act tends to focus on issues of race and international relations. His first segment on The Daily Show was about America’s perception of Africa, emphasizing that many American cities are in worse shape than African ones, joking, “I never thought I’d be more afraid of police in America than in South Africa.”

This news comes a little less than two months after Jon Stewart’s announcement he’d be leaving the show he’s been hosting since 1999. For anyone following the story, it seemed Comedy Central didn’t have an easy time finding a replacement. John Oliver, the correspondent most prepared to take over, had left the year before to host his own comedy-news show. And since Stewart’s news, other current correspondents or contributors have also left the show or explicitly said they didn’t want the job. Not to mention that outside of The Daily Show, there is a dearth of prominent young political comedians.

A start date has not been announced.

George R.R. Martin Will Sit Out Season 6 of Game of Thrones

George R.R. Martin revealed on his blog this weekend that he won’t be contributing to Game of Thrones’ sixth season on HBO.

“Writing a season six script would cost me a month’s work on Winds [of Winter], and maybe as much as six weeks, and I cannot afford that,” he wrote.

The author already said he was sitting out season five, which is a bummer, because he usually pens at least one episode per season. But hey, everybody kvetching about the guy’s slow writing progress has finally gotten what they’ve wished for — no distractions. Or so it seems. It sounds like Martin’s still juggling half a dozen projects, plus some appearances (which may or may not get canceled).

X-Files returns to TV after 13 years off the air

David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson will reprise their roles as agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully in a just-confirmed reboot of The X-Files, Fox Broadcasting Company says.

The popular sci-fi series went off the air 13 years ago, taking with it its strange stories of unexplained paranormal drama.

But the cult classic will return to Fox with a limited series of six new episodes, the show’s creator Chris Carter revealed in a statement on Tuesday.

“I think of it as a 13-year commercial break,” said Carter. “The good news is the world has only gotten that much stranger, a perfect time to tell these six stories.”

The Vancouver-shot show, which centred on Mulder and Scully’s investigations into mysterious FBI cases, or “X-Files,” won multiple Emmy awards in its nine seasons and inspired two spinoff films.

It also proved to be a major breakout hit for Fox.

“The X-Files was not only a seminal show for both the studio and the network, it was a worldwide phenomenon that shaped pop culture,” said Dana Walden and Gary Newman, chairmen and CEOs of Fox Television Group in a statement to Entertainment Weekly.

“Few shows on television have drawn such dedicated fans as The X-Files, and we’re ecstatic to give them the next thrilling chapter of Mulder and Scully they’ve been waiting for.”

Production on the new X-Files series is slated to begin this summer.

It’s not clear if the production will return to Vancouver, or if other popular characters, like William B. Davis’s Smoking Man will return in the revived show.