With the loss of Brooke, we now have our final four.

Ryan says we must vote.

Now we won't "dread" the top 3.

Gladiator has found stardom even greater than his previous Hollywood experience.

Filed under: Family Guy, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free

(S06E12) As a result of adopting (and by adopting, I mean bird-napping) a parrot from the veterinarian's office, Peter becomes a pirate. The sad part was that it wasn't even International Talk-Like-A-Pirate Day.

Actually, that's not really what the episode is about. It's more about Chris' pursuit of a vet intern named Anna. While Chris' pursues Anna, he gets advice from Peter and the gang (which, as the history of the show has proven, is never a good idea).

The pirate segment of the episode wasn't very good and seemed out of place. Fortunately, it was very short. Despite its use in the promos, it was kind of forgettable. I did enjoy the car chase bit involving "sugar cane, tobacco and spices". The car chase itself seemed like something of a cross between a pirate movie and a video-game.

Continue reading Family Guy: Long John Peter (season finale)

 

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Filed under: Sports, Industry, Commercials, Reality-Free

Invented a new product that you'd like to pitch to millions of sports fans? Think you could pack all your thoughts into one second? Got a hundred thousand dollars kicking around?

Didn't think so.

According to Reuters, NBC (they're airing Super Bowl XLIII in Jan. '09) is expected to announce that the starting rate for a 30-second spot during the big game will be $3 million. Wow. That factors out to a hundred grand per second. Last year's going rate was a mere $2.7 million.

While I'm sure this comes as no surprise (I mean, c'mon - the rates jump every year, don't they?) to the big companies known for their Super Bowl commercials (think Budweiser, Coke, Pepsi, Fed Ex, etc.), it still makes you wonder how some of these smaller random companies can afford it. Every year there's some new Internet start-up you've never heard of and they'll end up having one of the most talked about commercials - like GoDaddy.com from a few years ago. It just seems like a real gamble. Rather than put all of your footballs in one field (eggs in a basket, get it?), I would think that spreading your money over numerous smaller ad campaigns would make more sense.

 

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Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Casting

A day hasn't gone by where we haven't received some sort of tip or email asking us, the TV Squad, how to get on [insert reality show here]. Unfortunately no, Simon Cowell does not work for us, and Donald Trump isn't my BFF, so we really can't help all that much.

The folks at RealityWanted.com often send us a list of new and existing reality shows that are looking for new, er, talent, and they've given us permission to make mention of them here. We'll try to make this a regular feature as often as we get a new list.

This time we have Trading Spaces, The Newlywed Game and other new shows.

Continue reading Reality Show casting calls

 

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Filed under: Industry, How I Met Your Mother, Cancellations, Pickups and Renewals, Reaper, Moonlight, WGA Strike, Eli Stone, Reality-Free

The reverberations caused by the writers' strike continue to affect how the networks are doing business. Case in point: according to The Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd, the networks may be more generous with renewals than they have in the past, due to the fact that even hit shows have been returning to diminished ratings. My guess is that, after a three-month break, most people realized they didn't give two craps about things like Meredith and McDreamy's latest breakup. But it may just be that the weather's nice outside.

Anyway, Hibberd goes on to mention the current status of some of the most prominent "bubble" shows. The good news: Reaper, Old Christine, and HIMYM and Moonlight have shifted over towards the "likely to certain" end of the spectrum, and Boston Legal will likely survive for another year. The bad news: Shark, Men In Trees, Cashmere Mafia, and October Road are likely gone. And there's still no real feel for what's going to happen with Eli Stone or Women's Murder Club.

 

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Filed under: Web, The Office, Reality-Free

Who saw last night's episode of The Office? Were you mesmerized as Dwight swindled Andy into taking a lower offer for his Nissan Xterra? Were you jealous and wished that you could do the same thing? Well now's your chance... sort of. Although, by the time this auction is over, you may have some issues flipping it for a higher price like Dwight did.

Our sister site Autoblog stumbled onto a great find earlier today - the actual SUV used in the episode "Did I Stutter?" is up for auction on eBay. The Xterra in question is owned by one of the studio hairstylists on The Office. The car had been used as a prop car - the car Andy "owned" on the show. Hoping to capitalize on the car's newfound fame, the owner has put it up for sale. To entice Office fans, some extras (not furnished by the dealer) are included:

Continue reading Make a bid on Dwight's Nissan Xterra

 

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Filed under: Industry, Programming, Celebrities, Reality-Free

Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning actress Renee Zellweger is taking on another prestigious role: executive producer of a Lifetime Original Movie. Zellweger will produce Living Proof, based on the true story of Dr. Denny Slamon. Harry Connick, Jr. is playing Slamon, a doctor and developer of Herceptin 2, a type of breast cancer medication. According to E!, the actress has a personal connection to the Living Proof story. Nanci Ryder, Zellweger's publicist and friend, was one of Dr. Slaman's patients.

While she's never produced anything for television before, Zellweger served as an executive producer on her 2006 film Miss Potter. The TV movie's premiere is set for October, National Breast Cancer Awareness month.

Continue reading Renee Zellweger is producing a Lifetime movie

 

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