Mar 09 2010
This is just one of those weird Hollywood coincidences: Actor Kyle Bornheimer, who starred last season in CBS's "Worst Week," has no connection to Pittsburgh but he's starring in three Pittsburgh-set projects.
First, he's one of the stars of the filmed-and-set-in-Pittsburgh movie "She's Out of My League," which arrives in theaters Friday.
Then he's in ABC's Pittsburgh-set sitcom "Romantically Challenged," which does not have a premiere date but is expected to join the primetime lineup in mid-April.
Finally, he's been cast in CBS's fall Pittsburgh-set pilot "Livin' on a Prayer," written, in part, by a former Pittsburgher and starring Mt. Lebanon native/Carnegie Mellon University grad Joe Manganiello.
How, you may wonder, can Bornheimer star in two sitcoms almost simultaneously? The "Prayer" producers are playing the odds that "Romantically Challenged," like 80 percent of all shows, will fail, which would make him available for "Prayer" this fall.Technically, he's in "second position" on "Prayer," meaning his first allegiance is to "Romantically Challenged."
If "Romantically Challenged" is a hit and "Prayer" gets picked up, too, "Prayer" will have to re-cast the role with a different actor and re-shoot its pilot episode.
I chatted with Bornheimer at press tour in July 2008 after he filmed "League" and as he was promoting "Worst Week." I did not get the sense he had any connection to Pittsburgh beyond filming "League" locally -- he's from Indiana and has no relatives here -- so I think it's fair to assume that his casting in Pittsburgh-set programs is coincidence and not intentional.
"There were, like, three movies being made when we were there," Bornheimer told me. He was excited to see locations used in movie favorites like "Deer Hunter" and "Silence of the Lambs." "We were Downtown staying at a hotel and there's a lot of great architecture. They maintain their old buildings really nicely, like the old city hall and the old city prison. I checked out a couple of Pirates games and the new stadium is beautiful. We had a big cast and were able to go out a lot and have a lot of fun."
Mar 09 2010
USA Network's "White Collar" (10 tonight) ends its first season with an episode that concentrates more on the characters and the arc that's been threaded through the season rather than the usual stand-alone caper-of-the-week.
Con man-turned-FBI helper Neal Caffrey (Matt Bomer) thinks he's found a way to reunite with AWOL love interest Kate and escape the gaze of the FBI.
Also, FBI agent Diana Lancing (Marsha Thomason), who disappeared after the pilot episode, returns tonight to assist FBI pal Peter Burke (Tim DeKay). Caffrey's handler.
In January, Bomer promised the first season would end with a cliffhanger, and indeed it does.
But in the screener I was sent, that cliffhanger was telegraphed a few seconds in advance due to some shoddy green screen work that's just about as obvious as the bad green screening in "Eli Stone."
Mar 08 2010
Tonight's episode of NBC's "Chuck" (8 p.m., WPXI) is a game-changer. Show runners and networks say that all the time but tonight's it's really true.
Chuck himself, actor Zachary Levi, directed tonight's installment that marks a real step forward in the story of unexpected spy Chuck Bartowski, who has had all the goverment's secrets downloaded into his head from the Intersect computer.
The episode begins with Chuck not "flashing," seeing images in his head that allow him to become a martial arts master or expert shooter. Because of this Intersect impotence, Chuck gets benched from his spy duties.
He's also in trouble at Buy More, his cover job at a big box store, where best friend/assistant manager Morgan (Josh Gomez) feels left out of Chuck's life and fires him as his best friend. At the same time, potential buyers consider purchasing the Buy More store, which doesn't make a lot of sense since we know it's part of a corporate chain. No matter, it's a contrivance that leads to more interesting plot developments.
If you're a fan of "Chuck," this episode is a must-see.
Mar 07 2010
In reverse chronological order, my Oscar tweets and re-tweets:
- RT @franklinavenue Thanks to Tom Hanks for
looking at his watch, taking control and DIRECTING this awards show. Seriously,
SOMEONE had to. half a minute ago
via web
-
RT @goodyk "The show is so long that 'Avatar' now takes
place in the past." Good Steve Martin line to end on. Wish it weren't so
true.... 1
minutes ago via web
-
The
Na'Avi are bluer than usual tonight. 6
minutes ago via web
-
RT @franklinavenue The Oscars, now close to 30 minutes
in OT. Cablevision subscribers manually re-unplugging ABC from their
systems. 11
minutes ago via web
-
Awww,
I was hoping Gaby would get to give a speech. Liked her on the red
carpet. 15
minutes ago via web
-
I
hated this ego stroking blather last year and I still hate it this year.
22
minutes ago via web
-
I'm
not sure making "SWAT" was all that fortunate for anyone involved...
35
minutes ago via web
-
RT @marymcnamara sigh. the Oscar ego stroking is really
getting tedious... 36 minutes ago
via web
-
RT @goodyk Kind of wish they'd speed things up. You
know, deadlines and all... 36
minutes ago via web
-
RT @TVBarn Martin and Baldwin should make a sitcom for
Fox. They've been up there at least half an hour. And they're still not
funny. 37
minutes ago via web
-
Ah, a
"Modern Family" promo. Now that's entertainment. about
1 hours ago via web
-
They can't pronounce his name, but a local guy wins
another FX Oscar http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10064/1040384-60.stm
about
1 hours ago via web
-
RT @TVWithoutPity Will next year's In Memoriam montage
include tonight's telecast and the audience in attendance? Both have been
lifeless. about
1 hours ago via web
-
RT @sepinwall Okay, so they cut the Best Song
performances but kept room for this? about
1 hours ago via web
-
RT @ChrisSerico The #Oscars present So You
Think You Can Yawn? about 1 hours ago
via web
- LOL RT@BorowitzReport It's sad about the Hollywood
people who died this year, but at least they didn't have to watch the #Oscars. about
1 hours ago via web
-
RT @franklinavenue Steve Martin, Alec
Baldwin, James Taylor... wow, this is a strong 1979 episode of "Saturday Night
Live." Wait, what? about 1 hours ago
via web
-
Glad they brought back the performance during In Memoriam.
And looks like they're doing a better job IDing the people being
remembered. about 1 hours ago
via web
-
RT @BastardMachine
The only thing left out of that horror montage was NBC's fall schedule.
about
2 hours ago via web
- Delete
Finally something funny: Tina Fey + Robert Downey
Jr. about
3 hours ago via web
-
-
So
far, Oscar pace is S-L-O-W. about 3 hours ago
via web
-
RT @thesurfreport Kathy Ireland makes Sherri Shepherd
look like Edward R. Murrow about 4 hours ago
via web
-
RT @TheWrap Tina Fey: "You can tell it's not the Emmys
because everyone is taller and better looking." about
4 hours ago via web
-
On
Oscar pre-show, what is with Kathy Ireland? It's like she's over-annunciating
while being obsequious.
Mar 05 2010
WQED Multimedia chief operating officer Deborah Acklin sent an e-mail to WQED members on Wednesday informing them that the non-profit media company's state funding was even less than expected:
The news is even worse than we thought. The state's original 88% reduction in
funding to WQED was further reduced to a total 93% cut in operating support. In
dollar terms, WQED's operating funding from the state was reduced to $74,000
almost overnight. This is not a misprint. Funding to WQED was almost totally
eliminated.
As you know, WQED has drastically reduced expenses over the
last two years. We cannot cut any further without impacting the PBS lineup, NPR
programming, the local programs that you enjoy on WQED-TV and Classical WQED-FM, and our educational and community engagement efforts.
The letter went on to pitch for donations during the station's March pledge drive.
WQED's state funding had already been cut dramatically and the station planned for it in the current fiscal year budget that began Oct. 1. State funding went from $8 million for public stations (split among eight entities state-wide) to around $1 million split eight ways.
Yesterday, Acklin said since the eConnection newsletter was prepared, some of the state money has been restored to the tune of about $133,000 of a previously anticipated $148,000 in state funding.
"This situation is so fluid, it's astounding," Acklin said. "We had it, then it was held back and we don't have it."
Acklin attributed some confusion to the fact that PPTN (Pennsylvania Public Television Network) is no longer an active agency that could be relied upon to provide information on the state of state funding to public stations.
In the end, Acklin said that makes the annual cut from $1 million in annual fundng a little less painful.
"Most of this was antcipated and absorbed in the last budget round for us," she said. "We always tell you we're very conservative in budget estimates and put in a really conservative number. Even at $133,000 it's a slight uptick from what our budget projections were."
The state's contribution for the next fiscal year currently stands at zero.
"The line item is still in the budget," Acklin said. "Our job and all of public television in Pennsylvania's job is to get a number in there. How much of a number, I couldn't tell you at this point."
Acklin said she's feeling both optimistic and realistic about March pledge given the charity fatigue that could set in among donors after the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile and the current economic climate. But she's bolstered by numbers that favor WQED.
"Over the last two years, PBS stations in general lost 5 percent of their members and our membership over this period is up 3 percent," she said. "Individuals have really stepped forward."
Mar 04 2010
The CW announced "Smallville" will be back for another season:
"SMALLVILLE" TO
RETURN FOR A TENTH SEASON ON THE CW
March 4, 2010
(Burbank, California) ─ The CW Network has announced
that its hit series "Smallville" will return in the fall of 2010 for a momentous
tenth season.
"Smallville," a
modern retelling of the Superman legend, stars Tom Welling as Clark Kent.
The series moved to Friday nights this season, where it currently ranks as
network television's #1 show in its time period among men 18-34 and men 18-49.
Additionally, "Smallville" has dramatically improved The CW's ratings
performance in its Friday 8:00-9:00p.m.time period by 67% among adults 18-34
(1.5/6), 200% in men 18-34 (1.8/7), 75% in adults 18-49 (1.4/5), 183% in men
18-49 (1.7/6) and 74% in total viewers
(3.12million).
"Smallville" joins the five previously
announced series - "The Vampire Diaries," "Gossip Girl," "90210," "Supernatural"
and "America's Next Top Model" - which
will all return for another season on The CW.
"Smallville" was
developed for television by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar ("Shanghai Noon,"
"The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor"), based on the DC Comics characters.
Kelly Souders & Brian Peterson serve as executive producers, along with
James Marshall, Mike Tollin, Brian Robbins and Joe Davola. The series is
produced by Tollin/Robbins Productions, Millar/Gough Ink and Warner Bros.
Television. SUPERMAN was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe
Shuster.
Mar 04 2010
After sitting out most of February for the Olympics, NBC's Thursday comedies return tonight with three strong episodes (followed by time-filler "The Marriage Ref"). The most notable is the one-hour episode of "The Office" (9 p.m.) about the birth of Jim and Pam's baby.
This has not been the strongest season for "The Office" but tonight's episode is really quite funny, especially in its first half hour which has a relateable premise. Because their HMO will only pay for her to be in the hospital for two days, Pam (Jenna Fischer) doesn't want to be admitted until midnight. At first Jim (John Krasinski) agrees with their plan until Pam takes her dedication to an extreme degree, remaining at the office even after her water breaks.
Office manager Michael Scott (Steve Carell) naturally makes the childbirth all about him, taking credit for Jim and Pam's union and trying to couple other incompatible co-workers. Dwight (Rainn Wilson) embarks on two new projects, both likely to have disastrous outcomes.
When Pam finally ascents to going to the hospital before midnight, chaos erupts as Michael considers bringing utterly useless things with him.
"The hospital will provide dictionaries, bring a thesaurus," Oscar (Oscar Nunez) suggests sarcastically.
In addition to a new episode tonight, new webisodes are online at NBC.com. The latest four-part web series follows Erin (Ellie Kemper) as she enlists brittle Angela (Angela Martin) as her mentor, much to the chagrin of Erin's BFF, Kelly (Mindy Kaling). If you're a fan of the secondary character, these webisodes are definitely worth watching.
"Parks and Recreation" (8:30) has been the most consistently
funny of NBC's Thursday comedies this season. Tonight's episode is
maybe not quite as strong comedically as past installments but it does
a nice job furthering character development and relationship building.
Leslie (Amy Poehler) seethes when Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman) wins
an award from the Indiana Organization of Women for work she did.
After a strong pilot, "Community" (8 p.m.) settled into a little too much of being the same show week after week. Tonight's episode shows the series at its best. The romantic dance between Jeff (Joel McHale) and Britta (Gillian Jacobs) is mercifully absent (that's the most tired plot already) and instead the stories tend to be about the study group as supportive friends, albeit one fueled by endless pop culture references. (Tonight: "Can't Buy Me Love," "Mad Men," Zach Braff, Bert and Ernie from "Sesame Street," etc.)
The girls are eager to set Abed (Danny Pudi, who plays the show's breakout character) up on a date but fear he won't be successful just being himself, especially when that involves arm movements that resemble a velociraptor.
"I can't think of anything more frightening than a half-Polish, half-Arab virgin in his 30s," says Pierce (Chevy Chase). "One way or another, that story ends with an explosion."
That line cracked me up.
And just for sheer randomness, here's a video someone created that re-makes the "Community" theme song "Friends"-style:
Mar 03 2010
FX's "Nip/Tuck" (10 tonight) long ago became unwatchable, so it comes as a blessed relief to know the show ends tonight. I quit watching several seasons back, so not everything is clear in tonight's episode (who is the mother of Matt's blond child? Kimber, I'm guessing). But for the most part I wasn't lost because these characters have not really changed. At all.
Christian (Julian McMahon) even repeats a scene from the pilot episode in the show's final moments. Sean (Dylan Walsh) remains the more responsible of the pair, the doctor who aches for love even as his wife, Julia (Joely Richardson), prepares to re-marry and take Sean's children with her to England. At least Liz (Roma Maffia) gets some measure of happiness. (She deserves it more than anyone else on this show.)
"Nip/Tuck" was more than the sum of it's outrageous parts -- most notably all the sex, including elderly Japanese porn in tonight's episode -- and offered interesting psychological takes on its characters in the early seasons. But the show never knew when enough was enough. Creator Ryan Murphy, who's now doing the much more palatable series "Glee," didn't just push the envelope, he broke through it and put the enevelope into a shredder. But in the process he proved that there is such a thing as "too much" -- of just about everything because "Nip/Tuck" tackled every taboo imagineable.
Matt (John Hensley), who is Christian's biological son but grew up thinking Sean was his father, continues to make the wrong choice at every turn. Even Christian is appalled -- and that takes some effort.
"It's amazing how you find new and creative ways to screw up your life," Christian says to Matt, who has once again taken up with crazy, sociopathic transexual Ava (Famke Janssen). The reveal of Ava's true nature was probably the high point of the entire run of "Nip/Tuck," so it was wise of producers to bring her back -- even if her rationale for returning strains belief in light of how she departed. (Everything else about this show strains belief, so what's one more thing?)
The song used over her departure at the end of season two -- Art Garfunkle's "All I Know" -- makes a welcome and appropriate return.
Among the lyrics: "But the ending always comes at last/Endings always come too fast."
The end of "Nip/Tuck" did not come too fast. The show is ending two seasons too late and with an episode that will not go down in TV history as a particularly memorable series conclusion. That's OK, at least it's over. At this point, that's what matters.
Mar 02 2010
This doesn't mean a lot to me -- I haven't read the books -- but fantasy fans have been drooling over the prospect of HBO picking up a "Game of Thrones" series. And now it has -- the pilot plus nine episodes. Production begins in Ireland in June. Here are the details:
LOG LINE:
Based on the series of books by
George R.R. Martin, Game of Thrones is an epic struggle for power set in a vast
and violent fantasy kingdom.
PILOT CREDITS:
David Benioff
Executive Producer
D.B.
Weiss
Executive Producer
Tom McCarthy
Director
Carolyn Strauss Co-Executive
Producer
Guymon Casady
Co-Executive Producer
Vince Gerardis
Co-Executive Producer
Ralph Vicinanza Co-Executive
Producer
George R.R.
Martin Co-Executive Producer
Joanna
Burn Producer
Mark
Huffam
Producer
Frank Doelger
Producer
PILOT SCRIPT:
Written by David Benioff and
D.B. Weiss.
Based on the series of books
"A Song of Ice and Fire" by George R.R. Martin
IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
PILOT CAST SERIES REGULARS:
Mark Addy as Robert
Baratheon
Alfie Allen as Theon
Greyjoy
Sean Bean as Eddard
Stark
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as
Jamie
Lannister
Peter Dinklage as Tyrion
Lannister
Jennifer Ehle as Catelyn
Stark
Jack Gleeson as Joffrey
Baratheon
Iain Glen as Ser Jorah
Mormont
Kit Harrington as Jon
Snow
Lena Headey as Cersei
Lannister
Harry Lloyd as Viserys Targaryen
Richard Madden as Rob
Stark
Rory McCann as Sandor
Clegane
Tamzin Merchant as Daenerys
Targaryen
Sophie Turner as Sansa
Stark
Maisie Williams as Arya
Stark
Isaac Hempstead Wright as
Bran Stark
ALSO FEATURING:
Ron Donachie as Ser Rodrik
Cassel
Jason Momoa as Khal Drogo
Donald
Sumpter as Maester Luwin
Mar 02 2010
Sounds like a tech upgrade has come to Comcast's mobile app (UPDATE: At this point it only works for customers on traditional Comcast systems but will be coming soon for former Adelphia customers). Personally, I wish I could program my Comcast DVR from any Web browser.
comcast
ENHANCES MOBILE APP WITH REMOTE DVR AND ADDITIONAL NEW
FEATURES
Enables
iPhone®
and iPod
touch® Customers to Program their DVR While
on the Go
PHILADELPHIA - March
2, 2010 - Comcast Corporation
(Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK), one of the nation's leading providers of entertainment,
information, and communications products and services, today announced it has
released a new version of the Comcast Mobile application, which now includes a
remote DVR programming service (rDVR) that is being rolled out across the
country. With the Comcast Mobile app 2.0, customers never have to miss their
favorite show or movie because they can program their DVR at any time, from
anywhere.
Comcast Mobile, the
free downloadable app now available for the iPhone® or iPod
touch®, serves as a single access point to some of Comcast's most
popular services including Comcast.net email; visual voice mail, which enables
customers to view and select which voice mail messages they want to hear;
address book sync; real-time TV listings and trailers of On Demand movies.
"The Comcast Mobile
app is part of our vision to enable customers to enjoy their video, voice and
data services wherever and from whatever device. Now our customers can easily
program their DVR no matter their location, making our mobile app a ‘one stop
shop' for our services while on the go," said Cathy Avgiris, SVP and General
Manager, Communications and Data Services, Comcast. "In this age of anywhere,
anytime communication, people want to stay connected, and our mobile app allows
them to do that."
Customers can utilize
the app's new fully-featured TV program guide, which provides their local TV
listings line-up, to record programming at home. The app also enables them
to:
- Search for a
particular program and schedule recordings.
- View a list of
scheduled recordings, cancel and create new recordings and switch between
multiple DVRs.
- Use the "Quick
Record" feature to instantly record with a single tap.
- Sort TV listings by
category, such as Movies, Sports, Kids and HD.
Additional new
features of the enhanced Comcast Mobile app include push notification alerts,
which automatically indicate new emails and voice mails have arrived, as well as
TV show reminders. Customers also now have the ability to forward pictures and
voice mails as an attachment, mark unwanted emails as spam and access external
email accounts (POP/IMAP) right from their mobile device.
The updated mobile
app with these new features is available today for download, with the rDVR
functionality currently available in select markets. The mobile rDVR feature is
an extension of the existing online
service, known as myDVR
ManagerTM, which allows customers with
a Comcast DVR and high-speed Internet to remotely schedule and manage their
recordings online using Comcast TV Listings. Comcast's rDVR service is currently
rolling out across the country as part of Comcast's new Program Guide,
now available in 3.1 million homes and in select markets within PA, DE, VA, MD,
MA, AR, TN, AZ and UT. Additional markets will be introduced throughout the
year. Customers can access myDVR ManagerTM online by going to
www.comcast.net/mydvr.
iPhone® and iPod
touch® users can download
the Comcast Mobile application from the App StoreSM. To learn more about
the application, visit www.comcast.net/comcastmobileapp.
In the coming months,
the Comcast Mobile app also will make its debut on BlackBerry®
devices.
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