Few spare minutes in between the end of the "Damages" panel and the start of "Sons of Anarchy," so I'll give you the FX bullet points so far:
- FX president John Landgraf said that, in addition to the final eight episodes of the current season of "Nip/Tuck," which will start airing in January, they've ordered another 19 episodes, which will bring the series to a total of 100, and that's all, folks. Ryan Murphy will be sticking around as showrunner through to the end; Landgraf said that the decision not to go forward with "Pretty/Handsome" (the Murphy-created transsexual drama with Joseph Fiennes) had nothing to do with this.
- "Rescue Me" won't be back until spring '09, and Michael J. Fox is confirmed to do a four-episode arc as the wheelchair-bound boyfriend of Tommy's ex.
- In addition to William Hurt and Tim Olyphant(*), "Damages" is adding Marcia Gay Harden to the cast at some point in season two, and Ted Danson -- who was here for the panel -- will be back for several episodes, though nobody wanted to say whether Frobisher is still alive or will only be appearing in flashbacks.
- "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" will be back on Sept. 18, and Landgraf has ordered at least 52 more episodes -- the 13 currently in production, plus 39 more -- to basically keep the show on his air forever.
- FX will try to use "Sunny" to launch another comedy, called "Testees," from Kenny Hotz (of "Kenny vs. Spenny" quasi-fame), about two friends in their 30s who pay the bills as guinea pigs for medical experiments. Landgraf's announcement led to one of the tours funnier moments, when a critic asked exactly how you spelled the show's name. "That's T-E-S-T-E-E-S," Landgraf said.
(*) Also, Tim Olyphant was in a particularly monosyllabic mood, and so his only response to a question (asked completely in jest) about him calling us "a bunch of jackasses" on his sportscast this morning was, "I just read what they put in front of me." (It did amuse the hell out of Tate Donovan to hear what Olyphant had said, though.)
Few spare minutes in between the end of the "Damages" panel and the start of "Sons of Anarchy," so I'll give you the FX bullet points so far:
Yay to Ted Danson returning to Damages! Boo to Marcia Gay Harden joining the cast--do not care for her at all, she always seems a little showy with her acting.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what this says about me, but "Sunny" is one of the only comedies I actually enjoy on TV right now. Forever is alright with me.
ReplyDeleteDidn't Nip/Tuck's 22 episode season start this past January? I thought they had 8 left from that and those are the episodes we'll be getting in '09.
ReplyDeleteNo go for Pretty/Handsome?!? The pilot was one of the best produced I've seen in years. What a mistake.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what crawled up Tim's nether regions and died today? He's usually pretty funny on the sportscast and in interviews. Will you have an opportunity to non-party party with him (I'm assuming no scrum from your post)?
ReplyDeleteWe asked Olyphant about it in the scrum. Only questions he took during the session were Deadwood-related, and he was equally withdrawn and, dare I say, Bullock-esque, with those.
ReplyDeleteDidn't Nip/Tuck's 22 episode season start this past January? I thought they had 8 left from that and those are the episodes we'll be getting in '09.
ReplyDeleteYou're right. I forgot how to add. 27 episodes remaining: the eight that'll air in Jan' 09, plus 19 more to be spread out over 2010-2011.
Will go fix it in the post itself now.
For me, Nip/Tuck ended with "Connor McNamara 2026". I was so sick to death of those loathsome people by that point.
ReplyDelete52 episodes? I love It's Always Sunny to bits and pieces, and Philly could always use the film love, but with Charlie Day creating another show, is that even wise or sustainable?
Then again, I watched "The Gang Exploits a Miracle" for the first time last night and nearly injured myself laughing, so who cares!
More Frobisher action? YAAAAAY!
Only questions he took during the session were Deadwood-related, and he was equally withdrawn and, dare I say, Bullock-esque, with those.
ReplyDeleteWhy would he not entertain questions about the show he's there to promote? That sounds bass-ackwards. How strange.
someone should tell Olyphant that's what killed Dennis Day. Contempt for the audience.
ReplyDeleteTestees could be interesting. I really enjoyed that part of "Two Guys, A Girl, and a Pizza Place" during its first season, when it wasn't just the generic sitcom it became.
ReplyDeleteSomeone should tell Olyphant that's what killed Dennis Day. Contempt for the audience.
ReplyDeleteLane, that may be the single funniest comment in the history of this blog. Well-played.
To elaborate on Olyphant: the only question somebody asked him during the session was Deadwood-related. Then a few of us went up to scrum with him, and he could not have been less interested in engaging.
ReplyDelete52 episodes? I love It's Always Sunny to bits and pieces, and Philly could always use the film love, but with Charlie Day creating another show, is that even wise or sustainable?
ReplyDeleteJust to correct, Charlie Day didn't create It's Always Sunny, Rob McElhenney, Day is one of the head writers though. As for their other show, I'm not that worried. They only have to act one of them, and plenty of writers have proven themselves perfectly able to run multiple shows at once.
Frankly, half of those 52 episodes could be the returning adventures of Night Man and Day Man and I would still watch it. It's Always Sunny is one of the few comedies where I actually laugh out loud.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like Olyphant was a douche, so why did he bother showing up? He's been fairly well received in Deadwood and if he's bitter about the critical reception of that crappy movie with Jennifer Garner, well too bad because it was crap.
Can you mention that you're talking about Nip/Tuck in the first bullet point? I had no idea which show it was because I'm not familiar with the names mentioned. Unless I missed the mention elsewhere, in which case feel free to ignore me!
ReplyDeleteGreat info as usual. Thank you.
Andrew: whoops, that's right, I didn't mean to imply Day created IASIP. But Day would likely have to reduce his presence at the most if his other show takes off.
ReplyDeleteIs the Riches coming back? I think it did poorly in the ratings and did not seem to keep any of the critical praise it got prior to its' 1st season, but it made it to my tivo every week. Also it got a bad break with only episodes for the 2nd season.
ReplyDeleteGood to hear about Its Always Sunny. They dont hit it out of the park every episode, but when they do its probably the funniest show in the last several years outside of Arrested Development.
Maybe it's time to give Sunny another chance, given the widespread enthusiasm. I loved the first season dearly but thought that it went off the rails quickly afterward. There's a fine line between offensively funny and merely offensive, and too often I thought Sunny landed on the latter, so much so that I stopped watching during season 2.
ReplyDeleteIf the show is more than just a laundry list of social transgressions, I'll gladly tune in again.