This week marks the end of most of our summer television coverage until news starts to trickle out for next summer. While some shows like Project Runway began in August, they run through to November and can't really be considered a "Summer" show, so with True Blood ending tonight for the season, we can put a nice little bow on the summer of 2009, call it a success, and move on to more pressing matters, like Dr. Gregory House, or Echo the Doll, and the new candy networks are giving us for the 2009 season.
The CW's Vampire Diaries premiered to huge numbers (for the CW) on Thursday night. 4.8 million people watched the show, which is the CW's highest series premiere audience to date. Ian Somerhalder, who plays vampire Damon, said at San Diego Comic-Con that Vampire Diaries "might be an edgier version of Twilight". We will certainly have to wait and see if that happens. While opening nice and violently, the show quickly became a teen soap more than a supernatural drama. Time will tell, Mr. Somerhalder.
Also in vampire news, True Blood will show their season finale this Sunday, September 13th. Having read all of the Sookie Stackhouse novels, and knowing that this maenad plot is unlike anything in the novels, there is really no way to anticipate what will happen on the finale. Tune in to see, and while you're waiting for Season 3, do yourself a favor and pick up Charlene Harris' Sookie Stackhouse novels. It's not a phenomenal accomplishment in literature, but they are extremely fun to read and will make sure you have your dose of Sookie and Bill until next summer.
The Hallmark channel debuted its first true crime TV movie on Saturday, starring 80's icon Ally Sheedy, rocker Meat Loaf Aday and The Boondock Saints' Sean Patrick Flanery. Called Citizen Jane, it's the true story of a Bay Area woman fighting to convict his aunt's killer, who happens to be her own boyfriend. Citizen Jane re-airs Sunday at 9 PM with repeats next weekend.
Maura Tierney has left the show Parenthood to continue her fight against breast cancer. Shooting and the premiere had been pushed back for 2 months while she underwent treatment, but the actress announced today that she needs more time and, for the sake of shooting and her own health, she will be leaving the show. Here's to a fast recovery. Parenthood is scheduled to premiere during the midseason.
FOX has traded crazy in for funny. In a move that seems to be completely out of left field. the amazing Ellen Degeneres will be joining the panel of judges on American Idol. Paula Abdul, having left over the summer, provided a kind (albeit only occasionally lucid) voice on a show drenched in negative feedback. Ellen has, through her talk show, developed a reputation for being kind, personable, and intelligent. These three traits may seem extremely out of place for American Idol, but hopefully she will bring a welcome change to the panel.
Glee, FOX's new show about the Glee Club, debuted well on Wednesday, being the top watched show of its hour. Glee, having better ratings than it did in May when the premiere was aired, effectively set the stage for the entire season. They fascinatingly wove several different threads that will clearly come together over the course of the season. While the first episode certainly whet the palate, the second episode demonstrated the strength of Glee. The young stars are extremely talented, the script is sharp and funny, the characters are all developed and unique. Glee could be the standout new show of the season if this trend continues. Glee airs at 9:00 PM on Wednesdays on FOX.
Chuck producer Scott Rosenbaum has a script commitment with FOX for a sci-fi western series.
"What I'm really interested in is the revamping of the Western genre where you still have all of the iconic Western themes and iconic Western tropes but the idea is that it will feel incredibly contemporary and will introduce the Western to a whole new generation," said Rosenbaum.
This idea certainly sounds interesting, but the last time Fox tried it, it was called Firefly. It was an amazing television show, but it was never really given a chance. Hopefully Rosenbaum will do justice to the "revamped Western" genre.
Martin Scorsese's Boardwalk Empire, starring Steve Buscemi, has been picked up for a full 11 episode season. It had been announced earlier that the period 1920's piece would be showing on HBO, but it only recently was announced that a full season will air. Expect Boardwalk Empire sometime in 2010.
Robert Kirkman, the writer of The Walking Dead recently spoke out to Comic Book Resources about AMC's recent decision to turn TWD into a television show. Asked why he prefered a television format to a movie, Kirkman said:
"The thing that makes The Walking Dead unique and interesting is that it's a zombie movie that never ends – that's the log line or whatever. To do a zombie movie that's based on that? Kinda dumb."
Moreover, when asked if he believes a non-specialty cable channel (like HBO) can handle the often bleak and violent subject matter of TWD. Kirkman stated that, "As far as content goes, I really have no concerns whatsoever." It is refreshing to hear how confident he is in AMC and hopefully that will translate to the screen as Kirkman will be a hands on executive producer unless, he says, his work interupts producing his comic. Kirkman has indicated that he will continue to make the comic his top priority and will leave the television work in the hands of others if it becomes too time consuming for his tastes.
