Category: tv show

The American Federation of Television & Radio Artists has ratified its primetime contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers, with 62.4% of the membership voting in support of the new deal.

The contract offered to them is the same as that offered to writers and directors, as well as the Screen Actors Guild (a union still hoping to strike, despite the economy and the havoc already wreaked by the writers strike a few months ago).

Following AFTRA’s successful negotation, it is unlikely we will see the actors go on strike. What SAG’s next move is remains to be seen, and although the AFTRA ratification is a blow to their suggestion that the contract is inadequate, they did manage to convince a sizeable portion of the AFTRA membership to vote against the contract.

Remember how Shannen Doherty starred in 90210? And then got fired. Then Aaron Spelling gave her a second chance with Charmed. And then she got fired again.

Undeterred by this history, The CW confirmed to Variety that Shannen Doherty is now in talks for their upcoming 90210 to reprise her role as Brenda Walsh. Tori Spelling and Jennie Garth have already signed with the new series.

Remember when Hollywood came to a screeching halt following a strike just a few months back? We may be heading for round two. With it appearing increasingly likely that the Screen Actors Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers will be unable to reach an agreement by the deadline, we are already seeing signs of what some are calling a virtual strike.

A lawyer representing actors told The Hollywood Reporter, “No one is doing anything that finishes after 30 June, and nobody’s starting anything now. This is the impact of a strike already.”

With that in mind, current shoots are either being wrapped up early or not started at all. As for television production, if you thought the winter was bad, you haven’t seen anything yet. Shows, just recovering from the last strike, some of which barely survived to begin with, would face added problems. The fall lineup would be even more chaotic than the winter lineup was.

It’s not too late for both sides to realize that this strike won’t do anything but harm everybody (again), but the clock is ticking.

HBO will be airing a tribute to George Carlin, who passed away at age 71.

“Because HBO has had such a long and close relationship with George Carlin, his passing is like losing one of our own. George had been a part of HBO almost since its beginning, performing his first concert for us in 1977, and his fourteenth special just earlier this year. No performer was more important to helping our network define itself in its early years. And no performer was more committed to the ideal of freedom of speech, a principle he embodied for the 50 years he performed with his trademark wit. We will miss his humor and his righteous comic anger, and we will simply miss him.”

HBO2: Wednesday, June 25
8PM “On Location: George Carlin at USC” (1977)
9:30PM “George Carlin Again!” (1978)
11:00PM “Carlin at Carnegie” (1983)
12:00AM “Carlin on Campus” (1984)
1:00AM “George Carlin: Playin’ With Your Head” (1986)

HBO2: Thursday, June 26:
8PM “George Carlin: What Am I Doin’ in New Jersey?” (1988)
9PM HBO Comedy Hour: “George Carlin – Doin’ It Again” (1990)
10PM HBO Comedy Hour: “George Carlin: Jammin’ in New York” (1992)
11PM HBO Comedy Hour: “George Carlin: Back in Town” (1996)
12:05AM HBO Comedy Hour: “George Carlin: You Are All Diseased” (1999)
1:10AM “George Carlin: It’s Bad for Ya” (2008)

HBO: Friday, June 27
9PM “George Carlin: It’s Bad for Ya”

All times eastern.

Source: Chicago Tribune

Following CBS’ cancellation of Moonlight, there was some hope that it would be picked up by somebody. First as part of The CW’s hopeless Sunday night lineup. Then word spread to other possible suitors such as TNT and DirecTV. However, sources close to the show told THR today that the efforts to save the show have now concluded. Due to the costs of producing the show, it just wouldn’t have worked to move it to a smaller network.

Rather than just give up (which, frankly, may be the best option here), The CW has outsourced its Sunday night lineup to Media Rights Capital. Here’s the lineup from Variety. If ratings don’t continue to tank, I’ll be impressed.

In Harm’s Way (6:30-7:30pm) – an hourlong reality skein that airs at 6:30 p.m., will follow the stories of people who work for the benefit of society in dangerous jobs: avalanche hunters, subway tunnel diggers and hurricane chasers, for example.

Surviving Suburbia (7:30-8pm) – Half-hour comedy, which scored a 13-episode pickup, was originally written several years ago by Abbott, who then tucked the project away and forgot about it. Abbott’s “Reba” exec producer partners Mindy Schultheis and Michael Hanel alerted Samples to the comedy. (It’s unclear whether Schultheis and Hanel will be further involved). “It was just a bolt from the blue,” Abbott said. “In this marketplace, with no comedy going on, to get a call like that.”

Valentine, Inc. (8-9pm) – is based on a feature spec script that Murphy (who’s no longer with “Reaper”) is adapting for the smallscreen.

Easy Money (9-10pm) – about a family of loan sharks, centers on the matriarch who runs the biz and her middle son, who’s great at it but ambivalent about this predatory line of work.