We came here to kick ass and eat poutine. And we're all out of poutine.
SORT-OF RENEWALS AND SORT-OF CANCELLATIONS
... The fifth season of Canadian cop drama (what do they do, hand out tickets for being too polite?) Flashpoint has been picked up for American broadcast by up-and-coming cable channel Ion. Flashpoint is Canada's most-watched drama series, just beating Moosehunter McGoo and Eh is Enough in total viewers (kidding!), and has gained fame on this side of the border since CBS aired the series in 2008. It stars Enrico Colantoni (Veronica Mars' dad) and the Pink Power Ranger, and production on Season 5 will start next month for a probable summer start. [Deadline Hollywood]
... So You Think You Can Dance is getting the rug pulled out from underneath its dancing feet. The reality competition will have to greatly retool its format, because Fox has canceled its results show and made the series a once-a-week offering instead of sticking with the back-to-back competition and results episodes that have become standard for popular reality shows. Oh no! Whatever we will do with ourselves with one less hour of dancing, weight-losing, and singing in our weeks? [Nigel Lythgoe's Twitter]
NEWS THAT HAPPENED WHILE WE WERE DRINKING EGG NOG
... AMC renewed its new series Hell on Wheels for a second season over the holiday break, despite sinking ratings and critical "meh"-laise. That means five of AMC's six original programs have gone beyond a first season and that Rubicon is the only show that didn't get invited to AMC's Christmas White Elephant gift exchange. [Deadline Hollywood]
CASTING NEWS ABOUT WOMEN YOUR DAD THOUGHT WERE HOT
... Liza Minnelli has landed a guest role on TV Land's Hot in Cleveland because famous people over the age of 60 are required to appear on that show. [TV Line]
... Cybill Shepherd, who should be finalizing a guest appearance on Hot in Cleveland any day now (was Moonlighting that long ago?), has been cast alongside Jennifer Love Hewitt in a new series on Lifetime. The Client List stars Hewitt as a woman who takes a job at a local massage parlor, not knowing that the masseuses provide happy endings for all! It's based on the Lifetime movie of the same name. Shepherd will play Hewitt's on-screen mom. [Deadline Hollywood]
WTF IS NBC DOING? NEWS
... In an effort to siphon some of the monstrous ESPYs Award audience (and the award for sarcasm goes to... me!), NBC has brainfarted out the idea for NFL Honors, an awards show for all things pigskin. The ceremony, which will include awards that are already regularly handed out (such as AP Coach of the Year), will be hosted by Alec Baldwin and air the night before the Super Bowl on February 4. [USA Today]
DON'T-EVEN-BOTHER-READING-THIS NEWS
... Dancing With the Stars rumor alert: Apparently the shimmy-shaking dancing show has its eye on Regis Philbin and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills real housewife Taylor Armstrong. And that concludes today's edition of Useless Rumors. [Hollywood Life]
THIS-WILL-BLOW-YOUR-MIND NEWS
... For all you fans of The Wire: Baltimore Police finally caught Omar Little, yo! [Baltimore Sun]
Follow TV.com writer Tim Surette on Twitter: @TimAtTVDotCom
my roomate's aunt makes $83/hr on the laptop. She has been without work for 8 months but last month her pay was $8682 just working on the laptop for a few hours. Read more on this site...Nuttyrich . com
This is ssooo confusing. I watched Flashpoint when it was on CBS then it moved to
ION and I thought they were reuns. Now I am finding out there is going to be a fifth season when I didn't even know there was a fourth. Brain freeze
Haha, yay go Flashpoint and original Canadian series :) Love that show. Also, has anyone else noticed that CBS seems to be collecting cop shows? Just saying.... :P
I still can't believe someone at AMC chose The Killing over Rubicon. Rubicon was amazing, it was infinitely better than either The Killing, Hell on Wheels and aside from the first episode of this season, The Walking Dead. It couldn't haven't been that much to produce. I just don't get what the hell they are thinking over there.
As for Flashpoint I had no idea that was still on the air.
And no one knows WTF NBC is doing. I don't think they know what they are doing. Chelsea Handler might. Because she has to have some pics of them in compromising positions to get them to green light the crap that is Whitney and what looks to be even exceedingly worse in Are you There Chelsea. That can be the only conceivable way to explain those why those two shows are on the air while Community is Benched.
#sixseasonsandamoviemoreless
Omar Little, that's classic.
I'm glad SYTYCD doesn't have results anymore. now if only American Idol and X Factor would do the same.. there's no need to have an hour long show just to say a couple words in the last 2 minutes of the episode...
of course there is... money.
Based on all this exciting news, i don't need an excuse to keep drinking my way past the holidays. Help me forget whiskey! HELP ME FORGET!!!!!
Rubicon is the only AMC show I ever liked and continued watching. Of course it's the only one that was never renewed!
I stopped watching Flashpoint about halfway through season 3 because I found myself crying too often. Almost every episode made me feel so sympathetic and empathetic to all the characters (especially the ones committing the crimes) and the bad situations they're put in. So I stopped watching; I'm a guy -- I don't like tears streaming down my face! Hehe. The quality of the show is fantastic, though.
Also, as per the expectation of all AMC shows, Hell on Wheels does move slow for a lot of people's tastes, but the show is still pretty darn good.
I'd rather watch a show like Moosehunter McGoo than American garbage like Jersey Shore or Real Housewives of (insert city). Oh snap!
I LOOOOOVVVVEEEE Flashpoint but Hell on Wheels is soooooo boring, just as Game of Thrones.
One word: FlashpointIsAnAmazingShowWorthyOfAnyTopFiveList!
The Top Five Shows I Watch:
1) The Big Bang Theory
2) Community
3) Game Of Thrones
4) Modern Family
5) Flashpoint
My next thirty shows I watch in no particular order: The Simpsons, Family Guy, Episodes, Once Upon A Time, Boardwalk Empire, House Of Lies, How I Met Your Mother, Two And A Half Men, Mike & Molly, House, Gossip Girl, Hawaii Five-0, White Collar, Glee, 90210, New Girl, Breaking In, Happy Endings, Blue Mountain State, Franklin And Bash, Royal Pains, 30 Rock, Grey's Anatomy, The League, Chuck, Star Wars The Clone Wars, Spartacus, ThinderCats, Young Justice, and Merlin.
Tim you should really check out Flashpoint. I'm usually on par with your critics (aka shows you like and shows whose butt you verbally kick because they suck) and Flashpoint is one of my favorite shows. It's a cop drama where cops are not just running around shooting people whenever they feel like it. It just feels more "mature" (for lack of a better word) than all those US shows where no one gives a crap about the perpetrators and how things turned from a normal day to a (e.g.) I'm-taking-hostages-in-a-bank-because-I-need-money-day.
Like many Canadians, I grew up with Moosehunter McGoo. I loved watching the oafish Mathieu McGoo, an affable French hunter, and a short-statured retiree who gets into a series of sticky situations as a result of his inability to speak English very well, compounded by his stubborn refusal to admit the problem.
We should start handing out tickets for being too polite. Over-politeness in Canada has become an epidemic. People holding open doors for strangers. Pleases and thank yous being bandied about like candy. I was walking by a four-way stop the other day, all 4 cars arrived at approximately the same time, and nobody would go first. If you can believe it, I didn't even witness ANY shoving or swearing when I was buying my Christmas presents this past December. This madness must be put to an end.moreless
"People holding open doors for strangers. Pleases and thank yous being bandied about like candy. I was walking by a four-way stop the other day, all 4 cars arrived at approximately the same time, and nobody would go first."
Haha! Not only is this satirical, but it's also so true. Once, I saw a guy NOT hold the door for someone behind him, but as soon as he realized what he had done, he was practically begging for forgiveness. Then the person that was behind him started apologizing for not walking up fast enough. The thing with the 4-way stops happens so often, it's quite funny to see -- frustrating if you're a couple cars back, though.
Ahhh you gotta love us EH.
Flashpoint is a very good show, if you haven't seen it you can catch the first 3 seasons (and half of the 4th season) on Netflix.
Am glad Hell On Wheels is coming back for a second season. I don't care what those ratings say, its a great show.
It's well acted and looks great, but it's boring. The whole revenge aspect seems suddenly on the back burner after the explosive beginning plus does not seem that much fleshed out. I think the pacing or loss of focus for that is helping to lose people. I watch Sanctuary and seeing Heyerdahl (sp?) and Ian Tracy from that playing cowboys and Indians (Norwegians and cowboys anyway) is fun, but it really needs to get the train going on a proper, fast track.
Agreed. I feel the same way about The Killing.
On Sundays, Hell On Wheels prevented me from flinging my TV set out the window after season six of Dexter!!
The Bohannanator and The Swede are both awesome!
I agree. It's definitely underrated.
Yep.
Yup. Cool show.
The Swede would point out that he is from Norway.
Reminds me of Kurt Russell in "The Thing".
Flashpoint deserves a lot more recognition in the US. Every episode is clean-cut and polished. I don't know why more people aren't watching it. Apparently Tim hasn't seen it either :-)
People aren't watching it because it gets no hype, is on at weird times, and it's like watching swat with less action and more drama. Not that I don't watch it. Just saying, it's a little emo for an action show. I also have to fast forward through several parts that include Jules. She is SO boring. If I had to talk to her I'd shoot myself too.
Flashpoint is more of a drama show than it is action, just like Walking Dead. If you want more action, then watch something else. As for its drama content, it is top notch; like some of the others that have said, it has made me teary or feel sympathy for the characters, whether it is the officers or the offenders.
Yes, her voice is a little shrieky! But you don't get to choose your own voice do you? I have certain embarrassing falsetto moments at times, but I digress.
I think the fact that it has a weird time slot is part of the problem. The drama part is what makes the show special, although I agree they should cut back on the emphasis on the team members' personal lives. I'm a staunch action buff myself, so I don't consider the show to be perfect, but it serves the purpose of entertaining me more than other less deserving shows.
"Flashpoint" is great. Think "The Negotiator", but as a TV show. Sure, it's a procedural, but they do it pretty darn well. Also... Enrico Colantoni!!
I love Flashpoint, so this is wonderful news! Thank you, ION, for picking up the gauntlet after CBS dropped it. It's a terrific show with a terrific cast, and I'm surprised it's not a bigger hit in the US. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to let my inner-fangirl dance around for a while.