News Briefs: The Hallmark Channel Will Fight Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl With a Kitten Bowl
TAKE THAT, PUPPIES!
... It's an all-out Super Halftime Show animal war! The Hallmark Channel is planning counter Animal Planet's annual Puppy Bowl with the Kitten Bowl, a three-hour cute-fest designed to air opposite the championship football game. But instead of just being animals running around, Kitten Bowl will be an agility contest with actual rules, and not that fake garbage that the Puppy Bowl is. [THR]
BUSINESS TIME
... Steve Carell (The Office) and James Gandolfini (The Sopranos) will star in the HBO film Bone Wars. The comedy follows a historic rivalry between two paleontologists in the 1800s as they comb the American West for dinosaur bones. Yep, I'll be watching this. [Deadline Hollywood]
... Despite positive reviews (including one from yours truly), NBC's new drama Hannibal failed to impress in the ratings last night, drawing 4.3 million viewers and a 1.6 rating in the adult demo. It finished third place in the time period (also known as last place), but given NBC's recent history there, it wasn't a terrible debut. Too bad, this is one of the better new shows to come out this season. [EW]
... ABC has made some late changes to its summer schedule. The drama Motive, a procedural in which the crime and killer are revealed early and discovering the motive is supposed to be the fun part, will now premiere on Monday, May 20 at 9pm before moving over to its regular time slot of Thursday, May 23 at 9pm. That pushes the premiere of The Bachelorette back a week to Monday, May 27 at 8pm. Great, now I have to change my vacation plans to the moon! [ABC via press release]
CASTING NEWS
... In super weird casting news, Sons of Anarchy's Katey Sagal is heading over to Glee. She'll play Artie's mom in an unspecified number of episodes. [Ryan Murphy's Twitter]
... Pee Wee Herman's voice is joining the cast of the proposed Once Upon a Time spin-off. Paul Reubens will voice the character of the White Rabbit in the pre-curse Wonderland. [Deadline Hollywood]
... Joss Whedon loves to work with familiar faces, and it looks like he's bringing an old friend to his upcoming S.H.I.E.L.D. project for ABC. J. August Richards, who played Charles Gunn on Whedon's Angel, is joining the S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot in a secret role. Barring some sort of plot where the agents must cross-dress to get jobs, S.H.I.E.L.D. is practically guaranteed to get a series order, right? [SHIELDtv.net]
... Going from popular geek show Doctor Who to popular hipster show Girls? Okay, why not? Richard E. Grant, who plays the Great Intelligence this year on Doctor Who,
will join the third season of the HBO series as a character named
Jasper. No word yet on whether he'll play naked ping-pong with Hannah. [THR]
... Steven Weber is headed to TNT. The former Wings star has joined the drama pilot Murder in the First, a murder mystery starring Taye Diggs and Kathleen Robertson as detectives. Weber will play the personal pilot of a company CEO, proving typecasting spans decades! [Deadline Hollywood]
... How's this for great casting? Creepy Julian Sands (Boxing Helena) is joining the Season 2 cast of Banshee. In the Cinemax action drama, Sands will play the younger brother of psycho Ukranian priest Rabbit. [TV Line]
Follow TV.com writer Tim Surette on Twitter if you want to: @TimAtTVDotCom
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It's a wonder you didn't try linking the Julian Sands and Richard E. Grant announcements since they co-starred in Warlock or even reverse the Julian Sands and Steven Weber items carrying your "typecasting" barb through both items since Sands played a Russian on 24.
It's super weird because she can actually sing?
I tried to watch Hannibal, but I just couldn't plow through it. It may be as good as you say, but there are too many similar shows already out there.
Actually, since Katey Segall is a good singer, she is a natural for Glee. I don't watch, but I'm always glad when Peggy gets a chance to shine.
Steve Carell and James Gandolfini in a PERIOD COMEDY?!? This I cannot imagine working at all, AT ALL.
Hannibal isn't as deadly as... the MIDSEASONING! Oh the horror!!! The ratings carnage!!!
ABC's Motive sounds exactly like Law & Order Criminal Intent except without the "dun dun!" sound, and with an early cancellation.
Steven Weber hasn't had a series work since Wings, he really needs to get back with Tim Daly I guess.
Holy crap, using "Boxing Helena" as the example of Julian Sands' notable is awesome, that movie was so bad, they tried to use Sherilyn Fenn's post-Twin Peaks sex appeal to draw and instead it crashed and burned because it was Skinemax-esque dreck... and now he's going to be on Cinemax anyway!
Steven Weber is already on TNT. He's playing the governor of Texas on "Dallas". That show sounds good, great that Kathleen Robertson found a show that quick after Starz pulled the quick plug on "Boss".
How is Katey Sagal strange casting for "Glee"? - its slumming for sure, but she and Ryan Murphy are buddies and she was a professional singer, her tracks on "Sons" soundtrack are better than most the "Glee" cast has put out. I'm surprised it took this long to get her on his show.
I'm excited for SHIELD, a Joss AND Marvel tv show? awesome. and getting the dude from The Fades will also be cool. not as cool as a second series of The Fades but oh well.
And SHIELD!
Not a bad day for news.
Love puppies and kittens but puppies are #1:-)
I go from being mad at you for sexist comments to liking you for your awesome Hannibal (and POI) reviews--lol, I guess I'm a female who can't make up her mind!! yes, hypocritical of me to make a sexist joke about females after giving you crap about it but no one care what I say whereas you have the power...lol!
I've really liked the Canadian shows I have seen (flashpoint and lost girl to name a few)
The new Carell-Gandolfini show sounds like my cup of tie but it's in HBO. Gotta wait for DVD then.
Bone Wars sounds like it will be at least as good as all the other Wars shows on tv.
I was going to watch SHIELD anyway obvs but having Gunn raises it to awesome status already.
And Withnail in Girls & Doctor Who is inspired.
Is this the same 'Motive' that's been airing in Canada? I've "accessed" and watched all of those up to this point. It's not groundbreaking, but it is something to watch and pass the time.
Julian Sands playing Rabbit's brother on 'Banshee' sounds cool. Another reason to look forward to season 2.
and on the Katey Sagal news ...yeah playing a mom for a stint on the station where she got her start playing a mom is super weird indeed. as someone who hasn't caught any of SOA i'm looking forward to seeing her on glee.