The Remote Island : Showtime

The AVN Awards "CockWow" Sketch: "Porn's Golden Globes" Does Comedy [NSFW VIDEO]

Bryan Christian — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:53:00 GMT

All y'all dumbasses that thought that the AVN Awards were porn's Oscars, think again! For one thing, in the pre-show to Showtime's telecast Saturday (delayed months from the January ceremony for what reason???), Best Starlet nominee Sunny Leone opined that it was more like the Golden Globes, which is an analysis that may provide some sort of unimagined insight into the Hollywood Foreign Press, but most likely was just a prearranged segue for red carpet anchor Dave Navarro to talk about her shiny round boobs.

And for another thing, well, we don't remember Billy Crystal ever starring in comedy bits that involved dildos or saying the words "pussy juice". That's totally Golden Globes style, right Jack Nicholson's talking asshole?

Not for the faint of heart, and very defintely NSFW, but we couldn't help ourselves. It's a rarity for porn comedy to be both topical and amusing, and besides, this was too weird not to post.

Maybe you're thinking to yourself, "Man, if only they'd known that Vince Shlomi would be accused of beating up a hooker. I bet they wouldn't have tried that sketch then." If so, well, it's adorable of you to think so.

You only got a few more chances to check out the whole show. We don't advise it, since a) it's a trainwreck, sure, but not quite enough of one to really recommend, and b) they seem to have made it less racy than last year's -- and if that's the case then what's the bleeding point? -- but click here for the schedule.

PREVIOUSLY

ShamWow: His Side, And The Police Evidence Photos

Are You Getting This, Camera Guy?: The ShamWow Mugshots

G4 Gets Porn Star Stoya To Review An Xbox Vibrator [VIDEO]

While Videogum Is At It, How About Them 2008 AVN Awards?

Jennifer Jason Leigh Is Coming To "Weeds"

Jake Kalish — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 18:22:00 GMT

She's really good. Are we being tricked into watching this show again? Don't screw with us, Showtime. Here's how JJ Leigh (we like that, 'cause it rhymes) will be used on Weeds (spoiler alert):

Jennifer Jason Leigh will play Mary-Louise Parker's estranged older sister on Showtime's comedy series "Weeds." The recurring role calls for Leigh to appear in at least two episodes of the series, which was picked up last year for Seasons 5 and 6.

As Nancy (Parker) finds herself and her family in harm's way, she sends her brother-in-law, Andy (Justin Kirk), to take her son, Shane (Alexander Gould), to live with her estranged older sister, Jill (Leigh).

But when Jill gets fed up with her own suburban family, she finds her way back into Nancy's life -- jealous, frustrated and intent on finally hashing things out with her little sister.

Fifth season, new sister appears. Not a good sign. Jennifer Jason Leigh and Mary-Louise Parker may be, no exaggeration, two of the best actresses alive. They're just enormous talents, and now they'll both be on this over the top mess of a show.Could this show possibly make a real comeback? Does that happen, when a good show has fallen this far?

PREVIOUSLY:

Mary-Louise Parker Gets Back To Wasting Her Talent On "Weeds"

"Weeds" Season Finale: Wow, Look Who's Not In Jail

Hands Up: Who Still Likes "Weeds"?

Mary-Louise Parker Gets Back To Wasting Her Talent On "Weeds"

Jake Kalish — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:33:00 GMT

Weeds is back shooting season 5 - which, depending who you're asking, is either 4,3, or 2 seasons too many. The question isn't if this show jumped the shark, it's just nailing the precise date it happened. It was probably whenever the show decided it would abandon all realistic drama, and make the over the top characters act like damn fools for laughs. It's like Gonzo and Fozzie The Bear, but with pot. Waka Waka Waka! Remote Bryan has stopped covering Weeds, which is a great relief to his coworkers, as we feared he might pluck out his eyeballs, King Lear style.

Yes, we're a little cranky today, perhaps due to lack of sleep. But that doesn't mean we're not telling the truth about Weeds. And it's a shame, because, as these photos clearly indicate, Mary-Louise Parker isn't just an extremely talented actress, she's also really hot...

PREVIOUSLY:

Hunter Parrish Of "Weeds" Is On The Market

"Weeds" Season Finale: Wow, Look Who's Not In Jail

Hands Up: Who Still Likes "Weeds"?

"The L Word": Lesbian School Is Out Forever

Jake Kalish — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 13:35:00 GMT

Like Jenny Schecter, The L Word met its merciful end last night. (Except, Dear Sweet Pregnant Man - there are rumors of a movie.) There were revelations of just how manipulative and evil Jenny Schecter had been, and the question "Who killed Jenny" got no clear answer (suicide? Niki Stevens?). Regardless, Showtime's website will keep it going with webisodes from the interrogation room, and it seems Alice will take the rap (frame job?) and star in the women's prison spinoff, with Laurie Metcalf and Famke Janssen.

So far as we understand, The L Word is an entirely realistic depiction of the trials and tribulations of the lesbian community in a world of strictly defined gender roles and rampant homophobia. We've learned so much over these past six seasons about sapphic society, but now school's out, and all we've got are these girl-on-girl scenes, completely out of their proper sociocultural context. WHERE DO WE GO FOR GIRL-ON-GIRL CONTEXT NOW???

PREVIOUSLY:

Our L Word Archive

Edie Falco As "Nurse Jackie" On Showtime

Jake Kalish — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 16:35:00 GMT

We're pretty psyched about Edie Falco's June-debuting Showtime series Nurse Jackie, in which the greatest television actress alive (hold on, Jean Stapleton is alive? Okay, they can fight for the title) plays a Vicodin-snorting supernurse. Here's the description of Nurse Jackie, from the show's site:

NURSE JACKIE is a half-hour dark comedy that is at turns wicked, heartbreaking and funny. Edie Falco stars as the title character Jackie O'Hurley, a strong-willed and brilliant — but very flawed — emergency room nurse in a complicated New York City hospital. A lapsed Catholic with an occasional weakness for Vicodin and Adderall to get her through the days, Jackie keeps the hospital balanced with her own kind of justice. Every day is a high wire act of juggling patients, doctors, fellow nurses and her own indiscretions. The series also stars Eve Best, Peter Facinelli, Merritt Wever, Haaz Sleiman and Paul Schulze.

We dig. Except, of course, now we have to wait four months. In the meantime, we'll just have to make do with our "first look"...

MMA Back To CBS

Jake Kalish — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 20:50:00 GMT

CBS has signed a deal with Strikeforce Productions to air quarterly MMA fights, and have 12 fights a year on their sister station, Showtime. This is a bit of a surprise, considering the last CBS-boradcast MMA card was an unqualified debacle - the headliner, KImbo Slice, lost in 14 seconds, and that was against a replacement opponent, Seth Petruzelli, who later claimed MMA promoters, while not exactly fixing the fight, didn't want him to use all his weapons:

The promoters kinda hinted to me and they gave me the money to stand and throw with him, they didn't want me to take him down. Let's just put it that way. It was worth my while to try and stand up punch him.

Oy. So you've got a horrible fight and a scandal - all of which led to the promoter of that card, Elite XC, going bankrupt, and having Strikeforce pick up its fighters. It speaks to the immense popularity of MMA - and Kimbo Slice - that not only is CBS still down to broadcast these brawls, they want Kimbo Slice involved. Oh, and one must never forget that this has something to do with the economy - compared to regular prime-time programming, MMA fights are really cheap to broadcast, and have a guaranteed bloodthirsty audience.

PREVIOUSLY:

Our MMA Archive

It's Business Time: "Battlestar," "Conchords," "L Word," "Secret Diary," "Big Love" Back This Weekend

Bryan Christian — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 21:36:00 GMT

Our rundown, after the jump.

While we are still heartsick over our total lack of the being-rich-ness required to light our next cigar with an Adama family heirloom, we are nonetheless insanely excited that Battlestar's 4.5th and final season starts tonight. Will we learn the identity of the final Cylon? Will we get confirmation that our intrepid heroes in fact landed in the ruins of Brooklyn Heights? Will we get to see some Number Six skin even though her budding relationship with Saul Tigh is, by Michael Hogan's own account, a relatively chaste one? Most importantly, will one of you lend us 6 grand so that we can buy that lighter we mentioned earlier? We're guessing none of these questions will be answered tonight, but except for the last one, we're fine with that.

But Battlestar's not the only TV show coming back to our DVR's this weekend. Sunday night, Showtime's bringing back The L Word for its swan song, wrapping things up with the whole "Who Killed Jenny" plotline and, presumably, paving the way for a new ladyjail-set spinoff, which, you know, just, wow. And Belle, our favorite British prosty, is back for another quick turn in Secret Diary of a Call Girl, a show that took a while to grow on us, but grow on us it did. This year, Belle is, well, still a working girl and all that, but Billie Piper, the former Who-mate who plays her, got pregnant during filming, meaning, you can expect an even more acute glow -- and deeper cleavage -- from this already appealing actress.

And over on HBO the same night, Bret and Jemaine are back with another season of Flight of the Conchords, which is awesome even though you've probably already seen the season premiere online. IOHO, it's the best premiere of the year, so don't miss it. Also returning: Big Love, a show that has some pretty fervent followers -- and, this year, some excellent promos -- but has always struck us as a little muddled. Will it break wide or break down this year? Fans -- let us know what you think!

PREVIOUSLY:
The "Battlestar Galactica" Prop Auction Catalog Is Awesome And Thoroughly Depressing
Caught Up On "Battlestar"? So, You Know That Gaeta Is [SPOILER], Right?
Watch The "Flight Of The Conchords" Season Two Premiere! Right Here! Right Now!
FOTC News: Conchords Songs Will Be On ITunes The Day After Broadcasts, And Coco's Got An Album Coming Out
The Cowboy From The Village People Will Appear On "Flight Of The Conchords"
"The L Word" Spinoff Will Be Set In A Women's Prison
"The L Word": Who KIlled Jenny? Was It Xena The Warrior Princess?
Jennifer Beals: Hotter Now Than Before?
We Officially Like "Secret Diary Of A Call Girl"
Liked The "Secret Diary Of A Call Girl" Premiere? Double Your Pleasure!

Showtime Comes Out of the Closet

Olivia Purnell — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 19:30:00 GMT

If you like Intervention (and we do), you’re gonna love Way Out.

Way Out is Showtime’s new reality series documenting the coming out process. Beginning with the closeted individual’s big reveal, each episode will show how the revelation impacts the individual’s relationships with his or her friends and family.

Bryn Freeman, executive producer of A&E’s Intervention is currently developing a pilot for the show. He says:

"It's a show that has universal appeal because everybody can relate to having part of their lives hidden," said Freedman, who is producing the project with Evan Weiss. "The show is all about getting to know the person -- why they have been reluctant to come out and what it looks like to be living a lie, (and) what it is like when people are trying to set you up with dates." (thr.com)

We’re in. Anytime we get to watch high quality documentary footage about personal revelations and deep-seated family issues whilst sobbing and housing Mallomars, we’re in. Why do you think we like Oprah so much?

Wake Up And Smile: The NBC Christmas Party Just Got A Little Cheaper

Bryan Christian — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 14:25:00 GMT

NBC dropped not one but two shows yesterday, but we can't help but think that the attention the cancellations got was bigger than the shows ever were. Why would that be...? PLUS: Monty Python's most famous bit is more historic-al than you think, Showtime and Stan Lee get together for... well, you'll just have to see, someone on 90210's days may be numbered, and finally, someone's starting to lay the blame on the new recession at the fatcats who really deserve it: fictional relatives on Must-See-TV.

-- Is it just us or did it seem like all the hubbub yesterday about NBC cancelling My Own Worst Enemy and Lipstick Jungle had less to do about the actual presence of either of those shows in the collective psychology -- and more to do with the collective schadenfreude that perpetually surrounds Ben Silverman these days.

-- Historians have located a jokebook from Ancient Greece that contains a gag that's sort of similar to Monty Python's legendary Dead Parrot Sketch. Number one: this is news? Number two: No, this doesn't make it OK, Mencia.

-- Showtime's gonna have a show about a gay superhero -- Whaaaa? -- and it's gonna be executive produced by Stan Lee -- WHAAAA??? We can only hope this Lee brings the same delicate sensibility to the plight of gays (super or no) that he did to that of strippers.

-- Rumor is the new 90210 is gonna accomplish something that the viewing audience has mostly wanted to do since 1992 -- ~~get Jennie Garth naked~~ kill Brenda Walsh.

-- TV Squad has a weird and wonderful -- if slightly overlong -- theory on what caused the economic downturn, and it ain't a credit crunch or inflated real estate values. They're blaming Ross and Monica's aunt for letting them have that amazing apartment. Hmmm... now it makes sense that their aunt was played by Alan Greenspan, huh?

And Now, Something Actually Good: Two More Seasons of "Dexter"!

Ben Kallen — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 20:50:00 GMT

Killer news, everyone! Showtime has renewed Dexter for another two seasons.

This year, the show has been getting surprisingly high ratings for the pay-cable channel, with the premiere surpassing 3 million viewers. Each of the next two seasons will consist of 12 episodes each.

"Dexter's enormous success is a tribute to the great achievements of its cast, the producing team, the author of the original book, and the gifted Michael C. Hall,” Showtime entertainment president Robert Greenblatt said in Broadcasting & Cable magazine. “I thought at best we would attract a devoted cult audience but soon realized that, ironically, this show is so thematically rich and layered with humanity that audiences of all kinds have flocked to it."

We second that. Sure, we haven't been quite so enamored with this season so far, what with the bla-bla-bla about Jimmy Smits and his brother and his old case and whatnot. But if you take the first three seasons as a whole, Dexter is one fantastic show.

We'll be interested to see how Dexter's marriage plans with Rita and the kids go, how he develops emotionally -- if at all -- and what happens with ever-lovin' sister Deb. Plus, of course, we want to see who our favorite psycho kills next. And now we'll have a chance.

Previously:
Dexter: All in the Family

"Dexter": All in the Family

Ben Kallen — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 21:31:00 GMT

So is Dexter a real human being or not? In recent episodes, there have been suggestions that he's developing real emotions. But while he's certainly fond of some people in his life, now we see that, for the most part, he's still just playing the part of a normal person.

We start with Rita and Dexter deciding to tell her kids about the new baby. He botches it, of course. Clueless about normal family life, he can't even tell Astor why he and Rita aren't married. Then, based entirely on the thought that it would make a better cover for him, he clumsily proposes. "That was ridiculous," Rita replies. She says she wants to know he loves her, but he doesn't even know what that would feel like.

At a picnic at Prado's place, Dex overhears Ramon talking to Prado about another lead on Freebo, the drug dealer they think killed their other brother. It's pointless, though only Prado and Dexter know that Dex already took care of Freebo. Prado wants to tell Ramon that Freebo's dead, in order to bring him "peace," but Dex thinks that's about the worst idea he's ever heard.

At his "day job," Dex is investigating another murder. It looks like a robbery gone wrong, but who knows? The victim's fiancee goes on and on about how much she loved him, and Dex can't imagine that kind of emotion. She's too upset to be helpful, but Quinn calms her down. "He's the witness whisperer," Deb marvels.

Astor, upset about the new baby and Rita and Dexter's unmarried status, starts misbehaving. After a particularly difficult phone conversation with her from work, Rita then has to deal with a nasty honeymooning bridezilla who isn't happy with any of the hotel's accommodations. "We don't have a better room unless you build one, and being a bitch isn't going to change that," she snaps. Unfortunately, her supervisor overhears this, and fires her.

Dex decides to show Prado how unstable Ramon is by making him even angrier. Um, is this really a good plan? He arranges to run into the guy at the restaurant/bar where he hangs out, and eggs him on on by implying that Prado's been discussing their personal business.

LaGuerta visits Prado at his office to discuss the Chicky Heinz case yet again. She wants him the admit that the alibi witness proves he convicted an innocent man. He's still not buying it -- or maybe he ignored the evidence on purpose. He continues to be skeevy about the whole subject. Later, she goes to Henz's lawyer and turns over the evidence behind his back.

Learning that Rita's been fired, Dexter takes another go at a proposal, this time listing all the financial reasons why marriage would make sense. Experiencing his utter lack of romance yet again literally makes her throw up. Way to go, Romeo.

Deb goes to see Anton, Quinn's snitch, for a drink and some talk. Yuki from IAD is still texting her, asking for dirt on Quinn, and now she's confused. "What's the story on him -- is he a good guy or a bad guy?" she asks Anton. "Does it have to be either-or?" the drug-using musician replies. He adds that Quinn helped him out of a jam once, but we don't know if that counts as "good" or "bad." What's not so good is the way Deb's started making googly-eyes at Anton.

Angel's in a hotel room with a hooker. He compliments her eyes -- he's lonely, and it's obvious that he mostly just wants companionship. She notices his badge, but he says that for tonight, he's not a cop. Then she show her own badge, and says tonight she is a cop. Whoops! But she gives him a break and kicks him out, making sure whoever's taping the encounter won't catch his identity.

Later, she goes to see him in the squadroom to bust his chops. But his sob story about being a divorced alcoholic cop actually seems to touch her a little bit, and she lets him off with a warning.

Dexter makes up a gross/cool model of a head filled with fake blood, and uses it to prove that the weeping fiancee in the new case has her facts wrong about the killer's height. In fact, he or she would have to be about the size of the fiancee herself. Deb does some more research, and discovers that the man's friends had never heard of her, and the picture of them together was Photoshopped. Score one for the emotionless over the overly emotional. But when she can't scare a confession out of the woman, Quinn kicks Deb out of the room so he can get it himself. Later, he tells her that he suspected the girl from the beginning (hey, we all did), but didn't tell Deb because he thought she'd blow it.

Yuki catches her at her car and knows all about the situation. Once again, she tries to use Deb's ambition to get her to rat on Quinn. For the time being, though, Deb still won't bite.

Dexter goes to see Prado under the pretext of talking about his botched proposal to Rita. He brings up the encounter with Ramon -- and it did get back to Prado, but apparently they just had a civil talk about it. Whatever Dexter was trying to provoke, it didn't happen.

Except that later, Ramon storms into the detective squadroom, ranting about an anonymous tipster who's seen Freebo in Miami. The tipster, of course, is Dexter -- who's trying another tactic on him, and this time it may be working. As the tipster, he promises to meet Ramon at the bar, then makes sure Prado catches him there, drunk. On his way out, Dex tells the bouncer that Ramon has a gun. As he watches the ensuing fight, he reminds himself that getting Ramon in trouble is still better than killing him. Later, Dexter meets Prado on the beach, and Prado tells him that Dex is now the only one he can trust.

Dexter tries proposing to Rita once more. He takes a cue from the crazy fake fiancee, and tells her her everything he loves about her and the kids. He's still playing a role, but this time it's damn convincing.

Previously:
Dexter: The Lion Sleeps Tonight

Oh Noes!! The Future of "Mad Men" May Be in Doubt

Ben Kallen — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 20:55:00 GMT

Here's some lousy news: The third season of Mad Men, which many fans consider to be the best show on television right now, is looking iffy. So what happened to creator Matthew Weiner's five-year plan to take the characters through the entire '60s?

According to the New York Post, Weiner hasn't been able to come to a deal with AMC and Lionsgate Pictures. No scripts have been written, and there's no starting production date or air date set for another season. The paper suggests that the Emmy-winning drama might jump to Showtime or HBO, where Weiner worked on The Sopranos.

Meanwhile, Variety has a whole different take on the situation: It's reporting that AMC has "formerly exercised its option for a third season," and will bring the show back whether or not Weiner is aboard. Which is great, except that Weiner writes or cowrites most of the episodes, and it's his sensibility that the show chiefly reflects. Frankly, Mad Men without him would be like Sterling Cooper without Don Draper: It might still exist, but who would care?

Let's hope this is all sorted out sooner rather than later. 1964 is approaching fast, and we darn well want to see it!

Previously:
Mad Men: California Dreamin'
The Future of Mad Men Revealed

Showtime Picks Up Matthew Perry's "End of Steve"

Lindy Parker — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 20:20:00 GMT

We've always liked Matthew Perry -- he was our favorite friend, and a pretty good sport when it came explain his drug addiction on talk shows, so we're happy to hear that Showtime has officially picked up Perry's latest comedic endeavor, The End of Steve, about a daytime talk show host in search of personal fulfillment. Hopefully, this one will stick around longer than Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (we miss you, Bradley Whitford).

"Dexter": The Lion Sleeps Tonight

Ben Kallen — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:20:00 GMT

Hoo-kay, so last time: Everyone was looking for drug dealer Freebo, but Dexter found him first, and killed him, but ADA Prado caught Dex doing it, but he was actually happy about that, because he thought Freebo killed his brother, even though that was actually Dexter's doing too. And Rita's pregnant.

We open this week in a grocery store with Rita and the kids, where Dexter is imagining some kind of shopping-as-hunting metaphor to cover the fact that this particular king of the jungle is becoming hopelessly domesticated. He catches a guy about his own age chatting with Astor, and immediately senses a "predator." Creepy.

Prado comes into the squadroom, and he's looking pretty happy about the end of Freebo, even though he can't tell anyone about it. He invites Dexter out to some sort of cultural festival that night, having already okayed it with Rita. Deb comes in and says that another body's been found, of a Freebo associate named Javier, killed in the same way they think Freebo killed Teegan. Since Freebo isn't around anymore, he couldn't have done it, but only Dex and Prado know that. Of course, there's been no proof that Freebo actually killed Teegan, either. It's all very complicated, and -- sorry to say -- just a little boring.

Dexter lets Deb know that Rita's pregnant. She's flabbergasted, but happy, and congratulates him on his future "motherf&ckin' roly-poly chubby-cheeked shit machine." The lady has a way with words. Dexter seems to wish he were as happy as everyone else is about the situation.

Rita's been to the doctor, and there are forms for them both to fill out. But as an adoptee, Dex doesn't know anything about his medical history, other than that his mother was a drug addict killed by a chainsaw, and his brother was killed by him. So he offers to see a doctor and get himself checked out. He has some sort of body scan, and it causes him to remember that when he was a kid his father had his brain scanned, and showed him how it was similar to that of a serial killer. Later, at prenatal yoga class, he's told to send "positive intentions" to the baby, but he's afraid he doesn't have any.

At the festival, Prado introduces Dexter to his brother, Ramon -- the one from the sheriff's department. Ramon immediately gives Dexter grief for being part of the team that can't find their other brother's killer -- not knowing, as Prado does, that Dexter killed Freebo himself. When they're alone together, Prado seems to be having doubts about Dexter. But he just wants to be sure that Dex is upset about the killing, and isn't some cold, crazed murderer who does that sort of thing all the time.

Dexter goes back to his apartment, where, to his surprise, Prado shows up with a bottle of rum. This is a guy who wants a friend. He gets drunk and talks about his alcoholic father. Dexter relates, and admits for the first time that his own adoptive father was "disgusted" by him.

Based on their newfound cameraderie, Prado suggests that the two of them dump Freebo's body together. Of course, Dex has already gotten rid of it. Now Prado wants to see it. "You're not in this alone," Prado says, which is the last thing Dex wants to hear. He says that he's snuck it under a casket in a newly filled-in grave, and has to convince Prado not to try to exhume it. But Prado agrees, though he insists on trying to help the police by steering their investigation in a non-Freebo direction.

Deb tracks down Anton, the snitch, in a coffeehouse to find out about the dead guy. He's angry that she keeps questioning him, and lights a joint to get rid of her. She doesn't back down, and arrests him for drug possession. Back at the stationhouse, this makes Quinn furious -- we suspect because he has something going on with Anton that he doesn't want anyone to know about.

At the beach, Nathan, the guy from the grocery store, is taking photos of the family, or maybe just Astor. Dexter had written down his license-plate number at the store and gotten all his information from the police database, so he's ready to take care of things if necessary. Later, he catches the guy taking photos of kids outside a school. Nathan admits that he had "a problem" once, but says he's changed. Dexter knows better than anyone that people don't change their basic nature, though. But as much as he'd like to do away with the problem in his usual way, as far as he knows Nathan has never killed anyone, and thus is off limits according to his code.

The whole "Chicky Heinz" situation comes up again, as new evidence seems to exonerate the man Prado had sent to prison. LaGuerta asks if he'd contacted a witness who could have helped shed light on the situation, and Prado said it didn't come to anything. He's clearly hiding something -- yet we still don't know what this particular subplot has to do with anything else, and until we do we're kind of tired of hearing about it.

Dex admits to Deb that he may not stick around to raise the baby, because he doesn't think he'll be a good father. Deb thinks that's ridiculous -- of course, she doesn't know her brother nearly as well as she thinks she does. Although... he's a pretty good dad to Rita's kids, despite being a psychopath. Maybe that second part doesn't matter.

Meanwhile, he tries to solve his problem with Prado by covertly feeding Deb the information that her "Jane Doe" was Teegan Campbell. That leads the detectives to the apartment where Freebo was staying, where there's evidence that Freebo may not have killed Teegan, meaning someone else probably killed Javier as well.

Dexter thinks Prado will consider this to be good news, and he does. But he's worried that Dex still doesn't seem to trust him. So he gives his new pal the bloody shirt that proves he was there the night Dex killed Freebo, which would make him an accessory after the fact if he ever turned Dex in. It's a nice gesture, trust-wise, but it means Prado intends to stick around in Dex's life. And while Dex might like to have a friend, it could cramp his style, serial-killing-wise.

Deb goes to a nightclub to make nice with Anton the snitch, and he plays her an insulting song in Spanish. She doesn't seem to care, though, because she's cool like that, and he seems to appreciate how she handles it. So it looks like there could be some inappropriate sparks between the two of them. (In season one, Deb fell for a killer; in season two, her supervisor -- this year, why not a drug-addicted snitch?)

Dexter sneaks into Nathan's house at night and catches him looking at photos of Astor on his computer. This makes him so furious that his code flies right out the window. Without any preparation or protection, he strangles the guy. "Nobody hurts my children," he says.

As he drags out the body, he stops to steal some milk from the fridge for Astor and Cody. See? A good dad. And when he gets to Rita's, he can finally send some positive intentions to the baby.

Previously:
Dexter: Finding Freebo

Kevin Bacon Develops "Booths" Series for Showtime

Lindy Parker — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:20:00 GMT

Is it us, or is there just not a lot that Kevin Bacon can't do? The actor/director/singer/songwriter/producer is currently in talks with Showtime to produce a series tentatively entitlted "The Booths..."

"The Booths" will revolve around actor-brothers Edwin, Junius Brutus Jr. and John Wilkes Booth and their dysfunctional relationship in the years prior to Lincoln's assassination. -- Variety

No word yet on who will pen the series or what character (if any) Kevin Bacon will be playing, but personally, we're pulling for a cameo as Lincoln -- KB in a stovepipe hate and chops. Love it. We're pretty impressed with how far Kevin has come since he was pitching his body into the air with reckless abadon to Kenny Loggins hits in Footloose. Granted, maybe you're not knocking down old ladies in your haste to buy the latest Bacon Brothers record, but really, you got to admire Kevin's multi-faceted ouerve -- kind of like Clint Eastwood, but not quite as badass.

"Dexter" Recap: "Finding Freebo"

Ben Kallen — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:20:00 GMT

This episode was all about police work, and having babies. Who ever thought an episode of Dexter would be about having babies?

We start out with Dexter and Rita at the gynecologist's office. As Dex watches little kids run around, his thoughts are entirely normal for a man in his current position: He loves children, as long as they're other people's. Then he adds his own twist: "I'm not in the business of giving life." You got that right, buster! But it's too bad, because Rita's pregs for sure.

At work, everyone's looking for drug dealer Freebo because he killed ADA Prado's brother. Except that he didn't, Dexter did, though not exactly on purpose. But that means Dexter needs to find Freebo before anyone else does. Meanwhile, Deb's trying to figure out who killed Teegan, the girl they found in the water, and only Dexter knows that it was Freebo, and that Teegan was his girlfriend. For a police department employee, he really isn't being very helpful.

Prado tells squad captain LaGuerta to let him help with his brother's case, and we're still thrown by Jimmy Smits' strong Cuban accent. It's not the first time he's done it, but we've seen him on too many hours of TV with "NY" or "L.A." in the titles. LaGuerta cautions him not to get too close, and throws in some heavy flirting while she's at it. Is there anyone she doesn't flirt with?

Deb's out among the hookers trying to find leads on Teegan, and is approached by the ever-more annoying woman from Internal Affairs. She tells Deb she can have her detective's shield if she plays ball, which means getting "close" to Quinn in a special way. And the chick is such a b-word about it that Deb actually calls her the c-word -- welcome to pay cable! Later, the snitch from last week tells Deb about a pimp who handled girls like Teegan. And the pimp makes the connection between Teegan and Freebo.

Dexter uses the dead girl's unusual first name to find her in the driver's-license database. But before he can investigate any further, Prado invites him and Rita to dinner. Prado's wife finds out that Rita's pregnant, and admits that the two of them have been trying to do the same. Meanwhile, Prado gets Dexter alone and starts grilling him about the investigation. Not exactly good hosting etiquette, is it? Prado and his brother Ramon, who's a bigwig in the sheriff's office, apparently have their own lead in the case -- Ramon "borrowed" Freebo's mother's cell phone, and they're waiting for a call. That means everybody's catching up to Dexter in the "finding Freebo" competition.

He starts by investigating Teegan's house -- which turns out to be a sorority house, where a wild party is currently in progress. (Look, big-breasted college girls with their shirts off -- now we know we're watching Showtime.) A couple of blondes tell him she's moved somewhere else, and offer her new address, along with a role in the hay, in exchange for drugs. Dexter accepts the deal, but gets the heck out of there before the sex-and-drugs part comes into play.

He gets back to Rita's in time to talk about the pregnancy, and what to do about it. Well, not talking so much as making a "pros and cons" list about having kids, since that's how his mind works. Rita, though a great mother to her current kids, has a lot of cons. Oh, and he does a lot of thinking and fantasizing about having kids throughout this episode -- including the con side, in which they turn out dark and nutso, just like him.

Angel and Quinn go to roust another drug dealer, Zack Adelman. (Funny, he doesn't look like an Adelman.) He doesn't know where Freebo is, but he does have information clearing the recently convicted perp in another case, one Chicky Heinz. Why do we care? Because the prosecutor on that case is Prado. Okay, we don't really care -- not yet, anyway.

Realizing that he doesn't have much time to beat his colleagues, Dexter goes to search Teegan's house -- and there's Freebo, in the flesh. Nude, that is. Dex goes home to gather his killing materials, but is interrupted by Rita, who wants to talk about the kid thing some more. Now she thinks that having another kid would be a mistake, and Dexter agrees -- but then she says she's having it anyway. So what was that, some kind of test? Not nice, Rita. She tells him that his role in the child-rearing will be up to him.

Which is what's on his mind when he goes out to kill Freebo, for the second time. Freebo denies having killed Teegan, but he still has the two earlier girls on his record, and this time Dex manages to finish the job.

But he's a little late, because Prado has just found the house, too. He's holding a gun and looking for Freebo, thinking, "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my brother. Prepare to die." But when he sees Dex outside the house, holding a bloody knife, he realizes the job's been done already. Dex claims he killed Freebo in self-defense, and since the knife belonged to Oscar, Prado believes him. Prado thanks him -- it's the first time Dexter has ever been thanked for killing somebody -- and hugs him, unfortunately getting some of the blood on his shirt. So maybe Prado's going to end up a suspect anyway.

Previously:
Dexter Recap: Our Father

"Dexter" Recap: "Our Father"

Ben Kallen — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 19:03:00 GMT

Yay, Dexter's back! Which is a good thing, except, well -- is the show missing something now? Have we just gotten used to everything that earlier on would have surprised us?

Eh, who cares -- Dexter's back!

If you're just tuning in for the first time, here's what you need to know: Dexter is a serial killer whose heart would be made of gold, if only he had one. He works for the Miami police as a blood-spatter expert, and in his free time he murders the bad guys who get away. That's what his foster father Harry, a cop, taught him to do -- he figured that as long as Dex was growing up to be a compulsive killer, he might as well only kill people who deserve it.

Dex is close to his foster sister Deb, who's also a cop, his girlfriend Rita, a single mother who's almost as messed up as he is, and his eclectic group of buddies on the force -- and while he developed all these relationships as an attempt to "fit in" as a normal person, we're beginning to think he may be growing some real emotions.

Anyway, on with the show. We start out with scenes from last season: Dexter started having some doubts about Harry, who it turns out had been having an affair with his birth mother -- the druggie who got killed, leaving infant Dex sitting in a pool of blood, creating the psychological issues that have stayed with him his entire life. We're also reminded of Lila, the wack-job artist who helped Dex get in touch with his feelings -- sexy feelings -- but was clingy and violent when she had her clothes on, though luckily that wasn't very often. Oh, and last year Dex was almost caught, when his dozens of body-part-filled garbage bags were discovered in the ocean -- but in the end he wasn't revealed as the "Bay Harbor Butcher," because Dex in prison wouldn't be a very fun show. Instead, Dexter's cop nemesis Doakes became the main suspect, before being conveniently blown up by Lila -- who then got to experience Dex's dark side herself.

So now things are back to "normal," to the extent they can be. Dex is chatting with his dentist about what he did over the summer, and everything he says is a double-entendre for his having killed someone. Ha, he makes murder funny. He and Rita are back together, and from the looks of things Dexter has gotten over his sexual hangups. (Something he can probably thank Lila for -- but don't mention that to Rita, please.) Their relationship is so good that Rita's young son Cody even asks him to go to "dad's day" at school.

Back at work, Dex's detective friend Angel Batista has gotten a promotion, but seems more troubled than ever. Sister Deb, for her part, has cut her hair and given up men, smoking and drinking, and is miffed that Dexter never noticed. (Anyway, given how a new detective named Quinn is looking at her, the "men" part will probably go out the window pretty soon.)

Doing some research for his solo gig, Dexter reads about "Freebo" -- a guy who killed two college girls but was let go on a technicality -- and decides he'd make a pretty good victim. It turns out that Freebo's a drug dealer, so Dexter pretends to be a junkie to get into his house and check him out. Freebo's abusive to his girlfriend and pretty much boasts that he's going to kill her, so Dex realizes he's found the right guy.

But when he returns to the house later that night, there's a fight going on. Freebo runs away, and the other guy comes after Dexter with a knife. Dexter fights him off, and ends up stabbing this unknown other person instead. Huh? He's as confused as we are. And it's the first time he's ever killed someone without planning it in advance and making sure the person's guilty.

After a night of more domestic bliss with Rita, he's called in to help investigate a stabbing -- the one he did himself. It turns out that Miguel Prado, an assistant district attorney and well-known crusader for a "safe Miami," is extremely interested in the case. (He's played by new costar Jimmy Smits, affecting a Cuban accent.) Prado also happens to be an ex-boyfriend of the squad's captain, LaGuerta, as well as -- whoops -- the dead guy's brother.

Oscar Prado was supposedly a youth coach who had come to confront Freebo about selling drugs to kids, but we don't know that for sure, and Dex sure doesn't believe it. Dex does his usual investigation of the blood evidence, but in the process pilfers anything that might suggest he had been in the house earlier.

The next day, Dexter goes to Cody's school, and he tells the kids all about his job, describing how he examines spattered blood to determine what happened when a violent crime was committed. The kids are bored out of their minds by this, and completely unimpressed. Hilarious! But at least Cody's happy to have a father figure around, and so is Rita.

Prado interrupts the nice family moment by calling Dexter back to the crime scene. The ADA seemingly just wants him to describe what happened, but he also finds it suspicious that Dex was looking up the victim's background on the force's computer system. Somehow they end up getting along, though, and Prado is impressed by Dex's apparent sensitivity to murder victims. He invites Dexter to his brother's wake that evening.

Deb is approached by an annoying young woman from Internal Affairs about "getting next to" Quinn, who's apparently in some kind of trouble. Deb gets mad and blows her off. Later, Quinn helps Deb out by giving her access to a snitch who may know about Freebo. He doesn't, but he's seen the "youth coach" before. And apparently Oscar was a junkie who owed Freebo lots of money. Too bad Deb accidentally spouts off that bit of information in front of Prado and LaGuerta back at the station. The always political-minded LaGuerta tells Angel to bump Deb off the case.

Dex goes to Oscar's wake, without telling Deb, who was expecting him to meet her in a bar to celebrate their late father's birthday. Which is kind of a dick move, and not like Dex at all. (He may be something of a monster, but he's always nice to people, if only to hide his true nature.) When Angel comes by to tell Deb she's off the stabbing case, she decides her drinking hiatus is over.

The next day, everyone's called to a new murder scene -- it's Freebo's girlfriend. Which means he's still in town. And Dexter is still in danger of getting caught, just like he was last year.

Back at Rita's, she realizes why she's feeling so domestic and romantic and hungry all the time these days -- she's pregnant. And we have no idea where they're going with that one, but welcome to the new season.

Previously:
Top 10 Returning Shows: Dexter

Sunday-Night TV Party!

Ben Kallen — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 21:08:00 GMT

Okay, so Friday night we get two guys debating over whose plan will fix the economy (answer: neither), and Saturday is mostly reruns because the networks assume you're out getting drunk. That leaves Sunday as the next big night for new shows and season premieres.

So here are your many choices for Sunday-night viewing entertainment:

ABC: Extreme Makeover, Home Edition Boo-hoo, then yay! Either you like this sort of thing or you don't.

ABC: Desperate Housewives The whole show moves five years into the future. Does this mean everyone can stop using all the Botox?

ABC: Brothers & Sisters They bicker! They make up! They sleep with each other! (Okay, just former siblings Justin and Rebecca, but still -- eww.)

CBS: 60 Minutes Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson explains why the government's giving billions of dollars to the bank that's foreclosing on your home. Plus, the scientist who's testing that new supercollider device explains why it probably won't destroy the universe, he hopes. Fun!

CBS: The Amazing Race 13 Everyone's always saying that this is the best reality-competition show out there. So how come we always watch it with our finger on the fast-forward button?

CBS: Cold Case Detectives figure out who murdered someone a long time ago, while pop music from that era plays in their heads. You were expecting something different?

CBS: The Unit The team attempts to stop the assassination of the president-elect and vice-president elect. Guess that means neither of them owns a moose gun.

NBC: Sunday Night Football If this wins in the ratings, all the networks execs will be thinking, "Now, why do we pay writers again?"

Fox: The Simpsons As the 20th season begins, Homer and Marge get unlikely new jobs. Look for a joke about how many times this has happened on the show before, then another joke about how many times they've made a joke like that before.

Fox: King of the Hill Bill's love of sweets causes him to develop diabetes, which is totally different from the time Bobby's love of fatty foods caused him to develop gout. Sorry, these shows are great, but maybe it's time for something new around here.

Fox: Family Guy Brian and Cleveland get into a love triangle, which reminds us of the time we saw Raquel Welch eat 20 pounds of raw bacon at the People's Choice Awards.

Fox: American Dad It's Roger the alien's birthday, and he continues to creep us out in ways we don't entirely understand.

HBO: Entourage Johnny Drama goes on The View -- and we can't imagine that not being funny.

HBO: Little Britain USA In its new American version, the British sketch comedy is still all about the dick jokes.

HBO: The Life and Times of Tim A young dude suffers through all kinds of hardships and humiliations. It's like Worst Week, but darker. And animated.

Showtime: Dexter Some critics have complained that the third season is too similar to the first two. To us, that's a good thing. Watch this show.

Showtime: Californication Sure, there's something weird about diagnosed sex addict David Duchovny playing an undiagnosed sex addict. But as much as we hate to like Californication, we like it anyway.

AMC: Mad Men Make that the Emmy-winning Mad Men. What else is there to say?

Photo collage: Egregiously "borrowed" from Alan Sepinwall on NJ.com

Previously:
TV Orgy Tonight!

Free TV: Watch the Premiere Episodes of "Dexter" and "Californication" Right Now

Ben Kallen — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 21:20:00 GMT

Such a deal! Showtime is streaming free online previews of its two biggest series, Dexter and Californication, two weeks before the first episodes actually air.

Of course, the whole idea is to get you hooked so you'll sign up for the pay channel. (And, frankly, that's not a bad idea -- both these shows are worth seeing, and Dexter is one of the best things on TV these days.)

Anyway, you may as well find out for yourself. To watch the previews, just go here and enter the password "Lady Killer."

Previously:
Top 10 Returning Shows: Dexter
Spoiler Time: The Next (Awesome) Season of Dexter
Top 10 Returning Shows: Entourage/Californication

Uh-Oh... "Dollhouse" May Be in Trouble

Ben Kallen — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 20:25:00 GMT

Fanboys and geekgirls, prepare yourselves: Joss Whedon's Dollhouse, one of the most eagerly awaited TV dramas of the winter season, may be having serious problems.

As you've surely heard, the fantasy-thriller is about a group of people who have their personalities removed, and then are "imprinted" with new personas, memories and skills in order to fulfill various assignments. As they go on different missions from week to week, one of them -- played by star Elisha Dushku -- begins to become aware of her actual personality, and tries to find out who she really is.

Last month, Whedon refilmed the pilot, saying he wanted to make it easier to follow and not so dark. Later, he shut down production for a couple of weeks, saying that he was ahead of schedule for the show's January debut and just wanted extra time to refine some scripts. But now TelevisionWeek is reporting that the dreaded phrase "creative differences" may be coming into play as well, and that some executives at Fox are "deeply concerned about the creative direction of the series."

"Specifically, because the heroine of the show... has no free will or ability to do much beyond what she’s told to do, viewers might find it hard to root for her," a source said. "In addition, some executives have expressed concerns that early episodes of the series have been confusing and hard to follow."

A Fox spokesman dismissed the concerns, saying, “We believe in Joss, and we support the show. It will be on the air midseason.” But Whedon fans who are still bitter about how the network canceled his series Firefly after only 11 episodes aren't likely to find much comfort in that promise.

Our take? We're really looking forward to Dollhouse -- and if it's a little dark and complex, all the better. But the unique concept really might be a hard sell for a mass audience if it isn't done just right. If this show doesn't work out, it's time for Whedon to head directly over to HBO or Showtime and never look back. (Or, better yet, take the Dr. Horrible route and distribute his shows online himself. If anyone can make that work, he can.)

Image: Fox

Previously:
Today in Mulligans: Trouble in the Dollhouse
Dr. Horrible Update: Watch It Here

Top Ten Returning Shows: #9 - "Entourage" / "Californication"

Bryan Christian — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:28:00 GMT

The new fall season is almost here. Starting next week, the cable and broadcast networks will be begin rolling out new episodes of all the shows that survived the writers-strike-afflicted 2007-2008 season, giving us the chance to get acquainted with some old friends -- and reacquaint ourselves with more than a few characters who we met only fleetingly last fall. Here, then, are the top ten returning shows that were most looking forward to seeing.

We're lumping these together because they've got pretty similar profiles -- shallow, oversexed Hollywood hunks and the misfits and hangers-on who enable them -- and because they're apparently going head-to-head this year, but we have to confess: we watch them for very different reasons. Californication we enjoy (when we do) almost solely for the performance of David Duchovny, whose Hank Moody is unbearable if you take even a second to think about it -- but Duchovny inhabits him which such light, wry line readings and precise comic hesitations that he earns the Hugh Laurie Award for justifying our coming back week after week to a show we're not convinced is all that good.

And as for Entourage, well, we're guessing that you're guessing that we watch that show for Jeremy Piven, but you're only partially right. Yes, Piven's fantastic, as are Kevins Dillon and Connelly. But the real reason we watch is that, in a million subtle ways, it's one of the most technically accomplished tv comedies that we've ever seen. So many jokes are executed in the background or the peripheral of the screen, and the photography is so rich with color and depth, that we find ourselves laughing more when we see it on a good TV -- and that's a rare thing.

All right, we admit it: we also watch these shows 'cause we like boobs. Like that's so wrong.

Entourage (Sundays at 10PM EST) returns Sunday, September 7 at 10PM EST on HBO; Californication (Sundays at 10PM EST) returns Sunday, September 28 at 10PM EST on Showtime.

TOP TEN RETURNING SHOWS FALL 2008

#1. "30 Rock" & "Terminator"
#2. "Dexter"
#3. "Gossip Girl"
#4. "Pushing Daisies"
#5. "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia"
#6. "Heroes"
#7. "Dirty Sexy Money"
#8. "House"
#9. "Entourage" / "Californication"
#10. "The Shield"

"Swingtown" May Swing Over to Cable

Ben Kallen — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 20:40:00 GMT

CBS' Swingtown has been tanking in the ratings -- and while the sexy-'70s drama hasn't been officially canceled yet, it seems unlikely that the network will renew it.

But now comes word that the show could be headed for a new life on cable -- quite possibly, on the CBS-owned Showtime network.

And you know what that means, right? Even more foursomes, and now they'll be naked.

Photo: CBS

Previously:
Swingtown Must Be Over -- The New York Times Thinkpiece Is Here
Swingtown's Demise Means Grant Show's Going Into Private Practice

Joss Stone Joins Cast of "The Tudors" as "The Ugly One"

Ben Kallen — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 13:29:00 GMT

Soul singer Joss Stone has been cast in as Anne of Cleves in the upcoming season of Showtime's sex-drenched historical drama The Tudors. But it's not much of a compliment, since King Henry VIII's fourth wife was famously ugly. As the story goes, Henry was captivated by a portrait of her, but then was horrified by her appearance when he actually met her in person. (Yep, just another typical blind date.) The marriage was annulled after six months -- but at least she got to keep her head, unlike certain others.

It'll be interesting to see how far the show goes to de-prettify Stone. We're thinking the full Nicole Kidman treatment from The Hours would work just fine. (Ed.: We're not sure that'll be enough.)

Photo: Mad News

Previously:
Showtime Attempts To Succeed Where Mike Myers Failed

Showtime Attempts To Succeed Where Mike Myers Failed, Announces Studio 54 Show

Bryan Christian — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 20:25:00 GMT

You ever get the feeling that this blog is basically "Pay Cable Today"? We sure do. Like, we've announced somewhere between 12 and 20 shows currently under development for HBO and Showtime in the last few months. Where are they gonna find the time to show them all? Are they gonna become the new Fox or something, and show original programming 2 hours a night? Who can say.

Well, here's one show that we're pretty sure we can skip, unless the cast winds up being wickedly profoundly pants-ignitingly hot: Studio, the story of Steve Rubell and Studio 54, as told by Showtime. We don't care if Bryan Singer, one of the principle players in bringing House and the good X-Men movies to the screen, is behind it. He's also the Bryan Singer who gave us Superman Returns and an ill-fated American remake of Footballer's Wives. Besides, between all the disco movies of the late '90's and VH1, are we not a little tired of this story? Look, as we say: if the people are hot enough, we'll give it a shot -- but Lord knows that didn't make 54 any more watchable.

Well, ah-ha! says the New York Observer...

Studio won't be another docu-drama like the movie 54. The show will use Studio 54's co-founder Steve Rubell as a fictional character and recount the months leading to the club's April 1977 opening, according to the Reporter. But none of the other characters on the show will be based on a real person and the plot will be fictional.

Ah, we see; they're gonna take the broad-stroke circumstances of one actual dude and wrap a sex-laden, entire totally bullshit story around him? Hmm.. so basically it's The Tudors with coke? Pass.

Now here's a "Studio" somebody should make a show outta.

PREVIOUSLY:
HBO, Showtime Announce New Original Programming. Guess Whose Show Sounds Better.

Spoiler Time: The Next (Awesome) Season of "Dexter"

Ben Kallen — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:55:00 GMT

Like the show itself, yesterday's Dexter panel at Comic-Con in San Diego was apparently entertaining for all. "Every man needs a hobby," said actress Julie Benz, who plays Dexter's girlfriend Rita, about the title character's penchant for murdering bad guys. And when asked about his "favorite kill," Michael C. Hall smiled and replied, "It's really hard to pick just one!"

The panel also provided plenty of dish on the Emmy-nominated program's upcoming new season. Dexter will befriend a hard-charging district attorney, played by Jimmy Smits -- from whom, of course, he'll have to hide his secret life as a serial killer. He'll also face the consequences of botching a murder because he isn't sure of the victim's guilt. And after revelations about his foster father, Harry, he'll continue to reconsider his moral code.

Sounds good to us. Below, watch Showtime's new promo for Season 3:

Image: Shepard Fairey for Showtime

Previously:
Dexter: Former Presiden-Elect To Team Up With America's Favorite Psychopath

HBO, Showtime Announce New Original Programming. Guess Whose Show Sounds Better.

Bryan Christian — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:31:00 GMT

From the New York Observer:

HBO's taking on the $46 million herbal weight loss industry with a new pilot, Fat Sells. The network just greenlit the Forest Whitaker-produced show, which will follow a fat cat in the industry whose life begins to unravel once the FDA begins investigating the company's claims, according to Variety.

The magazine also reports that the show will be written by Gren Wells, an executive producer of NBC's hit weight loss show The Biggest Loser.

From io9:

Showtime is bringing in The Exterminators, courtesy of a just-announced adaptation of DC Comics' horror series from the Vertigo line. In a strange moment of the circuitous nature of media, Vertigo's The Exterminators actually started life as a pitch for a TV show by writer Simon Oliver before being turned into a 30-issue series about ex-con Henry James' experiences working for Bug-Bee-Gone, an exterminator company run by his stepfather. It sounds dull until you learn about the possibly-mystical mysterious box with some connection to insects, Nazis and the Gulf War.

Let's hold off on asking how many tubetopped hotties HBO will have to pack into a show about fat people in order to get their horny-ass viewers to watch... and we're guessing that's a lot... and note that despite the fact that TimeWarner owns DC/Vertigo, it's SHOWTIME that's finally bringing a Vertigo title to life, despite the fact that Preacher, probably the greatest longform comic of the '90's, languished in HBO development for years.

HBO Original Programming: you're officially a fuckin' FAIL.

PREVIOUSLY:
Sounds Like They're Freaking Out Over At HBO Original Programming
HBO Not Done Throwing Money At Stuff; This Time It's Pimps

While Videogum Is At It, How About Them 2008 AVN Awards?

Bryan Christian — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 17:38:00 GMT

You know, one of the things about blogging is that sometimes you run across something and are like "dude, this is totally old, it's like months old, no one will wanna hear about this, we'll look like dorks." That's how we were with the 2008 Adult Video News Awards ceremony -- AKA, the Oscars of Porn. The ceremony was all the way back in January, and near as we can tell, it's been in rotation on Showtime late night since March or so.

But that didn't stop Gabe over at Videogum from dropping a very funny note on it the other day, on which we can not improve, so we will only say:

a) Never again will we not write about something just because it's kind of old. It's TV for Chrissakes, nothing dies.

b) We hope you saw it in HD, Gabe, 'cause these interviews for Female Performer of the Year nominees looked FUCKING RAD in 1080.

BONUS: See an interview with our favorite porn actress from the 2008 AVN Awards after the jump.

They didn't seem to have Sasha Grey's interview on YouTube, which is weird, because she actually won. But hey look, it's former Scores stripper and current Fox News contributor/winemaker/entrepeneur/UberMILF Savanna Samson!

George Clooney’s ‘Fall of Bob’ In Development at Showtime

Nicole Ankowski — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:23:00 GMT

Think the head honchos over at HBO original programming are freaking out, what with Weeds and Secret Diary of a Call Girl rocking and raking in the ratings over at Showtime? And now Showtime has scored another (dark, sexy) pin its development board. George Clooney, often associated with HBO, has just set up a (dark, sexy?) comedy with them…

Clooney’s Smoke House production company is working with Showtime on The Fall of Bob, a half-hour comedy following a man as he jumps off a building. What an intro. We’ll learn more (dark, sexy?) things about his life, as he narrates through flashbacks.

Showtime also has more hopefully good stuff in the works, such as Diablo Cody’s United States of Tara (starring the always spot-on Toni Collette) and Matthew Perry’s The End of Steve (starring Perry, whom we know has been through some shit in his personal life). Smoke House, interestingly enough, also has a cop drama in the works — Delta Blues, over at TNT.

[Variety]

Previous: Sounds Like They're Freaking Out Over At HBO Original Programming
Previous: Tara News: Tara Reid to Dance with Aussie Stars; Diablo Cody’s New “Tara”

Sounds Like They're Freaking Out Over At HBO Original Programming

Bryan Christian — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:28:00 GMT

The story so far... After the demise of its most prestigious and successful original programs -- and with few successes to show for itself (but a couple might have beens) in the intervening months -- HBO has seemed for some time poised to lose its reputation as "more than TV" to rival pay cable network Showtime. To our mind, that hasn't quite happened yet. No matter how navelgazing/boring In Treatment or Tell Me You Love Me were, Showtime didn't overcome HBO in the last year or so so much as supply an alternative to it. They don't have any comedies as idiosyncratic as Curb Your Enthusiasm, nor do any of their hour-long shows acheive the grandeur of The Sopranos or even HBO's misfires, like Carnivàle. (Possible exception: This American Life, which since it's a doc we're thinking doesn't count.)

Still, HBO knows they've got a title to defend. And it looks to us like their solution is to throw lots and lots of money around developing new shows. None of which sound particularly great.

Just in the past couple days, we've heard of their developing a comedy club-based show for comedienne Lisa Lampanelli, with Jim Carrey exec-producing; an adaptation of Sloane Crosley's humorous essay collection I Was Told There Would Be Cake; and Bored to Death, which sounds an awful lot like The Singing Detective as written by Jonathan Lethem but is, in fact, from the very funny New York writer and performance artist Jonathan Ames. Previously reported shows being developed by the net include that vampire show from Six Feet Under's Alan Ball; Hung, from Election's Alexander Payne and The Riches' Dmitry Lipkin, which is about a guy whose "superpower" in life is his humongous cock and balls; and, according to the New York Observer, "a Darren Star adaptation of Tracy Quan’s Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl, and Surburban Shootout, based on a U.K. series, about a woman in the suburbs stuck between two housewife gangs."

Anything there tickle your fancy? Yeah, we not so sure either. Nor are we so optimistic about David Simon's New Orleans show, but that may just be because we thought that show's theme song got progressively way worse each season and figure that doesn't bode well for a show about musicians. (Generation Kill, on the other hand, we await with baited breath -- but that's a miniseries.)

The one show that we'd heard about being developed by HBO that we were hardcore excited about was Preacher, an adaptation of Garth Ennis' epic and deeply profane comic book about God, vampires, and rednecks. And that project is apparently stalled, even though HBO and DC/Vertigo (which published Preacher in the '90's) are part of the same company and you'd think they could share a few resources getting it right. (BTW, there's a big hubbub about trouble at DC here and here, which may shed light on that situation. Don't skip the comments.)

So, what do we do? Wait for HBO to get it right again -- or for Showtime to finally put together an hour-long drama that knocks it out of the park? Or are we just gonna have to rely on a diet of Mad Men and Damages for a while?

4:20 Update: "Weeds" and "Call Girl" Both Totally Scored Monday Night

Bryan Christian — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 20:20:00 GMT

From The Hollywood Reporter:

Showtime's pot-themed comedy series "Weeds" started its fourth season off on a real high, becoming the network's most-watched telecast on record.

Meanwhile, the new series "Secret Diary of a Call Girl," which led out of "Weeds" on Monday night, gave the network its most-watched series debut since 2004, when Nielsen began reporting Showtime ratings separate from Showtime Plex.

"Weeds" averaged 1.3 million total viewers at 10 p.m. Monday, which broke the record held by a Season 2 episode of "Dexter" (1.2 million) that aired last year. An 11 p.m. repeat of "Weeds" averaged 406,000 viewers, according to Nielsen.

We get a warm feeling in our heart everytime weed and hookers beat out serial killers, don't you?

The Remote Island : Showtime

The AVN Awards "CockWow" Sketch: "Porn's Golden Globes" Does Comedy [NSFW VIDEO]

Jennifer Jason Leigh Is Coming To "Weeds"

Mary-Louise Parker Gets Back To Wasting Her Talent On "Weeds"

"The L Word": Lesbian School Is Out Forever

Edie Falco As "Nurse Jackie" On Showtime

MMA Back To CBS

It's Business Time: "Battlestar," "Conchords," "L Word," "Secret Diary," "Big Love" Back This Weekend

Showtime Comes Out of the Closet

Wake Up And Smile: The NBC Christmas Party Just Got A Little Cheaper

And Now, Something Actually Good: Two More Seasons of "Dexter"!

"Dexter": All in the Family

Oh Noes!! The Future of "Mad Men" May Be in Doubt

Showtime Picks Up Matthew Perry's "End of Steve"

"Dexter": The Lion Sleeps Tonight

Kevin Bacon Develops "Booths" Series for Showtime

"Dexter" Recap: "Finding Freebo"

"Dexter" Recap: "Our Father"

Sunday-Night TV Party!

Free TV: Watch the Premiere Episodes of "Dexter" and "Californication" Right Now

Uh-Oh... "Dollhouse" May Be in Trouble

Top Ten Returning Shows: #9 - "Entourage" / "Californication"

"Swingtown" May Swing Over to Cable

Joss Stone Joins Cast of "The Tudors" as "The Ugly One"

Showtime Attempts To Succeed Where Mike Myers Failed, Announces Studio 54 Show

Spoiler Time: The Next (Awesome) Season of "Dexter"

HBO, Showtime Announce New Original Programming. Guess Whose Show Sounds Better.

While Videogum Is At It, How About Them 2008 AVN Awards?

George Clooney’s ‘Fall of Bob’ In Development at Showtime

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Sounds Like They're Freaking Out Over At HBO Original Programming

4:20 Update: "Weeds" and "Call Girl" Both Totally Scored Monday Night

Previous: Sounds Like They're Freaking Out Over At HBO Original Programming
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