‘Enterprise’ to begin airing on Sci Fi in January November 18, 2006 3:24 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in News, Sci Fi, Star Trek, Television.3 comments
Sci Fi has announced a premiere date for “Star Trek: Enterprise”, the fifth series in the Star Trek franchise which aired on the UPN network from 2001 to 2005, for January 8, 2007.
The series will run in four-hour blocks from 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM ET every Monday.
Earlier in the year Sci Fi purchased the rights to air all four seasons of the series, and were expected to begin airing the series in the fall of this year before settling on the early January launch.
The series went off the air with its fourth season finale back in May of 2005. It spent one year in weekend syndication where it averaged a 1.4 household rating through 26 original episodes (with a low of 1.2 and a high of 1.7) selected mainly from the fourth season but also including selected episodes from other seasons.
“Star Trek: The Original Series” is currently airing in weekend syndication, where it is averaging a 1.3 household rating with a low of 1.2 and a high of 1.3.
‘Enterprise’ is also airing on the high-definition network HDNet.
Friday Box Office Estimates, “Casino Royale” comes out on top November 18, 2006 2:27 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Box Office, James Bond, Movies, News.add a comment
In its first day of release, “Casino Royale”, the latest movie in the Bond franchise, grossed an estimated $14.75M, ahead of the other wide-opening movie this weekend “Happy Feet” which grossed an estimated $11.75M.
It is slightly behind the $16.62M which was grossed by “Die Another Day” in its first day of release back in 2002, but inline with studio estimates and predictions.
Additional Episodes Ordered for “Veronica Mars” and “One Tree Hill” November 17, 2006 7:42 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in News, Television.add a comment
The CW has ordered additional episodes of both “Veronica Mars” and “One Tree Hill”, but not full-season back-nine orders. Instead, the network has ordered eight episodes of the later, bringing its total to 21 episodes this season and seven episodes of the former, bringing its total to 20 episodes this season.
It is unknown why The CW decided against giving normal back-nine episode orders.
Both shows are pacing ahead of their runs last season with “One Tree Hill” averaging 3.31M viewers so far (3.26M last season) and Veronica Mars averaging 3.08M viewers this season thus far (compared to 3.01M last season).
Playstation 3 Launch (and cost details) November 17, 2006 11:39 am
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in News, Sony, Sony Playstation 3, Video Games.1 comment so far
The first of two new console launches (the Nintendo Wii on Sunday being the other) is happening today.
The Playstation 3 will be available today, to those who’ve pre-ordered or are waiting in line, in two varieties; a $599.99 version which contains a 60GB harddrive, a multimedia reader and WiFi built in and a $499.99 version which contains a 20GB harddrive, no multimedia reader and no WiFi built in.
Demand is expected to be high, but unfortunately Sony will not be able to meet it with expected shipments somewhere in the neighborhood of 150,000 to 200,000 (they previously were shooting for about 1M, before cutting it to 400,000 and now halving that).
Supplies throughout the holiday season are also expected to be low as Sony as reports indicate Sony will only be able to supply around 500,000 to 800,000 units by the end of the year in North America (halved from the previous estimate of 1M to 1.2M).
According to a report at iSupply Corporation, the 20GB version of the Playstation 3 costs the company $805.85/console (a $306.85 loss/console) to produce, while the 60B version costs the company $840.35/console (or a loss of $241.35/console) to produce.
Needless to say, this is a very expensive launch for the company, and they have a lot riding on it.
2008 Movie Premieres Slowly Being Set November 17, 2006 4:07 am
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Movies, News.2 comments
A few dates have been set for a couple big time movies set for release in 2008:
Columbia Pictures
- The Will Smith led superhero action/drama “Tonight, He Comes”
- July 2, 2008
- “Step Brothers” reuniting “Talladega Nights” stars Will Ferrell and John C. Reill
- July 25, 2008
- The Da Vinci Code follow-up “Angels & Demons” (an adaption of Don Brown’s novel of the same name)
- December 12, 2008
Warner Bros.
- The Wachowski brothers’ “Speed Racer” adaption
- May 23, 2008
- The Batman Begins sequel titled “The Dark Knight”
- July 18, 2008
Casino Royale Sets New UK Record for Bond Films November 17, 2006 3:58 am
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Box Office, James Bond, Movies, News.add a comment
“Casino Royale”, the new Bond movie starring Daniel Craig in the main role, sold 1.7 million pounds ($3.2 million) worth of tickets in its first day of release on Thursday. Compared to the most recent Bond movie, the 2002 “Die Another Day”, that was an increase of 54% when comparing sales.
It made up more than 66% of all movie tickets sold across Britain.
MGM Talks “The Hobbit” November 16, 2006 9:56 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Lord of the Rings, Movies, News.add a comment
Chief executive of MGM, Harry Sloan talked briefly at the European Media Leaders Summit in London about the planned “Hobbit” movie.
Sloan said that there will be two films, with the first being a direct adaption of The Hobbit and the second a new film which would draw from “footnotes and source material connecting The Hobbit with The Lord of the Rings“.
Sloan also went on to confirm that MGM is in advanced talks with Peter Jackson to direct both movies, but it was emphasised by MGM that the negotiations are still in progress and there likely wont’ be any sort of production till at least 2008 or possibly even 2009.
Versus to Launch HD channel in January November 16, 2006 9:51 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in News, Sports, Television.add a comment
Comcast-owned Versus, the former OLN network, will launch a high definition channel in January of next year that will offer regular Versus programming for half of the day and golf programming for the other.
From noon to 7:00 PM it will program golf programming from Comcast’s Golf Channel while normal OLN programming will air on the network from 7:00 PM to noon.
So far, the network has deals in place for cable customers who subscribe to Comcast and customers who subscribe to DirecTV.
The channel will offer all of its National Hockey League games which are currently carried by Versus in high definition, Golf Channel programming will be simulcast on that channel and Versus HD and other programming such as boxing, professional bull riding, hunting and fishing shows will also be broadcast in high definition.
The Tour de France will be upconverted to HD for the time being, but negotiations are underway for the network to acquire a pure HD feed of the bicylce race.
New Online Comedy Channel from AOL and HBO Set To Launch November 16, 2006 9:40 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in News, Television.add a comment
AOL is partnering with HBO to rebrand its current “AOL Comedy” broadband channel into “This Just In”, a humor site based around current events. It will re-launch sometime during the first quarter of 2007.
The site will also carry HBO branded original content.
New Series Announced for Food Network November 16, 2006 9:36 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in New Show Orders, News, Television.2 comments
Food Network has announced a new series entitled “Dinner: Impossible” for a debut of January 24th.
The program features Robert Irvine (a chef to princes and presidents) and a team of sous chefs making meals in impossible situations, such as rushing to finish a dinner before being left at a train station.
TV Notes: 11/16/2006 November 16, 2006 9:33 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in News, Television.add a comment
“Heroes” will air straight through in original programming, with no repeats, according to NBC. Eight episodes have aired so far with three more episodes scheduled for the fourth quarter. The series will then come back in January and run through the remaining original episodes.
Fox is considering doing the same thing with “Prison Break”. The network is leaning towards running all 22 episodes first-run with no repeats and deciding not to pull the series and put it on hiatus. Last season, the series ran to the end of November sweeps and did not come back until mid. 11 episodes have aired thus far, and the remaining 11 episodes will run straight through most likely around January, after their BCS games are aired and after the special two-hour premiere of the sixth season of “24”.
In other news, Fox has set a returning date for “Justice” of Friday, December 1st at 8:00 PM. The series will take over for canceled “Vanished” which will be banished to the internet, where the remaining four episodes will be streamed for free:
“The remaining four episodes will stream on the VANISHED myspace page, with a new episode posted every Friday at 12:01 PT, beginning Nov. 17th. Three episodes will be kept up at a time. The series finale will be posted online on Friday, December 8th.”
Continuing with news from Fox, the network has extended “Standoff” by ordering six additional episodes and has given “‘Til Death” a full-season order.
And lastly, CBS has ordered at least an additional 4 episodes (an exact amount has not yet been decided on) of “The Class”.
Third Season Ordered for “Weeds” November 16, 2006 9:16 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in News, Television.add a comment
Showtime has renewed “Weeds” for a third season, ordering 15 episodes for the critically acclaimed series.
The shows third season resumes production in the spring of next year in readiness for a summer premiere.
O.J. Simpson Special to Air on Fox at end of Sweeps Period November 14, 2006 9:23 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in News, Television.1 comment so far
In what surely will be looked at as a controversial airing, Fox has set a special four-hour, two-night event titled “O.J. Simpson: If I Did It, Here’s How It Happened”.
Publisher Judith Regan conducted a taped interview with the former athlete and acquitted murder suspect and that will serve as the basis for the event. FOX said that in the interview Simpson “describes how he would have carried out the murders he has vehemently denied committing for over a decade.”
The event will air on November 27th and 29th.
New “Bablylon 5” Direct-to-Video Movie in 2007 November 14, 2006 4:14 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in Babylon 5, DVD, Movies, News, Sci Fi, Television, TV DVD.2 comments
Warner Home Video and Warner Bros. Television have announced that production has begun on “Babylon 5: The Lost Tales”, a made-for-video movie targeted at fans of the Babylon 5 franchise set for release in 2007.
The DVD movie will include two new stories entitled ‘Voices of the Dark’, with both stories written, directed and executive produced by original Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski. The story of “The Lost Tales” picks up several years after the original series.
New Show Premieres This Evening November 14, 2006 4:01 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in News, Television.add a comment
Just as a friendly reminder, there are two series premieres this evening:
The game show “Show Me The Money” hosted by William Shatner (Star Trek, Boston Legal) on ABC at 9:30 PM
The drama “3lbs” starring Stanley Tuccion CBS at 10:00 PM
And for those interested in sneaking a peak at the first episode, it is viewable online right now at CBS’s Innertube site for free at this link.
All times Eastern.
TV Land Unveils New Original Programming November 14, 2006 3:31 pm
Posted by Rosario T. Calabria in New Show Orders, News, Television.add a comment
TV Land has created a slate of new series including an unscripted project which focuses on the family of George Foreman titled “Family Goreman”.
Other new programs under development are “Meet Your Match”, a dating show centered around the baby boomer generation, “The Big 4-0” which centers on hitting that milestone in age and “Back to the Grind” which is hosted by certain 1970s TV icons in which they perform the same jobs that their fictional characters once held performed on screen.
“With amazing original content and talent driving TV Land, we are truly poised to make all TV Land platforms the ultimate entertainment destination for Baby Boomers,” said TV Land president Larry W. Jones, by way of introduction to the new slate. “Boomers want to see themselves and more people their own age accurately depicted in entertainment and we look forward to connecting them with even more great, Boomer-centric originals.”
All four of those series are set for premieres in 2007.
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