It’s Friday morning, and that means it’s time for another weekly pile of news, with just a bit of snarky commentary from myself. This week there’s still more television news — this is the time of year when the big networks start planning their next years’ pilots — and a few more standard film franchise rumors. As well as a few other items of interest. As is becoming the rule, there’s a bit too much for the front page of the blog, so click through to see what’s going on!
FX has picked up The Americans for a second season.
Sarah Michelle Gellar has signed on to play Robin Williams’ daughter in Crazy Ones, CBS’s comedy series about a father-daughter team of ad executives. Gellar might be a good choice here; she’s capable of acting quirky enough to believably be Williams’ daughter, but she can also fill the role of the straight woman.
Kirstie Alley is coming back to television… again… in a TV Land sitcom including Rhea Perlman, Michael Richards, and Eric Petersen. The show will be titled Kirstie’s New Show, which will start to look really awkward if it lasts more than one season.
A few days ago, Twitter went all abuzz about rumors of Toy Story 4 being in the works. Official word has finally come down, and that word is “Huh?” A Disney representative has said that nothing is in the works, and they’re trying to figure out where the rumors came from.
Michael Bay has posted on his blog that they are “bringing Megan Fox back into the family” for his Ninja Turtles movie. Apparently they’ve patched over the differences that led to her being fired from the Transformers franchise, when Fox infamously compared him to Hitler over his directorial style. Presumably what changed Fox’s mind about working with him again is that he’s one of the few directors who thinks she can act; what changed his is unclear, but clear thinking and Michael Bay’s casting choices aren’t often linked. Exact word on what role she’ll be playing hasn’t been revealed, though April O’Neill (being one of the few female regulars in the franchise) is a probable bet, assuming the film maintains that connection with the franchise (which, given earlier announced changes, it may not). The film is currently slated for a May 16, 2014 release.
Billboard is modifying its method of determining its Hot 100 list… to include YouTube views. Apparently video not only killed the radio star, it stole its ID and moved into its house. …And probably nobody who listens to the Hot 100 gets that joke.
Another week, another Star Wars rumor; According to Mark Hamill, he, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford have all been talked to about the possibility of coming back to the film franchise. Hamill says George Lucas had already told him that if they didn’t want to return, their characters wouldn’t be recast, they’d just be written out. Hamill notes that it’s still very early, no contracts are signed, and the scripts are still being written… though he does speculate that Luke Skywalker may settle into an Obi-Wan mentor role for the next generation of heroes.
Ryan Hansen has signed on for the CBS pilot Bad Teacher, starring Ari Graynor as the character Meredith Davis, based on the 2011 Cameron Diaz film. From R-rated comedy film to prime time sitcom… it’s a formula that’s been attempted a few times but seldom successfully.
FOX is in the process of signing actors for their planned Sleepy Hollow series. Nicole Beharie has been cast as the female lead, Detective Abbie Archer, and Orlando Jones and Katia Winter have been cast as a fellow detective and Ichabod Crane’s wife. Ichabod Crane himself has apparently not yet been cast. The premise for the series involves Crane as a Revolutionary War soldier being warped through time to the modern day and accused of murder. I have to say, the premise seems a little off somehow… also, what’s with modern adaptations turning Ichabod Crane into an action hero? Pretty much the opposite of the very intent of the character….
Neil Blomkamp, director of District 9 and this August’s Elysium, is at work on his third feature film, currently titled Chappie. Pretty much all that’s known about it is that it is a sci-fi comedy, and is being shot in Johannesburg, South Africa.
“I used to dig in the garden, and there isn’t anything fantastic or ultra-dimensional about crabgrass… unless you are a sf writer, in which case, pretty soon you’re viewing crabgrass with suspicion. What are its real motives? And who sent it in the first place? The question I always found myself asking was, What is it really?”
–Philip K. Dick
Morgan on Media 
I got that joke. Its pretty funny, too. LOL
Glad to hear Luke and Leia will be back if they’re bringing Han back, you know? No way Peter Mayhew will be able to though, he’s just not in good shape unfortunately. 😦 Anthony Daniels, though? Maybe? Hope?
Nice Phillip K Dick quote. That guy was great.
And finally, as if Michael Bay wasn’t tormenting Turtle fans enough already, right? LOL. Maybe she can be one of those Alien Turtles. 😀
Well, I should certainly hope you got it, you were around in the 80s! 😀
I agree with Hamill that it’s likely their characters will be in supporting roles, but I’d certainly want to see them. You’re probably right about Mayhew, though. Hamill was hopeful about Daniels.
And yeah… Fox. Yeesh. Expectations for this film just keep going down.
So very happy that The Americans has been given a second season. Great new show, really enjoying it so far. Here’s hoping for more Russian hijinks!
As much as I love Buffy, I always get a bit nervous when I hear that SMG’s got a new show/movie. She hasn’t really had the best of luck in much outside of Buffy. Cruel Intentions was brilliant, but her last TV show – Ringer was god awful. And anything that appears on the CW network requires me to have a look through squinted eyes.
Right, I just sort of got used to the fact that I’m having to deal with Michael Bay doing TMNT and now this Megan Fox news gets thrown in my face? Thanks… thanks so very much.
I didn’t actually catch The Americans when it premiered, so I haven’t been following along… but I thought I remembered you and Terrence being fans so I thought it would be good to mention its renewal.
SMG does seem to have bad luck with projects, doesn’t she? Maybe she needs a better agent. Hopefully since this isn’t a CW series, though, she’ll have a better chance.
And I know how you feel about Bay’s Turtles… it was bad enough before, and now Megan Fox. Especially if she is April O’Neill… there’s a character who was always notable for being one of the more intelligent, proactive female roles in action cartoons. Neither of those words applies to a Megan Fox character — I realize that, in theory, any actor can play a character, but in practice, I believe playing an intelligent character requires the actor to be at least 90% as smart as the character, and I don’t think Megan Fox comes close to qualifying.
Wait, they’re making a TV show based on Bad Teacher? That has bad idea written all over it, especially considering the movie was terrible to begin with.
I’m putting the over/under on cancellation at 4 weeks.
Thank goodness for the Toy Story 4 rumour being put to rest. The trilogy is done — and wonderfully so! Leave the precious thing alone…
Confession time: I’ve only seen the first Toy Story.
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o___O
This needs to be remedied immediately, good sir. 😛
Yeah, I know. They’ve both been on the list since they were released. But Pixar and I have a really problem meeting somehow — every time one of their films is in the theatre, something happens that prevents me from being able to go see it. I finally managed to break that trend, sort of, by seeing Brave in the second-run theatre last year, but even then, I couldn’t make it to the first run because my car broke down.