About a Boy’s Minnie Driver Signs on for CBS Comedy Pilot
About a Boy‘s Minnie Driver signs on for a CBS comedy pilot
With her NBC comedy facing cancelation, Driver has signed on to play Steven Weber’s wife on the CBS comedy pilot “Happy Life.” But the casting is dependent on “About a Boy” getting canceled. As Driver tweeted, “yes, I’m doing a pilot for CBS, but within the utterly whacked landscape of Network TV, @NBCAboutaBoy may yet come back..w/all of us.”
Ex-Fox exec who was fired after greenlighting Empire feels bittersweet
Former Fox Entertainment chief Kevin Riley said “we had nothing to lose” when he picked up Empire last spring. Fox dumped Riley, who’s also responsible for The Last Man on Earth, shortly after last year’s upfronts following a string of disappointing seasons. While he wishes he had Empire “a year earlier,” Riley — who is now president of TNT and TBS — says: “I’m happy for the creators and my staff who championed it.” PLUS: Cookie’s costumes are for sale, and is Lucious the black Don Draper?
Glee‘s rise and fall, charted
The Fox series once had a viewership of more than 10 million an episode, PLUS: What’s next for Glee stars?
NBC’s Cuckoo taps Michael Chiklis and Cheryl Hines
They’ll play the husband and wife who have to deal with their new hippie son-in-law in the remake of the British Andy Samberg comedy. MORE CASTING: The Boy Next Door‘s Ryan Guzman joins Heroes Reborn.
Matthew Weiner considers Seasons 5, 6 and 7 the “sequel” to Mad Men
Weiner commented on the recent disclosure that AMC wanted a spinoff of his series. “It was not a suggestion,” he says. “It was one of the conditions of me continuing to work there.”
Read an oral history of Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Everybody from Ben Affleck to Sarah Silverman to Jimmy’s parents took part in EW’s oral history — but no Matt Damon! PLUS: Kimmel brought untailored suits in preparation for his Austin weight gain.
Girls went crazy this season
“‘Girls and Empire don’t share a universe, but they exist in the same crazypants multiverse,” says Darren Franich. “I don’t know when it happened, precisely. This time last year, Girls was showing some telltale signs of mission drift—half the characters didn’t have jobs; Patti Lupone gave Hannah dating advice.”
Rob Corddry recalls how Fox canceling The Winner paved the way to Childrens Hospital
The Adult Swim series returns tonight with its 6th season.
Is the TV cliffhanger still necessary?
There are so many cliffhangers these days that they’ve lost their “gut-punch” value that they’d have 30 years ago.
Johnny Carson was pitched a comeback TV special
What if The Tonight Show host returned from retirement to mock ’90s TV?
Snoop Dogg sat on Game of Thrones‘ Iron Throne
“House @SnoopDogg usurps the Iron Throne,” said the official GoT Twitter account.
The Leftovers composer is going on tour
Max Richter has slightly remolded his soundtrack for the HBO series for his stage show.
Bosch author personally suggested Titus Welliver to star in his Amazon series
Michael Connelly was impressed by Wellilver’s appearance on the Fox series “Touch.”
Check out the Friends cast as a Seth MacFarlane cartoon
Here’s what Rachel’s “The Rachel” might look like in animated form.
Swingers meet reality TV on Neighbors with Benefits
There’s a lot of awkwardness on the A&E series, premiering Sunday.
Paul Feig reflects on the 15th anniversary of NBC canceling Freaks and Geeks
NBC pulled the plug on the classic TV show on March 22, 2000: “Man. It’s been a long time,” says Feig, its creator. “I have a hard time watching old stuff, especially that one, because I just get really sad when I watch it. You know, it was such a great experience and there was so much more we wanted to do with it, so it’s a little tough.”
Animal Planet renews Pit Bulls & Parolees
Watch a video message celebrating the 7th season pickup.
Manhattan sent Emmy voters the entire Season 2
Check out the “propaganda art” for the WGN America series.
Netflix’s Bloodline is almost intolerably slow, yet it rewards patience
“Storylines are introduced gradually, over the course of several episodes,” says Melissa Leon, “and left to simmer on their own until they reach a boiling point. If you’re a patient, half-glass-full type, this could be read as Netflix’s Big Audience Attention Span Test.” PLUS: Strong actors slog their way through a too-familiar story, you’ll need to stick around through Episode 3 to get hooked, Bloodline is too much in love with its own classiness, it borrows too many of Damages‘ shenanigans, it’ll put you on the edge of your seat, and co-creators talk about the lessons they learned from Damages.
