News

Happy Thursday, Boys & Girls! Time for another installment of The Firewall & Iceberg Podcast. On Tuesday's video show, we reviewed "The Normal Heart," "Gang Related" and "The Night Shift," so that's where that coverage is. In this podcast, we cover finales for "The Good Wife" and "The Americans," discuss Sunday's "Mad Men" and, since I binged it last Friday, we talked about the first season of Comedy Central's "Review," which is available to watch in its entirety on Hulu or the Comedy Central ap. Busy busy! And, again, we're not sure when we're podcasting next week, but it'll happen at some point!  Today's breakdown: "Review" (00:01:05 - 00:11:20) "The Good Wife" finale (00:11:55 - 00:26:30) "The Americans" finale (00:27:20 - 00:43:20) Listener Mail - TV show ownership (00:43:30 - 00:49:05) Listener Mail - "Mad Men" comparisons (00:49:10 - 00:56:55) Sunday's...

It’s finale-palooza this week on the podcast, with seven different TV shows airing season or series finales. After some upfronts talk and listener feedback, we dive in with the comedies, including the pilot for The Maya Rudolph Show and the Legit and Bob’s Burgers finales. Then Kate takes a look at the finale of The Amazing Race: All-Stars, before both Kate and Sean break down a crazy week for genre, including a preview of the CW’s upcoming miniseries Labyrinth and finale talk for Grimm, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Arrow. Next are the dramas, including previews of The Night Shift and The Normal Heart and more finale talk, this time for Elementary. Afterward, Sean takes the season spotlight off, as Kate welcomes on Sonia Saraiya from the Av Club and Noel Kirkpatrick from TV.com for a super-sized look at the fantastic fifth season of The Good Wife.

Happy Tuesday, boys and girls! Time for a lively Firewall & Iceberg Show, in which we review some promising summer offerings (Fox's "Gang Related" and HBO's star-studded "The Normal Heart"), some dire ones (NBC's "The Night Shift" and Fox's "I Wanna Marry Harry") and play Canceled TV Show Trivia to commemorate the end of the TV season. Even if you're not a big fan of the video show thus far, I'd ask you to take a look at that last segment (or listen to it while you have other windows on your computer open), as it's one of the more fun things we've done since this started. Looks like we'll be podcasting on Thursday this week, so we can discuss "The Americans" finale without having to wait a week (or more). And it's unclear when or if there will be a video show next week due to holidays and travel. The...

• Lionsgate has purchased the North American rights for Dark Blood, the last film starring River Phoenix (My Own Private Idaho) before he passed away in 1993. Directed and written by George Sluizer (The Vanishing), the upcoming thriller follows the story of Boy (Phoenix), a young widower living as a hermit on a nuclear testing site in the desert. While traveling solo on his “second” honeymoon, Boy discovers a stranded Hollywood couple. Desiring the woman, Boy decides to hold them captive because he finds himself under the impression that he can create a better world with her. The upcoming drama, set to be released via VOD,...

NBC has announced additional details about their plans for the summer. They include six new scripted series -- The Night Shift, Undateable, Crossbones, Taxi Brooklyn, Working the Engels, and Welcome to Sweden -- as well as four unscripted series -- Food Fighters (new), America's Got Talent, American Ninja Warrior, and Last Comic Standing.

It appears that last summer's Crossing Lines and Siberia won't be back.

Here are the summer details:

NBC Sets Rich Summer Scripted And Alternative Premiere Slate

Six Original Scripted Series Mark the Most for Any Broadcast Network in 21 Years

"The Night Shift," "Undateable" and "Crossbones" Arrive in May, "Taxi Brooklyn" Debuts in June, and "Welcome to Sweden," "Working the Engels" and "Food Fighters" Premiere in July

Universal City, Calif. - March 26, 2014 - Continuing NBC's summer dominance,...

NBC has announced summer premiere dates for its programs, including six new scripted originals and one alternative series.

Half-hour comedy Welcome to Sweden, executive produced by Amy Poehler and starring her brother Greg Poehler, will premiere July 10 at 9:30 p.m. Et, and Undateable, the comedy from Cougar Town boss Bill Lawrence, will debut Thursday, May 29, at 9 p.m. with back-to-back half-hour episodes each week. Other new entries include The Night Shift, Crossbones, Taxi Brooklyn (starring Grey’s Anatomy alum Chyler Leigh), and Working the Engels. New unscripted series Food Fighters, featuring America’s best amateur cooks putting signature dishes...

NBC today set unveiled its original summer lineup. It features six scripted series: comedies Undateable, Welcome To Sweden and Working The Engles, and dramas The Night Shift, Crossbones and the just-acquired Taxi Brooklyn. Of the six — which NBC notes is the most original scripted series a U.S. broadcast network has had on during the summer in 21 years — three are series originally picked up for the 2013-14 season (guy comedy Undateable, medical drama Night Shift and pirate show Crossbones) and three are acquisitions (Swedish-made Welcome To Sweden produced by Amy Poehler, Canadian import Working The Engels from Halfire Entertainment and Shaw, and Taxi Brooklyn from EuropaCorp). On the unscripted side, NBC has new series Food Fighters, which joins returning summer staples America’s Got Talent (debuts May 27) and American Ninja Warrior (May 26) and the return of Last Comic Standing (May 22). Here are the summer debut dates for NBC’s new series: Tuesday,...

NBC plans six summer scripted shows — the most of any broadcast network in 21 years — including the Amy Poehler comedy “Welcome to Sweden” and the John Malkovich pirate drama, “Crossroads.” The new scripted shows include “The Night Shift,” “Undateable,” “Taxi Brooklyn,” and “Working the Engels,” as well as the new reality competition “Food Fighters.” Besides Poehler, the producers of “Welcome to Sweden” include her brother, Greg, who also stars. Also read: ‘Rosemary's Baby’ Screams and Cries Its Way Through First NBC Teaser (Video) The new shows join the returning summer series “America's Got Talent,” “American Ninja Warrior” and “Last Comic Standing.

NBC has slotted The Night Shift, Crossbones, Undateable and four more series for summer. Medical drama The Night Shift will premiere Tuesday, May 27, at 10 p.m., while Bill Lawrence's Undateable will air back-to-back episodes beginning Thursday, May 29, at 9 p.m. Crossbones, starring John Malkovich as Blackbeard, will premiere on Friday, May 30, at 10 p.m. Photos: Broadcast TV's Returning Shows 2014-15 Acquired series Taxi Brooklyn, starring Chyler Leigh, debuts Wednesday, June 25, at 10 p.m. Half-hour comedy Welcome to Sweden from Greg Poehler premieres Thursday, July 10, at 9 p.

read more...

Though most renewal/cancellation news is typically held until closer to the ad upfront presentations in May, NBC execs just announced that they’ve picked up three series for additional seasons. Stalwart supernatural police drama Grimm is now confirmed to return for a fourth outing next fall. Word of its renewal came with news that Dick Wolf’s procedural drama Chicago Fire and its recent spinoff Chicago P.D. have both been picked up for third and second seasons, respectively.

None of the renewals are particularly surprising given the success that NBC has found with all three. On Friday nights, Grimm has overcome its terrible timeslot to become a highly reliable performer for the network. Right now, it’s having the best luck of any show that night in the key adults 18-49 demographic with a 2.5 rating, and the 8.1 million total viewers it’s currently drawing is up from last year.

Greta Lee (Girls) is set to co-star opposite Natasha Lyonne in NBC‘s single-camera comedy pilot Old Soul. Co-created by Amy Poehler, Josh Bycel and Jonathan Fener and directed by David Wain, Old Soul centers on a reformed wild child Nadia (Lyonne) who has a business caring for the elderly and feels she has more in common with her colorful old clients than she does with people her age. Lee, repped by CAA, Regarding Entertainment and Kimberly Jaime, plays Alix, Nadia’s loyal friend with a type A personality and “will not fail” attitude. She will be seen in Fox’s M. Night Shyamalan’s event series Wayward Pines and features St. Vincent de Van Nuys and While We’re Young. Derek Webster (Revolution) has booked a role on ABC alien drama pilot The Visitors from Amblin TV. It chronicles the race against the clock to defeat an unseen alien...

The offing of NBC’s planned Murder, She Wrote remake is a mystery Angela Lansbury might not mind one day solving.

Lansbury, who amassed 12 Emmy nominations and four Golden Globe wins during her 12-season run as mystery write/solver Jessica Fletcher, takes issue with NBC’s plan to reboot the CBS series — if only because of, you know, the title.

Related | CBS Eyeing Charmed Reboot: Magical or Madenning? Take Our Poll!

“I think it’s a mistake to call it Murder, She Wrote,” Lansbury tells the Associated Press, “because Murder, She Wrote will always be about a Cabot Cove and...

The Us version of Rake, which stars Greg Kinnear as brilliant, womanising and self-destructive criminal lawyer Keegan Deane, will screen on the rebranded Universal Channel on Foxtel.

Due to a holdback agreement with the ABC, the Us show cannot screen in Oz until after the third series of the Australian Rake airs on the public broadcaster. The remake premieres on Fox at 10 pm on Sunday January 19 with a strong lead-in, the Nfc Championship Game, and will then screen on Thursday nights at 9.

Peter Duncan, who co-created the original series with Richard Roxburgh and Charles Waterstreet, tells If the holdback agreement is not an issue, noting, .The ABC has been pretty generous. The Us series won.t finish screening until April. I am not sure when the new series will go to air in Australia but I believe it.s late February, so it.s not going to be a massive imposition.

We’re back with another edition of the Indie Spotlight, highlighting recent independent horror news sent our way. Today’s feature includes a call for entries for Scream Factory’s 2013 Mini-Movie Massacre, a trailer for Alice D with Kane Hodder, details on a horror-based game show called Release the Hounds, video highlights of The Walking Dead‘s Norman Reedus’s interview with Conan O’Brien, and much more:

Scream Factory’s 2013 Mini-Movie Massacre Call for Entries: “Scream Factory, the premiere horror genre home entertainment provider, announced today the launch of its Mini-movie Massacre horror short film & video contest to be held on Scream Factory’s official YouTube channel Scream Factory TV. The call for entries is now open starting, October 31 through the deadline of November 17.

Presented by Scream Factory, the 2013 Mini-movie Massacre was created to shine the spotlights on some of today’s best independent horror short films and videos,...

Deadline reports that “90210″ actor Robert Hoffman has been cast as a love interest for star Bethany Joy Lenz in new E! scripted pilot, “Songbyrd,” as well as booked a recurring role on NBC’s midseason medical drama, “The Night Shift.” “Songbyrd” follows songwriter Lauren Byrd (Lenz) as she assembles a small team, including sister Mickey [...]

The post TV: “90210″ Actor Robert Hoffman Cast as Love Interest in “Songbyrd” and Recurring Role on “The Night Shift” appeared first on Up and Comers.

Jessica Fletcher will ride (her trademark bicycle) again! Well, sort of.

NBC has given a put pilot committment to a Murder, She Wrote reboot starring Oscar winner Octavia Spencer (The Help), our sister site Deadline reports.

Related | Exclusive: Brothers & Sisters Alum Commits to NBC’s Midseason Drama The Night Shift

Alexandra Cunningham (Desperate Housewives, Prime Suspect) will write — and executive produce with David Janollari — the project, which will put a new twist on CBS’ long-running smash. Spencer’s character is described by Deadline as “a hospital administrator and amateur sleuth who self-publishes her first mystery novel” and sets out to help solve real-life crimes.

Exclusive: Denzel Washington‘s son John David Washington is following in his father’s footsteps with his first major acting role, signing on as a regular in the HBO pilot Ballers toplined by Dwayne Johnson. Also cast in the half-hour dramedy, which chronicles the lives of several Miami-based athletes, is former Bruins player Donovan Carter. Washington will play Ricky, a highly competitive and highly spiritual pro athlete. Carter will play Vernon, a deeply family oriented pro athlete. Washington, whose only previous acting credit is a small part in his dad’s 1992 movie Malcolm X, played football in college and did a stint with NFL’s St. Louis Rams. Robert Hoffman (90210) has been cast in the Krista Vernoff/Diane Warren E! drama pilot Songbyrd. It centers on Lauren Byrd (Bethany Joy Lenz), writer of hit love songs, who employs a small staff, including her sister Mickey (Rumer Willis), to enable and...

The peacock network must like what they're seeing in The Night Shift. They've ordered three additional scripts for the mid-season medical drama reports Deadline.

The Night Shift follows the late night staff at San Antonio Memorial Hospital. The show has an eight episode order as part of a four-show deal between NBC and Sony TV which included The Blacklist, Welcome To The Family and The Night Shift and the Community renewal.

What do you think? Are you planning to check out The Night Shift?...

Brooklyn Nine-Nine is on fire, courtesy of a visit from funnyman Patton Oswalt.

The Justified standout will guest-star in an upcoming episode of the new Fox comedy, EW.com reports, playing a fire marshal who butts heads with Andy Samberg’s Det. Jake Peralta during an investigation.

Related | Fall TV Poll: Did Brooklyn Nine-Nine Cop Your Interest?

Brooklyn Nine-Nine airs Tuesdays at 8:30/7:30c.

Ready for more of today’s TV dish? Well…

• Go On alumna Laura Benanti is Elementary-bound. Per TV Guide Magazine, the actress — who’ll next appear in NBC’s live Sound of Music production — will...

In less than two weeks, the 2013-14 fall season will officially begin. When can you see Rebel Wilson rock a tighty-whitey evening dress on Super Fun Night? How long will you have to wait to see Kerry Washington back in the thick of things on Scandal?

Not much longer!

Saved for midseason:

– Fox: New dramas Gang Related, Rake, Almost Human, the return of American Idol, The Following and Raising Hope, and new comedies Surviving Jack, Us & Them, and Murder Police

– NBC: Hannibal. New comedies About a Boy, Undateable and The Family Guide, returning comedy Community. New dramas Believe, Crisis and Crossbones,...

Exclusive: In what is believed to be the biggest commitment for a comedy project so far this development season, Marry Me, a single-camera half-hour from Happy Endings creator David Caspe, just landed at NBC. The Sony Pictures TV project — which has Seth Gordon, who exited Horrible Bosses 2 today, attached to direct and executive produce and Jamie Tarses to executive produce — sparked a bidding war when it was taken out two weeks ago. It ultimately commanded a pilot production commitment in a deal which I hear also includes a full license fee and series penalty. Last summer, NBC nabbed another Sony TV single-camera comedy project with a big commitment, giving a 22-episode order to The Michael J. Fox Show, one of four new Sony series on the NBC schedule next season along with fall drama The Blacklist, fall comedy Welcome To The Family and midseason drama The Night Shift.Said...

This must be some sort of record. After starring in movies in the '50, '60, '70s, '80s and '90s, now, at 78, Sophia Loren is coming back to the big screen. The 1960 Oscar winner's return before the cameras, for her first starring role in a decade, will be directed by her son, Eduardo Ponti. The vehicle is La voce umana (The Human Voice), based on a 1930 one-person play by Jean Cocteau, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The three-week shoot is to take place in set in Rome, Naples and the port city Ostia. Ponti, 40, was recently represented at...

Friday might’ve been the first day of summer, but NBC was already thinking fall when it announced its premiere dates for the 2013-14 TV season.

The fun officially begins Monday, Sept. 23 with the two-hour premiere of The Voice — which welcomes back Christina Aguilera and Cee Lo Green — at 8/7c.

James Spader’s new crime drama The Blacklist follows The Voice‘s return at 10.

Related | Your Complete Fall TV Grid: What’s on When? And Versus What?

The week that follows includes the return of favorites Chicago Fire, Law & Order: Svu and Parenthood and an hour-long, shot-in-London episode of Parks and Recreation on Sept.

We've seen the pilots of NBC's new shows, and while they're not for review (things often change drastically before the shows are set to premiere), we do want to share our first reactions to what's coming in the fall and midseason.

This quick guide is designed to get you excited for some new shows ... and to warn you to curb your enthusiasm for others. Just keep in mind that we'll have full reviews of the final pilots closer to airdate. For now, here are our snap judgments of NBC's new shows for the 2013-2014 TV season.

See NBC's Full Fall Schedule Here

There are 10 new scripted shows coming to NBC that were ready to preview. Does Michael J. Fox's much-anticipated return to TV live up to expectations? And is James Spader TV's best new bad guy? HuffPost TV staffers Maureen Ryan, Maggie Furlong, Jaimie Etkin, Chris Harnick, Alex Moaba,...

Look at all that yellow.

In this final 2013 fall TV schedule, we highlighted the new broadcast dramas and comedies (below). And as you might expect, after a challenging TV season that claimed the lives of so many programs, there’s a lot of yellow on the new board. In fact, nearly one third of shows airing Sunday through Friday this fall (31 percent) will be freshman titles. ABC alone is launching eight new series. Plus, there’s plenty of new and returning shows being held in reserve for midseason (list of midseason shows below chart).

Stand-out new projects generating early buzz...

Latest updates: New shows have been added; About a Boy, American Dream Builders, Believe, The Blacklist, Chicago Pd, Crisis, The Family Guide, Ironside, The Michael J. Fox Show, The Night Shift, Sean Saves the World, Undateable, and Welcome to the Family. The Biggest Loser and Saturday Night Live have been renewed while Take It All and Love in the Wild were cancelled. Smash has been officially cancelled now. The New Normal has been cancelled while Community has been renewed. Rock Center with Brian Williams has been cancelled as well. Go On has been dropped after one season. Guys with Kids has been cancelled after one season. Up All Night has (finally) been canned. Whitney has been cancelled after two seasons. 1600 Penn has been cancelled after one season of 13 episodes. Parks and Recreation has been renewed for season six. Deception has been cancelled after one season and 11 episodes.

Yesterday, NBC revealed their line-up for the 2013-2014 season.  Today, they've released trailers for six of their upcoming series: The Blacklist, The Michael J. Fox Show, Dracula, Ironside, Sean Saves the World, and Welcome to the Family.  The Blacklist has promise partially because of James Spader and partially because it appears to be a cross between Hannibal and Homeland.   I love Michael J. Fox, but his show appears to be, "I have Parkinson's, but it's okay because we're going to laugh about it!"  As for Dracula, Welcome to the Family, Ironside, and Sean Saves the World, they all look like they will be swiftly canceled (Ironside comes off as a parody of a TV trailer while Sean Saves the World looks like a CBS comedy that wandered onto another network). Hit the jump to check out the trailers, and click on the corresponding links for NBC's other new series, About a Boy,...

First came the comedies. And on the drama front, here are NBC's fall offerings. On Mondays at 10 p.m., following The Voice, we've got James Spader in The Blacklist. Warning: Contains a tremendous amount of stabbing.On Wednesdays, NBC is banking on the revival of the sixties cop drama Ironside, now with Blair Underwood as the wheelchair-bound detective who does things his way. And finally on Fridays, NBC has Dracula, which is about a vampire (duh) exacting vengeance all over Victorian London — until he meets a woman who he thinks is his dead wife, reincarnated. Come mid-season, things get slightly more exciting with the hostage thriller Crisis, the supernatural drama Believe, and the pirate show Crossbones. We'll also get the Chicago Fire spinoff, Chicago Pd, and the hospital-set The Night Shift, none of which have trailers yet.

NBC has announced their plans and schedule for the 2013-14 season. The peacock network has ordered numerous new shows, including About a Boy, Believe, The Blacklist, Chicago Pd, Crisis, Crossbones, Dracula, The Family Guide, Ironside, The Michael J. Fox Show, The Night Shift, Sean Saves The World, Undateable, and Welcome To The Family.

In addition, they're moving around some of their existing shows to different spots on the schedule. Highlights include Revolution moving to Wednesdays, shifting Parenthood to Thursdays, and switching Chicago Fire to Tuesdays.

The network is being quite aggressive by mixing up their schedule and adding so any new programs. Time will tell if their gamble will pay off.

Here are the details:

Distinctive New Family Comedies, Action-driven New Dramas And Quality Returning Series Highlight Diverse And Balanced 2013-14 NBC Primetime Schedule Three New Comedies Anchor...

On Sunday, NBC released its primetime broadcast schedule for 2013-2014. But not all of the network's shows appear on it. The most prominent program missing is the surprise comedy renewal of "Community." Does this mean fans will **not get to see Season 5 after all?

The simplest answer to that question is that of course "Community" fans will see the return of their bizarre comedy. It's just a matter of when. We can safely say that -- barring some crazy rearrangements of the current schedule -- that "Community" will not return until later in the broadcast season. In this case, the most likely return is at midseason, when the show can take the place of another going on hiatus or perhaps a canceled program.

Could "Community" come back any earlier? That is possible as well, although production schedules make it a bit less likely. Unless production on the show begins around...

It’s never too early to start planning your viewing habits for the fall TV season — and get a jump on any new DVR conflicts! — so TVLine presents this day-by-day, hour-by-hour grid of the primetime schedules for each network, as they are announced.

Related | TVLine’s Renewal Scorecard: What’s Coming Back? What’s Cancelled?

Related | Fall TV Preview: Your Guide to All That’s New for 2013-14

• Programming for the 2013-14 TV season is in Bold, with new series in Red.

• Updates will be made throughout the week as ABC (on Tuesday), CBS (Wednesday) and The CW (Thursday) unveil their own game plans.

NBC is the first broadcast network to unveil its official game plan for the 2013-14 TV season, and the biggest news regarding returning shows is the relocation of Parenthood to Thursdays at 10/9c, Revolution to Wednesdays at 8/7c, and Chicago Fire to Tuesdays at 10/9c.

Also of note: Parks and Recreation shifts to 8/7c on Thursday, where it will lead into three brand new series — Mike O’Malley’s Welcome to the Family, Sean Hayes’ Sean Saves the World and The Michael J. Fox Show.

Photos | Fall TV Preview: Your Guide to What’s New!

Elsewhere, James Spader’s FBI...

Family comedies and action dramas dominate NBC‘s new series additions for next season. NBC is introducing six series in the fall — comedies Welcome to the Family, Sean Saves the World, and The Michael J. Fox Show; and dramas The Blacklist, Ironside and Dracula; with five more set for midseason– comedies The Family Guide and About A Boy, and dramas Believe, Crisis and Crossbones. (Dracula and Crossbones were carried over from last upfront/off-season). Not scheduled yet are newly picked up dramas Chicago Pd and The Night Shift and comedy Undateable as well as last-minute renewal Community. On the returning series side, missing from the announcement are long-time reality staple Celebrity Apprentice and well reviewed freshman drama Hannibal as NBC is yet to make a pickup decision on both. Here is NBC’s fall and midseason schedules with analysis and new series descriptions underneath. As expected, the network is spreading...

NBC is making some big moves. The broadcaster just released its 2012-13 prime-time schedule (below), revealing several returning shows that are changing time slots while the network launches new titles that executives hope will turn around the network’s performance in the ratings.

New action-drama The Blacklist, starring James Spader as a master criminal (trailer here), gets the most valuable piece of one-hour real estate — Mondays at 10 p.m. after The Voice. That move will boot Revolution out of its protected post-Voice nest to Wednesdays at 8 p.m. This year’s surprisingly sturdy freshman soap Chicago Fire will shift to Tuesdays at 10 p.

With the five major American TV network upfront presentations set to take place next week, each of them has been locking down their schedules for the new season.

That means the axe has fallen on numerous shows over the past 48 hours, while others have scored renewal orders. Decisions have also been made as to which pilots will be ordered to series. Here's the breakdown by network:

ABC

Renewed: Castle, Grey's Anatomy, Last Man Standing, The Middle, Modern Family, Nashville, The Neighbors, Once Upon a Time, Revenge, Scandal, Suburgatory

Cancelled (Or Finished): Body of Proof, Family Tools, Happy Endings, How to Live With Your Parents for the Rest of Your Life, Malibu Country, Red Widow

New Shows: Marvel's highly anticipated "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.," the 'Once' spin-off "Once Upon a Time in Wonderland," the Hannah Ware and Stuart Townsend-led murder thriller "Betrayal," the remake of...

In its third burst of pilot ordering in two days, NBC has picked up a trio of new shows from Sony Pictures TV.   The three pickups were also tied to the fifth season renewal for a little show called "Community."   On the drama side, NBC added "The Blacklist" and "The Night Shift," while the network also picked up the comedy "Welcome to the Family."   Here are the details on the three latest additions to NBC's 2013-2014 lineup. The network's actual schedule will be announced on Sunday afternoon.   The new shows are...   * "The Blacklist" comes from...

NBC continued to add to its series haul Friday, ordering dramas The Blacklist, The Night Shift and comedy Welcome to the Family. The series join the previously picked up The Michael J. Fox Show, About a Boy, Sean Saves the World, The Family Guide, Believe, Crisis, Undateable, Ironside and Chicago Pd. The news comes as NBC, following a disastrous season save for bright spots The Voice and Revolution, looks to rebuild.   Welcome to the Family Logline: Cultures collide when a white family and a Latino family are bonded together by their children who fall in love followed quickly by

read more...

6th Update, Friday Pm: Add the John Mulaney comedy to the dead pile too. 5th Update: Also now dead is the Robert Padnick comedy pilot. 4th Update: The Night Shift obituary was premature. In the flurry of passes, the pilot was erroneously bundled with those that are definitely dead, but it appears that no calls have been made on it yet. So if you worked on that pilot or have clients on it, you can breathe easier, at least for now. 3Rd Update, 3:45 Pm: Turns out we’re not quite done yet. Off-cycle medical drama pilot Night Shift (formerly After Hours), which had been in contention and received an order for backup scripts, just got a pass too. 2Nd Update: Also confirmed as dead are high-concept drama pilot Bloodline and comic book adaptation The Sixth Gun, which started off strong but lost steam as the pilot season progressed. These...

Encouraging news for NBC‘s off-cycle drama pilot After Hours, which is now titled The Night Shift. I hear the network has commissioned four backup scripts from the project, produced by Sony Pictures TV. The Night Shift, an ensemble medical show about a group of Army doctors who return to work the night shift together, was one of two drama pilots NBC ordered off-cycle, along with soapy mystery The Secret Lives of Husbands And Wives. The Night Shift, created by Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah, was originally developed by NBC last season. The network didn’t pick it up to pilot back then but kept it in contention with an order for a new script. The Night Shift was ordered to pilot in October with Pierre Morel directing and Eoin Macken, Jill Flint, Freddy Rodriguez, Ken Leung, Jeananne Goossen, Robert Bailey Jr and Brigid Brannagh starring. The project heated up...

The Academy announced today that eleven live-action shorts will advance in the voting process for the 85th Oscars. A tie in nominations balloting resulted in eleven films, as opposed to ten, for the shortlist. 125 films originally qualified for this category. Full list below. Listed in alphabetical order: “A Fábrica (The Factory),” Aly Muritiba, director (Grafo Audiovisual) “Asad,” Bryan Buckley, director, and Mino Jarjoura, producer (Hungry Man) “Buzkashi Boys,” Sam French, director, and Ariel Nasr, producer (Afghan Film Project) “Curfew,” Shawn Christensen, director (Fuzzy Logic Pictures) “Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw),” Tom Van Avermaet, director, and Ellen De Waele, producer (Serendipity Films) “Henry,” Yan England, director (Yan England) “Kiruna-Kigali,” Goran Kapetanovic, director (Hepp Film Ab) “The Night Shift Belongs to the...

On June 9th at the Bloor Cinema, you can catch a three-pronged program of ghastly shorts entitled The Night Shift. Part of the Cfc Worldwide Short Film Festival (running from the 5th to the 10th) and co-presented by Fantasia, it showcases the latest and gnarliest in international work, from Toronto to Estonia. The full program is below; for more on the fest, visit their site.

Dependents

Reliant on others for support and sustenance: brother, mummy, granny, zombie

Requiem For A C.H.U.D.

D: Stephen Strubbs | Canada | 2011 | 6 minutes | Fiction | Toronto Premiere

A Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller seeks retribution after a traumatic death in the family. Forget an eye for an eye…

I Am Your Grandma

D: Jillian Mayer | United States | 2011 | 1 minute | Experimental | Canadian Premiere

In the future, you get love by video. An uproarious vlog dedicated to an unborn grandchild.

Odette

D: Nicolas Bacon | Canada | 2011 | 10 minutes | Fiction | Toronto Premiere

A whiny,...

Each weekend we include independent horror news sent our way. If you want to be featured in our next spotlight feature, send us an email.

Underneath The Juniper Tree: The children’s literature magazine releases it’s November issue this coming week:

“Come celebrate Día de los Muertos with us! Continue reading the newest installments of our serial stories: The Beast and I, Royally Beheaded with Lady Jane Grey, Headless Dieder, and the the Daughters of Csucskari: watch as they take brutal revenge on their father’s killers. We have a slew of new stories about viciously evil Catrina Dolls, homicidal grandpas, exploding body parts, violins made out of dead man’s bone, and of course, classic ghost stories and murderous legends.”

For more information on Underneath The Juniper Tree, visit: http://underneaththejunipertree.com/

Total Skull Halloween Promo Video: Sheri Moon Zombie’s official clothing line, Total Skull, has...

Welcome back to Killer Film’s New Release Tuesday for October 25th! Some of the releases are making it to DVD or Blu-ray for the first time, but some are re-releases, so keep in mind that there could be multiple releases for certain titles. Before we get to these releases, let us remind you that by ordering through our site, you not only get the best deals around from Amazon, but clicking on a cover and purchasing from our link will help us out at no extra cost to you! It’s what keeps us killer!

Captain America: The First Avenger

(Formats: Blu-ray/DVD)

Jason says: Looks solid. Buy

Donny says: One of the best Marvel movies. Buy

Jurassic Park Ulitmate Trilogy

(Formats: Blu-ray/DVD)

Jason says: I only liked Jurassic Park, the sequels blew. Rent

Donny says: I’m a fan. Buy

Attack the Block

(Formats: Blu-ray/DVD)

Jason says: Buy it baby!

Casualty bosses are marking the show's 25th anniversary by inviting viewers to vote for their favourite episode of the BBC medical drama. From today, fans can log on to the official Casualty website and pick out the best ever instalment of the programme from a shortlist of ten classics. The ten episodes on the shortlist, which were chosen by Casualty's producers, are as follows: Series 1, episode 15, 1986

Closure by Paul Unwin and Jeremy Brock.

The night shift goes on strike to protest about closure. Series 7, episode 24, 1993

Boiling Point by Peter Bowker.

Riot and arson in the Ed. Series 12, episode 17, 1998

The Golden Hour by Barbara Machin.

Motorway pile-up. Series 12, episode 22, 1998

Love Me Tender by Tony Lindsay.

Tina admits to Eve that she was raped. Series 18, episode 1, 2004

End Of The Line by Ann (more)...

Hi everyone, Long-time lurker here. I wanted to share some info about a low budget indie feature Im working on at the moment called The Night Shift. Its about an undead cemetery caretaker, Rue Morgan, and his misadventures keeping the cemetery and its residents safe from the forces of evil while he pines for a second chance at life and the affections of the very much alive day-shifter, Claire Rennfield. The film is a horror-adventure-com…...

I'm sure we must have some night shift workers out there reading Dread Central. You know how sometimes you drag yourself into work feeling like a zombie? Well, the makers of The Night Shift know the feeling so well they've based an entire film around it.

The Night Shift is a horror-comedy which was recently picked up by R-Squared Films and is due for DVD release on October 25. It's a tongue-in-cheek film about the rigors of being undead, guarding a cemetery and (believe it or not) trying to get the girl. (Are you kidding me, are we still doomed to chase tail post-mortem? Dammit, I was hoping to be over it by then).

This sounds like an entertaining, Cemetery Man-like film. Read on for more info on the upcoming release.

From the Press Release

Fighting Owl Films is pleased to announce that The Night Shift has been acquired by R-Squared Films for distribution.

Unbelievably, Dimension Extreme is getting ready to release a ninth "Children of the Corn" title in August, 2011! For those of you keeping track, there has been Children of the Corn (1984), Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice (1992), Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest (1995), Children of the Corn: The Gathering (1996), Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror (1998), Children of the Corn 666: Isaac's Return (1999) and the list goes on and on and on! All of these films are very loosely based on a short story from Stephen King's horror anthology The Night Shift (1979). Since then, there have been hours and hours of films, including a television movie, dedicated to these maize loving characters. Now, Dimension will try to capitalize on a theme that surely must be losing steam with Children of the Corn: Genesis, which will go straight to DVD. As well, the title seems to state...

Having had the chance to review Fighting Owl Films zombie short The Night Shift a few years ago, I was enthused to receive an email containing a proposal to check out the crews first feature length picture; a thoroughly fleshed out rendition of the short by the same moniker. For those who missed the well-received short (thats garnered a few thousand hits on dailymotion.com already), the general direction of the story follows an undead cemet…...