Coming Soon to a TV Near You
The wait for more Switched at Birth is almost over! ABC Family’s surprise hit, which debuted last summer as the network’s most-watched series premiere of all time, finally returns on Jan. 3 at 8 p.m. with 22 more episodes, bringing the total to an extraordinary 32 for its first season. Check out the preview for the winter premiere on Facebook, and don’t forget to tune in on Jan. 3 for all new episodes as well as the series premiere of Jane by Design at 9 p.m.
In more good news, ABC Family has officially renewed Pretty Little Liars for a third season, EW.com reports. New episodes of the show’s second season are set to return on Jan. 2 at 8 p.m., followed by new episodes of The Lying Game at 9 p.m. Very soon, we’ll have double the lies every Monday night!
If you’re looking for get a taste of all four ABC Family winter premieres, catch this special teaser over on Youtube.
New series Smash doesn’t premiere until Feb. 6 at 10 p.m., but many critics are already thinking it may just turn NBC’s luck around after both Playboy Club and Prime Suspect failed to catch on with viewers. Take a look at the new poster (courtesy of AOL TV) and promo on YouTube to see what you think of the Broadway drama. Hint: Find the poster for ABC’s Revenge and compare the two.
TVLine also has your first look at NBC’s series adaptation of The Firm, which debutes Jan. 8 at 9 p.m. with a special two-hour premiere . Starring Josh Lucas (The Lincoln Lawyer), Molly Parker (Deadwood), and Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica), The Firm will follow 10 years after the events of the book. My question: Does this mean I need to watch the Tom Cruise movie read the book?
ABC is counting itself lucky this season that new series Once Upon a Time, Revenge, Suburgatory, and Last Man Standing were all hits with viewers, so it’s surprising there’s any room left on their schedule for more shows. Yet on Feb. 7 at 9 p.m., ABC will premiere its midseason series The River, a supernatural-adventure thriller from the creators of Paranormal Activity. Check out ABC’s first look on YouTube. Prepare, to be, scared.
FOX has released another promo on YouTube for its J.J. Abrams series Alcatraz, which premieres on Jan. 16 at 8 p.m. with a special two-hour episode before moving to its normal timeslot on Jan. 23 at 9 p.m. after House. I’ve heard nothing but lukewarm response to the pilot and trouble behind-the-scenes. Could this go down as another bad J.J. Abrams series à la NBC’s Undercovers? Somebody, hold me.
Thankfully, FOX has another midseason contender with Bones spinoff The Finder. Premiering Jan. 12 at 9 p.m., Geoff Stults is back as Walter Sherman, an Iraq War veteran with a talent for, duh, finding things. The trailer on YouTube pretty much just shows scenes from the “backdoor pilot”, but I think you get the idea.
I’ve now shared with you sneak previews for NBC’s Smash, NBC’s The Firm, ABC’s The River, FOX’s Alcatraz, FOX’s The Finder, and FOX’s Touch (Previously posted here.). Which of these new midseason dramas are you most excited about?
Welcome, Welcome, Welcome
It may be true that “Ev’ry guy here’d love to be you, Gaston,” but, according to E! Online, only Psych‘s Sage Brocklebank has been cast as the famous Beauty and the Beast villain opposite Lost‘s Emilie de Ravin as Belle in episode 12 of Once Upon a Time. Set to air on Feb. 12, “Skin Deep” will also feature Belle’s father, the Beast, and, of course, the mysterious Rumpelstiltskin. Because, really, are there any fairytales Rumpelstiltskin hasn’t been a part of yet? That guy is everywhere.
TV Development
J.J. Abrams could be coming back to teen television! Deadline reports, the film and television writer-producer-director, who got his TV start creating Felicity for the now defunct WB, has teamed up with One Tree Hill creator Mark Schwahn for Maine, a new drama pilot at the CW. Schwahn’s long-running CW drama One Tree Hill will end its final season this spring, just in time for him to setup and write this latest pilot about a hotel, its staff, and its guests. Yeah, we’re thinking there must be more to it, too.
Per Variety, HBO has greenlit a pilot based on the book The Lobotomist by Jack El-Hai. Brought to the network by Leonardo DiCaprio, after interestingly enough reading it while working on “Shutter Island”, the pilot may eventually be turned into a series. Clearly, unlike other channels that rely on viewers eyeballs to fund them, HBO is able to take more risks with its creative decisions. An entire series based around lobotomy?
Important Movie Business
The long-awaited first trailer for Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard’s mysterious horror film Cabin in the Woods is finally here. The movie was delayed in 2010 to be transformed into 3-D before being sidelined indefinitely because of MGM’s financial woes, but Lionsgate was gracious enough to resurrect it for a release date of April 13, 2012. Now all we have to do is wait. That and rewatch the trailer again and again on Yahoo!.
EW.com reports that William Hurt in talks to join the film-adaption of Stephenie Meyer’s The Host as Uncle Jeb. Every new piece of casting information for this movie just sends makes my heart soar. I can’t wait until we hear more about them filming in the new year.