“A New Pilot? A New Hope? A Prequel? A Nyquil?”

Because he explains it better than any of us can:In his own Whedonesque.com blog post, Joss lays it all out about shooting a new Dollhouse pilot, what happens to the old pilot, and the ramifications for Comic-Con this weekend.

The Kansas City Star’s TV Barn gets Whedon on audio about the whole deal too.

The Love Flows at SCC

Lena’s on the phone, but you get to see Summer Glau, Shirley Manson and more of the cast and crew.

It’s an Honor to Be Nominated

Yay for Fox’s 28 Emmy nominations! Here’s some that might interest you:
Outstanding Drama Series
House

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series
House • Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House

Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series
House • “House’s Head” • Greg Yaitanes, Director

Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour)
King Of The Hill • “Death Picks Cotton”The Simpsons • “Eternal Moonshine of the Simpson Mind”

Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming One Hour Or More)
Blue Harvest (Family Guy)

Outstanding Special Visual Effects For A Series
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles • “Pilot”

Outstanding Stunt Coordination
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles • “Gnothi Seauton” • Joel Kramer, Stunt Coordinator

Outstanding Music Composition For A Series (original Dramatic Score)
Family Guy • “Lois Kills Stewie” • Ronald Neal Jones, ComposerHouse • “Guardian Angels” • Jon Ehrlich, Music By and Jason Derlatka, Music By
The Simpsons • “Treehouse of Horror XVIII” • Alf Clausen, Music by

Outstanding Single-camera Picture Editing For A Drama Series
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles • “Pilot” • Paul Karasick, Editor

Blogging the TCA Blogs #12 - More “Dollhouse”

Hopefully this quote from the master himself will help quell some of your fears:

TheTVaddict.com: So how different is it working with the new regime at FOX, in contrast to what happened with FIREFLY?Joss Whedon: It’s a completely different energy then the last time. FOX understands what it is we’re trying to do. I understand clearly what they want. And while there’s definitely a back and forth, there’s a collaboration. Not just people glaring at each-other.
I feel really good about how they plan to position it, and their feeling about it as a concept and as a show.

Blogging the TCA Blogs #11 - “Family Guy” and “Cleveland”

THR’s The Live Feed on Star Wars/FG:

MacFarlane says that the followed up to “Blue Harvest,” an “Empire Strikes Back” parody, is nearly finished. The episode probably won’t air until spin-off “Cleveland” starts mid-season. As for what other property he’d like to parody: “Not to marginalize myself, but if Paramount would let us do ‘Wrath of Khan’ … if we could do ‘Sound of Music,’ we would do that… [’Star Wars’ worked] because our audience generally knows that movie word-for-word.”

TV Squad has more on the Star Wars ep:

Mike Henry and Richard Appel were asked if there was going to be any crossover between Family Guy and The Cleveland Show. Along with MacFarlane, they said no, though Seth said he’ll bring Cleveland back to be R2D2 in his Empire Strikes Back parody.

Blogging the TCA Blogs #10 - “Fringe”

What’s that sound, J.J.?:

The prolific writer-producer told TelevisionWeek on Monday that, yes, he has penned the theme song for “Fringe.”
The string-heavy introduction to “Fringe” came to Mr. Abrams while he was getting ready to go to bed one night.

TV Guide on helping confused fans:

“Fringe is in many ways an experiment for us,” says Abrams. “We’re trying very deliberately to do a show that doesn’t require the insane absolute dedication to a series that if you miss an episode, you have no idea of what is going on.”

Blogging the TCA Blogs #9 - More on “24″

EW.com on the potential return of a beloved/hated character:

Kim Bauer may be coming back! 24 exec producer/director Jon Cassar just revealed to me exclusively that there have been preliminary discussions about bringing back Jack’s much-maligned daughter this season. “We have talked about it,” he confirms. “But anytime we talk about Kim, we immediately say, ‘Let’s not do anything with her that will result in the audience hating her.’”

USA Today on Exile:

The movie takes place on Inauguration Day. Just as Powers Boothe’s Noah Daniels is handing the presidential reins to Allison Taylor (Cherry Jones), a military coup begins in a fictional African country.

This year’s baddie is played by Jon Voight, who appears in the movie and then resurfaces midway through the regular season.

MeeVee gets the inner struggle description from the man himself:

“It was fantastic,” said Sutherland. “When he left at the end of Season Six, he was so disillusioned by not only with what he’d done with his life but with the circumstances he confronted here in America, that there was something wonderful with the beginning of show in Africa, that he had actually found a kind of peace and a calm there with (guest star Robert Carlyle) as an old friend of his from special forces 15 years ago.

“Bobby’s character had started a school that was trying to provide a safe haven and rehabilitate the children of the African wars, children that had been involved in the fighting, many of those children ranging in age from 8 to 13. It was the first time you saw (Jack) in a place where he felt like he was giving back for a lot of things where he felt like he had been a part of the problem. This was an opportunity for him to kind of clean himself. Not only on a physical level, but on an emotional level, it was a nice fresh start for him.”

Blogging the TCA Blogs #8 - “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”

iF Magazine gets the download on Season 2:

(Executive Producer Josh Friedman) also notes that the series will be coming more self-contained vs. serialized like a bulk of Season One was. There will still be an overriding arc, but there will now be more closed-ended episodes as well.
Other info revealed is director David Nutter (who helmed last year’s pilot episode) returns for the Season Two premiere (something he rarely does for series he starts off), Cromartie (Garret Dillahunt) returns and the theme will be “evolution” according to Friedman.

After Ellen on Cameron’s arc:

…afterward I joined a group of reporters who mobbed Summer Glau, and she leaked a few more details about the next season. “I can tell you relationships do change this season,” she said. “I can’t say how, but everything is changing. … [Cameron]’s growing quite a bit, I think people are going to be surprised.”

TV Squad on John Connor:

Thomas Dekker told the critics to expect his character, John Connor, to be a little less of a weak kid this year. “He was able, but didn’t have blood in him to be a leader,” he said. “The plan was to keep him young, have long hair, go to school and be normal, his essence of youth and innocence still there. A lot of that dies at the beginning of this season. (The writers are) trying to do it subtly in the script.”

The TV Addict on SCC vs. the next film:

James Middleton was asked about the challenges about working on the Terminator TV show, and the new Christian Bale Terminator movie coming out next May, and said that they both take “cues” from the original films, but that they take the original idea and go in two different directions. Each franchise is meant to live alone, and they’re buffeted by the idea that “fate is what you make it” - i.e. these could be different alternate realities for the different characters from Terminator.

Blogging the TCA Blogs #7 - “The Simpsons”

THR’s The Live Feed with the scoop on the upcoming Seth Rogan-penned episode:

Comic Books Guy creates a superhero, it’s turned into feature film and Homer plays the hero. Seth plays Homer’s personal trainer. Homer gets into great shape, but then when the movie is over he can’t afford the personal trainer anymore and his life falls apart.

TV Squad has exec producer Al Jean answer about upcoming guest stars:

“(W)e had Mark Cuban and Jeff Bezos playing themselves with what’s probably the richest supporting cast in the history of –” which is when (Matt) Groening chimed in with the second-best line of the day: “Other than the The Simpsons cast.”

Blogging the TCA Blogs #6 - “Prison Break”

NY Post has Wentworth Miller write the show’s new tagline:

“It’s the A-Team 2008!” Wentworth said of the new season, adding, “We are seven guys with very different agendas who are forced to work together.”

And Mee Vee gets him to compare previous seasons:

“I felt like Michael was at his best in Season One. He had a clear sense of purpose,” Miller said. “And then in Season Two (after the escape), the character kind of spun out. And then when we were back inside in Season Three, he had that sense of purpose again.” So will the character spin out again now that he’s back on the street in Season Four? “No, because this time we’re being pro-active instead of reactive. He has a mission.”

Blogging the TCA Blogs #5 - “Boldly Going Nowhere”

Wanted to know what the It’s a Sunny Day in Philadelphia guys have created in Boldly Going Nowhere?Buzz Sugar’s got the deets:

Fox’s entertainment president, Kevin Reilly, described it as “The Office in space — petty jealousies and incompetencies on a long-term mission to wherever they’re going.”

Also, here’s The Futon Critic’s “first look” at that pilot.

Blogging the TCA Blogs #4 - “Virtuality”

This blog post’s headline really captures the spirit:Kevin Reilly promises a gayer, blacker FOX

“In fact, we’re in production on a pilot right now, Virtuality, that Ron Moore and Michael Taylor created. Pete Berg is directing it. And it’s got a gay relationship that is as dimensional and as honest as anything I’ve ever seen portrayed on television.”

Blogging the TCA Blogs #3 - “24″

iF Magazine gets Kiefer to talk about the 24 two-hour prequel, called 24: Exile:

“I saw trailer a second ago and it looked like a movie,” says Sutherland. “It sets up the conflict that starts in the prequel and is carried all the way through Season 7,” says Sutherland. He also notes that the two-hour prequel will be two hours in real time and that many of the characters from the prequel will be appearing in Season 7.

Blogging the TCA Blogs #2 - “Dollhouse”

After Ellen with an Eliza Dushku quote about Joss Whedon:

“Joss really gets women,” she said. “There’s a woman somewhere deep inside of him!”

TV Guide on Joss’s non-reluctance to work with Fox again:

(Fox Entertainment President Kevin) Reilly says he has seen “no skittishness” in Dollhouse creator Joss Whedon in the wake of his struggle with Fox on Firefly: “I thought, No way is that guy coming back.” But he has really enjoyed working with him. “That is a guy who has earned his reputation.”

Blogging the TCA Blogs #1

From MeeVee on the Fringe “cast”:

“Yes, the cow is now a regular,” executive producer Jeff Pinkner said drily, “but we now have a new cow because we weren’t able to travel our cow down from Canada (where the pilot was filmed). We had to recast the one from the pilot. We literally had a conversation about making up the cow, in case anyone notices the spots are different.”

From STL today on the Fringe pilot being leaked:

Viral marketing? “It’s hard to believe, but we didn’t put it out there,” says executive producer Bryan Burk, adding that they hate to have anything seen before it’s finished.

From LA Times Show Tracker on the images we’ve put out to promote the show:

The team will solve a mystery in each episode, even as they try to sort out the larger force behind the phenomena. Clues are sprinkled through the series in reoccurring images: a six-fingered hand, a leaf, smoke that reveals a secret pattern.
“It’s part of the code of the show,” (show co-creator and executive producer J.J.) Abrams said.

From The TV Addict on J.J.’s future involvement:

J.J. revealed that he’s trying to split his time between post-production on STAR TREK, while continuing to be involved with FRINGE. He co-wrote the pilot, and plans to stay as involved as he can with the writing and the story arcs and even plans on directing one of the episodes. Of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that J.J. also hoped to direct an episode of LOST for oh, the past two seasons.

From iFMagazine on the 24 prequel TV movie:

As for the story, (Fox Entertainment President Kevin) Reilly explains, “it tees off the season — it’s a separate day.”
“It’s the day of the election of the president and swearing in,” he adds. “It’s a self-contained two hours.”

Quoting Drew Carey: Cleveland Rocks!

Quoting the press release about new cast:

Sanaa Lathan, Nia Long and Kevin Michael Richardson join the cast of THE CLEVELAND SHOW.

The series follows everyone’s favorite soft-spoken neighbor CLEVELAND BROWN (voiced by Mike Henry) to his hometown in Virginia, as he settles down with his high school sweetheart, DONNA (voiced by Lathan), her unruly kids and his 14 year-old son, CLEVELAND JR.

As Cleveland settles into his new life with Donna, there are a few surprises in store for him including a rebellious new stepdaughter, ROBERTA (voiced by Long); a 5-year-old stepson who loves the ladies; as well as a collection of neighbors that includes a loudmouth redneck, LESTER (voiced by Richardson), a British family seemingly stuck in the Victorian era and a family of bears.

BAG to the Future

TV Guide gets Brian Austin Green to dig into what’s coming up in season two of T:SCC, his past on that other infamous FOX series, and his rowdy personal zoo (including his potbellied pig!).

OMG! Gawker Q&A with Joss Whedon!

The title of the Gawker post says it all.

Q. Some fans have already launched a campaign to save Dollhouse from fickle network programmers who cancel everything that doesn’t have enough fart jokes. Other fans see these organizers as casting a desperate light on Dollhouse since it hasn’t even aired yet. Do you have a stand?
A. I love the effort, but do think it tends to put us in the cheap seats.

Dollhouse, The Musical Part 2

Insiders have gotten to see Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog early and the reports are flying in.

And a “Dollhouse” musical? “I rule out nothing,” Whedon joked.

For the outsiders, it premieres online in three parts next week starting July 15th. But after the third one debuts, you’ll only have 48 hours to check it out before it’s all pulled.

Make the Fox Connection

Three actors in this scene from Hellboy II are Fox Broadcasting Company names (well, four if you count Selma Blair’s appearance on Idol, but we won’t).

Of course, there’s George Bluth. And a guest star from The Tick.

But who is playing Johann Krauss?

The Geeks Squeek

Turns out the Saturn Awards were overrun with Terminators last week!

Not only did collider.com get an exclusive with trophy gal Summer Glau, they got the Cromartie himself, Garret Dillahunt, to open upabout his geeky side.

Everybody Changes

E! has got the goods, specifically dish on the new season of T:SCC. We don’t want to ruin too much (so be forewarned if you’re looking to stay clear of spoilers!), but they managed to pry some snazzy details about what’s coming up for Cameron and the Connors.

Check out what Summer, Thomas, Garret, and creator Josh Friedman had to say over at Watch With Kristin.

Dollhouse, The Musical?

From Joss Whedon to Matt Roush on tvguide.com:

“Well, Eliza (Dushku) has a lovely voice. But first I have to make a normal Dollhouse, which is hard enough.”

Plus more goodies in the article about Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog starring the legendary Barney Stinson.

I love you, Honey Bunny

The one and only Mr. Orange (aka Tim Roth, one of the best damn actors around) makes his TV series lead debut in the one-hour pilot “Lie to Me” from writer Samuel Baum.

Roth is “Cal Lightman,” a scientist who pioneered the field of deception detection. He’s basically a human lie detector, skilled at reading the human face, body and voice to uncover the truth in criminal and private investigations. Since the character can apply the same skills to his own life, this makes his personal relationships, well… interesting.

The science is based on the real-life work of Dr. Paul Ekman.

Robert Schwentke will direct the pilot.