‘Cold Case’
Despite a strong performance up against ‘Criminal Minds’ last week, the plummeting ratings last night is the reason that the show will be pulled after next week’s episode.

Episode 7 of the current season will air as planned on Wednesday 17th February at 8:30pm but then the show is on hiatus with no return plans as yet.

‘RPA’
New episodes will begin at 8:30pm on Wednesday the 24th of February.

‘Lost’
An impressive 216 000 viewers watched ‘Lost’ last night but for those of you that missed it, the two episodes plus the special will air Sunday 14th February at 10pm and Tuesday February 16th from 11:45pm on 7TWO.

Daniel Dae Kim

Daniel Dae Kim won’t be leaving the island after all. The ‘Lost’ star has landed a role in CBS’ upcoming ‘Hawaii Five-O’ remake.

Kim will play Detective Chin Ho Kelly, made famous by Kam Fong in the original series.

The leading role of Detective Steve McGarrett has yet be cast, however Australia’s Alex O’Loughlin (‘Moonlight’, ‘Three Rivers’) is still believed to be in talks.

‘Hawaii Five-O’ is being developed by ‘Fringe’ co-creators Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. Peter Lenkov (‘CSI: NY’) will serve as showrunner.

Production on the pilot will take place at the Hawaii Film Studio in Oahu, the same stages where ‘Lost’ shoots.

‘Lost’ airs 8.30pm Wednesdays on 7TWO.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Media Release

ALL WILL BE REVEALED: FINAL SEASON OF LOST PREMIERES ON 7TWO

What is the ultimate fate of the LOST castaways? What is their destiny? These are the questions the survivors of Oceanic Air Flight 815 face as LOST begins its sixth and final season on 7TWO . . .

7TWO today announced it will premiere the sixth and final season of LOST on WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10 beginning with the one-hour special Lost: Final Chapter at 8.30pm followed by a two-hour premiere of season 6 at 9.30pm.

A 2008 recipient of the prestigious Peabody Award and awarded the 2005 Emmy and 2006 Golden Globe for Best Drama Series, the final season of LOST starring Matthew Fox is set to deliver more of its signature action-packed mystery and adventure.

The global phenomenon that is LOST centres on Oceanic Air flight 815 and its crash landing on a Pacific island, leaving 48 passengers alive and stranded. The survivors included a diverse group of people from different walks of life – a doctor, an escaped fugitive, a con man, an Iraqi interrogator, a married Korean couple and a man formerly confined to a wheelchair who is now inexplicably healed. As the castaways attempted to get home, flashbacks (and forwards) illuminated their troubled lives before and after the crash, when the island they find themselves stranded on begins to slowly reveal its mysterious nature. Faith, reason, destiny and free will all clashed as the island offered opportunities for both corruption and redemption… but as to its true purpose? That’s the greatest mystery of all.

Taking viewers through the story so far, Lost: Final Chapter (8.30pm on 7TWO) will retrace the steps of the survivors from the moment they board flight 815. The crash, their bid for survival and numerous attempts to get off the island will be relived along with special character re-caps of the survivors’ lives before and after the crash.
With only 18 original hours left until the final episode airs, the countdown begins with LOST season 6 premiere at 9.30pm on 7TWO.

The island’s violent shifts through time were ended by Locke when he travelled off-island in an attempt to persuade the Oceanic 6 to return. Back on the island, the survivors’ stay in late ‘70s Dharmaville was over when their covers were blown and they were accused of aiding “The Others,” and Sayid was gravely wounded. In addition, Ben killed Jacob at Locke’s request. But since Locke’s body was found to still be inside the coffin, exactly who – or what – is John Locke? And if Juliet was successful in detonating the hydrogen bomb, was she able to reset time, allowing flight 815 to land safely in Los Angeles, or was the island destroyed along with all of its inhabitants?

**The LOST season 6 premiere will also screen on Channel Seven at 11.30pm on February 10**

Source: Seven Network

The Seven Network, in partnership with Yahoo!7, have followed through with their plans to launch a new catch-up TV portal. The service launched today, under the name PLUS7.

The service, similar to ABC’s iView, will allow viewers to catch-up on all Seven’s most popular television shows online.

The shows will be free and ad-supported with an estimated 3-4 mid-roll ads per episode. The latest episodes will become available immediately after broadcast and remain online for 7-28 days (depending on online delivery rights).

Shows currently on offer are 30 Rock, Airways, Better Homes and Gardens, Border Security, Brothers and Sisters, Castle, Cougar Town, Criminal Minds, Desperate Housewives, Flash Forward, Gangs of Oz, Grey’s Anatomy, Heroes, Home and Away, LOST, My Kitchen Rules, Parks and Recreation, Private Practice, RSPCA Animal Rescue and Ugly Betty.

Seven have yet to partner with any ISPs (unlike ABC iView), so viewers should take note of the expected data requirements per episode. A 22 minute episode will consume between 45mb and 160mb, while a 42 minute episode will consume between 90mb and 370mb.

PLUS7 can be accessed from yahoo7.com.au/plus7

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

J.J. Abrams has found his female lead for ‘Undercovers’, British actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

Mbatha-Raw will play Samantha Bloom, a former CIA agent who’s drawn back into the field along with her husband and fellow agent Steven (Boris Kodjoe).

While having appeared on several hit UK dramas including ‘Spooks’ and ‘Doctor Who’, Mbatha-Raw is new to US television scene.

Her casting in ‘Undercovers’ follows the trend with other J.J. Abrams produced projects. The writer/director/producer is know for casting relatively unknown female leads in his projects, including Keri Russell in ‘Felicity’, Jennifer Garner in ‘Alias’, Evangeline Lilly in ‘Lost’ and Australian actress Anna Torv in ‘Fringe’.

‘Undercovers’, was co-written by Abrams and fellow ‘Felicity’ writer Josh Reims.

Abrams also will direct the pilot, marking the first directorial television project since the $10 million 2-hour ‘Lost’ pilot in 2004.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Harold Perrineau and Cynthia Watros

Executive producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof have confirmed that Harold Perrineau and Cynthia Watros will return to ‘Lost’ for the shows sixth and final season.

Cuse and Lindelof made the surprise announcement at ABC’s winter TV preview on Tuesday.

Fans of the show have been longing for some resolution over Watros’ character, Libby, since she was shot dead by Michael (Perrineau) at the end of Season 2.

“So finally your Libby questions will be answered,” said Cuse. “No, they will not,” joked Lindelof.

Michael briefly returned in Season 4, but has been MIA and thus believed to be dead, since the freighter explosion at the end of the season.

Perrineau and Watros join similarly (believed to be) deceased characters, Juliet ( Elizabeth Mitchell), Boone (Ian Somerhalder), Charlie (Dominic Monaghan) and Helen (Katey Sagal), for the final season, returning Tuesday, February 2 on ABC.

The series is set to return soon on 7TWO.

Source: TV Guide

The cast of 'The Deep End'

Freshman dramas ‘V’ and ‘FlashForward’ have had their episode orders cut by one. This follows the news that ‘V’ and ‘FlashForward’ won’t be returning until March.

Other confirmed orders are:

‘The Deep End’ – 7
‘Romantically Challenged’ – 7
‘Happy Town’ – 8
‘Grey’s Anatomy’ – 24
‘Desperate Housewives’ – 23
‘Private Practice’ – 23
‘Lost’ – 18
‘The Forgotten’ – 17
‘Scrubs’ – 13
‘Better off Ted’ – 13

The remainder of ABC’s shows have 22 episode orders, ‘Brothers and Sisters,’ ‘Castle,’ ‘Cougar Town,’ ‘The Middle,’ ‘Modern Family’ and ‘Ugly Betty.’

Further, legal drama ‘The Deep End’ will take ‘FlashForward’s’ Thursday 8/7c slot after ABC announced, ‘FlashForward’ will be ‘rested’ after its fall finale last week.

David Hemingson is behind the Twentieth Century Fox drama.

Source: The Futon Critic

Nestor Carbonell

According to ComingSoon.net, Nestor Carbonell is the favourite to play Khan in the ‘Star Trek’ sequel.

While Khan isn’t even confirmed to be making an appearance in the next film — as the script is still in development — it’s believed that Carbonell would be the favourite to take over the iconic role if production began today.

Carbonell plays Richard Alpert in the J.J. Abrams’ drama ‘Lost’, so it’s entirely plausible that there’s some truth to this rumour.

Abrams has also yet to confirm whether he’d be back to direct the next instalment, however he’s already signed on as producer through his production company Bad Robot.

Source: ComingSoon.net

A scene from last season.

The sixth and final season of ‘Lost’ will be returning February 2, 2010 on ABC.

The move sees ‘Lost’ in its sixth timeslot in as many years.

As usual, a one hour clip show will precede the two-hour season premiere, finally moving to permanently to 9/8c the following week.

Returning as series regulars are Naveen Andrews (Sayid), Nestor Carbonell (Richard), Emilie de Ravin (Claire), Michael Emerson (Ben), Jeff Fahey (Frank) Matthew Fox (Jack), Jorge Garcia (Hurley), Josh Holloway (Sawyer), Daniel Dae Kim (Jin), Yunjin Kim (Sun), Ken Leung (Miles), Evangeline Lilly (Kate), Terry O’Quinn (Locke) and Zuleikha Robinson (Ilana).

Also confirmed to be returning in recurring and guest starring roles are Elizabeth Mitchell (Juliet), Ian Somerhalder (Boone), Rebecca Mader (Charlotte), Dominic Monaghan (Charlie), Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond) and Katey Sagal (Helen).

The new season will premiere early next year on 7TWO locally.

ABC ANNOUNCES THE PREMIERE OF THE SIXTH AND FINAL SEASON OF “LOST,”

WITH A SPECIAL ALL-NIGHT EVENT ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2

ABC announces the premiere of the sixth and final season of “Lost,” with a special all-night event on Tuesday, February 2. A recap special will kick off the night from 8:00-9:00 p.m., ET, followed by the much anticipated two-hour premiere from 9:00-11:00 p.m.

The series will then air in its regular time period – Tuesday nights from 9:00-10:00 p.m., ET – beginning the following week, on February 9.

“Lost” stars Naveen Andrews as Sayid, Nestor Carbonell as Richard Alpert, Emilie de Ravin as Claire, Michael Emerson as Ben, Jeff Fahey as Frank Lapidus, Matthew Fox as Jack, Jorge Garcia as Hurley, Josh Holloway as Sawyer, Daniel Dae Kim as Jin, Yunjin Kim as Sun, Ken Leung as Miles, Evangeline Lilly as Kate, Terry O’Quinn as Locke and Zuleikha Robinson as Ilana.

“Lost” was created by Jeffrey Lieber and J.J. Abrams & Damon Lindelof. Abrams, Lindelof, Bryan Burk, Jack Bender, Edward Kitsis, Adam Horowitz, Jean Higgins and Carlton Cuse serve as executive producers. “Lost,” which is filmed entirely on location in Hawaii and premiered on September 22, 2004, is from ABC Studios.

Source: ABC

J.J. Abrams

J.J. Abrams is hoping direct his upcoming spy series pilot for NBC.

Providing his schedule permits, Abrams will make his directorial return to television following two successful features ‘Mission Impossible III’ and ‘Star Trek’.

Abrams’ last television pilot was the 2004 2-hour opener of  ’Lost’, which he received an Emmy win for best direction.

Prior to ‘Lost’, he similarly directed the pilot for his spy series ‘Alias’.

‘Undercovers’, which Abrams will exec produce, has been described as a cross between ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ and ‘The Bourne Identity’.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

William Atherton, new 'Lost' recruit.

Overnight on Twitter, executive producer Carlton Cuse confirmed that William Atherton will be joining the cast of ‘Lost’ for its sixth and final season.

He tweeted:

“Damon & I are die hard fans of this impeckable actor who keeps the bar high and just signed to guest star. Life is good!” later confirming, “It is William Atherton.”

The final season of ‘Lost’ returns early next year.

Fans of ABC Studios hit series have plenty to celebrate, with a number of new titles that have just been released or are due for release over the next 2 months under the TV 4 Me on DVD brand.

This month saw the release of the Seven Network’s hit dramas ‘Desperate Housewives’ Season 5, ‘Lost’ Season 5 and ‘Brothers and Sisters’ Season 3.

November will see the release of Seven’s medical duo ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Season 5 and ‘Private Practice’ Season 2; and the final season of the short lived dramedy ‘Dirty Sexy Money’ Season 2.

You can also expect to see the release of FOX8’s popular teen dramas ‘Greek’ Chapter 2 and ‘Kyle XY’ Season 3 in November.

Finally, December is all about comedy, with the release of ‘Scrubs’ Season 8, ‘Scrubs’ Seasons 1-8, ‘Home Improvement’ Season 8 and the season premieres of ‘Smantha Who?’ Season 1 and teen drama ‘The Secret Live of an American Teenager’ Season 1.

Hit the links below for more details about each set.

21 October 2009

• ‘Desperate Housewives’ The Complete Fifth Season
• ‘Brothers and Sisters’ The Complete Third Season
• ‘Lost’ The Complete Fifth Season

4 November 2009

• ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ The Complete Fifth Season
• ‘Private Practice’ The Complete Second Season
• ‘Greek’ Chapter 2
• ‘Kyle XY’ The Complete Third Season
• ‘Dirty Sexy Money’ The Complete Second Season

2 December 2009

• ‘Scrubs’ The Complete Eighth Season
• ‘Scrubs’ Mega-Set 1-8
• ‘Home Improvement’ The Complete Eighth Season
• ‘Samantha Who?’ The Complete First Season
• ‘The Secret Life of the American Teenager’ The Complete First Season

MORE: Read about the launch of Seven’s new free-to-air digital channel – 7TWO

'Ugly Betty' headlines the new channel, launching November 1 on channel 72.

7TWO launch week schedule

Sunday, November 1

6.00pm Scrubs
7.30pm Movie: McHales Navy
9.30pm Movie: The Ringer (Premiere)

Monday, November 2

6.00pm The New Jay Leno Show
7.00pm Mel Cup Movie Special: Seabiscuit
9.30pm Movie Special: Master Spy. The Robert Hanssen Story

Tuesday, November 3

6.00pm The New Jay Leno Show
7.00pm That 70s Show
7.30pm Ugly Betty (Season 3 Premiere)
8.30pm Reaper (Premiere Double)
10.30pm Strike Force
11.00pm Last Comic Standing

Wednesday, November 4

6.00pm The New Jay Leno Show
7.00pm That 70s Show
7.30pm American Gladiators (Premiere)
8.30pm Heroes (Season 4 Premiere Double)
10.30pm What About Brian
11.30pm Commander in Chief

Thursday, November 5

6.00pm The New Jay Leno Show
7.00pm That 70s Show
7.30pm Fifth Gear (Series Premiere)
8.30pm Stargate Atlantis (Season 4)
10.00pm Strikeforce Fight Night
11.30pm Monster Garage

Friday, November 6

6.00pm The New Jay Leno Show
7.00pm That 70s Show
7.30pm Scrubs
8.30pm Lifestyle Friday: The F Word
9.30pm Fight For Life
10.30pm Lifestyle Friday: Escape To The Country
11.30pm Last Comic Standing

Saturday, November 7

6.00pm Destroyed in Seconds
6.30pm Air Crash Investigations
7.30pm Egypt
8.30pm Jamie’s Outdoor Room
9.30pm 60 Minute Makeover
10.30pm How Not To Decorate
11.30pm Last Comic Standing

Sunday, November 8

6.00pm Scrubs
7.30pm Family Movie: Kate and Leopold
9.30pm Movie: Kill Bill
11.30pm Last Comic Standing

Official show descriptions for 7TWO

Ugly Betty

7TWO presents premiere episodes of Ugly Betty. Start spreading the news! The fashion world’s beloved and terminally style-challenged not “it” girl, Betty Suarez (America Ferrera), is back and she’s packing her bags for the Big Apple! With a little help from her trusting co-worker and pregnant friend, Christina, Betty must prove to her family and the catty ego-centric fashionistas who await her every misstep that she’s all grown up and not the naive young girl from Queens any more.

Heroes

Created by Tim Kring, sci-fi drama Heroes tells the story of ordinary people who discover they have superhuman abilities. This brand new season debuts with a special two-hour episode introducing a mysterious carnival clan whose intensions are unknown, while familiar faces adjust to the new stages of their lives that will challenge their perceptions of the world and their abilities. Stars Hayden Panettiere, Adrian Pasdar and Ali Larter.

LOST

It’s been five years since Oceanic Flight 815 crashed on a deserted Pacific island enroute to Los Angeles from Sydney. In the forthcoming sixth and final season “Destiny Found”, the fate of Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox) and his fellow survivors will be revealed once and for all. See premiere episodes only on 7TWO.

24

Kiefer Sutherland stars in this Emmy award- winning drama in which the entire season takes place in one day, with each of the 24 pulse-pounding episodes covering one hour and presented in real time. “Day 8” will be framed around a peace agreement between an unnamed Middle Eastern country and the US with much of the action centred around the United Nations, which sees Jack Bauer relocate to New York for Season 8.

The Sopranos

7TWO presents the Emmy award-winning, HBO hit, The Sopranos. James Gandolfini stars as Tony Soprano, your average, middle-aged businessman. Tony’s got a dutiful wife, a not-so-dutiful daughter, a son named Anthony Jr, a pill of a mother, a hot- headed uncle, a not-too-secret mistress- and a shrink to whom he tells all his secrets, except the one she already knows: Tony’s a mob boss. These days, it’s getting tougher and tougher to make a killing in the killing business.

Six Feet Under

This hour-long series starring Rachel Griffiths takes a darkly comic look at members of a dysfunctional Los Angeles family who run an independent funeral home. With the prodigal elder son returning home for the holidays to shattering news, the family must learn to deal with the death of one of their own, while figuring out how to go ahead with the business of living. What emerges is a quirky, funny, emotional, life-affirming look at the enlightenment of a grieving American family… that happens to be in the grief-management business.

Fifth Gear

Fifth Gear is an exciting and informative motoring program presenting what’s hot and what’s not in the automotive world. Topics include the best of new car reviews, second- hand bargains and industry news with a different feature piece in every episode. Join presenters Quentin Wilson, Tiff Needell, Vicki Butler-Henderson and Adrian Simpson for an inside look at the latest offerings about to hit the road.

The Jay Leno Show

7TWO presents The Jay Leno Show hot off the satellite for the very best in comedy and celebrity guests. Recently named America’s Favourite TV Personality (2009 Harris Poll), Jay Leno made television history when The Jay Leno Show became the first-ever entertainment program stripped across primetime on US network television. Tune into see why Leno is the king of laughs.

Heartbeat

7TWO presents premiere episodes of this much loved police series which evokes the mood of the swinging 60’s in a peaceful English countryside setting. The series premiere introduces Jonathan Kerrigan, as PC Rob Walker, a new recruit at Ashfordly police station. Walker was brought up in Aidensfield but his family life was far from perfect and his father dabbled on the wrong side of the law.

A Touch of Frost

A detective with little time for red tape, Detective Inspector Frost (David Jason) solves crimes his own way. He’s grumpy, shy and difficult to work with. But at heart, Frost is a man from the old school – a street detective who prefers rolling up his sleeves and solving crimes through his copper’s instinct rather than by following procedure.

Prime Suspect

Emmy award-winning star Helen Mirren (The Queen, Elizabeth I, Calendar Girls, Gosford Park) stars as high-ranking detective Jane Tennison in this iconic and internationally successful crime series. Battling personal demons that could destroy everything she has worked so hard to achieve, she strives to solve murders in a male dominated world.

Not Going Out

This hit British comedy features flat-mates, Lee (Lee Mack) and Kate (Megan Dodds). Their easy-going, comfortable friendship is steadily moving into uncharted waters – a situation complicated by the fact that Lee’s best mate, Tim (Tim Vine), is Kate’s ex- boyfriend!

Benidorm

It’s sun and fun all the way in Benidorm, a comedy series featuring some of the finest comedic talent in the UK.

Set in the Solana all-inclusive Resort, Benidorm follows regulars and first-time holiday makers on their journeys abroad. Benidorm regulars for twenty years Jacqueline and Donald are enthusiastic middle-ages swingers who rarely leave the hotel. Known as ‘The Oracle’ because of his computer-like knowledge of trivial facts and figures, Geoff Maltby is on holiday with his mother, or PA as he calls her, but keen to hide the fact. Gavin and Troy are on their first break away together after setting up a successful hair salon.

Holby Blue

Drugs, gangs and the threat of terrorism all combine to prove that modern-day policing isn’t just about robberies and anti-social orders in this British police drama series. Holby Blue is a snapshot of policing post- 9/11; the intrepid team of officers not only have to deal with hard-nosed criminals but are also expected to help fight the war on terror on home soil.

Britain’s Best Dish

Whether a sumptuous starter, a mouth- watering main course or a perfect pudding, there is one great dish inside everyone. Britain’s Best Dish… is a dramatic and highly emotional national cooking competition, showcasing amazing amateur chefs and their delicious original dishes.

My Own Worst Enemy

Starring Christian Slater as both Henry Spivey and Edward Albright, US drama My Own Worst Enemy explores the duality of a man who is literally pitted against himself. Henry (Slater) is a middle-class efficiency expert living a humdrum life in the suburbs. Edward (Slater) is an operative who speaks 13 languages, runs a four-minute mile,
and is trained to kill. When the carefully constructed wall between them breaks down, Henry and Edward are thrust into unfamiliar territory where each man is dangerously out of his element.

Reaper

Sam Oliver’s (Bret Harrison) parents were always easy on him, letting him skate through life as a slacker. He found out why on his 21st birthday. His parents sold his soul to the Devil!

Before Sam was born, his father was stricken with a fatal illness. Satan approached Sam’s parents with a deal. He would heal his father if they sold him their first-born child’s soul. On his 21st birthday that child would have to work for him.
Now Sam must become the new Reaper, collecting escaped souls and returning them back to Hell. Also stars Tyler Labine and Missy Peregrym.

Shark

James Wood stars as Sebastian Stark, a charismatic, supremely self-confident defense attorney who, after a shocking outcome in one of his cases and a personal epiphany, brings his cutthroat tactics to the prosecutor’s office. At the end of last season Stark broke every rule in the book trying to convict a serial killer. In season two, ex-DA Jessica Devlin (Jerry Ryan) joins Stark’s team.

Tin Man

Get ready to follow a whole new yellow brick road with Hollywood stars Zooey Deschanel, Alan Cumming and Richard Dreyfuss in Tin Man, a knock-out mini-series update of the The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Tune in for hordes of winged monkey-bats, a shape- shifting dog, a cyber-punk sorceress, and a vast hidden underworld.

Rome

ROME is the saga of two ordinary Roman soldiers who unwittingly become entwined in the historical events of ancient Rome. A serialized drama of love and betrayal, masters and slaves, husbands and wives, it chronicles a turbulent era that saw the death of a republic and the birth of an empire. The series begins in 52 BC, as Gaius Julius Caesar completes his conquest of Gaul after eight years of war, and prepares to return to Rome.

Make Me a Supermodel USA

It’s time to make a supermodel in the only competition that pits the guys against the girls for a shot at modeling fame. Make Me A Supermodel follows a group of beautiful and talented men and women who will compete for $100,000 and a contract with New York Model Management.

American Gladiators

Hosted by legendary Hulk Hogan, eight competitors go head-to-head against the next generation of gladiators and each other, vying for a chance to win $100,000!

Monster Garage

Presented by motorbike customiser Jesse James, Monster Garage takes the phrase “thinking outside the box”, turns it upside down, then throws away the box. What is left is an exploration of radical design and engineering, where freethinking mechanics and engineers turn run-of-the-mill automobiles into extraordinary
utility vehicles.

Source: Seven Network

Media Release

IT’S TIME!

(Friday, October 23, 2009) Channel Seven today unveiled its eagerly anticipated free-to-air digital channel 7TWO, a broad entertainment channel set to bolster Seven’s leadership in the Australian television market.

7TWO is more of what audiences love about Seven. More drama, more lifestyle, more reality, more comedy, more movies . . . more first class entertainment, free for everyone.

The new channel will launch on Sunday, November 1, 2009 at 12noon on Channel 72.

Channel Seven’s Director of Programming and Production Tim Worner said 7TWO was created as a natural extension of Seven’s successful primary channel and would only increase Seven’s strong audience appeal.

“I am pleased to announce that 7TWO will be the new home for premiere episodes of our international hits including J.J Abrams’ Lost, Ugly Betty, Heroes and 24,” said Worner.

“We’ve been strategic in putting together a program schedule for 7TWO that allows us to grow our audience between our two channels, without sacrificing one for the other. It is a complementary relationship that will go from strength to strength maximising the opportunities for our audience and clients.”

Iconic programs including mob hit The Sopranos, much loved drama Six Feet Under and groundbreaking comedy Murphy Brown will screen on the channel alongside new, primetime episodes of The Jay Leno Show, five nights a week.

7TWO will feature the very best of British television from traditional, tried and true favourites A Touch of Frost, Prime Suspect, Judge John Deed, Rosemary & Thyme and Minder to premiere episodes of motoring hit Fifth Gear, Heartbeat, Holby Blue, Benidorm, Gavin & Stacey and Britain’s Best Dish.

Additional themed nights of programming include Action & Adventure, Lifestyle and Movies with the latter featuring an extensive catalogue of family titles from Disney’s studios.

Handpicked cooking programs from the world’s top chefs including Jamie Oliver, Curtis Stone, Rick Stein, Ainsley Harriott and Gary Rhodes will also feature on Monday to Friday afternoons.

A broad mix of new and classic programs – including Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Shortland Street, The Martha Stewart Show, Home and Away: The Early Years, Sons and Daughters, Magnum PI and Moonlighting – complete the channel’s daytime schedule.

Channel Seven also announced popular television presenter Tom Williams as the face of 7TWO.

With Channel Seven since 2001, Williams has reported for The Great Outdoors, the Torino and Beijing Olympics and co-hosted Gladiators. In 2005, he was crowned Series 2 champion of Dancing with the Stars.

Williams says 7TWO will have “something for everyone” catering to a range of TV tastes “from the weekend rev-head to the aspiring chef.”

“What I love about 7TWO is the great mix of the new and classic. I’m a big Leno fan so it will be great to be able catch that on a daily basis. And I can’t wait to see how the last season of Lost unravels.”

“It’s fair to say I’ll be booking in some extra time on the couch. I can’t wait for it all to kick off.”

7TWO is part of Australia’s Freeview digital television service. To watch 7TWO, tune into channel 72 on a high definition digital television or on an analogue or standard definition digital television connected to a high definition set top box.

Source: Seven Network

'Lost' The Complete Fifth Season

This is the dawn of the day of reckoning with destiny. Lost, the complete Fifth Season, is the suspenseful drama full of mystery and intrigue as each person, either lost or rescued, continues on their journey that will ultimately lead them to find their true destiny.

Experience one of the most groundbreaking shows in history, and discover how much better television can be on DVD.

Featuring an all-star cast, including Matthew Fox, Emilie de Ravin, Jorge Garcia, Josh Holloway, Daniel Dae Kim, Yunjin Kim, Evangeline Lilly.

The 5-disc set is rated M and retails for RRP $89.95 — out October 21 (in stores now).

Bonus Features

• Making up for Lost time
• Mysteries of the universe
• An epic day with Richard Alpert
• Building 23 and beyond
• Lost starter kit
• Lost bloopers
• Lost on location
• Deleted scenes
• Audio commentaries

'Lost' - The Final Season, 2010

TV Guide recently chatted with a few cast members of ‘Lost’, here’s what they found out.

Emmy winner Michael Emerson, being just as enigmatic as his character, promised the final season would resolve some but not all of fans’ questions.

“I don’t know if they’ll be fully satisfied or not,” said Emerson. “I don’t know if we want to be fully satisfied. I think it’s always best to go away wanting a little more.”

While Emerson wasn’t willing to divulge any juice goss, co-stars Jorge Garcia, Daniel Dae Kim, and Terry O’Quinn did clarify a few things for us, which have been bugging us since the cliff-hanger season finale last May.

First up, yep, the bomb exploded!

“Basically a bomb went off at the end of the last one and all bets are off,” said Garcia. Adds Kim: “At the end of last season there was a big explosion.” Neither of them guaranteed that the bomb was “Jughead”, but we’ll just assume it was to keep our heads from spinning.

Secondly, we haven’t seen the last of Juliet. Sources say Elizabeth Mitchell, just flew back from shooting in Hawaii and that she may return there to shoot again.

Also, despite the many rumours of all the MIA cast members returning, we mostly likely HAVE seen the last of Libby. “It looks like we’re probably not going to see Libby,” said Garcia. “They’ll probably deal with the story, but [Cynthia Watros] may not be joining us.”

Finally, whatever the writers have planned for the final season is more than worthy of the show’s past secrets and big reveals. O’Quinn promises that first episode of season six will be nothing less than “wow”.

“When I read the first script, it’s the first time in the whole series that I said, ‘Wow, that’s amazing,’” he said.

So now that we know those few tiny tid bits, what else are we expecting to find out when the final chapter graces our screens?

Source: TV Guide

Joseph Fiennes

‘Lost’ set a new precedent for serialised dramas on network television, spawning dozens of new shows, all hoping to tap into the same addictive style of storytelling.

So with ‘Lost’ wrapping up next year, it’s pretty clear ABC are hoping to keep fans invested in the network with another ambitious project.

Loosely based on the novel by Robert J. Sawyer and developed for television by David S. Goyer (co-writer of ‘The Dark Knight’) and Brannon Braga (‘24′), ‘FlashForward’ explores a mysterious global event which causes everyone on the planet to simultaneously blackout for two minutes and seventeen seconds, giving them a glimpse into their future.

FBI agent, Mark Benford (Joseph Fiennes), is mid car-chase through downtown Los Angeles when he blacks out.

Based on his glimpse into the future and corroboration with fellow FBI agents, he and his team are able to deduct that everyone’s consciousness somehow jumped forward six months during the flash forward, to the date April 29, 2010. With this vital piece of information at hand, Benford and his team begin to put together pieces of the puzzle surrounding this mysterious global event.

Ambitious is definitely a word that comes to mind after watching the pilot. It’s riddled with mystery and intrigue. The characters introduced provide a diverse range of opinions on the situation, ranging from at first what’s thought to be a terrorist attack to divine intervention.

For some, the flash forward brings something to look forward to, for others, dread. Every character’s life is thrown upside down as a result of this strange phenomenon.

Mark’s AA sponsor Aaron Stark (Brian F. O’Byrne) see his believed to be deceased daughter alive, Mark’s wife Olivia Benford (Sonya Walger) see’s herself with another man, FBI agent Janis Hawks (Christine Woods) is pregnant, despite being boyfriend-less in the present and fellow FBI agent Demetri Noh (John Cho) doesn’t see anything at all — predicting he’ll be dead in six months.

This show is definitely targeted at the same type of audience as ‘Lost’ or ‘Heroes’. The kind of fans who love coming up with different theories and drawing various connections.

There are plenty of goodies for television watchers to keep an eye out for, including an “Oceanic Airlines” billboard towards the beginning of the episode, which ‘Lost’ fans will no doubt get a kick out of.

Some may also find familiarity in the show’s score, composed by Ramin Djawadi, who’s best know for his work on ‘Prison Break’.

With such a strong emphasis on finding out answers, you really just hope the writers and producers know exactly where this show is heading. Unlike ‘Lost’, which is similar in its mysterious clue-dropping, ‘FlashForward’ has the disadvantage of its characters also trying to figure out what the hell is going on. This could be potentially problematic if the pieces don’t all fit together. It’s one thing for something to not be fully coherent as a viewer, it’s another for the story not to line up for a character.

That being said, there are plenty of great ideas here, which have potential to become truly mind blowing stuff. It’ll become more clear as the show progresses, whether this show will become the success that ‘Lost’ did.

With so many questions raised, it’s sure to have fans on the edge of their seats begging for more. But like ‘Lost’, viewers disheartened by all the mystery and lack of fast answers will most likely tune out after the initial spectacle has worn off.

‘FlashForward’ definitely has big shoes to fill, but it’s off to a great start.

4 out of 5 stars

John Hawkes and Hiroyuki Sanada

In addition to the return of numerous castaways, including Emilie de Ravin, Ian Somerhalder and Maggie Grace — some new island dwellers are set to join the cast of ‘Lost’ in its sixth and final season.

John Hawkes (‘Deadwood’), will play Lennon, the “scruffy, edgy, charismatic spokesperson/translator for the president of a foreign corporation.”

Hiroyuki Sanada (‘The Last Samurai’, ‘Speed Racer’ and ‘Sunshine’), will play a an unknown but “significant recurring” role on the island drama.

More casting details are expected to be revealed over the coming weeks, as production ramps up on the final season of ‘Lost’, premiering in January on ABC.

Source: Wikipedia and Entertainment Weekly

'The Vampire Diaries' coming soon to The CW and GO!

The season will kick-off with The CW’s sophomore drama ‘90210’. You might remember that ‘90210’ premiered to The CW’s biggest numbers in history (4.65M, A18-49: 2.6/7) but those viewers abandoned it in droves with the finale only mustering a little more than half that audience (2.49M, A18-49: 1.3/3). This is a make or break season for the remake and if it continues to shed viewers it will not only damage The CW’s brand but will have a detrimental effect on the heavily promoted freshman drama ‘Melrose Place’ 2.0. The CW is pinning their hopes on ‘Melrose Place’ and their other fall freshman ‘The Vampire Diaries’, which was inexplicably added to their Thursday line-up at the expense of The CW’s highest rating drama ‘Smallville,’ which has now been bumped to Fridays. If both ‘Melrose’ and ‘Vampire’ fail, it may well be the final year for the struggling network as CBS and WB cannot continue to run a network at a loss in this sort of climate. Elsewhere, Tuesdays will be a little dull with procedurals occupying CBS and reality on ABC, NBC and Fox. However, recently the alphabet made a late change noticing a chance to pounce in that timeslot, by pushing mid season sci-fi drama ‘V’ forward for a November 3 start.

The following night sees the fall premiere of summer reality show, ‘So You Think You Can Dance.’  Fox’s decision to air a second cycle of ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ was quite bizarre, the show captures a solid but not spectacular audience during the summer and who’s to say airing it twice a year won’t damage the franchise? Fall has always been the achilles heel for the News Corp. Network and no doubt ‘Dance’ will improve on past year offerings, but will viewers return for future seasons? The decision to move ‘Dance’ to fall was to provide some lead-in support for freshman drama ‘Glee,’ which squandered its ‘Idol’ lead in when Fox aired a sample episode behind one of Idol’s final 2009 episodes, in the ended it averaged only 9.62M, A18-49: 4.4/11.

The aforementioned ‘The Vampire Diaries’ has its series premiere on Thursday, September 10 and it will be partnered with The CW’s other sci-fi drama ‘Supernatural’. The CW greenlighting ‘Diaries’ was no surprise as they wanted to capitalise on the ‘Twilight’ and ‘True Blood’ hype. Even though ‘Diaries’ has generated a lot of negative press, initial sampling will be large but the million dollar question is how long will the audience give it? The following Thursday sees the return of JJ Abram’s latest demo hit ‘Fringe’. ‘Fringe’ will have its work cut out going up against heavyweights, ‘CSI’ and ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ which both return on September 24. ‘Fringe’s’ departure from a solid lead in indicates the confidence Fox has in the sophomore drama, however in comparison to Abram’s previous projects, ‘Fringe’ focuses less on mythology and more on individual episodes which should make it easier to follow but less intriguing to the dedicated fans. Another huge Thursday development is the movement of last year’s freshman hit ‘The Mentalist’ to 10/9c following CSI. CBS is grooming it as the next CSI, which I might add has lost a lot of steam since the departure of William Petersen, however the timeslot is somewhat of a bogey one for CBS as nothing has remained there for more than one year.

Thursdays also see the return of ‘Survivor’ for its 19th season, the 6th season of the Office, the 2nd season of ‘Parks and Recreation’ and the debut of critical darling ‘Community’ which all premiere on September 17. For those waiting for ’30 Rock’ it returns on October 15. The biggest premiere to Thursdays is ‘Flash Forward’, which is being promoted by ABC as the new ‘Lost.’  ‘Flash Forward’ looks to be the biggest show to come out of the states since ‘Lost’ and ‘Desperate Housewives’ and it comes with a lot of buzz. Just recently, the directors noted, they will need at least three seasons to complete the arc they have planned. In a nutshell, ‘Flash Forward’ follows the life of an FBI agent who investigates the reason for a mysterious event, which sees everyone blackout for two minutes and seventeen seconds, travelling six months into the future.

The following two Mondays see the return of ‘WTF’ (No, not What The Beep, but Watch This Fall) drama ‘Gossip Girl’ and veteran ‘One Tree Hill’. This fall, Dawn has decided to do a switcheroo with the two, moving her baby ‘Gossip’ to a higher household viewing time and avoiding direction competition with ‘House’. The aforementioned ‘House’ and the trouble ridden ‘Heroes’ both return with two hour premieres on September 21. It has been quite a steep fall for ‘Heroes’, if Kring can’t stop the bleeding, this might be the end of the one season wonder. The following Monday sees NBC launch their new high-octane medical drama ‘Trauma,’ a number of photos/clips for this show have being doing the rounds on the internet, so expect a large initial sampling. ‘Lie to Me’ will occupate the post ‘House’ slot as Fox tries to groom this as a replacement for ‘House’. Over at CBS, ‘How I Met Your Mother’ has been moved to 8/7c providing some lead in support for the dead on arrival ‘Accidently on Purpose’. ‘Two and a Half Men’ remains, but ‘The Big Bang Theory’ moves to the post ‘Men’ slot. ‘Bang’ was trialled in the slot late last year or early this year and maintained close to 100% retention, so look for ‘Bang’ to reach series highs again.

Wednesdays will be interesting for a number of reasons, ABC has a completely new line up with critical darlings ‘Modern Family’ and ‘Cougar Town’ occupying the key 9/8c and 9:30/8:30c timeslots. ‘Cougar Town’ follows Jules (Courtney Cox), a recently divorced single mother exploring honest truths about dating and aging in our beauty and youth obsessed culture, while ‘Modern Family’ explores the complications that come with being in a family in this day and age. The entrees ‘Hank’ and ‘The Middle’ debut the following week. ‘Eastwick’ a cross between ‘Valentine’ and ‘Sex and the City’ also debuts in the same week as ‘Modern Family’ and ‘Cougar Town’, but things don’t look good for the romantic drama.

The landscape for Fridays has completely changed; networks are finally getting aggressive with their programming. There is less reality from the other three networks which might finally give CBS’ combo of Ghost Whisperer, Cold Case and Numb3rs some headaches. Fox kicks off with a comedy hour with waiting to be cancelled ‘’Til Death’ and ‘Brothers’ followed by the ever improving and surprise renewal ‘Dollhouse’ which all premiere on September 25. The CW veteran ‘Smallville’ has been yanked to Thursdays along with the ever fading ‘Ugly Betty’.

Nothing much has changed on Sundays, with ABC’s ‘Desperate Housewives’ and ‘Brothers and Sisters’ starting on September 27. Fox has shuffled their line up knocking out the every reliable – ‘King of the Hill’, for Seth McFarland’s new, albeit belated project ‘The Cleveland Show’. ‘The Simpsons’, ‘Family Guy’ and ‘American Dad’ all return for their 21st, 8th and 5th season respectively. ‘The Cleveland Show’s’ pilot has been leaked for a while and it doesn’t look too different to ‘Family Guy’ or ‘American Dad’.

Finally, the biggest news this fall is Jay Leno moving to primetime, which begins daily from September 14, 10/9c. All eyes will be on the ratings for ‘The Jay Leno Show,’ but NBC isn’t expecting much, as long as it remains profitable, NBC will be satisfied. Jay Leno recently said he doesn’t expect his show to beat first run CSI, but hopes to push CSI repeats to the limit. The format of the show is: Leno will begin with a 10 second opening sequence which leads into a monologue. He will have at least one special guest a night and music will come from multiple acts. Jaywalking and newspaper headlines will be held until the end of the show to give News affiliates a strong lead in. Leno also gave us a snippet of the ‘Green Car Challenge’ where you can see, as Leno puts it, “who is faster, Shaquille O’Neal or Cameron Diaz.” There will be pre-recorded segments from D.L Hughley and Rachel Harris.As always, this is will be an interesting fall, with networks trying something different.

I hope everyone enjoys the fall TV season and wish for everyone’s favourite TV show to survive.

Premiere Dates

• ‘90210’ 2nd Season Premiere September 8
• ‘Melrose Place’ Series Premiere September 8
• ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ Fall Premiere September 9
• ‘Glee’ Series Premiere September 9
• ‘The Vampire Diaries’ Series Premiere September 10
• ‘Supernatural’ 5th Season Premiere September 10
• ‘One Tree Hill’ 7th Season Premiere September 14
• ‘Gossip Girl’ 3rd Season Premiere September 14
• ‘The Jay Leno Show’ Series Premiere September 14
• ‘The Beautiful Life’ Series Premiere September 16
• ‘Bones’ 5th Season Premiere September 17
• ‘Survivor’ 19th Season Premiere September 17
• ‘Parks and Recreation’ 2nd Season Premiere September 17
• ‘Fringe’ 2nd Season Premiere September 17
• ‘The Office’ 6th Season Premiere September 17
• ‘Community’ Series Premiere September 17
• ‘Heroes’ 4th Season Premiere September 21
• ‘House’ 6th Season Premiere September 21
• ‘How I Met Your Mother’ 5th Season Premiere September 21
• ‘Accidently on Purpose’ Series Premiere September 21
• ‘Two and a Half Men’ 7th Season Premiere September 21
• ‘The Big Bang Theory’ 3rd Season Premiere September 21
• ‘Castle’ 2nd Season Premiere September 21
• ‘CSI: Miami’ 8th Season Premiere September 21
• ‘NCIS’ 7th Season Premiere September 22
• ‘The Goode Wife’ Series Premiere September 22
• ‘The Forgotten Series’ Premiere September 22
• ‘Mercy’ Series Premiere September 23
• ‘Criminal Minds’ 5th Season Premiere September 23
• ‘Modern Family’ Series Premiere September 23
• ‘Cougar Town’ Series Premiere September 23
• ‘Eastwick’ Series Premiere September 23
• ‘Flash Forward’ Series Premiere September 24
• ‘The Mentalist’ 2nd Season Premiere September 24
• ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ 6th Season Premiere September 24
• ‘Brothers’ Series Premiere September 25
• ‘Smallville’ 9th Season Premiere September 25
• ‘Dollhouse’ 2nd Season Premiere September 25
• ‘The Amazing Race’ 15th Season Premiere September 27
• ‘The Simpsons’ 21st Season Premiere September 27
• ‘The Cleveland Show’ Series Premiere September 27
• ‘Desperate Housewives’ 6th Season Premiere September 27
• ‘Brothers and Sisters’ 4th Season Premiere September 27
• ‘Family Guy’ 8th Season Premiere September 27
• ‘American Dad’ 5th Season Premiere September 27
• ‘Lie to Me’ 2nd Season Premiere September 28
• ‘Trauma’ Series Premiere September 28
• ‘Hank’ Series Premiere September 30
• ‘The Middle’ Series Premiere September 30
• ‘Private Practice’ 3rd Season Premiere October 1
• ‘Ugly Betty’ 4th Season Premiere October 9
• ‘30 Rock’ 4th Season Premiere October 15
• ‘V’ Series Premiere November 3
• Cable Premiere Dates
• ‘Dexter’ 4th Season Premiere September 27
• ‘Californication’ 3rd Season Premiere September 27
• ‘Stargate Universe’ Series Premiere October 2
• ‘Sanctuary’ 2nd Season Premiere October 9

If you’re like me and are a massive ‘Lost’ fan, then sit back and enjoy the entire panel session for ‘Lost’ at Comic-Con 2009.

Executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse are joined by special guests Jorge Garcia, Michael Emmerson, Josh Holloway and Nestor Carbonell.

'Lost' castaways Jorge Garcia, Josh Holloway and Evangeline Lilly.

Juliet Burke and Daniel Faraday will be back on the island next season. That’s just one of the tidbits revealed at Comic-Con over the weekend.

The announcement puts to rest months of speculation after the apocalyptic cliff-hanger season finale in May.

In addition to the return of these two fan favourites, some other castaways who’ve been MIA for some time now are also set to return to the island.

“There’s a good chance you’ll be seeing many characters you haven’t seen since the first season again”, said executive producer Damon Lindelof.

Producers also said that the final season will in some ways resemble the first.

“(Characters) were running around the jungle, things felt intense and surprising”, said executive producer Carlton Cuse. “We have a way that we’re going to be able to do that in the final season too”.

Fans should also expect something different next season, as it’ll employ a new narrative device that’s unique to the show’s final season.

“The time travel season is over, the flash forward season is over”, Lindelof said. “We’re going to do something different”.

Whatever this new “narrative device” is,  if it’s anything like the previous revelations on the show, it’s sure to be equally if not even more surprising.

‘Lost’ will return for it’s sixth and final season next year.

Jump over to the blogs to watch the ‘Lost’ panel from Comic-Con.

Source: Variety

You can relive the adventures of your favorite island-dwellers on DVD and Blu-ray this December.

Lost: The Complete Fifth Season will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on December 8. This new five-disc set will contain all 17 episodes from the season and the standard DVD set will be priced at U.S.$59.99 SRP while the Blu-ray set will be priced at U.S.$65.99 SRP.

There will also be a Limited Edition DVD Gift Set that will come in Dharma Initiative packaging that will be priced at U.S.$119.99 SRP. and you can take a look at the cover art for all these new sets below. The series stars Matthew Fox, Naveen Andrews and Terry O’Quinn.

The show that revolutionized primetime proves once again why it is television’s most addictive and creative series, as the epic story of Lost twists, turns and spirals through time in its brilliant fifth season. Destiny sends the Oceanic 6 back to the Island and into the heart of the enigmatic Dharma Initiative. The reason they had to return and the fate of all those who were left behind is revealed as the momentum builds toward the much anticipated series finale in 2010.

Special Features

• Exclusive cast interviews
• Deleted Scenes
• Behind-the-scenes featurettes
• Blu-ray Exclusive content

(Details subject to change)

Source: Movieweb

Brothers & Sisters

“Brothers & Sisters” continues to follow the California-based Walker family through the complicated maze of American life today. The compelling one-hour drama series is about a collection of five enmeshed and somewhat damaged adult siblings, their spouses and their strong and passionately devoted mother, Nora Holden (Oscar and Emmy Award winner Sally Field).

The Walkers’ lives have not been without challenge; romance, parenting, divorce, infidelity, addiction, war, birth and even death have pushed each of them to the limit, but they continue to work toward living their lives as individuals, while loving each other unconditionally and trying to maintain some semblance of normalcy after the loss of their larger-than-life family patriarch, William Walker.

“Brothers & Sisters” stars Dave Annable as Justin Walker, Maxwell Perry Cotton as Cooper Whedon, Kerris Lilla Dorsey as Paige, Sally Field as Nora Holden, Calista Flockhart as Kitty Walker, Balthazar Getty as Thomas Walker, Rachel Griffiths as Sarah Whedon, Rob Lowe as Senator Robert McCallister, Sarah Jane Morris as Julia Walker, Matthew Rhys as Kevin Walker, Ron Rifkin as Saul Holden, Emily VanCamp as Rebecca Harper and Patricia Wettig as Holly Harper.

The series produced by ABC Studios. Ken Olin (“Alias,” “thirtysomething”), Greg Berlanti (“Dirty Sexy Money,” “Everwood”), Monica Owusu-Breen (“Alias”), Alison Schapker (“Alias”), Sarah Caplan and Molly Newman are executive producers.

Castle

When viewers first met Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) — a famous mystery novelist and divorced father raising his teenage daughter (Molly Quinn as Alexis), while being kept grounded by his Broadway diva mother (Susan Sullivan as Martha Rodgers) — he was bored with his own success. He then found out that a real-world killer was staging murder scenes depicted in his novels. Castle was questioned by NYPD Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic), a bright and aggressive detective who kept her investigations under tight reins, especially the years-old unsolved murder of her own mother. Though they instantly clashed, sparks of another sort began to fly, leading both to danger and a hint of romance as Castle stepped in to help find the copycat killer. Once that initial case was solved, together Castle and Beckett built on their new relationship investigating more strange homicides in New York as much fun as one could have with death and murder. In the season finale, Castle, against Beckett’s direct order to stay out of her mom’s case, unearthed information in that homicide which may end his relationship with her forever.

Also starring in the series are Ruben Santiago-Hudson as NYPD Captain Roy Montgomery, Tamala Jones as Medical Examiner Lanie Parish, Jon Huertas as NYPD Detective Javier Esposito and Seamus Dever as NYPD Detective Kevin Ryan.

“Castle” is produced by ABC Studios. Andrew Marlowe serves as executive producer/writer, along with executive producers Rob Bowman, Armyan Bernstein and Laurie Zaks.

Desperate Housewives

After jumping five years ahead into the lives of the women of Wisteria Lane, critically acclaimed series “Desperate Housewives” returns for its sixth season on ABC. Susan (Teri Hatcher) and Mike (James Denton) are brought together by their worst fears; Lynette’s (Felicity Huffman) unexpected pregnancy tests her family; as Bree’s (Marcia Cross) marriage dissolves, she finds herself in the arms of another man; Gabrielle (Eva Longoria Parker) is in for a surprise when she and Carlos (Ricardo Antonio Chavira) welcome their niece into their home; and Katherine (Dana Delany) struggles over the thought of losing Mike.

“Desperate Housewives” stars Teri Hatcher as Susan Mayer, Felicity Huffman as Lynette Scavo, Marcia Cross as Bree Hodge, Eva Longoria Parker as Gabrielle Solis, Ricardo Antonio Chavira as Carlos Solis, Doug Savant as Tom Scavo, Kyle MacLachlan as Orson Hodge, Dana Delany as Katherine Mayfair, Shawn Pyfrom as Andrew Van De Kamp, Brenda Strong as Mary Alice Young, James Denton as Mike Delfino, Charlie Carver as Porter Scavo, Max Carver as Preston Scavo, Joshua Moore as Parker Scavo, and Kendall Applegate as Penny Scavo.

Marc Cherry serves as executive producer and creator. Sabrina Wind, George Perkins, Larry Shaw and David Grossman are executive producers. “Desperate Housewives” is produced by ABC Studios and is the winner of both the 2005 and 2006 Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series Musical or Comedy.

Grey’s Anatomy

“Grey’s Anatomy” is the recipient of the 2007 Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series Drama, and multiple Emmy nominations including two for Outstanding Drama Series.

The doctors of Seattle Grace Hospital deal with life-or-death consequences on a daily basis – it’s in one another that they find comfort, friendship and, at times, more than friendship. Together they’re discovering that neither medicine nor relationships can be defined in black and white. Real life only comes in shades of grey.

“Grey’s Anatomy” stars Ellen Pompeo as Meredith Grey, Patrick Dempsey as Derek Shepherd, Sandra Oh as Cristina Yang, Katherine Heigl as Isobel “Izzie” Stevens, Justin Chambers as Alex Karev, T.R. Knight as George O’Malley, Chandra Wilson as Miranda Bailey, James Pickens, Jr. as Richard Webber, Sara Ramirez as Callie Torres, Eric Dane as Mark Sloan, Chyler Leigh as Lexie Grey and Kevin McKidd as Owen Hunt.

“Grey’s Anatomy” was created and is executive produced by Shonda Rhimes (“Introducing Dorothy Dandridge”). Betsy Beers (“Casanova”), Mark Gordon (“Saving Private Ryan”), Krista Vernoff (“Law & Order”), Rob Corn (“Chicago Hope”), Mark Wilding (“Jake: 2.0″) and Allan Heinberg (“The O.C.) are executive producers. “Grey’s Anatomy” is an ABC Studios production.

LOST

After Oceanic Air flight 815 tore apart in mid-air and crashed on a Pacific island, its survivors were forced to find inner strength they never knew they had in order to survive. But they discovered that the island holds many secrets, including a mysterious smoke monster, polar bears, housing and hatches with electricity and hot & cold running water, a group of island residents known as “The Others,” and a mysterious man named Jacob. The survivors have also found signs of those who came to the island before them, including a 19th century sailing ship called The Black Rock, a downed Beechcraft plane from a failed drug run, the remains of an ancient statue, as well as bunkers belonging to the Dharma Initiative — a group of scientific researchers who inhabited the island in the recent past. They also encountered a freighter stationed off the island that some thought would lead to their rescue, but ultimately almost caused their extinction. The band of friends, family, enemies and strangers must continue to work together against all odds if they want to stay alive. But as they have discovered during their journey, nothing is what it seems, and danger and mystery loom behind every corner, with even those they thought could be trusted turning against them. Even heroes have secrets.

“Lost” stars Naveen Andrews as Sayid, Henry Ian Cusick as Desmond, Michael Emerson as Ben, Matthew Fox as Jack, Jorge Garcia as Hurley, Josh Holloway as Sawyer, Daniel Dae Kim as Jin, Yunjin Kim as Sun, Ken Leung as Miles, Evangeline Lilly as Kate, Elizabeth Mitchell as Juliet and Terry O’Quinn as Locke.

A 2008 recipient of the prestigious Peabody Award, “Lost” was created by Jeffrey Lieber and J.J. Abrams & Damon Lindelof. Abrams, Lindelof, Bryan Burk, Jack Bender, Edward Kitsis, Adam Horowitz and Carlton Cuse serve as executive producers. “Lost,” which is filmed entirely on location in Hawaii and premiered on September 22, 2004, is from ABC Studios.

Private Practice

From Shonda Rhimes, the Golden Globe-winning creator of “Grey’s Anatomy,” comes a story about finding a way to begin the rest of your life. Addison Forbes Montgomery is a renowned neonatal surgeon at the pinnacle of her profession. Having left behind Seattle Grace Hospital and a broken marriage, Addison has moved to Los Angeles for sunnier weather and happier possibilities. Now reunited with her friends from medical school, Naomi and Sam Bennett, Addison has joined their co-op practice at Oceanside Wellness Group in Santa Monica. The practice’s resident pediatrician is Dr. Cooper Freedman, Dr. Pete Wilder is the alternative medicine specialist, psychiatrist Dr. Violet Turner and office manager/nurse, William Dell Parker, round out the tightly knit group of professionals. The doctors of Oceanside work together to find solutions to their patients’ needs, but along the way they encounter medical cases that challenge their ethical and moral ideals and their abilities as doctors. For Addison, an old friend’s invitation has brought her to a new city and a new life full of promise – now it’s up to her to take chances in dating and find her place in this new medical environment. At Oceanside Wellness Group, the doctors are dedicated pros; it’s their private lives that need a little practice.

“Private Practice” stars Kate Walsh as Dr. Addison Forbes Montgomery, Tim Daly as Dr. Pete Wilder, Audra McDonald as Dr. Naomi Bennett, Paul Adelstein as Dr. Cooper Freedman, KaDee Strickland as Dr. Charlotte King, Chris Lowell as William Dell Parker, with Taye Diggs as Dr. Sam Bennett and Amy Brenneman as Dr. Violet Turner.

“Private Practice” was created and is executive-produced by Shonda Rhimes. Betsy Beers, Mark Gordon, Mark Tinker, Jon Cowan and Robert Rovner are executive producers. The series is produced by ABC Studios.

Ugly Betty

In the superficial world of high fashion, image is everything. Styles come and go, and the only constants are the super thin beauties who wear them. How can an ordinary girl from Queens possibly fit in? Sweet, intelligent, hard-working and undoubtedly fashion-challenged, Betty Suarez dreams of a successful career in magazine publishing. After taking a job at Mode Magazine, the bible of the fashion industry, Betty’s indomitable spirit and bright ideas win over the respect of her Mode cohorts despite continuous predictions of failure. She thrives in the ultra-competitive environment in spite of her lack of fashion sense. Betty forms an unlikely team with her boss, Daniel Meade, the co-editor in chief of Mode Magazine, as they help one another navigate the choppy waters of NYC’s shark infested fashion scene. Now she must prove that she is not just a super assistant with no fashion sense, but an aspiring career woman and editor-to-be while balancing her tumultuous love life and her family responsibilities.

“Ugly Betty” stars America Ferrera as Betty Suarez, Eric Mabius as Daniel Meade, Vanessa Williams as Wilhelmina Slater, Ana Ortiz as Hilda, Tony Plana as Ignacio, Becki Newton as Amanda, Mark Indelicato as Justin, Michael Urie as Marc and Judith Light as Claire Meade.

Based on “Yo Soy Betty La Fea,” the groundbreaking Colombian telenovela that became an international phenomenon, “Ugly Betty” is from ABC Studios. The series has been awarded the Golden Globe, Peabody, NAACP, ALMA, GLAAD and Imagen awards and earned 3 Emmy awards and 17 nominations. Executive producers are Silvio Horta (“Urban Legend”), Academy Award-nominee and Emmy Award winner Salma Hayek, Jose Tamez, Richard Heus, Ben Silverman, Teri Weinberg, Tracy Poust and Jon Kinnally.

Better Off Ted

“Better Off Ted” is a satirical office comedy about successful good guy, Ted, who runs research and development at the morally questionable Veridian Dynamics. No achievement is too far-fetched and no invention too unorthodox for Veridian. Need cow-less meat grown in a test tube? Done. Need pumpkins that also double as weapons of mass destruction? No problem. Ted’s a single dad to a seven-year-old girl, and he loves his job, but he’s starting to take a closer look at the company’s extremely dubious practices. Do you manufacture the best teeth whitener ever if it could also kill off all of the planet’s fish? Probably not, but…

Ted’s also fighting an attraction to co-worker Linda, who enjoys small acts of rebellion against Veridian (she’s secretly stealing and hoarding all the company’s creamer packets). But he holds back about his true feelings. He’s already had his self imposed “one office affair” with berboss Veronica. Incredibly beautiful (if seemingly devoid of conscience and also emotion-free), Veronica lets nothing get in her way when it comes to serving Veridian’s needs even if it means doing something like cryogenically freezing an employee for testing purposes. And after all, the employee, research scientist Phil, survived (after he thawed out). So what if he screams like an eagle at the slightest provocation? He and his best friend, fellow research scientist Lem, are both geniuses and when they’re not bickering, they’re responsible for many of Veridian’s miracles of weird science.

“Better Off Ted” stars Jay Harrington as Ted, Portia de Rossi as Veronica, Andrea Anders as Linda, Jonathan Slavin as Phil, Malcolm Barrett as Lem and Isabella Acres as Rose.

“Better Off Ted” is produced by Twentieth Century Fox Television. Victor Fresco (“My Name Is Earl,” “Andy Richter Controls the Universe”) is executive producer and creator of the series.

Scrubs

This irreverent and offbeat comedy received two consecutive Emmy nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2005 and 2006, and was named TV.com’s “Best of 2007″ in Comedy.

“Scrubs” focuses on the unique point of view of Dr. John Dorian, or “J.D.” (Zach Braff). After surviving his internship and residency, and year as an attending physician with his own class of unmanageable interns at Sacred Heart Hospital, J.D. is moving on to greener pastures. He continues to face many challenges in his personal and professional life trying to balance his roles as doctor, father to Sam, devoted live-in boyfriend and friend to his very quirky companions at Sacred Heart.

In its debut year, “Scrubs” was nominated for two Emmy Awards and a People’s Choice Award. It has received a total of 16 Emmy nominations, and it won an Emmy for Outstanding Multi-Camera Picture Editing in 2005 and another for Outstanding Sound Mixing in 2007. In 2004 the series was honored with a prestigious Humanitas Prize. Beginning that same year, it received three consecutive Producers Guild Award nominations, from 2004-2006.

“Scrubs” is produced by ABC Studios. Bill Lawrence (“Spin City”) is the executive producer and creator.

America’s Funniest Home Videos

“America’s Funniest Home Videos” will celebrate its 20th season when it returns in the fall. Hosted by Tom Bergeron, “America’s Funniest Home Videos” is the longest-running primetime show in ABC history and has been entertaining viewers for decades by showing what happens when adults, children and even inanimate objects are at their spontaneous best, “America’s Funniest Home Videos” has given away over $10 million in prize money and evaluated more than half a million videotapes from home viewers. Viewers wishing to submit home videos to “America’s Funniest Home Videos” should visit www.ABC.com for details.

Vin Di Bona is executive producer, with Todd Thicke and Michele Nasraway serving as co-executive producers.

The Bachelor

ABC’s “The Bachelor” is the original primetime romance reality series that offers one lucky man and 25 lucky women the unique opportunity to find true love. The new Bachelor will get to know 25 women via a series of social gatherings and exotic, romantic dates some in groups, some individually. He will introduce some of the women to his family, and will visit their hometowns for a slice of their life in an effort to determine the woman with whom he is most compatible.

“The Bachelor” is hosted by Chris Harrison and produced by Next Entertainment in association with Warner Horizon Television. Mike Fleiss and Martin Hilton are executive producers.

Dancing with the Stars

Hosted by Tom Bergeron (“America’s Funniest Home Videos”) and Samantha Harris (“The Insider”), “Dancing with the Stars” challenges celebrities from the worlds of Hollywood, sports, and beyond, to perform choreographed ballroom routines ranging from the foxtrot to the cha cha cha. Celebrities are paired with some of the top professional ballroom dancers in the world and their live televised performances are judged by renowned ballroom judge Len Goodman and dancer/choreographers Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba.

“Dancing with the Stars” is the U.S. version of the international smash hit series, “Strictly Come Dancing.” This version is produced by BBC Worldwide Americas. Conrad Green serves as executive producer and Rob Wade and Matilda Zoltowski are co-executive producers. Alex Rudzinski directs.

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

Put together one very run-down house, a deserving family, several opinionated designers, seven days and what do you get? The answer is “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” The show has won two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Reality Program, plus the People’s Choice Award for Favorite Reality Show/Makeover and the Family Television Award for Best Alternative/Reality Program. Each episode is self-contained and features a race against time on a project that would ordinarily take at least four months to achieve, involving a team of designers, contractors and several hundred workers who have just seven days to totally rebuild an entire house every single room, plus the exterior and landscaping. The lives of the lucky families are forever changed when they learn that they’ve been selected to have their home walls moved, their floors replaced and even their facades radically changed. The result should be a decorator’s delight if it can be done in time.

The design team includes team leader Ty Pennington, with designers Paul DiMeo, Paige Hemmis, Michael Moloney, Ed Sanders, Tracy Hutson, Eduardo Xol, John Littlefield, Rib Hillis and Didiayer Snyder.

“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” is produced by Endemol USA, a division of Endemol Holding. David Goldberg is Chairman, Endemol North America. The executive producer is Anthony Dominici (“America’s Next Top Model,” “The Amazing Race”).

Supernanny

“Supernanny” is in its fifth season with Jo Frost criss-crossing America, taking on some of its toughest parenting challenges. She can tame the wildest toddler, soothe the savage six-year-old and get the most difficult child to overcome problems with behavior, sleep, mealtime, potty training and other challenges that have vexed parents around the world for centuries. The series debuted in America in early 2005 and captivated the country with Jo’s practical, no-nonsense style, honed over 20 years of nannying. “Supernanny” is now an international phenomenon; it airs in 172 territories, almost all of them with Frost as Supernanny. The series has been nominated for a People’s Choice Award.

Nick Powell is the creator and executive producer of both the American and British versions of the show. Nick Emmerson and Stephanie Schwam are executive producers of the American version. “Supernanny” is produced by Shed Media US.

True Beauty

What makes a person truly beautiful? From executive producers Tyra Banks (“The Tyra Banks Show,” “America’s Next Top Model”) and Ashton Kutcher (executive producer of “Punk’d” and “Beauty and the Geek”), beauty is redefined in the popular ABC series “True Beauty.”

Gorgeous female and handsome male contestants assume they’re being judged solely on their outer appearance, but they’re only half right; outer beauty is just one component the judges are looking for. Contestants, unbeknownst to them, are also being evaluated for their INNER beauty as they’re tested in challenging situations that require them to make moral decisions.

Each episode will showcase an outer beauty and an inner beauty challenge, during which contestants will be judged on everything from how well they perform in photo shoots to how well they respect their elders. The three judges will observe and critique the contestants’ behavior and eliminate one person each week. Only after someone is eliminated will the truth about the show be revealed to him/her, as they watch a video montage of their behavior captured by a hidden camera during the shoot. At the end of eight episodes, one winner will be declared, a person who is truly beautiful inside and out. That person will receive a cash prize and a spot in PEOPLE magazine’s 100 Most Beautiful People issue.

Executive producers of “True Beauty” are Denise Cramsey (“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”), Tyra Banks and Laura Armstrong for Bankable Productions, and Ashton Kutcher, Jason Goldberg, Karey Burke and Rod Aissa for Katalyst Productions. The series is a production of Warner Horizon Television.

Wife Swap

Each week two very contradictory families from across the country participate in a two-week-long challenge: The wives exchange husbands, children and lives (but not bedrooms) to discover daily life in another woman’s shoes. This astonishing experiment repeatedly changes lives and redefines families.

In the first week of the swap, the wives move in and adopt their new family’s lifestyle, no matter how different it may be. They agree to follow a manual written by the departing wife that sets out the rules of their new household how they parent, shop, do the house work, manage their budgets and their social life. In the second week, everything changes. The new wives take charge. They introduce their own set of rules and get to run the new household their way. It’s a radical shock to both families. The results are explosive, enlightening, emotional and often comical.

At the end of the show, the two couples meet for the first time. In a highly-charged exchange of views, both couples make a frank assessment of each other and talk about what they’ve learned from the experience.

“Wife Swap” is an RDF USA production. The show was created by Stephen Lambert and is executive-produced by Mike Gamson, and Michael Davies of Embassy Row (“Who Wants to be a Millionaire”). Neil Regan, Julie Cooper and Will Nothacker are co-executive producers.

20/20

ABC News’ acclaimed series “20/20″ has distinguished itself as one of the most esteemed news programs in broadcast journalism. Amid the heated, competitive environment of primetime entertainment, “20/20″ has demonstrated its ability to consistently attract a significant segment of the viewing audience by offering viewers more choices and more chances to learn about the world around them. Copy/pasted from Futon Critic For over three decades, “20/20″ has continued to combine hard-hitting investigative reports, newsmaker interviews and compelling human interest and feature stories that have changes lives.

The program is co-anchored by the broadcast team of Elizabeth Vargas and John Stossel, both award-winning journalists.

Australia's Rachel Griffiths stars on ABC's hit drama series 'Brothers and Sisters'.

Staple series ‘Brothers and Sisters’, ‘Desperate Housewives’, ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, ‘Private Practice’ and ‘Ugly Betty’ have all been renewed for the 2009/2010 season by ABC.

The five series join the final season of ‘Lost’ which was given a three season pick-up back in 2007.

Conspicuously, all of ABC’s current midseason programs have yet to receive a pick-up from the alphabet, including ‘Scrubs’, ‘In the Motherhood’, ‘Samantha Who?’, ‘The Unusuals’, ‘Better Off Ted’ and ‘Castle’.

Also on the pick-up list are gangbuster reality series ‘Dancing with the Stars’ and ‘The Bachelor’; as well as ’Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’, ‘Wife Swap’, ‘Supernanny’ and ‘America’s Funniest Home Videos’.

'7 is Heaven' will be the new name for daytime programming on digital channel '72'. While bizarre, not entirely unbelievable from the network with "Mr. TV Man" as their main mascot.

The Seven Network have finally put their money where their mouth is, and have announced their multi-channelling plans for the Freeview platform.

The network will launch with three distinct channels from November, including their current SD digital channel ‘7′, a re-launched ’7 HD’ and an all new ‘7 Extra’.

While speaking at the “Get ready for digital TV” forum in Sydney this morning, Seven’s CEO David Leckie said “the current economic crisis has put a lot of things into perspective. Our multi-channelling plans will address these issues.”

First up is the new HD channel. The network will continue using the ‘Seven HD’ moniker for channel ‘70′, which will be dedicate to all Australian content.

It will screen new first run lifestyle programs, time-shifted news and re-runs of Australian drama including ‘City Homicide’, ‘Packed to the Rafters’, ‘All Saints’, ‘Home and Away’ and older series like ‘Last Man Standing’, “HeadLand” and ‘A Country Practice’.

The channel will also show a simulcast of Seven’s regular channel ‘7′ in HD for select content, i.e., movies and other “must-see TV.”

Seven will re-launch ‘The Great Outdoors’, which has been MIA for some time now. Naomi Robson (‘Today Tonight’) and Charlie Delaney (‘Hi:5′, ‘Battle of the Choirs’) will be joining the travel show as globe trotting presenters.

‘Out of the Red’, is a new first run lifestyle program that will screen on the new 7HD. It will feature ‘Sunrise’ hosts, Mel and Kochie, as they help people bogged down by the current economic crisis. The new series will see the duo help families with their debts and give them tips for getting”out of the red”.

The network announced that they have several other new lifestyle programs in development which will be announced at a later date.

“Lifestyle programs are much more cost effective for us to produce in this current economic climate. The smaller budgets mean we can experiment with various concepts and ideas without breaking the bank” said Leckie. “We’ll offset our new lifestyle programming on the new 7HD with our large back-catalogue of great Aussie drama,” he added.

The network’s plans for their second standard definition channel, ‘7 Extra’ (‘72′), is a little more interesting.

In a bold move for the commercial broadcaster, the new channel will outsource its programming blocks to various content producers.

Deals have been struck with Walt Disney, Bloomberg Television, the Australian Christian Channel and various community television stations from around the country.

“By outsourcing the programming to different content providers, we’ll be able to create a diverse programming line up,” Leckie added. ”We’ve established a new shared advertising revenue scheme with the content producers, which will see lower up front costs for content.”

Each programming block will be themed depending on the content producer. The four banner names will be: ‘7 is Finance’, ‘7 is Heaven’, ‘7 is Adventure’ and ‘7 is Community’.

‘7 is Finance’ will run during the morning programming block (6 am to 11 am) and will feature non-stop finance reports from Bloomberg Television.

“Keeping people up to date with the markets is just another way we’ll be helping people during these troubled times,” said Leckie.

‘7 is Heaven’ will run during the daytime programming block (11 am to 5 pm) and will feature a schedule developed by the Australian Christian Channel. The ACC have several new programs in development including a new music program produced in conjunction with the Hillsong Church. It will be hosted by ‘Australian Idol’ winner and renowned Hillsong member Guy Sebastian.

Classic TV dramas including ‘Touched by an Angel’, ‘Joan of Arcadia’ and ‘7th Heaven’ will run throughout the week, while Sunday’s will feature live sermons from around the country.

“All of our daytime programming will be aimed at spreading hope and optimism to our viewers,” said Leckie.

“But the ‘adventure’ really begins on ‘7 Extra’ during prime-time,” he announced.

‘7 is Adventure’ will run between 5 pm and 1 am. It’ll feature content from the network’s output deal with Disney/ABC Studios. It will screen all of Disney’s classic animations like ‘Sleeping Beauty’ and ‘The Lion King’, as well as more mature content from Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures and Miramax Films. Titles will include film franchises ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’,'The Chronicles of Narnia’ and ‘Kill Bill’, as well as box office hits like ‘Pearl Harbour’ and ‘Gangs of New York’.

TV series from ABC Studios will join the ‘7 is Adventure’ block, with ‘Desperate Housewives’, ‘Lost’, ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, ‘Brothers and Sister’, ‘Ugly Betty’, ’Scrubs’, ‘Commander in Chief’ and ‘Alias’ will all be getting a re-run on the new channel. ‘Night Stalker’, ‘Dirt’, ‘Kyle XY’ and ‘Greek’ will also make the move to free-to-air under the new ‘7 is Adventure’ block.

Disney channel movies and TV series like ‘High School Musical’, ‘Camp Rock’ and ‘Hannah Montana’ will air Saturday nights under the new ‘adventure’ banner.

From 1 am to 6 am, ‘7 is Community’ will screen, with original programming from Sydney’s TVS, Melbourne’s C31 and other community stations from around the country.

“We really want to embrace the community as a source of great entertainment,” said Leckie. “The new shared revenue scheme will really benefit independent content makers and allow them to create more ambitious programs.”

‘7 Extra’ will be broadcast on digital channel ‘72′.

“As the leaders in television, our mission is to bring viewers diverse and entertaining programs.”

“We believe that we’ve come up with a great strategy for our multi-channelling line up, which will provide both variety and quality,” Leckie concluded.

So after several long months, Seven’s digital TV plans have finally been unveiled and the all-Aussie channel and the outsourced programming channel are both pretty bold ideas for the network. It’s definitely the most comprehensive and unique plan we’ve seen from a free-to-air broadcaster so far.

Too bad we’ll have to wait until November.

Oh, and by the way…April fools!

‘Star Trek’ may not even be out yet, but that’s not stopping Paramount Pictures from moving forward with a sequel.

Variety reports that J.J. Abrams, who directed and produced the new film, will be back to produce the follow-up alongside fellow Bad Robot producer Bryan Burk. No decision has been made yet on whether Abrams will direct the sequel.

The studio has also brought back Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof to pen the screenplay.

The story is still in early stages, but the trio are aiming to deliver their script to Paramount by Christmas for a likely June-July 2011 release.

“Obviously we discussed ideas, but we are waiting to see how audiences respond next month,” Kurtzman said. “With a franchise rebirth, the first movie has to be about origin. But with a second, you have the opportunity to explore incredibly exciting things. We’ll be ambitious about what we’ll do.”

Orci and Kurtzman have worked closely with J.J. Abrams ever since their writing stint on ‘Alias’, the three penned the Abrams’ directed ‘Mission Impossible III’ and co-created FOX’s ‘Fringe’.

Abrams and Lindelof co-created ‘Lost’ with fellow show-runner Carlton Cuse, all three currently server as executive producers on the ABC drama.

The world premiere for ‘Star Trek’ will be held April 7 at the Sydney Opera House, with the theatrical release set for a month later on May 7 in Australia.

J.J. Abrams attends the 'Star Trek: The Beginning' press conference at Apgujeon CGV in Seoul, South Korea.

Paramount Pictures have extended their first-look deal with J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions through 2013. The original 5-year deal was made back in July, 2006.

Bad Robot and Paramount’s first release ‘Cloverfield’, grossed over $170 million worldwide. Abrams’ upcoming ‘Star Trek’ reboot is expected to see even greater fanfare at the box office come May.

“Bad Robot has had an incredibly fun and productive collaboration with Paramount,” said Abrams. “We are all so grateful for their amazing support and creative team, and feel like we’re just getting started.”

“Today’s announcement is meaningful to me in many ways,” said Brad Grey, chairman and CEO, Paramount Pictures. “Bad Robot was one of the first deals we made to help rebuild the studio. J.J. has since become part of the fabric of Paramount and we look forward to continuing our fruitful creative collaboration for many years to come.”

The two companies will begin production on the Harrison Ford and Rachel McAdams comedy ’Morning Glory’ in June  for a 2010 release.

Abrams’ also signed first look 6-year deal with Warner Bros. TV back in 2006 which is expected to see a similar extension.

Bad Robot wasformed in 2001 by Abrams and producer Bryan Burk, and is behind TV’s ‘Fringe’, ‘Lost’ and ‘Alias’.

Ian Somerhalder has joined the cast of the CW’s drama pilot ‘Vampire Diaries’, which centres on a woman torn between two vampire brothers – one good and one evil.

Somerhalder, who placed Boone on ABC’s hit drama series, ‘Lost’, has landed to role of Damon, the smug vampire who can go from playful to evil in a split second.

The 31-year-old’s other television credits also include ‘Tell Me You Love Me’, ‘Smallville’ and ‘Young Americans’.

More casting announcements on the CW pilot include Zach Roerig (‘Friday Night Lights’), who’s been cast a jock Matt, and Kayla Ewell (‘Entourage’), who will play Matt’s sister.

Somerhalder, Roerig and Ewell join previously cast Nina Dobrev and Steven R. McQueen.

‘Vampire Diaries’ is based on the Alloy Entertainment series of books. The pilot will be produced by Warner Bros. TV, Alloy and Kevin Williamson’s Outerbanks Entertainment.

The podcast returns with the first episode of 2009. We discuss all the new and returning series, including Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities, Sunday Night, Life On Mars, Bondi Vet, Guerilla Gardeners, So You Think You Can Dance, LOST, Kyle XY, Packed to the Rafters and Ugly Betty. We also delve into the issues surrounding Freeview and make our predictions for the 2009 television season.

• The winter premiere of House netted season high figures with 14.87M, A18-49: 5.5/13 and A18-34: 4.8/13. This led into 24, which didn’t bleed many viewers from its premiere numbers, 12.04M, A18-49: 4.1/9 and A18-34: 3.3/9.

• Aided by a mammoth Idol lead in, Tuesday’s airing of Fringe received its highest viewership since its third episode (The premiere had no House lead in) with 12.093M, A18-49: 4.7/11 and A18-34: 4/10

• Lost’s season 5 premiere on Wednesday managed a healthy 11.66M, A18-49: 5.2/12 A18-34: 4.9/13 with the second hour pulling in 11.08M, A18-49: 5.0/13 A18-34: 4.6/12. The other big premiere was Fox’s Lie to Me, 13.19M, A18-49: 5.2/13 and A18-34: 5.1/13. However, the final numbers tell a different story with Lost winning in the key demos by .1 of a point.

• On Thursday, the long running battle between CSI and Grey’s Anatomy saw split leadership:
  CSI: 17.526M, A18-49: 5.0/12, A18-34: 3.2/8  
  Grey’s Anatomy: 14.251M, A18-49: 5.6/14, A18-34: 5.9/15
  But the real winner was Private Practice which continues to do a great job leading out of its sister show, 9.635M, A18-49: 3.6/10 and A18-34: 3.7/11. This is the only thing ABC has done well in the 2008/09 season.

• Finally, underrated cable show Burn Notice managed 5.1M and a 1.9 rating in the 18-49 demo. Perhaps NBC should consider moving it to their broadcast network

Source: Nielsen TV Ratings

If your as excited as me, you can’t get enough of all these Lost sneak peaks. Here’s yet another one.

Lost returns with a 2-hour season premiere January 21st, 8/7c on ABC.

• Lost season 5 premieres Wednesday 21st January

• United States of Tara a half hour comedy premieres Sunday 18th January

• Dollhouse series premiere Friday 13th February

• Castle series premieres Monday 9th March

• Reaper season 2 premieres Tuesday 17th March

• Kings series premieres Sunday, March 15

• Medium season 5 premieres Monday 2nd February

Leave a comment if you think I missed out on your favourite show.

Lost returns in 2009 on ABC and the Seven Network.

Casting has begun on the next year’s rumoured companion piece for ABC’s Lost. The sci-fi drama, entitled FlashForward is based on the Robert J. Sawyers novel, in which the entire world blacks out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds and forecasting a mysterious vision of the future.

Courtney B. Vance (Law & Order: Criminal Intent, pictured above left) has been cast as Los Angeles bureau FBI chief Stan Wedeck and Jack Davenport (“Pirates of the Caribbean”, pictured above right) will play Lloyd Simcoe, who’s trapped in Northern California when the even occurs struggling to reach his son at Southland hospital.

The pilot for FlashForward was written by David S. Goyer (Threshold, “Batman Begins”, “The Dark Knight”) and Brannon Braga (Threshold, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise). Goyer is also set to direct. The series will be produced at ABC Studios, under Braga, Jessika Borsiczky Goyer (Revelations), Vince Gerardis (“Jumper”) and Ralph M. Vicinanza (“Jumper”).

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

• The final season of Scrubs will debut on the alphabet on January 6th 9/8c, with a double episode premiere.

• Still on ABC, 20th Century Fox and ABC Studios produced cop drama; Life on Mars has been given an extra four episodes for its inaugural season. Life on Mars will go on hiatus next month with a return slated for January 28th, 10/9c. While Life on Mars is on hiatus, ABC is warming the post Grey’s Anatomy timeslot with repeats of its sister show Private Practice.

• The CW will debut popular syndicate talk show, The Tyra Banks Show, in the 2009 fall season.

• After a lot of confusion, the remaining episodes of Lipstick Jungle will air on the 5th and 12th of December, then January 2nd and 9th.

From the band who brought you two of last year’s best songs, How to Save a Life and Over My Head, The Fray are back with a bang.

The Fray will be launching their new song You Found Me alongside Lost season five. Check out the trailer.

Lost season five premieres January 21st 8/7c on ABC and later in the year on the Seven Network.

ABC’s official mid-season schedule has been released and WTF.

ABC says this schedule can still change if The Unusuals and The Goode Family don’t make it to February or March, but where on earth is Life on Mars?

Full Schedule after the break

Mondays
8:00/7:00c – The Bachelor (New Season)
9:30/8:30c – Samantha Who?
10:00/9:00c – True Beauty (New Series)

Tuesdays
8:00/7:00c – Border Security USA (New Series)
9:00/8:00c – According to Jim (New Season)
9:30/8:30c – According to Jim (New Season)
10:00/9:00c – Eli Stone

Wednesdays
8:00/7:00c – Scrubs (New Season)
8:30/7:30c – The Goode Family (New Series)
9:00/8:00c – Lost (New Season)
10:00/9:00c – The Unusuals (New Series)

Thursdays
8:00/7:00c – Ugly Betty
9:00/8:00c – Grey’s Anatomy
10:00/9:00c – Private Practice (New Time Slot)

Fridays
8:00/7:00c – Wife Swap
9:00/8:00c – Supernanny
10:00/9:00c – 20/20

Saturdays
8:00/7:00c – Saturday Night Movie

Sundays
7:00/6:00c – America’s Funniest Home Videos
8:00/7:00c – Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
9:00/8:00c – Desperate Housewives
10:00/9:00c – Brothers & Sisters

Has Sanity finally prevailed over at the ABC? An unconfirmed leak of their mid-season schedule suggests so. This will see the shuffling of numerous shows including Grey’s Anatomy spin-off Private Practice, which is tipped to follow it’s original in the mid-season, and freshman drama, Life on Mars proceeding Lost at 10pm on Wednesdays.

The rumour mill also suggests ABC Studios are planning to have multi episode crossover story lines for Grey’s and Private, during the February sweeps.

The new schedule also sees the return of the final season of Scrubs and the debut of America’s spin-off of Border Security.

Also Dirty Sexy Money fans should still have some faith as according to a couple of sources, it might be given a full season.

What are your thoughts? I would love to hear them, in my opinion it looks like a strong line up except for Mondays and Tuesdays, where anything can happen.

Entire Schedule after the break:

Mondays
8:00/7:00c – The Bachelor (New Season)
9:30/8:30c – Samantha Who?
10:00/9:00c – True Beauty (New Series)

Tuesdays
8:00/7:00c – Border Security USA (New Series)
9:00/8:00c – According to Jim (New Season)
9:30/8:30c – According to Jim (New Season)
10:00/9:00c – Eli Stone

Wednesdays
8:00/7:00c – Scrubs (New Season)
8:30/7:30c – Scrubs (New Season)
9:00/8:00c – Lost (New Season)
10:00/9:00c – Life on Mars (New Time Slot)

Thursdays
8:00/7:00c – Ugly Betty
9:00/8:00c – Grey’s Anatomy
10:00/9:00c – Private Practice (New Time Slot)

Fridays
8:00/7:00c – Wife Swap
9:00/8:00c – Here Come the Newlyweds (New Season)
10:00/9:00c – 20/20

Saturdays
8:00/7:00c – Saturday Night Movie

Sundays
7:00/6:00c – America’s Funniest Home Videos
8:00/7:00c – Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
9:00/8:00c – Desperate Housewives
10:00/9:00c – Brothers & Sisters

During the spring, newcomers Better Off Ted, Castle, Cupid, The Goode Family and The Unusuals are due to premiere.

Again, keep in mind this is pure speculation and hasn’t been confirmed. An announcement is due tomorrow morning American time and in a few hours for us down under.

Sources: Hollywood Reporter and The Futon Critic

The trailer for the new “Star Trek” movie hits theatres this weekend in the US, infront of the new James Bond flick, “Quantum of Solace”.

It’s marks the eleventh feature film based on 60’s sci-fi series, but that’s not the only TV connection. The upcoming reboot for the “Star Trek” franchise was written and directed by TV mastermind J.J Abrams (Felicity, Alias, Lost, Fringe), and fellow scribes, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (Alias, Fringe).

It stars TV’s Zachary Quinto (Heroes), Simon Pegg (Spaced), Jennifer Morrison (House), Rachel Nichols (Alias),  John Cho (Ugly Betty, Kitchen Confidential), Anton Yelchin (Huff) and Australia’s Chris Hemsworth (Home and Away). Along with Chris Pine, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Winona Ryder, Australia’s Eric Bana and Star Trek’s original Spock, Leonard Nimoy.

“Star Trek” lands in theatres May 7, 2009 in Australia. Keep an eye out for the new trailer when it hits the web next Tuesday. We’ll post a link on our blog.

Lost Airdate

America’s worst kept secret has been revealed! ABC is set to premiere season five of Lost on January 21st at 8pm. It will begin with a one hour recap episode followed by a two hour premiere at 9pm – its permanent timeslot from there on in. Also, as a result of last year’s writer’s strike, there will be 17 episodes for its penultimate season.

This move is probably the start of a major shake up in ABC’s midseason schedule. It also leaves a number of shows in limbo including Private Practice and Dirty Sexy Money, with the former being renewed a few weeks ago.

Life Is Full Of Life

Things just got a lot more interesting over at NBC. Despite low ratings, cop-drama Life has been given a back nine episode order. “This unique crime drama continues to offer consistent and compelling stories each week,” said Teri Weinberg, executive vice president, NBC Entertainment. “We love Life and are thrilled that we get to see more of these characters and amazing new cases.”

This comes as a surprise as a few weeks ago Universal Media Studios rejected NBC’s order for more episodes.

Also, has anyone else been watching season 2 of Life? Even though I’m still enjoying it, do you agree it has lost a lot of its serialized nature?

Source: Hollywood Reporter