So much for our powers of prognostication: The new CBS series "Viva Laughlin" (which we covered last week) has been canceled, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Despite our 6.8 million viewers' deep desire to see Hugh Jackman singing and dancing every week, CBS pulled the plug after only airing the pilot and the second episode "Would I Lie To You?" That was fast enough to garner it the crown of first scripted cancellation of the 2007-2008 season, though Fox's reality series "Nashville" and the CW viral clip show "Online Nation" were felled first.
In a truly Jaunted-worthy twist, "Laughlin"'s time slot will be taken over by "The Amazing Race", starting November 4th. But that's small consolation for our musical-loving hearts.
And you thought premiere season was over! There are two premieres left before the onslaught of midseason replacements, one of which (ABC's "Sex and the City" retread "Cashmere Mafia") debuts after Thanksgiving. The other, the musical casino story "Viva Laughlin," previews tomorrow night before moving to its regular timeslot, Sunday nights at 8PM.
In "Viva Laughlin," a businessman chases his dream of opening his own casino in Laughlin, Nevada, 100 miles south of Las Vegas. (The show's based on a BBC series set in Blackpool, a seaside town in northwest England.) Ripley Holden (Lloyd Owen) won't let anything stand in his way, not even the fact that people around him are breaking into song and dance. Even if he has to ask rival casino owner Nicky Fontana (Hugh Jackman, also a producer of the show) for help, he's going to be a success--or else.
Despite its title, "Viva Laughlin" films partly in Los Angeles and partly in Cabazon, California, at the Morongo Casino Resort. Unfortunately, the casino might be closing early; "Viva Laughlin" has gotten terrible reviews (it was even named the worst show of the fall by AOL, which apparently didn't hear about "Cavemen"). But while it lasts, the Morongo gets a free ad, and Jackman fans get to see him perform a role very different from Wolverine.
Our TV Premiere Map has the shows the networks are gambling on.
Coming this fall: Jaunted gets the dirt on your favorite shows and the cities where they take place. Put down your remote and pick up your keyboard, because after tuning in to these series premieres, we'll have all the dish.
Regular viewers of the top-rated medical drama "Grey's Anatomy" know Dr. Addison Montgomery (nee Shepherd) as the cold ex of Dr. McDreamy who gradually became a sympathetic, well-rounded character in her own right. Viewers of last season's two-hour episode "The Other Side Of This Life" (recapped here and here) know Addison, played by Kate Walsh, was contemplating a move to Los Angeles after visiting a clinic there run by friends of hers from med school. Critics dumped on this "back-door pilot," but ABC judged Walsh worthy of her own spin-off, "Private Practice," which premieres tonight at 9PM.
It's only natural that the Seattle Grace doctor most satisfied with her life be forcibly ejected from the prime-time soap and given her own spin-off, but at least "Private Practice" trades the foggy skies of western Washington for dry and sunny California. Addison, an OB/GYN, joins a private "wellness center" co-run by exes Naomi Bennett (Audra McDonald) and Sam Bennett (Taye Diggs). Along with adjusting to her new responsibilities, Addison must adjust to her quirky coworkers, from wannabe midwife/surfer/receptionist Dell Parker (Chris Lowell) to all-too-irresistible alternative guru Peter Wilder (Tim Daly).
Since Walsh once hosted an event at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills, we'd like to see her living out of a suite there (like her counterpart Dr. Callie O'Malley on "Grey's"). But Addison would be too cool to hang out at clubs like LAX--we see her as a piano-bar fan, hitting places like The Other Side or the Gallery Bar with her girlfriends to discuss their complicated men.
Coming this fall: Jaunted gets the dirt on your favorite shows and the cities where they take place. Put down your remote and pick up your keyboard, because after tuning in to these series premieres, we'll have all the dish.
In the wake of "The Sopranos"' demise, a new ruling family has risen to take the place of Tony and the crew. Their dirty businesses are rum and sugar, and their last name is Duque, because calling them "the Kings" would be too obvious. Also, they're Hispanic!
The new CBS drama "Cane" (premieres tonight at 10) focuses on a dynasty in crisis as the upstart Samuels family challenges the Cuban-American Duques' hold on South Florida. While fighting them off, patriarch Pancho (Hector Elizondo) is contemplating handing power over to his adopted son Alex (Jimmy Smits), the goody-goody who married his daughter, or his natural son, Frank (Nestor Carbonell), whom NJ.comdescribed (with spoilers) as the Sonny Corleone of the show. Okay, so this probably won't be as violent as "The Godfather," but it's nice to see a Hispanic family on television not headed by George Lopez.
Alex and Frank may be at war, but they also have a reputation to keep up, so they're probably seen at the Skybar at South Beach's Shore Club Hotel and stop off at Prive Nightclub to dance till dawn. If they're not eating family-style dinners at home, the Duques could look east and dine at Sushi Samba, or get carnivorous at Smith and Wollensky. After all, why go out if not to flaunt your wealth and prominence?
Visit our TV Premiere Map to find more sizzle, fewer ordered kills.
When we told you about the debut of The CW's new show Gossip Girl, we didn't expect that it would really take us all over Manhattan. Maybe a shot or two of Central Park would sneak in, we thought. But apparently we were so lame as teenagers that we didn't realize all our friends partied this hard.
In last night's episode, the Upper East Side private school kids hit Grand Central Terminal then move to snobby--and excellent--Midtown East restaurant Gilt before heading back to Grand Central for a sexy scene at the Campbell Apartment, a ritzy bar known more for its blue-shirt-wearing crowd than its fictional high school booze hounds.
Want to make like a spoiled Manhattan teenager? Go straight to our TV Premiere Map.
When we were in eighth grade, we were forced to read William Golding's classic novel Lord of the Flies, in which a society of marooned boys falls spectacularly apart because being cruel is more fun than being nice. Apparently the honchos over at CBS never read it, because their latest reality TV offering, "Kid Nation," attempts to replicate that experiment tonight at 8 pm, only with monetary rewards for not killing each other.
CBS brought 40 kids to a movie-set ranch in New Mexico and had them choose leaders, divide up chores and basically take over as they saw fit for 40 days during the school year. The location is important, because until July 1st the state had some of the laxest child-labor laws in the nation (a loophole since closed). No teachers, no parents, just EMTs--who were called on at least four separate occasions, although no one was killed.
The result? Well, watch the preview video. There will probably be even more crying on this show than in most reality TV, except maybe "America's Next Top Model." On the other hand, the children who have been allowed to talk to the press said they would happily do it over again, so maybe they enjoyed that, just like Ralph liked talking to the dead pig's head. (Spoiler?)
There's no crying in premiere season! Check out our TV Premiere Map to see where else fictional tears might be shed.
Coming this fall: Jaunted gets the dirt on your favorite shows and the cities where they take place. Put down your remote and pick up your keyboard, because after tuning in to these series premieres, we'll have all the dish.
Move over "Mean Girls." Meaner girls have come to New York City, where the new CW show "Gossip Girl" takes place. Based on the best-selling young adult novels, this East Coast "O.C.," debuting tomorrow night, follows the adventures of a clique of private school kids for whom all the city's doors are open.
Queen Bee Blair (newcomer Leighton Meester) is looking forward to her last year in high school until her former best friend Serena (Blake Lively, "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants") returns to their all-girls school after a year's disappearance. Not only has she set her sights on Blair's reputation, she may be trying to steal her stoner boyfriend (Chace Crawford). Meanwhile, a brother and sister from the wrong borough (that's any borough besides Manhattan) try to navigate their tony high schools, mixing with the rich and irresponsible.
Unlike other Manhattan-based shows like "Ugly Betty," "Gossip Girl" actually shoots in New York. The crew has been spotted around Madison Square Park, and a real-life high school in Brooklyn Heights stands in for the exterior of the girls' school. The buzz on this show--which you can get for free on iTunes--is that it could be the young network's first major original hit because of its preteen fan base. That is, if Mom and Dad will let their tweens watch kids who drink, smoke, talk about sex and get away with it all.
Coming this fall: Jaunted gets the dirt on your favorite shows and the cities where they take place. Put down your remote and pick up your keyboard, because after tuning in to these series premieres, we'll have all the dish.
Is it too soon to fictionalize the disaster wrought by Hurricane Katrina? Apparently not for Fox, which mines the tragedy for a cop drama which starts tonight. "K-Ville" stars Anthony Anderson as Marlin Boulet, a police officer who chose to stay when the flood waters rose. Two years later, he's still there, with a new partner (Cole Hauser) and new problems he couldn't have imagined before the levees broke.
Even if it doesn't deserve a full-season order (and it might not, according to some reviews), "K-Ville" has the advantage of location that makes it a show to watch. Shot entirely in New Orleans and endorsed by the New Orleans Police Department, the program tacitly acknowledges what the president refuses to: That the rebuilding of the Crescent City is still very much a work in progress.
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by egw
