By Bye Bauer?

Now it could just be the bitter old cynic in me harping away here but does anyone else get the feeling that maybe, just maybe, Fox are about to commit the ultimate sin and brace viewers for a world of 24 where a certain God like Jack Bauer ceases to exist?

This week has seen the news that both Mykelti Williamson and Freddie Prinze Jr will be touching down on the eight season of the hit TV show, and whilst this normally wouldn’t get the old alarm bells ringing it’s the roles they are undertaking that has got me breaking out in a rather panic induced sweat. With Williamson, a fine and capable actor don’t get me wrong, undertaking the role of Brian Hastings head of CTU New York. I mean I’m all for a spin off 24 show in the same vain of CSI where we get to see different regions undergoing the spotlight treatment but not at the cost of losing what is essentially the heartbeat of the entire show in Jack Bauer!

Ok, ok so I’m no doubt getting way, way ahead of myself and nobody in there right mind would agree to let Kiefer Sutherland walk away from the show, but I just cant help but get a tiny bit nervous when checking out the character that a certain Mr. Prinze Jr will be undertaking in the new season; a recently returned marine who runs CTU Field Ops and wants to follow in Jack Bauer's footsteps.

Yes that’s right so in short we have ourselves a mini me Bauer turning up for the eighth season, YAY! And to top it all off he arrives in the shape of Freddie Prinze Jr, it just gets better and better doesn’t it!

Ok so I’ll stop with the incessant ramblings for now, and maybe take a long deep breath whilst I’m at it, but what do you make of these new arrivals on the 24 circuit, and what would you make of a 24 series minus Jack Bauer?

Fab News Or Not?

Normally I would think it a wee bit harsh to celebrate the fact a show has just been cancelled, especially when said show hasn’t even made it past the pilot stage. But today’s news is different. Today was the day that FOX decided to send the US reimaging of Absolutely Fabulous packing! And I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking that can only be good, no make that great, news!

Don’t get me wrong I’m not anti all and any US remakes of our very own sitcoms, I prefer the phrase pessimistic, but if ever there was a show that was not only of it’s time but fundamentally very, very British it was Absolutely Fabulous. The very idea of seeing a Sex and The City style make over for Edina and Patsy just sounds rather lazy and pointless to me. But hey that’s just me and my two cents for you.

But without sounding off the grumpy old man vibe to much, there surely has to come a time when you draw the line to just knocking out remake after remake? I mean heaven forbid someone was to discover a show like Fawlty Towers or Blackadder by actually sitting down and viewing them in all their retro glory?

So what do you make of this news then? Do you point in the direction of the pretty darn sweet Uncle Sam version of the Office and think to Hell with it, good comedy is good comedy and I couldn’t care less whether it’s a re hash of old material or not!

JJ Compares Writing Lost With The Work Of Charles Dickens

Far be it for me to knock the work of the hotter than hot right now J.J. Abrams but comparing your own work to that of literary God Charles Dickens is………. well taking the p i double s now really isn’t it.

According to J.J. the screenwriters for the hit TV show Lost, which he co-created, have never known from day one just where the mind boggling sci-fi story was heading. Which goes some way to explaining the numerous pain staking twists and turns the show throws up on a weekly basis I guess? And there was me thinking my brain was safe in the hands of a well organized, crack team of genetically created writers working round the clock in an elaborate studio. “Sigh”

"I'm sure when Charles Dickens was writing, he had a sense of where he was going - but he would make adjustments as he went along. You jump into it, knowing there's something great out there to find." J.J. has recently been quoted when speaking to The Guardian.

Ok, ok so I might be taking his comments a little bit too literally but still. I mean just because you got yourself a story with God knows how many characters that quite frankly you don’t have a clue what to do with, doesn’t quite make you Dickens my friend. Not by a long shot.

Dr Ross To The Emergency Room Please!!!!…………..

This week sees the return of a certain Mr Clooney heading on back to where it all started for him over a decade ago on hit TV show ER, (read that story here) but the bigger question in and amongst all the publicity hype machine has to be “does anyone actually care”

Truth be told I was never an avid watcher of the Emergency Room drama but if ever their was reason to check in on the show it always seemed to be gorgeous George and his cocksure swagger that kept me from grabbing the remote. So when the inevitable happened and Hollywood came calling it didn’t come as to much of a shock to see that it wasn’t just the audience figures that took a rather hefty nose dive.

That’s not to say George Clooney was ER, far from it, but, like any team losing its star player and never quite finding an adequate replacement, ER certainly seemed to struggle in keeping up the same level of hysteria and interest it once had.

So with the fat lady finally stretching her lungs in anticipation for the final curtain being raised on the long-running series, it’s hardly surprising that Doctor Ross himself has risen to the challenge of resuscitating the show that made him the man he is today! And whilst the cynic in us all will be sitting there thinking this is nothing more than an elaborate stunt set up into coaxing back it’s own time loyal viewers for one final hit of Clooney love (which it is), hands up those of you who aren’t even the tiniest bit intrigued in seeing how this one plays out.

And let’s not forget joining George in his crusade to give the show its war-cry finale is pretty much every other actor ever to step foot in the ER hot spot, from floppy-haired Noah Wyle to love-interest Juliana Margulies, Clooney won’t be alone in signaling the end of this revolutionary show.

So it’s on that note I’ll leave it up to you guys to further discuss whether or not your curiosity level has gone up a notch or two in eagerly anticipation, if only for curiosity’s sake I’ll be tuning in this Thursday to see whether if the big man has still got that Midas touch with the stethoscope… I’ll be sitting on the side of the fence that says “Hell Yes”, this is Clooney were talking about after all!

Was Dot Branning Robbed?

Having worked my way through the annual back-slapping awards ceremony that is the
BAFTA Television Awards on Sunday night, one thing above all else struck me. What's that you ask? Well, where the hell was June Brown's award?

Despite being nominated (and thought to be a shoo-in) for her incredibly moving monologue episode of EastEnders, the artist also known as Dot Branning (nee Cotton) was passed over for the Best Actress award in favour of Anna Maxwell Martin's role in Poppy Shakespeare. Now while Ms Martin was indeed rather excellent in her portrayal of a young woman with mental health issues, I really think that the award should have gone to June. An actress who has consistently acted her socks off during her long tenure in Albert Square, it's high time she got the recognition she deserved - particularly after her astonishing one-woman performance in last year's episode.

Check out the clip from the episode in question and let me know if you agree... click here.

Everybody's Favourite Serial Killer Is Back...

In the mood for some amoral antics? Well, you're in luck because everybody's favourite serial killer, Dexter Morgan, is finally coming back to our screens for a third series. It starts on FX in the UK on Friday, April 24 and, judging by the two previous series, it's going to be brilliant.

I'm a big fan of the show, so I've been counting down the days until the new series and have been trawling through the net to find anything that will calm my anticipation. Luckily, I came across an interesting interview in which on-screen brother and sister Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter talk the show (and their real-life marriage). In the interests of caring and sharing, I've posted it below so you can take a look too...

More about this show

Frak me! They're Selling Off Battlestar Galactica!

If, like me, you're still totally gutted that Battlestar Galactica, you can take solace in the fact that an opportunity has arisen that will give you the chance to continue the adentures of Starbuck, Apollo et al - all you need is a lot of disposable income.

It turns out that BSG's parent company NBC is auctioning off the majority of the show's props on eBay. Want to know what's up for grabs? Well, where do we begin?!

The biggest item for sale is an actual Raptor fighter ship used in the show. "It has a full, functional interior with light-up panels and monitors throughout..." is how the ship is being plugged on eBay. After 43 bids, the price was $28,100.00 but this didn't meet the auction's reserve, so it's now up for grabs at a "live" auction beginning on May 8 in Pasadena.

If that's a little out of your price range, you could always plump for a cigar box, jumpsuit or napkin, all of which have been featured on the show and are marked with a hologram of the BSG logo to verify its authenticity.

Now, we're told by H+ Magazine that there's no reserve price set for any of the props ("whatever it goes for, it goes."), so while I can't really justify stretching for a Raptor I might just see if there's change in my pocket for a genuine cubit note or two. What about you? Fancy owning a genuine piece of Battlestar Galactica memorabilia?

The Gene Genie Is Back

At a time when the news is full of stories about police brutality and global economic breakdown, when fashion has taken two big decade-spanning steps backwards and political correctness is keeping everybody on their toes, we need a hero who doesn't mind throwing a few punches, dressing up in a few dodgy suits and chucking about some decidedly un-PC insults to remind us that we really shouldn't take life quite so seriously.

That man is none other than DCI Gene Hunt and, thank the lord, he's back. The second series of Ashes To Ashes is back on BBC One on Monday, April 20 and I can't wait.

When the first series started early last year, I didn't think it could possibly live up to the legend that was Life On Mars but, thanks to Philip Glenister's brilliant performance as the hard-drinking, rough-fighting, straight-talking copper's copper, the show has moved from its 70s setting to the 80s with ease. With the difficult first season out of the way, we can now fully immerse ourselves in a show packed to the gills with action, wit and hilarious in-jokes as well as hopefully coming closer to the revelation about why DI Alex Drake (Keeley Hawes) has found herself trapped in the decade that taste forgot - I for one can't wait

To get you in the mood for a brand-new series of the Gene Genie's brilliant one-liners, take a look at the video below...

Kumar Goes To The White House

BEFORE WE START, THERE ARE SPOILERS AHEAD!

Being a big fan of House, I was shocked by the hear about the sudden departure Kal Penn in the most recent episode - death by suicide of all things, told you it was shocking. And now I've discovered that one of the most devastating twists in recent TV history has taken a further step into the unexpected... It turns out that the talented Kal wasn't sacked from the show, as many netheads first thought, but he has instead quit acting (at least for the foreseeable future) to take a job at the White House - yes you read that right.

Empire, Screenrush and EW are all reporting (hell, EVERYONE'S reporting this) that Kal has managed to blag a job in Barack Obama's administration.

I'll let him explain: "I was incredibly honored a couple of months ago to get the opportunity to go work in the White House," says Penn. "I got to know the President and some of the staff during the campaign and had expressed interest in working there, so I'm going to be the associate director in the White House office of public liaison. They do outreach with the American public and with different organizations.... It's similar to what I was doing on the campaign."

Kal is a naturally gifted actor and he was great during his time on House (not to mention the Harold & Kumar movies, which I find hilarious despite myself), so here's hoping that he's not permanently retiring from the thespian life. That said, it's good to see a Hollywood star proving there's more to life than money and fame - hang on, what am I saying?

Check out the tribute to Dr Lawrence Kutner's greatest moments... we will miss him!

What to watch this week-end..

As I was wondering on the web last night what to watch during the week-end I came over Screenrush's latest picks of the week!
That's featuring The day after tomorrow on Saturday, The Searchers on Sunday afternoon, one of Hollywood's long time Western classics, and The company of men on Sunday night with Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep ! Check out the feature here and have a great week-end !