• Renewed: Chuck, V
• Cancelled: FlashForward, Scrubs, Legend of the Seeker, Heroes
• New shows up of interest: The Cape, Hawaii 5-0, Undercovers, Friends with Benefits
• Glee lands Post Superbowl spot in 2011

• David Fincher to direct 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea remake
• Kick Ass screenwriter Jane Goldman rewriting X-Men First Class
• Colin Farrell and Anton Yelchin cast in Fright Night remake
• SHIELD is part of Marvel Studios’ post-Avengers plan
• Alvin Sargent signed on to rewrite Spidey reboot
• Alan Tudyk will be in Transformers 3

• Natal’s world premiere June 13th will feature a special performance by Cirque du Soleil on MTV. Media briefing will be live on Spike TV June 14 at 1:30 ET
• One of the Nintendo 3ds screens could be widescreen

• Original Empire Strikes Back draft is leaked, and George Lucas reveals he had not planned out the Star Wars saga at Lost event
• Comic creator Jazan Wild sues Heroes over “Carnival of Souls”
• Smallville finale opening 2 minutes

Geek Jerk Reaction: Shrek Forever After, MacGruber

Renewed:

Chuck
V

Cancelled:

FlashForward
Scrubs
Legend of the Seeker

Likely Renewed:

One Tree Hill
Life Unexpected

Likely Cancelled:

Heroes

• Heroes is being given a 13 episode pickup for season 5 to “go out with a bang”?
• Young Justice on the way from Greg Weisman
• Matt Smith guest starring in a Sarah Jane Adventures serial to be written by RTD
• Legend of the Seeker is now very likely cancelled
• Chuck returns this week

• Marvel Studio plans series of low budget films
• High School Musical star (Vanessa Hudgens) in talks to play Spider Woman?
• Columbia must enter production on Ghost Rider 2 by November 14th, or they lose the rights. Likely moving forward without Nicolas Cage as a result.
• Edgar Wright’s Ant Man finally gearing up for production in December
• Newest Last Airbender trailer is kind of awesome, also 3D conversion

• Batman Arkham Asylum 2 confirms Talia Al Ghul, Two Face, and Mister Freeze
• Starcraft II beta codes available at Gamestop and Amazon by pre-ordering

• Batman Live Action Arena show from creators of Walking With Dinosaurs
• iPhone may have been sold rather than “found”. As a result, criminal charges may be forthcoming.

Geek Jerk Reaction: Furry Vengeance, A Nightmare on Elm Street

• Cristopher Lloyd and Scott Bakula confirmed for Chuck this season
• ABC Renews Castle
• Ali Larter believes that Heroes will be back next season
• Lucasarts developing Star Wars sitcom

• Adam Baldwin wants to come back for Independence Day 2 & 3. Spiner also interested, if his character survived
• Joss Whedon might direct The Avengers?
• Sebastian Stan cast as Bucky in Captain America

• More Halo Reach details – Class-Lite system, no more dual wielding
• USB Memory Support coming to Xbox 360 on the 6th of April

• iPhone OS 4 to be revealed April 8th, 10am PST
• iPad released on April 3. What’s the verdict?

Geek Jerk Reaction: Date Night

The Box Office Report:

1. Clash of the Titans
2. Tyler Perry’s Blah Blah Blah
3. How to Train Your Dragon
4. The Last Song
5. Alice in Wonderland

From AICN:

“Development was really starting to heat up, And it appears like I may be writing multiple pilots for NBC so that wasn’t leaving a ton of room for ‘Heroes,’ unfortunately,” the star writer-producer tells AICN exclusively. “We crafted some really great arcs for the season that I’m excited to see come to fruition. I love that cast dearly and am sad to go, but the plate — she was over-flowing.”

Fuller, of course, is the “Dead Like Me”/”Wonderfalls”/”Pushing Daisies” creator who wrote the best “Heroes” episodes, including “Company Man” and “Cold Snap.” He left “Heroes” near the end of its first season to create “Daisies,” then returned to “Heroes” near the end of last season.

Fuller is under contract with “Heroes” producer NBC Universal for another year and a half, and has been preparing new series pitches for the media giant since he left Warner Bros.’ “Daisies.” He’s also expressed an ambition to eventually create, or help create, a new Paramount TV series set in J.J. Abrams’ new “Star Trek” universe.

In this episode Will has returned and Nick announces the true identity of Rick By Night. After discussing a lost episode of Geekeasy soon to air, Nick and Will talk about Dollhouse. Then after discussing the gender of the show, Will mourns the conclusion of Battlestar and confesses his newfound love of How I Met Your Mother. Nick brings up a new show named Eastbound and Down and Will loves Milo Ventimiglia in Pathology. Insight is provided into the daily lives of Nick and Will via a lunchtime story and Nick finds a movie worse than Delgo, Miss March. After talking about whether or not forums are a good thing, Will wonders why he becomes addicted to simple games and recommends a new comic site zeroes2heroes.com. Finally, the guys drop the big news and end by answering an e-mail. Also included in this episode: the redemption of the Saw franchise, Heroes, the various faces of Robin Williams, Season 3 and 4 of Buffy, Epic Fail, and Viral Videos of the Week.

Check out our youtube page!

The latest Supernatural episode, “On the Head of a Pin,” is arguably the best episode of the series. This episode did more to further the season and the characters than any episode that readily comes to mind. We learned just how Sam has become so strong, how Dean had to learn to survive in Hell, how the Apocolypse began, how it must end, and just how tough Castiel and Anna can be. That’s a hell of a lot to ask from one episode, and this one did it beautifully. Ben Edlund, the writer of such classic Whedon episodes like Angel’s “Sacrifice” and Firefly’s “Jaynestown,” wrote this penultimate episode. Even the stunt casting of Christopher Heyerdahl in the role of Alastair added such darkness and dimension to the show that the viewer is left cringing.  Kripke and Co. showed exactly how to come back from a hiatus, and how to do it with a bang, both literally and emotionally.

Speaking of Joss Whedon, this week’s episode of Dollhouse was advertised as the best yet – the one to make you grab hold and not let go. And as expected, he did not disappoint. The latest episode, “Man on the Street,” added more intrigue, suspense, and action to the show than the previous six episodes combined. Dushku continued to amaze with her versatility from frightened housewife to deadly assassin. And we learn that Alpha is not the only one after the Dollhouse. This episode cemented my devotion to the show, and I strongly urge anyone who had given up on the show to treat yourself to a mini-marathon. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

As for disappointed, I’ve heard many say that they felt the Battlestar Galactica series finale was amazing, but overall, disappointing, even lazy. While I can understand that some might feel that way, I thoroughly enjoyed the culmination of four seasons of Ron Moore’s amazing vision for BSG. The show has always been steeped in mysticism and mythology, and I would have been surprised if they had ignored that heritage in the finale, especially since they had not addressed it much this back half of the season. I liked the ambiguity of it all. It made me cheer, it made my cry, it broke my heart and it inspired me – everything this series has always done. And one thing’s for sure: I will never hear “All Along the Watchtower” in the same way.

Legend of the Seeker has continued to impress each week. Every episode draws a little more from the original books, but does so in a new and refreshing way. And they always do it in such a way as to never undermine the integrity of the characters. Bridget Regan continues to impress with her portrayal of Kahlan. I  have to say that of all the actors, she is the most perfectly cast. The latest episodes, “Conversion” and “Bloodline” have masterfully incorporated such elements from the book as Kahlan’s Blood Rage and Richard’s Pristinely Ungifted sister, Jensen. Even the incorporation of the Mord Sith, though done slightly differently from the novels, is thoroughly engaging and true to the core essence of the characters.

And most recently, Heroes. This episode, titled “Cold Snap,” marked the return of Bryan Fuller to the series. Fuller worked on what is probably the best of Season One episodes, “Company Man.” So, did his return make for amazing television? He definitely made some major changes. From the reveal of who Rebel is to Angela being saved by an unlikely source, Heroes was undeniably compelling. And tragic. While I understand the need for whittling down characters, I am not entirely happy with who they keep knocking off. But I will continue to watch to see if these payoffs continue. Heroes is definitely heading in the right direction for greatness again, and I am definitely glad to see Fuller’s touch return to the show. He adds a poignancy that has been lacking for far too long.

So there, my fellow TV addicts, some thoughts on what has been some amazing television over the past few days. We’ve said farewell to an epic favorite, found a new Friday night addiction, and are encouraged by what is possibly shaping up to be some great Monday night storytelling, again. One thing is for sure, I haven’t enjoyed television this much in a long time.

And here’s to its continued success.

Fuller himself got his start in TV by writing scripts for Star Trek Voyager and Deep Space Nine. The creator of Dead Like Me and Pushing Daisies offered no details as to whether or not this new Trek would take place before, after or even during the upcoming J.J. Abrams origin saga.

In other Bryan Fuller news, the upcoming episode of Heroes, ‘Cold Snap,’ will be the first one written by Fuller since the first-season Company Man, which many say is the best Heroes as ever been.

Just a thought; how cool would it be if Greg Grunberg was cast as the new Captain?

Discussion:

Heroes Volume IV: Fugitives

Chuck vs. The Third Dimension

Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse

News:

Ratner to direct Youngblood

Nolan to direct Inception

Samuel Bayer to direct Elm Street

Dev Patel to play Zuko

Martin Campbell to direct Green Lantern

Powers headed to FX

Kevin Williamson bringing Vampire Diaries to CW

Marvel Motion Comics

Wachowski Bros and Superman

Trailers:

Observe and Report

The Education of Charlie Banks

Land of the Lost

Inglorious Basterds

Email us or Comment:

What makes a Geek a Geek?

Discussed This Week:

• Chuck in 3d
• Heroes has people talking again
• Movies we watched this week (Grand Torino,  Push, Inkheart)
• Superbowl Trailers (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, GI Joe, Year One, Up, Star Trek, Land of the Lost)
• Dollhouse Premiere this week
• Update on Game Night with Geekshow

Box Office Report:

January 30–February 1, 2009

Geek Jerk Reaction:

WARNING: Spoilers for the episode follow – don’t read until you’ve seen the latest episode of Heroes!

Let’s admit it, Heroes had a lot to live up to upon its return. Volume three was amazingly lackluster, especially for a show that has so much potential. That was my biggest issue with “Villains” – its complete and utter loss of focus from the show’s original theme of “ordinary people with extraordinary abilities.”

So the first episode of this arc, “A Clear and Present Danger,” brings us back to that core theme. It has been two months since we last saw our heroes, and villains.  People have moved on: Peter has become a paramedic, Claire has gotten her GED and is looking at colleges, Daphne is a bike messenger (though she’s not too fond of using her bike), and Tracy has moved on from Nathan back to her governor. Oh, and Noah is back to being, well, Noah. And that’s the point – we’re back to our heroes being everyday people.

But of course, they won’t be left alone too long. Nathan has been on a Blagojevich-type media blitzkrieg trying to convince America that he is out to protect the nation from “dangerous people” with his work with Homeland security. Of course the average American thinks he means terrorists, but those with abilities know better.

As for the rest of the episode, you know what happened by now (or at least you should! Stop reading if you haven’t! Unless you don’t care about spoilers, then there is nothing I can do for you). What I want to focus on are some of the highlights of Heroes’ return.

Noah Bennet. We have returned to an ambiguous Mr. Bennet, which really folks, is kinda the way it should be. Protective Daddy was fun for a while, but it was getting old.  It brings up so many new questions – How did Noah get involved with Nathan’s organization? Blackmail or genuine interest in what Senator Petrelli is selling? Noah Bennet is so much more intriguing when he is straying into the gray area, rather than trying to keep things black-and-white.

Speaking of Gray, Sylar’s back and is still trying to find his parents. And still isn’t getting anywhere. As he only person with abilities that was able to beat the ambush that was set up to collect him, he may be the first person out of the gate to try to stop Nathan and his war on those with abilities. Sylar teaming up with some of our other heroes could once again lead to some amazing moments.

Hiro and Ando. We get to see now if Ando has the heroic chops to match Hiro. This is Ando’s chance to shine and I hope James Kyson Lee gets the story line to back up his talent. I’ve been excited to see what he could do when it was his turn to step up and be the hero, and I really don’t expect this arc to disappoint.

The most interesting turn of the events for the evening was Matt Parkman. Visited by visions of the deceased African prophet, Usutu (damn you Papa Petrelli!), Matt is given the “paint-the-future” prescient power. This brings up an interesting point. Are powers transferred if there is no one currently with that ability? Did Usutu get the power after Isaac was murdered? Or, worst case scenario (I really hope this isn’t it), did the writers need someone with the “paint-the-future” power and just give it to Parkman instead of bringing in another new character?

I’m intrigued and my interest has once again been peaked. As I’ve said before, this show is going to get amazing again, and I sure don’t want to miss the episode when that happens. This, my friends, was a pretty good start.

So what did you think, Heroes fans? Are you encouraged by the latest episode of Heroes? Reserving judgement? Or are you ready to give up all together?

Now if they’ll just get rid of Claire’s horrible wig . . .

Volume Four, titled “Fugitives,” is supposed to be a back-to-basics approach that will bring back old fans of the show and draw in new viewers, according to Kring. New viewers will not need to be familiar with the previous Heroes season to be able to jump into the back half of Season 3.

Kring told TV Guide, “This volume starts us pretty much from scratch. There is almost nothing that the audience needs to know from the previous volume in order to follow the storyline.”

News of this interview comes in a timely fashion to start building hype for the upcoming episodes. For the first time, Heroes did not get an early renewal notice from NBC.

Honestly, my biggest complaint from Season 3 was the way many of the characters didn’t seem to progress past their Season 1 origins. Getting back to the “ordinary people with extraordinary powers” theme may just be the infusion of adrenaline this show needs to get back to being the amazing show it once was.

Source: Slice of SciFi

Keep Reading.

1. Kill 75% of the Season One Cast- This includes Claire (she’s listed first because she needs to die the most) Noah, Peter, and Molhinder. It’

s pretty well known- in fact Kring has flat out admitted to it- that the stories of these characters ended in

Season One and believe me, you can tell. It doesn’t matter how “popular” these characters are, (at this point, can anything about Heroes be considered “popular” anyway?) if they’re not improving the narrative, they need to die. Take what Lost has done for example; when a character has fulfilled his or her arc, they die.  Was I sad to see these characters die? In most cases yes, but I understood why it had to happen. Peter is dead weight and he has been since he saved New York. (The first time that is) Speaking of which…

2. Let the Bad Thing Happen- One of the characters foresees a horrible future that can only be prevented by the combined forces of the chartecters. Which volume of Heroes had this story; One, Two, or Three? If you chose all of the above, you’re correct. So here’s what I’m thinking; let the S hit the F. Let the bomb hit, let the world get all “post-apocalyptic-y.” Do you realize what a ballsy move that would be? It would be right up there with the “Flash forwards” of Lost or the staff overall of House. If you think this is too radical, that’s fine. But after the “Villains” arc, radical is just what Heroes needs.

3. Fire Tim Kring- If his interviews and public statements are any indication, Kring is just clocking in at this point and I think his tenure at the Heroes University is long expired. But who can replace Kring? I dunno, how about Bryan Fuller? And if he doesn’t want it, go through the little black book of geek TV. What’s David Greenwalt up to these days?

4. Hire Better Writers- The only thing worse than watching Heroes now is listening to it. The dialogue is so stiff and awkward that it’s almost impossible to care about any of the characters or their actions. Hiring comic book writers (like Jeph Loeb) was a great idea, let’s continues the pattern. I’m talking Alan Heinberg, Dan Slott maybe even some big guns like Bendis or Robert Kirkman. They don’t even have to be comic-book scribes. How interesting would it be to have Amy Sherman Palladino write for a super hero show?

5. Find a Heading- What is the mission statement of Heroes? What is the show about? If its “ordinary people doing extraordinary things” then it’s been doing a pretty bad job keeping to that. Heroes has become a soap opera; an endless, meaningless melodrama. The writers and producers need to look deep into the show itself and discover what it is and why it needs to be on the air. Doing this is the only way for Heroes to become part of the greats. Otherwise, it might as well be another show set in a law firm or hospital.

• New Writers for the site
• Still Enjoying Heroes!
• I watched Twilight
• Golden Globe Nominations
• Final Fantasy Trailer

Box Office Report Dec 5-7:

GeekJerk Reaction (December 19):

Seven Pounds
Tale of Despereaux
Yes Man
The Brothers Bloom

Entertainment Weekly is reporting that Smallville alum’ John Glover has signed on to play the role of Sylar’s father in the fourth volume of Heroes next year.

“When Sylar meets his father, he’s going to see a path ahead of him that he doesn’t want to take,” says a source. “He has a lot more in common with his father than he realized.”

Entertainment Weekly also had the oppurtunity to talk with Bryan Fuller (Pushing Daisies) about his new role on Heroes. He had a bit to say about Heroes next volume, “Fugitives” which starts in February.

It really is a fresh start. All of the characters are back in their real lives. You see Peter as a paramedic. Claire is looking for colleges. We get away from the world of formulas and quasi-magic

Fuller wrote the best episodes of Heroes’ first, best season, including the Noah Bennet-centric “Company Man.” Fuller left Heroes late in its first season to create Daisies — and Heroes has been a confusing mess ever since, confounding fans and critics and currently garnering about half as many viewers as it did during Fuller’s tenure on the show.

Despite Heroes’ substantial declines, there are still few shows as popular on NBC, whose current slate includes even lower-rated fare like My Own Worst Enemy, Knight Rider, Crusoe, Life, Lipstick Jungle, My Name Is Earl, Kath & Kim, and Law & Order.

As a result, the network seems likely to renew the sci-fi drama for a fourth season, with Fuller playing a more prominent role in the franchise’s creative direction.

Fuller’s signing with NBC Universal would surely signal the death of ratings-challenged Daisies. It’s hard to imagine ABC bringing back the black comedy for a third season without the man who provided its vision.

Before joining Heroes, Fuller created the acclaimed but short-lived comedy hourlongs Dead Like Me and Wonderfalls.

Source: THR via AICN

“The problem is you run into a whole series of issues, where show and business run into each other. The network falls in love with characters, the audience falls in love with characters, the press falls in love with characters. And it’s contractually hard to get people onboard for a brief period. You find yourself writing for characters you thought would be gone.”

“We realized that going back to Caitlin nine and a half months later would have been insanity. Some people would be asking about it, but for the most people it would have been a hard left in the story. We passed it, we leapfrogged it. We have enough to stuff to deal with.”

“It’s very hard to be peoples’ friends and colleague at the same time you’re the boss. It’s a constant struggle. I was a very reluctant boss. I would probably delegate more responsibilities earlier, so it doesn’t take so long [for others] to learn it.”

I’m glad to see Kring talking about some of the shows problems this season. You can read the rest of the article over at IGN.com.

Money and Eli are still in production (on their 12th and 13th episodes, respectively) and will finish shooting their current order, while Daisies finished production on its final episode last week.

Bryan Fuller, creator of Pushing Daisies, still seems hopeful about his series’ future.

“I can’t help but feel immense pride when it comes to ‘Pushing Daisies.’ I’m grateful TO everyone and FOR everyone who brought the show to life and for the very loyal audience that embraced us.  If we are indeed dead on ABC, we now have to convince DC Comics to let us tell the rest of the  season’s story lines out in comic book form and convince Warner Bros. features to let ‘Pushing Daisies’ live again as a movie.”

Looks like Fuller’s heading to Heroes afterall. Depending on which you prefer, this is either good news or bad.

Watch out at about the 23 minute mark, Scott and I were visited by some ghosts that brought along some white noise…

Bryan Fuller is responsible for two of the best episodes of Season One, most notably “Company Man”, and may be exactly what Heroes needs to get back on track. Fuller has a nack for creating cult favorites, having done so with the Showtime series Dead Like Me (though he left due to disagreements with the show’s drection), Wonderfalls (one of Fox’s many series to be sent off to die far to early), and most recently ABC’s Pushing Daisies.

Now, while this could only mean good things for Heroes, it may spell certain doom for current series Pushing Daisies which has been struggling in the ratings department ever since returning this season post-writers strike. Is Fuller taking a position with Heroes because he knows that Daisies is nearing cancelation? Or is he hoping to balance his efforts as showrunner and writer/producer? I don’t have the answer, but I’m sure we’ll figure it out soon enough.

From Podculture.net:

Podculture 125: The Geekshow Show – Part A

The PodCulture crew welcomes Scott, Lindsey, and Ben from Geekshow.us into the studio!

Glenn’s back on the WoW wagon, Adam’s playing the drumsticks off Rock Band2, Christina’s reading at watching tv on Hulu.com, Brad’s fixing the PodCulture Cruisier.

Geek Cuisine is spooky sugar this week, as we enjoy Hot Fangs Cinnamon candy corn

Get ready to save the cheerleader AND the world, as the entire room (except for Adam) talks about Heroes in depth. (If you’re wanting to be unspoiled about season 3, skip from 12 minutes to minute 47)  Which of us loves it? Which of us wishes Nathan had nuked the city? What do we think about the writing? Who thinks that the show was the biggest casualty of the writers’ strike? Which characters have to go, and who do we still love?

Variety reports the two writer-producers were axed because of NBC’s frustration with the direction of the three-year-old series, which has taken a pounding this season from fans and critics.

The show has not only been fighting to keep viewers, averaging 9 million-plus this season, down from 11.6 million last year, but has also been grappling with overruns that far exceed the $4 million-per-episode budget.

Alexander was a co-executive producer of Lost and Alias before joining Heroes. Loeb, of course, is best known for his comics work such as Batman: The Long Halloween and Spider-Man: Blue, and as a producer of both Smallville and Lost.

Anyone else get the feeling that these promotional character shots were made by the same people who did them for Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer?

EW.com

Originally, the characters were to be named "Doogie" in honor of Doogie Howser M.D. and "Seth" in honor of Seth Cohen (From The O.C), but that may change. The characters will be two Atlanta based comic book experts who will cross paths with and become advisors for one, or more, of the Heroes characters. Who will those characters be? No word on that, but guessing is often as fun anyway.

Got you itching for more? Check out the recently released Heroes Webisodes as well.