Watching KVille

Thanks a lot, Writers Strike. Now what am I supposed to write about?

News came this week that K-Ville will not be returning to production, FOX, or Monday nights. Get your fill of the existing K-Ville episodes on the official FOX website or on Hulu, or wait until the DVD set comes out — if it comes out on DVD??

The Times-Picayune reported that K-Ville will not return for our viewing pleasure, or displeasure, depending on how you viewed the show starring Anthony Anderson and Cole Hauser. I, for one, will miss K-Ville, but as I have had the past three months getting used to the fact that it ain’t comin’ back, I am not upset or surprised for that matter.

The Times-Picayune reporter was not surprised either.

I’ve been writing and rewriting “K-Ville’s” obituary for months.

And the author, Dave Walker, added this…

Every[sic] since the strike shut-down, “K-Ville” has existed among TV’s undead — not quite canceled but presenting very weak vital signs.

The resolution of the strike — which is happening this week; see this link for a rundown on when or if your other favorite shows will return — was supposed to provide closure for the handful of fans holding out for a “K-Ville” resurrection.

No such luck. Fox is one of those networks that never quite cancels anything. Its shows just stop running, and their demise is never officially acknowledged.

“K-Ville’s” home page, streaming episodes and streaming theme song are still active at www.Fox.com, but that’s really all that’s left of the series.

So, there we are. Forced to think of Boulet and Cobb, who I thought could become the next Crockett and Tubbs, as only a memory

Personally, aside from my disappointment regarding this website, I thought that K-Ville was getting slightly better each week, until that crapfest of a “fall finale” aired as the last episode. Granted, that episode was never written as a “finale” of any sort, but it was what it was, and it was bad. Again, sadly that will be the last taste of K-Ville many of us will be left with, as we watch Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles. Yet another fine show from the FOX network…Kudos oncasting Summer Glau, because she is the only thing watchable on that show. Although, I do like the guy that plays the terminator that took the identity of d-list actor, and is hunting down that whiny brat, John Conner. Let’s hope he sticks around for a few episodes.

That actor, Garrett Dillahunt, was also in John from Cincinnati, and also had a small role in one of the year’s best, and most talked about film, No Country for Old Men. If you have not seen No Country, see it. It’s excellent. You can read a review I wrote of it by clicking here. Dillahunt is someone to watch, as I think he is a very good actor. Although, he does seem to take just about any job he is offerred. Oh, I kid, I kid. He’s working…a lot, and that’s great.

But still, this is about K-Ville. Just remember…Jericho was cancelled and has returned to primetime. Viewers wrote CBS and complained enough that the show was brought back. I’m just throwing that out there…

K-Ville, FOX, Jonathan Lisco, Writers Strike, Hulu, Anthony Anderson, Cole Hauser, Times-Picayune, Terminator, The Sarah Conner Chronicles, Garret Dillahunt, John from Cincinnati, No Country for Old Men, Jericho

So official word from the Writers Guild of America is that WGA members have all day Tuesday, February 12 to vote on the proposed deal to end the three-month long strike. However, as the WGA announcement mentions, the vote is only to immediately end the strike pending ratification of the new deal between the Writers Guild and the studios OR wait until the deal is ratified and then end the strike.

So my question is, let’s say they do indeed vote to end the strike, but the deal is then not ratified. Would the writers re-strike?

The LA Times reported today that the ratification process could take up to twelve days. Can the writing staff of K-Ville crank out a script in twelve days? And if so, what is the point of giving me only one more new episode, when there are so many plotlines to wrap up? The mole in the department? Cobb’s secret affair? Boulet’s etouffe recipe?

Still, the bigger question of whether K-Ville will return or not remains foremost on my mind. Well, ok, I do have other things going on in my life, but I mean foremost when it concerns this blog, right?

But really, look at the evidence. K-Ville was not winning the ratings race on Monday night by any stretch, and FOX has since replaced K-Ville in its time slot with Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles. This worries me, but also gets me thinking of a better time for FOX to air K-Ville. I am thinking Tuesday after American Idol, except I believe that is House’s time slot. Wednesday then, maybe? I honestly have no idea what is on FOX Wednesday night now…Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares? Too bad I like the BBC’s version of Kitchen Nightmares a gazillion times better, because it is more about food and less about abject filth (anyone else notice that?). But there I go again, digressing.

I just checked the FOX website’s posted schedule, and it looks like that lie detector show, The Moment of Truth, is now on Wednesday’s at 9pm. American Idol is going to be the two-hour shows for a couple of weeks, I think. I tried watching American Idol for a season or a half, and I just tend to get rather bored with it, so I am not entirely sure how long the two-hour shows continue for.

It may not matter anyway, as who really knows what the genius minds behind FOX programming have in mind for this truncated season. Will K-Ville throw us a couple of episodes before summer, or just try to pick up again next season? I think that putting out a few episodes is the best idea, to renew the public’s memory of K-Ville, before a longer summer break. Not only that, but New Orleans has been in the news lately, and with the juggernaut of Brad Pitt hanging around, doing all sorts of goodness, it might just be a good time to revisit the Big Easy during prime-time.

Writers Strike, WGA, K-Ville, House, Terminator, The Sarah Conner Chronicles, American Idol, FOX, Kitchen Nightmares, BBC, Brad Pitt

The Sarah Connor Chronicles debuted last night, and the second episode will be airing tonight at 9pm Eastern/8pm Central. And yes, that is K-Ville’s time slot. Not that it has been on the last couple of weeks, but still, a new show in a previous show’s time slot makes me suspicious, except that we are in the middle of a writers strike, so there really is no rhyme or reason to anything anymore. Like Jimbo Jones says to Homer Simpson during the cat burgler episode, “I don’t believe in nothing no more. I’m goin’ to law school.”

I checked the FOX website for next week’s schedule as well, and yes, it’s true that the Sarah Connor Chronicles are taking over the 9pm Monday night time slot. Now, I imagine that this is a “permanent” schedule, as I really don’t see when else this show would air. Maybe it will be moved to the hour after American Idol, like House did for a while, and maybe FOX will again show K-Ville, but I doubt that. When and if K-Ville will return is unknown to me, so if anyone out there has any real, definitive information, please pass it along to the front of the class. But I am inclined to think that we will not see K-Ville again until the strike is over and new episodes return. However, I also strongly believe that if the strike goes on too much longer, there will be no return of K-Ville. Unless of course, the strike goes on for quite some time; then I think that due to the lack of pilots for next fall, K-Ville may just win a second (half of a) season. But again, this is all speculation.

Did anyone check out the Sarah Connor Chronicles last night? Much like Bionic Woman, I was a little excited about it and really wanted SCC to be good. Instead, I found it pretty cheesy, and a little 24-esque, without the ticking time clock to lend momentum to the action. However, as I learned from the K-Ville pilot (and almost every other pilot I have seen in my insignificant lifetime), pilots can be lame and then the show once it hits its stride can really come into its own and become quite good. I have always liked the Terminator mythology, so I’d like to see SCC become better, but we’ll have to wait, watch, and see.

And yes, I will be watching SCC tonight. In case, you were wondering…What can I say, I like Summer Glau — I miss Firefly

Oh, and I have some good news for all my fans (all two of you). I am taking over the Portland, Oregon site for 451 Press. You can visit it here…www.about-portlandor.com. Don’t worry, I am still writing Watching K-Ville.

Sarah Connor Chronicles, K-Ville, FOX, Jimbo Jones, Homer Simpson, American Idol, House, writers strike, Terminator, 24, Summer Glau, Firefly, Portland, Oregon

The last time you heard from me, I announced that I will be writing my own episodes of K-Ville now that the writers strike has shut down the supply of new episodes. Well, let’s just call it a case of two mornings of “Xmas Cheer” that has kept from from starting. I will instead start tomorrow. So today, I’d like to update everyone on the Writers Strike, which is becoming a bit of a habit on Wednesdays.

I think this clip says it all.

Ah, those writers are so, so clever. Oh, and if you didn’t hear the Daily Show and the Colbert Report are also “crossing the line” and will start producing new shows new month. So that makes the total of the daily “talk” shows returning to 7. However, the shows will be sans writers, so it will be interesting to see how funny all of these guys are without a team of comedic writers supplying them with material. I sort of can’t wait to see it. But then, I am a little weird.

The Spirit Awards will go on with the show, as the group that gives them out, Film Independent, asked the WGA for a waiver before the strike. And the SAG awards will have the benefit of writers as well. The WGA is not letting writers work on both the Golden Globes and the Oscars, thinking that Americans will be so upset over the loss of those lame award shows that we will somehow force the major studios into giving the writers anything they want.

Also, a recent poll showed that 20% of Americans have no idea why the writers are striking in the first place. Maybe the next YouTube clip should address that.

K-Ville, Writers Strike, Spirit, Awards, Film Independent, WGA, SAG, Golden Globes, Oscars, YouTube

Thanks to Variety’s Scribe Vibe blog.

Today, the LA City Council is having a hearing on how much the WGA Writers Strike is impacting the local economy. As feature films are being made everywhere else it seems, TV is king in LA. Did you realize that there are 52 dramas and 19 sitcoms (not) being produced this season? Geez, I think I could name maybe half. I wonder if Telemundo shows are included?

John Bowman, the head of the WGA negotiating committee, estimates that if the remainder of the 2007-2008 season is scrapped, the loss for both the “industry” and LA will be upwards of 2.5 Billion with a B dollars. That makes the writers’ demands seem fairly paltry when the WGA is basically asking for a 3 percent raise, or $150 million.

On the plus side of the Writers strike, CNN (as well as everybody else) reported yesterday that the WGA is not allowing its members write any of the delightful quips and witty bon mots for the Golden Globes. Oh, poo. Then again, if I have to listen to quasi-celebrities adlib their way through handing off the statuette to Ernest Borgnine for his portrayal in A Grandpa for Christmas, I may puke up all that grenache I’ll be sure to be imbibing.

No, seriously, it should be quite a blow to both the Golden Globes and the Oscars if the writers sit this year out. Will the actors follow suit in a show of solidarity? Will their egos allow them to stay at home rather than talk to Joan Rivers? Hmm, that is a tough decision. I’d stay home.

Variety, WGA, writers strike, Los Angeles, Telemundo, CNN, Golden Globes, Ernest Borgnine, Oscars, Joan Rivers