The dynamic duo is coming back to network television playing (who else) themselves. The stars and creators of one of cable televisions best shows, Penn & Teller Bullshit, are now taking their R-rated act to PG television. Variety reports:

ABC has given a script order to the Penn and Teller project. Comedic one-hour stars the duo as Penn Jillette and Teller — Las Vegas magicians by night. But here’s how the show takes a slight twist from real life: By day, the duo become reluctant detectives.

I love Penn and Teller. I first subscribed to Showtime just to get their show. I wonder how their brand of humor (if you’ve seen the Showtime program you’ll know what I mean) will translate to ABC/Disney. I have high hopes though. I don’t believe that they’d put their name on it if it wasn’t quality (I’m not saying that they don’t sell out, but it usually has someone else’s name over the title).

The description reminds me of Curb Your Enthusiasm. On Curb, Larry plays a caricature of himself. Here P&T will be doing something similar. I’m definitely putting this on my watch list.

Hot off the heals of the Emmy win, Joss Wheadon makes mention of the sequel to the smash hit Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog during an Dollhouse interview. TVGuide Magazine reports:

There will be a second Dr. Horrible Sing-Along Blog, Joss Whedon said in a Thursday conference call with reporters to promote Dollhouse. The main question, he says, is whether he does it “on a shoe string again” or goes bigger budget and “invites other people into the process.” Either way, he promises that it won’t affect the storyline.

We all knew it was coming, but how long do we have to wait? My first reaction was “No! Don’t go bigger!”. But, after thinking about it a minute, that would probably be the best thing to do.

Allowing it to grow would help to bring in a wider audience. More exposure. There are still those who don’t realize that there are great net-only entertainment options out there that surpass the quality of much of the mainstream.

Who will return for the sequel? NPH is very hot right now, but he would, or course, be a necessary component of a Horrible sequel. Nathan Fillion’s new show Castle is keeping him quite busy; but we all want Captain Hammer to return. Does Moist step up and become a super-henchman? Will the Doctor resurrect Penny? Or build a Penny-bot? (come on, you have to get Felicia back).

What are your thoughts?

The Thursday premiere of The Office picked up pretty near where it left off last season…Jim and Pam are pregnant, and no one else knows. The official synopsis has:

Today marks the last day of summer interns being in the office, and the staff are making the most of it. Gossip flies as people suspect that two of the interns are hooking up. Michael is feeling left out because he’s the only one who didn’t suspect the affair.

I was uncomfortable only 8 minutes into this season; that is a good sign. The ability to draw you in so much that you fell the discomfort of the characters as Michael mis behaves is a sign of the top notch writing on the show. Was it a perfect episode? No. But a very good start to the season.

This episode provided a look into what The Office is all about. It had outrageous situations (parkour), Micheal overreacting (feeling left out of the gossip, and his remedy of spreading false gossip), and the heart that makes the show more than just another comedy (Jim ‘falling on his sword’). In all it was a very fun episode that kicked off the season nicely.

What did you think?

Joss Wheadon picked up his first Emmy this weekend. Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog won the Emmy Award for short-format live-action entertainment programs. I, like most, found out via Twitter. The cast did a great job of building suspense with their constant updates throughout the evening.

Of course, Joss winning an Emmy is a long time coming, but I bet this one is extra sweet for him. Not just for being his first, but Doctor Horrible belongs completely to them, not to any studio. I really hope that he returns to the web again. A crossover talent like him can really legitimize online video, and get the word out that there is real quality on the net. We need another Horrible-esque show from the Wheadons. They say lightning doesn’t strike twice, but I get Joss can come close.

It would have really been nice to see this on the Primetime Emmy Awards. There are still people who haven’t seen, or even heard of Dr. Horrible. Maybe with NPH hosting, we’ll get some allusion to his alter ego. Congratulations to everyone involved.

(images in this post used without permission from @nathanfillion and @ motancharoen …hope they don’t mind)

Last night, the new CW series The Vampire Diaries began its bid to capitalize on the latest teen vampire fad. Based on a series of books by the same name, it’s the story of a small town girl who meets an ancient ‘good’ vampire on the first day of school. Sound a little familiar?

Now to be fair, Vampire Diaries pre-date Twilight by more than 10 years and Buffy by at least 1/2 a decade. This gives me respect for the source material, and the desire to give the show a chance. I haven’t read the novels, but will definitely put it on my list.

The TV show is already better than the Twilight movie. The acting, although very ‘WB-like’, is much better than the over-emo performances in Twilight (which I believe was the directors fault, not the actors). But make no mistake, this is more One Tree Hill than Buffy.

The Good:
I’ve already mentioned the acting. Even though the script seemed like a Party of Five episode, the actors showed range and maturity. I’ve come to expect poor acting on CW shows (I’m looking at you Smallville), but most of the leads gave good performances (especially for a pilot). Also, the look of the show is appealing. Instead of going for the dark brooding atmosphere all of the time, they do give you a more realistic setting. I can’t say much on the story, as it was just a pilot, and merely set the tone of the series.

The Bad:
Did they have to make the characters so much like Twilight characters? As much as I like the cast, the look they have seems directly pulled from the Twilight film. It was distracting as it constantly reminded me of the film.
Maybe it is because I was such an Angel fan, but the ‘ring that allows vampires out in the day light’ bothered me; it’s a crutch. I’m not sure if it was in the novels, so I won’t be too harsh. Maybe it will be better explained, and not a cheap plot device.
All of those things can be excused. The one thing that can’t be excused is why so much damn music? Nearly every scene had background music…again…distracting. The royalties for the music in this episode must have been 1/2 the budget. I know it is a signature of TheCW (leftover from TheWB), but this was excessive. I hope this practice ends.

Conslusion:
The pilot was good enough to get me to give the show a chance. I’m curious to see how it does in comparison to how Smallville did in the slot in the past. I’m on for at least 2 more episodes.

Last night, HBO kicked off season 7 of the Larry David show “Curb Your Enthusiasm” with a preview of the upcoming season. A major component of the upcoming season is a not-a-reunion of Seinfeld. HBO describes it as:

Three of the four stars of ‘Seinfeld’ have made guest appearances on ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ over the years. In Season 2 both Jason Alexander and Julia Louis-Dreyfus appeared as themselves when Larry was pitching a new TV show. And in Season 4′s finale, Jerry Seinfeld appears, wincing in the audience of ‘The Producers’ when Larry forgets his lines.

This season, Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander and Michael Richards all appear as themselves. In real life, they’ve all denied any interest in reuniting. What changed their minds? Stay tuned…

The Seinfeld reunion is a ‘show within a show’. In Curb, Larry & Jerry will be making the reunion show. I don’t think any other show could pull this off. What a great way to make a reunion episode.

Curb is a very unique show that in my opinion is one of the greatest shows in television history. I was almost certain that season 6 was going to be the last, because I didn’t think even Larry could get out of the situation that he created. I’m so glad I was wrong.

Season 7 of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” begins September 20th on HBO.

Up until now, “The Brady Bunch Hour” was one of those one-off shows that only Krofft-fanatics and Brady-ologists even remotely remembered…and many would have liked to forget. Variety shows in the 1970s were like reality-shows are today; occasionally there was a good one, but most of them were very bad. The Brady Hour was no exception.

I heard about this book (Love to Love You Bradys) two years ago when I was contacted by author Ted Nichelson. As a Krofft Fan, I was excited to hear a new book based on one of their properties was in the works, but at the same time wondered if was more a Brady book, than a Krofft book. The closer we got to the release, I started wondering if if my expectations were too high. I’m glad to say, they were too low.

I read this 300 page book in one sitting….I just couldn’t put it down. Nichelson’s over 7 years research and development pays off with a very engrossing, and well written book that pulls you in and won’t let you go. It’s a ‘coffee table book’, but structured well to tell a story from start to finish. What I found particularly interesting was the history of the show told from the writers’ point-of-view. Their insights provide us with a unique perspective of a Krofft production as well as 70s TV in general.

Being a coffee table book allows for lavish imagery throughout the book. Some pictures you’ve seen before, but more than not there is something new on every page. The show was such a visual experience that the photos are a must to experience the surreal-ality that was The Brady Hour. Also, the side notes by Susan Olsen (Cindy Brady) really put it over the top.

If you have any interest in the Brady Bunch, Sid and Marty Krofft, or just TV show business in the 70s in general, this is the book to get. This is the story from start to finish on how the Brady Hour came to be, and how it faded away. I loved every minute of it…twice.

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