I admit, when I saw TeenNick had an “Every Degrassi Ever” marathon on today, I totally tuned in. And I will be tuning in next week, when Degrassi takes on a daily schedule for a few weeks. Yep, I said daily. In a world where fans of primetime teen-oriented shows like Gossip Girl or One Tree Hill have to wait weeks between episodes, the upcoming Season 10 of Degrassi will be done in a telenovela-style format.

With the show’s large cast, I think they’ll pull it off.

It got me to thinking, though. I’m 32 years old — closer in age to the likes of Snake and Joey Jeremiah than I am to “The Next Generation,” or this current generation of cast, which now that almost all of the original cast is gone, is more like the “next-next generation.” Yet I enjoy it, because it’s well-written, interesting, and addictive — even though it’s not aimed at me. I have a friend in their 20′s – not naming names – who’ll watch (and enjoy) Hannah Montana.

So here’s your chance to come out. Leave a comment, and tell me what “guilty pleasure” shows YOU watch. You can sign your posts anonymously if you must. Make me feel like I’m not the only crazy person watching TV that’s not aimed at me. Then again, director Kevin Smith has spent his whole career being an out-and-proud Degrassi fan, putting references into almost all of his movies, and even eventually appearing on the show itself!

In the meantime, here’s that new Degrassi promo again. The new season of Degrassi starts here in the United States next week on TeenNick.

NBC has now unveiled their Fall 2010 schedules, and I have to admit, I’m a little underwhelmed.

I was optimistic for the network’s many pilot pick-ups, and the cancellations of Heroes and Law & Order: Original Variety said to me that the network might be pulling a “scorched Earth” tactic to leave us with an almost completely new schedule.

Instead, unless something changes, we get more of the same.

Mondays are just like before – Chuck followed by two dramas that will either succeed or fail very quickly. How many shows have tried and failed at that 10PM slot? I’m glad they renewed Chuck, but was hoping it’d go somewhere else (like say Wednesdays) to get out of the Monday crossfire. On that same note, Undercovers seemed like a good fit to either lead off the night or take the 9PM slot. The show has great people working on it, an attractive cast, and could be the kind of hit that’ll put a dent into CBS’ Monday comedies. Maybe another year…

Tuesdays haven’t changed at all.

Wednesdays, again, is where I’d put something that already has a loyal fan base (ie, Chuck.) I’m surprised, also, that NBC is running two Law & Order shows back to back. SVU always works well at 10PM; I probably would have kept it there and ran Law & Order: Los Angeles on Mondays at 10 if it were my decision. (Maybe this is why I’m not a TV executive)

Thursdays are one of the few nights that worked for NBC this past year, for the most part, so they’re not making many changes. Love Bites at 10PM seems a little weird to me though, because I would think their target audience of women would be watching Private Practice. Still, for a network that is trying to rebuild itself, I’m surprised so much of it seems to be the same as always.

Fridays have reality – which is what most networks seem to burn off on that day. I grew up at a time when Friday night TV was a very big deal. The Dukes of Hazzard was my first “favorite show” and I remember the early 90′s when you had TGIF on ABC but also quality series like Picket Fences on CBS. Now it seems to be where shows go to die. NBC is running their new Jimmy Smits series Outlaw there… but it seems kind of lost and alone over there. Too bad, because it looks like a quality show, although I liked the title Garza better.

I have no real opinion on their Sunday either way. And oh yeah, The Cape and a few other shows are waiting for midseason.

Maybe NBC has a plan for what this new schedule will bring to them. After all, the people doing these jobs are more experienced and better paid than I am. But I do believe that if NBC had been a little bit more daring, their Fall schedule could be more along the lines of “extraordinary.”

Comments? Leave ‘em below.

Review by Craig Byrne

TwoMorrows Publishing recently released the hardcover book Age of TV Heroes, written by Jason Hofius and George Khoury and sporting a cover by the always-excellent Alex Ross. The book takes a look at the history of live action television – a subject that I know I myself have had interest in as long as I can remember. This book, in addition to being a retrospective of sorts, contains many production photos – several of which I have never seen before – and exclusive interviews with such comics-TV folk as Adam West (Batman), John Wesley Shipp (The Flash), Patrick Warburton (The Tick), Lynda Carter (Wonder Woman), and more.

I have been a fan of many of TwoMorrows’ book publications and magazines prior to this. Back Issue, Alter Ego, and The Jack Kirby Collector are three of my favorite periodical reads, and some of their books – especially Kimota! The Miracleman Companion by one of the co-writers of this very book, George Khoury – are the kinds of things that I find myself reading and referring to over and over again. When I heard they were making a book about this subject I was very excited.

Inside, one can find a decade-by-decade look at the history of comic books brought to TV, with much larger chapters devoted to many individual shows. I think for me, the most exciting parts were reading about shows I didn’t know much about – for example, the 1970′s Spider-Man series starring Nicholas Hammond. Not only was it interesting to read about, but it left me wishing that Marvel would do a Spider-Man TV series again someday rather than rebooting the movie franchise yet again. I’m sure the Sony/Marvel money people would disagree with me on that one.

Some goofy stuff even gets a mention, like the Legends of the Super-Heroes Roasts that were done in the late 70′s on television, which contained the first on-air live action appearances as characters such as The Huntress and Black Canary. There are even looks at the Captain America and Doctor Strange TV-movies of that era.

I think another sign of my enjoyment of this book is that I learned things I had never read before. I didn’t know the circumstances of The Incredible Hulk‘s final season, and now I do. The writers tried to be as thorough as possible and tried to cover as much as they could within 192 pages.

For that reason, the pages on Smallville might not have been as exciting to me as they could have been, because it didn’t cover a lot of new ground, at least not to me. Someone unfamiliar with the show would enjoy it a lot more, and I’m very glad it was included in this history. There are some nice photos there, and it seems they interviewed Jeph Loeb about his time on the show for the book which was nice. I also cringed at the misspelling of “Alison Mack” though it seems to only have happened in or two places (it, of course, has two L’s, like most of the ladies in Superman’s life). I might have also appreciated more pages or interviews on Lois & Clark; they interviewed DC Comics’ Mike Carlin but a lot of the behind-the-scenes history of the show seemed to be missing to me.

Chapters in the book are mostly confined to series originally based on comic books; so no Heroes here. And although some pilots like Power Pack, Aquaman and the horrid 1997 Justice League are mentioned (sometimes complete with never-before-seen imagery!), aborted concepts like The Graysons or the Todd Komarnicki Flash project are not mentioned. The Greatest American Hero, while not directly inspired by a comic, does get an entry, though I’m not complaining about that at all because it is one of my favorite sections.

Please don’t let my commentary on the Smallville section deter you, however; it’s a fantastic book and well worth reading. I’m so thankful and glad someone took the time to re-tell this history in one volume.

Age of TV Heroes can be ordered now at a very discounted rate at Amazon.com (all orders support this site!), or directly at TwoMorrows.com’s website. It’s a great read and I definitely recommend it.

Want your TV-related book or DVD reviewed here at KSiteTV? Send us an e-mail!

Article by Craig Byrne

For the past twelve weeks, Life Unexpected has been a gem of a show that I have thoroughly enjoyed, even though I’m not a part of The CW’s target demographic.

Through a friend I was able to see the pilot a few months early, back under one of its earlier titles, Parental Discretion Advised. I was quickly surprised by the series’ many layers and elements – and the incredible work of the show’s cast, which features Britt Robertson, Shiri Appleby, Kristoffer Polaha, and Kerr Smith.

In this world where shows in the vein of Gossip Girl, 90210, and Melrose Place rule the roost at The CW, where some of the characters seem to exist only to create drama and sleep together, Life Unexpected has had heart. Yes, there is sex (that’s how Lux came into being in the first place). Yes, there are self-absorbed characters. And yes, there is drama. But creator Liz Tigelaar and the show’s cast and crew have brought us a show where characters do make mistakes. At any given week, you ARE going to dislike Character X or Character Y, and hey, that’s okay. They’ll probably redeem themselves. Even the ones like Bug, where you, like some of the characters on the show, might be quick to give up on.

The other important factor for Life Unexpected‘s critical success is chemistry. Somehow, Shiri Appleby as Cate can appear to be equally interested in Kerr Smith’s reliable Ryan or Kristoffer Polaha’s wild child Baze. She does it in such a way that you, like the character, don’t know what’s coming next, and it’s a rare mix that I don’t see much on television.

The show can hit you over the head a little with the drama for drama’s sake; but then again, the show is just that – a drama. I actually think it got to a better balance as the first season went on; the drama became less heavy-handed as time went on, though it could be that I just was so invested in the characters by that point I wasn’t bothered anymore.

Unfortunately, the show’s ratings aren’t totally as high as what The CW seems to want. The show has already moved timeslots, including being put up against Chuck in its final days. The successful Wednesday rerun – which probably should have moved to 9PM once Top Model returned – was eliminated, right as a lot of people were discovering the show and finding their Monday nights too crowded.

I know there are “Save Our Show” polls out there on several different websites. I’m not taking sides. Though I will say that Life Unexpected is one of two series where I will be extremely disappointed if they don’t return for another year. (The other is V). I want to see what happens next. I don’t know if Cate and Ryan get married tonight, but if they do, I want to see how Baze will react. How will Ryan cope with joining that “family?” Where’s Jones going to go if Austin Butler leaves for Betwixt? Will we see Cate’s dad again, unless he returns in the season finale? If there is no second year, I will seriously feel cheated to have none of these questions answered.

So far, Life Unexpected is one of only two “bubble” shows for The CW that is not yet renewed, the other being One Tree Hill. So there’s the choice: Pick up the newcomer show which has a long life ahead of it, or something that’s been on for so many years that it’s got to be expensive. I know what I’d pick.

Check the show out. If tonight’s season finale is already over where you are, look for it on CWTV.com, iTunes, and other legal outlets. When the DVD comes out, give it a try. You don’t have to be a woman to enjoy this – it’s a fun show for everyone, and deserves a little more time to really bloom. If you have checked it out already, good for you! Leave some comments, especially if you’re also a fan.

It seems that a lot of American television series suffer badly after having break periods of several weeks. While some are scratching their heads over recent Smallville ratings, the numbers for shows like 90210 have fallen even more drastically. And it’s not just a CW thing: Series such as Heroes, Flashforward, V, and much more also seem to go down after a break.

So here’s the question: Would you rather have a series air 22 new installments back-to-back, but have a longer break between seasons, kind of like 24 has done; or would do you think the current system of several weeks-long breaks a year is more palatable? Vote in the poll and leave some feedback:

I’ve had the opportunity to post an advance review of the April 6 episode of ABC’s V.

The title of the episode is “Pound of Flesh” and I think it’s a good indication that the show is really finding its voice and coming together…

Read the review at VisitorSite.net!

Hello, and welcome to my first (on KSiteTV) Flashforward review. I’m sorry that it has been in progress for a week (that’s in reference to the UK airing, which was last Monday), but it can prove difficult enough reviewing a ONE hour episode. When you throw in a two hour block, and add copious amounts of mythological plot twists and rapidly shifting character allegiances… well, it can be extremely arduous to concoct a review that is both concise and detailed without being slight and incomprehensible.

Continue Reading

UPDATE: Since this article was first written, The CW HAS renewed Smallville for a tenth year, and Michael Rosenbaum has Tweeted that he has good news coming but that it does not involve Smallville. At the time this was written, neither of those things were the case.

There’s been a lot of talk lately around the Internet about Smallville.

First there was the announcement that The CW has renewed several series for another season, and Smallville is not one of them (yet). Then EW’s Michael Ausiello said that budgetary issues are being worked out, but things look likely, and the latest from The Superman Homepage says the producers are “attempting to close a deal with Michael Rosenbaum to return as Lex Luthor, wanting to sign him up for at least 9 or 10 episodes.” That last bit brought some excitement to many fans at a time when a lot of them were down that the show could be over soon.

Unfortunately, getting Michael back is not a done deal. It could be wishful thinking on the part of TV execs, but most importantly it’s a good kind of wishful thinking. In short: getting Michael back for the show’s final season might be the shot in the arm that Smallville needs.

To me, Smallville has been the story of Clark Kent and Lex Luthor. Clark’s ascent to heroism; Lex’s descent into villainy. When Michael Rosenbaum left the show, that left a void in a big bad villain department. Yes, Doomsday looked cool but he was a one-season villain. Callum Blue’s Zod went from interesting in the season premiere to boring at a pretty fast rate. What would be next? Darkseid? Really? I don’t know how that would work on TV, and I’m not convinced it would get the right amount of viewers to return.

(This is not to discount Cassidy Freeman’s performance as Tess Mercer. I really like Tess a lot, but especially with recent revelations, she’s a character who might not be purely a villain. I love that about her, wouldn’t want that to change, and am glad to have her on the show.)

I admit there were times in Michael’s more recent seasons where Lex had very little to do but have Clark come into his mansion and spout accusations, and then move on. But if used sparingly and well (as in not every episode), Lex could again be a threat and a center to the series that I think the show lacks.

I’m sure budget for Season 10 is definitely an issue, but I think returning Michael would be worth every penny. The associated press with the show’s big villain returning alone would be quite beneficial, and as much as I love the DC Universe characters appearing on the show, Lex Luthor is a lot more of a draw than the random DC guest character of the week. The fan base for the show – several of whom may have given up on the show by now – would get a jolt of energy and excitement to tune into the show again. And who wouldn’t want to see Lex sparring with Tess, or telling Clark that he rocked the Neo look better?

I just hope that if negotiations to bring back Michael take place, that the executives of the CW and with the studio, who are responsible for these decisions, know what an asset Michael Rosenbaum can be. Give him whatever he wants; creative input, a producer title, his own development deal; you name it. It worked with getting Tom back for more. Make it worth his time, let Lex wear hairpieces for all I care… just make it happen. (Heck, maybe Lex grew his hair back when recovering from the Arctic. Stranger things have happened…)

Who knows if Michael would even want to return. He does have other projects he’s working on. Maybe it’s something that has been tried and failed, but it wouldn’t hurt to try and make it worth his while.

Smallville started with Clark Kent and Lex Luthor and it should end with Clark Kent and Lex Luthor. If it doesn’t, I know that I am one viewer who will leave the show’s finale disappointed. So, especially if you’re one of those network or studio people… think about it. A rejuvenated Smallville with a returned Lex coupled with the already-renewed Supernatural Season 6 = successful Friday nights for the network, and a whole lot of DVD sales later on.

Column by Craig Byrne

Full disclosure here: I was there for the beginning of Heroes fandom, having helped NBC and the show’s producers to launch 9thWonders.com in July 2006. Since stepping down from there later that year, I launched HeroSite.net at the middle of the first season when the show was really doing well. I’ve seen every episode of the show, through good times and bad. However, what I have to say might not be popular with the entire Heroes fan base, so please, go easy on me.

With that in mind… despite international popularity and still being one of the best-selling series as far as TV show DVD’s go, it’s no secret that Heroes is in trouble. The show has lost a large percentage of its audience, apathy is growing among viewers, and for some, it’s no longer that show that everyone fell in love with during the first season. It’s easy to place the blame – people can point to creator Tim Kring, the loss of key creators, the writers’ strike, slashed budgets, repetitive story fake-outs and alliance shifts, Maya & Alejandro, the network, losing Adrian Pasdar, you name it, it’s been said before – but at the end of the day the important thing to look at is that the show could use some heroes of its own. If NBC wasn’t in such bad shape that they are in right now, a fifth season of Heroes would not even be a possibility, despite the benefits that are there.

The fourth season finale was viewed live by less than 5 million people. Now, downloads, DVR, and such will probably push the show over the edge – but it’s those live viewers that matter the most to advertisers. So, what’s a network to do?

One idea that has been proposed by critics and columnists is that Heroes should return for a protracted Season 5 to “wrap things up.” While again, there are benefits to that, there’s another factor: Whether it was intended to be one or not, the final episode of Season 4 worked very effectively as a series finale if it has to be one. Hiro’s journey is complete. Sylar is finding redemption. Claire’s final moments echo our first introduction to her. And Tracy… is a puddle. (Can’t win ‘em all) As a viewer of the show for four seasons, I could leave there and be satisfied. BUT…

….despite the falling ratings, there are still a lot of people who want more. They love the universe of Heroes and want to see it continue. So what do I propose? Keeping in mind that I am not a television executive and if I were one, I’d probably be laughed at for this idea…

…Heroes should return, during November sweeps or thereabouts, as a 2-hour TV-movie or even two 2-hour TV-movies.

Let some time pass into this “Brave New World,” and treat it like a “reunion movie” of a long lost series. What’s happened since then? Did the world react well to Claire’s coming out? How is that good guy thing working for Sylar? And please, oh please, is the carnival gone for good?

This could also serve as a good “jumping-back-on point” for those who gave up on the show years ago. It’d be a fresh start for all, about a re-gathering of Heroes, moving forward with the concept rather than going backward and, even worse, retconning past moments.

Time past would also mean if certain actors are (or aren’t) available, it can be written around depending on availability.

A TV-movie (or two) would surely sell well on DVD, bringing parent company NBC Universal a nice revenue stream. Sure, they’d get a revenue stream by picking up another season, but I’m sure the profit margin on a single DVD would be much higher than the profit margin on a full season of something that’s not a sure thing.

Then say a rejuvenated Heroes TV-movie is popular. That’s when a full-scale relaunch of the show, as a weekly series, would be a keen idea. And if it didn’t do well… then, hey, the loyal fans of the show get an extra movie or two, and NBC gets profits from that. Consider a TV-movie to be like a “new pilot.”

Comic books relaunch all the time after sales start to fall. A relaunch for Heroes might be just what the Company ordered, because if the show continues on the trajectory it was falling, and NBC picks the show up for Season 5, they could be seeing CW-level numbers by the end of December.

Now, NBC’s in such dire shape they could end up picking up Heroes regardless. I admit, though, that I’m a little skeptical that there’s much that can be done to get people to tune in for a Season 5 premiere without making some drastic changes, and so far it seems almost everything they’ve tried since Season 3 or so hasn’t brought anyone back. Some might write Heroes off as a dead franchise already; I don’t think so. With the right redirection, and an accessible enough reason to return, it’d still have plenty of life yet. (Just please, enough with the death fake-outs, gimmicky kisses, repetitive storylines – Hiro I’m looking at you, and changing sides. It’s getting old.)

What do you think? Sound off in the comments, and again, go easy on me. I’d definitely be curious what others would propose for NBC in continuing the franchise.

Earlier this week it was revealed that the son of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry is looking to revive one of his father’s greatest untapped projects, The Questor Tapes, and will be working with Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment to make it happen.

The original concept behind Questor is that it is about “an android with incomplete memory tapes who searches for his creator and his purpose.” Initially, it is said that Roddenberry wanted to cast Leonard Nimoy, who of course is most famous to genre television fans for playing Mr. Spock on the original Star Trek series and movies as well as two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Nimoy also played the older Spock in JJ Abrams’ recent Star Trek movie.

The studio had other ideas, however, and instead cast Robert Foxworth. The offer of an unappealing timeslot in addition to changes to the concept from the network led to the project being abandoned beyond the initial pilot movie.

Flash forward to 2010. Who could play Questor now? Thinking of Roddenberry’s initial casting choice, and assuming that this robot might have some Spock-logic to him, there’s one actor who’d be perfect for the job…

Zachary Quinto.

Realistically, with ratings falling as they have, Heroes might have one more year in it, at best. At worst, it could be over this year, though a lot of that would depend on NBC’s fortunes. The studio might also want to do another year to reach the magic 100 episodes for syndication.

Still… there’s no denying that Quinto would be the perfect kind of actor for the project. Of course, Mr. Quinto might want to avoid the typecasting involved with playing genre role after genre role, and he’s going to be a bit busy sometime soon with the inevitable Star Trek sequel. What do you think? Leave some comments or post on the KryptonSite forum!