Get Your First Painfully Generic Look at the S.H.I.E.L.D TV Show!

Facebook Pages of ABC programs posted one of the first official pictures of the cast from the upcoming Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. with a notice that you can get your first preview of CSI: SVU: SUPER-HERO BIG BANG THEORY DIVISON after that fairy-tale show on ABC this Sunday. Plot synopsis also revealed and listed below.

Are you ready for more conspiracy theories? You can get a first look at Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in the season finale of Once Upon a Time this Sunday at 8|7c on ABC. #CoulsonLives 

Clark Gregg reprises his role of Agent Phil Coulson from Marvel’s feature films as he assembles a small, highly select group of Agents from the worldwide law-enforcement organization known as S.H.I.E.L.D. Together they investigate the new, the strange, and the unknown across the globe, protecting the ordinary from the extraordinary. Coulson’s team consists of Agent Grant Ward (Brett Dalton), highly trained in combat and espionage, Agent Melinda May (Ming-Na Wen) expert pilot and martial artist, Agent Leo Fitz (Iain De Caestecker); brilliant engineer and Agent Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge) genius bio-chemist. Joining them on their journey into mystery is new recruit and computer hacker Skye (Chloe Bennet). From Executive Producers Joss Whedon (“Marvel’s The Avengers,” ”Buffy the Vampire Slayer”); Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen, “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” pilot co-writers (“Dollhouse,” “Dr.Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog”); Jeffrey Bell (“Angel,” “Alias”); and Jeph Loeb (“Smallville”) comes Marvel’s first TV series.  “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” is produced by ABC Studios and Marvel Television.

So when you see that guy with the Adventure Time profile pic or avatar posting OMG I'M SO EXCITED with a Tumblr gif, you'll know that's the fanbase this show will cater to. 

The Walking Dead Season Four Photo Looks Like Every Other Season & Photo

Hard to get excited about The Walking Dead anymore after A) that cock-block of a finale and B) how much more mileage there is left to a TV show about a zombie apocalypse. When me, the guy who grew up and adored even the schlocky Italian Dawn of the Dead knock-offs, tires of the zombie trend, you know it's wearing itself out.

AMC sent out the first official photo for season four to commemorate the start of production. That is to say get fans riled up about the return of more KNB-produced head explosions, Rick's leadership called into question for the umpteenth time and the next red-shirt, well The Walking Dead equivalent to one, gets his brains gnawed on.

Fox Wants Jack Bauer Kicking Ass On Their Network Again

In what can only be described as one of my television dreams, Fox is making a push to bring everybody's favorite CTU agent Jack Bauer back into our homes. TOLDJA! is reporting that the network believes the show can thrive as a "limited event series", and did I mention Kiefer Sutherland is in talks to take another run at Jack Bauer?

Fans of 24 already had their hopes dashed when the planned film was officially confirmed dead. Not sure how they would have done that in the first place considering the structure of the show. The idea to bring the 24 universe back to the small screen came from showrunner Howard Gordon. You may now know him as the gentleman who serves as executive producer on Showtime's Homeland.

Not sure how likely this is, but dammit Chloe, I hope it happens. Maybe now my idea of Jack Bauer teaming up with Ryan Hardy of The Following is one step closer to becoming a reality.

Trailer, TV Spot, & Poster For The Final Season Of "Dexter"

"Dexter" stars Michael C. Hall in his Golden Globe Award-winning role as Dexter Morgan, a complicated and conflicted blood-spatter expert for the Miami police department. Season eight, which premieres on Sunday, June 30th at 9 p.m. ET/PT,begins six months after LaGuerta’s murder – and Dexter is still managing life as a dad, brother, and serial killer. As Deb (series star Jennifer Carpenter) struggles to deal with the consequences of her actions, a mysterious woman comes to work with Miami Metro, offering first-hand information on Dexter’s past. The series also stars Desmond Harrington, C.S. Lee, Aimee Garcia, David Zayas, Geoff Pierson and James Remar. Produced by Shotime, "Dexter" is executive produced by John Goldwyn, Sara Colleton, Scott Buck, Manny Coto, Tim Schlattmann, Wendy West, Jace Richdale and Michael C. Hall.

Set in the sprawling mecca of the rich and famous, "Ray Donovan" stars Emmy and Golden Globe Award nominee Liev Schreiber in his first lead television role as LA’s best professional fixer. Ray is the man called in to make the city’s celebrities,’ superstar athletes,’ and business moguls’ most complicated and combustible situations go away. This powerful drama unfolds when his father, Mickey Donovan, played by Oscar winner Jon Voight, is unexpectedly released from prison, setting off a chain of events that shakes the Donovan family to its core. "Ray Donovan" is created and executive-produced by Ann Biderman ("Southland"), who also wrote the pilot episode. The series is also executive produced by Mark Gordon and Bryan Zuriff. "Ray Donovan" is a Showtime production and the pilot was directed by Allen Coulter ("The Sopranos," "Sons of Anarchy"), who also serves as producer on both the pilot and the second episode of the series.

COMINGSOON.NET

Spike TV Announces Five Projects Now In Development

Spike TV has, today, unveiled a diverse development slate of five different scripted programs. The projects in development, if greenlit, would each be a special-event series.

"Our move into scripted special-event series is a major step in the evolution of the brand that now reaches a more balanced audience," said Sharon Levy, Executive Vice President, Original Series, Spike TV. "Each project features our development's mission to thrill, inspire, and entertain the viewer. We also see this as a stepping stone to developing original scripted dramatic series."

Levy will oversee the scripted projects for the network. Spike's last foray into scripted event series was "The Kill Point," in July 2007. The event series in development include the following:

Hit Men - From Leslie Greif ("Hatfields & McCoys"), Chris Collins ("Sons of Anarchy") and Rock God and multi-hyphenate Gene Simmons, comes "Hit Men," a thrilling look into the untold story of how the mafia took control of the music industry of the 1970's. From rising artists to radio stations to record labels, the impact organized crime had on all facets of the music business in this era was all-consuming and changed the music world forever. The event series will be produced by Thinkfactory Media.

Whitey Bulger Project - Written by Academy Award-winning writer, Bobby Moresco ("Crash") and produced by Jonathan Koch and Steve Michaels of Asylum Entertainment ("The Kennedys"), this movie event chronicles the raw and unfiltered rise and fall of Whitey Bulger, one of America's most notorious criminals. This four-hour epic delves deep into the life of Boston's most infamous organized crime leader, who ruled New England's criminal underworld with an iron fist for decades. Bulger's larger-than-life story takes us from his days as a low-level street thug to FBI informant, to mob boss bent on undermining the competition, to the FBI's most wanted list, and fugitive on the lam for sixteen years.

The Lamp - In the 1970's, the United States military set up some very unorthodox and secretive departments to research a wide range of areas from telekinesis to ambient noise to body language. Among these included the Research and Acquisitions Department, designed to covertly find and acquire all artifacts mentioned in religious and mythological texts to determine if any of them truly claimed magical powers. The search came up empty until they came across the legendary Aladdin's Lamp. The project comes to Spike from the Levinson / Fontana Company with Brant Englestein ("Borgia") as writer.

Untitled Benghazi Project - This project lifts the curtain on the untold behind-the-scenes story of the 2012 terrorist attack on the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya. Based on declassified documents and testimonials from those who were on the ground, this miniseries will shed light on the actual events surrounding the tragic deaths of four Americans, including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, and the heroic actions of CIA operatives that saved dozen of American lives. The untitled Benghazi project comes to Spike from Pilgrim Studios and Emmy Award-winner Craig Piligian ("Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy," "The Ultimate Fighter") who is executive-producing, along with Pilgrim Studios' Beth Miller.

iHuman - The stories of how technological innovation is transforming the human condition will be at the center of a series of films from Raw TV, the BAFTA-Award winning team behind the critically-acclaimed film, The Imposter. As technology becomes such an integral part of our lives and our most personal information becomes captured in a "cloud," how does this affect human interaction? From the comfort of a laptop, we are now able to do everything from cheating on our spouses, to sending SWAT teams to celebrities' homes, to bringing about revolution or crashing financial markets. The connections in the digital age are actually resulting in a disconnection from humanity and this film series will explore this in a way never before seen on television. Raw TV's credits also include "Gold Rush," "Locked Up Abroad," and "Paranormal Witness."

That Timely Continuation of L.A. CONFIDENTIAL Might Be Happening As a TV Series...

Fresh off of L.A. Confidential's box office success in 1997, it's now reported by Deadline that James Elroy,  the author of the novel the film was based on, and New Regency have several networks vying for his script which is cited as a direct continuation of the '97 film that starred Kevin Spacey, Danny DeVito, Guy Pearce, and Russell Crowe. 

Ellroy wrote the project on spec as a TV drama series, which is being pitched to broadcast and cable networks as well as emerging distribution platforms, with multiple outlets interested. I hear theproject is eyeing a straight-to-series commitment. The sequel continues the themes and stories from L.A. Confidential, a murder mystery which examined the intersection of organized crime, police corruption, celebrity and tabloid journalism in 1950s Los Angeles. 

If this happens this will be the second series based off of James Elroy's work, with the other being an series bought by FX to be based on Ellroy’s 2012 novella "Shakedown" 

the project is set in the tabloid world and underbelly of Los Angeles circa the late 1950s and centers on the city’s top informant/operator/wire tapper/fixer, Fred Otash,who lives and works where the glamour and the grime intersect. A fictionalized version of legendary Hollywood vice cop-turned-private eye Otash, who exposed the sins of the rich and famous in the 1950s magazine Confidential, also appeared in Ellroy’s novels The Cold Six Thousand and Blood’s a Rover.

It appears acclaimed period-set dramas like FX's "The Americans", HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" and AMC's "Mad Men" are maybe paving the way for more like them, which is never a bad thing if you ask me.
What do you all think? Is it way too late for anyone to care about a sequel to L.A. Confidential? Will these series' take off or fall flat? 

NBC Renews Five Dramas For Fall 2013 Lineup

President of NBC Entertainment Jennifer Salke has announced the return of five of their dramas. Revolution, Chicago Fire, Parenthood, Grimm and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Each show has been given a full 22 episode run.

"On the verge of our 2013 fall scheduling decisions, we're pleased to renew five drama series that will be important to our new season line-up," Salke said. "We're proud and very appreciative of all of the actors, producers, writers and directors who work so hard to deliver such high-quality work week in and week out. These complex shows represent a broad range of genres and tones, and all of them stand out for us in a television landscape now filled with one-hour series. We're especially pleased to be renewing "Revolution" and "Chicago Fire" - two first-season successes - and there will be more returning series announcements made in the next couple of weeks."

"Revolution," the Monday night drama that centers on a family trying to reunite amidst a worldwide power failure, is executive produced by Eric Kripke, J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk ("Lost," "Star Trek"). The series is produced by Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Bad Robot Productions, Kripke Enterprises and Warner Bros. Television.

"Revolution" is the season's top-rated drama on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox and top-rated new series among those networks in adults 18-49, scoring a 4.6 rating, 12 share and 11.8 million viewers overall in "most current" averages for the season to date. "Revolution" has teamed with "The Voice" to help improve NBC's Mondays this season versus last by 24 percent in 18-49 (with a 3.6 rating vs. a 2.9).

"Chicago Fire," from Emmy Award-winning executive producer Dick Wolf and creators Derek Haas and Michael Brandt, goes inside a Windy City firehouse and the lives of those who engage in one of our nation's noblest professions.

In addition to Wolf, Haas and Brandt, executive producers also include Matt Olmstead, Joe Chappelle, Danielle Gelber and Peter Jankowski. The series is produced by Universal Television and Wolf Films.

"Chicago Fire" has topped its premiere audience of 6.6 million persons a total of eight times this season, and the only other new drama on the broadcast networks to have done it even once this season is NBC's "Hannibal." "Chicago Fire" originals have improved the time period versus year-ago results by 24 percent ("live plus same day").

"Parenthood," adapted from the 1989 feature film, examines the colorful Braverman family, and all its foibles and triumphs. The series is executive produced by Oscar winners Ron Howard and Brian Grazer ("A Beautiful Mind," "Frost/Nixon"), Emmy winner Jason Katims ("Friday Night Lights") and Lawrence Trilling ("Pushing Daisies"). The series is produced by Universal Television and Imagine Entertainment.

"Parenthood" grew this season versus last by 8 percent in adults 18-49 (to a 2.8 rating from a 2.6) and also increased by 8 percent year-to-year in total viewers (7.1 million vs. 6.6 million). This season's last seven "Parenthood" telecasts beat both the ABC and CBS drama competition in the time period in 18-49.

"Grimm," inspired by the classic Grimm Brothers' fairy tales, is a Universal Television and Hazy Mills production. The series was created by Stephen Carpenter, David Greenwalt, Jim Kouf. Sean Hayes, Todd Milliner and Norberto Barba also serve as executive producers along with Greenwalt and Kouf.

"Grimm" is Friday's #1 series in adults 18-49 and is up versus one year ago by 14 percent in 18-49 rating (with a 2.4 vs. the year-ago 2.1, "most current") and is up 12 percent in total viewers (6.9 million vs. 5.2 million).

"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" will enter its 15th season for NBC. The series chronicles the life and crimes of the Special Victims Unit of the New York City Police Department, an elite squad of detectives who investigate sexually based crimes.

"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" is a Wolf Films production in association with Universal Television. Dick Wolf is creator and executive producer. Warren Leight, Julie Martin and Peter Jankowski are also executive producers.

"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" originals this season have improved the time period versus year-ago results by 70 percent in adults 18-49 ("live plus same day") and are building on the time slot's lead-in by 31 percent in 18-49 and 70 percent in total viewers.

The Stupid Reason Agent Coulson is Still Alive Is...[SPOILERS]

/Film apparently got the scoop today on the real reason Clark Gregg's character, Agent Coulson, will be in the planned Marvel's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." TV series. Keep in mind this is possibly just a rumor.

As you remember, in Joss Whedon's summer block-buster The Avengers, the flimsy and really poorly written reason why the super-hero team finally decided to unite was due to Loki murdering Agent Coulson, a character which didn't have much of a back-story or emotional attachment to anyone despite the many people who were already killed by that point in the film, and evem then Nick Fury had to exaggerate his death to guilt-trip the team.

Well, with the announcement of The Big Bang Theory With Superheroes  Marvel's S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series, it was revealed Gregg would return to basic cable television as none other than the deceased Phil Coulson.

"Is he going to be The Vision?! What about a clone?! Some super awesome super-hero reason to why he's back?? Is he immortal??" You might all ask, thinking of what imaginative way they could bring back a character that exists in the world of different dimensions, aliens, iron-suits, super-soldiers, flying battleships, and magic cubes?

In the pilot, it’s revealed Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), the ultimate super spy, faked Agent Coulson’s death on purpose to motivate The Avengers. Some S.H.I.E.L.D. members were in on it (including, possibly, Maria Hill played by Cobie Smulders) but The Avengers were not. Their security clearance wasn’t high enough. Coulson was forced to hold his breath as part of the ruse and that’s a point of contention among his colleagues  After the fact, Fury moved him to a remote location until things died down, and then he was reinserted into duty at the time of the show.

I'll let that sink in with you for a moment. Keep in mind we wont know till the series premieres; but if that's true, I'm laughing so hard I'm crying. BRAVO JOSS.

Pulled Episode of NBC's "Hannibal" Now Available as Web Mini-Series

When you have a TV series that is based off of a series of movies involving character interaction, psychological analyzing, and heavy character interaction, the format gives you more time and space to build relationships instead of a few two-hour film., which is why many thought pulling an early episode of a drama-dependant series was a bad move.

Well now, you can see the character moments of episode 4 presented as a small web-series brought to you by show-runner Bryan Fuller and NBC.

Fuller pulled the episode- which involved Molly Shannon as an elementary school teacher who brainwashed her students into killing other children- in light of recent events around the United States. 

“We want to be respectful of the social climate we’re in right now.”

Fuller told Variety,

“I didn’t want to have anyone come to the show and have a negative experience,” Fuller told Variety. “Whenever you [write] a story and look at the sensational aspects of storytelling, you think, ‘This is interesting metaphorically, and this is interesting as social commentary.’ With this episode, it wasn’t about the graphic imagery or violence. It was the associations that came with the subject matter that I felt would inhibit the enjoyment of the overall episode. … It was my own sensitivity.”

The "mini-series", available now through Youtube, will feature a commentary by Fuller, helping the audience understand what's going on, and providing commentary.

"Hannibal" explores the early relationship between the renowned psychiatrist and his patient, a young FBI criminal profiler, who is haunted by his ability to empathize with serial killers.

The show airs Thursdays at 10/9 central on NBC. 

Guillermo Del Toro Teams with HBO to Bring Manga "Monster" to Life

Deadline got the scoop earlier today that acclaimed film-maker Guillermo Del Toro (Pacific Rim, Pan's Labyrynth, Hellboy II: The Golden Army) has teamed up HBO to bring Naoki Urasawa's 18-volume manga, "Monster" to life.

Del Toro will co-write the story with Steven Thompson, best known for his work on Dr. Who andSherlock. Thompson will write the pilot, which del Toro intends to direct. 

Sounds like a good team. I love "Sherlock"; not too big on Dr. Who though. "Monster" is described by some as a very stylized world, being a fairy tale meets noir pulp, which is a perfect fit for Del Toro.

The thriller is about the worldwide search by a young doctor for the most evil sociopath that has ever lived. He is a 12-year-old boy, and the doctor’s decision to save his life has unwittingly unleashed a Pandora’s Box that leaves the doc battling to stop a plot of mass genocide. 

 Obviously no word yet on a release date or any casting info; but with such a huge network like HBO getting into the manga game, and Del Toro's anime influenced Pacific Rim hitting theaters, could we be seeing more major Hollywood interest in manga? We all know AKIRA and Neon Genesis Evangelion were kicked around for a while; but the projects were too ambitious and risky for their studios to go ahead with.

Stay posted for more info as the series develops.