TV Nerd News #2

Just like my other article earlier today, iGR’s TV Nerd News is back! Think of it as our version of Up All Night, only instead of becoming a crappy multi-camera sitcom we’re becoming awesome!

Again, I’ll be covering the ten best stories over our hiatus. Without further ado…

#1: 2/15 - Kyle Chandler to lead Showtime pilot THE VATICAN

This is probably my favorite piece of news over the past few weeks. Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights, Argo) is a tremendous actor so it’s nice to see him get the lead in a high profile series. With the Pope resigning this series will come at a very good time as it will deal with the political nature of The Vatican.

#2: 2/15 - Sarah Michelle Gellar is the female lead in CBS sitcom pilot w/ Robin Williams

This pilot continues to get some serious name value with Michelle Gellar adding to the mix. I mentioned being a big Buffy fan growing up so it’s nice to see her get some more work, especially with the kind of cast that the pilot is landing. Still, this is CBS we’re talking about so it’s likely to end up on the terrible side.

#3: 2/21 - FX renews THE AMERICANS

We here at iGR covered the premiere of The Americans so it’s nice to see it renewed. It’s almost like watching a kid walk for the first time except with this all we did we liked the show. That’s comparable right?

#4: 2/22 - Tyler Labine is Rupert Grint’s big brother in CBS comedy pilot

I was a huge fan of Reaper so it’s nice to see Tyler Labine get more work but again it’s CBS. At least this one has an okay premise (Kick-Ass: The TV Show!)the cache of Greg Garcia (My Name is Earl, Raising Hope) who can find a quality sitcom on any network. Also, it’ll be fun to see that red-headed kid from Harry Potter on TV!

#5: 2/25 - AMC has their own period spy drama - in the 1700s!

I’ll go into some of things I don’t like about AMC in a bit but first, something I do like: they can take some chances. Granted, spy and espionage stuff is in right now thanks to Homeland and adding the period drama twist is also being done by FX but the 18th century? That’s kind of impressive. Casting Jamie Bell (The Adventures of Tintin, Billy Elliot) in his first TV gig is kind of a good get too so it seems like AMC isn’t all that bad.

#6: 2/27 - Michael Ealy is RoboCop-adjacent in Fox JJ Abrams pilot

This is perhaps my most anticipated pilot because if done right, the premise has a lot of potential. If anybody can do it, it’s the team behind Fringe, Abrams and J.H. Wyman. A lot will ride on who they cast as the partner but this could at the very least turn into a decent procedural.

#7: 2/27 - FX renews ARCHER for a 5th Season

Anybody who isn’t already watching Archer (and according to the numbers there’s about 5 of you out there) needs to do so immediately because it’s quite possibly the best comedy on TV and it’s even animated! Seriously, the only show that I can definitively say is better right now is Parks & Recreation. Other than that, it’s all Archer! So, of course it’s great news to hear not only will it continue for another season but all signs point to multiple seasons, as well!

#8: 2/27 - It’s official: AMC hates showrunners; Scott Gimple now runs THE WALKING DEAD

I told you it was coming: AMC is oddly annoying. Like I said before, they make some great decisions but then there’s their handling of the behind-the-scenes stuff for The Walking Dead. The show is now on its third showrunner and while 20 years ago we probably wouldn’t have even known about the changes, the constant changeover rarely means good things. That said, the show does continue to get ratings through the roof so it’ll be interesting to see how any noticeable difference in quality will affect those numbers.

#9: 3/1 - ABC cancels ZERO HOUR

I didn’t review the pilot for the site since barely anybody knew the show existed but I will say it that while it was pretty bad, it was a fun bad. There’s just bad (like we had with The Following earlier this season) but then there’s popcorn TV and while Zero Hour wasn’t the best popcorn TV, it wasn’t god-awful. But like I said, nobody knew it existed therefore nobody watched it and of course that means yet another show to bite the dust this season.

#10: 3/1 - The CW bringing WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY? back

This was pretty surprising news mostly because I just don’t think anybody expected The CW, of all networks, to be the one to bring Whose Line Is It Anyway? back. I always enjoyed the last version of the show so it’s nice to see them bring back some of the old cast (Ryan Stiles, Wayne Brady, Colin Mochrie) while also adding some new blood (Aisha Taylor, guest comic each week). It’ll be interesting to see what kind of guests they’ll be able to land.

That’s all for this week’s edition of TV Nerd News! Be sure to lookout for another brand new segment tomorrow called Trailer Tuesday where we go over the best trailers of the week!