American Idol referee Ryan Seacrest has been announced as the host of this year’s Emmy Awards. [via Reuters]

Funny lady Janeane Garofalo is going to keep a straight face in the new season of 24. Yes, the bespectacled actress/comedienne will play a government agent on the Sky One action drama. I don’t care if they sign Santa Claus to be in it – just make it better! [via Hollywood Reporter]

Piers Morgan garnered no sympthy from David Hasselhoff, his fellow judge on the US show America’s Got Talent when he revealed he had broken three of his ribs. Why? Because Piers did it falling off his Segway unicycle. The Hoff scoffed: "When I found out how he had his wreck, I said, 'Come on man, at least I wrecked the Harley [Davidson] on the 405 [freeway], going 60 miles an hour!' [via Digital Spy]

Last week I sadly missed episode two of the second season of Weeds, and was reduced to twiddling my thumbs and starring off into space, wondering what had befallen Nancy Botwin during the half an hour’s action I had been denied. In preparation of last night’s exploits, I merrily flicked through my TV guide and was pleased to see that it was to be a double-bill. I was somewhat less than thrilled upon finding out that the published time of 10pm was re-scheduled to a yawn-inducing 11.35p.m.

Further investigations on the Radio Times website have confirmed my suspicions that Sky One are treating Weeds atrociously and are happy to relegate it to any shabby late-night slot on a Sunday. Today the times read 11pm and 11.30pm this Sunday and 10pm the Sunday after that. Why no consistency and routine for Weeds fans and why are they racing through it by doubling up episodes? If they were going to be so ashamed of it in their schedules, why buy it in the first place? With my teeth slowly stopping their angry grinding, we look at what happened in last night’s double-bill.

Instantly recognisable either in glorious technicolour or in outline, Homer Simpson, doyen of the Simpson clan, has not only become one of the most popular cartoon characters of all time but one of the few to be responsible for an entry in the Oxford English Dictionary. His familiar "D'oh!" (which appears in scripts as "annoyed grunt") was included in the 2002 edition.

While Homer usually displays many American working class stereotypes (he is overweight, incompetent, intolerant, and a regular heavy drinker) he has occasional flashes of genius and, within his own limited value set, a strong sense of integrity. Named after his creator Matt Groening's father, much of the best humour around Homer's character derives from his extreme confidence: no matter how little skill, experience, or knowledge he has about anything he tries to do, he is always convinced of his ultimate success, often with hilarious consequences.

As a big fan of Lost, I was pleased when the show’s producers announced an end date for it. And I’m not alone, as actor Harold Perrineau who plays the returning Michael Dawson agrees: "I think that's an excellent idea. It's a much better idea than the show being a really big hit and then they have to keep it on for 10 years and suddenly we see episodes about Sawyer and, like, the spoon he made."

"I think it's much better, because they've always said they had an idea of how long the show would go, so I'm glad they're going to just do that and finish telling the story. I mean, it's great to have a job forever, but this kind of job, it had its own thing going, so you can't really consider it like you consider most television shows." Hopefully this promised finale will give a direction to the remaining episodes and ensure that it doesn’t limp on forever. Unlike other shows I could mention…

[via Digital Spy]

He’s faced off against nasty terrorists, a corrupt President and even his dad, but now Jack Bauer has one foe that won’t be so easy to defeat: global-warming. Yes, the TV show famous for its ticking clock is now going to count down to man’s destruction of the planet – or something like that. 24 has gone green!

New plots will involve climate change to help “inspire” viewers to do their bit “before it’s too late.” Star Kiefer Sutherland has been a very vocal environmentalist saying: "Global warming is a crime for which we are all guilty. All of us at 24 understand the urgency of this problem and over the next year will be implementing creative new ways to more efficiently produce our show and significantly reduce our carbon footprint. And you can too." Can I Jack, can I really? These changes all sound very nicey nicey, but stop deflecting attention away from the bigger issue concerning the new season of 24: will it be any good? As if there’s no improvement on the dross that was day 6, I’ll definitely be doing my bit for the environment by turning the TV off.

[via The Sun]

[Image via Getty]

We recently told you here at the Scoop how pilots of hotly-anticipated new shows in America had been leaked online (see here). Although some people consider this smart publicity, the official line by the networks had been outrage and contempt at their content being pirated. In sharp contrast to this, is Jenji Kohan (pictured right), the creator of domestic drugs dramedy Weeds, who was pleased to see the first four episodes of her show’s third season available illegally.

Pleased? Yep, downright chuffed. "Revenue aside, I don't expect to get rich on Weeds. I'm excited it's out there. Showtime is great, but it does have a limited audience." Wow – someone not regurgitating the usual anti-piracy guff and pleased to have their work apprecaited regardless of money. She is frustrated that Weeds is not yet available on legal sites: "It's very annoying. If I had my druthers, the whole thing would be available right now." Though this slight grump could be more about the quality of the videos and respectability, professionalism and accessibility of the sites. Ms. Kohan – we salute you!

[via Advertising Age]

{Image via Getty]

Sky One seemed to advertise it all the time, but now sci-fi import The Dresden Files is officially no more. The show, focusing on the adventures of wizard-private eye Harry Dresden, was based on the popular books by Jim Butcher, but after disappointing viewing figures in the US has been axed after only 12 episodes.

Some critics blamed the series for deviating from the books, but fans have set up many websites and petitions to try to resuscitate it. If this sounds like you, add your support at "Save the Dresden Files" and the "Dresden City Renewal Community". Star Paul Blackthorne hasn’t been left twiddling his thumbs for long, having already signed on to join the cast of ABC’s Big Shots.

Come on TV Scoopers, let’s don our thinking caps and cogitate on how the gay and lesbian communities are represented on our goggleboxes. Will and Grace is hitting its final stretch in a disappointing graveyard slot on Channel 4 and there are teenage fumblings going on in Hollyoaks, but with news of a gay couple in the next season of Desperate Housewives – how open-minded is the TV industry when faced with the gay issue?

In the US, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation have gone public with their assessment of American TV’s portrayal of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender characters. Network ABC have earned top marks with Ugly Betty and Brothers and Sisters (both picked up by Channel 4) earning special praise, while Fox came bottom of the list. NBC only just scraped ahead of Fox, though was given credit for its cable network Bravo. Bravo is home to the camp theatrics of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy (Living TV in the UK, with star Carson Cressley pictured right) and Project Runway (Sky One in the UK), and so was deemed “perhaps the most LGBT-inclusive of the general entertainment cable networks." Now there’s an endorsement that just runs off the tongue.

Whilst enduring the woefully abysmal Lovespring International, I was happily distracted by the adverts (how bad is the programme when you look forward to the break I ask you?), especially some of the new TV show DVD box-sets released. And so I thought I’d help you with your shopping and tell you what new telly delights are available today for your perusal.

Deadwood: Season 3
Currently in cinemas as the baddie in Die Hard 4, Timothy Olyphant is less nasty in this western romp from HBO. He leaves all such offensiveness to Ian McShane, who after being lady’s man Lovejoy, chews on scenery for fun in the town of outlaws.

I’ve been a very loud supporter of American TV here on the Scoop, but even I concede that some US product is rubbish (just flick to channel ABC1 on Sky 170 or Freeview 15 – it’s full of it.) One such heap of garbage is Sky One’s new dating agency ‘comedy’ Lovespring International. As I write this I search for pithy putdowns and caustic quips (and other such shameless excuses for alliteration), but the complete vacuum of humour that is LI has drained me.

For the happily ignorant, Lovespring International is an improvisational show so impressed by itself that it forgets about its audience. Jokes, who needs jokes? This is improvising! Improvising is a dangerous word when tagged with comedy, for more often than not, it means endless drivel without a punch-line. And if there was anything remotely amusing in LI, I must have missed it.

Weeds was becoming one of those programmes that I really wanted to watch, but never seemed to get around to. Friends would recommend it, their faces full of buoyant enthusiasm as they praised it as “just the kind of thing you’d love”, and give me that expectant smile they hoped would make me an instant fan. I’d feel bad when, after later interrogation, I would have to confess that I had forgotten to watch it, been too busy or had been struck by lightning at 10pm, just as I reached for the TV remote control. But finally I am worthy of their hope and trust in me, for I have come good and spent half an hour in the company of Nancy Botwin. And I liked it.

Yes, I enjoyed Weeds. Jumping in having missed season one, I was concerned that I would be in over my head and spend the entire episode not understanding what was going on. A lengthy but detailed re-cap saved my blushes, hitting all the main plot points, an addition appreciated not just by newbies such as myself, but most probably fans that have missed it during its lengthy 18 month absence from British screens.

This weekend sees the return of the suburban dramedy (yes, I hate that word too), Weeds on Sky One. It’s been away from our TV screens here in Blighty for 18 months now, and finally fans will get to see what happened to their favourite single mum, Nancy, after sleeping with an agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration. This plot is said to be critical for the rest of the remaining season, so no power naps allowed.

As always, we’re a bit behind the show in the US, with the third season due to air there later this month. Recently Mary Louise Parker was again nominated for an Emmy for her turn as Nancy Botwin, sublimely combining outrageous humour with tender emotion, with Elizabeth Perkins also picked up a nod. News is that the re-worked theme tune take a bit of getting used to, but what’s a naff jingle between friends?

I don’t know how they are going to introduce new characters onto the island in Lost, but it looks like they’re going to give it their best shot. TV Guide is reporting that two new characters will be debuting in season four of the fantasy drama, but no news on who will play them or how they will fit in. Let's get our thinking caps on.

Let's assume that if they are to be important (and if you’ve got to think they will be, otherwise why announce their arrival?), then they can’t be part of any flashbacks or flash forwards. They will somehow have to be on the island during the present tense, which leaves a whole host of options. Other survivors? Unlikely, as they have already covered this angle with Ana-Lucia, Libby, Eko and Bernard. New Others? More mystery parachutists like Naomi? Or people on the other end of Jack’s phone as he called for help?

I can get a little sleepy at times and that’s when I know to go have a nice nap. Not so on Project Runway. It was Red Bull and espressos all the way for the last three contestants, as they fought off their tiredness, as well as each other, in the show’s grand finale. The wannabe fashion designers each had to present a collection of 13 outfits, originally only 12, until that minx Heidi Klum told them to whip up another outfit with mere days to go, with the success or failure of these garments determining who would walk away with the big prizes.

These big prizes included the chance to show at New York fashion week, a fashion spread in Elle magazine, a mentorship at Banana Republic, $100, 000 to launch your own range, a one-year contract with Designers Management Agency and a Saturn Sky Roadster car – not to be sniffed at.

It didn’t make my top ten list of shows that were prematurely cancelled, but it came pretty close. Dead Like Me, followed the adventures of the newly-deceased George as she learned the subtle art of reaping, but after only 29 episodes on air, the US comedy drama was axed. However good news could be on the cards as TV Squad is reporting news of a much-anticipated comeback. Of sorts.

A few months back, plans for a made-for-DVD movie were announced, but were not followed up with many details. Okay, so this might not be the return to TV that some were hoping for, but as is often the case with so-called ‘niche’ or ‘genre’ shows – you gotta take what you can get. Now the info is out there (though some of it is yet to be confirmed), and fans can finally find out what lies in store for George.

When looking through the TV listings, I feel like I’m stuck in Groundhog Day. The current scheduling is so uninspired and repetitive (when is Big Brother going to end and give us back Channel 4?) I know that Mof has mused on the lack of choice currently afforded us by TV (see here), but I wondered if, rather than it be considered a general problem, it could be analysed further. Is it just the same kind of programming clogging up our airwaves, or is it in fact, the same programmes?

There seem to be some shows that have been on TV forever and others that never seem to go away for long. I’m not talking about those that are acknowledged mainstays like soaps, but those that never let-up, are always on when you don’t want them to be and are TV equivalents to stalkers. Out of the 24 shows listed as the longest-running in their various genres (music, sitcom, current affairs, etc.) on Wikipedia, half of them are from the UK. Is this because we have a long tradition of quality programming or a lack of imagination and no balls to shake things up?

I found watching Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip quite an odd experience. Here I was, ready to dive into a new TV show – new characters, new set-ups, new everything, with the knowledge that it was cancelled after only one season in the US. One season doesn’t really give a show a chance to build up a loyal fanbase or become a fixture in people’s lives, but that was all NBC gave it. Having watched the programme, I became even more frustrated - I had really liked it.

Unfortunately the pain that is sure to be inflicted when the series ends, is not one that I am unfamiliar with. Losing a beloved TV show is one of life’s many rubbish rituals, leaving battle scars that we all have. And so as I say both hello and goodbye to Studio 60, I take this opportunity to pay homage to those other shows snatched away before their time. For some lucky few, DVD box-sets are released, but others are nothing but a fond memory. Walk with me down memory lane as TV Scoop remembers those we have loved and lost.

I confess that I haven’t been quite as loyal to Project Runway, as I had been to its British counterpart Project Catwalk. That might be because Sky One has played with its time slot or because I simply cannot handle a weekly dose of catty wannabe fashionistas. I don’t know. What I am pretty sure of, is that tomorrow night’s concluding part of the grand finale will be one not to miss.

The first part aired last week, with the final three contestants (pictured left to right) Chloe Dao, Daniel Vosovic and Santino Quinto all reduced to hysterical panic. Not only were they lagging behind at completing their collections, but were beyond frazzled when host Heidi Klum and mentor Tim Gunn presented them with a last-minute challenge: that of producing one more ensemble. Of course, the prospect of knocking out another outfit had all three contestants ready to throw a strop worthy of Naomi Campbell, but when given the help of a past contestant to assist them, they managed to soldier on.