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TV Tonight Awards 2009: The year of Shaun Micallef
The votes are in.
Readers have spoken on their best and worst television for 2009 in the third annual TV Tonight Awards.
The winners: Shaun Micallef, MasterChef and Packed to the Rafters.
Over 1000 surveys were completed this year, and there were some definite trends. Some choices were clear decisions, others were tight races.
Several “winners” were also “losers” elsewhere, showing a divided audience, and a number of populist shows proved their mettle by staying ahead of underdogs.
Shaun Micallef won both Favourite Male and Most Underrated Performer, while Talkin’ ‘Bout Your …
November 09: Rove, Roscoe, Rafters and 7TWO
November:
7TWO is on the air
Toby quits Idol
A Prime concern: where is 7TWO?
Gone: The Spearman Experiment
‘Junglist’ ready to move on
Austar offers MyStar HD
SBS: Top Gear loss “not the be-all and end-all”
The Rafters Wedding
2.6m stop for the Cup
Community TV wins digital breakthrough
Murphy Brown reunion
Ally McBeal reunion
PJ sings for Don
Matthew Johns’ contract expires
Matt Passmore lands (another) US lead
NZ axes Dancing with the Stars
‘Roscoe’ calls it quits
Merrick and Rosso ending radio gig
Jonathan Holmes: “Pwned!”…
Axed: Dollhouse
Bad news Dollhouse fans…
FOX has informed Joss Whedon it will not be ordering any more episodes beyond the current 13-episode order. Many would know it was do or die time for the series, and a Friday night slot in the US is never a good sign. Many would argue the show had always had the axe hanging over its head.
The series had been averaging a 3 million viewers this season, down from the 4.7 million it averaged last season.
Dollhouse starred Eliza Dushku as Echo, a “doll” or “Active” for the …
Joss Whedon to direct Glee
Joss Whedon will direct an upcoming episode of Glee.
The creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dollhouse and Serenity will helm one of the newly-approved ‘back nine’ episodes recently ordered by FOX. Whedon also has musical form with his renowned Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.
As co-creator Ryan Murphy confirmed: “Joss directed one of the great musical episodes in the history of television on Buffy so this is a great, if unexpected, fit. I’m thrilled he’ll be loaning us his fantastic, groundbreaking talent.”
Whedon is expected to tackle the episode after wrapping the 13-episode …
Airdate: Dollhouse “The Future Project”
FOX8 will screen the “extra” episode of Dollhouse, filmed at a time during contractual differences between FOX and production company 20th Century Fox Television.
Unaired in the US it was released on DVDs as “Epitaph One.” But oddly, Foxtel has chosen to rebrand the episode as “The Future Project.”
The year is 2019, and the world is broken. A small band of survivors discover an abandoned Dollhouse and – as they explore its shell – begin to understand the shadowy organisation and start to suspect it may have been responsible for the current …
CSI: NY snubs Nat Bass audition
Some Aussie actors have been lucky enough to come from near-obscurity to landing US television roles, and others who are big fish in our relatively small industry have learned there are no easy ways to open doors in America.
Natalie Bassingthwaighte says that when she turned up for an audition on CSI: New York the producers didn’t even turn on the camera.
“It was a shock to the system and a very humbling experience,” she has told news.com.au
“It’s one thing being in Australia, where a lot of people know who you …
True Blood tops fan faves
A new measurement system to monitor fan interest in television shows has launched in the US.
TV Fandex by website creation service Wetpaint follows social websites including Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and Google, plus 1.5 million websites, tracking fan frenzy for television shows.
It will release a weekly list of the Top 100 shows. So far it says True Blood is sitting at #1 (what, no Lost?)
“It’s clear there is a fundamental decentralisation under way in how consumers experience TV programming, but the measurement tools have remained substantially the same,” Wetpaint CEO Ben Elowitz …
Airdate: Dollhouse
Joss Whedon’s latest series, Dollhouse, will hit Aussie screens at 8:30pm Tuesday June 9th on FOX8.
The series features former Buffy actress Eliza Dushku as Echo, an “Active,” a member of a highly illegal and underground group of individuals who have had their personalities wiped clean so they can be imprinted with any number of new personas.
Dollhouse revolves around Echo’s blossoming self-awareness and her desire to discover her true identity. But with each new engagement comes a new memory and increased danger inside and outside the Dollhouse.
Hired by the wealthy, powerful and …
Scrubs gets renewal
Put away the defibrillator. Scrubs has been renewed by ABC.
The move comes as the main cast members who had no deals beyond the current eighth season were secured.
Zach Braff is set to come back for six episodes to transition the show to its new set-up. ABC and creator Bill Lawrence had said they envision the show continuing with a mix of original cast members and some of the interns introduced in its past US season.
The network also renewed Castle, which premieres tomorrow night on Seven, and the comedy Better Off Ted.
Elsewhere, …
Decision time for US dramas
America is fast approaching decision time for a number of series that air in Australia.
Not all shows that haven’t been renewed yet are in jeopardy: For such series as CBS’ How I Met Your Mother, which traditionally gets picked up at the last minute, and ABC’s Ugly Betty, the orders are just a formality.
But that can’t be said for a dozen or so other series anxiously awaiting their fate.
CBS has the most, including a quartet of long-running procedurals — Without a Trace, Cold Case, Numb3rs and The Unit — along with …
Returning: Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles
In case you hadn’t heard, the second series of Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles shifts to pay television from this Friday.
The action series, which once screened on Nine, airs on FOX8 at 8:30pm.
The series has a full 22 episodes but has struggled in the US.
Last week Kevin Reilly, President of FOX Entertainment was asked: Can Terminator or Dollhouse financially make sense as broadcast shows next season if their ratings don’t improve?
Reilly said, “Advertisers have liked the shows. Both shows are doing well on a c7 basis. It’s too early to rule them …
The Dames of Deception
Feast your eyes on this inventive trailer in the US for two FOX series, Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles and Dollhouse (pictured).
Filmed a la the double feature for Tarantino’s Grindhouse film, it’s bound to get the attention of its target audience, young males.
Some Aussie networks have been borrowing ideas for promos and openers lately, I guess FOX is borrowing an idea from Tarantino too. But somehow it comes across as a bit more of an homage.
Besides …