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ASTRA Conference: What about the audience?
Today is the annual conference of the Pay TV industry at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre where executives and decision-makers from across the sector will gather to talk, listen and brainstorm.
It begins with the Women In Television breakfast at 7:15am headed up by Sandra Levy from the Australian Film, Television and Radio School. Former Victorian Premier, and ASTRA Chairman, welcomes the delegates at 9:45, ahead of Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries keynote address. Survivor creator Mark Burnett’s Plenary Address at 11:30am via videolink after he was unable to attend.
Afternoon sessions …
Big Love for Željko Ivanek
Character actor Željko Ivanek makes his first appearance in tonight’s torrid episode of Big Love on SBS ONE.
Ivanek is well-known for his performances in The X Files (Roland), Homicide: Life on the Street (as prosecuting attorney Ed Danvers), Damages (Ray Fiske), Oz (Governor James Devlin), 24 (Andre Drazen), Heroes (Emile Danko), John Adams (John Dickinson) and True Blood (The Magister).
The third series of the HBO polygamy series has been its best so far, with some dynamite storylines. It surely deserves a much bigger audience.
The first series will also air on Showcase …
Producers Guild of America Awards: Winners
Awards, awards, awards….this time it was the Producers’ Guild of America which dished out its prizes in film and television.
The TV winners were:
The Danny Thomas Producer of the Year Award in Episodic Television – Comedy:
30 Rock beat Californication, Entourage, The Office and Weeds.
The Norman Felton Producer of the Year Award in Episodic Television – Drama:
Mad Men beat Breaking Bad, Dexter, Lost and True Blood.
The Producers Guild of America Producer of the Year Award in Non – Fiction Television:
60 Minutes beat Deadliest Catch, Intervention, Kathy Griffin: My Live on the ‘D’ List …
Airdate: Side Order of Life
Are you ready to revisit the idea of Jason Priestley on your TV screen? If so, Side Order of Life starts on GO! this Thursday night.
In truth the former 90210 star is one of 4 principals in the 2007 series from the Lifetime Network (that’s the female-friendly channel that aired Drop Dead Diva).
Starring Marisa Coughlan (Boston Legal), Jason Priestley (Beverly Hills 90210), Diana-Maria Riva (Sunset Strip) and Christopher Gartin (True Blood) the show’s tagline is “Someone’s gotta save her, from her picture perfect life.”
That someone is Jenny McIntyre (Coughlan), a 30-year-old …
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 …
August 09: Kyle dumped, Double Take & City Homicide apology, GO! arrives
August:
Lebanese TV passes ACMA scrutiny
Futurama cast on board
David Leckie, back after this break.
Top ABC executive quits
Australian Idol axes Sandilands
US critics praise Battlestar
Sea Patrol loses 3 cast members
TEN to raise $138m
News boss returning in consultancy role
Paula Abdul quits American Idol
Southern Star boss quits
True Blood stars engaged
Actors strike on overseas ads
‘Squatter’ to face trial over TT assault
Talia dances on US Dance finale
Multiview to track Pay TV
Philadelphia given cold shoulder by Cold Case
Australia gets to GO!…
TV Tonight Awards: voting continues
The votes are coming in for the TV Tonight Awards 2009 from readers.
You have until Monday if you haven’t yet voted.
A quick scan of some of the votes shows some familiar titles and names:
Packed to the Rafters, East West 101, TV Burp, Review with Myles Barlow, True Blood, Dexter, MasterChef Australia, home MADE, THIS afternoon, Dance Your Ass Off, Shaun Micallef, Rove McManus, Andrew O’Keefe, Julia Zemiro -but are they for positive or negative categories?
You’ll have to wait and see.
Readers have also been throwing in their 2c worth on the year …
SAG Awards 2009: Nominees
Awards season rolls on as the Screen Actors Guild Awards announce their best picks for 2009 with Glee, Mad Men, 30 Rock, Dexter, True Blood and The Good Wife among the top nominees.
Once again Simon Baker and Toni Collette have landed lead acting nods.
In the unique best ensemble category for comedy, the fight is between 30 Rock, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Office, Glee and Modern Family. In drama the teams from The Closer, Dexter, The Good Wife, Mad Men and True Blood are recognised.
Betty White will also receive a Lifetime Achievement …
WGA Awards 2009 / AFI Most Outstanding
Awards season is certainly hotting up in the US.
The Writer’s Guild of America has announced the best of the bunch in television writing for 2009.
Mad Men, 30 Rock and The Office are multiple nominees while Modern Family and Glee are both up for Comedy and New Series awards.
Amongst the other New Series contenders are Nurse Jackie, Hung and The Good Wife –totalling four of five shows to air in Australia on TEN.
In Animation it is a five horse race between writers of The Simpsons.
Amongst the television nominees are:
DRAMA SERIES
Breaking Bad – …
Cable dramas lead Producers Guild Awards
The Showtime cable channel in the US is leading the nominees in the Producers Guild Awards.
It has several nominations lead by True Blood, Californication, Weeds, Dexter, and This American Life.
The Producers Guild of America represents over 4,000 producers. Here are their picks:
Danny Thomas Producer of the Year Award in Episodic Television – Comedy
NBC’s “30 Rock”
Showtime’s “Californication”
HBO’s “Entourage”
NBC’s “The Office”
Showtime’s “Weeds”
Norman Felton Producer of the Year Award in Episodic Television – Drama
AMC’s “Breaking Bad”
Showtime’s “Dexter”
ABC’s “Lost”
AMC’s “Mad Men”
HBO’s “True Blood”
PGA Producer of the Year Award in Non-Fiction Television
CBS’s “60 Minutes”
Discovery Channel’s …
Grant Bowler sinks teeth into True Blood
He’s definitely the new Alan Dale….
Grant Bowler has landed a role in Season 3 of True Blood -but he won’t say as what.
It follows his role in Ugly Betty and Lost.
“Mate, it’s HBO and it’s the King … it’s the chance to work for an Oscar-winner [series creator Allan Ball] and alongside an Oscar-winner [Anna Paquin],” he told the Sunday Telegraph.
“Ugly Betty rolls from deep, one-on-one connected, touching realism to absolute farce to physical comedy and clowning and everything in between – I love it.”
At this rate he’ll have to start …
Is that you Ryan?
He doesn’t look a bit like ‘Jason Stackhouse’ from True Blood, but here’s a glimpse of Ryan Kwanten as he appears in tonight’s episode of Chelsea, Lately.
The former Home and Away hottie is a guest on the local show, the first of which went to air on E! last night with Rove McManus.
Maybe it’s all for his new film Griff the Invisible, in which he plays a meek office worker by day and a crime-fighting superhero at night….