Last night the TV Junkie had an incredible time talking to some of the best performers of stage and screen at the very friendly and low key reception for Primetime Emmy Nominated Performers at Wolfgang Puck at the Pacific Design Center. We talked to "Breaking Bad" lead (and last year's Emmy winner!) Bryan Cranston about how he prepares for his challenging role. Aaron Paul who plays the humorously tragic "Jesse" on the show shared that he brings some of his own trials to his role as well as research on how drug intervention programs work/don't work. more ›

Remember the hubbub over the US Olympic Committee's plan to launch their own TV network? Other than the several questions of legality (what about NBC's rights? what about the International Olympic Committee's rights?) there was also the question of just what they would actually show? Now they don't have to answer any questions because they are punting. --- Who thinks this is a good idea: a dramedy series based on the movie "St. Elmo's Fire"? Topher Grace will be one of the producers. more ›

Finally Shark Week is back on Discovery - and it's about time because other than Shark Week and IFC's "Bollywood Hero" (on Thursday), this is one dead week of TV. --- This week the TCA gave it's annual "Program of the Year" award to "Battlestar Galactica", with HBO scoring more awards than any other network. [Hey TCA, ain't it about time you offered LAist membership? We write more about TV than a lot of your members do.] more ›

This week in late night: Paul McCartney returns to the Ed Sullivan Theater 45 years later to be interviewed and perform on Letterman. Also, "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" and "The Colber(t) Repor(t)" return from break. more ›

Thankfully some late night is back with new shows (see the listings) in an otherwise very dull week. Don't forget that the live broadcast of the Tour de France starts at 5:30am on Versus so set your Tivos - the live show is infinitely better than the obnoxiously repackaged evening edition. As of today's results it looks like we've got a real race on our hands already! | It was months ago that Disney signed on to support Hulu and now ABC's content will be available starting tonight. more ›

CBS is counter-attacking NBC with "Project L.E.N.O.", an acronym that stands for Late Prime Enhanced News Opportunity, an aggressive multi-tiered local campaign to pump up their 10pm programming. more ›

Shows get their renewals due to their populaity right? Now there's a new tool for measuring the "online engagement" of TV viewers called the TV Fandex. The first week of Fandex measurement has shown that HBO's "True Blood" has the highest level of online engagement of any TV program, go figure. If the series stays as good as last night's episode, "True Blood" will rank very high for the rest of its season. more ›

So how about those Lakers? Better yet, what is your opinion on the coverage of the NBA finals? Who provided the best/worst commentary? What do you want to see in future basketball TV coverage? How about what kind of post-championship street riot coverage you'd like to see? Also - how about the season premiere of "True Blood"? If the HBO series stays true to itself, this will be a great season as indicated by last night's episode. We particularly enjoyed the imaginative flashback scenes of the Sam Merlotte character. Did you watch "True Blood"? What did you think? more ›

Tina Fey for President! OK, well, she should at least be a cabinet member. She has more communications experience and exposure than all of the contenders combined. The big question that is getting asked is, will Fey be back again as Sarah Palin on SNL? She might be back on as early as this upcoming Saturday according to some reports, depending upon how negotiations go. more ›

Last night had some great TV. What'd you watch: "True Blood", "Mad Men", "Entourage", the VMAs? Any comments? more ›

What will get us out of our perchlorate-laced Olympics hangover? I don't think the season opener of "Deal or No Deal" is going to do it. more ›

Today is the premiere date of NBC Universal Digital Studio's first original online series "Gemini Division," starring Rosario Dawson and Justin Hartley. The show debuts on NBC.com, SCIFI.com, GeminiDivision.com and several mobile, gaming and VOD platforms. So here we have a network jumping into the online drama fray - remember when LAist profiled "Quarterlife" and interviewed show creator Marshall Herskovitz last Fall? It's true that "Quarterlife" has no Rosario Dawson but perhaps the lower cost of production is what makes "Quarterlife" a bit more meaty an offering than the 5-7 minute webisode format of "Gemini Division". more ›

TV Junkie is still recovering from Discovery's Shark Week but here we are gearing up for the Olympics which start this weekend. Last night's "Generation Kill" was fantastic and gritty as usual, AMC's "Mad Men" looked fantastic as usual and at least more events transpired. more ›

While it's understood that "Mad Men" isn't an action/adventure series, last night's season premiere could have used a bit more oomph. While highly dramatic and exceptionally written there was too much seed planting vs. movement. OK, so Draper's wife, Betty, can flirt with a tow truck driver? We don't really expect her to go beyond that red herring - this isn't "Nip/Tuck" after all. What we can expect is Draper to get together with Betty's former roommate who's now a call girl since he handed her his card. Not that the show wasn't a pleasure to watch through a Martini haze which is what the doctor ordered. more ›

Jimmy Fallon will be introduced online as Conan O'Brien's replacement this fall according to the NYT. Fallon will not be doing an entire hour-long show, but rather, 10 minute mini-shows that might or might not feature guests and skits. NBC is attempting to get a jump start on the changes that will be made in late night TV next year on NBC with Jay Leno leaving and Conan O'Brien taking over the "Tonight Show". Fallon needs to start strong on "Late Night" as he will not be afforded the same adjustment period that O'Brien was granted a decade and a half ago - times have changed. more ›

Season four of "the #1 ad-supported cable series of all time", aka TNT's "The Closer" returns to TV tonight. I've always had a problem with this series, whether it was the annoying music, Kyra Sedgwick's overpainted lips and weird accent, or the fact that her character, LAPD Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, has somehow attained the status of Deputy Police Chief despite being "hopeless at LAPD politics". Still, the series is well-funded, looks decent and the supporting cast is capable. The series is interesting on a basic level by having Sedgwick's Johnson in the very human, read "quirky", female lead in a cast that is almost 100% men - she does seem very isolated and you do pull for her. Unfortunately the season premiere has two laughable caricatures: a super-hipster "Times" reporter and a "crazy" psychopath arsonist who has jokes worthy of the original "Batman" TV series; hopefully the tone of the season won't be established by this first episode. more ›

With nine hours left in their contract, the TV Junkie is really wondering what will happen with the Screen Actors Guild situation. Our guess is that the SAG will blink first since somehow, even just discussing talent receiving additional percentages of DVD sales is simply off the table for producers. more ›

Late last week The Hollywood Reporter noted that Jon Voight has signed on to be Jack Bauer's nemesis in the upcoming season of "24" (shooting now in South Africa). Do you think it's enough or is "24" so stale now that no addition of talent can save it? more ›

Last season on Showtime's "Weeds" Nancy Botwin poured gas on the furniture and burned her 'little box' down. Now she and her family jumped in their van to head south. On June 16, we will finally get a chance to see where they all end up. more ›

As Reuters mentioned yesterday, CBS is going to broadcast the entire first season of Dexter starting in February. The network is also considering borrowing Weeds from its sister network Showtime. Other networks are considering similar reshuffling of shows from their cable-only partners. more ›

After last season's excellent cliffhanger, on August 13th Weeds returns to Showtime for its 3rd season. LAist asked Creator and Executive Producer, Jenji Kohan about breaking into television, being a working mom, and what draws her to the flawed characters she has created. LAist: The new season of Weeds begins on August 13. How do feel going into your 3rd season? Jenji Kohan: I feel tired, but great. We took the finale of season... more ›