Variety has a nice writeup on Howard Gordon’s new show Homeland. I’ve seen the pilot and think the show is fantastic – worth checking out when it premieres on October 2nd after Dexter. Here’s their full interview with Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa, two ex-24 writers:
Howard Gordon can’t seem to shake visions of waterboarding and dirty bombs.
The “24″ showrunner and exec producer wasted little time between ending Jack Bauer’s eight-year run as a rogue counterterrorist agent and launching Showtime’s new terrorism-themed series “Homeland” with his longtime friend and cohort Alex Gansa — a mere 15 months, to be exact.
Gordon was knee-deep in the quest to keep fictional America safe from nuclear, biological, chemical and cyber threats when his agent, WME’s Rick Rosen, called and announced, “I have your next show.” Rosen, who reps the Tel Aviv company that owns the underlying rights to the Israeli version of “Homeland,” thought the controversial series was ripe for translation.
One day after wrapping the “24″ finale, Gordon and fellow “24″ exec producer Gansa met at an L.A. coffee shop and began writing the pilot on spec. The series, which bows Oct. 2 in Showtime’s coveted post-”Dexter” slot, covers the same ground as on “24″ but this time the war-on-terror depictions are more gritty and based less on imagination. [click to continue…]
Here is FOX’s press release and promo video for the season 23 premiere of The Simpsons featuring special guest star Kiefer Sutherland. He guest-starred before on the episode “24 Minutes“.
HOMER’S NEW FRIEND SAVES HIM FROM A VIOLENT TERRORIST ON THE SEASON PREMIERE OF “THE SIMPSONS” SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, ON FOX
Kiefer Sutherland (“24”) and Tom Colicchio (“Top Chef”) Make Guest Voice Appearances, Fan Voting Results From The “Nedna” Cliffhanger Will Be Revealed
Homer befriends Wayne (guest voice Kiefer Sutherland), a reserved security guard recently hired by the nuclear power plant. Plagued by violent flashbacks from his past as a CIA agent, he must overcome his tortured nightmares to save Homer from a Ukranian terrorist. Meanwhile, Marge fantasizes about being a contestant on “Top Chef” hosted by Tom Colicchio (guest voicing as himself), and the future of Springfield’s hottest “it” couple Nedna, Edna Krabappel (guest voice Marcia Wallace) and Ned Flanders, will be revealed after months of online fan voting and speculation in the all-new “The Falcon and the D’Ohman” season premiere episode of THE SIMPSONS airing Sunday, Sept. 25 (8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (SI-2216) (TV-PG L, V)
Voice Cast: Dan Castellaneta as Homer Simpson; Julie Kavner as Marge Simpson; Nancy Cartwright as Bart Simpson; Yeardley Smith as Lisa Simpson; Hank Azaria as Moe; Harry Shearer as Skinner; Pamela Haden as Milhouse; Tress MacNeille as Dolph
Guest Voice Cast: Kiefer Sutherland as Wayne; Tom Colicchio as himself; Marcia Wallace as Mrs. Edna Krabappel
Tivo has released data on the top 10 most DVR’ed shows since they started compiling data in October 2007. 24 has made the list at number seven. And when you take into account that the show was off the air for a whole year due to the writers strike which delayed Season 7, that’s pretty impressive. Here’s the list:
1. Grey’s Anatomy
2. American Idol
3. Desperate Housewives
4. House
5. Lost
6. CSI
7. 24
8. Heroes
9. The Office
10. Glee
As noted in EW’s article, this does not mean much to advertisers and networks, all they care about is how many people watch live. But it does show which television shows people are most enthusiastic about.
24‘s D.B. Woodside (Wayne Palmer) has joined the cast of Parenthood in a five episode arc. He will first appear in the third episode of the upcoming third season.
Woodside has booked a five-episode arc on the family drama as Dr. Joseph Prestidge, an Ivy League-educated doctor and potential love interest for Joy Bryant’s Jasmine, The Hollywood Reporter has learned exclusively.
A&E has picked up Longmire to series, starring two 24 alum Katee Sackhoff (Dana Walsh, Season 8) and Lou Diamond Phillips (Mark DeSalvo, Season 1).
The pickup had been pending for awhile and became a forgone conclusion when A&E passed on its other pilot, Big Mike, last month. Longmire has been given a 10-episode order, including the pilot. Based on the Walt Longmire Mystery series of novels by Craig Johnson, Longmire is named after its central character, Walt Longmire (The Matrix‘s Robert Taylor), the charismatic, dedicated and unflappable sheriff of Absaroka County, Wyo. Widowed only a year, he is a man in psychic repair but buries his pain behind his brave face, unassuming grin and dry wit. Co-starring in the Warner Horizon-produced pilot, which was directed by Chris Chulack, are Katee Sackhoff, Lou Diamond Phillips, Bailey Chase and Cassidy Freeman. Hunt Baldwin and John Coveny wrote the project and are executive producing with Greer Shephard and Mike Robin.
Mary Lynn Rajskub is on a bit of a social kick lately. After over two years, her official Twitter account has finally been verified and sports a fancy blue checkmark. But she’s not stopping there!
She has just started a brand new Facebook fan page and also has an all-new official YouTube account that she promises to post “lots of videos” to soon. So be sure to subscribe to her social profiles so you can keep up to date with her new projects such as CBS’s How to Be a Gentleman.
James P Morrison, better known to 24 fans as Bill Buchanan is guest-starring on ABC’s upcoming Charlie’s Angels reboot. Unlike the kind and calm Buchanan, this time he will be playing an antagonist. Fun!
No, I'm not Bosley (and Charlie is considerably older than me) ;) I've been assigned the role of antagonist in this episode.
CSI: Miami‘s Horatio Caine (David Caruso) is no stranger to formidable foes, but this season his opponent will be quite a doozy. 24 alum Carlos Bernard has been cast as Horatio’s spectacularly wealthy season-long nemesis, TVGuide.com has learned exclusively.
“We’re going to slowly position Horatio in opposition to a very subtle, but powerful, political patriarch,” co-executive producer Barry O’Brien tells us. “He’s kind of a Donald Trump meets the Kennedy family. …There will be a very high-octane relationship between the two. A hero is as heroic as his opposition is deadly, so we’re really going to go there with this character.”
Bernard’s character, which hasn’t yet been named, is all the more ruthless because he uses his political sway to keep his depraved serial killer son safe from the law. [click to continue…]
Kiefer Sutherland will earn a whopping $225,000 per episode on his upcoming television series Touch according to this weeks issue of TV Guide Magazine.
Although that’s half the paycheck he was earning from the later seasons of 24 ($550,000 per episode), it still puts him in the top ten of highest paid actors in a television drama. Not bad at all for the very first season of a show.
Here are the top paid drama actors for those curious:
Hugh Laurie – House Season 8 – $700,000 per episode (up 300k from last season)
Mark Harmon – NCIS Season 10 – $500,000 per episode (up 125k from last season)
Mariska Hargitay – Law & Order SVU Season 13 – $395,000 per episode
David Caruso – CSI Miami Season 10 – $375,000 per episode
Marg Helgenberger – CSI Season 12 – $375,000 per episode
Marcia Cross – Desperate Housewives Season 8 – $375,000 per episode
Kyra Sedgwick – The Closer Season 7 – $350,000 per episode
Simon Baker – The Mentalist Season 4 – $300,000 per episode
Patrick Dempsey – Grey’s Anatomy Season 8 – $275,000 per episode
Kate Walsh – Private Practice Season 5 – $275,000 per episode
Kiefer Sutherland – Touch season 1 – $225,000 per episode
Showtime’s upcoming series Homeland has been building up quite the crew from 24. First was Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa. Then came Emmy-winning composer Sean Callery and producer Michael Klick. Chip Johannessen joined the writing crew in April and now Deadline reports that longtime 24 director Brad Turner is filming episodes.
An extended trailer for the series was released by Showtime last week.
Homeland premieres on October 2nd after the sixth season premiere of Dexter.
Extremely sad story – 24 alumni Francesco Quinn has passed away at the age of 48 while playing with his ten year old son. Francesco suffered from a severe heart attack; paramedics arrived at his Malibu home but were unable to revive him.
24 fans will remember Francesco Quinn as Syed Ali, leader of Middle-Eastern terrorist group Second Wave in the second season of 24 for five episodes. Quinn has also guest-starred in popular shows such as The Shield and NCIS among others.
Although 24 may be over, it seems like other television dramas will be making use of the real-time gimmick. The NCIS: Los Angeles Season 3 premiere titled “Lange, H.” will play out in real time, 24-style, according to a tweet from TV Line’s Matt Mitovich.
NCIS: LA season 3 is currently scheduled to premiere September 20, 2011 on CBS.
Former 24 and The Larry Sanders Show star Penny Johnson Jerald will join the cast as the new captain of the 12th Precinct, TVGuide.com has learned exclusively. Jerald will play Victoria Gates, a career-minded cop who spent much of her early career in Internal Affairs. As we previously reported, she will initially be more interested in getting noticed by her superiors and climbing the NYPD’s ranks than doing any real police work.
Known as “Iron Gates,” she’s alo going to be a bit tougher on our team, especially Castle (Nathan Fillion) and Beckett (Stana Katic). “Everybody’s getting along really well in the precinct, and we think there can be a little more conflict,” creator and executive producer Andrew W. Marlowe told TVGuide.com in May. “We think it’s interesting to grow Beckett and Castle by having somebody who … may not look as favorably on the Castle-Beckett relationship.”
The Booth at the End, an internet web series starring 24‘s Xander Berkeley (aka George Mason) will premiere on Hulu this Monday (July 11th). Xander’s wife Sarah Clarke (24‘s Nina Myers) will also appear in the series.
Starring Xander Berkeley, Booth revolves around a mysterious man, known only as The Man, who can solve any problem — a parent with a sick child, a nun who has lost her faith — for a price. Would you kill a child if it meant you could save the life of your sick toddler?
The Booth at the End starring Xander Berkeley
The series, produced by Vuguru, is among Hulu’s summer offerings, which also include Misfits and Whites and originally aired in the U.K. It will make its U.S. premiere Monday on Hulu and its subscription service Hulu Plus on Monday.
Booth was written by Christopher Kubasik and directed by Jessica Landaw and is in the vein of Lost, Fringe, 24, Lie to Me and The X-Files.
Well deserved listing on THR’s list. Best fictional President ever!
Dennis Haysbert as David Palmer in 24
Dennis Haysbert plays David Palmer, voted by Blockbuster customers as respondent’s Favorite On-Screen President. Calm, resourceful, and dedicated, Palmer is an all-American former basketball star who served as a Maryland senator prior to his presidency.
