ScottFeinberg.com

By Rachel Bennett
Television Editor & Columnist

***

It’s pilot season, which means your favorite out-of-work TV actors, actresses, creators and writers are getting a chance to return to the small screen once more.

Although we have yet to know what new series we’ll see next year, the networks have been busy selecting projects to consider for their schedules. So far, almost 100 scripts have been chosen, and audiences will only get to see a handful actually come to fruition.

Several are duds, but there are a few promising prospects that I hope network executives will keep around for the 2013-2014 season — even if it means they have to cancel old favorites to make room (just keep Parks and Recreation, OK, NBC?).

Check out my choices for the best prospective pilots NBC and CBS have ordered, and come back tomorrow to see my picks for ABC and Fox:

Read the rest of this entry »

By Carson Blackwelder
Television Contributor

***

NBC’s Parenthood returns tonight after two weeks off the air, bringing with it all of the difficult issues the series tackles year after year.

Season four of this intense family drama centers around Kristina Braverman’s (Monica Potter) shocking diagnosis and emotional battle with breast cancer.

Interestingly enough, cancer has been with the show since the very beginning. Actress Maura Tierney was originally cast to play Sarah Braverman, the second child of the Braverman family. However, the drama moved its premiere from the fall to midseason because of Tierney’s real-life breast cancer.

Unfortunately, scheduling conflicts between treatments and production led to Tierney leaving the cast of Parenthood. Lauren Graham, everyone’s favorite Gilmore Girls mom, replaced her. Having this tumultuous beginning poised Parenthood to be a series that could discuss serious issues and do so in a mature, sophisticated manner.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Samuel Negin

The 50th anniversary Broadway revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying has set a closing date. The production, which originally starred Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe and Tony-winner John Larroquette, now stars Nick Jonas. The closing notice came through the pipes May 8th with a closing date set for May 20th. After playing it’s closing performance, the show will have performed a total of 30 previews and 473 regular performances.

Click to read more…

Dear Readers,

This post will — with the exception of one or two other posts that have already been written but have yet to post — bring an end to my coverage of the 2011-2012 awards season, which I have found to be the most exciting, exhausting, and gratifying of the 11 that I have now covered. This is all largely attributable to my affiliation with The Hollywood Reporter, which I was immensely proud to join on August 31, 2011.

The six months since then have been incredibly busy, fun, and surreal. During that time…

Click to read more…

By Josh Abraham

Hammer’s chilling ghost story The Woman in Black shattered box office expectations during its three day opening weekend (Fri-Sun) in the US, grossing just over $21m to come in a very close second place.

Click to read more…

Recently, I had the incredible opportunity to conduct an hour-long interview with Daniel Radcliffe, the 22-year-old British actor who starred as the title character in the Harry Potter film franchise that encompassed eight films over 11 years (2001-2011), grossed over $7.7 billion at box-offices around the world for Warner Bros., and single-handedly revived the faltering British film industry.

Our conversation was part of a tribute to Radcliffe from the New York branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), which wished to commemorate the end of his Potter era (which came to a close with the July 15 release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2, the series’ most critically acclaimed and commercially successful installment, and an Oscar nominee for best art direction, best makeup, and best visual effects) and the beginning of his next film chapter (which kicks off today with the release of The Woman in Black, his first post-Potter film, in theaters across America).

Click to read more…

By Sean O’Connell

Why do kids have a hard time breaking through at the Oscars?

It’s an interesting question, and one that is dissected over at Gold Derby this morning, where they point out that multiple Oscar-worthy performances from underage talents could be overlooked this season if the Academy’s tendencies disrupt the momentum of select campaigns.

Click to read more…

By Sean O’Connell

Like the tough-as-nails siblings punching their way through their mixed martial artsfinale, Gavin O’Connor’s “Warrior” refuses to go down to the mat.

Click to read more…

By Sean O’Connell

Did “Return of the King” blaze a trail that “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2” – the eighth and final installment in the beloved film franchise – can walk on down?

The theory is being tested by Warner Bros. as the Oscar season continues to develop. For Your Consideration ads have been running on the trade Web sites for weeks. Screener copies of “Deathly Hallows, Part 2” have arrived in key guild mailboxes ahead of end-of-year voting. Screenings are being held in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and London, giving voters a chance to see David Yates’ accomplishment on the big screen (as was intended).

Click to read more…

On Monday afternoon, I had the opportunity to spend some time with the actor Daniel  Radcliffe, who is best known for his performance as the title character in all eight films of  the Harry Potter films.

Radcliffe and I chatted at New York’s fabled 21 Club prior to a luncheon that Warner Brothers  held in celebration ofHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, the final installment in the  decade-spanning franchise that has collectively grossed over $7.7 billion at box offices around  the world and single-handedly revived the faltering British film industry.

The studio is giving the film a full-on Oscar push, with the hope that Academy members might award it a best picture nomination on its own merits and/or as a tribute to all of the films, which have heretofore only registered with them in the technical categories.

As you can read and hear below, the 22-year-old — who is currently starring in the Broadway revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying – spoke candidly with me about how he first became involved with the Harry Potter franchise; how he feels about it coming to an end; and how he feels about the ways in which it has changed his life, personally and professionally…

Click to read more…