Image Credit: Fox
Though it actually launched on Oct. 9, 1986, Fox is celebrating its 25th anniversary this weekend with a primetime extravaganza featuring such stars of yesteryear as Calista Flockhart, Gabrielle Carteris, Ian Ziering, and David Faustino. Before tomorrow night’s broadcast, we thought it appropriate to take a look back at how the network has changed the pop culture landscape in the last quarter century. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Brook Rushton/Fox
Terra Nova was usually described as an ambitious TV series. But it wasn’t, really. The main narrative combined a C-grade time travel story that would make Ray Bradbury chortle dismissively, a D-grade gritty reboot of Lost in Space that couldn’t even find space for a funny robot, and a Z-grade conspiracy plotline written specifically for people who thought FlashForward could’ve used more conspiracy plotlines. However, Terra Nova cost an insane amount of money, so I guess you could say that it was “ambitious,” in the sense that it’s ambitious to try to build an elevator to the moon using styrofoam and Elmer’s glue. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Fox
Look at that face. Could you cancel that face? Well, if you’re Fox… maybe. Allen Gregory is still standing for the moment, thanks to a plum time-slot between The Simpsons and Family Guy, but can the freshman show hang on after so-so ratings? As one of several shows to premiere this past week, Gregory‘s fate hasn’t been decided yet. Add its name to the purgatorial list that includes high-profile newcomers Pan Am, Terra Nova, Once Upon a Time, and Last Man Standing. Keep reading to see which shows are in danger as we slide into November, and cast your vote for which should be canceled next.
Image Credit: Fox
The Terra Nova pilot was an infamously lavish production. It was filmed in Australia. It required the kind of post-production work that cost-conscious television executives usually leave to their siblings on the Motion Picture side of Hollywood. It’s one of the most expensive series premieres in TV history — some reports indicate the budget may have reached $20 million, which is still less than Boardwalk Empire but significantly more than Lost. There were a lot of interesting things circulating through the Terra Nova premiere — check out Ken Tucker’s review and James Hibberd’s recap of the show if you don’t believe me. But in one respect, the Terra Nova pilot was a truly laughable failure. Because this is a show about dinosaurs — a show whose whole entire marketing campaign rests on the awesomeness of dinosaurs — and the dinosaurs on Terra Nova looked absolutely awful. READ FULL STORY »
