Jeffrey Dean Morgan Headed To ‘Magic City’

He’s played a tender heart transplant patient-turned-possible specter (or cancer-induced hallucination) and a mysterious paternal figure on the small screen before – now Jeffrey Dean Morgan is poised to travel back in time and handle the Miami crime scene circa the 1960s in Starz’ upcoming period drama, Magic City.

Morgan is on the verge of signing on for Starz’ new series, which the cable channel’s execs seem to be hoping will be their answer to HBO’s early 20th century show about illegal deeds and government corruption, Boardwalk Empire.

Magic City will revolve around Jewish-American hotel boss Ike Evans (the role Deadline says Morgan is in final negotiations to play), a man who aims to just make a living and raise his family in the world of mid-20th century Miami. That’s easier said than done as Evans has to handle an onslaught of scheming politicians, dangerous mobsters, and other less-than-respectable types who flock to the glitzy Florida town in the wake of Fidel Castro’s rise to power in Cuba – and his subsequent shutdown of Havana as a gambling haven.

Morgan is well known for his turn on Grey’s Anatomy as Denny Duquette – a patient who left an indelible mark on Izzie’s (Katherine Heigl) life – and his part as the father to Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) on Supernatural. Movie fans might also recall that Morgan (flirtatiously) sparred with Zoe Saldana in last year’s The Losers, but are more likely to recognize him from his part as the sadistic Comedian in Zack Snyder’s adaptation of Watchmen.

Morgan as The Comedian.

Scarface immediately jumps to mind when the words “drugs, mobsters, and Miami” are dropped in a conversation, but Magic City reads like something more akin to The Sopranos than that iconic Al Pacino vehicle. Between this show, the 300-inspired Spartacus: Blood and Sand, and Starz’ new take on the Arthur legend, Camelot, it’s clear that the cable channel is fashioning itself as a rival to HBO by offering a diverse, often gritty lineup of TV series and entertainment.

It will also be interesting to see how Magic City‘s portrayal of 1960s-era America differs from the glistening world of suave ad specialists in Mad Men and NBC’s upcoming period drama about Hugh Hefner’s infamous Chicago-based clubs, Playboy. The 60s are quite alive and well on TV, it seems.

Magic City will shoot on location in Miami and is scheduled to premiere in 2012.

Source: Deadline

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‘Jersey Shore’ Season 4 Headed To Italy

Now, some longtime readers of Screen Rant may be ready to blast me in the comments, but I’m sure that some of you reading this were lured here by the proclamations of the headline above -- this news is for you. The rest of you who are ready to hate on this proud Jersey Shore lover -- there are plenty of other articles for you to read.

MTV has confirmed that Jersey Shore Season 4 will be shot in Italy! Meaning that the JS cast will be taking their hijinks overseas, likely continuing to erode America’s international relations.

So how will Europe react to The Situation’s perennially missing shirts, Pauly D’s hammerhead blowout hairdo, gorilla Ronnie’s effeminate giggles and the entity only known as Snooki, I hear you asking? Well, my friend, therein lies the juicy trashy TV that millions of Jersey Shore fans have come to love wallowing in every week.

Said MTV Executive Vice President of Programming, Chris Linn:

“While the stateside “Jersey Shore” locales have become iconic for our audience it’s really the constantly evolving dynamic amongst the cast that keeps them coming back each season, and Europe is a fresh spin on a show that continues to reach new heights for us…The cast is headed to the birthplace of the culture they love and live by. We can’t wait to see what erupts as a result.”

The gang reportedly won’t be left out in the “Old Country” without a haven: cast member Vinnie Guadagnino has family in Italy who will open their doors (and their dinner table) to America’s favorite guidos and guidettes. More than that, though, there are several questions that this news raises:

Which cast members will we see in Italia (specifically, will Sammy Sweetheart be back)?How will actual native Italians react to a group of (possibly offensive) American-Italian stereotypes?Will Italians accept those cast members who aren’t even fully Italian? (Do your research, some of them aren’t Italian.)Will Italian women swoon for M.V.P.?Can America suffer this kind of foreign relations nightmare?Will Snooki ever find love???

All these questions -- and others -- will be exactly the sort of bait that hooks me and millions of other Americans into watching Jersey Shore season 4. Love or hate it, the show is a monster hit for MTV (8.9 million viewers as of the last episode) and the fact that they change locales every season has certainly kept things…interesting.

Personally, I’m glad they’re taking this act overseas. Watching the current third season of Jersey Shore (which has returned the cast to the Seaside Heights setting of season 1), it’s become apparent that what made the show so entertaining is no longer sustainable within an environment where these kids are now bonafide American celebrities. I’ve noted to other viewers all season that the increased presence of security guards and the hyper-awareness of every shore-head walking the boardwalk is robbing Jersey Shore of it’s natural, organic aesthetic. Ok, Ok, I’m really more upset that the security details mean the opportunities for fights are fewer, and that the fists that do fly do so for shorter amounts of time. Maybe the lower profile setting of Italy will change all that…

You excited to hear Jersey Shore is going to Italy, or are you ashamed that I’m reporting this?

Jersey Shore season 4 starts filming in Italy in Spring 2011 and should air later in the year.

BONUS: The cast celebrate the news that they’re going to Italy (not really, but suddenly this video is very fitting):

Source: MTV

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‘Charlie’s Angels’ TV Show Reboot Headed Into Production

You’d think that a classic series that received not one, but two big-budget movie adaptations was played out. Nobody tell ABC: they’re in the initial stages of bringing Charlie’s Angels back to its TV stomping grounds.

We previously reported that Al Gough and Miles Millar, the writers for the first eight seasons of Smallville, are attached to the project. Gossip Girl director Mark Miznarski is in negotiations to direct. (Miznarski also has a credit for the 2008 reboot of 90210 -  coincidence?)

Producers include Leonard Goldberg and Nancy Juvonen, who worked on the aforementioned 2000 and 2003 Charlie’s Angels movies. Juvonen also helped develop the original TV series, as well as other classics like Starsky & Hutch and TJ Hooker. Drew Berrymore, who played an Angel in both movies, is a producer on the new show. No casting information is available at this time.

Whispers about a new Charlie’s Angels TV show have been heard around Hollywood for years.  In 2004 (a year after the truly awful sequel to the 2000 movie) an attempt was made to reanimate the franchise, but it never made it off the ground. Similar efforts were launched in 1988 with similar results, not to mention copycat franchises in Latin America and Germany. The show will join such auspicious company as Knight Rider, Melrose Place (the reboot) and Bionic Woman – that’s assuming that it fails. If it doesn’t, it may join more palatable remakes like Battlestar Galactica, V, and Hawaii Five-O.

When rumors of the Angels return started flying in 2009, Screen Rant‘s Paul Young made some excellent suggestions for the reboot’s potential cast, including Eliza Dushku, Alyssa Milano, and Emilie Ullerup. Summer Glau was also mentioned, but she’s a little busy with The Cape at the moment, so I’ll add Rosario Dawson as a substitute.

What I’m more interested in is who’ll be playing Charlie. The original Charlie for the 1970s show and both movies was voiced by John Forsythe, who unfortunately passed away in April of last year. I’d suggest Val Kilmer, who’s voice-only part in the Knight Rider reboot makes him perfect for ill-advised TV speaking roles. Bernie Mac, who played Bosley for both movies, tragically died of complications from pneumonia in 2008. However, former Heroes regular Stephen Tobolowsky seems to fit the Bosley role to a T.

Charlie’s Angels will begin production very soon, and should premiere on ABC in spring or fall 2012.

Source: Comingsoon.net

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Microsoft KIN Emerges From The Dead, Headed Back To Verizon

November 12 2010 by admin in News |

Well, this is certainly coming out of left field.

You might recall the demise of Microsoft and Verizon’s KIN One and KIN Two a few months back. The reason for that of course being that the costs of their data plans were on par with the big name smartphones. Things were so bad that there were rumors that Microsoft had only sold around 500 or so of the devices.

Microsoft and Verizon then pulled the plug.

Now it seems both KIN’s are making a comeback on Big Red, although it won’t be in the same fashion as last time.

According to a report by PPCGeeks, the KIN reincarnations won’t have a data plan attached to them but you will still be able to use Zune Pass over Wi-Fi . The refreshed KINs, known as KIN 1m and KIN 2m also won’t feature the data intensive “Loop” which was one of the most marketed and touted pieces of the software the first time around.

So essentially, it’s the same hardware with dumbed down software with no data plan. It’s possible that these might even drop sometime this quarter so if you were looking to a KIN One or KIN Two the first time around, you might have your chance very, very shortly.

Anyone else get the feeling Microsoft is trying to avoid burying these in the desert?

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