From TheFutonCritic:
LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) — TNT will launch the third season of “Southland” on Tuesday, January 4 at 10:00/9:00c, sources at the network have confirmed to the site exclusively.
Said premiere falls one day after “The Closer” wraps its sixth season: Monday, January 3 at 9:00/8:00c.
The 10-episode season, commissioned back in April, is “Southland’s” first produced specifically for the cable channel.
TNT took over the broadcast rights to “Southland’s” second season following NBC’s cancellation of the series late last year.
Those six episodes (3/2/10-4/6/10) averaged 2.7 million viewers, over half of which (1.4 million) fell into the key adults 18-49 demographic.
The show’s ensemble cast includes Michael Cudlitz, Shawn Hatosy, Benjamin McKenzie, Regina King, Kevin Alejandro, Arija Bareikis, Michael McGrady and Tom Everett Scott.
From: TV Squad – Maggie Furlong
To kick off the week and celebrate ‘Southland’ going back into production this Thursday in L.A., TNT hosted a cocktail party for select TV critics and journalists to mingle with the ‘Southland’ cast.
The overall consensus: everyone is ready to be back at work.
The cast and producers were all very tight-lipped about what’s in store for season 3 of their critically-acclaimed, network-shuffled show (premieres January 2011), but they were very chatty regarding just about everything else.
*Regina King (Det. Lydia Adams) was genuinely excited to see pals and costars Michael Cudlitz (Officer John Cooper) and Ben McKenzie (Officer Ben Sherman) at the cocktail party, but said it hasn’t been that long since they’ve seen each other. “We’ve kept in touch over the break … we even went to see Ben in his play. When you find people who love their craft as much as you do and aren’t just in this business to be big stars, you hang on to them.”
*Michael Cudlitz was sporting some tape around his ring finger and pinky, an injury he suffered while filming ‘The Grief Tourist,’ a psychological thriller he starred in and produced (due out 2011). So will Cooper be sporting a glove in season 3, or get a similar injury on the job to work it in? Nope — Cudlitz says he’s tough and will be fine to work without the tape by Thursday.
*Another cable drama was a hot topic of conversation — ‘Mad Men’ seems to be a cast favorite show, but both Cudlitz and Shawn Hatosy (Det. Sammy Bryant) were eager to critique the season finale.
*We loved Hatosy’s turn on ‘Dexter,’ but what else has he been watching? “I’m embarrassed to say it, but I can’t stop watching ‘Top Chef Just Desserts’ … they’re all crazy! Also, I like to watch ‘Celebrity Rehab’ when I’m at the gym.” [Side note: He's as annoyed by the abundance of whoopee pies on 'Just Desserts' -- and restaurant menus -- as I am. "They're not even good!"]
King looked fabulous in skinny jeans and over-the-knee boots (“I got these for $90 in New York!”) and talked about wearing Lydia’s suits on the show. “At first it said: Lydia Adams in her Loehmann’s suit. I was like, ‘Um … no.’ So we changed it to Theory suits,” she laughed.
*Where will season 3 pick up? “Pretty much right where we left off,” Cudlitz said. The only other thing he’d spill about the first three scripts was something about a big North Hollywood shoot-out. Can’t wait for that …
*Hatosy talked a bit about last season’s ‘What Makes Sammy Run?,’ saying that there’s definitely more of his backstory, his relationship with Tammy and some cool action stuff coming soon.
*Also at the party: Arija Bareikis (Officer Chickie Brown), Michael McGrady (Det. Daniel “Sal” Salinger) and Tom Everett Scott, whose injured Det. Russell Clarke got back into the action as Lydia’s partner in last season’s finale. Here’s hoping his attendance means Russell is back for good …
A while back I posted about Ben lending his voice to the newest reboot of “Scooby Doo”. Here are some more details about Ben’s Scooby Doo episode :
Ben will be in an episode entitled “The Wild Brood,” playing a character named Odnarb. This episode is later in the season and an airdate for it has yet to be determined.
Source
According to this article in TV Guide Magazine, Ben is one of the voice talents in the newest reboot of “Scooby Doo”. The series will begin airing on the Cartoon Network in July.
Scooby-Doo! Mystery Inc – 7/6c Cartoon Network
Scooby-Doo, where are you? A hip reboot of the 40-year-old cartoon franchise puts the meddling kids and their—talking!—canine pal Scoob in Crystal Cove, the most-haunted town in the world, where they solve mysteries much to the chagrin of everyone else who lives there. Among the celebs who lend their voices to the series (either as guest stars or recurring characters) are: Patrick Warburton, Gary Cole, Linda Cardellini, George Segal, Ben McKenzie, Tricia Helfer, Tia Carrere, Julie Bowen, science fiction writer Harlan Ellison and—for those who know their Scooby history—Vincent Van Ghoul.
TV Guide
From: deadline.com
Two years after being unveiled at NBC’s upfront presentation, cop drama Southland will once again be introduced at an upfront presentation, this time at TNT’s event tomorrow after the show was recently renewed by the cable network.
“We’re delighted that we’re still alive,” executive producer John Wells said. “So far, we’ve used up the fourth of our nine lives.”
But along with the excitement of staying on at TNT came the reality of having to adjust the series, originally developed and produced for a broadcast network, to the economics of cable. The budget of Southland is being cut by more than a third going into Season 3.
As a result, not all cast members will continue as regulars and those who remain had been asked to reduce their fees and/or the number of episodes they appear in.
Staying on as regulars are Regina King and Michael Cudlitz, who have completed their deals, and Ben McKenzie and Shawn Hatosy who are in negotiations. McKenzie, King and Cudlitz are scheduled to appear at TNT’s upfront presentation tomorrow, while Hatosy had to pull out because of personal commitment.
I wish we had more money,” Well said. ”We are hoping to find a way to have a couple of more regulars if they prefer it that way or recurring if they want to have the opportunity to also appear on other series.”
For instance, after Southland’s cancelation by NBC, series regular Kevin Alejandro landed a recurring gig on HBO’s True Blood where he was upped to a regular with the blessing of the Southland producers. He is still expected to do several episodes of the TNT drama next season. Wells also is looking to bring back in some capacity former regulars Arija Bareikis and Michael McGrady.
Tom Everett Scott started off as a regular on the show on NBC but was switched to a guest star status after the network didn’t like his character and wanted him killed. But the producers loved him and kept him alive and now they have had preliminary conversations with Scott to return for next season, possibly as a regular.
And the producers on the show themselves will take deeper cuts than the actors, said to be larger than 30%. But Wells is not complaining.
“I don’t’ want to sound upset about it,” he said. “We got to keep doing the show, and we are delighted that TNT stepped up and that have been very generous. The reality is in the big difference between how you set up to do a show off the bat on cable and how you transition a broadcast show to cable. It’s new ground.”
Rajiv Joseph’s Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo opened last night, April 25, at the Mark Taper Forum, under the direction of Moisés Kaufman.
The play, recently named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, is set against the backdrop of the war in Iraq. The company, all reprising their roles from an earlier run at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, features Glenn Davis, Brad Fleischer, Arian Moayed, Kevin Tighe, Hrach Titizian, Sheila Vand, and Necar Zadegan.
Among the opening night guests were Ricardo Chavira, Eriq Lasalle, Logan Marshall-Green, Bai Ling, Ben McKenzie, Marisa Tomei, Rutina Wesley, and Charlayne Woodard.
theatermania.com
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Batman: Year One (2011)
Southland (2009-2010)
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Johnny Got His Gun (2008)
