Wednesday, October 10, 2007

The New Kirk?

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that JJ Abrams and company are in negotiations with actor Chris Pine to be the young version of James T. Kirk in the next "Star Trek" movie. For a summary of Pine's career, go here: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1517976/maindetails.

If signed, Pine would join Zachary Quinto of "Heroes" as the young Spock, Zoe Saldana of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series as the young Uhura and Anton Yelchin as the young Chekov. The article also confirmed that Eric Bana will play Nero, the movie's villain. Leonard Nimoy will reprise Spock in the movie, while there's a possibility that William Shatner will put in an appearance as Kirk.

There are several interviews all over the Net with Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman, the movie's writers, about what you can expect in the next film. Personally, I like the idea of going with relative unknowns as the young version of the Enterprise crew members, and Abrams directing the project can only mean good things.

FIRST PICKUP: "Gossip Girl" (CW, 9 p.m.) has become a guilty pleasure among the coveted 18-34 crowd, and the network is rewarding the show by picking it up for the full 22 episodes. "Gossip Girl" is also one of the top five downloaded shows on iTunes.

TUESDAY NIGHT REVISITED: I complained yesterday about "NCIS" and "Bones," and the TV gods heard my despair and delivered me two solid installments. Both series returned to the quirky humor that made me a fan in the first place. "NCIS" put Gibbs (Mark Harmon) in the uncomfortable spot of having one of his ex-wives, his ex-girlfriend (and current boss) and current girlfriend all together at the same time to great effect.

Meanwhile, "Bones" finally got the Bones-Booth relationship back on track with the bizarrely funny mystery set among horse fetishists. The conversation between Bones (Emily Deschanel) and Booth (David Boreanaz) at the end of the episode is an example of why the series has so devoted fans in the first place.

My only complaint about "Reaper" is that we need to see the Devil (Ray Wise) as much as possible. This was genius casting.
And please, TV gods, let us keep these prospective doctors on "House" for as long as possible.

WEDNESDAY'S BEST BETS: Unlike the last two days, I didn't do reviews of Wednesday's lineup because most of the shows are new series.

Of course, the best new series of the season (I may have mentioned this once or twice) is "Pushing Daisies" (ABC, 8 p.m.) I was worried that I may have gone overboard with my praise despite whopping critical approval and very strong ratings for last week's "Pie-lette," but an informal survey of friends, family and co-workers have all been as positive about the show as I have.

The sitcom duo of "Back To You" (Fox, 8 p.m.) and "Til Death" are the only other non-reality offerings by the networks at this time.

So far, one of the biggest disappointments this season for me has been "Bionic Woman" (NBC, 9 p.m.) I like all of the actors, but the writing hasn't been up to par, quite a surprise considering the talent behind the camera. But I'm sticking with it, hoping that it will improve. It's followed by "Life," a series that I've enjoyed so far, but is one of those shows that people will either like or hate, with little middle ground.

Speaking of disappointments, "Private Practice" (ABC, 9 p.m.) hasn't been exactly winning over the critics or the legions of "Grey's Anatomy" fans. While the ratings have remained solid, this is one series that needs to find its footing quickly. Meanwhile, "Dirty Sexy Money" (ABC, 10 p.m.) has been one of the season's delights, but hasn't found an audience.

My postings for the next few days may be spotty, since I'm going to be at the Austin Film Festival, but during that 96 hours of sleep deprivation is a session with the producers of "Friday Night Lights," which I hope to report on next week.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

You gave "Bones" a free pass yet I find it rather bewildering that you failed to attack "Bones" on a glaring problem - the awful, unwatchable Jack-Angela subplot.

I could care less about her stupid ex-husband and everything they have written in relation to this story arc is putrid - the hypnotherapy thing was dumb. They are taking two terrific actors (Michaela Conlin and TJ Thyne) and wasting them in this horrible story that's preventing their romance.

I wish you wouldn't gloss over a horrible, unwatchable story arc so you could say everything's great with Bones and Booth.

I completely agree with you about Ray Wise on "Reaper". While you like the show more than me, more Ray Wise would help immensly - he's the strongest character and maybe does 2-5 minutes an episode. A waste.

Taking a look at Chris Pine's look & resume, seems like a solid choice. I also completely agree about going with relative unknowns - you are more likely to get a multi picture commitment than say hiring Matt Damon to be Kirk. To me, the name "Star Trek" being associated with JJ Abrams should be the selling point.

I am likely to give "Bionic Woman" more time/longer leash than "Life". I will watch "Life" again tonight and then if I still feel disturbed by Damien Lewis' bizarre acting performance, I am officially done.

Anonymous said...

The problem with the Bionic Woman is the crazy bionic gal is so much more compelling than nice Bionic girl. Wouldn't hurt my feelings to see Bionic crazy get equal time.

Phillip Ramati said...

I'm not giving Bones a free pass, but since it's obvious that this subplot is going to play out for much of the season, there's no point in complaining about it every week. I focused on the rest of the episode and enjoyed it a lot.

Katee Sackhoff's evil Bionic Woman has been the best part of the show so far, but the writers are trying to find a balance between advancing the overall story arc of her character with the weekly adventures that Jamie's involved in.

Anonymous said...

The only thing that is driving me crazy about Bionic Woman is she is always perfectly made up. (and you guys might not notice as much) but in the first episode for example when she had her big 'procedure' and woke up, her make up was perfect. I mean come on, who goes though that and has lipstick and blush on after waking up from surgary weeks later (or however long it was). Otherwise the show is not bad, but can be better.