Ordinarily I do not do a fanboy squeal when I hear of an attempt at a science fiction program revamp of an old series, but this one has Battlestar Galactica potential. Tim Minear (Angel, Firefly) is taking on a remake of Alien Nation for Sci Fi or SyFy or whatever they're calling themselves.

The original television series on Fox was one of the cases where the spin-off actually exceeded the quality of the movie it was based on. The only mistake that was made was taking the show off the air after one year (although it did spawn a set of television movies).

Tim Minear is a good choice as showrunner since he's used to sci fi shows that rely on characterization. I have to give props to Sci Fi for this decision. Hopefully it will last longer than its predecessor and be leaps and bounds better than their attempted remake of Flash Gordon.

Since my article was posted yesterday, there have been some new developments regarding the unaired 13th episode of Dollhouse that Felicia Day twittered about.

Producer Tim Minear cleared it up on Whedonesque in which he explained that the original pilot Fox had Joss scrap for a new one counted as one of Fox's 13-episode order. As a result, squeezing the budget a little, they created a 13th "coda" episode to the season which supposedly Fox won't air.

I hope Tim Minear is correct, although his response sounds a bit like spin to me. Joss and company certainly have experience with coda episodes (see the 4th season of Buffy for an example). Perhaps Joss himself will be writing and directing this one?

Unless there is an official announcement by Fox that the series has been renewed, I'm reticent to think of it as anything but a thirteen episode mini-series. I hope Fox proves me wrong.

[via Ain't It Cool]

I suppose most people would lead with the fact that Jay Mohr has signed on to Ed Yeager's untitled comedy pilot for CBS. After all, Jay does have that regular gig on Ghost Whisperer. In a nutshell, Mohr and Paula Marshall play a couple that has recently divorced, after fifteen years of marriage. The funny is scheduled to arrive as we watch Mohr's character try to juggle his ex-wife, their two kids, and his new girlfriend, played by Jaime King.

That's all well and good. For me though, the far more interesting bit is Paula Marshall's involvement. I find her career fascinating. She's been on a bunch of great shows. The Wonder Years, Seinfeld, Nash Bridges (don't laugh, Nash was very successful), Spin City, Sports Night, Just Shoot Me, Nip/Tuck, and Veronica Mars, to name a few. Yet, for whatever reason, whenever she gets a starring gig, it all seems to go to hell. See Cupid, Snoops, Hidden Hills, and Out Of Practice. I don't get it. I like everything she's ever done, but it just doesn't work. So, I don't have high hopes for this production. However, it does offer a thought. It's quite possible that Paula was all set to star in a great new show for Tim Minear. Unfortunately, the sheer power of their combined abilities to kill shows sent the series itself back in time, canceling itself before the idea even came to be.

Tim Minear's next project will be at ABC. The network just won a lengthy bidding war with Fox for Minear's new show, Miracle Man. Minear created it with Emmy winning producer Todd Holland, who also created Wonderfalls with Minear. Miracle Man "centers on a disgraced former televangelist, a man of no faith, who finds that God is using him to perform real miracles and change lives, starting with his own", according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Fox has announced that the final two episodes of Drive will be on the show's MySpace page starting on Monday, July 16th. The network had originally scheduled those episodes for air on July 4th, then bumped them to July 13th, then flat-out took them off the schedule, much to the frustration of the few surviving fans of Drive.

After you watch the last two episodes, which will likely not provide any sort of closure, check out this post from Isabelle detailing what the producers wanted to happen to the story if the series had lived on. Unfortunately, the producers don't say who would've won... maybe even they didn't know yet.

Executive producers Tim Minear and Craig Silverstein were kind enough to spill the beans on what would have happened on Drive if FOX hadn't canceled the series.

Many fans were left wondering as only four of the six produced episodes aired earlier this year. FOX had planned on airing the two remaining episodes this summer but decided against it earlier this week.

The last two episodes of FOX's Drive - remember that show? - were scheduled to air this Wednesday, July 4, but the network has changed its mind and has shifted them to Friday, July 13 instead. Ooooooo, Friday the 13th.

The first episode, "The Extra Mile," will air at 8pm, and then the series finale, appropriately titled "Rear View," will air immediately after at 9pm. The press release is actually calling this episode a "season finale," so there's no word on whether we'll get a real closure to the series or whether they'll be a lingering questions answered (on the DVD, no doubt). Bones will be pre-empted that night but will return the following week.

[via Pop Candy]

TV Guide is reporting that Fox has canceled Drive, the new action series starring Nathan Fillion and created by Tim Minear. Even though it's not confirmed, it's pretty obvious that this is due to dismal ratings. Drive had the old Prison Break slot, but was only getting a fraction of Prison Break's ratings. There are still two episodes left... hopefully Fox will put them up on the MySpace webpage where all the other episodes can be seen. In the meantime, repeats of House will run in that 8 pm time slot.

Sadly, this does not come as a surprise.

(S01E04) Brett and I are sharing reviewing duties of Drive and I have to tell you right away that I am not as in love with this show as Brett is. I adore Tim Minear and almost everything he does, but I'm not completely sold on this series. Too many of the characters bother me. I find blondie Ivy extremely annoying, and I find Ellie (the soldier's wife) and Violet (the so-called high school Junior) to be over-actors. The reason I'm holding on is simple: Alex Tully. I was intrigued following the last five minutes of last week's episode when we found out that Tully used to be a bad ass bank robber.

FOX's new drama Drive, produced by Tim Minear (best known for his work on Angel and Firefly) and Ben Queen, may only premiere on Sunday but that doesn't prevent fans from watching the first minutes of the pilot

As part of the show's marketing campaign, Yahoo! TV is airing the first 4 minutes and 38 seconds of the series.

When I first heard the general premise for Drive, I instantly thought of Cannonball Run. The Cannonball Run is a movie a fondly remember watching time and again as a kid. Tons of money on the line, fast cars, hot women ... I mean hell, I was a hormone-filled kid somewhere between 10 and 13 years old when I first saw this flick, so cut me some slack.

While there is the obvious similarity with the whole race-around-the-country thing with Cannonball Run, after watching the rough-cut first episode of Drive I can start by telling you one way where the two differ: The Cannonball Run was for pussies.

Among the many complaints over how Fox handled Tim Minear's last two projects, Wonderfalls and The Inside, was that they didn't promote the shows well. Fortunately for his next series, that doesn't seem to be the case. I was watching NASCAR's big Bud Shootout this weekend and was happy to see a promo for the show. They also got spots during the Sunday animation block. Add in some showings during Prison Break and 24 and I don't think there is much more that the network can do to let people know about the show.

In case you missed it, because you forgot to watch the big NASCAR race, you can view the new promo online. The official site has yet to be updated, but that's the beauty of YouTube, right? I'm already sold on the show. With Minear at the helm, and Nathan Fillion, Kristin Lehman (pictured), Melanie Lynskey, Kevin Alejandro, and Taryn Manning, among others, on the screen, it looks fantastic. Decide for yourself though, the new promo is after the jump.

Take a bunch of good-looking people, put them in cars and have them race across the country, and what do you get? Drive, the latest series from Tim Minear, who's probably best known for his efforts on Buffy and the cult favorite Firefly. Right after Peter Ligouri gave his executive session, FOX decided to have the Drive cast out on stage for a Q&A. And when I mean the cast, I mean the entire cast; twelve actors, including Nathan Fillion, Dylan Baker and Melanie Lynskey. They were joined by Minear and his fellow executive producers, Ben Queen and Greg Yaitanes.

The most intersting thing about this series is that, while it shows ordinary citizens who are persuaded to participate in an illegal cross-country race for a $32 million prize, all the actors' in-car scenes will be shot in front of green screens. The challenge, according to Minear: "Could you make a show that takes place partially in moving vehicles that go across the country and not make it look bad?" He took a cue from War of the Worlds, which had in-car scenes where the audience saw the environment from all angles, inside and out. The effects experts who did that effect also worked on Drive.

The Whedonverse is an incestuous place. While Drive is not technically a Whedon show, Tim Minear was brought into the fold long ago and is part of the family. And it is showing as they continue to retool the cast of his latest creation. Amy Acker, formerly Fred on Angel, is the latest addition. She'll be playing the missing wife of Nathan Fillion's (Firefly, Buffy) character, Alex Tully.

There is finally an official start date for the show as well. Drive will premiere on Sunday April 15th before settling in to Mondays at 8 on April 16th. Leading in to 24 is about as good a slot as they could have asked for, and taking over for Prison Break seems to make a lot of sense. Viewership for the two shows should be similar, so hopefully most of those folks will stick around to see what Minear has cooked up.

[ via whedonesque ]

Fox has finally set an actual date for the premiere of Drive, but it's probably not what the cast and crew were hoping for. Beginning March 1st, Drive will take over the Thursday at 9 slot that has been home to The O.C. this season. I suppose it's better than the Friday slot Minear's Wonderfalls got, but not by much.

If you're a glass half full type, the good news is that expectations for that slot are low. The O.C. has struggled to reach even 4 million viewers this season. Drive should be able to best that pretty easily. On the other hand, if you're a glass half empty person, it is also the toughest time slot of the week. Not only will they be going up against the number 1 and 2 shows on TV in Grey's Anatomy and C.S.I, but they also face Supernatural, which I think has some crossover with viewers who would watch Drive.