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(S01E08) Like so many of the episodes this season, this one felt too short. The show is good but when it feels too short, it often feels underdeveloped too. Despite the lack of development in places, Belle did get some closure. And I think it's pretty obvious that closure in a season finale is important. I, for one, was glad to see her satisfied with her situation at the end.

Tonight Belle tried her hand at being a courtesan. Wow, semantics makes all the difference, huh? There's your street-walking hookers, your pimped out prostitutes, high class escorts, and your professional courtesans. As she explained how courtesans were different than even highly paid call girls like herself, I thought of one of her very first asides on Secret Diary of a Call Girl. In the season premiere Belle told us that it didn't matter which way you slice it or what you call it, she gets paid to have sex.

I'm a huge Law & Order fan, and as such, I am quite jealous of the Brits today. Not only are they getting their very own Law & Order, called Law & Order: UK, but Battlestar Galactica's Jamie Bamber is set to star. Bamber, who just ended his role as Apollo on the Sci Fi Network series, is playing one of the main detectives, along with fellow Englander, Bradley Walsh.

According to Bamber, L&O's UK edition is just like the American version, but will be about "London judiciary and London cops. It's got the same premise as the original American Law & Order, same everything, just with a UK production company and UK actors."

The series is slated to begin production in August and will air on the UK channel ITV. There's no word as to whether or not it will jump the pond and be available to American audiences, but I'd definitely be interested to see how this long-running series translates overseas.

Can we talk ... without using curse words? Comedienne and home shopping pioneer Joan Rivers was removed from a live British talk show for swearing.

Well, OK, it's not like she was dragged off kicking and screaming during the live broadcast (like this guy), but she was asked to leave the set during a commercial break. Rivers was on the show Loose Women (ahem) and they were talking about Russell Crowe and Rivers said that he was "f***ing shit." I think she meant the phrase as an adjective, not a verb.

Rivers is actually over there doing a one woman show on the West End, Joan Rivers: A Work In Progress By A Life In Progress. She has apologized for what she said, the host of the show apologized for what she said, and ITV apologized to viewers for she said.

Just to be safe, TV Squad also apologizes for what Rivers said. Thank you.

Update: Video added after the jump.

Some details have been released regarding the new mini-series series remake of The Prisoner, the cult 1960s series starring Patrick McGoohan. For now, these should be treated as rumors.

Supposedly, Jim Caviezel will play the Prisoner known only as Number Six, and Sir Ian McKellan is set to play the jailer known as Number Two. Six episodes will be produced and John Jones will direct.

This report sounds too good to be true. It's doubtful that either Caviezel or McKellan would slum it to a television mini-series from the movies they've been making. On the other hand, McKellan has put in television appearances before (such as Extras).

While I'm a fan of McKellan's work, wouldn't it be more loyal to the source material if multiple actors played Number Two? I'm just saying.

Shooting begins at the end of August (and scheduled to air next year). At that point, we'll see if the report is accurate.

UPDATE 6/30/2008: AMC Television has officially announced this series.

[via AICN]

Nobody would ever confuse Rufus Sewell for Patrick Stewart (Star Trek: The Next Generation), right? Well, super-producer Jerry Bruckheimer has chosen Sewell for the lead in the $4 million pilot of the British drama series Eleventh Hour. Presumably, Rufus will be playing the same role Patrick played, that is Professor Ian Hood, Special Advisor to the government's Joint Sciences Committee, enlisted to tackle all kinds of dangerous threats stemming from science gone awry.

According to BBC News, someone planted a bug on the judge's table for the show Britain's Got Talent. The show is executive-produced by American Idol's Simon Cowell (who also exec-produces the similarly-themed America's Got Talent broadcast on NBC) and is broadcast on ITV in England.

I'm sorry, but this is just low. Can you imagine the personal things that may have been heard while bugging the judges of this show? Whomever planted the bug might have learned the secrets of Simon's career success. Okay, I admit I'd like to learn more about that one.

In a rare move, a US network has picked up a British television program and decided not to make an American version. According to Zap2It.com, Showtime so fell in love with Billie Piper's (Doctor Who's Rose) performance as the titular character Hannah/Belle that they've decided to just bring over the British version of Secret Diary of a Call Girl as is. Based on real-life diaries, the comedy Call Girl features Piper as secretary Hannah by day, call girl Belle by night and proved to be a big hit for the UK's ITV2.

Showtime will air the eight-episode first season in spring or summer of '08. It's no wonder, with the popular (even in the US) Piper attached, that Showtime decided not to make an Americanized version. Well, that and the fact that most of the time when we Americanize a British hit show we destroy it (Absolutely Fabulous, Coupling). Hell, even The Office was a near disaster. Honestly, I don't get it. I guess American studios think we Americans are too dumb to "get" British shows.

A group of the UK's top television broadcasters are coming together to create a new online video on demand service. The service, codenamed Project Kangaroo, will feature content from the BBC, ITV, and Channel 4.

The broadcasters will reportedly be making 10,000 hours of programming available. You'll be able to watch some content for free online, while others you'll be able to pay to download. Like most competing services, it looks like you'll either be able to "rent" a video for a limited period of time or buy it so you can save it and cherish it forever.

While Project Kangaroo will be online-only at first, there are apparently plans to eventually let users watch content directly on their television boxes.

The BBC does not plan to kill off its iPlayer service, but will be offering much of the same content via iPlayer and Project Kangaroo.

The FOX network has announced plans for a brand new cop show about a police officer from Albania who is transplanted to the US.

The one hour project, currently tittled Raffik, will be a fish-out-of-water story focusing on the officer's reactions to the wonders of America.

The only details of the project that have been revealed are that Anthony Horowitz is the creator. Horowitz previously created Foyle's War and also worked on Poirot both for ITV.

Shed Productions (the company behind Footballers Wives), along with Simon Cowell's company, Syco TV, will produce a new drama series called Rock Rivals for ITV in the UK.

The fictional drama will revolve around two celebrity judges on a TV talent show whose marriage crumbles into a "War of the Roses" feud, both onscreen and off.

Simon is excited about the show, and thinks the "idea is brilliant." He describes the show as "X Factor meets Dallas."

Interesting article on the BBC website today; they had an independent polling company survey over 2,000 Brits on their video viewing habits, and they found that, of the people that said they regularly watch online video, 43% say they watch less television as a result. The number of total online viewers is still a minority: 9% of the people surveyed said they watch online video regularly, 13% they watched occasionally, and another 10% say they plan to watch online video within the next year. But, remember, there is not nearly as much current British programming available online as there is in the U.S., so that number might grow as the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 rolls out on-demand video on the web, which the article says is due in the next few months.

Rumors are circulating that former Baywatch star and guy who has trouble at airports David Hasselhoff will be one of the castaways in the British reality show I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! Producers are offering The Hoff (as he's been called by many people, including himself) 300,000 pounds to be on the show.

Naomi Campbell might also be on the show, though she's going through her own troubles right now, so who knows if this is real or complete nonsense. Though a reality show with both David Hasselhoff and Naomi Campbell might be kind of awesome. The show starts in two weeks.

[via TV Tattle]

Ah, you Brits are so lucky. Ricky Gervais, creator of The Office and Extras, is bringing his imaginary characters to life on ITV. The 'Flanimals', about which Gervais has now written two books, are ugly, little monster-like creatures with goofy names such as Clunge Ambler, Grundit, Puddloflaj... although it's much funnier to hear Gervais say the names in his accent. The Flanimals will be the subject of six 30-minute episodes that will air during primetime. Making the deal even better is the news that former Aardman Animations pioneers Charles Mills and Terry Brain are also on board. Aardman, by the way, is the brilliant claymation studio that created Wallace and Gromit.

Our fellow blogger and The Prisoner fan Michael Sciannamea will be happy to hear this!

The British satellite channel Sky One is giving a green light for a remake of the cult-classic The Prisoner, which aired on ITV from 1967 until early 1968. The new series would run for six episodes to be aired next year, which would be the 40th anniversary of the series.

There are unconfirmed reports that Number 6, the main character that was played by Patrick McGoohan, will be played by Christopher Eccleston. Eccleston is currently portraying The Doctor in the new series of Doctor Who episodes being broadcast in America on the Sci-Fi Channel. Eccleston lasted only one season on the show and was replaced by David Tennant in the series currently running on the BBC.

The remake of The Prisoner will stick to the original concept of the series: a government agent is drugged and sent to a prison called The Village after he resigns from service. While in prison people are referred to by their numbers rather than their names. This version of the series will probably have a modern shine to it. Perhaps it will take place in one of those secret CIA prisons we aren't supposed to know about.