script

'Til Death will stay off the air for an extra week after the World Series because star Brad Garrett is holding up production. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Garrett was very unhappy with the latest script. That's actually a good reason to postpone a show... to make the script better. Unfortunately for Brad, it might not matter that much. The show is taking a beating on Thursday nights against Survivor and Ugly Betty. It'll be interesting to see that episode when it does get made, to see what Garrett considers a 'good' script.

Las Vegas is an odd show. It doesn't really get much press, but just kind of chugs along doing well enough to keep NBC happy. It's one that I've watched for a long time. Apparently someone likes the cut of creator Gary Scott Thompson's jib though. He now has two new shows in the works.

Over at CBS he has a script commitment for Protect and Serve. It is a police drama that Thompson descibes as having "a procedural edge to it." That sounds like it is right up CBS' alley.

Meanwhile, NBC has also given a script commitment to an untitled drama about a New York cop that makes for Hawaii after losing his family on 9/11. It's suggested that this one will have a Magnum P.I. feel to it. Let's hope it's more Magnum P.I. than Hawaii.

No, it isn't Joss Whedon, but sci-fi nerds and geeks alike might be interested to know that Jane Espenson, a writer on such shows as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly will be writing an episode of Battlestar Galactica, the Sci-Fi channel's number one series. She mentions it in a tiny little box on the right side of her blog, but also says she has no idea when the episode will air. I guess fans will just have to keep checking back to her blog to find out. Also, if you're an aspiring writer, sci-fi fan or not, she has some great advice for people wanting to break into the TV industry. Also, like myself, she's originally from Iowa, so you know she's cool.

[via TV Filter]

James Frey was going to have a TV show? Well, he was writing one anyway, but Fox has decided not to go with Frey's show, which would have been about a surfing detective. Frey sold the script to the network before Oprah and the rest of the world learned of the fabrications in his so-called memoir A Million Little Pieces. Fox claims its decision to pass on Frey's tale of a private dick named Donald "Insane" Tremaine had nothing to do with the maelstrom surrounding Frey and his book. My guess is that the show just wouldn't have been very good.

Peter Falk, the 78 year old actor who played the disheveled but brilliant detective Columbo for ten seasons, not to mention a ton of made-for-TV movies, says he would love to reprise the role for the big screen if the right script ever came along. Falk says the script must begin with a murder scene and "one thing that only Columbo would see." My guess is that if they ever did make a Columbo movie (and why wouldn't the Hollywood machine churn out yet another rehash?) they'd probably find someone younger to play the role in order to secure the right demographics.

Well, we've known for awhile now that Ricky Gervais, The Office creator and revered funnymen on both sides of the pond, would be penning an episode of The Simpsons. What we didn't know, however, was when the show would air. Well, it looks like March 26 is the magic day. In Gervais' episode, titled "Homer Simpson, This is Your Wife" Homer and Marge take part in a "wife swap" reality show. Gervais will play Charles, one of the contestants who falls in love with Marge. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this is the first time an outside party has been allowed to write an episode. It will be interesting to see what Gervais brings to the episode, and how his own humor will blend with that of the show. Methinks they'll go together like peanut butter and chocolate.

There may have been a time when the words "from Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels" were enough to get me excited about a show, but not so much anymore. Michaels is serving as executive producer for the upcoming ABC comedy Sons and Daughters from NBC Universal and Michael's Broadway Video Television. The series is being called a "hybrid comedy" meaning they took normal comedy and crossbred it with a soybean plant. Wait, sorry, actually the show will combine both scripted and improvised elements. The series will center on Cameron, played by series co-creator Fred Goss, as he deals with his second marriage, extended family, and stepchildren.

Here's the thing. I really like the idea of this show, but based on the "isn't this going to be a wacky show?" promos and paint-by-number characters (the hot chick likes bad boys but not nerds, stepchildren don't like their stepparents, etc) I'm afraid this might be just another forgettable sitcom. The concept is admirable, but even with the new approach I have the sinking feeling I've been here before.

The series premieres March 7.

Beloved actor and writer Ricky Gervais, creator and star of the original British offering The Office, will write an episode of the American version starring Steve Carell. The episode will be co-written by Stephen Merchant. While Gervais and Merchant have each served as an executive producer on the show, they have not yet written an episode. The news comes from Gervais' spokesman, and there's no word on what the episode will be about or when it will air just yet.

Here's a bit of James Bond trivia for you. Pierce Brosnan was originally the prime candidate to take over as Bond after Remington Steele was taken off the air due to bad ratings. Once that word got out and got people interested in Remington Steele via reruns, NBC brought the series back for one more season, causing Brosnan to bow out of the Bond race, putting Timothy Dalton into the role. Now that Brosnan is through being Bond himself, he's interested in seeing the 80s television show he started out in come to the big screen. Negotiations are underway.