This breaks my heart.

Among the many announcements at today’s ABC upfronts was this little nugget…the 2008-09 season of Boston Legal will be its last. The announcement was pretty much an accident…ABC President Steve McPherson was discussing the deal with Life on Mars when he said that Legal head David E. Kelley would “write pretty much every [episode] of the final season of ‘Boston.’”

Despite the critical acclaim that it received, BL’s just never been able to find a solid audience. I hate to see it go.

(Source: Zap2It)

At their upfront this morning, ABC announced their new fall lineup. As you can see below, it will remain largely unchanged from last season, with the exception of the reality show Opportunity Knocks on Tuesday and Life on Mars on Thursday.

Mondays

8 p.m. — Dancing with the Stars / Untitled Tyra Banks-Ashton Kutcher [New]
9:30 p.m. — Samantha Who
10pm — The Bachelor / Boston Legal

Tuesdays
8 p.m. — Opportunity Knocks [New]
9 p.m. — Dancing Results Show / Scrubs [New] / Goode Family [New]
10 p.m. — Eli Stone

Wednesdays
8 p.m. -– Pushing Daisies
9 p.m. — Private Practice
10 p.m. — Dirty Sexy Money

Thursdays
8 p.m. — Ugly Betty
9 p.m. — Grey’s Anatomy
10 p.m.– Life on Mars [New]

Fridays
8 p.m. -– Supernanny
9 p.m. -– Wife Swap
10 p.m. –20/20

Sundays
7 p.m. -– America’s Funniest Home Videos
8 p.m. -– Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
9 p.m. –- Desperate Housewives
10 p.m.-– Brothers and Sisters

It’s been rumored for months now, and NBC has finally confirmed it this morning…Jimmy Fallon will take over for Conan O’Brian when the latter takes over for Jay Leno next year.

NBC released the following press statement:

NBC NAMES JIMMY FALLON AS HOST OF “LATE NIGHT” WHEN CONAN O’BRIEN TAKES OVER “THE TONIGHT SHOW” IN 2009

NEW YORK, May 12, 2008 – NBC has identified the last piece in its late night succession plan, naming Jimmy Fallon as the new host of “Late Night” when Conan O’Brien moves to “The Tonight Show” in 2009.

The announcement was made today by Marc Graboff and Ben Silverman, Co-Chairmen, NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios, at a press conference at the Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Center.

“We couldn’t be happier to have Jimmy back on NBC and to have our number one-rated late night team fully in place for the future,” said Silverman, “Jimmy is more than just a likeable guy and a great comedian, he is genuinely interested in what people have to say.”

“Jimmy’s proven track record and personality make him a natural for this important role that will bring a new generation of fans to ‘Late Night,’” said Graboff. “He will put his own distinct mark on late night humor just as he did on ‘SNL’ and in his other creative endeavors.”

Added Rick Ludwin, Executive Vice President, Late Night and Primetime Series, NBC Entertainment, “Simply put, Jimmy has all of the qualities for a late night host — in addition to being funny, he loves talking to people on and off camera, he’s a talented comedy writer and his time at ‘SNL’ demonstrated not only his ability to entertain, but also the work ethic and dedication it takes to succeed at hosting a nightly show.”

A recognized comic talent, Fallon has demonstrated an ability to deliver versatile, standout performances while always staying grounded in his stand-up roots.

Fallon first garnered attention in 1998 when he joined the cast of “Saturday Night Live” and quickly became an audience favorite for his memorable recurring characters and spot-on impressions and in 2000, Fallon became the co-anchor of the “SNL’s” signature segment “Weekend Update” alongside Tina Fey.

Fallon ventured off into other television roles, including Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg’s Emmy award-winning miniseries “Band of Brothers.” A favorite among the MTV audience, Fallon hosted the MTV Movie Awards twice and hosted the MTV Video Music Awards in 2002. Fallon made an impressive turn guest hosting “The Late Show” for an ailing David Letterman in 2003.

Fallon made his feature film debut in Cameron Crowe’s “Almost Famous” and went on to appear in numerous films including Woody Allen’s “Anything Else,” “Fever Pitch” opposite Drew Barrymore and the indie “Factory Girl.”

The premiere date for “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” will be announced at a later date. Lorne Michaels is executive producer. “Late Night” is a production of Universal Media Studios in association with Broadway Video. NBC is America’s Late Night Leader with the number one-rated “Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” “Last Call with Carson Daly” and “Saturday Night Live.”

ABC has granted the legal dramedy a fifth season, Variety is reporting.

What’s interesting is the way that the renewal came around. Despite having received multiple Emmy’s and critical acclaim, it doesn’t have a huge viewership, and is somewhat on the bubble. Now, ABC is wanting to go ahead with “Life on Mars”, a drama that is being adapted from a BBC version, but David E. Kelley, showrunner of Boston Legal, owns the rights. As part of his agreement give ABC the right to go ahead, Kelley negotiated the return of Legal. At least that’s what I make of it from the article.

Regardless of how it happened, it happened. I’m thrilled to see it back.

Former co-star of “Hogan Know’s Best” and son of former WWE Champion and current American Gladiator’s host Hulk Hogan was convicted today of felony reckless driving involving serious bodily injury. Nick Hogan was driving during a car accident that has rendered John Graziano incapacitated for the rest of his life.

Hogan plead no contest to the charges and after several family members on both sides spoke Judge Philip Federico ruled that Nick will serve 8 months in Pinellas County Jail, serve 5 years of probation, and have his license suspended for 3 years.

Nick’s jail sentence begins today. If he serves all eight months he’ll be incarcerated until January 2009.

It looks like Allison Mack is trying her hand at negotiating a higher paycheck for the 8th season of Smallville. The actress is reportedly contemplating not returning for the next season of the “young Superman” show - and she may be using the loss of “Lana” and “Lex” as leverage.

I have some bad news for her, though. The Superman mythos has survived for a very long time with the trinity of Clark, Lois, and Jimmy - and if that happens next season it just might be the shot in the arm that the show needs to really be good again. The loss of Lex Luthor is, of course, a huge blow to the series, but the departure of Lana Lang is seen by many as a good thing. I am definitely one of those people. If this show wants to continue on, it is going to need a complete overhaul to make it work, and the switch to the classic Lois, Jimmy, and Clark trio is a great way to do just that.

This bid by Allison Mack might actually turn out to be a good thing, and breathe new life into the series. The more I think about it - the more I hope she doesn’t come back.

So there.

The new Knight Rider series may not look very much like the 2-hour telefilm that aired earlier this year. The tv movie received very good ratings, but most reviews were not terribly positive. To bring it to series NBC has hired “The Fast and the Furious” writer, and “Vegas” showrunner, Gary Scott Thompson, on board - and Gary is looking to make some major changes.

In a two part interview with Knight Rider online Mr. Thompson explains how he was disappointed with the pilot, and wasn’t interested in making that into a series. Characters from the pilot will carry over into the series (some of them will, anyway) and Mike will still be Michael Knight’s son, but the show is in for some big changes - and an upping on the tech and “cool” factor.

Mr. Thompson wants to look at where tech is going in the future and get some more futuristic gadgetry into the car. He wants it to be “fast, furious, and fun.”

Most importantly, to me anyway, he wants the show to be suitable for families. Pushing the envelope on what they can do with the cars and the action, while making it great for kids, and great for parents on a whole different level. I sincerely hope he succeeds with this -because that is one thing the pilot was definitely missing. We all knew Michael Knight was a ladies man, but you’d never see him wake up with two bimbos like Mike Tracer did in the pilot.

KITT will have a variety of new features, including some form of a Turbo Boost, but they’re not exactly sure what it will look like just yet. The show should also look a lot faster, with the cars moving at higher speeds than they did in the 2-hour pilot. He also said that the “Attack Mode” is going to be redesigned…and that design is going to be kept a secret for as long as humanly possible.

I’m more excited than ever for this series now. I enjoyed the pilot, but not everyone did - and it soulds like Mr. Thompson has a good idea on just how this show should be - and how it should play to today’s audiences. I’m looking forward to seeing what he comes up with.

Season 4, Episode 11 - Cabin Fever

Destiny, John, is a fickle bitch.

Not a lot of answers in last night’s episode…just more questions.

Apparently the powers that be have been grooming John Locke since his very birth. (Interesting note: the song that Emily Locke was listening to at the beginning - Everyday by Buddy Holly. What happened to Buddy Holly? Died in a plane crash.) Richard Alpert made not one but two trips to visit John over the course of his early life (with all the time travel that we’ve been seeing this season and last, I’m guessing that he travelled back from some point in the future). It seems that the island has many people “in on it”, as it seems that John’s grandmother recognized Alpert, and John’s caregiver when he was young as well as his teacher in high school really seemed to push him in that direction. Then, years later in therapy, Matthew Abbadon shows up to plant the idea of a walkabout in Locke’s head.

On the freighter, we continue with some of the grittiest stuff in Lost’s history. Keamy is ready to kill Michael because of his betrayal, but Mike’s island immunity power kicks in and jacks up Keamy’s gun, so he must resort to a good old-fashioned beat down.

This led to one big question: the second protocol. Keamy and Captain Gault have dual control keys to access a vault that contains…something. In this particular case, it reveals Ben’s new location on the island. Could this be something that was written by someone in the future with some kind of ultimate knowledge of everything that came before? Or is it like the box that Ben has where anything you want will appear?

The death toll rose by two this week, as Captain Gault and the good doctor both fell by Colonel Kurtz’s Keamy’s hand. And, as I’m sure you’ll remember, the doctor’s body has already turned up on the island, so once again we’ve got a time-jumping mindscrew. And so now, the army of mercenaries is again headed to land to wipe out the inhabitants, though this time, our heroes have Sayid on the way to help them.

Meanwhile, in his trek through the jungle, Locke has a vision of Ben’s old buddy Horace Goodspeed building a house for him and his wife. Horace seems to be stuck in some kind of time loop of his own, as he repeats himself several times. He does manage to plant the idea with John to return to the communal pit where the bodies of the DHARMA Initiative are buried, where John finds a map disclosing the location of the cabin.

In the midst of this journey, we get to the crux of the episode. This installment was about being chosen, and all that it entails. John has wanted for all his life to be special, but seems to fall short every time. Ben, on the other hand, feels that he has been chosen, but is rethinking what that means.

Once there, John is the only one willing to enter the cabin. Lo and behold, Christian Shephard is there waiting. I don’t think anyone who follows the show closely would have been really surprised by this…but I was surprised to see Claire there (though I shouldn’t have been…the last time we saw her, she was with Christian. What was surprising, though, was her coolness about the whole thing. Her baby, the one thing that has driven her character since the beginning of the show, is miles away, she knows that there are mercenaries coming to annihilate everyone on the island, and she’s the calmest and most laid back that we’ve ever seen her. Did she get a glimpse of the future and see that all will turn out well? Or, as is being widely speculated, is she dead and Jacob has taken over her earthly coil?

John only has time for one question, and he chose “How can I save the island?” Christian seemed to approve of this question, and in the final moment, we got our answer…he has to move the island.

This brings up ALL KINDS of questions. First, why? My guess is that the island is in some kind of time bending bubble. The comic book shown to young John early in the episode pictured a bubbled island floating in clouds…and way back in the first season, the comic that Walt was reading depicted a similar thing. Second, how? Hook up some cables to the freighter and drag it? Doubtful. Maybe the island has some kind of propulsion system itself. Or maybe it’s something deeper that we just can’t grasp yet. I’ll go with that.

All in all…decent episode. Nothing spectacular, but no real filler. Just an on par Lost episode.

Season 3, Episode 21

100 Word Review: Earl continues to be a show filled with people and characters that I love - that, for some reason, I just don’t care about. In this episode Earl discovered that marriage, no matter how hot the chick, has problems when you don’t know the other person very well before getting hitched. He and the wife disagreed on who the list should be handled. She thought returning what she stole was enough. Earl didn’t. So earl helped the guest star John Hedder win a bagging competition while she finished up her entire list in a week or so. Season Finale’s next week.

Season 2, Episode 15 - Season Finale

100 Word Review: SO - that was the season finale, huh? That Writer’s Strike was a real pain, wasn’t it? I mean, for this to be season finale…huh. I just don’t know quite what to say. Liz has a pregnancy scare, Jack has trouble getting fired from the Bush Administration. Matthew Broderick guest stars. Tracey continues to try to make his porn video game, and Kennith feuds with a rival page for a spot paging the Olympics. It’s filled with a bunch of absurd stuff and everything goes back to the way it was before by the end of the episode. Big whoop.