News

King Kong did not, in fact, have, er, doo-doo on Denzel Washington at the turn of the 21st century. Fresh off his second Oscar win (and his first as a lead performer) for playing dirty LAPD detective Alonzo Harris in Antoine Fuqua's "Training Day," the capital-m Movie Star made a habit of working with his old friends over the decade that followed. Indeed, if one were to run through his resume, one would note that most of Washington's films in the 2000s were directed by either one of his former collaborators or Denzel himself. Then again, if your pals were Spike Lee, Tony Scott, Jonathan Demme, and the under-appreciated Carl Franklin, you'd want to make all of your movies with them too.

Not that any of this was out of character for Washington, an artist who's been meticulous about cultivating his screen image since making his film acting...

Grey’s Anatomy returns next month, and showrunner Meg Marinis teased a bit of what to expect from Season 21 of the ABC medical drama during the series’ 20th anniversary celebration at D23 on Saturday.

“My favorite thing to do is to tie up our characters in the messiest knot possible in a finale, which I feel like we did pretty successfully,” she said. “We have doctors who do not have jobs, and we pick up pretty close to where we ended after the finale, and we’re gonna see how and if those doctors get their jobs back.”

Marinis also suggested that Jason George’s Ben Warren will return to Grey Sloan quite swiftly, as the actor is rejoining the cast as a series regular following the cancellation of Station 19.

“It’s not going to be a super easy journey for him, but we’re excited to have him back at around Grey Sloan,...

Grey’s Anatomy was once one of television’s hottest shows, attracting a dedicated and loyal fanbase. NCIS star Michael Weatherly considered himself a part of Anatomy’s large audience. But Weatherly was soon turned off by the show, feeling that the series fumbled its story with one major character.

Michael Weatherly once opened up about his issues with ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Grey’s Anatomy cast | Frank Ockenfels/ Getty Images

As much as Weatherly might’ve enjoyed Grey’s Anatomy, the show perhaps made him appreciate NCIS more than he already did. NCIS had a reliable formula that kept viewers tuning into the show. But that didn’t mean it was afraid to shake up its narrative every once in a while. Earlier in the series, Weatherly couldn’t help be excited at the thought of NCIS venturing into newer, surprising directions.

“I think they’re going to blow s*** up this season. And...

It's a beautiful day to spill Grey's Anatomy tea. In an excerpt from Lynette Rice's new book, How to Save a Life: The Inside Story of Grey's Anatomy—which was first obtained by The Hollywood Reporter—it was revealed that there wasn't just drama in the scripts of the ABC medical show. Specifically, through interviews conducted with Grey's stars and producers, the origin story behind Patrick Dempsey's exit was discussed, and, frankly, it left us needing a crash cart. According to James D. Parriott, a former executive producer for Grey's, things were very tense between Dempsey and series creator Shonda Rhimes by season 11. "Shonda needed an Og to come in as sort...

Grey's Anatomy stunned fans when it killed off Patrick Dempsey's Derek Shepherd during its 11th season.

There have been reports of bad blood between Dempsey and creator Shonda Rhimes for years, and thanks to Lynette Rice's How to Save a Life: The Inside Story of Grey's Anatomy, we might finally get some answers.

A snippet of the book, shared by The Hollywood Reporter, touches on the controversial exit.

Former EP James D. Parriott said in the book that Rhimes needed "an Og to come in as sort of a showrunner for 14 episodes” to right the ship.

“There were Hr issues” with Dempsey, according to Parriott.

“It wasn’t sexual in any way. He sort of was terrorizing the set. Some cast members had all sorts of Ptsd with him. He had this hold on the set where he knew he could stop production and scare people," the book continued.

Apparently, that car crash wasn’t really to blame for Derek’s death. In an excerpt from Lynette Rice’s How to Save a Life: The Inside Story of Grey’s Anatomy published Thursday by The Hollywood Reporter, former executive producer James D. Parriott reveals that behind the scenes, things had become so tense between Patrick Dempsey and series creator Shonda Rhimes by Season 11 that she “needed an Og to come in as sort of a showrunner for 14 episodes” to usher the actor off the canvas.

“There were Hr issues” with Dempsey, Parriott continues. “It wasn’t sexual in any way.

Patrick Dempsey’s Season 11 exit from “Grey’s Anatomy” came amid “Hr issues” that weren’t “sexual in any way” and instances of Dempsey — who played Derek “McDreamy” Shepard, the love interest of Ellen Pompeo’s Meredith Grey — “terrorizing the set” of the ABC medical drama, an executive producer from the show says in the upcoming book, “How to Save a Life: The Inside Story of Grey’s Anatomy.”

In an excerpt from author Lynette Rice’s unauthorized “Grey’s” guide, which will be released Sept. 21, published by The Hollywood Reporter, James D. Parriott says series creator Shonda Rhimes “needed an Og to come in as sort of a showrunner for fourteen episodes,” which is what brought him back to “Grey’s” to help in the final days of Dempsey’s tenure there.

“There were Hr issues. It wasn’t sexual in any way. He sort of was terrorizing the set.

You'll want to scrub in for this Grey's Anatomy news.  Production on Season 16 of the ABC medical drama was halted Thursday over growing concerns surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. In a letter to the cast and crew obtained by E! News, showrunner Krista Vernoff and executive producers Debbie Allen and James D. Parriott explained their decision.  "To Our Incredible Cast and Crew," it read, "Out of an abundance of caution, production is postponed on Grey's Anatomy effective immediately. We are going home now for at least two weeks and waiting to see how the coronavirus situation evolves." "This decision was made to ensure the health and safety of the whole...

John Tavner will live to spy and write oddly confessional folk songs, another day. The Patriot TV show has been renewed for a second season on Amazon Prime. The quirky espionage drama series stars Michael Dorman, Michael Chernus, Terry O’Quinn, Kathleen Munroe, Kurtwood Smith, Aliette Opheim, Chris Conrad, Julian Richings, Gil Bellows, and Marcus Toji.A political thriller, Patriot follows intelligence officer John Tavner (Dorman) on assignment to stop Iran from going nuclear. Creator, writer, and director Steven Conrad executive produces with James Parriott, Glenn Ficarra, John Requa, Charles Gogolak, and Gil Bellows.Read More…...

Who is John Lakeman? Watch the official trailer for the Patriot TV show on Amazon Prime Video, and find out. The cast includes Michael Dorman, Terry O’Quinn, Kurtwood Smith, Michael Chernus, Kathleen Monroe, and Aliette Opheim. Writer and director Steven Conrad executive produces with James Parriott, Glenn Ficarra, John Requa, Charles Gogolak, and Gil Bellows.Patriot follows the complicated life of intelligence officer John Tavner (Dorman). His latest assignment is to prevent Iran from going nuclear. This means he will have to do without all safety nets and assume a perilous "non-official cover," as a mid-level employee at a Midwestern industrial piping firm. Patriot premieres on Amazon on Friday, February 24 in the Us, UK, Germany, and Austria.Read More…...

The future of the world is at stake and its in the hands of the least likely person. Amazon has unveiled the first trailer for its upcoming dark comedy series “Patriot,” starring Michael Dorman.

The one-hour show follows intelligence officer John Tavner (Dorman), an unlucky hero who, in order to prevent Iran from going nuclear, must forgo all safety nets and assume a perilous “non-official cover” – that of a mid-level employee at a Midwestern industrial piping firm.

Read More: Nicolas Winding Refn to Develop Crime Series ‘Too Old To Die Young’ For Amazon

The sneak peek begins with Tavner in the men’s bathroom persuading another man to give him his urine so he can pass his test and “go places American aren’t supposed to be in.” The clip continues by introducing the main character, who likes to record folk music because it helps him with his feelings, his father,...

Last night, an odd bit of TV news popped up: according to TVLine, thirtysomething creators Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick have been hired to run the fifth season of Nashville. Now, first Nashville has to be officially renewed for a fifth season, which may be harder than it seems now that the show's biggest fan, Paul Lee, is no longer running ABC. But assuming it comes back with HerskoZwick at the helm, it'd be among the weirder showrunner transitions in TV history. Now, series change showrunners all the time. Dee Johnson, whom the thirtysomething guys would be succeeding, was already a replacement for Jim Parriott, who was himself brought in because Nashville creator Callie Khouri hadn't run her own show before. Sometimes, new showrunners come from within, like The Walking Dead's transition from Frank Darabont to Glen Mazzara to Scott Gimple, or L.A. Law staff writer David E. Kelley...

Exclusive: Feature producer Basil Iwanyk, whose resume includes The Clash Of The Titans and The Expendables franchises and The Town, is making a push in series television with three drama sales to NBC, TNT and the CW for projects written by Josh Parkinson (Eastbound & Down), James D. Parriott (Covert Affairs), and Eoghan O’Donnell (Teen Wolf), respectively. The NBC project hails from Sony TV, where Iwanyk’s Thunder Road Television recently had a deal. Iwanyk is executive producing all three projects with Thunder Road’s Svp Film & TV Kent Kubena, who oversees TV development. “We could not be more excited about the caliber of writers and material we’ve set up this season, as well as our upcoming development projects in the pipeline,” Iwanyk said. Crime family drama By The Horns at NBC, written/exec produced by Parkinson, centers on a member of a notorious south Texas crime syndicate who...

What do Walter White and Phil Dunphy have in common? They’re both at the center of the TV shows most honored by the Writers Guild of America today. The group just announced the nominees for its annual awards, which will be handed out Feb. 17 at simultaneous ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York. Breaking Bad garnered five nods; Modern Family drew four. Here’s a list of all the primetime and late night series in contention for the event’s biggest prizes:

Drama Series

Boardwalk Empire, Written by Dave Flebotte, Diane Frolov, Chris Haddock, Rolin Jones, Howard Korder, Steve Kornacki,...

ABC has handed out its second full-season order to a freshman show this season, drama Nashville, starring Connie Britton. The soap, created by Callie Khouri, was one of the best reviewed new shows this fall. It was a late starter, held back two weeks because of presidential debate coverage. Nashville has been soft in the ratings but had an 11% ratings uptick last week to a 2.0 in adults 18-49 rating. The show went through growing pains, including a showrunner change, with Dee Johnson replacing Jim Parriott. Nashville joins freshman ABC comedy The Neighbors, which also has received a full-season pickup. Also recently getting a full-season pickup was sophomore Scandal, which started off with a 13-episode second-season order. Waiting word are new dramas Last Resort and 666 Park Ave. Both shows are on the fence (ABC doesn’t own either of them but does own Nashville), with Last Resort looking a little more...

ABC's buzzed-about new drama "Nashville" is getting a new showrunner.

Dee Johnson, a veteran producer coming off Season 2 of "Boss" on Starz, has joined the show as an executive producer alongside creator Callie Khouri, pilot director R.J. Cutler and Steve Buchanan. She'll take over show-running duties from James Parriott, who was hired after the pilot but "turned out not to be a good fit," Deadline reports.

Johnson has also signed an overall deal with ABC Studios and Lionsgate, which are producing the series (Lionsgate also produces "Boss," which has finished production on its second season).

"Nashville's" pilot juggles a number of stories surrounding a country-music star (Connie Britton), her family, a young rival (Hayden Panettiere) and the city's music and political cultures. ABC wanted an experienced hand to work alongside Khouri, an Oscar-winning screenwriter ("Thelma & Louise") who is working on her first TV series.

Johnson joins the show as it's...

ABC drama Nashville is making a change at the top. Boss' Dee Johnson has boarded the musical drama as showrunner, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. Story: ABC's 'Nashville' Will Stay True to its Roots Johnson, who runs Starz's Kelsey Grammer political drama Boss, replaces Jim Parriott in the role and will serve as an exec producer alongside creator Callie Khouri, R.J. Cutler and Steve Buchanan. In addition, Johnson has inked an overall deal with Nashville studios Lionsgate TV and ABC Studios. The Nashville gig is in second position to Lionsgate's Boss, which she would continue to run should Starz

read more...

Exclusive: There is a change at the helm of ABC’s high-profile new drama Nashville. Veteran showrunner Dee Johnson has come on board as executive producer/showrunner, replacing Jim Parriott. Johnson will serve as an executive producer alongside series’ creator Callie Khouri, the pilot’s director R.J. Cutler and Steve Buchanan. The showrunner gig will fall under a shared overall deal Johnson has closed with the two studios behind Nashville, Lionsgate TV and ABC Studios. Nashville, which is getting strong early praise, is a family soap set against the backdrop of the Nashville music scene that follows one star at her peak (Connie Britton) and one on the rise (Hayden Panettiere). Parriott joined the series, currently in production on Episode 3, after it had been picked up to series in May and assigned the Wednesday 10 Pm slot. Ultimately, it turned out not to be a good fit, which led to the showrunner change.

Veteran writer-producer Jim Parriott has come on board ABC’s high-profile new drama series Nashville as executive producer/showrunner. The series, from Lionsgate TV and ABC Studios, is a family soap set against the backdrop of the Nashville music scene that follows one star at her peak (Connie Britton) and one on the rise (Hayden Panettiere). On the show, which landed the Wednesday 10 Pm slot on the fall schedule, Parriott will serve as an executive producer alongside creator Callie Khouri, the pilot’s director R.J. Cutler and Steve Buchanan. Parriott most recently executive the ABC/ABC Family series Missing. His Ep credits also include Covert Affairs, Sons Of Anarchy and Defying Gravity.

There’s a certain genre of television that I’m not very friendly with, and it’s something I should confess before anyone goes too far in this review. It’s a genre that is dominated by shows with initials as their names these days, and they are geared actually toward people somewhere around my age. I find them awful in general, stunted by broken, goofy dialog that often seems to be written by people who have never heard people speak in real life, and pushed along by action scenes that are curiously hokey, but with delusions of grandeur.

If such shows are your bag, and you can deal with Ashley Judd as an ex-cia badass (but, I repeat myself), then I’ve got a show for you.

Veering off from most shows in this genre, Missing is another installment of the long arc vs. truly episodic shows, and follows...

ABC has a slew of new shows coming, many of which need a lot of luck if they're going to last more than a handful of episodes. The schedule has been released, so let's take a lot at what's coming.

Oddly enough, as part of the new announcement, ABC has solidified the return of several more shows, including Happy Endings, despite the fact that two other networks have shows on their slate with cast members from the show. That should be interesting. Of course, it works for me, because I'm a fan.

In other news, Desperate Housewives will not die. Are you kidding me with this show still being on?

New Series - “Apartment 23,” “Charlie’s Angels,” “Good Christian Belles,” “Last Man Standing,” “Man Up,” “Missing,” “Once Upon a Time,” “Pan Am,” “Revenge,” “The River,” “Scandal,” “Suburgatory” and “Work It” Join the Lineup

Returning shows - “America’s Funniest Home Videos,...

NBC and Fox have both unleashed their Fall 2011-2012 TV schedule, now ABC has released theirs. I’m excited to see Castle, Modern Family, and The Middle back in the mix. Most of the new shows they have line-up don’t really interest me, but there are a few that have caught my eye. PanAm is another 1960’s based TV show that will go against AMC’s Mad Men and NBC’s The Playboy Club. There’s a show called Revenge that sounds really interesting, but the new series I’m most excited about is is the fantasy series Once Upon A Time, a show where fairy tales collide with the modern day.

Here is ABC’s full schedule along with a description of all of their shows. Go through them below and let us know what TV series you’re most excited about seeing.

Day Time Series

Monday:

8:00 p.

ABC hopes 13 is its lucky number. The network has picked up a baker’s dozen new shows to populate its fall and midseason schedule, which includes opening a new comedy block.

Mondays will stay the same with Dancing With the Stars and Castle. Tuesdays will open with a comedy hour that includes Tim Allen’s new sitcom, Last Man Standing, paired with another new comedy, Man Up. Wednesdays adds new comedy Suburgatory, plus soap thriller, Revenge, at 10 p.m., with Cougar Town shifting to midseason and Happy Endings getting the Modern Family lead-in. Charlie’s Angels will go into Thursdays at 8 p.

USA Network's hot freshman series Covert Affairs has been renewed for a second season a month into its run. The news comes on the heels of the spy drama hitting series highs across the board on Tuesday, including total viewers (5.4 million, up 4% from last week), adults 18-49 (2.3 million, up 15%) The number of episodes has not been determined yet but is expected to be in the 13-16 range. The series starring Piper Perabo has been growing consistently since its July 13 premiere, which drew 4.9 million viewers, 2.104 million of them in the adults 18-49, making Covert Affairs the highest-rated scripted cable premiere this year in the key demographic. It has remained the No.1 cable series of the year among 18-49 (2.52 million). Covert Affairs is the second hot cable freshman this summer to get a quick renewal, following the recent pickup of TNT's Rizzoli & Isles. It also continues USA's streak of renewing its first-year series.

Coming on October 19

Back in May, we mentioned that the first season of "The Bionic Woman" would be coming to DVD in October. Now we have more details:

Fans can finally experience one of television's most memorable television series when "The Bionic Woman" Season One debuts on DVD on October 19, 2010 from Universal Studios Home Entertainment.  Relive the excitement of this groundbreaking television series starring Primetime Emmy® Award winner Lindsay Wagner as Jaime Sommers, a woman leading the ultimate double-life.  Never-before-released on DVD in North America, this four-disc set includes every episode from the show's premiere season plus five crossover episodes from "The Six Million Dollar Man," and a Bionic Beginnings featurette, which tracks evolution of television's first Bionic Woman and includes an all-new, exclusive interview with Lindsay Wagner.  

"The Bionic Woman's" 1976 premiere introduced delighted television viewers to a thrilling new kind of action hero -- the blonde, brainy and beautiful Jaime Sommers.

Defying Gravity was apparently described to networks as a Grey’s Anatomy in space.” I assumed this meant that it would be a medical show set in space, but it seems that the Grey’s Anatomy reference is merely to allude to the drama (which is often of the romantic nature, despite the “Hormone Activated Libido Oppressors” the crew members wear). It lasted only one season (and a short one, at 13 episodes) and received poor ratings, which could just be due to a very small if at all existent overlap among doctor-show fans and space-show fans who, as I did, became confused by the Ga thing. (This also means I’ll be putting off my pitch for ER Trek until the world is truly ready.)

The series, set about 40 years into the future, revolves around eight astronauts, four men and four women (even Steven), chosen to travel the Solar System for six years.

A prime time summer series launched during the dog days of August is never a good show of faith on the part of the network. Last August, ABC presented Defying Gravity , a thirteen episode science fiction series which lasted a mere eight weeks.

A noble effort, it failed to garner much interest and even fewer ratings. The series was said to be inspired by the BBC series Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets, and became an international effort co-produced by the BBC, Fox Television Studios, and Omni Film Productions in association with Canadian broadcasters CTV Television Network, Space, and German broadcaster ProSieben.

This misfire is now available as a complete season set on Fox Home Entertainment and you can decide for yourself what went wrong. The premise begins in 2052 with the launch of a six year mission throughout the solar system, making the first visits to several planets. Along the way,...

On the heels of USA Network's pickup of "Covert Affairs" to series, veteran showrunner James Parriott has joined the spy drama as an executive producer.

"Covert," from Universal Cable Prods., stars Piper Perabo as Annie Walker, a multilingual CIA trainee unexpectedly promoted to field operative while reeling over a mysterious ex-boyfriend who appears to be of particular interest to her agency bosses.

Parriott is expected to co-run the series with creators Matt Corman and Chris Ord.

He will serve as an exec producer alongside Dutch Oven's Dave Bartis and Doug Liman, with Corman and Ord co-exec producing.

"Covert" will be shot on location in Toronto for a summer or fall launch.

Parriott helped get ABC pair "Grey's Anatomy" and "Ugly Betty" and FX's "Sons of Anarchy" off the ground, serving as an exec producer on the first two seasons of "Grey's" and the freshman campaigns of "Betty" and "Sons.

I didn’t know very much about “Defying Gravity” before taking the plunge and watching the two hour movie premiere on ABC. I actually DVR’d it, because True Blood was on at the same time and I love sexy vampire chicks. So I went into “Defying Gravity” blind. Big network Sci-Fi shows scare me. You have to imagine the production meetings of a big four Sci-Fi series. There will be dudes in suits shaking their heads sadly everytime a character in the show utters something even remotely sciencey. You expect a Sci-Fi series on network T.V. to be homogenized, sterilized and lobotomized. This is somewhat true in Defying Gravity. What the writers and creator James Parriott do successfully in Defying Gravity is just not go there. Where some shows like Fringe use made up science where they could just as easily use real science, Dg doesn’t talk about science much at all.

With a nod to Joe Ahearne’s excellent 2004 series Space Odyssey: Voyage To The Planets, ABC-tv premiered its own solar system grand tour adventure Sunday, August 2. Created by James D. Parriott (Grey’S Anatomy, Dark Skies, Misfits Of Science), Defying Gravity details the exploits of eight astronauts on the spaceship Antares as it makes a six-year trip through the solar system. But as the two-hour pilot episode demonstrated, this mission is far from smooth sailing. A mysterious problem results in a last-minute crew shake-up. Odd glitches occur. And the crew members—some of whom seem unqualified to be on the mission—bring all sorts of emotional baggage with them into space.

This might sound too much like soap opera, but the plot elements are just tantalizing enough to keep viewers hooked. The cast—especially Ron Livingston and Christina Cox—promise to be major players. The production values are excellent. In...

[Sorry about the lateness of this review, folks... I haven't exactly given you all that much time to mull whether or not you want to see "Defying Gravity" before it premiere ons ABC on Sunday night at 9 p.m. Et. But if ABC wanted a fully considered, timely review of its new space soap opera, maybe premiering it on the heels of 10 days of Comic-Con and the Press Tour wasn't the best of ideas.] "Defying Gravity" is created by James Parriott and anybody watching the show's first couple episodes will greet the news that Parriott comes from a "Grey's Anatomy"...

On the 40th anniversary year of the Apollo 11 lunar landing, ABC is setting out on an outerpace endeavo of their own with the premier of "Defying Gravity" on August 2. The saucy space series follows the zero gravity fortunes of eight international astronauts enlisted on a long and risky mission.

Inspired by a BBC docudrama "Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets," the puzzling and often pulse racing mission of the Antares and her crew is spliced with flashbacks from the character's lives back on Earth.

From executive producers James Parriott and Michael Edelstein, the "Defying Gravity" is led by a sizable cast. Ron Livingston ("Office Space," "Sex and the City") stars as the vessel engineer Maddux Donner. Laura Harris ("24") plays on-board geologist Zoe Barnes, one of the many scientific brains working on the ship.

Malik Yoba, Christina Cox, Paula Garces and Zahf Paroo are just a few of talented names...

Defying Gravity is a 13 hour summer run Sci-Fi series coming on ABC  in a two hour start on Aug 2. We’ve got the trailer and the big as holy hell press release detailing the “sexy” Sci-Fi action. Astronauts Embark On Provocative Space Thriller In “Defying Gravity,” A New Series Starring Ron Livingston And Laura Harris, Begining With A Special Two-hour Premiere Sunday, August 2 On The ABC Television Network From executive producers James Parriott and Michael Edelstein comes “Defying Gravity,” a sexy, provocative space thriller set in the very near future against the background of our solar system, in which eight astronauts from five countries (four women and four men) undertake a mysterious six-year international space mission covering eight billion miles. The adventure begins on Sunday, August 2 with a two-hour premiere from 9:00-11:00 p.m. The series will air regularly from 10:00-11:00 p.m., starting Sun, August 9 on the ABC Television Network.

{youtube}2Q2_EtZkjH4{/youtube}

Depressing. The above is a trailer for ABC's new show Defying Gravity, about a group of international astronauts on an important six-year space mission, set in the near-future. Want to know why this has already been greenlit for 13 episodes? Because it was pitched as "Grey's Anatomy in space" and is described as "a sci-fi premise but being told in a female-friendly way." Huh? What do they mean female frie--Oooh, you mean crappy romance and plenty of sex. Right. Female.

Creator James Parriott (Grey's Anatomy, Ugly Betty) exec produces with Michael Edelstein (Desperate Housewives) to bring you this story of ex-lovers (played by Ron Livingston and Laura Harris) who are trapped together in this space mission as part of the ship's 8-person crew. 4 males, 4 females, gathered from 5 different countries. Everything they do is monitored and recorded on camera (Angst! Drama! Sexy passion!). Sounds like a dumber version of Virtuality?...

A new space thriller being filmed in Vancouver has landed at ABC for distribution in the U.S.

Defying Gravity, described by its creator as "Grey’s Anatomy in space," will air on CTV and Space in Canada, the BBC in the U.K., and ProSieben in Germany.

The 13-episode series follows the journey of eight astronauts from five countries who embark on a mysterious mission through the solar system.

Created by James Parriott (Grey’s Anatomy, Ugly Betty), the series stars Ron Livingston (Office Space) and Vancouver-native Laura Harris (24) as, respectively, flight engineer Maddux Donner and ship geologist Zoe Barnes.

Set in the near future, four women and four men undertake a six-year international mission — which “has a powerful and awesome mystery at its core” — covering eight billion miles of space. The series will flash back from the present, in which the ship Antares travels toward Venus, to the...

ABC has committed to broadcasting a 13-episode run of Defying Gravity, described as Gray's Anatomy in space. The show chronicles the adventure of eight astronauts who have embarked on a mission of exploration across the solar system that will take them six years. It will air on the network this summer during the slow time in ABC's schedule.

The series is a co-production between several different countries including Canada, Germany and England, so airing it on their network is attractive to ABC. The show stars Ron Livingston (Band of Brothers, Office Space), Laura Harris, Christina Cox, Malik Yoba and Florentine Lahme and is being produced by one of the executive producers of Gray's Anatomy, James Parriott. The series is actually an American remake of a BBC two-hour special that blended science fact within the context of an imaginary space mission called Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets. If Defying Gravity...

ABC has picked up Fox TV Studios' 13-episode adventure drama "Defying Gravity" starring Ron Livingston, according to The Hollywood Reporter . The show comes from creator/executive producer James Parriott, who served as an executive producer on ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" and "Ugly Betty," and executive producer Michael Edelstein, former executive producer of the network's "Desperate Housewives." "Gravity," whose cast includes Laura Harris, Christina Cox, Malik Yoba and Florentine Lahme, is set in the near future and revolves around eight astronauts from five countries who undertake a mysterious six-year mission through the solar system. The series is slated to air on ABC this summer. If "Gravity" does well, Parriott and...

ABC is "Defying Gravity."

The network has picked up Fox TV Studios' 13-episode adventure drama starring Ron Livingston.

The internationally produced series, also set to air on Canada's CTV, Germany's ProSieben and the BBC, hails from familiar ABC auspices: creator/executive producer James Parriott, who served as an exec producer on ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" and "Ugly Betty," and exec producer Michael Edelstein, former exec producer of the network's "Desperate Housewives."

"Gravity," whose cast includes Laura Harris, Christina Cox, Malik Yoba and Florentine Lahme, is set in the near future and revolves around eight astronauts from five countries who undertake a mysterious six-year mission through the solar system.

The FtvS-produced series, slated to air on ABC this summer, is a co-venture with Vancouver-based Omni Film Prods., whose Brian Hamilton and Michael Chechik also exec produce.

"Gravity" is one of three drama series that FtvS produced independently with international partners in the past year,...

Laura Harris, Eyal Podell, Christina Cox and Zahf Paroo have been cast in the BBC/Fox TV co-production Defying Gravity. The quartet join Ron Livingston and German actress Florentine Lahme in the show, which revolves around eight astronauts from five different countries embarking on a six-year space mission. Grey's Anatomy's James Parriott created the big-budget drama and will executive produce alongside Desperate Housewives' Michael Edelstein. Jane Tranter, Controller of BBC Fiction said: "The calibre of the talent involved in this drama series both in front and behind the (more)...

Fox TV Studios recently made a pact with Canada’s CTV, Germany’s ProSieben and BBC for a new 13-episode adventure drama series which will cast Standoff star Ron Livingston as the central character. Titled Defying Gravity, which comes from creator and executive producer James Parriott, who previously worked on Grey’s Anatomy and executive producer Michael Edelstein who also worked for Desperate Housewives.

The new series is set in the future and revolves around eight astronauts from five countries who embark on a six-year-long mission throughout the solar system.

Aside from the former Standoff star, Defying Gravity has also cast German actress Florentine Lahme to be part of the upcoming series, which is a co-venture between FtvS and Vancouver-based Omni Film Prods. Brian Hamilton and Michael Chechik will also serve as executive producers for the show. David Straiton, on the other hand, has signed on to be the director...

Defying Gravity will be a new 13-episode series being coproduced by Fox TV Studios, Canada's CTV, Germany's ProSieben and the BBC, which will star Ron Livingston (The Time Traveler's Wife). Created by James Parriott (Grey's Anatomy) and Michael Edelstein (Desperate Housewives), The Hollywood Reporter says the series is “set in the near future and revolves around eight astronauts from five countries who take on a mysterious six-year mission through the solar system.”

The cast currently includes Livingston and German actress Florentine Lahme with the first episode, to be directed by David Straiton, scheduled to shoot in Vancouver beginning January 19.

Edelstein the idea for the series came to him when he watched the BBC docu-drama Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets on Discovery Channel in late 2006. "I was blown away by it," Edelstein told the trade. He acquired the rights to it from British producer Impossible Pictures (Primeval) and reteamed with Parriott,...

Fox TV Studios is teaming with several international broadcasters to produce Defying Gravity, a 13-episode adventure drama series starring Office Space star Ron Livingston.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Fox will join Canada's CTV, Germany's ProSieben and the BBC to produce Gravity, a series from creator/exec producer James Parriott (Grey's Anatomy). The show is set in the near future and revolves around eight astronauts ...

Fox TV Studios has teamed with Canada's CTV, Germany's ProSieben and the BBC for "Defying Gravity," a 13-episode adventure drama series starring Ron Livingston.

"Gravity," which hails from creator/exec producer James Parriott ("Grey's Anatomy") and exec producer Michael Edelstein ("Desperate Housewives"), is set in the near future and revolves around eight astronauts from five countries who take on a mysterious six-year mission through the solar system. German actress Florentine Lahme also has been cast in "Gravity," a co-venture between FtvS and Vancouver-based Omni Film Prods. whose Brian Hamilton and Michael Chechik also exec produce.

David Straiton has signed on to direct the first episode of the series, which is slated to begin production Jan. 19 in Vancouver.

"Gravity" marks the third independently produced FtvS series to go into production this year with international broadcasting partners. It follows "Mental," a collaboration with Fox International Channels that is filming in Bogota, Colombia,...

Martin Scorsese's gangster movie The Departed and road comedy Little Miss Sunshine walked away with the top prizes at the Writers Guild Of America Awards in Los Angeles Sunday night. William Monahan won the Best Adapted Screenplay award for The Departed, while Michael Arndt collected Best Original Screenplay for Little Miss Sunshine. Best Documentary Screenplay went to Amy Berg for Deliver Us From Evil. Elsewhere, The Sopranos writers Mitchell Burgess, David Chase, Diane Frolov, Robin Green, Andrew Schneider, Matthew Weiner and Terence Winter won the Best Dramatic Television Series award. The Office writers Steve Carell, Jennifer Celotta, Greg Daniels, Lee Eisenberg, Brent Forrester, Ricky Gervais, Mindy Kaling, Paul Lieberstein, Stephen Merchant, B.J. Novak, Michael Schur and Gene Stupnitsky won the Best Comedy Television Series award. Ugly Betty writers Veronica Becker, Oliver Goldstick, Silvio Horta, Sarah Kucserka, Sheila Lawrence, Cameron Litvack, Myra Jo Martino, Jim Parriott, Marco Pennette, Dailyn Rodriguez and Don Todd won Best New Television Series.

TV drama veteran James Parriott has signed on as executive producer/showrunner on ABC's new drama series Threat Matrix, while Gardner Stern has been recruited as executive producer/co-showrunner on NBC's new James Caan-starring drama Las Vegas. Threat Matrix, from Touchstone TV and Industry TV, revolves around the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's efforts to fight terrorism. On the show, slotted at 8 p.m. Thursdays, Parriott will serve as an executive producer alongside Daniel Voll, Keith Addis, Michael Edelstein and Emile Levisetti.