News

Jewish Story Partners (Jsp), a Los Angeles-based nonprofit film funding organization, has announced its new slate of grants to 19 documentary film projects.

The org, which was launched in April 2021 with support from Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg’s Righteous Persons Foundation, will distribute $490,000 among these independent films, all of which explore the vast and vibrant terrain of the Jewish storytelling space. The announcement coincides with Jewish American Heritage Month and a commitment from President Joe Biden’s White House administration to develop a national strategy to counter antisemitism and “address increasing awareness and understanding of both antisemitism and Jewish American heritage.”

Since its inception, Jsp has disbursed $2 million in funding to 72 documentaries telling diverse Jewish stories.

On the heels of previous Jsp-funded films that have premiered at Sundance — including Paula Eiselt’s “Under G-d,” Luke Lorentzen’s “A Still Small Voice” and Ondi Timoner’s Oscar-shortlisted and Emmy contender “Last Flight Home...

Click here to read the full article.

Meta will be shutting down Bulletin, its newsletter subscription service, by early next year, a spokesperson confirmed Tuesday.

Launched in January 2021, Bulletin was Meta’s response to Substack, which at the time was attracting journalists and writers to its subscription newsletter platform in droves but recently laid off staff in an effort to conserve cash. Bulletin provided writers with an independent website, as well as the possibility of distribution on Facebook News and other publishing and analytic tools. The company also sought to lure writers by initially not taking a cut of their subscription revenue and giving writers full ownership of their subscriber lists and work published on the platform.

“Bulletin has allowed us to learn about the relationship between Creators and their audiences and how to better support them in building their community on Facebook. While this off-platform product itself is ending,...

Kevin Smith has finally managed to get Clerks III out into the world, years after he first announced that he wanted to make the film. So now it’s about time for him to move on to the next project. Looking ahead to the future, we have put together a list of Kevin Smith Movies We Want to See – and you can see the result below! Check it out, then let us know what Kevin Smith movies you most want to see by leaving a comment.

Mallrats 2

Smith’s 1995 film Mallrats wasn’t a box office success, but that hasn’t stopped talk of a sequel coming up here and there over the years – whether it would be a “Die Hard in a Mall” scenario, a limited series, or something completely different. The problem is that Mallrats is a Universal property, so Smith can’t do anything with it unless the studio is on board.

Exclusive: Erin Cardillo and Richard Keith, creators of the CW series Life Sentence and Significant Mother, are heading to an idyllic small town for their latest project.

The pair have teamed up with The Big Leap and Modern Family director Jason Winer to develop This Beautiful Life, a one-hour drama in the works at NBC.

The series follows a 30-year-old woman who is living her best single life in the city but wakes up in an idyllic small town 10 years later with a husband, a child and absolutely no idea how she got there. Thinking she’s lost her memory or her sanity, she searches for answers only to discover that something much bigger than her own psyche is behind this phenomenon … and that she’s not the only one trapped in this beautiful life.

The project is produced by 20th Television, where Winer and his Small Dog Picture Company is based,...

Fox is bucking the trend of franchise lineups. On the heels of NBC unveiling One Chicago Wednesday and Law & Order Thursday on their fall schedule and following the success of ABC’s pairing of Grey’s Anatomy and Station 19 and CBS’ block of FBI and FBI: Most Wanted, Fox has opted to (temporarily) split its 9-1-1 series.

Flagship 9-1-1 will remain the Monday 8 Pm anchor but offshoot 9-1-1: Lone Star, which has followed it this season, will not be part of Fox’s fall schedule; it will fill in for the mothership in midseason. Here is the lineup, followed by a brief analysis and description of Fox’s new scripted and unscripted series for next season.

Fox Fall 2021 Schedule

(New programs in Upper Case)

(All Times Et/Pt)

Monday

8-9 Pm — 9-1-1

9-10 Pm — The Big Leap

Tuesday

8-9 Pm — The Resident

9-10 Pm...

Exclusive: Writers-producers Erin Cardillo and Richard Keith have signed with CAA for representation in all areas.

The creators of Life Sentence and Significant Mother are in a multi-year overall deal at Warner Bros. Television under their In Good Company banner.

Within the last two years, they have developed four pilots, including the television adaptation of The Five People You Meet in Heaven at Fox with Mitch Albom, the supernatural comedic procedural Pandora’s Box & Ship with The CW and Spondoolie Productions, the family dramedy Love Me with ABC and Brownstone Productions, and the young adult soap The Beach at HBO Max with Alloy Entertainment, Julie Plec, and Jenna Dewan producing.

Cardillo and Keith met in acting class at Warner Loughlin Studios in the mid-2000s. They’ve been collaborating since, winning the New York Television Festival in 2013 with spec script We’re Not Your Parents and going on to create...

Lennie Niehaus, who went from Stan Kenton sideman to Clint Eastwood’s movie composer during a nearly 60-year career in music, died Thursday at his daughter’s home in Redlands, Calif. He was 90.

Niehaus’s two dozen films for Eastwood include original scores for the best picture-winning Western “Unforgiven,” the Charlie Parker biopic “Bird” and the popular romantic drama “The Bridges of Madison County.”

The two met in 1953 at California’s Fort Ord, when the two were in the Army during the Korean Conflict. “I used to play jazz jobs at one of the beer clubs on the base, and Clint was tending bar,” Niehaus wrote in an essay about the actor-director for his 1996 American Film Institute Life Achievement Award. “I used to go off post and play in a little jazz club in nearby Santa Cruz on Sunday afternoons, and he would be there.”

Niehaus’s Army service interrupted...

In today’s TV news roundup, BBC America and AMC announced “Killing Eve’s” Season 3 premiere date, and Netflix and Mattel Television announced the voice cast for its upcoming anime series “Masters of the Universe: Revelation.”

Casting

Netflix and Mattel Television have announced the cast for the upcoming anime series “Masters of the Universe: Revelation.” A reboot of the original series featuring He-Man, Skeltor, Teela and other characters, the program’s extensive voice cast includes Mark Hamill, Lena Headey, Chris Wood, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Liam Cunningham, Stephen Root, Diedrich Bader, Griffin Newman, Tiffany Smith, Henry Rollins, Alan Oppenheimer and more. Adam Bonnett, Christopher Keenan and Rob David serve as executive producers.

The pilot for Amazon’s series adaptation of “A League of their Own” has announced its cast. D’Arcy Carden (“The Good Place”) will lead a cast that also includes Abbi Jacobson, Chanté Adams, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Kelly McCormack, Roberta Colindrez,...

Exclusive: Television literary agent Elizabeth Newman is leaving CAA after nearly 15 years to join Fox 21 Television Studios.

Newman is set to become VP Development at Fox21, part of Disney TV Studios, and she will report to President Bert Salke.

Newman will develop programs for all platforms, as well as identify talent and ideas for series. She’ll work closely with agents and network, cable and streaming execs to shepherd projects through the development process from inception to production order.

Newman has represented television writers, directors and producers, as well as authors and intellectual property for scripted series adaptation since she became an agent in 2005.

During her time at CAA, projects she worked on included The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, 2 Broke Girls and Nashville, as well such as upcoming shows as NBC’s Council of Dads, Starz’s Hightown, Netflix’s Away, Showtime’s The President Is Missing and Apple’s Swagger.

Fox is hoping to get into Heaven, making a script-to-series commitment to an adaptation of Mitch Albom’s novel The Five People You Meet in Heaven.

Albom will pen the project, which follows “each character’s unique journey in this world and the next,” our sister site Deadline reports. “With Heaven as the place where your life is finally explained to you — by five people you touched — the ongoing storylines of interwoven characters will explore larger themes such as redemption, love, hope and human connection.”

More from TVLineTVLine Items: Big Mouth Return Date, Titans Casts Doctor Light and MoreTVLine Items: Paula Patton's Bet+ Pilot,...

Fox has given a script-to-series commitment to “The Five People You Meet in Heaven,” based on the novel by Mitch Albom.

Albom will write the adaptation and executive produce with Keith Eisner. Warner Bros. TV and Fox Entertainment will produce.

The one-hour drama series will use the same characters from the novel, including Eddie, who dies on his 83rd birthday at the beginning of the book. According to Fox, “‘The Five People You Meet in Heaven’ will explore each character’s unique journey in this world and the next. With heaven as the place where your life is finally explained to you — by five people you touched — the ongoing storylines of interwoven characters will explore larger themes such as redemption, love, hope and human connection.”

Also Read: Fox's Future Under Disney May Hinge on 'Ford vs. Ferrari'

“The Five People You Meet in Heaven” was published by Hyperion in...

Fox has given a script-to-series commitment to The Five People You Meet in Heaven, based on Mitch Albom’s bestselling novel. Albom will pen the adaptation, produced by Warner Bros. TV and Fox Entertainment.

The newly independent network has been experimenting with a script-to-series model — which triggers a straight-to-series order if a script is approved — alongside the traditional pilot model. Last season, Fox handed script-to-series commitment to drama Talent, an adaptation of the graphic novel from Graham Yost, Boom! Studios, Original Film and Sony Pictures TV. That project ultimately didn’t go forward.

Using familiar characters from Albom’s bestselling novel, The Five People You Meet in Heaven will explore each character’s unique journey in this world and the next. With heaven as the place where your life is finally explained to you — by five people you touched — the ongoing storylines of interwoven characters will explore larger themes such as redemption,...

Mitch Albom’s bestselling novel “The Five People You Meet in Heaven” is getting the TV series treatment.

Fox has issued a script-to-series development order for the project, with Albom himself in place to write and executive produce. The one-hour drama project hails from Warner Bros. Television and Fox Entertainment.

Using familiar characters from the novel, the series will explore each character’s unique journey in this world and the next. With heaven as the place where your life is finally explained to you, by five people you touched, the storylines of interwoven characters will explore larger themes such as redemption, love, hope and human connection.

Former “The Good Wife” executive producer and “Designated Survivor” showrunner Keith Eisner is also on board as an executive producer.

Albom previously adapted his novel for a TV movie released in 2004, which stuck pretty faithfully to the events of the book. The film starred...

Fox is headed to the afterlife for its newest series project.

The network is developing a drama based on Mitch Albom's novel The Five People You Meet in Heaven, with the author set to write the script based on his book. Fox has given a script-to-series commitment to the project, which will be a co-production of Warner Bros. TV and Fox Entertainment.

Using familiar characters from the book, the series will explore each one's unique journey in this world and the next. In the novel, heaven is the place where people's lives are explained to them by five ...

Exclusive: Mandalay Sports Media has acquired the feature life rights to tell the story of John Scott, a journeyman player who: was voted into this year’s NHL All-Star Game as a captain through an Internet write-in campaign, got traded and then demoted to the minors by a pissed-off NHL because he wouldn’t withdraw and wound up the game’s Mvp before heading back to the minors in Newfoundland. It’s so far-fetched that a screenwriter couldn’t have invented it. Mitch Albom…...

Instead of worrying about The Simpsons‘ pseudo split in Sunday’s season premiere (Fox, 8/7c), perhaps fans should be more concerned about Marge heading to the slammer in May’s finale.

PhotosThe Pope’s TV Tour: Relive His Visits to The Simpsons, Family Guy and More Shows

“Marge lets Bart go to the park alone because he’s too irritating, then she ends up getting arrested,” executive producer Al Jean tells TVLine of the Season 27 finale. “I read a column by Mitch Albom, the writer of Tuesdays with Morrie, about a mother who was arrested for letting her son play...

Over a dozen celebrities and Cumulus Media have come together to help the innovative, Ohio-based Veterans Matter program kick off a campaign on Memorial Day to help house as many of the 57,000 homeless veterans as soon as possible. “Thousands of veterans are homeless and living on the streets of our nation tonight. Streets where they are being beaten, robbed, even killed. Let’s take care of our own,” says Ice-t of the Veterans Matter campaign to house veterans. The program’s growing roster of support includes: Darius Rucker Darryl Worley Dusty Hill Emerson Drive Heart Ice-t Jennifer Nettles John Fogerty John Mellencamp Kid Rock Kix Brooks Mitch Albom Natalie Stovall+The Drive Stevie Nicks Each has voiced public services announcements now airing on Cumulus Media properties nationwide urging all Americans to help our nation’s homeless veterans get housed. Text “Vets” to 41444 and click through to donate any amount on their credit card.

Nobody likes an unsolicited cold-call, but author Mitch Albom must have been pleased to hear that Warner Bros. would be acquiring his bestselling novel, The First Phone Call From Heaven, with a view to making it into a successful movie. Denise Dinovi and Alison Greenspan are set to produce, with Chantal Nong and Cate Adams shepherding the project for the studio.

The story details the response of townsfolk when phones start ringing in Coldwater, Mi. As the callers claim to be reaching out from heaven, reactions of residents differ wildly, and a grieving single father decides to investigate the origins of the calls.

With the purchase of source material having just been made, cast and crew are not yet officially in place. However, the synopsis feels like it lands squarely in the wheelhouse of Johnny Depp, or Nicholas Cage, or perhaps even John Cusack? It will certainly be interesting to...

Reliance Entertainment and Kintop Pictures have acquired the film rights to Jessica Brody's proposed young adult novel trilogy "Unremembered".

Set in a world where time travel and gene manipulation exist, the story follows a 16-year-old girl who finds herself floating in the Pacific Ocean with no memory of her past. Her one clue is a boy named Zen who claims he helped her escape from a top-secret science experiment.

In news of another adaptation, Summit Entertainment has picked up all rights to Rachel Renee Russell's bestseller series "The Dork Diaries".

The story follows 14-year-old Nikki Maxwell as she navigates her way through new school, mean girls and first crushes. Karen Rosenfelt ("Twilight") will produce.

Outside of the young adult arena, Warner Bros. Pictures has picked up the film rights to Mitch Albom's inspirational novel "The First Phone Call from Heaven". Denise Dinovi and Alison Greenspan will produce.

The...

Exclusive: Warner Bros has acquired The First Phone Call From Heaven, the bestselling novel by Mitch Albom that was published last November by Harper. Denise Dinovi and Alison Greenspan will produce. The book opens on a morning in the small town of Coldwater, Mi, when the phones start ringing and the voices say they are calling from heaven. While each call is greeted differently — some with love, some with religious zeal, some with fear — a grieving single father with an inquisitive and hopeful son takes it upon himself to uncover whether these callers are hoaxers, or they are really dialing long distance. Chantal Nong and Cate Adams will oversee for Warner Bros. Albom, who came up a sports columnist for the Detroit Free Press, has also written bestsellers like Tuesdays With Morrie and The Five People You Meet In Heaven, books with a wholesome spiritual tug to them. At a...

Warner Bros. has taken the big screen rights to Mitch Albom's recent book, The First Phone Call From Heaven . Published last November, the book is officially described as follows: One morning in the small town of Coldwater, Michigan, the phones start ringing. The voices say they are calling from heaven. Is it the greatest miracle ever? Or some cruel hoax? As news of these strange calls spreads, outsiders flock to Coldwater to be a part of it. At the same time, a disgraced pilot named Sully Harding returns to Coldwater from prison to discover his hometown gripped by .miracle fever.. Even his young son carries a toy phone, hoping to hear from his mother in heaven. As the calls increase, and proof of an afterlife begins to surface, the town.and the world.transform. Only Sully,...

Much is being made of the fact that Stephen King has—for the time being—decided to forego an eBook of his latest novel, Joyland. Several articles imply that he is no longer a fan of the digital format. Others argue that he shouldn’t get to decide how people experience a book, ignoring the fact that digital rights are separate from print rights and that authors get to choose how to exploit them. As illustrated in my first essay here at FEARnet, King has long been a champion of eBooks—an innovator, even. There was a digital version of The Wind Through the Keyhole last year and there will be one of Doctor Sleep later on this year. King isn’t challenging the format. He simply wants readers to have the retro feeling of holding a paperback in this one case. That’s what Hard Case Crime is all about,...

New York — Mitch Albom, one of the country's most popular authors, has a new publisher and a new novel coming this fall.

The author of the sentimental favorite "Tuesdays With Morrie" has a three-book deal with Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Albom's previous publisher was the Disney-owned Hyperion, where he had spent much of his career.

At Harper, Albom will be edited by Karen Rinaldi, a friend since the 1990s when she attempted – and failed_ to acquire "Tuesdays With Morrie" for Crown.

"I have never forgotten our first meeting and his subsequent success, which have always been bittersweet for me," Rinaldi said in a statement. "It is particularly satisfying to bring Mitch to Harper, where our team's expertise and spirit of collaboration will create an unprecedented focus and passion for the next phase of Mitch's exceptional writing career."

"We see stories the same way," Albom, 54, said in a statement.

Another long-time executive from Oprah Winfrey’s inner circle is out. After a 18-year stint as president of Harpo Films, Kate Forte was let go today. While the company continues to have a couple of projects in development at HBO where the company has been under a deal since 2008, Harpo Films has little to show for its efforts in the past 5 years as its last projects to reach fruition were the 2007 movie The Great Debaters, one of only two features produced by the unit, and 2007 ABC telefilm Mitch Albom’s For One More Day. Harpo Films is a vestige of old times — it was active in the broadcast movie business, doing six films for ABC between 1997 and 2007. But the demand for long-form projects, especially on the broadcast side, has dried out. And now the Los Angeles-based Harpo Films will de facto fold. As part of a restructuring, its larger sibling production company,...

Lifetime’s TV movie Liz & Dick hopes to capture the storied love affair between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, a legendary Hollywood romance fueled by fights, sex and alcohol. Lindsay Lohan plays the violet-eyed star opposite of Grant Bowler's Burton in a TV movie directed by Lloyd Kramer (2007's Mitch Albom's For One More Day) and produced by Larry A. Thompson. Before the television movie premieres on Sunday night, here are five things to know: Photos: Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011) 1. No garment or accessory was previously worn or owned by Elizabeth Taylor. While there were 117 costume changes in the 88-minute TV

read more...

Even before watching "Liz and Dick" (Sun., Nov. 25 at 9 p.m. Est on Lifetime), it's easy to come up with a list of a few things a movie about Elizabeth Taylor-Richard Burton should do.

It should establish Burton and Taylor as charismatic, complex people. Taylor was an intoxicating combination of devil-may-care bawdiness and classic glamour; she liked to belt back drinks and tell it like it was, and she was an old-school Movie Star who effortlessly commanded every room she entered. As for Burton, he was passionate, smart and rough around the edges; any portrayal of him would have to capture both his brooding outsider qualities and his sly, knowing wit. They weren't just actors on the make, they were fascinating personalities with very divergent histories, and any film about them would need to reflect their vast differences and intriguing backstories.

It should make the electricity of their relationship apparent.

There may be a lot of truth to the idea that Liz & Dick is (one of) the most talked about movie of the year, but I’m not absolutely sure it’s a claim I would feature.

Good or bad, Lindsay Lohan or no, and if you’re the right crowd, Lifetime or no, there’s no denying that the movie takes on interesting subject matter, and is potentially well worth watching just to catch some glimpse into the lives of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Of course, I don’t know that it has anything to say that isn’t well-worn material, but it’s worth finding out.

What do you think about this one, and is the movie, wherever it lands, overshadowed simply by the fact that Lohan is in it? I’d like to know where the public is coming down on this one. Will you watch?...

Lifetime has set November 25 for the premiere of Liz & Dick starring Lindsay Lohan as Elizabeth Taylor and Grant Bowler as Richard Burton. The story of the couple’s passionate and stormy love affair is executive produced by Larry A. Thompson (Amish Grace) and directed by Lloyd Kramer (Mitch Albom’s The Five People You Meet in Heaven). Christopher Monger (Temple Grandin) penned the script. A+E Networks will handle international distribution. Liz & Dick will air at 9 Pm on Lifetime. Related: ‘Liz & Dick’ Movie Poster Unveiled Hot TV Trailer: Lifetime’s ‘Liz & Dick’...

It’s been a few years since Lindsay Lohan was last seen on our screens, but her return in just a matter of weeks away now, with Lifetime’s Liz & Dick due to air this coming November, telling the story of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.

Lohan takes the lead opposite Grant Bowler, and now the first poster for the movie has arrived, putting Lohan front and centre, with a pair of rather beautiful (albeit edited) purple eyes.

“On the set of Cleopatra, Hollywood’s most beautiful star, Elizabeth Taylor, fell into the arms of one of the world’s greatest actors, Richard Burton – and she didn’t leave.

Their subsequent white-hot, scandalous love affair gave rise to the paparazzi and they became the most hunted and photographed couple on earth. Their rocky, passionate, relationship, born in front of the cameras, was captured in a series of films, including Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?...

September 21 is the official end of summer, but admit it: Once the Labor Day holiday is over, it feels like a free fall into autumn. Luckily there's a number of books, movies and television shows to keep our minds off the carefree days of summer coming to an end.

Tony Danza chronicles his first year as a teacher in a new book that takes him far from "Who's the Boss" territory. ABC's Emmy-award winning "Modern Family" returns -- we can't wait to see what kind of shenanigans patriarch Ed O'Neill and his oddball family get into this season -- and if he'll win Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series at the Emmys on September 23. And the author of Tuesdays with Morrie, Mitch Albom, has a new philosophical tome about a precious resource -- time.

What are you looking forward to this month? Let us know in the comments.

Los Angeles -- It took 20 years but the group Bruce Springsteen once praised as being almost as good as a lousy garage band is finally calling it quits.

The Rock Bottom Remainders, a contingent that has made it clear with every performance that literary giants like Amy Tan, Stephen King and Scott Turow really did make the right decision when they set aside their musical ambitions to write books, is calling it a career after two Southern California shows later this month.

"We've gotten as good as we're ever going to get," says lead guitarist and best-selling humorist Dave Barry, explaining the band's decision.

"You can't get any better," Barry continued. "Well, you actually can get a lot better. But we can't get any better. We're up to almost four chords now, and the Beatles quit at that point, I'm pretty sure."

Truth be told, the Rock Bottom Remainders were...

As expected, Tate Taylor's "The Help" won big at the 43rd Annual NAACP Image Awards. The film won Outstanding Picture of the Year with Viola Davis winning Outstanding Actress and Octavia Spencer taking home the Outstanding Supporting Actress award. Taylor lost to "Jumping the Broom's" Salim Akil for Best Director because apparently, it's a better picture than "The Help!"

Here's the complete list of winners (highlighted) and nominees of the 43rd Annual NAACP Image Awards (To visit other award-giving bodies, check out our Awards Avenue coverage right here)

Motion Picture

Outstanding Motion Picture

.Jumping the Broom. (TriStar Pictures)

.Pariah. (Focus Features)

.The First Grader. (National Geographic

Entertainment)

*** .The Help. (DreamWorks Pictures/

Participant Media/Touchstone Pictures)

.Tower Heist. (Universal Pictures)

Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture

Eddie Murphy . .Tower Heist.

(Universal Pictures)

Laurence Fishburne . .Contagion.

(Warner Bros. Pictures)

*** Laz Alonso . .Jumping the Broom.

(TriStar Pictures)

Oliver Litondo . .The First...

Due to almost an hour’s worth of NFL game overrun on CBS, Once Upon a Time this Sunday was pitted against not only NBC’s Steelers-Chiefs match-up but also an engorged 60 Minutes, yet luckily managed to (mostly) slip the tackle.

The ABC freshman, which on top of all else was coming off a one-week bye, drew 10.7 million total viewers while scoring a 3.4 demo rating. That’s a dip of just 6 percent in total audience, and a forgivable 11 percent drop with the 18-49 crowd.

Interestingly, Once hit series highs in both the Teens (up 18 percent) and Kids 2-11 (surging 31 percent) demos.

The Steelers hung on to beat the Chief, 13-9, last night, in one of the more lackluster Sunday night NFL games of the season. But that wasn't reflected in the impressive ratings for NBC...

8 p.m.

60 Minutes/The Amazing Race: 15.4 million

Sunday Night Football: 15.25 million

Once Upon a Time: 10.7 million

The Simpsons: 5.6 million/Allen Gregory: 3.1 million

9 p.m.

Sunday Night Football: 18.1 million

The Amazing Race/Person of Interest rerun: 9 million

Mitch Albom's Have a Little Faith: 6.4 million

Family Guy: 5.5 million/American Dad: 4.45 million

10 p.m.

Sunday Night Football: 16.4 million

Person of Interest rerun: 6.8 million

Mitch Albom's Have a Little Faith: 6.6 million...

As Americans were wrapping up the four-day Thanksgiving weekend last night, some stayed away from their TVs, leading to depressed ratings for the broadcast networks. (We’ve yet to get numbers for The Walking Dead fall finale on AMC.) ABC may be having second thoughts about picking up the Hallmark Hall Of Fame original movie franchise after it was dropped by CBS at the end of last season. In the franchise’s first ABC outing, the telefilm Mitch Albom’s Have A Little Faith posted an underwhelming 1.1/2 in 18-49, down a whopping 48% from November Christmas, which aired on CBS on the same night last year. In 18-49, Have A Little Faith was by far the lowest-rated program of the night despite having the night’s highest-rated entertainment program as a lead-in: freshman drama Once Upon A Time, which slipped 11% from its last original two weeks ago to a series low but still robust 3.4/8. At 7 Pm,...

Fast national ratings for Sunday, Nov. 27, 2011

NFL games -- both the scheduled contest on NBC's "Sunday Night Football" and an afternoon game that bled nearly an hour into primetime on CBS -- ruled Sunday night's ratings. "Once Upon a Time," meanwhile, declined some from previous episodes (though it still performed pretty well), and ABC's first Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, "Mitch Albom's Have a Little Faith," drew pretty meager ratings.

NBC led the night with 14.2 million viewers and an 8.7 rating/13 share in households, beating out the 13.5 million viewers and 8.2/12 for CBS (numbers for both nets will change in the final nationals when the live NFL telecasts are accounted for). ABC (7.8 million, 4.6/7) finished third overall, while Fox -- which also had an NFL overrun in some markets -- delivered 5.3 million viewers and a 3.0/4.

Thanks to "Sunday Night Football," NBC also led the adults 18-49 demographic with a 5.4 rating. CBS took...

Fast National ratings for Sunday, November 27, 2011.   The Hallmark Hall of Fame franchise is off to a disappointing start on ABC with a subpar launch for "Mitch Albom's Have a Little Faith," which couldn't draw viewers -- older or young -- against NBC's Sunday Night Football showdown between the Steelers and Chiefs.   Football also helped give CBS a big boost on Sunday.   Among adults 18-49, NBC averaged a 5.4 rating for the night, tops in the key demographic. CBS was a solid second with a 3.6 rating, beating the 2.4 rating for Fox. ABC trailed with a...

On TV this Sunday: Lots and lots of Dead stuff, Supergirl clashes with a sexy Santa, Homeland spies a compelling exposition dump, and more. Here’s our list of programs to keep on your radar.

2:30 pm The Walking Dead marathon (AMC) | Blood, guts and carcasses. Nope, it’s not your Thanksgiving leftovers; just zombies. Catch up on the series’ second season before the mid-season finale airs at 9 pm.

TVLine’s Guide to Fall Finale and Winter Return Dates

8 pm The Amazing Race (CBS) | Racers shift into high gear when they take a thrilling test drive, and results are far...

The resilient Hallmark Hall of Fame franchise premieres its first installment of the season on Sunday (November 27) night, but after years as destination viewing on CBS, Hallmark is moving to ABC for "Mitch Albom's Have a Little Faith."   The movie also marks a change of pace for leading man Bradley Whitford, who has to set aside the ace sarcastic delivery that he's brought to "The West Wing" and "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" and "The Good Guys," to play the mostly-earnest small screen proxy for Albom, who also served as writer and executive producer.   Based on Albom's...

Edward Shearmur is scoring the upcoming TV drama Have a Little Faith. The movie directed by Jon Avnet (Fried Green Tomatoes, Up Close & Personal) is based on the best-selling book by Mitch Albom (Tuesdays with Morrie, The Five People You Meet in Heaven) and stars Laurence Fishburne as a Detroit teacher who overcame a life mired in drugs and crime. Bradley Whitford portrays Mitch Albom who met the reverend-in-recovery when he wrote newspaper columns about homeless people and homeless shelters. Anika Noni Rose and Martin Landau are co-starring in the Hallmark Hall of Fame production. Shearmur has previously worked with Avnet a number of times, including on the director’s most recent theatrical features 88 Minutes and Righteous Kill. Have a Little Faith is set to premiere on November 27, 2011 on ABC.

Laurence Fishburne hasn't watched "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" since he left, but his feelings toward the series are good ones.

"I enjoyed it a lot," the Emmy and Tony winner tells Zap2it of his two years-plus on the drama. "I learned a lot, and I really appreciated the opportunity to connect with a viewing audience of that size regularly. That's something television gives you that I'd never had the opportunity for, so I'm really grateful for that."

Dr. Ray Langston, Fishburne's "CSI" alter ego, left on a dark note after killing the tormentor who had kidnapped Langston's ex-wife. "It was great, it was great," Fishburne says of that exit, which yielded an opening for Ted Danson to join the CBS show this season. "I don't think that was the way it was intended, but it just kind of worked out that way."

A big-screen staple of such movies as "Boyz N the Hood,...

Kevin Smith, whose latest movie, Red State, is set to be unlike anything he’s ever done before, has announced that his next film will be released in two parts, and they will be titled Hit Somebody: Home and Hit Somebody: Away, The Playlist report.

He also adds that the two-parter, which he’s said could be his final film, will be a PG-13 rating for Home and an R for Away, roughly the equivalent of our 12A and 18. Brilliant!

How you can have such different ratings might confuse many people, but when you take into account the basic premise of the two parts, things become a little clearer. The film follows the rise of hockey played Buddy McCracken (to be played by Nicholas Braun), with the first part seeing him as a young star and the second part seeing him go pro. I might not know a lot about hockey,...

When Kevin Smith had his dog and pony show at the Sundance Film Festival this year (I think he also played some movie), the writer and director announced that his next feature, Hit Somebody, would also be his last. And while this may end up being true, it’s not going to be the final film will see from him in the traditional sense.

As HourCommunity (via /Film) reports, Smith recently told the attendees at a Montreal screening of Red State that Hit Somebody will actually be two movies — the first of these follows the main character, Buddy, through his childhood, and the second chronicles his time in the NHL. Based on the Warren Zevon song that was written by Mitch Albom, Smith felt that the script wouldn’t fit into one film; there was the possibility of turning it into an HBO series, but he’s sticking with a film,...

Filed under: Movie News, Coming Soon

Because hockey movies have never gotten the epic treatment they deserve, Kevin Smith has confirmed via Twitter that his final effort as a writer/director, 'Hit Somebody,' is going to be split into two movies. After realizing that his script was getting too big to fit into one sitting and debating whether or not he should turn it into a mini-series of sorts on HBO, Smith has finally settled on the double bill for his follow-up to 'Red State.'

Based on the Warren Zevon song of the same name (which was written by Mitch Albom), 'Hit Somebody' is the story of a Canadian kid named Buddy McCracken who grows up with dreams of playing in the NHL even though the only thing he's good at on the ice is getting into fights. Sure sounds a lot like 'Slap...

Hallmark Hall of Fame, the longtime TV movie franchise that ran on CBS for 16 years before it was dropped by the network in May, has landed a deal ABC beginning with the upcoming season. Under terms of the multiyear agreement announced today, ABC will premiere the movies exclusively, with encore broadcasts coming a week later on Hallmark Channel. The first movie under the deal will be Mitch Albom's Have a Little Faith, starring Laurence Fishburne, Bradley Whitford and Martin Landau and directed by Jon Avnet. It will air before Christmas. The Hallmark franchise has been with ABC once before, as well as with NBC and most recently CBS. "We’re delighted our movies will premiere exclusively on ABC starting with our 61st television season,” Hallmark Hall of Fame president Brad Moore said. "Since our very first talks with ABC last year, we’ve looked forward to this announcement. Our...

Filed under: TV News

Hallmark Hall of Fame has found a new home: ABC.

According to Variety, the film franchise's flicks will air Sunday nights on ABC, then will begin re-airing on the Hallmark Channel a week later.

CBS ended its 16-year partnership with Hallmark in May after the network wouldn't agree to a three-films-per-year deal. The most recent installments on CBS boasted names such as Betty White, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Treat Williams and Emily VanCamp.

The first Hallmark Hall of Fame movie for ABC will be an adaptation of Mitch Albom's 'Have a Little Faith.' The movie stars Laurence Fishburne, Bradley Whitford and Martin Landau and will air in late November.

 

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I don't want it to consume my entire review, but since I've been ranting about it for nearly a year at this point, I'm absolutely comfortable with allowing it to consume my entire intro:   If you want to make a serious drama about counselors and kids at a summer camp, ending with a triumphant and straight-faced victory at their annual color wars competition? That's fine. It just doesn't matter. It just doesn't matter. But don't call your project "Meatballs."   If you have a Mitch Albom-style tear-jerker you want to do focusing on a wealthy, obnoxious businessman who returns to...

The Closer will officially get a spinoff — Major Crimes, starring Mary McDonnell as Brenda Johnson’s nemesis, Capt. Raydor — as TNT’s breakthrough hit comes to an end with its seventh season next summer, Turner networks announced at its (problem-plagued) upfront presentation to advertisers Wednesday morning in New York. The cable group also unveiled sneak peeks at some of its upcoming new shows: TBS’ The Wedding Band, a promising comedy about just that starring Brian Austin Green, Lost’s Harold Perrineau (he gets to be funny!) and The Office’s always-hilarious Melora Hardin; TNT’s big-budget, Steven Spielberg-produced Falling Skies,...

TNT and TBS, which staged their Upfront presentation today in New York, are making bold moves to bolster their remarkably strong foundations in original programming. The networks are developing extensive new lineups of scripted and unscripted series and making a new push into half-hour comedy in partnership with some of the top talents in the industry, from award-winning actors to acclaimed producers, writers and best-selling authors.

This year marks the beginning of production of the final season of the blockbuster hit, The Closer, starring Emmy® winner Kyra Sedgwick. TNT confirmed today that it has ordered a 10-episode season of Major Crimes, a series set in the Los Angeles Police Department that promises to become television’s next great crime drama. The seventh and final season of The Closer will include 15 episodes in 2011 and six in summer 2012, leading into the launch of Major Crimes, starring Mary McDonnell (Battlestar Galactica). McDonnell has...

It looks like Andy Richter will be stepping from behind the podium on Conan to another podium (I am guessing) for a new game show on TBS entitled Pyramid. The show is reportedly a modern-day take on the iconic game show that began asThe $10,000 Pyramid.

I really enjoye watching Men of A Certain Age, and highly recommend it. The new shows don't really catch my interest yet, aside from Pyramid. Check out the full lineup below and share your thoughts on what shows you are most interested in seeing.

TNT scripted series in development

Untitled Kip Koenig/John Wells Productions Project – Set against the backdrop of the Pacific Northwest, this drama follows a family of cops who uncover the mystical and often crime-ridden world of a small town where things aren’t as they appear. The project comes to TNT from Warner Horizon Television, Kip Koenig (Grey’s Anatomy) and John Wells Productions (Southland,...