May 2012

CHICAGO – If television shows were deemed a success or failure based on the number of emails, comments, and call-ins to radio shows that were sent on their behalf, NBC’s “Chuck” would be one of the biggest programs of the last two decades. Every time we wrote about it or discussed it on the radio show, people got excited. The show didn’t have many fans, but they were LOYAL and that’s why it stayed on the air much longer than it should have based on pure ratings numbers and that’s why WB has treated fans right through five Blu-ray releases.

CHICAGO – After an incredibly successful 2011-2012 season, ABC is doing something of a victory lap by not changing much of what worked about a season that saw the network create a number of new hits, including “Revenge,” “Once Upon a Time,” and “Suburgatory.”

Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Ali G, Borat, Bruno and the Stationmaster Guy in “Hugo” is now “The Dictator.” Sacha Baron Cohen puts on another character mask and produces his usual style of cheap laughs with a surprising sense of political sharpness. Anna Faris and Ben Kingsley go along for the ride.

CHICAGO – In our latest animated edition of the HollywoodChicago.com Hookup, we have 5 Blu-ray and DVD combo packs up for grabs to the home entertainment release of “The Secret World of Arrietty” from the studio that brought you the Oscar-winning best animated feature “Spirited Away” and “Ponyo”!

CHICAGO – Fans of HollywoodChicago.com’s video game coverage will know by now that I LOVE the new incarnation of “Mortal Kombat.” The team at NetherRealm brilliantly brought this legendary franchise back from the brink of irrelevance by focusing on what worked about it in the first place and giving players one of the deepest fight game experiences on the market. There are a lot of good fighting games out there right now including “Soul Calibur V” and “Street Fighter x Tekken” but “Mortal Kombat” wins with a brutal fatality, even on the PlayStation Vita.

CHICAGO – When so much of your already-limited primetime schedule is devoted to reality singing competitions and animated programming, it gives a network little room to play. FOX only has a few timeslots once one takes “The X Factor”/”American Idol” and “Animation Domination” out of the equation. But play they will.

CHICAGO – “The Avengers” showed no sign of second weekend fatigue, beating the smash second frames of “The Dark Knight” and “Avatar” by collecting another $103.1 million. Dropping just over 50%, “The Avengers” has made $373 million domestically and over $1 billion internationally. This thing could challenge “Avatar” and “Titanic” for all-time grosses.

CHICAGO – NBC revealed their Fall schedule today and there were multiple surprises including comedies moving to Tuesday and Friday nights (we were wondering where all of the sitcoms would go) and a Fall cycle of the hit singing show “The Voice.”

CHICAGO – With the onslaught of news stories this week about what would and what would not be included in next week’s Fall schedule announcements, it’s easy to lose track of your favorite show. Let us guide the way with this handy recap. When will it all air? Will some of these be mid-season returns? Will your favorite show move? Come back next week as all of the Fall schedules are announced.

CHICAGO – In the latest extra-special HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Music with our unique social giveaway technology, we have 2 admit-two passes up for grabs for the “RENT” prequel and Chicago rock musical “tick, tick… BOOM!” plus a rock concert from the fast-rising Chicago rock performers The Lauren Wolf Band immediately following the show!

CHICAGO – This one was predictable. NBC continues to leak out their renewals and cancellations one piece at a time. Despite having decent overall ratings, the youth demo that advertisers want never came to “Harry’s Law” and so the Kathy Bates dramedy has been predictably canceled. It only leaves one question mark on the NBC’s slate — “Whitney” — which some outlets are reporting has already been renewed.

CHICAGO – Fresh off her Spirit Award nominated film “Another Earth,” the up-and-coming filmmaker Brit Marling again writes and stars in “Sound of My Voice,” portraying another mysterious and mood-inducing character. The future of humanity is the basis for this simple but vivid narrative.

CHICAGO – NBC released the least surprising quartet of cancellations in a very long time by announcing that four of their under-performers will not be on the list when schedules are announced next week — say goodbye to “Awake,” “Bent,” “Best Friends Forever,” and “Are You There, Chelsea?”

CHICAGO – Is the USA model getting a little tired to anyone else? Does every show have to be a mystery-of-the-week series? Can they try something totally new? “Common Law” is not as quirky as some of their other programs but if you showed me the pilot and asked me what network it was on, I could easily pick it out as a USA show.