Now, I know the ladies among you have probably swooned in terror, but pull yourselves together! It won’t be for long. The nerve center of TV Lowdown is relocating from London to Brighton and, while we get everything up and [...]]]> Yes folks, TV Lowdown is descending into the technological dark ages of having no internet access.

Now, I know the ladies among you have probably swooned in terror, but pull yourselves together! It won’t be for long. The nerve center of TV Lowdown is relocating from London to Brighton and, while we get everything up and running, there may not be any updates for a while.

To keep yourselves busy you can always check out TV Lowdown’s friends such as The Park Bench, celebrating all things nerdy, or The Cinemaphiles for the film buffs among you. Those who love their leading ladies should visit Heroine TV, and I’d recommend you all to The Laverytory, the blog of international TV studies guru Dr. David Lavery.

Enjoy the rest of the week, and we hope to be back soon with all the latest on TV.

Bye for now!

The as-yet-untitled dramedy will be written by Sherman-Palladino and focus on three adult sisters, all writers, living in the same apartment block with their domineering mother who lavishes [...]]]> Amy Sherman-Palladino, who created, wrote and executive produced the seven-season mother-daughter network show Gilmore Girls is taking her first steps into cable with a new project for HBO.

The as-yet-untitled dramedy will be written by Sherman-Palladino and focus on three adult sisters, all writers, living in the same apartment block with their domineering mother who lavishes her affections on their useless brother.

“It’s a story of love, hate, family — and finding the perfect opening line,” Sherman-Palladino said.

I have to put my hands up here and say that I’ve only seen about ten minutes of Gilmore Girls, so I’m not really in a place to judge whether Sherman-Palladino’s new project is one to be excited about. I know she has a reputation for snappy, fast-paced dialogue (which presumably on HBO would be rather more explicit than network!)

No word yet on when to expect this one to air, or whether they’re making a pilot or going straight to series.

The series is being co-produced by Warner Bros. and [...]]]> It was reported earlier this week that ABC, NBC and CBS were battling over the rights to JJ Abrams new TV drama, a series about a married couple in the world of espionage. It seems that the negotiations have already wrapped up, with NBC emerging the victor.

The series is being co-produced by Warner Bros. and Bad Robot, but there aren’t too many more details right now. It’s unclear how deeply Abrams will be involved in the project, especially considering he also has a medical comedy in the works and his ongoing commitment to sci-fi series Fringe that he co-created.

It’ll be interesting to see how Abrams distinguishes this new show from his previous spy series Alias, which ran for five seasons and strongly featured a romantic couple who were both CIA agents.

Fox have ordered a presentation and a script for an animated project from the trio which would have the same sensibilities as [...]]]> Seth Green, Matthew Senreich and Tom Root are the guys behind Adult Swim’s stop-motion animated series Robot Chicken and Titan Maximum, and their hard work has seemingly just given them a root into primetime.

Fox have ordered a presentation and a script for an animated project from the trio which would have the same sensibilities as their current shows but with a similar aesthetic to shows like Family Guy (the cast of which Seth Green is part of.)

There aren’t many details available on the project yet, other than the fact that it will use family life and high school as a backdrop for a wide range of characters.

Details are scarce at the moment but what does seem to be confirmed is that Abrams will be working with Mike Markowitz on the as yet untitled “comedic medical show”.

Could be interesting, I [...]]]> Writer/producer/director JJ Abrams (Alias, Lost, Fringe, Star Trek) is taking on an executive producer role for a new half-hour comedy in development for Fox.

Details are scarce at the moment but what does seem to be confirmed is that Abrams will be working with Mike Markowitz on the as yet untitled “comedic medical show”.

Could be interesting, I suppose. Abrams definitely places a strong comedic strand through everything he works on (with the possible exception of Cloverfield!) More details to come as and when they emerge…

Following the election of two BNP candidates to the European Parliament last year the BBC have decided the time may be right to invite a member of the controversial party [...]]]> The BBC have stated that they are considering inviting Nick Griffin, the leader of the British National Party, onto their flagship political debate show Question Time.

Following the election of two BNP candidates to the European Parliament last year the BBC have decided the time may be right to invite a member of the controversial party onto Question Time stating that they had “demonstrated evidence of electoral support at a national level.”

Before I go on, I just want to clarify one thing; the BNP are an absolutely loathsome group of far-right, racist fascists.

However, I do believe the BBC are right to consider allowing them to make an appearance on Question Time. It’s incredibly dangerous to deny a political voice to anybody; as distasteful as their views may be, silencing the BNP simply gives them more ammunition for their “woe is me”, faux-underdog stance that they love to put on.

Griffin should appear on the show, and the BBC should endeavour to make sure that the rest of the panel are intelligent, strong-minded individuals who will help to expose the monumental flaws and vicious hatred so prevalent in BNP policy. The Conservatives have already said that they would appear on the show to “show them up for the nasty party that they are” and former Downing Street communications director Alistair Campbell has urged ministers to seize the opportunity to confront Griffin.

Obviously, some don’t agree. Gerry Gable, the publisher of anti-fascist magazine Searchlight has said “People will turn on and see him as a member of a legitimate panel and think ‘they must be OK’.” I think that’s a fairly naive view, and actually quite insulting to the vieweship of Question Time to suggest that they’re incapable of forming independent opinions.

The mainstream political parties can’t be afraid of tackling the BNP, and doing so on such a national stage could be an opportunity to deliver some decisive blows against this repugnant organisation.

What are your thoughts? Should the BNP be represented on Question Time, or does that run the risk of legitimizing them? Is TV the right forum for this debate?

Don’t watch this at work, or in front of you mother, unless you have industrial strength “fuck”-muffling headphones on.

HOSTAGE: A Love Story with Zachary Quinto from Zachary [...]]]> Just came across this dark little thing. “HOSTAGE: A Love Story” stars Zachary Quinto and is about a “hostage and a hostage-taker [who] get dangerously close to one another.”

Don’t watch this at work, or in front of you mother, unless you have industrial strength “fuck”-muffling headphones on.

24 – January 17th

30 Rock – October 15th

American Dad – September 27th

The Beautiful Life – September [...]]]> Google is my friend, and has (along with its well-intentioned but occasionally pesky friend Wikipedia) helped me put together this rambling spasm of info for you on when your favourite shows (or most-anticipated newbies) make their debuts this season. Enjoy!

24 – January 17th

30 Rock – October 15th

American Dad – September 27th

The Beautiful Life – September 16th

The Big Bang Theory- September 21st

Bones – September 17th

Brothers – September 25th

Brothers & Sisters- September 27th

Californication- September 27th

Chuck – March 2010 (TBC)

The Cleveland Show- September 27th

CSI – September 24th

CSI: Miami – September 21st

Cougar Town – September 23rd

Criminal Minds- September 23rd

CSI: NY- September 23rd

Curb Your Enthusiasm – September 20th

Desperate Housewives- September 27th

Dexter- September 27th

Dollhouse- September 25th

Eastwick- September 23rd

Family Guy- September 27th

FlashForward- September 24th

The Forgotten- September 22nd

Fringe- September 17th

Ghost Whisperer- September 25th

Glee – September 9th

Gossip Girl – September 14th

Grey’s Anatomy- September 24th

Heroes- September 21st

House- September 21st

How I Met Your Mother- September 21st

Human Target – January 20th

Law & Order- September 25th

Lie To Me – September 28th

Lost – January 2010 (TBC)

Medium- September 25th

The Mentalist- September 24th

Modern Family- September 23rd

NCIS – September 22nd

NCIS: Los Angeles- September 22nd

Numb3rs- September 25th

The Office- September 17th

One Tree Hill – September 14th

Private Practice – October 1st

The Simpsons- September 27th

Smallville- September 25th

Southland – October 23rd

Stargate Universe – October 2nd

Supernatural – September 10th

Three Rivers – October 4th

Ugly Betty – October 9th

V – November 3rd

Vampire Diaries – September 10th

Check out the TV [...]]]> TV Guide have produced a gallery of 23 new shows launching this year and not many of them inspire much confidence. I think it’s fairly safe to assume an awful lot of these shows will meet with cancellation fairly early on but, of the list, which ones are you looking forward to?

Check out the TV Guide gallery here for a little info on each show and let me know in the comments here which shows you’re keeping an eye on this year.

Accidentally On Purpose

The Beautiful Life

Bored To Death

Brothers

The Cleveland Show

Community

Cougar Town

Eastwick

FlashForward

The Forgotten

The Good Wife

Glee

Hank

Melrose Place

Mercy

The Middle

Modern Family

NCIS Los Angeles

Shark Tank

Three Rivers

Trauma

The Vampire Diaries

White Collar