Freddie Prinze Jr. On 24 (?)

Just was looking through my Twitter and saw this from Ausiello:

EWAusielloFiles Breaking: Freddie Prinze Jr. clocks in on new season of 24 as head of CTU field ops Cole.

Let me be the first to say "huh?". The Jeanane Garofalo as Janice experiment didn't really work this year and so Freddie Prinze Jr. is going to bring more to 24? Allow me to be a little skeptical.

One new show addition I am intrigued by, John Lithgow as a serial killer on Dexter (according to Ausiello as well). In my head, he does the deliciously evil much better than Freddie Prinze Jr. does head of CTU field operations.

EW Exclusive: '24' moving to New York!

Jack Bauer has taken on LA and now DC. But Ausiello is reporting that next season he'll take on NY! Love that Chloe is going to be back! Love that CTU is going to be back! And love that Jack will be back and ending things in NY. Also, one other person is joining the cast:

Slumdog Millionaire's smarmy game show host, Anil Kapoor, is joining the cast as Arman Hashemi, a Middle Eastern leader on a peacemaking mission in the U.S. Casting is underway for the roles of his brother and wife.

He seems like he'll be a great character as well. I'm excited for the rest of this season, but I'm also pretty pumped for 24 Season 8 in NYC.

Creed Is So Underrated

He doesn't usually get confessionals and there's never been an episode about him, but now that Kevin has seemed to be put a little more front and center, I nominate Creed for the most underrated member of The Office. This deleted scene from the last episode illustrates why:



One last Office tidbit. Well maybe more than a tidbit. This Ausiello post asks if Pam is going to be replaced as receptionist? Well that would certainly add to the shakeup started by Michael's quitting. Wonder if Michael's standing up to the Man will allow Pam to do the same? And wouldn't that make some fun storylines for Sweeps? Wow.

(Speaking of "quitting", I just started reading "Watch With Kristin" and now she's leaving for maternity leave. Lame.)

Ausiello with 24, Lost, The Office and Big Love Spoilers

This man always keeps me informed (again, below is just on the shows that I watch). Here's my thoughts:

I always thought that 24 should wrap things up at the end of this season...but it doesn't seem I'm getting my wish. One more now seems like it's pushing it a bit.

I still haven't recovered from the Big Love episode on Sunday. Wow. One death comes in the season finale and one sooner? A guy and a girl? One major and one ancillary? I feel like we have a death and then some retaliation. Sounds like fun!

You knew if Pam and Jim were going to get married on The Office that it wouldn't be easy. Glad the show's producers/directors always seem to agree with me

Lost is amazing. I think the majorish character who dies could be Penny or it could be Miles. But, remember, who/what is really dead on this show? Could Desmond and Walt come back at some point to reincarnate Penny and Michael, respectively, if both are dead? Sure...why not. Anything's possible. The two new characters also get me interested. A former soldier could mean a friend of Widmore, Sayid, Desmond or none of them. And a corporate takeover could have to do with Widmore or Sun's father's companies...or maybe a takeover of the island. Fun awaits!

Without further ado, Ausiello's Q&A:

Question: How about some 24 scoop? --Josh
Ausiello: Longtime executive producer-director Jon Cassar has left the show after failing to come to terms on a new contract. "I will not be involved with the upcoming eighth season," he tells me. "Although that's sad for me to leave after six years, it's also very exciting to be back in the marketplace working with different people and facing different challenges." (First up for Cassar is CBS' new Ed Bernero pilot, Washington Field.) His split from 24 is particularly surprising considering the close relationship he formed with Kiefer Sutherland. In fact, Sutherland himself expressed confidence that Cassar's contract negotiations would yield a positive result when I spoke to him last month. "There is no more integral part to the success of 24 than Jon Cassar, and I think [exec producers] Joel Surnow and Howard Gordon will tell you the same thing," he said. "We're a whole unit, and one part doesn't work without the other. He's also obviously one of my best friends and someone that I absolutely adore working with. I have all the faith in the world that things will work out, as they have over the last seven years." Or not!

Question: Does Sarah's miscarriage on last week's Big Love count as one of the major deaths this season? --Deanna
Ausiello: No. The two deaths I'm referring to are of the non-fetus variety.

Question: Holy crap. I just watched the new episode of Big Love and it was so intense! I'm getting anxious about the two deaths. Do you know if they'll be airing soon or is it a season finale thing? --Kristina
Ausiello: One in the season finale and one before.

Question: How 'bout some scoop on The Office? --Jacqueline
Ausiello: Done. Producer-co-star Mindy Kaling plans to ruin Jim and Pam's wedding. "America just loves [them] so much," she notes, "and since we are one of the only shows that doesn't [score its episodes], the worst thing we could ever do is, like, score [their big nuptial kiss] with some Edwin McCain song. So I am going to probably pitch that we do that." What a little troublemaker!

Question: Do you think the major-ish character that will be killed this season on Lost could be Juliet? Please say no. I have a girl-crush on her. --Michelle
Ausiello: Join the club. Nah, Juliet is considered a major character, no "ish" about it, so I think she's safe. In other Lost news, look for the season finale to intro two new, potentially recurring, characters: Jason is a former soldier whose gravitas makes him a natural-born Pied Piper; and Samuel is a J.R. Ewing (minus the Stetson, accent, and drunk wife) whose day isn't complete without a corporate takeover.

Question: Is Penny dead on Lost?! OMFG, what is this show doing to me! --Gaby
Ausiello: Penny, on the other hand, definitely falls under the "ish" category. And even more ominous than the big fat target on her forehead is the fact that her portrayer, Sonya Walger, has landed the lead role in a new ABC pilot that, appropriately enough, is already drawing comparisons to Lost. The show is called Flash Forward, and it's based on Robert J. Sawyer's apocalyptic tome that chronicles the mass chaos that comes after everyone on the planet blacks out for 2 minutes and 17 seconds. The flash-forward part applies to the vision of the future that everyone experiences during the blackout. But even if ABC orders the show to series, as many expect it will, that doesn't mean Walger is done with Lost. Quite the contrary. As a well-placed Lost insider tells me, "She will juggle both shows."

A New Love Interest for E

Ausiello reports that Eric will have a new love interest in the upcoming season of Entourage that is basically perfect. Ausiello tries to figure out what's wrong with her. Maybe she's married. Maybe she's a man (nah....they did that one already). Maybe nothing. If Turtle can get Jamie-Lynn Sigler (on the show AND in real life), then anything is possible. What's his secret to success? We really have no clue. But it seems that Jeremy Piven's key to success is eating massive, superhuman amounts of fish.

Looking forward to the new season this summer...

LOST Spoilers...

Ausiello reports

Oh man, I'm excited!!!!

Next week will be a HUGE week:
24, MLK day off, Barack inauguration, LOST back!!!!, Restaurant Week in NY, Astron Solutions 10 year anniversary, 2 years with Pass...plus a new episode of SVU, Law & Order, the Office, Scrubs

and much, much more...maybe GNW can go to like $10 too...