The Listener, More insight into "V", New Heroes Cast Member & More

There are a lot of little things to blog about today.

First, let's talk about NBC's new scripted Canadian show 'The Listener' that premiered last night with two back to back episodes. If you missed it, the story is about an EMT who has a special ability to "hear" people's thoughts. He's a telepath (a form of psychic ability). He manages to hear things and know things that help people. Trick is no one can know about his gifts which complicates his ability to get his warnings or the special inside knowledge he has heard.

I liked the show well enough. I like the as yet revealed back story as to who this guy is, his past , etc. It wasn't a very WOW! THIS IS GOOD type of show. However, there are a lot of elements that give this show a lot to work with, which I like. I hope NBC gives it a real chance for it to catch and develop itself a little and aren't so quick to 'ax' it like networks tend to do these days. The fickleness of the networks and the American viewing public however, makes me think that it may not live long enough. According to the numbers from PIfeedback.com, the listener finished #4 in it's 9pm hour and #3 in it's second hour with 5.25M and 5.35M viewers. That may sound like a lot, but to give you some idea of what that actually means you need to compare it to the #1 shows on the networks. For example 'CSI' is CBS #1 drama with an approx average of 19M viewers. NBC's 'Heroes' has over 10M on average. In comparison 5.25M is not cutting the mustard. It is important to note, however, that the NBA finals dominated the evening in ratings and could be what hurt 'The Listener'. That, and there isn't much "buzz" leading into new summer series as there are for the fall ones.

'I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here' continued it's fade. Wednesday night it dipped to 4.8M viewers. Last night, however, it slightly increased to 5.17M. That is still not looking so good. I have not yet caught up and am only half way through Tuesday's episode. Again, that's because I recorded it in my bedroom the first few nights. I have since relocated it to the living room so that I can watch it and be pretty caught up.

If any of you were a fan of 'Prison Break', which ended this past season, you may be happy to hear that Robert Knepper, who played Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell on the series has just been cast as a new villain in NBC's Heroes for this coming season (production starts this week). He makes a good villain.

This article from Variety talks about a writer signed on to Warner Brothers Television as a showrunner for "V" coming this fall. Through the article I was able to get a little more insight into the series. To share, here is a quote from the article;

Just as the original "V" used the story of an alien invasion as an allegory for Nazi Germany, the new "V" will tackle issues of government, devotion, race and faith.

Also, according to ABC, the show is going to have a set beginning, middle and end with its finale date pretty much set (similar to how 'Lost' had set it's finale date years in advance). I like knowing that there is going to be a complete "circle" for this series already established before it begins. This insight makes me even more psyched for the series premiere this fall.

For all you Heath Ledger fans (I am one of them) Cable Channel Ovation TV will be developing an hour long documentary on Heath Ledger's life that will run during it's "Live Fast, Die Young" week which will include documentaries on other stars who died young including Janis Joplin, Marilyn Monroe , Jimmy Hendrix and more. That does sound interesting. I don't necessarily watch or DVR those shows, but I may tune in if I know when and on what channel I can find it. I did so like Heath Ledger. He was very talented. It will be coming sometime this fall.