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SNL Video: Zac Efron on Life After High School Musical

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Comedy, Late Night, NBC, Saturday Night Live, Video


Want to know why Zac Efron is taking a break from musicals? Because he’s experienced a cold dose of reality.

On last night’s episode of , Troy Bolton told East High’s current senior class what life is really like post-graduation. Apparently the ability to break into song is not a useful social skill.

Read More | Saturday Night Live

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New Details on High School Musical 4

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Kids, Music, Cable, Gossip

High School MusicalIt’ll be West Side Story meets East High for the latest installment of .

Although the major players from Disney’s hit trilogy have decided to move on, the studio is continuing with plans to extend its franchise. The fourth movie - aimed once again for the small screen - will focus on a new student roster. According to the press release, fans will have a “classic love triangle set against the cross-town school rivalry between the East High Wildcats and West High Knights” to look forward to.

While it’s possible some of the characters introduced during Senior Year will appear in the made-for-TV film, no casting decisions have yet been revealed. The only vets announced so far are screenwriter Peter Barsocchini and executive producers Bill Borden and Barry Rosenbush.

Production on is set to begin later this year in time for a 2010 debut.

Read More | Futon Critic

FOX to Spread the Musical Glee

Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Music, Prime Time, FOX, Gossip, Rumors

FOX logoIt worked for . Disney makes money. FOX likes to make money, too. So why not sort of borrow an idea inspired by Disney, tweak it for TV, and make a truckload of money?

I’m just guessing here, but I feel like the pitch for FOX’s Glee went something like this. The network has ordered thirteen episodes of a new scripted musical series, truly the first of its kind. The maker of is behind the High School-based series, which will follow the characters inside a glee club that’s striving toward nationals.

Sources say the series will premiere in 2009, with speculation on the exact date running rampant. Some say it won’t appear until the summer season hits, while others are saying FOX will surely air it earlier to make use of an tie-in.

At any rate, it’s a musical series (there will be numbers every episode) starring a bunch of young, good-looking people. It’s not , it’s Glee.

And it’s probably going to be huge.

Read More | Perez Hilton

This Week on TV (7/14-7/20)

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Comedy, Drama, Games, Music, Prime Time, Reality, ABC, BBC, Bravo, Cable, CBS, FOX, MTV, NBC, TNT-HD, Degrassi

Saving Grace

(You can view TV Envy’s Summer Television Programming Schedule here.)

MONDAY (7/14)

  • Top Gear (BBC, 8pm):  Season premiere. “A game of car soccer is played.” No wonder kids are too fat these days. They can’t even get out of their car to actually kick a ball!
  • American Gladiators (NBC, 8pm):  “In the ladies tilt, a student tries to make the grade against a future figure skater.” As we’ve learned from , figure skaters come with an unfair advantage.
  • The Closer (TNT, 9pm): Season 4 premiere. “Fritz and Brenda’s new duplex forbids the presence of pets, but that doesn’t stop Brenda from keeping Kitty on the premises.” If Kitty is the pet, what’s Fritz?
  • Saving Grace (TNT, 10pm):  Season 2 premiere. “Grace gets busy on her day off: She works to unlock the secrets of her her haunted past, but instead ends up apprehending a criminal on the FBI’s Most Wanted list.” And I’ll bet she doesn’t get paid for doing all that work on her own time.

Click to continue reading This Week on TV (7/14-7/20)


Can Disney Rock the Ratings Again?

Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Kids, Music, Prime Time, Cable, Gossip

Camp Rock

Lightning doesn’t strike twice…unless you build the right kind of rod. No one anticipated the runaway success of Disney’s High School Musical, and now the powers-that-be are determined not to be caught unawares a second time. Fanfare and fan participation became the bookends of the High School Musical 2 marketing campaign…and even this pales in comparison to the star treatment the network is giving the soon-to-be-released .

The promos have been going strong for weeks, the Web site is filled with glitter and pizazz, and the debut is scheduled for June 20. Are you itching to set your DVR?

With the co-starring and a crop of fresh-faced youngsters, Disney is treating Rock like it’s the heir apparent to the Musical throne (the stars of which are moving quickly past the high school stage of their lives). But…is it?

Click to continue reading Can Disney Rock the Ratings Again?

Read More | CNN

2008 Summer Television Programming Schedule

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Animation, Comedy, Drama, Games, Kids, Prime Time, Reality, Sci-Fi/Horror, ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, The CW, Hell's Kitchen, Desperate Housewives, Everybody Hates Chris, Family Guy, Grey's Anatomy, House, So You Think You Can Dance, The Office

The Bachelorette, DeAnna Pappas

A new season calls for a new schedule.

If you’re without anything to do this summer, this updated programming schedule may help keep you occupied.  Over the next few months, networks will be introducing a crop of reality shows (Celebrity Circus, Greatest American Dog), some experimental dramas (Swingtown, Fear Itself) and the usual horde of repeats.

This list is a compilation of the calendars for the five major networks.

Click to continue reading 2008 Summer Television Programming Schedule


High School Musical 4 Already Being Planned

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Kids, Music, Cable, Gossip, News

High School Musical, Zac Efron, Vanessa HudgensPlease don’t confuse this post with something we wrote earlier this month.  With production on High School Musical 3 just about underway, Disney has already moved on to its next project:  High School Musical 4.

The cable channel confirmed that they are already in scriptwriting mode for the franchise’s third sequel.  Although the current installment will be heading directly to the big screen, HSM4 will be another made-for-TV movie.  At least that’s what they’re saying now.

At this point, no cast has been announced for the latest venture.  (Most of the original actors have claimed they were done after three.)  But who knows - if Tori Spelling is willing to come back to the 90210 spinoff, anything can happen.

My theory? This is all connected to the summer reality series based on the musical.  At this point, no one seems to know what the ‘winners’ will be getting.  I’m guessing it’s their opportunity to be the latest Disney stars.

Read More | Hollywood Reporter

High School Musical 3 To Begin Shooting This Month

Posted by Jacci Lewis Categories: Kids, Music, Prime Time, Cable, Cable/Satellite, News

High School Musical 3Talk about a dream come true for fanatics who just happen to attend East High School in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The third installment of the wildly successful   original made for TV movie is set to begin shooting before the end of this month according to the Associated Press.

The two previous High School Musical films were shot primarily at East High School outside of the school year. School district officials say most of the shooting on this film, High School Musical 3: Senior Year, will take place before and after classes to minimize disruptions for actual East High School students.

Click to continue reading High School Musical 3 To Begin Shooting This Month

Read More | Associated Press

Disney to Get Serious Musical Competition: How Spectacular

Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Kids, Music, Cable, Gossip

Tammin Sursok can’t control the market on teen/tween musical movies for much longer, not if kids-based Nickelodeon has anything to say about it.

Spectacular, a new musical comedy set in high school, will begin shooting on April 21 - move over, . Newcomers Tammin Sursok, Nolan Funk, and Simon Curtis will star in the film, along with Zoey 101’s Victoria Justice. The film will focus on the school choir and one preppy, pretty female student in particular. A new rock-n-roller joins the group, however unwittingly, and soon enough musical romance is borne between them. Sounds a little familiar…but I can’t quite recall which musical movie plot this might be similar to. Hmmm.

Nick’s high school musical movie is not the classic, cookie-cutter musical film. The numbers in this flick are performance-based rather than random singing insertions. Think more Dreamgirls and less My Fair Lady. Right now, the Viacom-owned network isn’t planning on any sequels - though there are contractual options open for just such an occurrence.

Read More | Hollywood Reporter

High School Musical Spawns a Reality Series

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Kids, Music, Prime Time, Reality, ABC, Gossip, News

High School MusicalHave you ever wondered what it would look like to see young wannabes stab each other in the back for a reality prize?  Well, you may soon have your chance!

Disney - with sister channel ABC - has just now come up with a new way to milk the franchise to death.  Apparently a big screen version of the triquel wasn’t enough; the series has now become the inspiration for a TV reality competition.

After a nationwide hunt for vocal talent, competitors will attend a ‘music conservatory’ to finesse their singing chops.  (I’m guessing this would be equivalent to American Idol‘s Hollywood Week?)  Details beyond that are quite hazy.  Although we should be expecting appearances from HSM stars, what the show’s winner will ultimately receive has not been disclosed.  But really - shouldn’t they all just be happy with bragging rights?

is hoping to get the program produced in time for their target audience’s summer break.

Read More | Variety

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