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Brian De Palma has a reputation as a "Hitchcock conversationalist." Depending on who you talk to, the director has either stolen his entire directorial style, borrowed his cinematic language, or evolved his own style based loosely on the teachings of his celebrated predecessor. Either way, Brian De Palma really likes Hitchcock and everyone noticed a long time ago.

The "Mission: Impossible" director hasn't always played down the comparison, either. Back in 1978, he spent a good deal of his time on the Dick Cavett show extolling the virtues of Hitchcock. Asked why he's the "master," De Palma explained: "Hitchcock pioneered a whole type of film grammar. He taught us how to express things as clearly, visually, I think as they can be expressed." Whatever else people say, clearly the two directors at least share a connection. De Palma literally considers Hitchcock the master, going on to tell Cavett that he's "very...

Back in the summer, I acknowledged my own hypocrisy about TV's sequel series craze, admitting that I can't wait for new "X-Files" and "Twin Peaks" episodes, even as I was annoyed that "Heroes," "Full House," "Coach," and seemingly every other TV show ever made was getting a follow-up of some kind. In the months since, NBC passed on the "Coach" revival, and "Heroes Reborn" was as bad as I expected it to be. But TV executives continue to oppose the idea that sometimes, dead is better, and last night brought a report from TVLine's Michael Ausiello that "Gilmore Girls" will live again on Netflix, as four 90-minute episodes written and produced by "Gilmore" creator Amy Sherman-Palladino and her husband Daniel Palladino. On the one hand, "Gilmore Girls" was a wonderful show — one of the very best to ever air during the brief but memorable life of the WB network — and...

Let’s all say this together, “aww poor Jane”. This will go along with the last batch of promo stills that we have for Jane the Virgin‘s upcoming episode “Chapter Seven”. She knows that it is best to avoid Rafael as she is engaged to another guy and she does not want to ruin it. However, her friends appear to have other plans by dragging her to the club he owns. This of course makes it very uncomfortable for her as she bumps into him and cannot avoid her crush. Can she get by unscathed? You can view the promo stills down below for the November 24th episode. Here is the official description of the episode.

Taking Risks — Jane (Gina Rodriguez) decides the best thing for her is to stay away from Rafael (Justin Baldoni), but when her friends insist on taking her to the hot new club that he owns,...

CW has big plans for the Thanksgiving holiday week later on this month. The network released their holiday line up regarding what shows they will air between November 24th-28th. The network is preparing some of their big holiday episodes, as well as special one off offerings to boost their viewership right at the end in time for sweeps calculations. Here is the list they recent of published for the special week.

Monday, November 24

The Originals

“The Brothers That Care Forgot” — (8:00-9:00 p.m. Et) (Content Rating Tbd) (HDTV)

Guest Star Claire Holt Returns As Rebekah Mikaelson — Rebekah (guest star Claire Holt), who has spent months away living a normal life with baby Hope, finds herself on the run when she realizes Esther (guest star Sonja Sohn) has uncovered her whereabouts. Convinced that Vincent (guest star Yusuf Gatewood) and Kaleb (guest star Daniel Sharman) would be powerful allies...

(Cbr) Nick Frost is one step closer to a regular American television gig. The star of "Shaun of the Dead" and "The World’s End", along with British shows like "Spaced" and "Hyperdrive", has signed on to the Fox pilot "Sober Companion", Deadline reports. It was written and produced by David S. Rosenthal and Jennie Snyder Urman, who previously worked together on the "90210" relaunch and "Gilmore Girls". The project stars Frost as Robert, a driven lawyer with a drinking problem who gets a judge-appointed sober companion, played by Justin Long after falling flat on his face in court.

Dorian Brown (Wilfred) and Mouzam Makkar (Communicators) have landed female leads in Fox comedy pilot Sober Companion. Written/exec produced by David S. Rosenthal & Jennie Snyder Urman, Sober Companion centers on Robert (Nick Frost), a charming but self-destructive attorney who finds his world turned upside down when a court-appointed sober companion (Justin Long) takes control of his life. Brown, repped by Domain and McKeon/Myones, will play Cate, Robert’s ex-wife and probably still the love of his life. Makkar, repped by Gray Talent Group and Principato Young, will play Alex, Robert’s competitive, self-confident sister. Mallory Mahoney also has joined the cast as JoanJett, Robert and Cate’s young daughter. Related: 2014 Fox Pilots Ana Nogueira (The Michael J. Fox Show) has booked a series regular role on CBS’ single-camera comedy pilot Good Session. Written by John Hamburg and Matt Miller and directed by Hamburg, the project revolves around a happy couple,...

Following in the footsteps of Cornetto chums Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright, Nick Frost has scored some welcome Stateside recognition with the lead in a new sitcom pilot. He's set to star alongside Justin Long in Sober Companion.Frost will be Robert, a smart, ambitious lawyer who also battles a huge addiction problem. When it begins to affect his work and he passes out drunk in court, he's assigned a sober companion to help him deal with his issues.Long is taking on that role, helping Frost's character stay away from all the things that threaten to get him in trouble lest he lose his job and potentially end up behind bars for his behaviour. We imagine, given that it's a sitcom, that things won't go completely smoothly.No director has been announced yet, but David S. Rosenthal and Jennie Snyder Urman have written the script and would run any eventual show.

In one of the biggest casting coups for Fox this season, the network has tapped British writer-actor Nick Frost (Hot Fuzz, Paul) as the lead opposite Justin Long in comedy pilot Sober Companion. Written/exec produced by David S. Rosenthal & Jennie Snyder Urman, Sober Companion centers on Robert (Frost), a charming, but self-destructive attorney who finds his world turned upside down when a court-appointed sober companion (Long) takes control of his life. Frost’s Robert is intelligent, driven and an addict. So drunk that he does a faceplant in court, he is assigned a sober companion for the next 90 days, and must either stay away from everything he deems to be fun, or lose his job and probably his liberty. This marks the first American TV gig for Frost, who signed on for the role after lengthy courtship. The actor, repped by UTA, Think Tank Management and UK’s Hamilton/Hodell,...

Nick Frost (“Hot Fuzz”) has joined the Fox single-camera comedy pilot, “Sober Companion.” Frost will play the series regular role of Robert: an intelligent, driven attorney who is also an addict. When Robert is so drunk that he passes out in court, he is assigned a sober companion for the next 90 days. Robert must either stay away from everything he deems to be fun, or lose his job — and likely, his freedom. See photos: The Faces of Pilot Season 2014 “Sober Companion,” from CBS Television Studios, is executive produced and written by David S. Rosenthal and Jennie Snyder Urman. As previously announced,...

Justin Long has been tapped to star in Fox’s comedy pilot “Sober Companion.” The “He’s Just Not That Into You” actor will play Jeremy, an upbeat, eccentric sober companion who uses unconventional methods to keep clients clean. David S. Rosenthal and Jennie Snyder Urman will executive produce and write the CBS Television Studios pilot, which started as a multi-cam sitcom and is now a single-camera show. Also read: Pilot Season 2014: TheWrap’s Complete Network Guide Long, who was recently on Fox’s “New Girl,” just completed filming two feature films: “Tusk,” for director Kevin Smith, and “Comet,...

After a lengthy courtship, Justin Long has signed on as one of the two leads in Fox’s comedy pilot Sober Companion, originally developed and greenlighted as multi-camera. As part of getting Long to commit, Fox is converting CBS Studios-produced Sober Companion to single-camera, which is a format I hear Long was open to doing full-time. He has experience in both, doing a memorable arc on the first season of Fox’s single-camera comedy New Girl and an arc on CBS’ freshman sitcom Mom this past fall. The switch from multi- to single-camera impacts a couple of crew members who will have to be replaced, though director Don Scardino, who has helmed both multi- and single-camera comedy series, is staying put. Written/exec produced by David S. Rosenthal & Jennie Snyder Urman, Sober Companion centers on a charming, but self-destructive attorney who finds his world turned upside down when a...

Justin Long is continuing is relationship with Fox. The actor, who has recurred on New Girl, will star in the network's comedy pilot Sober Companion, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. The pilot will now be shot as a single-camera comedy instead of a multicam.  Story: TV Pilots 2014: The Complete Guide From 90210's David S. Rosenthal and Jennie Snyder Urman, the comedy centers on a charming but self-destructive attorney who finds his world turned upside down when a court-appointed and highly unconventional sober companion takes control of his life. Rosenthal and Urman will pen the script

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Julianna Guill (Crazy, Stupid, Love) has been cast as a regular in CBS pilot The Mistake, a multi-camera comedy written by Friends alumni Shana Goldberg-Meehan and Scott Silveri and former Seinfeld writer-producer David Mandel. Produced by Wbtv, the story centers around a couple who had just “finished” raising their kids when they discover they’re pregnant. Guill, repped by Apa, Luber Roklin Management and Neil Meyer, will play oldest child Gretchen who has just landed a high-paying job as a consultant and is particularly embarrassed by her parents’ pregnancy. Related: 2014 CBS Pilots Ally Maki has booked a regular role on Fox‘s comedy pilot Sober Companion from CBS TV Studios and writers/exec producers David S. Rosenthal and Jennie Snyder Urman. It centers on Robert, a charming, but self-destructive attorney who finds his world turned upside down when a court-appointed, and highly unconventional, sober companion takes control of his life.

Fox‘s Night of Comedy showcase at the Improv last fall featured then-19-year-old comedian Pete Davidson. The network brass loved him and quickly signed him to a talent holding deal. After a small guest-starring role on Fox’s freshman comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which marked his first TV acting gig, Davidson got his first network test for Fox’s comedy pilot Sober Companion and landed the role on the spot, with Fox casting executives bullish on his breakout potential. A native of Staten Island, NY, Davidson started his career in comedy at a young age, using it as a therapeutic outlet after losing his father, a New York City firefighter, on 9/11. Making his rounds in the New York comedy scene, he was spotted by Nick Cannon who took him under his wing. Davidson was a semi-regular on the revival of Nick Cannon Presents: Wild ‘N Out improv comedy series on MTV2 last year,...

Berlin - Some films, like "Gloria," enter Berlin with no profile and leave with their heads held high; others merely shuffle away quietly after a reasonably noisy arrival. David S. Rosenthal's drab backwoods thriller "A Single Shot," a rather surprising inclusion for the festival's more esoteric Forum sidebar, is in the latter group. One of the few world premieres at the festival to boast a modicum of Us star power -- well, to those for whom high-end character actors like Sam Rockwell and William H. Macy are stars, at any rate -- it's the kind of indistinct genre potboiler that might...

Chicago – Clearly inspired as much by the success of “Desperate Housewives” as that of its actual source material, ABC’s “Eastwick” is a mixed cauldron of possibilities, a show with a strong enough cast and concept to warrant a second look but also one with enough deep flaws in its premiere to suggest that perhaps this spell will not be cast over too many viewers.

Television Rating: 3.0/5.0 Working from the 1987 film “Witches of Eastwick” (itself based on the novel by John Updike), ABC’s supernatural dramedy features three, well-cast, sexy actresses with more than enough talent to work their magic on many a viewer but also features a male lead trying to fill some awfully big shoes and writing that doesn’t crackle like one would hope.

Lindsay Price, Rebecca Romijn, Jaime Ray Newman.

Photo credit: ABC/Robert Voets

Three women in the small town of Eastwick have their own typical TV problems,...

A rundown of layoff-era shows already in the works.

By Lauren Horwitch

"Canned"

Network: ABC

Cast: Amanda Bynes, Tim Peper, Stephanie Lemelin and Baron Vaughn

Producers: Kevin Etten (“Reaper”), David Rosenthal (“Gilmore Girls”) and Peter Traugott (“Samantha Who?”)

Genre: Comedy

Premise: A group of friends get fired on the same day. Bynes plays a naive employee who is being exploited by her boss.

“Two-dollar Beer”

Network: Fox <b...

It's a firm go for ABC's recession-themed multicamera pilot "Canned" after David Rosenthal has been tapped as executive producer/showrunner.

On the director front, veteran Pamela Fryman has joined the CBS comedy "Accidentally on Purpose."

"Canned," from ABC Studios, originally was picked up as showrunner-contingent. On the comedy, about a group of friends who get fired on the same day, Rosenthal will be an exec producer alongside Peter Traugott and writer Kevin Etten.

"Accidentally," from CBS Par and BermanBraun, stars Jenna Elfman as a movie critic who finds herself pregnant after a fling with a much younger man. Fryman is a director and exec producer of "How I Met Your Mother."

In other pilot news, CBS' comedy "Tick Tock" has been pushed. The CBS Par project, which revolves around an unconventional single mother, had been picked up as cast-contingent and was put on hold in the wake of difficulties casting the lead.

  ABC has ordered a pair of drama pilots from big-name producers Jerry Bruckheimer and McG. "Limelight" comes from McG's Wonderland Sound and Vision and superstar hip-hop producer Pharrell Williams. Written by K.J. Steinberg ("Gossip Girl"), "Limelight" focuses on the students and faculty at a performing arts school in New York City. According to Variety, the pilot, based on the real-life experiences of Williams, was originally developed in the fall of 2007 with David S. Rosenthal writing the script. The current version will be directed by David Semel, one of the industry's pilot-helming lucky charms. The Bruckheimer-produced pilot was written by...

ABC is getting into the Jerry Buckheimer crime drama business.

The network on Friday greenlighted an untitled pilot from the top producer to be directed by frequent Bruckheimer collaborator Danny Cannon.

Friday was a big day for the most prolific producers on TV, with McG and Mark Gordon also landing pilot orders from ABC.

McG is behind the high school musical drama "Limelight," which will be directed by David Semel, while Gordon exec produces the modern-day Romeo and Juliet tale "Empire State."

The Bruckheimer pilot, from Wbtv and Bruckheimer TV, was written by Mark Friedman. It centers on a team of amateur detectives working on cases of unidentified victims.

Friedman, Bruckheimer and Cannon are exec producing with Jonathan Littman.

If the pilot goes to series, it would be Bruckheimer's first scripted show on ABC. The network's previous regime famously passed on "CSI," developed at ABC Studios (then Touchstone) under current ABC Entertainment chief Stephen McPherson.

Gilmore Girls fans have been on a rollercoaster ride this season. At the end of last season, the show lost its creator Amy Sherman-Palladino and her husband, co-executive producer Daniel Palladino. Fan reaction to producer David Rosenthal's storylines have been mixed at best. To be fair, Rosenthal took on a very difficult job and was left with a lot of storyline challenges. Whether you liked it or not, most would agree a so-so season is better than none at all. Things can always get better, right? How about if this was Gilmore's last year?

Gilmore Girls debuted on October 5, 2000 on the old WB network and made the jump in 2006 to the CW. The series focuses on the relationship between young single mother Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham) and her daughter "Rory" (Alexis Bledel). Set in the small and quirky Connecticut town of Stars Hollow, the relationship drama is well-known for its trademark wit,...