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Assorted Topics--- Today, we've got word on the continuation of the "Semi-Annual Sopranos Renewal Con-Game," the creator of Alias letting it slip that Jennifer Garner is indeed pregnant, Jimmy Kimmel's portrayal of Jay Leno in the "E Presentation of the Michael Jackson Trial," and Shannen Doherty already getting herself fired from her new sitcom before it even hits the air.

Media Pretends to be Surprised about Another Season of The Sopranos
It is always nice to watch the entertainment media hilariously try to pretend that they're surprised when the con-game of The Sopranos getting renewed indefinitely continues season after season. I could understand someone not noticing a pattern until it happened a few times, but at this point it's just ridiculous. To catch you up if you're new to the "Semi-Annual Sopranos Renewal Con-Game," The Sopranos' sixth and "final" season is currently in production, and will start airing on HBO sometime in 2006. However, to the shock of absolutely no one, Sopranos creator David Chase has now said that "maybe, just maybe," he could be convinced to bring the show back for a seventh season. The media is now acting like this is news, when in fact it was already a foregone conclusion.

You see, back when The Sopranos was producing its third season, that was supposedly going to be the end of it. There was a small chance that there would be a fourth season if the public demanded it, or if HBO increased the amount it pays the show's producers in rights fees, but it was unlikely. Lo and behold, it was soon announced that there would be a fourth and final season. Later, when it came time to produce the fourth and supposedly final season, the same exact scenario played out with the announcement of a fifth season, which aired in early 2004. That was supposed to be the final season, but surprise, surprise! A sixth season was eventually announced, although by the time it hits the airwaves in 2006, a whopping two years will have passed since the premiere of the previous season, thus stretching the process out even further.

So now with the "sixth and final season" in production, why on earth would anyone be surprised to hear that it won't really be the final season, and that a seventh season will also be coming eventually? I love the actual show of The Sopranos as much as anyone, but this insincere "final season" nonsense has been going on since the second freakin' season and can no longer be considered anything more than an embarrassment to anyone associated with the show. At this rate, The Sopranos' actual final season will be its 15th season, which will air in 2026...

Alias Creator Lets it Slip that Jennifer Garner is Indeed Pregnant
In the, "Oops, I didn't know we were still supposed to be lying about that to the media" department, Alias creator J.J. Abrams has let it slip that Alias star Jennifer Garner is pregnant. When discussing the next season of Alias, Abrams said that Garner's "pregnancy will affect" the filming of the next season, and he jokingly added that every spy Garner portrays "will just be a pregnant person," and, "I'm sure kickboxing scenes are probably out." Abrams said that he would find a way to incorporate Garner's pregnancy into the the show.

There's just one problem. Neither Jennifer Garner, nor her fiance Ben Affleck, have officially confirmed to any media outlet anywhere that she is indeed pregnant. The official PR position is supposed to be that it's still "just a rumor." By confirming Garner's pregnancy in interviews, J.J. Abrams has made himself the first person to acknowledge on-the-record that she is indeed pregnant. Oops!

In any case, Jennifer Garner's pregnancy is probably the least of the Alias producers' worries. Even with mega-hit Lost as its lead-in, Alias' ratings tanked in its most recent season, dropping from the strong 10.0 season premiere rating to as low as 6.3 over the course of the season. And in a move that could end up being suicidal, the show is being moved this fall to Thursdays at 8:00 PM, which will easily be the most competitive timeslot on television with Alias having to compete with Survivor, Joey, Will & Grace, Smallville, and the new Chris Rock sitcom.

Jimmy Kimmel Does Jay Leno Doing Michael Jackson
I think the E News headline says it all. Not only did Jay Leno testify yesterday at Michael Jackson's child molestation trial, but he helped lighten the mood of the trial a little bit by injecting some humor into his testimony. When both sides said, "No further questions" and the judge said, "You may step down," Leno actually leaned into the court microphone and said, "We've got Renee Zellweger on the show tonight!" (By the way, I can't be the only one to have noticed that Zellweger is now completely unable to open her eyes without squinting, thanks to her latest over-the-top cheek implant surgery.)

To top it all off, The E Network had to get someone to portray Leno in its daily Michael Jackson Trial Re-Enactments, and who better to portray Leno than fellow latenight talk show host Jimmy Kimmel? You'd expect the production team to make Kimmel look like Leno, which they did, but the surprising thing is that Kimmel actually did an excellent impersonation of Leno. Kimmel had the Leno impersonation down pat, from the lisp to the changing voice pitch to the bobbing head, in a way that was realistic and not over-the-top.

Shannen Doherty Gets Fired Yet Again
On the final day of the 2004-2005 television season, with such high-profile face-offs as the two-hour season finale of American Idol going head-to-head with the two-hour season finale of Lost, the news came out today that one of this fall's highest-profile new comedies has lost its lead star. Just last week at the annual upfront presentations, one of the comedies with the most hype thrown behind it was UPN's Love, Inc., in which Doherty would play a matchmaker. Now, Doherty has been fired for being "difficult to work with" for what seems like the 354th time.

It's not known if any specific incident sparked Doherty's firing, but it must have been bad for UPN to abruptly terminate her just one week after trotting her out at the upfront presentations and making a big deal out of her new fall series. It has been well documented over the years that Doherty has been notoriously moody and difficult to work with on just about everything she has ever done in Hollywood, including her infamous behavior on the set of "Charmed" that ultimately got her fired from that job as well. So, the news that Doherty has been fired from her new show isn't particularly shocking, but that won't make it any easier for UPN as the network scrambles to find a last-minute replacement to be the star of the series.

Labels: Television (Non-MMA)

posted by Ivan Trembow at 6:03 PM

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