TV Squad

• Uh oh: Standoff won't return until the summer
  

  Filed under: Other Drama Shows, FOX, Industry, Programming, Standoff

  Fans of Standoff, the FOX hostage negotiator drama starring Ron Livingston and Rosemarie DeWitt, were worried when it was announced that the show was moving to Fridays. Now here's more to be concerned about: the show isn't returning at all until the summer.

  It was supposed to return in April, but FOX has decided the show won't be back until after the network announces its fall schedule in May. I wonder how this will affect their decision, since the show has been on hiatus for a while and they're not going to know what the summer...
  




• A baby for Torres, an engagement for House stars
  

  Filed under: Other Drama Shows, FOX, House, Celebrities, Standoff

  Gina Torres and her husband, Laurence Fishburne, are going to have a baby. Torres currently plays a supporting role in Fox's Standoff, but she's known to many television fans as the unbelievably tough and beautiful Zoe on Firefly. Torres and Fishburne have been married since 2002. People magazine reports she is due in the summer with the couple's first child. That's going to be one gorgeous baby.
  
  In other celebrity gossip, two costars on House are engaged. Jennifer Morrison and Jesse Spencer got engaged over the...
  



• Fox orders up more episodes of 'Til Death, Standoff
  

  Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, FOX, Standoff, Pickups and Renewals

  Fox has picked up the back nine episodes of the new comedy, 'Til Death, starring Brad Garrett and Joely Fisher. Even though the show hasn't done much in its Thursday night timeslot, Fox thinks there is an audience out there for this sitcom. Fox thinks that 24 and American Idol will draw in more viewers to the network when they begin in January.
  
  The network has also ordered six more episodes of Standoff, starring Ron Livingston and Rosemarie DeWitt (and Gina Torres for all you Firefly fans). A rep for...
  



• The Five: Why I'm not reviewing Standoff anymore
  

  Filed under: Other Drama Shows, FOX, OpEd, The Five, Standoff

  You might have noticed that I didn't review last night's episode of Standoff. It's not because of election coverage. I'm just super bored with the show. Here's why.

  1. It's like Mad Libs. Seriously, all you have to do is fill in the blanks with each episode's set up, confrontaion, and resolution. The two hostage negotiators are called in, Matt gets on the phone, Emily figures out what's going on in the hostage-taker's life that would make him do this, Frank wants to shoot them instead of talk to them, Matt and Emily banter about...
  




• Standoff: Life Support
  

  Filed under: Other Drama Shows, FOX, OpEd, Standoff

  (S01E05) This show is just too formulaic. It's not that the plots aren't a tad innovative - not just hostages at a bank but hostages in a airport control tower, a diner, and in this episode, a hospital operating room - it's just that the structure is just so formulaic and tedious. Guy with a gun takes over a place, the only two hostage negotiators in L.A. are called in, one of them calls the guy with the gun, things seem to be about to go well, then someone screws it up and this pisses off the...
  



• Fox shuffles its post-baseball schedule
  

  Filed under: Other Drama Shows, FOX, Programming, Justice, Standoff

  Fox is changing up its schedule once the World Series is over. It is sending Vanished to 8 pm on Fridays, the place where television shows go to die. And, Justice is moving from Wednesdays to Mondays at 9 pm. Fox obviously hopes the large Prison Break audience will stick around for the new Jerry Bruckheimer procedural drama which has consistently placed 4th among the networks on Wednesdays. Tuesdays will switch up just a bit, with Standoff moving to the 8 pm hour and House moving up to 9 pm. On Wednesdays, Bones will remain...
  



• Fox gives Tim Minear another show?
  

  Filed under: Other Drama Shows, FOX, Industry, OpEd, Celebrities, Standoff

  Don't get me wrong. I'm a big Tim Minear fan. Actually, I never missed an airing of Angel, Firefly, Wonderfalls, or The Inside. He served as a producer on all of those, along with writing his fair share of episodes. Heck, I even remember watching some episodes of High Tide back in the day when Minear was just getting started as a writer. Still, news that Minear is being brought on as Consulting Producer for Standoff just boggles me.
  
  Now, I think that Firefly and Wonderfalls were brilliant,...
  



• Standoff: Partners in Crime
  

  Filed under: Other Drama Shows, FOX, OpEd, Standoff

  (S01E04) I hate it when TV shows or movies are really "predictable" in how "unpredictable" they are. Case in point, tonight's Standoff. Have I just been watching too much television the past 40 years or were the two "twists" at the start of this episode pretty easy to guess? Yeah, it was kinda obvious that the first team assault on the house was just a training exercise, and it was equally obvious that the girl was in on the bank thefts with the serial bank robber, just wearing different wigs.

  That's not to say that there are worse ways...
  




• Standoff stops production (but not for the reason you might think)
  

  Filed under: Other Drama Shows, FOX, Industry, Programming, Standoff

  The new FOX hostage negotiation drama Standoff has stopped production for a week, but not because the show is being shelved. It's actually a "writer's break," so they can get caught up (since they start the new season before the other networks) and new consulting producer Tim Minear comes on board to help out.

  So, those of you who had Standoff in our contest can stop jumping up and down now and go back to watching television.

   




• A fast Q&A with Ron Livingston and Rosemarie DeWitt of Standoff
  

  Filed under: Other Drama Shows, FOX, Interviews, Celebrities, Standoff, NYTVF

  On the new FOX drama Standoff, Ron Livingston and Rosemarie DeWitt play Matt Flannery and Emily Lehman, who are partners on one of the FBI's finest crisis negotiaton teams. They also happen to be sleeping together. The show examines how the personal aspect of their relationship mixes in with the high-stakes nature of their jobs. I was able to get a few minutes with the pair before the screening of the show's pilot at the New York Television Festival. Of course, no Ron Livingston interview could...