When I first heard Hawaii Five-O was getting the remake treatment I wasn’t that interested. I only vaguely remembered the original series and it was one step closer to rebooting Magnum P.I. (how sacrilegious would will that be?) in my opinion. However, I’ve begun to shift in the other direction regarding this series as more casting news comes out.

The most recent addition is James Marsters. Probably best known as Spike from Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Marsters also played Brianic on Smallville and Barnabas on Caprica.  As exciting as it may be to have him on the new Hawaii Five-O it doesn’t sound like he’ll have a continuing role, at least not yet. Marsters will be in the pilot and appear, “as the nemesis of lead character Jack McGarrett.”

At this point it seems producers Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman (Star Trek, Transformers, Fringe) are trying to capture the geek community for the new show.  Marsters joins a cast that encapsulates geek programming; Grace Park (Battlestar Galactica), Daniel Dae Kim (Lost), Jean Smart (24), and Alex O’Loughlin (Moonlight) are already on deck.  With Scott Caan on board as well suddenly Hawaii Five-O is a show I can start to get behind.

It’s a grab bag of items on the radar this week. Wolverine and Sabretooth have dinner together, Bruno himself could be the next Man in Black, and in honor of The Flickcast crew attending SXSW some Predators love (of which they may get a taste).

Predators get dark and scary…finally!

Robert Rodriquez’s Predator reboot, Predators, is starting to get some buzz.  While the first film of the series was a great sci-fi/action hybrid subsequent films have been less than stellar.  Predators star, Alice Braga talked a little about the new film and what we can expect:

“The new Predators are dark. They are really, really scary. So I think the fans are really going to be happy with it. I hope so. The director Nimród Antal, he’s a fan of the Predator films. So it’s like a fan directing this, [it was] like a kid on set, and having that energy was very special. I wish I could tell you more.”

Here’s hoping “dark” and “scary” means an R-rated film and not a watered down PG-13 movie.

Conan will square off against Avatar villain

As an update to our last ‘On The Radar’ article, it has now been confirmed that actor Stephen Lang will indeed play Conan’s villain, Khalar Singh.  Speaking with MTV, Lang stated:

“I have no idea how I’m going to do it,” Lang laughed. “First I’m going to find out how I’m going to sound. I’m going to get back on a Mongolian pony and ride like the wind. I’m going to flash my scimitar. I’m going to cut the nuts off Conan and his father.”

That last threat may seem really out there, but after seeing Lang’s bad ass side in Avatar I have no doubt he can make good on it.

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As we previously reported, NBC has given new season order for 30 Rock, The Office and Community while, according to a recent interview with NBC network president Angela Bromstad, a fifth season of the beleaguered Heroes is still undetermined. In addition, the CW has ordered a 10th season for Smallville.

Now, Fox has officially renewed the J.J. Abrams sci-fi procedural Fringe for a third season. The show had perfoemed reasonably well but was not a ratings powerhouse. Still, it’s hard to believe it wouldn’t get renewed, especially given its J.J. Abrams connection and the fact that Lost is ending this season.

Two big reasons for Fox to keep it around for another year. Plus, any show with the great John Noble, the hot Anna Torv and the cool Leonard Nimoy should be on the air as long as it wants to be.

The fate of Jack Bauer and the CTU team of 24 is still up in the air due to falling ratings and the show’s considerable expense to produce. Fox president Kevin Reilly recently told The Live Feed:

“It’s a very tough call. It’s a huge part of our legacy, and there’s not a lot of shows that could do a 9 share against the Olympics. Tremendous sales asset for us still; a show we’re so very proud of creatively. So it’s not an easy call.”

Well, if our own Shannon Hood has anything to say about it, that call should be an easy one.

Dear 24:

When we first met in 2001, you were perfect for me. You were exciting, and dangerous, and knew how to show a lady a good time. But lately, the relationship has lost its luster. I know that this is the natural progression of any relationship, you can’t possibly keep up that same level of intrigue for all these years. After the seven year itch, I settled into a comfort with your familiarity.  I looked forward to spending time with you every Monday night.

But you just had to go and ruin things with all these other women. Rene and Dana ring a bell? Heck, I’ve even got a bone to pick with Chloe this season. I can’t deal with all these other women, and here is why I quit you, mid-episode last Monday, for good. Spoilers abound, so proceed with caution.

Sad/Bad/Mad Rene.  Actually I really like Rene, and I adore Annie Wersching in the role, but there are so many inconsistencies with her character this season, and her spunk has been  replaced with this misguided  self–loathing. Quite frankly, making Rene’s character into such a drag has really been a drag on the show.

I also can’t quite figure out the chronology of Rene’s storyline, which is really not helping the credibility of her story arc. Readers, perhaps you can enlighten me here. Weren’t we told that six years ago Rene went undercover with the Russian gang?  Wouldn’t that make it pre-season 7, in which she was still in uptight prissy mode?  Since President Allison Taylor is still in office, I am assuming this season did not skip forward 10 years because of Presidential term limits.

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With the internet community and a few studio execs hinting that this current season of 24 may be the last, big news is now coming out of Twentieth Century Fox’s camp, as they have just announced a film adaptation of the series.

The studio was allegedly blown away by a pitch from screenwriter Billy Ray (State of Play, Flightplan), in which Jack Bauer goes to Europe, and they have already hired him to finish the script for production. From Variety:

Script is said to have come through “24″ star Kiefer Sutherland, who’s also an exec producer on the series — and is said to be eager to turn the long-running TV skein into a feature franchise.

Feature would be produced by the TV show’s key exec producers, including Sutherland. Series was created by Robert Cochran and Joel Surnow, while exec producer Howard Gordon runs the show through his Real Time Prods. banner.

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Last week, Fox aired a special 2-night, four hour premiere of the eighth season of 24 to record ratings, and a groundbreaking plot that will keep us enthralled for most of this season. Now it seems things are heating up even more for for Jack Bauer and the CTU team.

Tonight will be hours 8PM to 9PM, which is already the fifth episode of the season. Now that Jack and CTU are based in New York City, things are already getting intense for the East coast. From Fox:

Four explosive hours after being unwillingly drawn back into action, Jack Bauer reteams with a risky Renee Walker to track some very dangerous leads. Meanwhile, back at CTU, a desperate Dana Walsh faces tense and untimely circumstances, and emotions escalate when President Taylor learns of a larger looming threat that jeopardizes the peace accord with President Hassan.

Check out four brand new clips from tonight’s episode, and be sure to catch the episode “8:00pm-9:00pm” of 24, tonight on Fox.

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We’re all pretty excited about the upcoming 8th season of Fox’s 24 next Sunday. We broke the very first trailer back in October, took you behind the scenes earlier this week, and now we’ve got some more goodies to get you excited for Jack Bauer and his upcoming adventures.

A few new clips have recently become available, showing off mostly Keifer Sutherland as Bauer, transporting an informant that may have details on an upcoming assassination attempt. Fans of FX’s The Shield may recognize Jack’s informant, as well.

There aren’t many details about how this season’s “day” will unfold, but we do know that Jack has retired; Kim has a daughter;They both live in New York City, and CTU has been completely revamped, with the addition of Freddie Prinze Jr. and Katee Sackhoff to the team.

Check out the clips after the jump, and catch the action as the eighth season of 24 kicks off on January 17, only on FOX.

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With Christmas over and the new year in full swing, Chris and Matt are back with a brand new episode of The Flickcast. This week, your favorite team is joined by Cortney Zamm to discuss all sorts of topics including new and returning TV shows such as Chuck, 24, Human Target, Caprica, Lost and True Blood. Also, the threesome talks Avatar, Sandra Bullock, “feel good” movies, Spartacus: Blood and Sand and Thor casting.

In addition, Chris, Matt and Cortney make some new picks for the new year including one of Cortney’s favorite books Silent Bob Speaks, Matt’s new favorite “blacksploitation” film Black Dynamite and one of Chris’ top ten films of 2009, District 9.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques or offers of sponsorship, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter and at Facebook, MySpace or via email.

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We’ve already talked about January being a big month for Fox with Human Target starting up in a few weeks, and American Idol following shortly thereafter. One huge factor in Fox’s potential ratings success this season will be the return of 24 for it’s eighth and possibly final season.

This season takes place in New York City, which is a first, with Jack (Kiefer Sutherland) just about to get cozy for a life of retirement. Just as that happens, he gets a new mission dropped in his lap, with very little room to continue his life of leisure.

This season promises to have exciting new character archs, including new cast members Freddie Prinze Jr. and Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica). A few new surprises, and plenty of Jack Bauer beating up on terrorists.

Check out an all-new behind the scenes featurette on the new season after the jump, and be sure to catch the season premiere of 24 on Sunday, January 17th.

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While most of the “best of 2009″ lists are petering off in the new year, there are still a few statistics still rolling in. One being the most-illegally-downloaded TV program of the year, which also happens to be one of the least popular. NBC’s Heroes has been on the bubble since last year, which is why the network only ordered half of a season for this year, and will be spreading the episodes out until Spring sweeps.

With that in mind, it would be considered that fans wouldn’t be rushing to their torrent sites or DVD stores to catch up on the super-powered drama, seeing as how they didn’t give it enough of a chance when it was on the air in the past. According to The Hollywood Reporter, that’s just what they’re doing.

“This year, the buzz is that the show may be on the verge of cancellation thanks to dwindling ratings (it averages about 6 million viewers a week, down from nearly 14 million when the show first premiered in 2006).

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