To be honest, we kinda lost interest in both of these shows almost as soon as they started. So, it isn’t really much of a surprise that Fox has given the axe to both The Finder and Alcatraz.

Both series had dropped considerably in the rating since their debut and were, if we’re being brutally honest, not all that engaging or entertaining. Even though it was nice to see Michael Clarke Duncan getting more work.

Fox does like being in the Kiefer Sutherland business and consequently has given his series Touch, Exec. Produced by Heroes alumni Tim Kring, a second season. I’m sure that decision may have something to do with Sutherland’s participation in some 24 movies, regardless of Touch’s relative quality. Still, good for Kring and company.

In addition, Fox has also given series orders to Mindy Kaling’s It’s Messy and other shows like Goodwin Games and Ben & Kate. Other series commitments are expected to be announced soon.

Fortunately, all is not lost for J.J. Abrams current TV career as Fox did have the smarts to give Abram’s other show, the awesome Fringe, a final 13 episode season. That was a good move on Fox’s part and we could not be happier about it.

Fans of Fox’s quirky Sci-Fi/paranormal series Fringe can relax. It seems the network is happy enough with the show’s performance and dedicated fanbase that it has decided to renew the series for fa fifth and final season.

That’s right, the show will live on at least one more year and debut with a final 13 episode season in the Fall, the last episode of which will mark the show’s 100th. Fox made the announcement today and of course, fans are not the only ones happy about this development.

“We are thrilled and beyond grateful that FOX — and our fans — have made the impossible possible: ‘Fringe’ will continue into a fifth season that will allow the series to conclude in a wild and thrilling way,” series co-creator/executive producer J.J. Abrams said.

No word yet on the exact premiere date for the final season. However, don’t get too down about that because there’s already a promo for season 5. Check it out after the break. Fringe airs Friday nights at 9/8C on Fox.

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Fox announced the renewal of three more of their series for next season.  The three series are freshman comedy New Girl, musical comedy Glee and family comedy Raising Hope.

These renewals mean a second season for New Girl, a third season for Raising Hope, and that Glee will get a fourth season. The three comedies join recently renewed Fox drama Bones.

“Over the past season, New Girl has become the hottest new appointment series for young adults; Raising Hope has established itself as one of the smartest and most unique offbeat comedies on television; and Glee has continued its success as a genre-defying, global cultural phenomenon,” said Fox’s entertainment president Kevin Reilly. “All three of these comedies add a fresh and distinctive flavor to our Tuesday nights, and I’m really happy to bring them back to our air next season.”

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As is the usual practice almost anywhere were column inches or post counts matter, writers such as myself take to their keyboards and make lists. I am no exception and, with a great deal of difficulty and toil, have managed to cobble together a list of what I think are some of the best things of 2011.

I don’t really want to bore you with a lot of explanations as to why I picked what I did. Suffice it to say these picks are mine and mine alone. Also, they are not in any particular order, mostly because I find it hard to rank them that closely. Or, I was just too lazy.

Either way, here you go.

Movies

Drive
The Artist
Attack the Block
X-Men: First Class
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
The Descendants
Thunder Soul
13 Assassins
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
Hugo

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For whatever reason, many of our favorite shows discussed at length around The Flickcast water cooler are on NBC. Because of that we often feel compelled to share previews of upcoming shows with you when we get them.

Today is no exception. This time around, in honor of Friday, we’ve got previews for tonight’s all new episodes of Grimm and Chuck.

First up on Chuck, Morgan is going rogue and Chuck needs to bring him down to Earth and back into the fold. Then, on Grimm, the line between good and evil gets blurred when Nick’s job forces to protect an enemy.

All the fun begins at 8/7C with Chuck. Check out all the previews after the break. As a public service, we should also mention that Fringe is all-new tonight too. We also love that show. Set your DVRs!

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As with NBC earlier today, Fox jumped into the fray and announced its primetime schedule for next season also. The network has one new drama, Terra Nova, three comedies, New Girl, I Hate My New Daughter and the animated Allen Gregory, launching in the fall.

Dramas Alcatraz, the Bones spinoff Finder and animated comedy Napoleon Dynamite drop in midseason. Prehistoric drama Terra Nova wil anchor the network’s Monday lineup at 8 PM with House moving to 9 PM. House will return to 8 PM in midseason to help launch the J.J. Abrams show Alcatraz.

Fox is keeping the Tuesday comedy block with New Girl joining Glee and Raising Hope. I Hate My Teenage Daughter will launch after X-Factor. Also remaining where it is is American Idol on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Thank goodness for that, right?

Obviously, we’re happy to see Family Guy and Fringe back for next year. It just would have been nice to see Human Target get another chance. That could have fit nicely in the hole left by Terra Nova once it gets cancelled.

Yes, we’re cynical about Fox so we assume they will cancel the show just when it starts to get interesting. Fox, this is why we can’t have nice things.

Here are Fox’s fall and midseason schedules followed by descriptions of the new shows:

FOX FALL 2011 PRIMETIME SCHEDULE

MONDAY
8:00-9:00 PM  - TERRA NOVA (new)
9:00-10:00 PM  - HOUSE

TUESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM  - GLEE
9:00-9:30 PM  - NEW GIRL (wt) (new)
9:30-10:00 PM  - RAISING HOPE

WEDNESDAY
8:00-9:30 PM  - THE X FACTOR Performance Show (new)
9:30-10:00 PM  - I HATE MY TEENAGE DAUGHTER (wt) (new)

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Apparently, the Christian Slater TV curse is starting to affect shows he’s not even on. Although, I guess we can’t really blame him for these latest Fox cancellations.

After all, the writing was pretty much on the wall for Human Target already, what with the eleventh-hour renewal last year. That’s right folks, late yesterday Fox announced the cancellation of Human Target, Breaking In and The Chicago Code.

Even though Human Target had been given a second season, the show had continually struggled in the ratings and I was actually surprised it came back for season two at all. It’s sad, though, as the show was really finding just the right blend of action, drama and humor with a cast that was clicking very well.

Same with Chicago Code. It was an interesting show that really seemed to be finding its way.

Oh well. I though the same thing about Firefly, Dollhouse and a lot of other shows and look where that got me.

As for Slater’s show, even though it started strong with a good lead in from American Idol, it was just a matter of time. Apparently, audiences don’t want to see Slater on TV. Perhaps he should go back to making movies?

With Human Target gone, Smallville ending this week and Chuck currently on the bubble for next year, there’s only a few genre shows left on network TV. What to watch?

At least we still have Fringe — for now.

This season has been quite a big one for Fox’s number one sci-fi drama, Fringe. Between body switching, new villains, and more twists than you ever would have expected, this crazy season is finally coming to an end.

With that, we’ve got a sneak peak of Friday’s season finale for you to get excited for. Here’s the episode summary to help set the scene.

FBI agent Olivia Dunham and Peter Bishop are faced with a rapidly spreading unexplained phenomenon of the threatening kind. In an attempt to stop the spread, they enlist the assistance of Bishop’s estranged father, the institutionalized scientist Dr. Walter Bishop.

We leave you with a warning: the trailer we’re bringing you has got some intense spoilers if you have yet to tune into this season. Tons of action and getting things ready for season four. That’s all we’ll give you.

You’ll have to click below to get the full spot. Fringe airs Friday nights at 9/8C on Fox.

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Welcome to another edition of  On the Radar where we delve into all corners of the entertainment, tech and geek Internets for news, views and whatnot that may have escaped our regular coverage during the week. Let is know if we missed something interesting.

Let’s get started!

• The first reboot of the Spider-Man franchise hasn’t even gotten a trailer yet, but James Vanderbelt is already locked in to write a sequel for Sony.

• We love the original series The Wire, but one question we never asked was “What if it was Written as a Classic Novel?”

• Turns out millennials aren’t the only reason for the degradation of the English language, as both LOL and OMG seem to have a pretty deep history.

• If last night’s episode of Community wasn’t enough Pulp Fiction for you, how about these original Pulp Fiction action figures?

• In more casting news for Superman: Man of Steel, star of Boardwalk Empire Michael Shannon is in talks to play the film’s villain.

• Just after Netflix’s deal with Showtime’s original series went sour, Starz has issued a 90-day delay for new original programming to hit the instant servers.

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Apparently, old dogs (or in this case, old networks) can learn new tricks. The old dog in question today is the Fox network which, it seems, has learned that it’s okay to a give struggling series that you scheduled in the Friday night ‘Death Slot” a chance to reach an audience and continue its story. That series, we are happy to say, is Fringe – which has been renewed for another season by the network.

But wait, there’s more. Not only has the struggling series been given another season, its also received a full-season order of 22 episodes. Awesome, right? Despite low ratings, which got lower after the show was moved from Thursday to Friday, Fox management was still interested in the show’s creative direction.

In addition, Fringe has also been a big hit for the DVR crowd. So, when that is taken into consideration, the series ranks as the top-rated series on Fridays. Whatever the reason, or combination of reasons, we’re glad Fox decided to give Fringe another year to build an audience. It’s a great show that deserves to be seen. If you haven’t checked it out yet, you should.

This week on The Flickcast Chris and Matt are joined by Joseph Dilworth of Pop Culture Zoo and, of course, hilarity and informative discussion ensues. During the show all manner of new and recurring topics are discussed, dissected and otherwise examined.

Some of those topics include Emerald City Comic Con, Tron Legacy and potential sequels, Star Trek old and new, the Wolverine sequel without Darren Aronofsky, the renewal of Community and Fringe‘s rating slump, casting for various films including Kevin Costner as Pa Kent in Superman, X-Men First Class, Martin Scorsese’s The Dark Night and a whole lot more. And again this week, no Charlie Sheen. You’re welcome.

Of course, your hosts and guest also made some picks this week including Joseph’s dual picks of the movie Sourcecode and the new comic Vampirella, Matt’s pick of the movie Rubber and Chris’ pick of the new movie Limitless, featuring Bradley Cooper and Robert DeNiro.

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

Indeed it is the time of year when inevitability the lists appear and people pick their favorites of 2010. Some have already done their lists and some, like me, like to wait a bit. That said and since I don’t want to be accused of not following trends, I will also be making a list (or two) of my picks of the best of 2010. However, in the interest of clarity and brevity (or neither), I’m going to pick my top 5 (or so) things in the main categories we cover here at The Flickcast.

Although, as our own John Carle covered the best of 2010 in games so well already, I won’t make much (if any) a list of those and will just mention my two favorites. In case you’re not familiar with those main categories we cover, they are as follows: Movies, TV, Comics, Games, Tech and all things Geek.

So, to that end, here’s my list (or lists really) of my picks of the top stuff of 2010.

Movies

Inception – I love smart movies and this one is pretty damn smart. Featuring great performances, a mind-bending plot and twists galore, director Christopher Nolan delivers with one entertaining ride I was talking about for weeks (and months) afterward. And with all the ways I can get distracted by other things, to still be taking about this movie now is a testament to just how great it is.

True Grit – I love Westerns and this one will go down as truly one of the best I’ve seen in a long time. Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and the rest of the cast are superb and newcomer Hailee Steinfeld owns the screen. She is definitely one to watch. Plus, the Coen brothers have a genuine love and reverence for the classic Western conventions, even when they twist and turn them into new and even more compelling shapes.

The Social Network – When I first heard of this movie I was skeptical, as probably most were, about how interesting a movie about Facebook really could be. I had nothing to worry about. This brilliant film, directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin, delivers on all levels and tells a compelling story of one of the most impressive success stories in history. Along the way it also shows us a little something about the nature of greed, friendship and the real cost of success.

Winter’s Bone - This tale of a real heroes journey to find out what happened to her father before the bank forecloses on her home resonated with me for quite some time after watching this film. Jennifer Lawrence as the young mother and John Hawkes as her meth-snorting uncle really deliver top performances. Part crime movie, part thriller and part coming-of-age-story this film’s stark realism takes you into a world you didn’t know existed and holds you there until the lights come up.

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