Showing Out

Thought your Twitter timeline was going to feature less tweets about Brandy and Chilli once the seasons end? Think again. VH1 has just announced that they’ve given second seasons to Brandy & Ray J: A Family Business, Basketball Wives and What Chilli Wants. “VH1 viewers connected strongly with these three new series this year, and we’re so happy that we can continue to share these real-life stories from the worlds of music and celebrity,” said Jeff Olde, executive vp, original programming and production, VH1. The first seasons of Wives and Chilli wrap up on May 30th, while Family Business shutters on June 27th. Get ready.

Time to get serious. Tonight sees the HBO premiere of The Lazarus Effect, a documentary directed by Lance Bangs and executive produced by Spike Jonze and Susan Smith Ellis. The doc focuses on “the transformative effects that ARVs can have on people, their families and communities when treatment is accessible” to help them manage AIDS and HIV. The doc focuses on key individuals tracked during the making of the film, bringing awareness to those who may not know that, in Africa, 20 million people have been killed by the disease. Be sure to tune in tonight at 9 P.M. to watch this important work of cinema, and head over to HBO’s site to learn more about The Lazarus Effect.

Thought everyone and their mother was watching the Lost series finale last night? You thought wrong. While the final episode of the ABC series did alright, it wasn’t a record-breaking feat for the network, with 13 million viewers tuning in to watch the show, which nabbed a 5.6 preliminary rating among adults 18-49. While that’s the highest-rated Lost episode to air over the past two years, it’s not the best it’s ever done. But while it wasn’t the hottest thing to hit the air since a Hot Pockets commercial, the pre-show Lost: The Final Journey special did relatively well for a special as such, drawing in 11.4 million viewers and earning a 4.0 rating. Not bad at all. But in the end, all we care about is figuring out what exactly happened. So they were all dead all along? Is that what it was? Someone please explain.

Earlier this week, news officially broke that CBS had ordered a full season of Shit My Dad Says, based on the Twitter account run by 29-year-old Justin Halpern who tweeted the ridiculous things his father uttered (example: “You seen my cell phone?…What’s it look like? Like two horses fucking. It’s a phone, son. It looks like a phone”). Now, CBS has posted the trailer for $#*! My Dad Says, with plans to air the show beginning in the fall season. The series, which already has its pilot, will be directed by James Burrows and stars Ryan Devlin (Cougar Town) as the male lead (based on Halpern) opposite William Shatner who stars as the father. Honestly, after watching this, we’re really not that thrilled. Looks like a half-baked version of Everybody Loves Raymond - which really says something. Yikes.

Hey, remember when Mel B was known as Scary Spice, one-fifth of the Spice Girls? Those were the days. After having become a tabloid staple from her publicized divorce from Eddie Murphy and a reality TV star as a competitor on Dancing with the Stars, Mel B is gearing up for another go on the small screen. According to Variety, Mel B has partnered with Style to premiere The Mel B Project, a 10-episode non-scripted show that’s set to bow on the network in September. The show, produced by Brown and her husband Stephen Belafonte, will focus on the ex-Spice as she “juggles her performing career with wife- and motherhood.” Sounds special. Look out for this one this fall.

We’ve got fond memories of Looney Tunes as a staple of our childhood, so let’s just hope Warner Bros. isn’t going to screw this one up. According to Jivid, WB is planning on reviving Looney Tunes, with plans to bring the characters to the big screen and then to a show on Cartoon Network. The studio has plans to first release three 3D shorts, with “Coyote Falls” featuring Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner planned to be aired in front of their 3D family sequel Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore (which hits theaters July 30th). The short will lead up to a “new 26-episode half-hour series called The Looney Tunes Show, which will air on Cartoon Network this fall featuring Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck as roommates with the other classic Looney Tunes cartoon characters as their neighbors.” Don’t phunk with our childhood, WB!

A week back, VH1 announced that it would be airing a new season of their excellent Behind the Music series, kicking off the new season on June 7th by spotlighting Fantasia, Jennifer Hudson, Courtney Love, Christina Aguilera and Jennifer Lopez. Now, there are a few more names added to the roster. According to a press release, the new season will begin with an episode spotlighting DMX, with plans to also air ones that focus on Eve and Usher. Peep the description for DMX’s ep:

“Behind The Music: DMX” will trace the multi-platinum rapper’s journey from his rough childhood where violent beatings from his mother led to a life of crime and jail time, to becoming one of the most successful hip hop artists of today. Viewers will get an in-depth look at DMX’s battle to the top of the music charts, becoming the first hip-hop artist to have five consecutive records debut at number one and crossing over into a lucrative movie career. For the first time on camera, DMX comes clean about his criminal record, love life and his 25 year-long struggle with drug addiction. Candid interviews with his family, ex-wife, and hip hop luminaries Lyor Cohen, Irv Gotti, Swizz Beatz and Eve contribute to this in-depth profile of an incredibly gifted yet troubled artist.”

You’ve got to love MTV for reviving one of the corniest movies of the ’80s and turning it into a TV show. We heard about this back in January, and now, it’s apparently moving full steam ahead. According to Deadline, MTV has ordered 12 episodes of the show, adapted from the 1985 movie starring Michael J. Fox. The show will focus on “Scott McCall (Tyler Posey), a dorky high-school student who gets a rush of new powers, including the ability to attract girls, after a wolf attack.” The pilot, which will also star Tyler Hoechlin, Crystal Reed and Dylan O’Brien, was written by Jeff Davis (Criminal Minds) and will be executive produced by Rene Echevarria, Marty Adelstein and Michael Thorn. Sounds like a monumental failure.

Perhaps you’ve heard that CBS is reviving the classic show Hawaii Five-O as a completely new series, and quicker than we learned that the network had officially picked up the show (all of two days ago), there’s now a video of the new opening sequence, courtesy of THR’s Live Feed. With a half-baked redo of the original theme song, the trailer looks like an alternative version of CSI, to be honest. The reboot, which looks like it’s headed for the small screen in the near future, stars Daniel Dae Kim (Lost) as Detective Chin Ho Kelly (originally played by Kam Fong), Alex O’Loughlin, Grace Park and Scott Caan. The pilot was spearheaded by Peter Lenkov and written by duo Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, and we hope it’s better than this. Stay tuned for more info on this one.

The CW’s Smallville seems like one of those shows that will simply never disappear. But at least for now, its life span for new episodes has come to an end. According to Variety, CW has confirmed that the show, which stars Tom Welling as a young version of Clark Kent (aka Superman), will be running its last season after 10 years on the air. The show, which first aired on the WB back in October 2001, went on to produce 195 episodes, with its most recent ninth season serving as one of its strongest. But don’t shed any tears. It’s pretty much guaranteed that some network will pick up the show and run reruns until the end of time. Not even kryptonite could stop this show.