We heard it might be the case yesterday but now it’s official, Wonder Woman will not be a series on NBC.

NBC held more upfronts today and Entertainment Weekly has learned the network passed on David E. Kelley’s Wonder Woman pilot. A relief to some for sure but for a bummer for others who were looking forward to seeing a live-action Amazon Princess again. The pilot starred Adrianne Palicki as Diana, Elizabeth Hurley and Cary Elwes.

EW says there’s no official reason why the show was passed over but that “scuttlebutt reveals the pilot earned mixed reviews at test screenings. And then there was all the online blow back about the costume – which seemed to de-emphasize the patriotism and play up the comic’s Greek mythology. Ultimately, the wardrobe department went back to the drawing board but that didn’t seem to save the project.”

In lieu of the superhero adaptation, NBC has picked up The Playboy Club, Awake, Grimm, Whitney, Up All Night, Smash and Prime Suspect.

Are you upset or happy the show did not get picked up for a series? Would you still like to see Wonder Woman in live action? Perhaps a movie is in the cards after all.

A listing has shown up on Amazon for Castle: Dark Storm, a 112-page Marvel hardcover coming in September from the rather notable team of Brian Michael Bendis, Kelly Sue DeConnick and Lan Medina. No further details are listed, but it doesn’t take a Kate Beckett-level detective to figure out that this is probably exactly what it looks like, a graphic novel based on the ABC series Castle. Bendis has been mentioning the Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic-starred series a lot on his Twitter account in recent months, and it’s produced by ABC Studios — who, of course, share a Disney-shaped common corporate owner with Marvel.

Of course, sometimes weird things — or deliberately misleading things, like the image of a post-Civil War Captain America-ized Iron Man armor — have a habit of showing up on Amazon, so until there’s an official announcement of the project, file this one under “probably.”

(Hat tip to the Bendis board.)

We’re still a few days away from the official NBC upfronts, but rumor has it that David E. Kelley’s Wonder Woman has been picked up by the network – at least, according to TV By The Numbers, which goes on to comment that there’s no information on the show’s scheduling yet. That last part is particularly important, because it leaves open the possibility that the show won’t be getting a full-season order, but instead be commissioned as a mid-season replacement or mini-series pilot. We should know more by May 16th, when NBC announces its fall schedule.

I’m not sure it makes up for no Locke & Key, but it’s something, right?

More unfortunate TV news today. Deadline is reporting the adaptation of Joe Hill’s comic Locke & Key from IDW is not being picked up by Fox for the fall season.

It seemed hopeful for the series to get picked up, it was adapted for television by writer Josh Friedman, who previously worked on Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles for the network and had Miranda Otto, Nick Stahl, Mark Pellegrino and Jessie McCartney in starring roles.

The comic, illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez, tells the story of the Locke family who endure personal tragedy and move away from the horrors only to find more. The three Locke children discover their family house contains keys that do lots more than open locked doors and there are supernatural forces at work that will do anything to obtain them.

Deadline said there were rumors Fox could make a limited series/miniseries out of Locke & Key but weren’t sure if it was something financially feasible for the network. Turns out, that’s not going to happen either. The only hope to come out of this news is both The Hollywood Reporter and Enterainment Weekly say Locke & Key could be retooled for a later premiere or shopped elsewhere now that Fox has passed.

I’m incredibly bummed about this one, Locke & Key is one of my favorite comics. If you haven’t already, I suggest giving it a look, both the writing and art are phenomenal.

After two seasons, Fox is pulling the plug on Human Target, as reported by Deadline.

The news isn’t entirely surprising, given Human Target’s recognized status as a “bubble show” after lower average ratings from last season. The series did hit some late spikes, including seasons two’s penultimate episode netting 9.2 million viewers in a post-American Idol time slot.

The series was loosely based on the DC character Christopher Chance, and starred Mark Valley in the title role. Fox has also canceled Breaking In, which co-starred Smallville‘s Michael Rosenbaum.

More television news is expected in the days ahead, with all five broadcast networks announcing their fall schedules in upfront presentations next week. NBC’s upfronts are scheduled for May 16, where the fate of the David E. Kelley-helmed Wonder Woman pilot will be revealed.

Robert Kirkman’s updating people on the status of The Walking Dead‘s television incarnation over at the Hollywood Reporter:

We’re well into [second season pre-production on] the show; scripts are all completed and the final touches are being made and I think the cameras will be rolling in a few weeks. We’re all very excited to get back to Atlanta and sweat.

If you’re wondering who’s written all those episodes after the much-reported “firing” of the writing staff, well, Kirkman would like to set the record straight on that a little. Oh, and tease some, too: (more…)

In what will surely be the first of many casting announcements for the FX pilot based on Powers, Charles S. Dutton has been cast as police department head Captain Cross, according to Deadline.

Dutton’s film experience ranges from appearances in Rudy, A Time to Kill and Legion, and starring in the ’90s Fox series Roc. In recent years, he’s appeared on TV in guest spots on House and CSI: NY.

In late March, reports circulated that Friday Night Lights star Kyle Chandler was being courted for lead role Christian Walker. Powers is based on the long-running creator-owned series by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming, starring Walker and Deena Pilgrim, a pair of homicide detectives who specialize in superpowered crimes.

With its tenth and final season coming to a close it’s about time Warner Bros. rolled out their plans for a DVD set of the entire series of Smallville. Well, here’s your first look at it.

According to the info Warners sent out today, “This ultimate collector’s set for the ultimate fan features over 192 hours of content – including all 218 episodes, overfive hours of newly added special features such as an unaired, never-before-seen Superboy pilot from 1961, a 90-minute series retrospective with all newinterviews, the 2010 final Comic-Con panel and more!”

But that’s not all. There will also be, “exclusive printed materials include a Daily Planet newspaper, writtenby DC Comics, that highlights the important storylines developed during the 10-year run of the show and an episode guide with never-before-seen productionart (storyboards/sketches) and behind-the-scenes photos. Smallville: The Complete Series is presented in highly collectable new packaging consisting oftwo lay-flat picture books that hold 62 discs.”

Besides Tom Welling and the rest of the main cast, you can also expect to see guest-starring appearances from Terence Stamp, James Marsters, Michael McKean, Sam Witwer, Jane Seymour, Brian Austin Green, Pam Grier, Helen Slater, Michael Ironside, Julian Sands, Tori Spelling, Rutger Hauer and Christopher Reeve.

Smallville: The Complete Series DVD set is set for a fall release with a suggested retail price of $339.88. Wowza!

Was anyone else hoping for a Superman symbol-shaped box set? Sure it would be hell to display but, come on!

The sixth season of the longest running sci-fi show on television is premiering Saturday on BBC America (concurrent with the UK!). I’m speaking of course about Doctor Who. Once a week I sift through the millions of Etsy listings to find the best in geek chic for Blog@ readers. And I’ve been waiting patiently to do this one. Last week I found some wacky Portal related objects on the crafting site but this time around, it’s all about the Doctor. And his companions. And his enemies. And the TARDIS. Yes, it’s a special extended edition of Etsy Made Me Do It. (I apologize to your wallets in advance.)

Without further ado…ALLONS-Y!

There’s been a lot of Doctor Who novelization over the last 47 years, not to mention a good number of DVD releases. Well how would you like to hold them up in style with these Doctor Who bookends? They’re pretty epic if you ask me. User TheophilusSaxe made them out of hard engineering-grade plaster with a resin TARDIS and felt bottom. Just $49.99. Or, if you’d prefer just to stare at something awesome that serves no other purpose, check out his Doctor Who dioramas: Ice Box, Knock knock who’s there, and Boxed Lunch, $19.99 each. (more…)

It was bound to happen eventually, right? Either way, this may be the best translation of a superhero to live action ever.

(Video is a promo for next week’s Smallville episode but no real spoilers therein.)

Was that great or what? The promo just aired and I already see fans who were clueless about Booster’s arrival on the series complaining about it. Personally, I love it. Is the choice to bring in a new character this late in the season an odd choice? Maybe, but it’s a Geoff Johns episode so you know it’s going to be great. Plus, Booster Fan Club t-shirts make a cameo!

Eric Martsolf plays Booster, aka Michael John Carter,  in the episode titled “Booster” (oh he’d be grinning from ear to ear if he really existed), which also stars Blue Beetle. Actor Jaren Brandt Bartlett is playing Jaime Reyes and Sebastian Spence plays Ted Kord.

“Booster” premiers next Friday on the CW. And don’t forget, dial 1-800-BOO$TR if you need a really tan hero to save the day.

With the final episode of Smallville getting closer by the second, fans are in a swarm of anticipation as to whether or not star Tom Welling will slip into the iconic suit. Well, we don’t have the answer just yet but the CW is painting a pretty picture. Or poster as the case may be.

The image comes via Entertainment Weekly who also have their hands on a (non-embedable) teaser commercial set to air on the network today. Listen carefully and you just might hear something familiar.

Yup, that’s part of the 1978 original Superman score. What are they trying to do to us?!

Along with “The Planet Krypton” notes comes Welling saying, “I finally know who I am,” accompanied visually by the Superman symbol and the word, “Believe.” Honestly, I know the whole motto of Smallville used to be “no capes, no tights,” and that some people are against Welling getting into the real costume but at this point, if he doesn’t, I’m going to be pretty let down.

Smallville returns with new episodes April 15 while the two-part series finale is set for May 13.

Deadline is reporting that Kyle Chandler is being “courted” for the lead role in FX’s TV adaptation of Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming’s creator-owned series Powers — presumably as Christian Walker, a detective on the superpowered homicide beat.

The report says Chandler hasn’t committed to the project yet, and is waiting to see a new script — one which is expected to incorporate the actor’s notes. Deadline also reports FX president John Landgraf  as saying Powers is a “contender” for an early 2012 launch. Chandler recently wrapped up his five-season run as coach Eric Taylor on the unanimously acclaimed NBC series Friday Night Lights.

Is Chandler right for the role? Let us know your thoughts either way. (Like we had to ask.)

Looks like another current creator-owned series may be getting the TV series treatment: Deadline.com is reporting that Image’s Chew, by writer John Layman and artist Rob Guillroy, is in development as a half-hour comedy at Showtime. The script’s from Terri Hughes Burton and Ron Milbauer, who have both worked on Supernatural and Eureka (plus, IMDb tells us that Milbauer wrote the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers episode “I’m Dreaming of a White Ranger,” so that’s a plus). Stephen Hopkins, no stranger to Showtime with directing work on Shameless and Californication among his credits, is attached to direct and executive produce.

Chew — the story of “cibopathic” federal agent Tony Chu who psychically receives information of the live and death of whatever food he eats — has been in development from production company Circle of Confusion since July. Circle of Confusion is also behind TV versions of the The Walking Dead, which is headed to its second season on AMC this year, and Powers, currently in the pilot stage at FX. Chew debuted in June 2009, and last year won the Eisner award for best new series.

While many fans are worried how creator David E. Kelley’s new television series about the Amazonian Princess will turn out, it seems no one was more worried than Kelley himself.

Kelley spoke with Vulture about his lengthy career, both the ups and downs, but managed to get in a little information about the inception of his Wonder Woman project for NBC. He said in the beginning he said no to working on the show for obvious reasons. “It’s not really what I do; it’s not a genre that’s in my wheelhouse,” he said, “But then I started thinking about, What if there were such a person in today’s world and what must it be like to be her? And I was imagining the sense of social isolation that she must feel, that she indeed would probably be a rather complicated beast.”

“When I started thinking about all the complications and potential layers to this superhero, I just got more and more intrigued. It was also something I was a little bit afraid of. That’s good, too,” said Kelley, suggesting that writers need to get out of their comfort zones once in a while.

And with that, he jumped head first out of his comfort zone. “I did not truthfully commit to doing it until I wrote the script. I was going to try writing it, and if I failed on my own terms, I would say no. If I thought, Yeah, this is something I believe in, then I’d turn it in. And it was something I ultimately did get behind. It was hard, but I had a good time writing it. And Warner Bros. and DC both responded very positively.”

As to the casting of Adrianne Palicki in the title role, Kelley said although it was a challenge, the process didn’t take very long. “After writing this script, I remember looking at several people and going, ‘Yeah, now good luck trying to find her.’ She’s got to be strong, smart, emotionally accessible — and oh yeah, an Amazon! Good luck,” he said.

With all that in mind, Kelley was prepared to go with an actress who didn’t quite look the role if it meant she encapsulated everything else. “I remember speaking to DC, and saying, ‘We may have to compromise on the physicality. We need to go with the best actress. And if the best actress is five-foot-five, we have to be open to that, because there’s too many layers for this character to also demand that she be nearly six feet tall.’ And then lo and behold, in comes this girl named Adrianne Palicki.”

“I had seen her on Friday Night Lights and I always liked her work, but I didn’t get a sense of her stature. I guess she was sitting down in a lot of the scenes,” said Kelley, “So she stood up, and we met — eyeball to eyeball — she smiled … and I knew during the course of the conversation that this was Wonder Woman. I just knew it. I had an instinctive feeling that this was her. So then she read. And she was. And she is.”

DC Nation is coming to Cartoon Network in 2012, as announced today in their upfront presentation and reported by Deadline.

DC Nation, of course, is the name used by DC Comics for its convention panels and promotional column seen in the back of its comic books. But what is it on TV? Well:

DC Nation: A multi-platform, branded block of original programming and exclusive content based on the DC Comics library of legendary character properties, DC Nation is developed in partnership with Cartoon Network, Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment. The all-new venture will harness the publishing, theatrical and television assets together for one powerful on-air block on Cartoon Network with exclusive online content.

(more…)

Earlier this week, we reported The Sandman television show based on Neil Gaiman’s famous work that had been announced in September of last year, was stalled. Well, DC Comics Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns says, not true, The Sandman is moving forward.

The earlier news from the Hollywood Reporter had Supernatural creator, Eric Kripke, who was attached to the adaptation saying, “Unfortunately, for a lot of varying reasons, Sandman is not in the works, at least for this season.” He didn’t say it would never happen but he also didn’t sound too optimistic about the whole thing either.

Then, Johns jumped on Twitter to make sure we all knew the TV series was still on. “Correction to world: The Sandman is AWAKE! : ) Psyched to be working with @neilhimself on developing one of the greatest series ever!” he Tweeted. @neilhimself being Gaiman’s Twitter handle.

The original report from last year stated Gaiman was not involved with the show but that that could change. Kripke himself mentioned he had at least spoken with the writer but Johns followed his first  Sandman tweet with another, “Sandman in any form – comics to live action – doesn’t work without @neilhimself.”

As CCO, Johns has his fingers on the pulse of just about every film and television project coming from DC these days so it’s a safe bet The Sandman will be coming to TV eventually and WITH Neil Gaiman involved.

It sounded so good at the time: in early September, news surfaced that Warner Bros. TV was working with Supernatural creator Eric Kripke on a TV adaptation of Sandman, Neil Gaiman’s universally acclaimed DC Comics fantasy epic that inspired the creation of the mature readers Vertigo imprint. That initial surfacing was pretty much the only news to materialize about the series though, and with the TV biz in the deep throes of pilot season (and a well-publicized DC pilot in production starring Adrianne Palicki as Wonder Woman), it wasn’t a surprise to see today’s news on the Hollywood Reporter that a Sandman series is not happening — at least this coming season.

Kripke is quoted as saying that the project has stalled for “a lot of varying reasons,” without getting into specifics. Kripke’s a noted fan, and doesn’t seem to be giving up on the idea on a Sandman TV show happening somewhere at some point.

In news welcome to any child of the ’80s reared on The Princess Bride, Cary Elwes has been added to the cast of NBC’s Wonder Woman pilot, says Deadline. He’ll be playing the role of Henry Detmer, “the acting CEO of Themyscira Industries, who is deeply devoted to Diana.” He’s like an uncle figure to Diana, but in a potentially creepy development, is also said to also be a potential love interest. He’s joining Adrianne Palicki, playing the title role, and Elizabeth Hurley — announced earlier this week as the pilot’s villain, Veronica Cale.

ABC’s new drama pilot sounds kinda familiar if you ask me.

The pilot, called Once Upon a Time, has just snagged Ginnifer Goodwin from Showtime’s Big Love to play the lead role…Snow White.  From Deadline:

[Once Upon a Time] centers on a woman with a troubled past who is drawn into a small town in Maine where the magic and mystery of Fairy Tales just may be real. Goodwin will play Snow White/Sister Mary Margaret, a beautiful woman with dark hair and very pale skin who has been placed under a wicked spell by the Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla), and is brought back from a living death by Prince Charming.

It’s not exactly the same as Fables of course, but awfully fishy when you consider ABC optioned the highly-successful Vertigo comic series for a pilot just a few years ago. Back then, Stu Zicherman and Raven Metzner were writing the script that would follow the fairy tale characters in their exiled home in modern day New York and feature Bigby and Snow White. Fables creator Bill Willingham did in fact read the script for the pilot but nothing more came of it from the network.

Once Upon a Time comes to us from Lost executive producers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz. And it’s a well known fact most of those Lost guys are big comic fans. In fact, Kitsis and Horowitz produced and wrote for the short-lived Birds of Prey television series. Time will tell if the duo were simply inspired by the comic or are borrowing directly from it.

More casting news from the Wonder Woman NBC pilot! We already know that Adrianne Palicki, Tyra from Friday Night Lights, is starring as the title character, but thanks to the ever-impressive power of Twitter (insert Charlie Sheen joke here), we now know who will be playing the pilot’s villain: Elizabeth Hurley, surely channeling that old Bedazzled magic. Hurley broke the news last night on her Twitter account, saying she was “thrilled” about the role.

No, she’s not playing Circe or Cheetah or anyone like that, but in news that may be surprising to those who have followed reports surrounding David E. Kelley’s script, she’ll indeed be playing a character from the comics. Deadline says: “Hurley will guest star in the pilot as villain Veronica Cale, the beautiful, highly-educated head of one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the country who is afflicted with the serious deep-seated Wonder Woman envy.” Cale, of course, being a nemesis introduced in 2003 by Greg Rucka to serve as, essentially, Wonder Woman’s Lex Luthor.