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A musical episode of House powered Fox to the ratings win on Tuesday night, while two hours of The Bachelor gave ABC a close second. But the two-hour return of NBC’s The Event tumbled double-digits compared to its last original in November. House pulled in a 3.8 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 11.1 million viewers overall. It was flat week-to-week, but still the top-rated show of the night. The Chicago Code continued to put up middling ratings (2.1, 7.5 million) and was also flat week-to-week. The Bachelor (8-10 p.m.) was down 11% week-to-week but still gave ABC a win in the 9 p.m. hour (3.2, 10.2 million). It was a disastrous return for NBC’s The Event , which was down 26% from its previous original on November 29, averaging a 1.4 rating with 5.2 million viewers from 8-10 p.m. And while NBC points to the show’s better-than-average DVR numbers (38% in live-plus-seven), the live ratings still do not bode well for the show’s future prospects. CBS had a lineup of mostly

Robert Rodriguez Acquires Fire And Ice Producer Robert Rodriguez  told AICN , that he has bought the right to the 1983 animated movie Fire And Ice. I have never heard of this film before, maybe growing up in Japan as a kid is a bad thing? But I bet it is one of Rando's Favorite. Yep! The awesome Ralph Bakshi and I have been working it out for a while, and it’s now a TROUBLEMAKER STUDIOS PICTURE. What’s cool is, unlike past projects that I’d get involved with that would get stalled for various reasons, I control the rights to this one. So it’s actually in my power to set it up and get it made, which wasn’t the case on other projects. And for you filmmakers out there, that’s really the best way to get things done. If you can manage to get the rights yourself to a property by dealing directly with the artists and creators like I did with Frank Miller on SIN CITY, and now with Ralph Bakshi on FIRE and ICE, it makes a world of difference and you can get started sooner rather than nev

What Shows Will Networks Pickup? With the networks wrapping up their internal screenings, pilots are entering the final stretch when executives factor in testing and testing results as well as scheduling needs to make their picks for next fall. Here is the latest buzz on which pilots are still in contention: FOX Besides the Steven Spielberg-produced dinosaur fantasy Terra Nova, which is prepping for a midseason launch, Fox may pick up only one or two more new drama series, especially if it renews one of its bubble drama series Human Target or Lie To Me. (Human Target is looking a little stronger at the moment.) Midland appears a lock for the one slot, with a possible launch behind Fox's flagship drama House a possibility. Breakout Kings and Shawn Ryan’s Ridealong would duke it out for the potential second slot. On the comedy side, Greg Garcia’s Keep Hope Alive and Mitch Hurwitz’s Wilde Kingdom have emerged as frontrunners, with Traffic Light and Security also in the running

Carl Erik Rinsch's "The Gift" Bidding War Has Begun Here is an amazing video by Carl Erik Rinsch, he took part in electronic giant Phillips' short-film experiment, which allowed five filmmakers to make their own movie using the same piece of dialogue.  The video does start off slow but be patient you will be rewarded. Rinsch came up with " The Gift ," a melange of Bourne-with-a-robot, a unicorn Macguffin and a futuristic Moscow-as-police-state setting (oh, wait, that is already here). On Wednesday, the day the short came out, a bidding war broke out between several studios -- longtime rivals Warner Bros. and Fox are in the mix, according to sources -- who see feature potential in the short. The trajectory of this dazzling piece of sci-fi filmmaking recalls what happened with Neill Blomkamp's Alive in JoBurg, which became District 9, and Panic Attack!, which is now on its way to the big screen as a movie. The difference is that The Gift appears t

PTC Getting Excited About Howard Stern For Nothing Why would Fox think it would be a good idea to have Howard Stern act as a judge for next years American Idol? Does he have any musical talent at all? Didn't think so. Maybe they are thinking that with Simon moving on to his new show they will need someone to help keep the ratings going. Now, I've stayed quiet on the Stern stuff because the whole notion seemed ridiculous from the outset. Do you think Fox would risk its top-rated family-friendly franchise by putting Stern on the air? Correction: On the air live? And despite his popularity among radio listeners, the man is Kryptonite to TV advertisers -- just ask E!, which used to run his talk show. Fox wants ads from Coca-Cola and Ford, not Valtrex and phone sex lines. And now we get this The Parents Television Council has extended its broadcast TV neurosis to a new level: issuing press releases about events that have not happened. Usually, something actually has to occur on tel

Machete Has Found A Home At Fox The auction ended late Friday night and I've been putting together what happened ever since. Certainly you'll recall the big cool quotient around Machete, that famously fake trailer by Robert Rodriguez from Grindhouse. It was considered the single best thing about that Weinstein Co double-feature flop that also included Quentin Tarantino's pic. Rodriguez' fake trailer hinted at a good story (Mexican day laborer is set up, double-crossed, and left for dead -- then starts everyone's worst nightmare) and carried an even better catchphrase ("They just fucked with the wrong Mexican.") Machete's YouTube video alone has 1.4 million views, which wasn't lost on Hollywood. The result was 6 studios all very interested in domestic distribution rights to Rodriguez' latest -- Sony, Lionsgate, Warner Bros, Fox, Paramount, and The Weinstein Co. Rodriguez had made the fake trailer into a real movie outside the studio system. Wit

Simon Cowell Calls It Quits On American Idol Cowell will quit the top-rated show on television at the end of this season as part of his plan to focus on launching a new series, "The X-Factor." Fox has picked up "Factor" for the fall of 2011, when "Idol" is on hiatus. Cowell's decision to walk away from his estimated $36 million-per-season "Idol" gig could have major consequences for the show, which has declined in the ratings in recent years. Given that Cowell was the most expensive part of producing "Idol," however, Fox could end up with a more profitable show, even if ratings drop due to losing its most popular judge. Fox chairman Peter Rice and entertainment president Kevin Reilly officially announced the "Factor" pickup and Cowell's "Idol" departure today at the Television Critics Association's winter press tour in Pasadena. "In my opinion it's like having a good player on a good football te

Matthew McConaughey "Rooster Tales"Coming To Fox Fox has partnered with Matthew McConaughey to develop an animated TV comedy based on his brother's life. "Rooster Tales" follows the world of a beer-swilling, redneck sheriff who marries a much younger woman from Mexico. The man soon realizes, however, that he's gained not only a wife but an entire clan -- 114 members and counting. "My brother's life is so unbelievable, we had to animate it," McConaughey said. Please Leave A Comment- Source- Variety

Bryan Singer In Talks To Return To "X-Men" This is good news to my ears. I thought that the last X-Men movie was a bomb with Brett Ratner directing the movie,i feel that it almost killed the franchise. Bryan Singer said Sunday he's interested in making another "X-Men" movie and has discussed the possibility with Twentieth Century Fox. The American director made "X-Men" and "X2: X-Men United," but passed on the third installment so he could make "Superman Returns.""Rush Hour" director Brett Ratner ended up shooting that film, "X-Men: The Last Stand." South African filmmaker Gavin Hood made another spin-off, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," which was released earlier this year. "I'm still looking to possibly returning to the 'X-Men' franchise. I've been talking to Fox about it," Singer said he enjoyed making science fiction and fantasy movies because they allowed him to discuss seriou