Rogue Net has announced that they have picked up two new television shows, while another series has been given the red slip. The two shows being picked up are Life in NY from newcomer unbb24 and Monster from Drejr24 (Hybrid) while the show being canceled is Within the Lyrics. The decisions came as Rogue Net prepares its lineup for session 12 which is rumored to launch in late February.

Life in NY is a new comedy from rookie producer unbb24. It is a traditional sitcom in the Friends and Seinfeld school of thought. The series itself follows book salesman Archie Jones who, along with his best friend Jerry and sister Hatty, navigate life in the big apple as they search for love, success, and happiness. The series is set to star Jason Biggs (Pizza Tycoon), Eric Christian Olsen (The Mac Show), Lea Michele (The Infected), Ernie Hudson (Horror City), Danny McBride (On Set), and Brett Butler in his HTG debut. Currently, the series has been given an unprecedented 12 episode order with rumors stating that nine episodes are already in the can and/or currently filming.

Monster is a new drama series from drejr24, which is based on the manga by Naoki Urasawa. The series, which was quietly pitched and picked up over the last week, is keeping the details of what exactly it is about mum except for the fact that it follows a doctor who becomes tired with the politics at his hospital and soon gets caught up in a mystery. The series is being described as ER meets American Horror Story. The pilot is being filmed currently and has a cast that includes Will Estes (Super), who is set to play the lead doctor, Michael Ealy (The Crazies), Devon Sawa (Marty Robbins’ Gunfighter Ballads & Trail Songs), Chris Pratt (HTG debut), Bryce Dallas Howard (unlucky), Richard Schiff (Print), Amy Walton (Picnic Time), and Chase Wright Vanek (Lurking Shadow). The series will have a four episode debut season.

While two shows gear up for production, another one has had to shut down. The series in question has been the in-limbo musical drama Within the Lyrics. The series, which was on hiatus last session, has finally been put out of its misery. The decision to end the series was mutual on both the producer, Drejr, and the network’s parts. The cast has been notified and they are available for regular series parts on other shows. The cast included Bryan Batt, Elijah Kelly, Willow Smith, Kristen Chenoweth, Nina Dobrev, Chandra Wilson, Diana Agron, Macy Gray, Sara Ramirez, and Baz Luhrmann.

Look out for Life in NY and Monster when the series premiere during session 12.

Patrick Warburton joins us for a brief conversation on his new film, Billy.

TIMES: Welcome Patrick.

PATRICK: Hi.

TIMES: Thank you for agreeing to meet with us today.

PATRICK: No problem.

TIMES: You voiced The Tick for four seasons on FBTV.

PATRICK: Yep.

TIMES: Now you are working with Lucian again.

PATRICK: Yeah.

TIMES: What’s that like?

PATRICK: Cool.

TIMES: You’re third billed in the film, behind Jennifer Tilly. That must sting a little.

PATRICK: Not really.

TIMES: The film is arthouse. Do you worry about losing TS?

PATRICK: Whatever.

TIMES: According to Lucian this film is about a zany parent teacher interview.

PATRICK: That’s right.

TIMES: And you play the father?

PATRICK: Yes.

TIMES: You don’t seem to be giving very lengthy answers.

PATRICK: Sorry.

TIMES: Well, thanks for being here.

PATRICK: It gave me great pleasure. It’s always good to have a chance to get your message out. Little films like this are important for keeping the theaters alive. I’ve owed Lucian a favor for years and FBTV kept forgetting to call it in on The Tick. But I had fun doing it and I hope the audience finds it fun too. I understand it will be two arthouse films going head-to-head that weekend. One from a brand new producer and one from the richest player in the game. Will Lucian’s experience and ad budget give him the win? Or could he be upset like he was with Transformers: Another Man’s Treasure, which is wrong on the box office update thread. I think this film will be successful if people see it, whether it makes money, regardless if it helps or hurts talent scores. Sure we could have saved this for a TV movie but if you plan to blow three talent vouchers you get a lot more bang for your buck releasing to theaters. The risk is greater too. This film won’t be completely free. It could make money. But with fines in place for talent losing TS it gets more complicated. The film needs to make 80 million domestic to satisfy
Bill Cosby. That’s a tall order for an arthouse film released in January. In the end, whatever happens – happens. I’d rather people see it and hate it than skip it altogether.

TIMES: Now you suddenly become verbose?!

PATRICK: Sorry.

TIMES: Billy opens January 27, it’s produced by Ship of Fooles and distributed by I’m An Astronaut Films. Critic pre-screenings are available beginning January 13.

On Friday if you went to HTG Theaters you might have noticed that there was no new release on the marque. Before you panic, this isn’t a bad thing. With so many new releases week after week along with HTG TV thriving, a week off from new releases gives us a well needed break. You can catch up on past movies you have been unable to check out. Take some time to write a review or two. It gives a few movies that are barely hanging on to their theater screenings a little more cash. And it gives us all a time to reflect. Lets take a look at a few films currently in theaters and how they are sitting with critics…

This might just be the last week you’ll be able to check out Fallout from Ship of Fooles Film Studio and Trax Star Productions. The science fiction movie was directed by Ridley Scott and starred Bryan Bishop and Casey Affleck. Reviewer Dartcher give the movie a 92.5 and said that “the result is very, very good. Captivatingly good. It’s hard to fathom how good it is. What I’m trying to get at is that… it’s good.” With only the one review it currently has the top critic score of the theater’s 20 movies.

Next up is Wild Horses by Miracle Pictures and the star of Fallout, Bryan Bishop. It is a crime film and directed by the Coen Brothers. Written by Bryan Bishop and directed by the Coen Brothers. Do you really need more to know that you should go out and see this if you haven’t? HTG’s top critic Lucian says “See this film… It’s an easy read, the pacing is solid, there’s some violence and gore to satisfy your lust for blood and every character is real.” and he gave it a solid 85.5. Dartcher followed by giving the film an 88 and said “Overall, Wild Horses was intriguing, compelling, and it explores various different arenas of crime and drama, making for something you don’t want to miss.“

Last up lets take a look at the newest release, the horror flick based on Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax. Released by 21st Century Cat Pictures, the movie was written (very very loosely adapted) by Dartcher and directed by Edgar Wright. So far, in its second week of release, it has gotten two reviews and holds an average of 69.9.  Critic Lucian tells us “[The Lorax] isn’t really my kind of film. It’s more horror than comedy and I prefer the reverse. But I still enjoyed it. It’s a respectable length and it’s certainly original. I say check it out.” The movie’s second reviewer Bryan Bishop praises one cast member that is likely to get a nod for a Golden Yoda, he tells us that the “…real knockout here is Jane Lynch. Jane freakin’ Lynch. She’s hilarious in this movie as an a-hole who openly jokes about everything that goes on around her, without a shred of concern or humanity. I love it.“

With no new movies this week, it is a good time to take a step back and see something you might have missed. Why don’t you head on over to the HTG Theater and give something you originally passed a chance.

When the HTG community woke up this morning I think the last thing on people’s minds was that we might be seeing a new film in one of the biggest franchises of all time, the Wachowskis’ Matrix series. But there it was, an ad for Matrix: Rebooted.

We don’t have much info at this point, but what we do know is as follows; 21st Century Cat Pictures has bank rolled the purchase of the franchise at a total cost of 500 million dollars and KG productions have signed on produce the fourth entry in the series. That is it. No word on if the Wachowskis’ will be helming the picture or if any past cast members will be returning.

Mentioned in the text trailer was the familiar name of Neo, a character famously portrayed by Keanu Reeves. While the character seemingly passed away in the third flick, it is very possible that he could be resurrected (or rather, “rebooted”) in the new flick. While Reeves has begun to look homeless and hangs out way too much at a Gas Station in the HTG Valley, he has had a healthy movie career with seven movies under his belt including 2011′s Silencer. The Wachowskis siblings on the other hand haven’t had as much work, with only one live action movie under their belt, 2006′s Godsend Conspirator and two animated movies in the TMNT series.

In less than 24 hours the ad is already getting a lot of attention, and I expect that we’ll be getting a lot more information about The Matrix: Rebooted in the near future.

When shaping the first season of FBTV’s DC Showcase, producer Ritchie Steven knew that he needed a glue to hold the stories together. What he did not expect was that it would come in the form of a little known DC character that goes by the Phantom Stranger.

“We went through a lot of characters — the original idea was to have Booster Gold hopping through time and meeting various heroes while he was searching for a specific point in time to fix the future,” Ritchie told us. “And while that would have made for a fun series, it was not as dramatic as we wanted. It would have come off more goofy, rather than serious as we were building to a huge DC Comics Universe Crisis event.”

The next aborted focus was Martian Manhunter, “he would have been tracking down heroes to help him battle the shapeshifting evil White Martians who had already infiltrated the government and police. The superheroes were the ones that he could trust.” Ritchie continued, “I had two episodes of the Martian conflict plotted before I realized that the event was too earth-bound. It wasn’t cosmic. And having the villains being disgusted as cops and government officials it made the heroes out to be outlaws and fighting ‘real’ heroes. Not the tone we wanted to set for Superman or Green Lantern’s future.” Martian Manhunter was taken off the center stage, but don’t be surprised to see him the focus of a DC Showcase later in the season. “We’ve cast two guests stars to portray one of his better known human forms and his true green form.”

These story changes left a huge hole in DC Showcase and almost pushed back its start date. “It was getting close to the wire when I was inspired by a comic I remember reading as a kid. An old issue of Action Comics that featured the Phantom Stranger watching over (and guiding) Superman. This godlike figure told Superman about Krypton and his past. In the end he was watching over the man of steel and the DC Universe with other figures in the shadows. Protecting the universe.”

The Phantom Stranger was created in the 50s by John Broome and Carmine Infantino. He isn’t alive nor dead, while supernatural in nature his origins have never been revealed. “He was the perfect choice to hold the show together. The Stranger is a protector of the universe who can’t fight himself, but could guide others and give them the tools to protect themselves.”

After throwing around a bunch of big name actors, the studio came upon Adrian Pasdar. Pasdar has the square jaw of noir characters that the Phantom Stranger is modeled after with his trenchcoat and fedora along with a distinctive voice that carries an ominous tone.  “We will never see the Strnager’s face clearly, so we needed someone who could get a lot of emotion out in his words. Someone with an air of mystery to them. Adrian [Pasdar] was the perfect choice.”

From episode one of DC Showcase, the Phantom Stranger made his presence known, appearing to John Constantine (Sean Bean). He warned the occult hero (and in turn the audience) about a looming crisis about to hit the comic universe. The supernatural guide will visit or watch a different hero or supporting character in each of the Showcase episodes.  Is he trying to form the Justice League or is there something much bigger forming? That Ritchie would not tell us, but he said to keep watching DC Showcase for more answers about the “Crisis” and the Phantom Stranger’s role in it all.

DC Showcase airs on FBTV.