One of midseason's new NBC shows, which has a UNC School of the Arts alumnus in the cast, has already been given a time slot — at the expense of some Playboy bunnies.
"Smash," from executive producer Steven Spielberg, will take the place of "The Playboy Club" at 10 p.m. Mondays starting Feb. 6. The series, which has one of the 2011-12 season's most entertaining pilots, is a comedy-drama about the cast and crew of a Broadway musical about the life of Marilyn Monroe. The primary cast includes Debra Messing, Jack Davenport, Anjelica Huston and Katharine McPhee, an "American Idol" contestant.
Wesley Taylor, a 2008 alumnus of UNCSA, has a recurring role in the series. He previously appeared in the Broadway productions "Rock of Ages" and "The Addams Family."
The stylish but vacuous "Playboy Club," which was set in a 1960s nightclub, was dropped last week after three low-rated episodes. Between now and February, its time slot will be filled with a newsmagazine starring Brian Williams.
NBC also canceled "Free Agents," a sitcom starring Hank Azaria. And CW canceled the reality show "H8r," which I predicted in my fall preview would be one of the first victims. Meanwhile, NBC gave good news to "Up All Night" and "Whitney," picking up both shows for the full season.
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The second season of AMC's hit series "The Walking Dead" is still a week away, but the network is giving fans a taste of zombie horror with new webisodes that flesh out the show's background story.
The six-episode miniseries is available on www.amctv.com/shows/the-walking-dead, with installments ranging from two to five minutes. It is gruesome and intense, telling the story of a family struggling to survive a zombie outbreak. Greg Nicotero, one of the co-executive producers, directed and co-wrote the story for the webisodes.
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Dave Willis, an alumnus of Wake Forest University, is one of the creators and stars of "Aqua Teen Hunger Force," a surreal animated comedy that is part of the Cartoon Network's late-night "Adult Swim" lineup. On Tuesday, the final seven episodes and the first 10 episodes of its revamped follow-up come to DVD in "Aqua Unit Patrol Squad: Season One, Volume One." The characters are the same, but they have moved from New Jersey to Seattle.
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Also new on DVD on Tuesday: The first season of "Workaholics," an addictive Comedy Central series about three slackers who share a house and work together when they aren't goofing off, getting drunk or causing trouble; the fourth and penultimate season of "Chuck," the NBC spoof about a nerdy guy who becomes a spy; two new sets of the classic Westerns, "Bonanza" (season two, volume two) and "Gunsmoke" (season five, volume one); a new special edition of "Doctor Who: Talons of Weng-Chiang," one of the best episodes of the long-running British sci-fi series from 1977; the sixth season of "Bones," the Fox forensics drama starring Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz, with two extended episodes, commentaries, a gag reel and behind-the-scenes features; and "Casper the Friendly Ghost," a three-disc set with classic cartoons about the lovable little ghost. "Bones" and "Chuck" are also available on Blu-ray.
Chris Parnell, an alumnus of UNCSA, has an amusing guest role on an episode of "Workaholics" as the owner of the company where the characters work; he proves to be just as much of a goof-off as his employees.
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