Yes, Yes, Yes! TIM MINEAR has finalized a deal with ABC for his new pilot MIRACLE MAN which follows a disgraced televangelist who believes God is actually using him to create miracles.

I’ve loved and followed Minear from Vamps (Angel) to Reavers (Firefly) to Smoosh Faced Lions (Wonderfalls) and finally to the dead too soon DRIVE. He’s just got a phenomenal track record and if Tim Minear is involved, I’m there!

MIRACLE MAN’s pilot will be penned by Tim Minear and Directed by Co-Exec. Producer Todd Holland (Wonderfalls, Felicity).

ABC is loving the Wonderfalls crew! Bryan Fuller obviously has PUSHING DAISIES and now Tim Minear and Todd Holland are in the alphabet network.

Yes, FOX has officially canned DRIVE and it will not air this weekend as it was intended to. Sad but true. I don’t know about you but I could use a little more Nathan Fillion in my life.

Regardless, AintItCoolNews has spoilers as to where Drive would have gone had it been given a chance. Drivefans.com posted an interview with creator Tim Minear and here are some of the spoilers Tim let out.

Some revelations:

* Alex Tully’s wife, Kathryn (Amy Acker), was probably working with race organizers before she ever met Alex.

* Eliza Dushku, who worked with Minear on “Angel,” might have been cast as a “Duel”-esque truck-driving sociopathic serial killer. *HELLS TO THE YEAH!!!
(more…)

Jesus H FOX, what the hell are you doing to my poor Nathan Fillion? Just when I was getting all geared up to see two more unaired episodes of the already canceled DRIVE, you go and pull it (again) from the lineup.

Fox was supposed to air two episodes of DRIVE on the 4th of July. Sounded good to me as its supposed to be a washout here in Boston for the 4th. I can think of less exciting ways of spending a night than with Nathan Fillion, his arms, and those pretty teeth of his.

Now, Fox is saying that they will air Drive on Friday, July 13th. Can we hope for them to burn off the remaining episodes in the weeks thereafter? Fingers crossed!

I haven’t really been able to watch television for the week or two leading up to the Independent Film Festival of Boston but now that it’s over, I can play some catch up!

American Idol
I did not see last week’s charity head case known as American Idol “Idol Gives Back” and from the clips I’ve seen online and in the recaps, those white outfits were not so horrible I wouldn’t have been able to sustain three hours of it anyway. I got news of the double elimination sometime later in the week and until that point I was working under the notion that Jordin Sparks was kicked off. Yeah, someone played a cruel joke.

I was pleasantly surprised to find she in fact was not kicked off (nor was anyone). Then I got sent a picture of who until I received this picture was my new choice for winning this lame season of Idol. The picture is of Jordin with a Pro-Life sign. Guess who’s no longer my choice to win American Idol?

Last night The Alien and Chris Richardson got the boot. Oh well… as long as my Blake is there, that’s all that matters. How amazing is Blake? He’s unreal. And PS - A Chris Richardson/Blake Lewis sandwhich is pretty amazing to think about…

Heroes
5 Years into the future is way OOC! They did a really good job with moving the stakes of this show waaaaaaaay up! Insane how much went down this week. Peter looks manly with that scar and his ass is dating crazy Niki. Sylar’s killed a lot more people, including the President of the United States, Nathan Petrelli, Candice, and finally he has taken out the Cheerleader. HRG is in contact with Claire, works as a smuggler of kinds for those with abilities. The Haitian was working with Homeland Security which is now run by Parkman. Hiro’s bad ass subway sword Hiro and poor Ando’s dead. Unreal…

Brothers & Sisters
Can you imagine this show without Rob Lowe? Could Emily Van Camp be playing a more evil and twisted whore? Could Kevin’s lips be any more pink? Could Nora be any better? Could Justin be more of a wet blanket? Could Rachel Griffith be acting her ass off anymore? Still really enjoying this show!

Drive
Um, I started basically 24-hour festival duties on Tuesday and somewhere in that time, Fox cancelled DRIVE. I was wondering what happened Monday night because it didn’t record. Lame. I’m really digging the show and seriously, poor Amy Acker and Nathan Fillion NEED SHOWS THAT CAN SURVIVE!

Supernatural
Folsom Prison Blues was a great episode. The ghouls and demons were wonderfully creepy and seriously, Dean was waaaaaaay funny this past week. I loved the whole “What are we? From Texas?” comment and also Sam asking Dean if he was at all concerned with how into Prison life he was. Jensen’s really had some shining moments this season and with each episode I become more and more of a fan. Also a nice added touch to last week’s episode were all the references to previous jobs and the consequences of their actions. I really appreciate that the writers keep that in our minds. Lesser shows wouldn’t even address previous criminal acts and I like the justified but incorrect way they rationalize all of it.

Grey’s Anatomy
While there were moments to last week’s episode that rang true for the Grey’s I used to love and adore, there are still elements that annoy the shit out of me. I couldn’t be more over this whole George/Izzie thing. It’s beyond obvious that Callie knows something is up and that the show is holding out on the confrontation until the end of sweeps. The whole Derek/Meredith thing is retarded. He’ll be in the hospital where she’ll be working, it’s so not the same sitch as Adele and Richard. All I kept thinking the whole episode was how great it would be if the spin-off was better than Grey’s so I could stop watching this Titanic of a show.

Lost
Last week’s Sun episode of Lost was friggin traumatic. Granted when I watched it, I’d had only about 10 hours of sleep in 5 days so I may have been hormonally off balance but hot damn did I cry through most of the episode. Sun’s transformation mimics that of Juliet’s. The character they are today on the island couldn’t be further from who they were off the island. Juliet was so mild and meek and such a wet blanket. Her demeanor is so different and more confident and ruthless since the 3 years have passed. Sun is similar. Her whole character and her whole physical being is different from flashback to present. Incredible acting and incredible transformations make both of these women compelling and strong while showing they weren’t always so.

And there is nothing better than watching Sun tell a withered old whore that she’ll drop of the power of her family onto her and crush her if she dare show her face around Sun or Jin again. Amen sister! Tears for Jin’s father, Tears for Sun’s situation, Tears for Juliet wanting to give good news, Tears for Sun discovering the baby really is Jin’s and being happy instead of devestated she’ll only have three months left to live. I was a soaking mess after that hour.

I don’t remember if I watched anything else. It was all a fog. I’m trying to play catch up but it’s hectic as I’m also moving in a week. More to come…

I know I’m a day behind, but I just watched the premiere of DRIVE last night and tonight hope to catch up on last night’s episode. DRIVE kicks ass. It’s kinda cheesy but in a good almost knowing way so I don’t mind. It’s incredibly fast paced, the action sequences are intense, the camera work is incredble, and the special effects are pretty damn good too!

Nathan Fillion can more than carry this show! He’s incredibly vulnerable and wounded while still being incredibly determined, strong, and kinda scary. In a word, Nathan Fillion is still one HOT MUTHA!

As much as I hate to do it, I think that he might be shown up by another actor, Ms. Melanie Lynskey. Her recent Mother on the run (now with a gun) is hysterical. I know that there is obviously something dark with her Husband but any scene with her is pretty much comic relief. I’m loving her!

I love how DRIVE is basically a combination of It’s a Mad Mad Mad World, Death Race 2000, Cannonball Run, and the amazing indie film Series 7. It’s got a really fun, action energy while still being pretty dark. Kidnapping someone’s wife and forcing them to join this illegal cross country race in order to get her back is pretty severe.

So far we know that at least 3 people have been forced into the race (Wendy Patrakas, Alex Tully, and Salazar) as we saw them get phones but the others, who can tell?

The Elimination Round was a welcomed twist from my crazy viewpoint. Putting innocent and little Wendy Patrakas in charge of killing eliminating Taryn Manning before the next checkpoint was played with such wicked humor. Loved her blowing the car tire, just telling her she has to kill her, and then watching Taryn Manning’s reaction. The fact that she was excited to see someone so committed to winning the race instead of being horrified was pretty genius. That’s going to be one hell of a twosome.

Brian Bloom is back on television! I’ve missed him and his bubble butt after he blew Chris Meloni on OZ!

Cannot wait to see last night’s episode though I am worried as the numbers are below 6 million. Sad. It’s one hell of a joyride and maybe it just needs some time to catch on.

Amy Acker kicks major ass and I hope she has a bigger role in DRIVE than I think she’ll have. The girl deserves her own show and can you think of anything hotter than Nathan Fillion and Amy Acker together? Can’t wait to see what happens to her kidnapped character and how they reunited husband and wife as the season plays out!

DRIVE Premieres on Fox!

For all you Browncoats out there, tonight is like the second coming of Christ, or the Third if you count Serenity, or the Fourth if you count the LOST guest appearance… oh hell who cares. Why the Christ talk? Well Nathan Fillion will be a weekly staple in our lives again! I Mega-Heart Nathan Fillion!

Tonight is important because DRIVE premieres with a 2 hour joyride and settles comfortably into the fast lane in its normal night and time tomorrow at 8pm before 24.

While it seems that this show may have some cheesy moments or qualities to it, I really hope that it does well. For the most part its got a great cast including Nathan Fillion, Melanie Lynskey, Dylan Baker, and Taryn Manning. I’m not too sure about Kristin Lehman because I’m still bitter over her character Avery ruining things for Felicity and Ben but I’ll give her a second chance. Actually I liked her in Tilt a while back.

Fox has been pimping DRIVE hard and with good reason. They need another action hit. 24 is wilting with every hour though the return of Audrey will hopefully set the season on the right path. Prison Break is over for the season and Drive will help give Fox the extra scripted umph needed to end the season right.

You know I almost passed out a month or two ago when they announced that Nathan Fillion would be taking over the headlining role of Fox’s new one hour drama DRIVE. Fillion is playing a landscaper forced to join the cross country illegal road race to find his kidnapped wife. And folks, we have a WIFE!

AMY ACKER!

Acker is a fanboy dream; she’s been on both ANGEL and ALIAS. As both Winifred Berkel and as big blue Ileria we got to see that Acker is not a woman to be messed with. On Alias she kicked ass and blew shit up so the girl is well rounded. She made me cry as the dying Fred and made me cheer as she returned to television in Season 1 of SUPERNATURAL. I Heart Amy Acker and I’m glad she found another gig thanks to her Angel Exec Producer and Exec Producer of DRIVE, Tim Minear.

DRIVE debuts April 15th (Sunday) and then continues at its regular timeslot on Monday at 8pm! Unfortunatly it will air on the already jam packed MONDAY night but coupled with 24 this could be great news!