Old and New Friends: News Brief 3/7/09

This week sees the return of a critical hit from last season and the premiere of a new series with a fan favorite. The former is Breaking Bad, starring Bryan Cranston as Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher diagnosed with terminal cancer in the first episode. In order to provide for his family after he is gone, including his physically disabled son and the daughter on the way, he uses his particular skills to cook crystal meth with a former student, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul). Breaking Bad's first season was considerably shortened due to last year's writers' strike, however that did not prevent it from winning two Emmys (one for Crantson as Best Actor, the other for Editing) and, with the help of Mad Men, making the American Movie Classics channel a new player in basic cable programming. The thirteen episode second season kicks off tomorrow night (March 8) at 10:00 PM EST.

Nathan Fillion can only be described as prolific. Just this week Wonder Woman, an animated film based on the DC comics character, was released featuring Fillion as the voice of Steve Trevor, the love interest for the title character. He also featured in Joss Whedon's Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, a short musical film that debuted on the Internet. In Halo 3, he voiced Sergeant Reynolds (a nod to his Firefly character) and will return in the game's expansion, Halo 3: ODST. There's no doubt as to his popularity, however twice now series in which he has had a leading role, Whedon's Firefly in 2002 and Drive in 2007 (both on Fox), have led to quick cancellations. Taking the role of Dr. Adam Mayfair on ABC's Desperate Housewives last year seemed to be preparation for a third go-around by joining an established show with demographics outside his usual fan base. We will see if Fillion's charm works in his favor when his new series, Castle, premieres Monday (March 9) at 10:00 PM EST on ABC. A sort of reverse Murder, She Wrote, with younger, sexier leads, the series stars Fillion and Stana Katic, who has had small roles on 24 and Heroes, as a mystery novelist and NYPD detective respectively, who investigate a copy-cat murder from one of his novels. The show has been contracted for ten episodes and hopefully this time Fillion will get the success he deserves.

Can you believe it's been almost eleven years since Seinfeld finished its hugely impressive run on NBC? Well, if you think you're finally getting over the loss, it's time for a relapse. Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Michael Richards and Jason Alexander have all signed to appear on Larry David's HBO series, Curb Your Enthusiasm. This will be the first time the entire cast has reunited on television, the separate interviews of 2004's "The Seinfeld Story" do not count, and since they are all scheduled for multiple episodes this looks to be the best chance for a reunion that Seinfeld fans can hope for.