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Get ready for racier television

"Southland" is an American cop show that premiered on NBC. Unlike normal cop shows, NBC wanted to offer something that got into the gritty world of police officers, with foul language and adult situations. NBC cancelled the show after its first season.

Soon after, TNT picked up the show, airing the original first season, six episodes from the cancelled second season, and announcing a ten episode third season. While FCC standards didn't appear to be the issue, TNT is not under the same regulations as NBC.

Things are about to change for the networks.

The FCC's regulations on indecency were struck down by a federal appeals court that said they were "unconstitutionally vague", opening up the ability to use profane language on the small screen.

So, get ready for some hot and heavy scenes on "Friends With Benefits" on NBC, Kathy Bates smoking pot on "Harry's Law" and a CBS sitcom based on the blog/book "$#*^ My Dad Says"

Many individuals working in standards say this is a good thing. Dozens of cases are pending. This decision, if upheld, will limit the FCC. Just wait for the F-bomb to be unleashed.

Cable, unregulated by the FCC, has been taking huge bites out of the ratings for the networks. Shows like "Rescue Me", "Saving Grace", and "The Shield" offer more provocative plots and situations.

Reality TV has pushed the envelope. While it can be censored, real people aren't as easy to control as content creators.

MGM's problems persist, for 6th time

MGM has won its sixth debt extension, but money problems continue. That's not so good for you fans of "The Hobbit" or James Bond films.

Bond films are put on hold indefinitely as the studio tries to figure out a way to make some cash. The Lion plans on remaining on film productions sidelines while issuing catalog releases for home entertainment and licensing new video games. Currently, Activision has the upcoming "GoldenEye".

Many are calling for the Bond franchise to go to the highest bidder, and some say the same about MGM's share of "The Hobbit". Warner Bros. holds the other half of "Hobbit".

Century Studio debtholders have given MGM until Sept. 15 to pay up. The Lion has about $4 billion of debt. Summit Entertainment, Spyglass, and others are circling the bleeding Lion with their own ideas on how to restructure. MGM tried to find a buyer for their studio, but Warner Bros.'s offer of $1.5 billion was considered too low.

Soundtrack of the Week: Moulin Rouge

Moulin Rouge! was a defining movie of 2001. Based not-so-loosely on the opera La Traviata, new interpretations of modern songs were woven into to the plot. While the film was nominated for eight Oscars, it only received two.

Several songs on the soundtrack broke into the mainstream during Moulin Rouge!'s run. Fatboy Slim's "Because We Can", a manic, high energy electronic piece, was probably most commonly heard in spin classes around the nation, but did have some radio play.

The song that really broke out was "Lady Marmalade", performed by P!nk, Lil' Kim, Christina Aguilera, and Mya. "Lady Marmalade" became the song of the summer.

A second volume of music was released in early 2002, nearly a year after the first. While Moulin Rouge! Vol. 2 did not do as well as the first soundtrack, it featured remixes, instrumentals, and music from the film that had not been included in the original movie.

George R. R. Martin's "Game of Thrones" on HBO

HBO has seen success from adaptations before. True Blood, adapted from Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse novels, has received rave reviews as well as a loyal fan base.

The popular fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin has its own rabid fan following. For quite some time, these fans have demanded some sort of visual medium for their loyalty. Considering the depth of the books, a television series is best. And, considering the high levels of blood and violence, only HBO can deliver.

And, deliver it shall.

The series is named after the first book, Game of Thrones. The pilot has been in the can since last year. However, after some new casting, it looks as though the pilot is ready for a reshoot. HBO has ordered an additional nine episodes to premiere next spring.

During True Blood, HBO premiered a teaser trailer for the series. While the trailer leaves something to be desired, it's still something to look forward to.

Trailer of the Week: Watchmen

Before Muse was bundled into the Twilight phenomenon, they were still making great music. In the Watchmen trailer, the song "Take a Bow" was featured from the album Black Holes and Revelations.

"Uprising", from the album The Resistance, was featured in the TV spot for Night and Day.

Muse is a progressive rock band from the UK. They have appeared on all three Twilight soundtracks.

Comic-Con schedule announced

The 2010 San Diego Comic-Con has announced its schedule.

Thursday morning, composer Danny Elfman will discuss his 25-year collaboration with Tim Burton. Elfman has a long list of soundtracks under his belt, including Beetlejuice, Batman, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. If you thought Tim Burton's movies were eerie, they wouldn't be nearly as chilling without the music.

Another big event on Thursday is the Entertainment Weekly sponsored discussion with J.J. Abrams and Joss Whedon. The two visionaries will discuss how technology, gaming, and the global culture have changed the way we consume stories. Joss Whedon is the mind behind Firefly and Buffy the Vampire Slayer while J.J. Abrams is behind Lost, Cloverfield, and the upcoming Super 8. See the trailer below.

Glee dominates Emmy nominations

"Glee" has picked up 19 Emmy noms, including Best Comedy Series, Best Actor in a Comedy Series for Matthew Morrison, and Best Actress in a Comedy Series for Lea Michele.

"30 Rock" has won the category the last three years and is nominated again this year. Another big contender in the comedy category is "Modern Family". We'll see if "Glee" or "Modern Family" can knock out the reigning champ.

"Saturday Night Live" was nominated for 12 Emmys this season and has

now surpassed "ER" as the most nominated show. "SNL" has been nominated for 126 Emmys in its 35 year run.

While the late night talk show battle has cooled, the Emmys have given Conan O'Brien's "Tonight Show" received a nomination for Best Variety, Music, or Comedy Series. Jay Leno and David Lettermen were left out of the category.

Here's the full list.

Soundtrack of the Week: Hocus Pocus

Hocus Pocus came out in 1993, a live-action Disney movie about three witches from colonial Salem returned to life in modern New England. Max Denison, the new kid from California, must defeat the witches before they suck the youth from all the children in town, including his eight-year-old sister.

Hocus Pocus gets some play every Halloween, mostly on the Disney Channel, but the real gold lies in the soundtrack.

Composed by John Debney, this elusive score was only released promotionally. If you want to find one, the best you can do is eBay. Soundtrack.net values the soundtrack at $225. You can also listen to samples from the soundtrack on their website.

If you do mosey on over to take a listen, you might find the music familiar even if you've never seen the movie. The main titles for Hocus Pocus crop up almost once a year in trailers.

The list includes Nanny McPhee, and Night at the Museum. Though the soundtrack is hard to find, it is a great add to any fan of the genre.

Casting News: Virginia Madsen and Elisabeth Rohm

Virginia Madsen has joined the cast of Red Riding Hood as Amanda Seyfried's mother. Seyfried plays Red.

The movie is re-imagining of the classic children's story. Directed by Catherine Hardwicke of Twilight fame, Seyfried plays a girl in a medieval village being terrorized by a werewolf.

Speaking of werewolves, Taylor Lautner has a mother for his new project.

Abduction. A youth discovers the people raising him are not his real parents after all, causing him to run for his life.

Elisabeth Rohm is known from "Heroes" and "Law & Order".

Trailer of the Week: Showtime

Showtime has been on a role. Shows like Dexter and The Tudors have attracted major followings, even amongst the population that does not have the channel. Their line-up also includes the acclaimed Weeds and Tracy Ullman's most recent project, State of the Union.

The music featured in this promo is from Apparat. The track is called "Hailin' from the Edge".

Apparat is a German electronic musician who started on the club scene and worked his way into ambient beats.

Though I haven't seen any other trailers using Apparat's sound, the sound does well in establishing a tone. Keep an eye out for more trailers featuring Apparat.

The new Soundtrack Channel

Say hello to the new Soundtrack Channel.

New Sound Media has announced the acquisition of the Soundtrack Channel. The new owners plan on expanding the Soundtrack Channel's offerings while still giving viewers access to the movie music they love.

Over the Fourth of July weekend, Soundtrack Channel will broadcast the best of South by Southwest for the last four years.

SXWS is an annual festival in Austin, TX that celebrates music and film. The festival unites original music and independent films with emerging technologies.

Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher

Every year, Meryl Streep does two movies. One for fun; one for Oscar.

This year seems to be no exception as Streep pursues the roll of Margaret Thatcher. Portraying a real-life individual is almost a sure way to be nominated.

The new biopic Thatcher is being developed by Pathe and BBC Films. Margarat Thatcher served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990. She was also the leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990, the only woman to hold both positions.

The film would focus on the two month Falklands War, after which Thatcher's approval rating doubled.

Jim Broadbent is rumored to be in talks as Thatcher's husband, Denis.

Meryl Streep is a wonderful actor, portraying a wide variety of roles. Her appearance as Julia Child shows her dedication when portraying characters based on real people.

Soundtrack of the Week: Titanic

Despite the over-exposure of "My Heart Will Go On" during the late '90's, the soundtrack for the movie Titanic was nearly as epic as the movie itself.

James Cameron intended for Enya to write the score for the movie. However, Enya declined and James Horner stepped in. There is quite a bit of wordless vocals in the soundtrack provided by Norwegian singer Sissel Kyrkiebø. The background choir is digital.

"My Heart Will Go On" won both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Original Song.

Titanic: Music from the Motion Picture was released in 1997.

A second soundtrack, Back to Titanic, contains new recordings, unreleased recordings, and source music for the film. This includes the music from the party below decks, and music from the string quartet that played on the deck as the ship sank. This soundtrack was released eight months after the first, but still achieved commercial success.

Adaptations and Coming Soon

Warner Bros. Pictures has secured Phil Lord and Chris Miller of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs to write and direct the LEGO movie. The studio is keeping the plot under wraps, but supposedly will take place in a LEGO environment.

Miller and Lord are first developing the movie for 21 Jump Street.

And, just when you thought your vampire fix was almost over, Preger Entertainment has acquired the rights to Richelle M

ead's Vampire Academy series. It is classified as "paranormal romance".

Within the first week of publication, the fifth book, "Sprit Bound", achieved the number one bestseller spot on both the New York Times Bestseller list and USA Today's bestsellers, while debuting at number 1 in Australia and New Zealand.

Trailer of the Week: Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

The beginning of the trailer for Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers features music from Howard Shore's score of the series.

At about 1:35, the music changes to a piece known as Requiem for a Tower.

The origin of the piece is the movie Requiem for a Dream. Any fan of that movie will recognize the piece, Lux Aeterna, written by Clint Mansell. The track was re-orchestrated with choir and full orchestra specifically for The Two Towers trailer. After considerable demands by fans, the piece was released by Corner Stone Cues on the album of the same name.

Clint Mansell has since released a version with the London Ensemble.

It was also used in the trailer for Babylon, A.D. and Sunshine.

Dreamworks adapts "The Help"

Dreamworks is adapting the bestselling novel The Help for the big screen. The book, by Kathryn Stockett, is about black maids working in white households in the 1960's.

Tate Taylor wrote the script and is directing. Shooting starts at the end of July in Greenwood, Mississippi.

Jessica Chastain recently signed on to play Celia Foote, an insecure Southern woman trying to fit into high society.

Confirmed Captain America

Chris Evans will be playing Captain America, Marvel says.

Kevin Feige of Marvel Studios will produce "The First Avenger: Captain America" with Alan Fine, Stan Lee, David Maisel, Stratton Leopold and Louis D'Esposito as executive producers.

This does raise an interesting question. Chris Evans is no stranger to superpower films. He played (plays) Johnny Storm in the Fantastic Four movies. Not only did he play Johnny Storm, it seems he played Johnny Storm well. Perhaps I'm nitpicking, but in the Marvel Universe, there is a sense of continuity. It is all the same place.

How can Johnny Storm also be Steve Rogers?

It's not the first time Marvel has cast an individual in two separate rolls in the same universe. Ryan Reynolds played Deadpool in "X-men Origins: Wolverine" and Hannibal King in "Blade Trinity".

I suppose if one reads too closely between the lines, Johnny Storm and Captain America are never going to interact with each other in a Marvel film.

Or, just like Clark Kent and Superman, they can never be in the same room at the same time.

Soundtrack of the Week: Ally McBeal

The television show Ally McBeal ran from 1997 to 2002, a strong five season run. Ratings began to drop by the third season, but jumped back up in the fourth when Robert Downey, Jr. joined the cast as Ally's boyfriend.

Quite a bit of the show revolved around the music, provided by Vonda Shepard. Shepard played the singer in the bar on the first floor of the same building of Ally's law firm. Ally often had an inner soundtrack running that the audience was privy to.

Several gags for the show came from the music cues, as well. One of the firm's partners, John Cage, had to listen to Barry White in order to get in the mood. The famous dancing baby danced to "Hooked on Feeling".

Only two seasons have been released individually, with the third set to drop on July 13, 2010.

The entire series has been released in a box set.

Five albums were released for Ally McBeal.

Songs from Ally McBeal May 5, 1998

Heart and Soul: New Songs from Ally McBeal November 9, 1999

Ally McBeal: A Very Ally Christmas November 7, 2000

Ally McBeal: For Once in My Life April 24, 2001

The Best of Ally McBeal October 6, 2009

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World Soundtrack

Beck fans will get an ear-full with the new Scott Pilgrim vs. The World soundtrack.

In the movie where Michael Cera must battle his new girlfriend's seven evil exes, there are several fictional bands. Beck provides the music for Scott Pilgrim's band, SEX BOB-OMB.

Another fictional band, Crash and the Boys, will be made up of unreleased material from Beck, Metric, and Broken Social Scene.

Nigel Godrich was the soundtrack's executive producer and has also penned the score for the film.

The soundtrack will be released on August 10th.

The full tracklist comes from Superherohype

01 SEX BOB-OMB (Beck): We Are SEX BOB-OMB

02 Plumtree: Scott Pilgrim

03 Frank Black: I Heard Ramona Sing

04 Beachwood Sparks: By Your Side

05 Black Lips: O Katrina!

06 Crash and the Boys (Broken Social Scene): I'm So Sad, So Very, Very Sad

07 Crash and the Boys (Broken Social Scene): We Hate You Please Die

08 SEX BOB-OMB (Beck): Garbage Truck

09 T. Rex: Teenage Dream

10 The Bluetones: Sleazy Bed Track

11 Blood Red Shoes: It's Getting Boring by the Sea

12 Metric: Black Sheep

13 SEX BOB-OMB (Beck): Threshold

14 Broken Social Scene: Anthems for a Seventeen-Year-Old Girl

15 The Rolling Stones: Under My Thumb

16 Beck: Ramona (Acoustic)

17 Beck: Ramona

18 SEX BOB-OMB (Beck): Summertime

19 Brian LeBarton: Threshold 8 Bit

Trailer of the Week: Sherlock Holmes

It's an interesting thing about movie trailers. The score for the movie itself has not yet been completed, so the music in the preview is not necessarily the music from the movie.

In Sherlock Holmes, the main score is provided by E.S. Posthumus. The track is called "Unstoppable" from their album Makara.

"Unstoppable" originally appeared as the theme for the 2007 AFC Championship on CBS. They provided the theme song "Arise" for the 2008 AFC Championship on CBS.

E.S. Posthumus formed in 2000 and has licensed their music to many movie and television production companies. Any fan of soundtrack music should definitely give them a look.

Despicable Me

The original soundtrack for Despicable Me will be released on July 6th, three days before the films opening. The soundtrack features new music by Pharrell, Robin Thicke, Destinee & Paris, and others. Also appearing are the Bee Gees and the Sylvers.

The score is also written by Pharell.

Save our Seeker!

The Save our Seeker campaign continues, there is something that a few of the fans have forgotten. The Legend of the Seeker soundtrack, composed by Joseph LoDuca of Xena and Hercules fame, won an Emmy for Outstanding Music Composition in a Series.

Seeker fans still fight for the future of their hero. You can view clips of the show and limited episodes on Hulu.com. Both seasons are available to watch on Netflix, as well.

The soundtrack is definitely worth a listen.

If you are a fan of Legend of the Seeker, you can join the good fight at saveourseeker.com.

Glee, Twilight, and Soundtracks on the Charts

The finale of Glee is a week gone, but that doesn't mean we have forgotten our favorite high school misfits. On iTunes, the Journey to Regionals (pun intended) album features six songs from the finale including Journey's "Faithfully", "Don't Stop Believin'" and the mash-up of "Any Way You Want It/Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'".

Glee: The Music Vol. 3 is currently ranked 12th in albums on iTunes. This is the Deluxe addition with 20 songs vs. the poor man's version that only has 14 tracks. Before you decide, keep in mind that Deluxe has both songs that Broadway powerhouse Idina Menzel did for the show, while the regular version does not.

Meanwhile, holdout Coldplay has granted the Glee producers use of their catalogue for the show. It seems that Coldplay and Bryan Adams have so far been the only holdouts for the show.

If you are wondering if the score for Glee will be released, there is no word on that yet, but the vocals are provided by the Swingle Singers, who have several albums available for purchase. They have appeared on other soundtracks including Thank You for Smoking and Milk.

Also muscling its way into the Top Albums on iTunes is The Twilight Saga: Eclipse soundtrack. Currently ranked 9th, the soundtrack features an original song by MUSE written exclusively for the soundtrack.

MGM CEO hunt on pause

The hunt for the new CEO of MGM has proved more difficult than originally thought.

Jonathan Dolgen, Peter Chernin and Bill Mechanic have all said they are not interested in leading the lion.

MGM is struggling under the weight of $4 billion of debt. The owners have been unable to find a buyer for the studio and have instead settled for financial and management restructuring.

One-third of the debt now is held by Highland Capital and a handful of other lenders. Lenders holding two-thirds of the studio's debt would have to approve any prepackaged bankruptcy.

With upcoming "Red Dawn" set for release in November and the horror thriller "Cabin in the Woods" slotted for January, no trailers have been shot, and it's assumed both will be pushed to later release dates.