Backstrom
Season 1 Episode 2: “Bella”
Directed by Alex Chappa
Written by Joe Hortua and Leif G.W. Persson (author)
Created by Hart Hanson
Starring Rainn Wilson, Beatrice Rosen, Page Kennedy, Genevieve Angelson, Dennis Haysbert, and Kristoffer Polaha
FOX
Air Date: Thursday, January 29, 2015, 9:00pm

Last week on Backstrom 1.1 “Dragon Slayer” (possible spoilers – beware!): We met Everett Backstrom (Rainn Wilson): cranky, overweight, pessimistic, negative, unhealthy……did I mention cranky? We’re also introduced to his band of much merrier men and women. And we met their first case and Backstrom’s unorthodox methods for solving crimes, or even seeing crimes when everyone else doesn’t see one. A senator’s son was murdered and while the whodunnit was interesting, it got a little overshadowed by the exposition. In pilots, that is sometimes to be expected. However……

Backstrom
Season 1 Episode 1: “Dragon Slayer”
Directed by Mark Mylod
Written by Hart Hanson and Leif G.W. Persson (author)
Starring Rainn Wilson, Beatrice Rosen, Page Kennedy, Genevieve Angelson, Dennis Haysbert, Mamie Gummer, and Kristoffer Polaha
FOX
Air Date: Thursday, January 22, 2015, 9pm

Rainn Wilson stars in this procedural that follows no procedure as Backstrom, a cranky detective trying to get himself back into the homicide division, after being put on traffic duty. He just needs to pass his physical, but his Hindu doctor Deb thinks he will drop dead at any moment.

The case he needs to solve to prove himself is the homicide of a college student, the wealthy son of a prominent senator. He manages to offend everyone and everything, while also pretty much modeling what NOT to do during an investigation. His team consists of Detective John Almond (Dennis Haysbert from 24), a levelheaded guy that looks out for Backstrom); Sgt. Niedermayer (Kristoffer Polana), poetic forensics expert who idolizes Backstrom; Detective Nicole Gravely (Genevieve Angelson, House of Lies), Nadia Paquet (Beatrice Rosen), a sexy tech who fills a Backstrom prescription; and Moto (Page Kennedy, Weeds), a beat cop who is Backstrom’s designated runner.

Starting very soon is the first ever YouTube Comedy Week, which, for those of you who feel shows like Jersey Shore and Teen Mom are “intelligent” and “well crafted,” means there’s going to be a week on YouTube dedicated to giggle making.

The week will feature an interesting mixture of both comedians and comedic actors, as well as some of the internet’s funniest figures, and will include live events, video premieres, and collaborations. The list of contributors includes Seth Rogen, Sarah Silverman, Rainn Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Michael Cera, Craig Robinson, Jeff Ross, The Lonely Island, and internet favorites like Epic Meal Time, Epic Rap Battles, and College Humor.

To help promote the event, none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger filmed a humorous promo for YouTube Comedy Week, which you can watch below along with another promo.

Color this writer far from shocked.

Deadline is reporting that NBC is looking to give their beloved character, Dwight Schrute from The Office, his own show with a mid-season 2013 debut being eyed.

Played by Rainn Wilson, Schrute is one of the most beloved characters on the show, particularly since Steve Carell left. Originally thought of as the leader of the pack of possible lead replacements, NBC appears to be going somewhere different with the character, making the fate of the show proper something of a question.

James Gunn, the former Troma Films writer who hit pay dirt with the script for the 2004 Zack Snyder-directed remake of Dawn of the Dead and made his directorial debut in 2006 with the sci-fi horror comedy Slither, has uncovered something very interesting which he linked to his Twitter feed just recently.

Animation company Toonsmyth Productions has put together a 90-second video trailer for a mock cartoon based on Gunn’s most recent film, the subversive superhero comedy Super that starred Rainn Wilson as a lonely and disturbed man who becomes a costumed crimefighter named the Crimson Bolt, in the hope that some network might pick it up for a series, possibly the Cartoon Network for their Adult Swim line-up. You can watch the video here below.