Twin Peaks 2.0? Not hardly, but not awful either

ABC has indeed released the first 14 minutes of its upcoming take on oddity called "Happy Town," and while it is truly more than a little insulting to release this on or very near to the 20th anniversary of David Lynch's TV masterpiece, it's actually better than I thought it would be.

But more on that at the end. First up comes news from David Cross that's sure to upset "Arrested Development" fans, but considering all the bulls*** we've been fed about an "AD" movie, I really don't think you can blame him for being probably the much more realistic messenger. Here's what he had to say to TVsquad.com:

"(I)t's not going to happen. Way too much time it's been (since the show ended). I mean, there's so many people involved. Everyone's doing their own thing, you know. And everybody's aged. It's just not going to happen. I'm sure I speak for everybody when I say we'd love for it to happen, we'd love to work on it, but just I don't think ... not going to happen."

Unfortunately, everything he had to say there makes a lot of sense. So consider the idea dead at least for now, but in the meantime remember that series co-creators Mitch Hurwitz and James Vallely are set to return to Fox (I believe) next fall, with Gob Bluth in tow. Will Arnett is indeed to co-star in "Wilde Kingdom" as what sounds a whole lot like his "Arrested Development" character, a dude who falls for a do-gooder played by Felicity herself, Keri Russell. Even though "Sit Down Shut Up" was just the epitome of awful, I'm still betting this will be a winner.

After that today, it's all about stylish horror, both in the form of a new film from Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and a truly creepy visit from Werner Herzog.

First up the Fresnadillo news. If you saw what he did with "28 Weeks Later," a far more visceral affair than its predecessor, "28 Days Later," you know the man has a talent for directing great horror flicks. And now comes word that he's signed on to direct something called "Intruders," which will star Clive Owen and Daniel Bruhl, a.k.a. the "Nation's Pride" from Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds."

All that's known so far about the story is that it will be about an 11-year-old girl who is battling demons of some kind, but given the man's track record (he also directed the seriously satisfying Spanish thriller "Intacto"), this is definitely one to keep your eyes on.

And in something more immediate but at least as creepy, director Werner Herzog has taken a little time to put his own twisted spin on "Curious George," and since it was easily the funniest thing I found this morning, it's well worth a listen. If you like this, I believe he does his own take on "Madeline," too, which should be easy enough to find. My favorite line here has to be "George quickly learns a hard lesson about desire," but it's really all good. Enjoy.



OK, finally, though nothing can really properly follow that, ABC has indeed put the first 14 minutes of its upcoming series "Happy Town" online, and if the purpose was to get me to keep watching, mission accomplished, I suppose. It's not great, but it will apparently star "Angel" vet Amy Acker, never a bad thing, and the story about a mysterious killer does seem to hold some promise, even if the obvious attempt to emulate the magic of "Twin Peaks" is most likely going to be a constant annoyance. Anyways, enjoy, and have a great weekend. Peace out.