We’re Retiring!

We’re incredibly sad to announce that, as of today, Pond Hopping Girls is going on indefinite hiatus.

We’ve been struggling for a while, now, to juggle real life, PHG and our rapidly dwindling social lives. Something had to give. Regretfully, that something is PHG. As we became more and more busy, and as the list of reviews we were late on piled up, we became more guilty and more stressed. We know that, hard as it may be, leaving PHG behind is the only way we can find that work-life balance we hear people talk about so much. And, possibly, the only way for us to retain the last vestiges of our sanity.

But all is not lost, faithful viewers. The sites (pondhoppinggirls.com and pondhoppinggirls.tumblr.com) will remain active in the hopes that, one day, someone will be willing to pay us to review TV and we can quit our day jobs. Our social media sites (Facebook, Twitter) will also stay up and they may actually see some action – we know that, retirement or not, sometimes we’re just not going to be able to restrain ourselves.

In the meantime, thank you to everyone who tuned in to our stuff. Thank you to everyone who commented, followed, liked, shared, retweeted… you name it. And thank you to our regular (and irregular) contributors, J(ohn Carey), Eoghan Dalton and Bridget O’Flynn. It’s been special, guys.

Until next time… – K

Smash Moved to Saturday-night Slot

       

The death-knell is beginning to sound for NBC’s less-than-Smash hit. After six weeks of uninspiring ratings, the show is being moved from prime real-estate to a graveyard slot on Saturday nights.

The studio has clearly lost faith in Smash. 

And that’s a shame, really. This season has far eclipsed last year’s in terms of general watchability. It’s grown both in breadth of story and cast. It’s exploring new avenues (and ensuring that it doesn’t become stale) with the introduction of a second musical – one to rival Bombshell and split the loyalties of the recurring cast. 

But it still hasn’t escaped its biggest problem: Smash is, more often than not, its own worst enemy. Watching the show is still a personal battle for us. Yes, we love it. We love the ridiculous drama, the bitchy cat-fights, the all-singing, all-dancing productions. But, all the while, we can’t help but wish that we could be watching Bombshell instead.

But that’s immaterial. By shoving Smash into a Saturday-night slot, NBC is effectively giving up on ever recouping ratings, leading many to speculate that this second season will also be its last. One silver lining amid all of the potential gloom is that at least this season has a full run. That’s another 11 episodes to satisfy our (guilty) decadent cravings. Let’s enjoy them while we can. 

From April 6th, NBC will air the remaining episodes of Smash Saturdays at 9pm.

Potential Veronica Mars Movie in the Works

      

We’ve been seeing reports today that a Kickstarter campaign has been started by Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas, and backed by V Mars (Kristen Bell) herself, to raise funds for a movie. And thanks be to Neptune, it’s true! The Kickstarter goal is $2 million – a figure that, at time of press, is being rapidly approached. They are a mere $250,000 off target.

While funds from the campaign are minimal and are by no means sufficient to make a movie, the giving of donations is being approached as an almost ‘show of faith’ move by the show’s many enthusiastic fans. For Warner Bros. (the studio holding the rights to Veronica Mars) to even contemplate launching a movie, they need to know that people are interested in watching. With a (growing) roster of over 27,000 backers, it’s safe to say the support is there. And it’s pretty safe to say Ms Mars may be gracing the silver screen some time soon.

With Kristen Bell backing the Kickstarter campaign, it’s safe to assume she’s locked in to reprise her role, but there’s no indication as yet of who else might make the return to Neptune. With early plot speculation revolving around a 10th Anniversary high school reunion, it seems likely that, at the very least, we’ll get Mac, Wallace, Logan, Dick and Weevil. The rest remains to be seen.

We can’t stress this enough. This needs to happen. Stay tuned for further information! Excuse us while we go rewatch the entire series in preparation…

(PS Make sure to read Kristen’s note at the end of the Kickstarter page. It’s the most charming she’s been since that whole sloth thing.)

Early Cancellation for Zero Hour

      

New ABC vehicle Zero Hour has been cancelled by the network after airing only three episodes. The show garnered pathetic ratings in its Thursday 8pm time slot. The remainder of the season will not be aired. 

Speculation for low ratings is pointless – it’s always a combination of things – but poor marketing may have had a lot to do with it. Regardless, it means that Anthony Edwards, Scott Michael Foster, et. al. will soon be looking for new jobs. 

Guess we don’t need to set up that Zero Hour review page, then… Which is a pity. The pilot was by no means fantastic, but showed promise as a ‘Da Vinci Code meets Hellboy meets The Omen‘-type show . We would have liked to see what it became when it reached its stride. 

90210 Cancelled by The CW

Is it possible to be surprised and not surprised at the exact same time?

It has been announced that the current season of 90210 – its fifth – will be its last, as the CW stalwart has been officially cancelled. The move comes following a dismal year in ratings.

So what can we expect from the remainder of the season? Years of CW finales have taught us that the regular episodes will continue more or less as planned, though possibly with a little more urgency. Existing story lines will get wrapped up – Liam’s rage, Annie’s prostitution, Silver and Teddy’s baby drama, Liam and Annie’s (almost) series-long will-they-won’t-they – and few new strands will be introduced.

And then we’ll jump forward five years to see just how successful and wonderful all of the West Bev alums have become (because they will be successful – viewers are too fragile to allow for disaster). Annie will be

CW shows Supernatural, Arrow and Vampire Diaries Renewed

Good news for fans of the (slightly) darker side of The CW – big hitters Supernatural and Vampire Diaries, and newcomer Arrow, have all been picked up in early renewals.

Supernatural will be returning for a ninth season, Vampire Diaries for a fifth, and Arrow for a second. 

These renewals do beg a couple of questions though:

– If Supernatural is being picked up for a ninth season, that must mean they don’t close the gates of hell at the end of this one, right? Or will they close hell and then be faced with (another) war with heaven?

– On the back of today’s news that The Originals has begun casting, how will Vampire Diaries cope with the lack of big bad Klaus? Will he melt into the background to be replaced by bigger, badder Silas?

Guess we’re just going to have to tune in next year to find out! 

How I Met Your Mother to Suit Up for 9th and Final Season

The headline here really tells you all that you need to know. 

CBS announced Wednesday that the hit comedy, How I Met Your Mother, will be renewed for a ninth (and definitely final) season. 

This announcement arrives hand in hand with the very welcome news that we will, indeed, be meeting the titular mother before the show’s end.

The five leads, as well as the current writers, are all signed on for this final farewell.

With a definitive end in sight, what can we expect from the remaining episodes? Most of our curiosity is centered on mommy dearest. Will she be introduced at the end of this season/the beginning of the next one? Will we get a full season of Ted getting to know her and falling in love? Or will she finally be unveiled in a final-seconds bombshell as the curtain drops on our favorite New York friends since, well, F.R.I.E.N.D.S?

We don’t know which we’re hoping for. After years of wondering, can we be anything but disappointed?

The other big question on our lips: with that end in sight, will the writers try harder than ever to make a return to that magic of the early seasons? Here’s hoping!

Don’t Trust the B in Apartment 23 Cancelled!

ABC has pulled the eight remaining episodes of Don’t Trust the B from the winter/spring line-up, with no apparent intention to air them at a future date. The show has effectively been cancelled.

The news comes in the form of an ‘announcement’ from starring actor James Van Der Beek, made through his twitter account:

We can’t say we’re sorry about this, or even very surprised. The current season has, as we’ve repeatedly said here, lost the magic that made it such a smash hit the first time out. The real pity here is not that it was cancelled, but that it didn’t live up to everything it could have been.

Stay tuned to Pond Hopping Girls for our forthcoming reviews of what we now know will be DTtB’s final episodes.

According to Just Jared, original episodes of Happy Endings will be airing to fill the Tuesday night time-slot gap left by the ill-fated comedy.

Follow Pond Hopping Girls on Twitter here.

Joseph Morgan’s Klaus to get Vampire Diaries Spin-off

        

It’s been reported that Vampire Diaries is about to join the host of TV shows that have spawned their own spin-offs. 

Us Weekly reports that VD villain Klaus (played by Joseph Morgan) is expected to be the central character in The Originals. The show will follow Klaus as he returns to New Orleans to reunite with a former protégé. 

Fellow VD alum Phoebe Tonkin is attached to reprise her role as werewolf Haley. 

The big question, though, is how many of the VD central characters will be guesting. Can we expect crossover episodes à la fellow TV vampire behemoths Buffy and Angel?

Here’s hoping!