TV Eye

Nancy Schiesari's Tattooed Under Fire

This is a strange time of the year. The fall TV season has launched, and series are humming along. This is the lull before November hits, along with a slew of new arrivals. Most anticipated in my mind is the premiere of V, a remake of the 1980s miniseries in which aliens come to Earth for what at first appear as good intentions. I'm begging, pleading, and yearning for a review screener. V premieres Nov. 3 at 7pm on ABC. Other things waiting in the wings: new documentaries from the always compelling Independent Lens series (starting Oct. 27); the premiere of Austin-based filmmaker Nancy Schiesari's Tattooed Under Fire Nov. 10 on KLRU; and the premiere of George Lopez's new late-night talk show, Lopez Tonight, Nov. 9 on TBS. Until then, check out these TV tidbits.

The fourth season of Friday Night Lights premieres next Wednesday, Oct. 28, for those of you with DirecTV.

Neil Patrick Harris, of How I Met Your Mother and the online cult series Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, will voice the role of the evil Music Meister in a nearly all-musical episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold titled "Mayhem of the Music Meister." The special episode of the animated series airs Friday, Oct. 23, at 6:30pm on the Cartoon Network.

Purgatory Road in Austin, Texas? I couldn't locate it, but the folks at FearNet claim it's a 10-mile stretch of road that runs through Austin that has some unexplained phenomena going on there and is one of the featured pieces in Streets of Fear, online now at www.fearnet.com.

For more spooky stuff, check out the latest from IFC: Dead & Lonely is a new, five-episode web series from the Independent Film Channel – meaning, yes, even if you don't have a cable subscription, you can still check it out online. Written, produced, and directed by indie horror filmmaker Ti West (The House of the Devil), the series features two Los Angeles singles who meet on an Internet dating service and hit it off until it's discovered that one of them is a vampire. The series features Justin Rice (Harmony and Me; see "Things Are What You Make of Them") and Paige Stark. Dead & Lonely premieres Monday, Oct. 26 at 11am. Subsequent episodes premiere at 11am the next day for the rest of the week at www.ifc.com.

And while I'm at it, I may as well pimp some of the other things going on at IFC (yes, I'm a fan). All three seasons of Arrested Development will air on the IFC beginning Sunday, Oct. 25. The critically acclaimed series from Mitchell Hurwitz follows the perpetually put-upon Michael Bluth (Jason Bateman) as he tries to steer his affluent family from completely going bonkers after the family patriarch runs into some legal trouble. (See my interview with Hurwitz in conjunction with his appearance at the Austin Film Festival: "Auteurs Stake a Claim on the Small Screen," p.52.) Episodes air in pairs on Sunday nights starting at 9pm on IFC. Arrested Development will also be featured on IFC's Tuesday night "Automat," a four-hour block of exclusive, off-the-beaten-path programming. Check local listings.

Congrats to this year's local Lone Star Emmy recipients. Lynn Boswell brought home a trophy for her work as segment producer for Texas Monthly Talks for episode No. 722, featuring Billy Bob Thornton. A second shout-out goes to Kevin Pruitt for his producing work on an episode of Downtown titled "Creating a Great Downtown." Both series air on KLRU.

And lastly: On the heels of its successful open house two weeks ago, channelAustin wants to remind you that it offers professional, hands-on instruction in HD field equipment and studio production, plus affordable access to the latest high-end gear and software by Sony and Apple. Orientation sessions are held every Monday from 6 to 7pm at 1143 Northwestern Ave. To find out about other media training courses channelAustin has to offer, go to www.channelaustin.org.

As always, stay tuned. Follow TV Eye on Twitter: @ChronicleTVEye.