Ex-UTA agents get Serious

A pair of former UTA agents have launched Serious Business, a production company aimed at growing Internet content companies and turning their fare into TV programming. Jason Nadler and Jon Zimelis, who were part of UTA's digital division, are teaming up for the venture with Alex Blagg, who led the creation of MSN website Wonderwall and the online companion to VH1 series "Best Week Ever." Serious' first client is Cheezburger Network, a portfolio of popular humor sites including Fail Blog and The Daily What?. With over 20 million unique users per month coming to Cheezburger, Serious will help the company explore opportunities in TV. Cheezburger was a former client of UTA Online, where Nadler and Zimelis also guided Internet sensations including IAC-owned College Humor and Alloy Entertainment-owned Smosh. Serious was recently given a second round of funding from venture capital firm Brave New Ventures. Nadler will lead strategy of the company with Zimelis overseeing partnerships. Blagg will serve as Serious' head of creative. Contact Justin Kroll at justin.kroll@variety.com

General Hospital's Steve Burton on Jason's Existence or Dying Surgery

Steve Burton Mom of cleaning soap-amnesia plots - the woeful tale of Jason on General Hospital - is going to have a curious turn. Lengthy story short: In 1995, wealthy, wholesome preppy Jason Quartermaine (performed by Steve Burton) remained psychologically broken and memory-free following a vehicle accident and split from his family being underworld hit guy Jason Morgan. Now he's been seriously hurt in another crash and can require existence-or-dying nuclear physics. Throughout the intense procedure (airing August 26 and 29), the ladies in Jason's existence - fiancée Mike (Kelly Monaco), mother Monica (Leslie Charleson), ex-lover Liz (Rebecca Herbst) and Best friend Carly (Laura Wright) - will fantasize about how exactly their associations with him could be different if he had not switched mobster. TV Guide Magazine spoke using the Emmy-winning Burton about these "Let's Say...?Inch situations which a great deal larger question hanging over everybody at GH. Will the show be cancelled?TV Guide Magazine: These fantasy sequences seem like real fan-pleasers, specifically for the Liz and Jason nuts who've never quit - or shut up - in regards to a "Liason" reunion.Burton: There is a real adoration for seeing Elizabeth and Jason together which will simply worsen it! But that is a positive thing. [Laughs] Liz's fantasy will drive the fans crazy! I believe this concept happens to be within the viewers' minds. Let's say Jason got in another accident? Wouldso would he awaken? Would he go back to his old self? So we are doing a bit of awesome stuff with this. Except for Mike, who does not want Jason to alter whatsoever, everybody wants him to become someone else. Monica wants her boy back. Carly continues to have that little glimmer of hope it might exercise romantically on her and Jason. Their dreams were an opportunity for me personally, after many, a long time, to lighten and release up enjoy yourself playing a couple of different Jasons.TV Guide Magazine: Plus, we obtain Stuart Damon back on the program! Burton: It had been awesome to become back using the Quartermaines getting a great ole Quartermaine argument within the Quartermaine family room. I was raised for the reason that room! And also to have Stuart back as Alan - even for one day - was so awesome. I truly miss everything. It cut back lots of reminiscences to become dealing with Leslie and Stuart, and Jane Elliot [Tracy] and John Ingle [Edward]. There's some large history there, however when the Qs reached fighting, it's like virtually no time had passed whatsoever. We've got back in to the swing from it.Television Guide Magazine: You now don't put on not black. Did they create you put on Jason's infamous Christmas reindeer sweater in Monica's fantasy?Burton: No sweater, dude! The producers every every now and then threaten me after i get free from line. "You best shape up or you will be in that sweater and we'll cause you to increase your gold mullet out!InchTelevision Guide Magazine: You'll also find to smile!Burton: Right! "And we are gonna cause you to smile... a great deal!Inch That they know I dispise. Before Jason's brain damage, they'd him putting on knit tops and serving tea to his grandmother Lila [Anna Lee]. It drove me crazy! I owe everything to that particular accident.TV Guide Magazine: Why no Sonny [Maurice Benard] fantasy? It would be a hoot to determine what his life's like without his precious hit guy.Burton: [Laughs] Have you been kidding? Without Jason, Sonny could be destitute pushing a trolley lower the road. Finances lots of moments on the program where he's speaking to themself. He'd be lost without me! He'd need to do the job themself, and that he could not get it done.Television Guide Magazine: Because you weren't fired, I suppose we are able to securely assume Jason survives the surgery. What exactly are your ideas on his engagement to Mike?Burton: It is a huge step for Jason but it is time they take this relationship one stage further whatever that's - marriage, kids, coping with real existence. Not feel it's the perfect time?Television Guide Magazine: Uh, yeah, thinking about Mike does not provide a hoot what Jason does as a living. He may wanna grab that one. Burton: Exactly! Cure but Mike wants to get along with a serial killer? This is exactly why this relationship works and requires to maneuver forward. Can we hit a couple of hurdles in route towards the marriage? Sure. Will you will find there's kid?TV Guide Magazine: And, when they do, will Mike become another Brenda, who had been fine with Sonny's mob existence until she'd a young child of her very own? Burton: Regardless of what happens, Jason cannot get free from the company. We have seen that. He can't. It does not work. Who knows? Maybe he and Mike will have trouble with that. I do not request what's approaching. I saw [new GH mind author] Garin Wolf about the set eventually and that he stated, "Has [professional producer] Jill Phelps said what we'll do together with your character?" I stated, "No. She's attempted to however i don't actually want to know." He's, like, "You do not? However I have story for the following four several weeks!" Sorry, not a chance. I just read my script the evening before and that i report for work and get it done. I'd rather not fight anything, like I did previously do after i was youthful. I wish to be considered a team player. I truly trust Garin. I really like [former mind author] Bob Guza and can forever be thankful for the possibilities he provided, but he's an action and event guy. Garin slows lower a bit more and extremely highlights associations. It is a large change for me personally, but I am moving by using it.Television Guide Magazine: Will you be appearing on Kelly Monaco's new E! reality show Dirty Cleaning soap? Are her roving cams inside your face?Burton: No. I am not likely to fault her if she would like to perform a reality show making extra cash, but almost all my factor. I dispise cameras. I have been at GH such a long time - I am during my 20th year! - the studio is much like home. I am comfortable there and Comfortable with individuals cameras, however when I see other cameras about the set I recieve strange. Time passes all Sonny on people.TV Guide Magazine: You are a businessman in your right. What exactly are your ideas on My Children and something Existence to reside visiting the internet?Burton: Personally, I believe it's gonna work. I have been learning a great deal about making money online and just how advertising works. If Prospect Park has got the right strategic business plan, maybe it's a large success. 20 % of America now watches TV online. That's a crazy number! Time passes on ESPN.com and I must watch a 15-second commercial before I'm able to watch a job interview with Peyton Manning. There is no making your way around it. You've attention for just a few seconds. With TiVo, you do not. Marketers can get more for his or her buck on the web and these Prospect Park people may use that for their advantage. But we'd clearly would rather remain on ABC.TV Guide Magazine: What's been the atmosphere round the studio because the network introduced that Katie Couric's talk show will require within the GH time slot in September, 2012?Burton: After AMC and OLTL got cancelled, everyone was like, "It is the finish around the globe! Heaven is falling!" Also it got worse after [the Couric announcement]. But ABC makes some large changes at our show by looking into making Garin the mind author. Jill is attempting to complete everything possible to maintain this show about the air. I gotta offer her credit for your. It's difficult to create moves making choices at this time but she's doing everything she will. The atmosphere is, "Let us get together and do good.Inch We are hands-in-submit this case. We are a reveal that really wants to survive. Morale was pretty low following the cancellations. Now it's pretty high. You will find a lot of variables. If Katie Couric's taking our slot, will we obtain the slot of one of these simple new reality shows if they are not effective out? What's the probability of each of them as being a hit? All we are able to do is concentrate on what we have to caused by keep your rankings up and also the budget lower. We do not want ABC searching at us going, "Will we want GH or this Chew show?" We would like our amounts to become so great they cannot even consider eliminating us.Sign up for TV Guide Magazine now!

Hurry Up and Watch This 'Dark Knight Rises' Leaked Video Before It Gets Taken Down

More 'Dark Knight Rises' footage! Although, this isn't nearly as juicy as the last videos that came out last week (which included Batman along with a hundred extras fighting Bane and his goons on the steps of City Hall) we finally get to hear the voice of Tom Hardy's Bane -- and boy is it strange. In the video, which was filmed at Pittsburgh's Heinz Field, Hardy steps out onto the field and tells Gotham fans to "take control of your city" and that "this is the instrument of your liberation" as he marches what appears to be a hostage out with him. As the folks over at CinemaBlend point out, Hardy's voice seems to be channeling an "affected English accent" even though the Bane in the comic books is from the Caribbean. Watch the video below and let us know what you think. Image courtesy of Warner Bros.

Keck's Exclusives: Ray Romano Confirmed for Middle Premiere

Ray Romano ABC is starting off its fall season by having an Everyone Loves Raymond reunion about the Middle. The network has become verifying in my experience things i first reported during my column in June that Ray Romano will guest star within the September 21 third season premiere of his former TV wife Patricia Heaton's sitcom. Within the special one-hour installment, Ray - whose TNT series Males of the Certain Age only agreed to be axed - will have another named Nicky Kohlbrenner, a guy from Patricia's character Frankie's past. Works out he'd some submit destroying Frankie and husband Mike's honeymoon. Series co-creator Eileen Heisler explained the episode, which starts shooting this month, might find the Hecks starting on the journey - which sparks reminiscences from the then newlyweds' terrible honeymoon. In June, Patricia explained, "For those who have Ray, you would like it to be organic making sense. I believe he'll have a great time.Inch Sign up for TV Guide Magazine now!