Blink

Spike TV has launched its first scripted comedy, “Factory,” on Sundays at 10 p.m.

The show follows four beer-guzzling childhood friends who work together at a local factory. But it’s not drinking on the job that everyone should be worried about. No, the deadly foe is quite literally a necktie.

For the ladies looking for someone to relate to in this testosterone-heavy comedy, there are some female spouses, including a Ritalin-dispensing schoolteacher. What? It’s totally OK if you charge the kids $6 a pop.

Check out the clips below from the premiere episode, which may make some viewers ponder the question, “To tie or not to tie?”

“America’s Funniest Home Videos” producer Vin Di Bona is getting graphic. The TV veteran is stepping into the realm of graphic novels and comic books through his new banner, Invisible Hand Studios, which will be developing properties that hold potential for film and television adaptation. The new entity already is collaborating with Devil’s Due Publishing on several titles.

“I believe the graphic novel presents the most unique and creative entry into the future of both television and film,” explains Mr. Di Bona. “With the launch of Invisible Hand Studios, we have the opportunity to ride the crest of what will be the new wave of storytelling.”

Already set to hit bookshelves from Invisible Hand and Devil’s Due in August will be the graphic novel “Serpo,” based on the alleged U.S. top-secret interplanetary exchange program between 12 Americans and aliens from the planet Serpo and the alleged ensuing cover-up conspiracy. The graphic novel was written by Jason Burns with artwork by Joe Eisma.

Two additional properties are being readied by Invisible Hand and Devil’s Due: “D.O.L.,” a franchise in the vein of “Ghostbusters” that follows two overzealous underdogs who, in the process of collecting overdue library books, inadvertently save the world; and “The Odd Squad,” a dramedy featuring a motley group with varied specialties who assemble to reinstate the government’s Office of Dimensional Defense (ODD) to investigate and battle supernatural forces and unexplained phenomenon. Mr. Di Bona explains it as “Monk” meets “The X-Files.” “D.O.L” was written by “Serpo’s” Jason Burns; “Odd Squad” was written by Nick Capetanakis and Todd Livingston with artwork by Brendon and Brian Fraim.

— Chris Pursell

A squad of rootin’ tootin’ cowboys is being unleashed in major markets to help Hallmark Channel push its original movie “A Gunfighter’s Pledge,” starring Luke Perry.

The film is the centerpiece of Hallmark’s “Rough ’n’ Ready” festival of Westerns appearing in July. Today through Wednesday, the cowboys will be hitting such urban trails as Rockefeller Center and Times Square in New York; Venice Beach and the Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles; Hyde Park and the Magnificent Mile in Chicago; Fenway Park and Boston Common in Boston; and Centennial Olympic Park and the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta.

They’ll try to rope passersby into good-guy vs. bad-guy showdowns and deputize the locals. At the same time, they’ll be passing out tune-in info for “A Gunfighter’s Pledge” as well as information about the Rough ’n’ Ready festival and entering Hallmark’s Go West! Sweepstakes; the winner gets a trip to the Enchantment Resort out west in Sedona, Ariz. Yippee ki-yay!

— Jon Lafayette

Now that “Deal or No Deal” has become a national sensation on NBC, along comes the syndicated version, which aims to take things to another level.

NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution unleashed local market promos this month featuring host Howie Mandel, shot in the Los Angeles area this spring. The promos feature Mr. Mandel and the models confronting people at various locations (a grocery store, dry cleaner, beauty salon, at a family’s dinner table) and applying the now-iconic phrase to their everyday lives, whether it’s for the price of their groceries or what’s for dinner.

“We're fortunate that we can draft off the success of the prime-time version of ‘Deal or No Deal,’ a well-known brand from coast to coast,” said Betsy Bergman, VP of marketing for NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution. “That allows us to focus our efforts entirely on getting the message out that all-new half-hour episodes of ‘Deal or No Deal’ are coming five days a week starting Sept. 8 on your local station.”

The upcoming strip, considered by analysts to be the highest profile of fall’s new syndicated shows, will launch phase two of the promotion in July featuring the set of the show, while phase three will launch in August and highlight gameplay from the series.

“Because the game is so popular and the phrase ‘Deal or No Deal’ has become part of people's everyday lives, we took a light-hearted approach to our first tease phase,” Ms. Bergman said. “And with Howie being such a natural comedic talent, he really made the spots come to life.”

— Chris Pursell

NBC.com will debut “Kevin’s Bank Loan,” a new set of webisodes for “The Office,” on July 10. Take a sneak peek below at Kevin’s misadventures in gambling debt and Darryl laying his smooth-talking charm on a woman with “a vest of very high quality.”

Remember that writers strike about some newfangled thing called the Internet? Well, let go of the bitterness of having lost new episodes of your favorite shows and being spoon-fed reality programming, because the writers strike actually gave birth to a new venture from Joss Whedon.

Because Whedon doesn’t have his finger in too many pies already, he and his brothers Zack and Jed, plus Jed’s fiancée, Maurissa Tancharoen, got together during the strike and wrote “Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog,” a three-part, 10-minute Web musical about “a low-rent super-villain, the hero who keeps beating him up, and the cute girl from the laundromat he’s too shy to talk to.”

“Doctor Horrible” stars Nathan Fillion (“Firefly”) as hero Captain Hammer, Felicia Day (one of the many slayerettes during “Buffy’s” last season) as cute girl Penny and Whedonverse newcomer Neil Patrick Harris as Doctor Horrible.

Today, the teaser trailer made its debut. You can’t really hear any singing, but it sure looks nice for a Web production.

Check it out after the cut.

Hoping to be transported back to those middle school days when the biggest question during science class was, “Are Dawson and Joey finally going to stop hyper-verbalizing and get together in tonight’s season finale?,” the Daily Blink signed up for TheWB.com’s beta site.

Dawson and Joey were nowhere to be found (yet), but the Web site, which will feature shows from The WB (“Roswell,” “Gilmore Girls”) as well as other Warner Bros. TV-produced offerings (“Friends,” “The OC”), does finally allow cult cousins Buffy Summers and Veronica Mars to fight evil demons and philanderers side-by-side. The site, which is scheduled to launch in August, also will have original short-form series from producers McG and Josh Schwartz, TelevisionWeek reported.

But for all TheWB.com promises, it’s missing one dearly beloved but canceled show: The WB’s “Everwood,” the first show created by ABC’s current triple dynamo Greg Berlanti (“Brothers & Sisters,” “Dirty Sexy Money,” “Eli Stone”).

The 35th annual Daytime Emmy Awards on Friday included record wins, Regis and talking about butts.

Sitting backstage in the press tent, we were privy to seeing lifetime achievement award recipient Regis Philbin talk about working with Joey Bishop, while informative talk show winner Tyra Banks continued her discussions of booties from her acceptance speech.

BLINK loves all things California; having grown up here we love when movies and television series try to capture what it means to be a Californian (whether resident or transplant).

"Californication" captures just the right tone—its snarky, insider-y self-loathing take on Hollywood, liberal parenting, living on the Westside and the anything-goes culture of life in Los Angeles is vicious and mean, and might be unrealistic if it weren't balanced by great writing, a genuine love for the city and BLINK's real-life observations of the similarly insane lives of people all around us here in L.A.

For those jonesing to see people fall down, ABC’s Tuesday-night lineup starting June 24 will fill the bill.

“Wipeout,” premiering at 8 p.m., is essentially an American version of Spike TV’s Japanese-derived “MXC,” with snarky voiceover hosts insulting contestants getting thrown all over a huge obstacle course.

Of course, “Wipeout’s” game “Big Balls” doesn’t hold a candle to “MXC’s” “Floaters and Sinkers.”

But, the falling down doesn’t stop there because premiering at 9 p.m. is “I Survived a Japanese Game Show,” where 10 American contestants are flown to Tokyo to take part in a … wait for it … a Japanese game show.

The lineup of games includes “Chicken Butt Scramble,” in which contestants break balloons dressed as chickens, and “Why Is This Food So Hard to Eat?” In that game, one teammate runs on a fast treadmill while another tries to eat food off the running teammates head.

Both of these shows received pretty positive reactions at ABC’s upfront presentation, so drawing any comparisons between these shows and the movie “Idiocracy’s” faux-hit show “Ow, My Balls” is a bit premature.

Click play to get a jump on all the getting-hurt goodness.

— Andrew Krukowski