The E4 Blog:

You've probably heard the news that the final ever Big Brother will air next summer. But wipe away that tear! The end of BB means more money for new drama - so there will be more stuff like Skins and Shameless, but also a whole batch of new shows, like Misfits which will be coming to E4 this November.

If you haven’t already heard about Misfits, it’s our latest drama series about a bunch of ASBO kids who develop weird superpowers after they are caught in a freak storm. But Heroes this ain’t. Nathan, Curtis, Alisha, Simon and Kelly aren’t exactly gonna be saving the world and they won’t be swapping their Reebok classics and ankle tags for capes and tights just yet. They soon realise that life’s not easy when you’re all that stands between good and evil… well, that and your curfew order.

Skins and Shameless will return in January, along with The Inbetweeners later next year and there are more new comedy drama series like these in the pipeline too.

Over on Channel 4, Shane Meadows - the writer/director behind This is England - will be making a drama just for TV. That’s a first! All the main characters from This Is England (Shaun, Gadget, Woody, Lol...) will return. Oh yeah, it's also set in 1986 which can only mean one thing: AWESOME 80s soundtrack!

You may have played our controversial game, Janey Thomson's Marathon (if you haven't, you've just gotta play it now!). It's a faithful recreation of the banned 1984 arcade game of the same name. The original was removed from arcades after reports that people were hospitalized with exhaustion after playing it.

It was thought that no original Janey Thomson's Marathon arcade machine existed, but since launching our web version of the game, a collector came forward to say he has a working version (pictured above)!

It's quite a find, so we've decided to team up with the guys behind Retro Reunited and hold a contest at their game festival. The game will be available to play at their event in Huddersfield on 12-13th September, 2009. Retro Reunited will hold a contest to find the best runner (hopefully, no one will end up in casualty this time).

For more info on the event and to buy tickets, see their website www.retroreunited.info

For anyone who can't make it, you'll have to make do with our wonderful web version. Some people have managed to beat it, but unless you play it for yourself you may never get to see what happens to that cow at around 25 miles in.

Mr Weatherman says September is going to be a wet one outside, but fear not: we're preparing to bring you loads of new comedy to keep you happy indoors.

Hit US comedy, How I Met Your Mother (visit the US website), is about to kick off its fifth season across the pond (proof that we're onto a good thing) and we’re going to be airing it from the very beginning every weeknight from the 4th September. The sitcom follows the stories of a guy called Ted (played by Josh Radnor) in 2030, as he recalls to his kids the events that led to him meeting their mother.

Supporting roles come from Ted’s best friend Marshall (Jason Segel) and his wife (Alyson Hannigan from Buffy). Those of you who have seen the hilarious (IMHO) Harold and Kumar Get the Munchies may also recognise Neil Patrick Harris (who played a parody of himself in the movie), as Barney, a smart-suited but slightly outrageous bachelor. If yer old, you may also remember him as Doogie Howser MD.

Returning for a second season on the 8th of September is the world’s favourite gay brick couple, Rick and Steve. If you’ve not joined the gang in their ‘gayest of gay ghettos’ at West Laghuna Beach, then pop along to the Rick and Steve site to catch up with the funniest clips from the first series, which aired last summer.

If you like your one-liners delivered by a flesh and blood comic rather than a bunch o' toys, keep your eyes peeled for Demetri Martin (visit his website). More 4 viewers may recognise him as The Daily Show’s ‘Senior Youth Correspondant’ and as a keytar player called Dimitri in Flight of the Conchords. He’ll be appearing on E4 soon in a one off special, Demteri Martin: Person, as well as Important Things with Demetri Martin (visit the US site).

Finally, if you are feeling a little bit chilly this summer, we’ve got just the thing to get you hot under the collar when Hollyoaks Later returns to our screens with an exclusive mini-series for E4.

As every good telly super sleuth knows, the first series of Veronica Mars will reach its thrilling finale this Thursday, 13th August.

On Wednesday, we'll give you a double dose of detective goodness, firstly airing episode 20, ‘M.A.D’ at the usual times of 7.15am and 11.00am with episode 21, ‘A Trip to the Dentist’ airing at a later-than-usual time of 11.55pm on Wednesday, 13th August.

‘A Trip to the Dentist’ will be the penultimate episode of season one and will raise the potential for edge-of-seat-viewing and frighten the faint at heart (so don’t say we didn’t warn you!). However, if you want to find out what dark deed happened to Veronica on the night of Shelley Pomroy’s party, we have a sneaking suspicion that you’ll be tuning in.

Also experiencing an ample helping of post-watershed content later this week is Colorado-based drama, Everwood. We’ll be showing episode 12 at the later time of midnight on Thursday 13th August rather than the usual time of 11am.

Once the post-watershed episodes of both Veronica Mars and Everwood have aired, both shows will return to their usual morning slots.

Bo'Selecta returns for a one-off Michael Jackson special later this year.

Leigh Francis is back behind the Jacko mask, as well as some new rubbery faces, such as Uri Geller and David Gest. The show will be a chronological look at Jacko’s life, blending iconic moments from his career with a mix of real celebrity talking heads (as well as some rubber-faced talking heads too).

If you're after some behind the scenes info, Leigh is already tweeting about recording the show (as well as writing all the usual guff he goes on about). Of course, the E4 Twitter also relays news of this and other E4 shows as we get it.

We'll have clips from the new show later this year, but here's a classic Bo'Selecta clip in the meantime:

The Inbetweeners are coming back for another term!

No that's not your comedy craving peepers decieving you; our favourite fish punching, briefcase carrying, caravan clubbing foursome are set to return to E4 for a third series in 2010.

Get ready for the new series by catching up on 4OD now.

Classic moments in previous series include Jay’s high pitched ‘football friend’ rant whilst treating a car like a trampoline, Will’s awful attempts at Yoda influenced seduction (‘Fiesty one you are!’) and wig related disasters at an Old People’s home.

After swotting up on your Will-worthy knowledge, give yourself a quizzing Mr Gilbert would be proud of with one of our Inbetweeners quizzes.