Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing.
The CW has unveiled a scheduling shakeup that will feature the launch of Season Two of Reaper earlier than expected. Reaper will take over the Tuesdays at 8 pm timeslot--currently inhabited by 90210--on March 3rd and will air 13 episodes without interruption. 90210 will then move to 9 pm on Tuesdays, taking over Privileged's timeslot. So what happens to Privileged? That series will wrap its run February 14th, much earlier than originally planned after it aired fewer repeats. No decision has been made yet about a second season of Privileged. (Hollywood Reporter)
Torchwood fans should keep their eyes on the internet on Thursday as the 60-second trailer for the series' five-episode Season Three, entitled "Children of Earth," will be released... simultaneously around the world at 4 pm ET. Season Three is set to air later this year on BBC One and BBC America over five consecutive nights. (via press release)
Michael Ausiello has some dish on a certain Greek cast member who won't be returning for the just announced Season Three. Said actor may return as an occasional guest star but won't be featured as a series regular for the third season. (Entertainment Weekly's Ausiello Files)
CBS has handed out pilot orders to three projects: drama House Rules, from writer/executive producer Michael Seitzman, executive producers Mark Gordon and Deb Spera, and ABC Studios, about newly elected members of the House of Representatives in Washington; cast-contingent comedy The Fish Tank, from Cathy Yuspa and Josh Goldsmith (The King of Queens) and Sony Pictures Television, about a teenager who finds that he has his parents' house to himself five days a week; and relationship drama A Marriage, from thirtysomething creators Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick and Bedford Falls, about a "marriage that works." The latter project currently has no studio attachment. (Variety)
TNT has renewed action drama Leverage for a second season of 15 episodes. (Televisionary)
HBO has acquired rights to a nonfiction book by Joe Nocera and Bethany McLean about the financial crisis of 2008. Pay cabler plans to develop a series that will explore the causes of the financial meltdown and how Wall Street and Washington handled fallout from the recession. (Variety)
Yet another twist in the ongoing SAG negotiation drama. Set to begin talks with the AMPTP today, the guild has had to postpone talks due to a lawsuit from its own president Alan Rosenberg, who has launched an injunction against the talks and seeks to have ousted chief negotiator Doug Allen reinstated after he and the negotiating committee were replaced by a new task force. (Los Angeles Times)
CMT has ordered a second season of music competition series Can You Duet, with eight episodes expected to air in June. (Variety)
Stay tuned.
"Reaper" is a lot fun. I wish it had more fans. If you haven't seen it and are curious, rent the DVDs and start with episode one. It has some interesting story threads that run throughout the episodes. If the pilot doesn't make you laugh, you have a broken funny bone!
I was actually surprised to see that Reaper was coming back. I did see the pilot and didn't laugh once! I know some people like it but it's definitely not my cup of tea.
Reaper is a show that I like but don't really find laugh-out-loud funny, other than maybe one or two instances per episode. However, it IS very amusing and entertaining, not to mention unique, so I'm rooting for it. Hopefully The CW is not just waiting to cancel this - I hope if it returns to pretty decent numbers they'll give it a third season.
Privileged is another underrated CW show...people seem to compare it unfavorably to 90210, One Tree Hill, and Gossip Girl, without having watched it or watching it without paying any sort of attention whatsoever...the show has a cute lead, it's funny and it's not shallow, and it has some real heart to it. I'm saddened to see that so many people simply ignore this.
YES! Finally you're talking about GREEK. I love that show, and you and I usually see eye to eye, so I was wondering why you never mention it. Do you not watch it, Jace? If not, you should start. I mean, if you love CHUCK as much as you do, I know you'll love GREEK just as much, if not more.
Love the blog. Keep it up.
Hooray for Reaper and nice to see a few fans here! Let's make this show a hit this (late) season! More discussion of this at reaperdmv.com