Skip to main content

Channel Surfing: ABC Axes My Generation, David E. Kelley to Tackle Wonder Woman, Spartacus, Lara Flynn Boyle, and More


Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing.

And another one bites the dust. The axe has fallen on Noah Hawley's drama My Generation, which was cancelled by ABC after just two episodes. Production has come to a screeching halt on the series, which debuted to more than 5 million viewers in its initial airing and then plummeted a staggering 31 percent for the second episode. ABC has yet to announce a replacement for My Generation, which had the Thursday evening at 8 pm ET/PT timeslot. News comes on the heels of FOX's decision to can Lone Star after two airings, while all eyes are on ABC's Whole Truth and NBC's Outlaw, which mark the two most likely targets for cancellation, should ratings not improve. (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

Better fire up that invisible plane: The Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd and Borys Kit are reporting that Warner Bros. Television is said to be developing a modern-day take on DC Comics' Wonder Woman for television rather than film this time around. (Joss Whedon had attempted to write a Wonder Woman feature film script back in 2005 and Deborah Joy LeVine attempted to launch a small screen version in 1998. Of course, Lynda Carter very famously played Diana Prince in the 1975-79 television series.) But the interesting news is who Warners has pacted with to write and executive produce the potential series: Ally McBeal creator David E. Kelley. [Editor: While I applaud the effort of Warner Bros. Television to return this icon to the small screen, I can't help but scratch my head about the decision to go with Kelley, who is based at the studio. Odd.] (Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed)

Pay cabler Starz is said to be considering "all options" when looking at the future of its brand-defining series Spartacus after series lead Andy Whitfield had to bow out due to his battle with cancer. While Starz president/CEO Chris Albrecht said that "hopefully" Spartacus will return, there is no certainty that the series will return for its planned second season, though there is the possibility of recasting Whitfield's role. "If not, we'll have something else in the fourth quarter," Albrecht told The Hollywood Reporter. (Hollywood Reporter)

Deadline's Nellie Andreeva is reporting that E! has ordered a pilot presentation for an untitled docuseries focusing on actress Lara Flynn Boyle, best known for her roles on ABC's The Practice and Twin Peaks. The potential project would, according to Andreeva, "follow the Practice alumna as she splits her time between her life in Texas and her marriage to real estate investor Donald Ray Thomas II and her Hollywood-centric lifestyle in Bel Air." (Deadline)

Now this I'd like to see: one name that's being bandied around as a potential entertainment president for NBC is former Showtime topper Robert Greenblatt, who stepped down from the pay cabler earlier this year. Rumors are flying that Greenblatt is being groomed for an oversight role at the network after the merger with Comcast goes through. "It's spectacular," said Paradigm TV agent Debbee Klein said about Comcast possibly considering Greenblatt for the role. "They haven't had an executive of his stature since Grant Tinker and Brandon Tartikoff. The writing community would make NBC a must-stop destination if he's at the helm... He's not just a guy who does one thing well. He's patient and has a very keen sense of material. He knows how to work with writers without stepping on their voice. Very few executives have that ability, such as [CBS entertainment president] Nina Tassler." Hmmm... (Hollywood Reporter)

E! Online's Jennifer Arrow has a series of first-look videos from this week's Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice crossover. (E! Online's Watch with Kristin)

ABC is developing an untitled comedy vehicle for Damon Wayans (My Wife and Kids) that will reteam him with Don Reo. (Variety)

Elsewhere, Lifetime has ordered a pilot for an untitled drama about the female head of a university hospital psych department. Project, from writer/executive producer Michael Sardo and executive producer Gerard Bocaccio, "revolves around a woman who moves to Philadelphia to work as chief of staff in the psychiatry department alongside her sister and a diverse staff." (Variety)

TV Guide Magazine's Will Keck has details about Amber Tamblyn's character on FOX's House, where she has signed on to a multiple-episode story arc as medical student Martha M. Masters. (TV Guide Magazine)

FOX has ordered pilot presentations for three Sony Pictures Television-produced animated comedies, including So Cal, Swell, and Sunflower Ponds. Talent involved includes Josh Faure-Brac, Doug Robinson, Kevin Ceil, Andy Riley, Anthony and Joe Russo, Reed Agnre, Eli Jorne, and Jamie Tarses. (Variety)

UK satcaster Sky has acquired UK rights to TV Land comedy Hot in Cleveland, which stars Jane Leeves and Betty White. (Broadcast)

Stay tuned.

Comments

Unknown said…
If Warner Bros. can't get Charisma Carpenter to play Diana Prince this time around, they shouldn't bother.

Popular posts from this blog

What's Done is Done: The Eternal Struggle Between Good and Evil on the Season Finale of "Lost"

Every story begins with thread. It's up to the storyteller to determine just how much they need to parcel out, what pattern they're making, and when to cut it short and tie it off. With last night's penultimate season finale of Lost ("The Incident, Parts One and Two"), written by Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, we began to see the pattern that Lindelof and Cuse have been designing towards the last five seasons of this serpentine series. And it was only fitting that the two-hour finale, which pushes us on the road to the final season of Lost , should begin with thread, a loom, and a tapestry. Would Jack follow through on his plan to detonate the island and therefore reset their lives aboard Oceanic Flight 815 ? Why did Locke want to kill Jacob? What caused The Incident? What was in the box and just what lies in the shadow of the statue? We got the answers to these in a two-hour season finale that didn't quite pack the same emotional wallop of previous season

Pilot Inspektor: CBS' "Smith"

I may just have to change my original "What I'll Be Watching This Fall" post, as I sat down and finally watched CBS' new crime drama Smith this weekend. (What? It's taken me a long time to make my way through the stack of pilot DVDs.) While it's on following Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars on Tuesday nights (10 pm ET/PT, to be exact), I'm going to be sure to leave enough room on my TiVo to make sure that I catch this compelling, amoral drama. While one can't help but be impressed by what might just be the most marquee-friendly cast in primetime--Ray Liotta, Virginia Madsen, Jonny Lee Miller, Amy Smart, Simon Baker, and Franky G all star and Shohreh Aghdashloo has a recurring role--the pilot's premise alone earned major points in my book: it's a crime drama from the point of view of the criminals, who engage in high-stakes heists. But don't be alarmed; it's nothing like NBC's short-lived Heist . Instead, think of it as The Italian

The Daily Beast: "How The Killing Went Wrong"

While the uproar over the U.S. version of The Killing has quieted, the show is still a pale imitation of the Danish series on which it is based. Over at The Daily Beast, you can read my latest feature, "How The Killing Went Wrong," in which I look at how The Killing has handled itself during its second season, and compare it to the stunning and electrifying original Danish series, Forbrydelsen , on which it is based. (I recently watched all 20 episodes of Forbrydelsen over a few evenings.) The original is a mind-blowing and gut-wrenching work of genius. It’s not necessary to rehash the anger that followed in the wake of the conclusion last June of the first season of AMC’s mystery drama The Killing, based on Søren Sveistrup’s landmark Danish show Forbrydelsen, which follows the murder of a schoolgirl and its impact on the people whose lives the investigation touches upon. What followed were irate reviews, burnished with the “burning intensity of 10,000 white-hot suns