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Showing posts with the label Dancing with the Upfronts 2010

Dancing with the Upfronts: CBS Axes Seven Series, CW Renews Two, Kills Melrose Place, Orders Nikita and Hellcats

A day ahead of its official upfront presentation, CBS announced that it had canceled seven series, including The New Adventures of Old Christine, Ghost Whisperer, Cold Case, Miami Medical, NUMB3RS, Gary Unmarried and Accidentally on Purpose and had issued reprieves for Medium and Rules of Engagement . CBS is expected to announce orders for new dramas Hawaii Five-O, Defenders, and Blue Blood , comedies Bleep My Dad Says and Mike & Molly , and the untitled Criminal Minds spinoff. It's still possible that the Warner Bros. Television-produced Old Christine could turn up on ABC as Steve McPherson has previously indicated his desire to acquire the Julia Louis-Dreyfus-led comedy should CBS opt not to renew it... and the same fate could hold true for supernatural drama Ghost Whisperer , which could be saved by ABC as well. Charlie Sheen, meanwhile, has successfully concluded a contract renegotiation that will see him return to CBS' Two and a Half Men for two additional seas...

The Daily Beast: "Bring On the New TV Shows!"

Over at The Daily Beast, I've been updating our gallery of new broadcast network television series, as the networks unveil their fall schedules and announce new programming at this week's upfronts. You can check out the gallery at The Daily Beast and keep track of all of the renewals and cancellation by visiting my post "Bring On the New TV Shows!" (and get to the gallery directly by clicking here ). I'll be continually updating the gallery with new photography, descriptions (not pulled straight from the press releases, thank you very much), and tidbits that you won't see elsewhere. In the meantime, I'm curious to know which new series are you most excited about? And which do you think are doomed to fail? Head to the comments section to discuss.

Dancing with the Upfronts: NBC Confirms Law & Order Cancellation, Orders Law & Order: Los Angeles

It's official: NBC has confirmed that it has canceled Law & Order , which will end its run on May 24th, tying with Gunsmoke for the title of longest running television drama. News comes a day after conflicting reports about the fate of the original flavor Law & Order , which has aired on NBC for twenty seasons, but after news of eleventh hour talks evaporated, NBC confirmed the original report by Deadline that the axe had fallen on the historic series by releasing an official statement. The same press release announced the renewal of Law & Order: SVU and confirmed rumors from several months back that the network was developing yet another iteration of the legal procedural, this time set in Los Angeles, and entitled Law & Order: Los Angeles (or just LOLA ). The series, from executive producer Dick Wolf and Blake Masters ( Brotherhood ), is currently in pre-production. Any casting attachments have yet to be announced. "The full measure of the collective contr...

Channel Surfing: Chuck Renewed, ABC Keeps V But Not FlashForward, NBC's Law & Order Conundrum, Lost, and More

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. Good news for Chuck fans: Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello is reporting that Chuck has been renewed for a fourth season of thirteen episodes, though NBC declined to comment on the report. While I had hoped for a full-season order, any Chuck is better than no Chuck , right? ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) Good news as well for fans of the Visitors: ABC has reportedly given a thirteen-episode renewal to freshman sci-fi drama V . " V was likely a no-brainer, as ABC wants to bring back at least one frosh drama, and the alien thriller is showing signs of life," writes Variety 's Michael Schneider. "Its fellow frosh sci-fi drama, FlashForward , is not." ( Variety ) Yep, it's not looking good for FlashForward , which Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello is reporting has already been cancelled, along with Better Off Ted, Scrubs, and Romantically Challenged . ( Entertainment W...

Dancing with the Upfronts: ABC Takes Flight with No Ordinary Family

Not content to be left out of today's announcements, ABC has made its first series pickup for the 2010-11 season, ordering superhero drama No Ordinary Family to series, according to The Hollywood Reporter . Project, from ABC Studios and Berlanti Television, is written by Jon Feldman, directed by David Semel, and executive produced by Greg Berlanti, Michael Chiklis, Morgan Wandeell, and David Semel. No Ordinary Family stars Michael Chiklis, Julie Benz, Jimmy Bennett, Christina Chang, Romany Malco, Autumn Reeser, and Kay Panabaker. The pilot episode featured guest star Tate Donovan. [Editor: having read the pilot script, I dare say that Donovan, who plays doomed pilot Mitch McCutcheon, will be back.] Here's how ABC describes the project: "The Powells are about to go from ordinary to extraordinary. After 16 years of marriage, Jim and Stephanie’s relationship lacked the spark it once had, and their family life now consists of balancing work and their two children; leaving li...

Dancing with the Upfronts: NBC Cuddles Up to Perfect Couples, FOX In Bed with Will Arnett for Running Wilde

As the march to the next week's upfronts continues, two more projects have gotten the greenlight to series this afternoon. NBC has officially announced that it has given a series order to comedy Perfect Couples , marking the sixth series pickup so far as the Universal Media Studios-produced comedy joins the previously announced Chase, Undercovers, The Event, Love Bites , and Outsourced . Project is written by Jon Pollack and Scott Silveri, who executive produce with Andy Ackerman, who directed the pilot episode. The cast includes Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Kyle Howard, Hayes MacArthur, Olivia Munn, David Walton, and Christine Woods. “Jon and Scott are hugely talented writer-producers and they’ve really delivered with Perfect Couples, ” said President, Primetime Entertainment, NBC and Universal Media Studios, in a statement. “The comedy includes a cast of three distinctive couples who share the same issues and will draw viewers in with their relatable stories.” Here's how NBC descri...

FOX Announces Series Pickups, Renewals of Lie to Me and Human Target, FX Goes for Wilfred

Just a few days ahead of its upfront presentation to advertisers, FOX announced that it had ordered four pilots to series, adding two new dramas and two comedies, and has reportedly issued renewal notices to dramas Lie to Me and Human Target . Shawn Ryan's cop drama Ridealong and bigamist con man drama Lone Star (formerly known as Midland ) and comedies Traffic Light and Keep Hope Alive (from My Name is Earl creator Greg Garcia) have all been given greenlights and will be part of the scheduled unveiled officially on Monday by FOX brass at their upfront presentation, according to The Hollywood Reporter 's James Hibberd . Move marks the first official orders for the fall season from FOX. No word as of yet on some of the other buzz-worthy projects awaiting greenlights such as Terra Nova and Breakout Kings . Meanwhile, the network surprised some by issuing reprieves for Lie to Me and Human Target , the former of which will continue without showrunner Shawn Ryan, departing t...

The Chase is Underway at the Peacock: NBC Gives Out Another Series Order

Another day, another pickup at NBC. The Peacock today announced that it had given an early series order to new drama Chase from executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Series, created by Jennifer Johnson ( Cold Case ) has landed a spot on the schedule for the 2010-11 season, the fifth series order handed out by NBC thus far. News comes on the heels of last week's orders for Undercovers, The Event, Love Bites, and Outsourced . Additional pickups will be announced before NBC unveils their fall schedule to advertisers a week from today. " Chase has all the undeniable elements of a thrill ride that you would expect from a Jerry Bruckheimer action series,” said Angela Bromstad, President, Primetime Entertainment, NBC and Universal Media Studios, in a statement. "Equally important, it also features a great cast. Kelli Giddish is a breakout star as the lead.” Here's how NBC is pitching the procedural drama series: Chase is a fast-paced drama that drops viewers smack into t...

More Series Orders at the Peacock: The Event, Love Bites and Outsourced Get Greenlights

J.J. Abrams espionage dramedy Undercovers is about to get some company. NBC today announced three more series orders for this fall, issuing greenlights to thriller The Event , romantic anthology Love Bites and comedy Outsourced . All three were much-buzzed about pilots the last few weeks with NBC widely expected to order all of them to series. "Each of these three series reflects a unique point of view and distinct style of quality that fits perfectly with NBC’s dedication to rebuilding the schedule," said Angela Bromstad, President, Primetime Entertainment, NBC and Universal Media Studios, in a statement. "These series showcase excellent writing and casting, and represent the kind of scripted programming our network and studio are committed to producing." [Editor: having read all three scripts, I'm scratching my head the most about The Event , which I found to be a ludicrous thriller with an unsurprising "surprise" twist at the end of the first hour...