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Showing posts with the label Melrose Place

Channel Surfing: "Harper's Island" to Graveyard on Saturdays, Abrams Confident About "Fringe" Renewal, "Privileged" Still Kicking, and More

Welcome to your Tuesday morning television briefing. CBS has announced that it will move struggling freshman drama series Harper's Island to Saturday nights at 9 pm ET/PT, beginning May 2nd. What saved the series from outright cancellation are its strong DVR numbers and the fact that all thirteen episodes of Harper's Island 's limited run were already in the can, making it much easier for the Eye to just burn off the episodes. "This move gives us an opportunity to improve the time period on Thursday while experimenting with more original programming on Saturday," said CBS senior exec VP Kelly Kahl of the network's decision. Harper's Island won't be alone on Saturday nights, which the networks have been increasingly using as a dumping ground for series with small but loyal viewers; Kings, Pushing Daisies, Eli Stone , and Dirty Sexy Money will all air episodes on Saturdays this summer. ( Variety ) J.J. Abrams is confident that freshman drama series Fr

Channel Surfing: NBC Exiles "Kings" to Saturday Nights, Thomas Calabro Returns to "Melrose Place," Liza Weil and Debra Mooney on "Grey's," and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. NBC has exiled struggling freshman drama Kings to the dire Saturday night at 8 pm timeslot, where the network will burn off the remaining installments beginning April 18th. In its former Sunday night slot, the Peacock will air two-hour episodes of Dateline NBC from 7-9 pm ET/PT. In its last outing, Kings captures a lowly 1.1/3 among adults 18-49 and 3.6 million viewers overall. ( Variety ) Thomas Calabro will reprise his role as Dr. Michael Mancini in the CW's revival of Melrose Place in a recurring capacity. Casting marks the second former cast member from the original FOX series joining the cast of the updated Melrose Place as he'll join Laura Leighton, who will reprise her role as Sydney Andrews. Could these two have ended up unhappily-ever-after, after all? ( Entertainment Weekly ) Liza Weil ( Gilmore Girls ) and Debra Mooney ( Everwood ) will guest star in Grey's Anatomy 's two-hour season finale, set to a

Channel Surfing: ABC Slates "Pushing Daisies" End, Sydney Andrews Returns from Dead for "Melrose Place," John Simm Returns to "Doctor Who," and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. The Pie Maker returns to ABC! Pushing Daisies fans will finally be able to catch the final three episodes of the prematurely canceled series. ABC is expected to officially announce that it will air the final three episodes of Pushing Daisies on Saturday evenings at 10 pm ET/PT beginning May 30th. (Sadly, still no news for when or if Dirty Sexy Money or Eli Stone will return to the lineup to burn off their remaining installments.) Also on tap for May on ABC: four-hour mini-series Diamonds , starring Judy Davis and James Purefoy, on May 24th and 26th; the launch of The Bachelorette on May 18th; the return of reality competition series Opportunity Knocks on May 26th; Wipeout returns on May 27th; and comedy The Goode Family will kick off on May 27th. ( Futon Critic ) Despite her character seemingly dying in the fifth season finale of Melrose Place (where she was run over on her wedding day), Laura Leighton will reprise her role a

Channel Surfing: FOX Orders Six Scripts for "Bones," Rob Thomas Not Optimistic About "Veronica Mars" Movie, "Scrubs" Return Possible, and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing. FOX inched its way closer to renewing drama Bones yesterday, ordering six scripts for the Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz-led series. While it's not a firm renewal yet for Bones , the script order does point favorably towards FOX picking up the series, which has improved the network's Thursday night timeslot by 43 percent since the series relocated there in January and has bested ABC's Ugly Betty and NBC's My Name is Earl . ( TV Week ) Some bad news for Veronica Mars fans: don't hold your breath waiting for the feature film spin-off of the much missed sleuthing series. Creator Rob Thomas told The New York Post that a greenlight isn't looking likely, though he'll "drop whatever" he's doing in order to make it happen should it materialize. "While the pitch [to producer Joel Silver] went well and I don't think the movie's dead, right now it's looking depressing," s

Heather Locklear Says No to Moving Back to "Melrose Place"

Remember how Heather Locklear's Amanda Woodward stormed onto the scene of Melrose Place , all blonde highlights, power suits, and withering glare, to save the saccharine series from itself? (Devotees will remember that the early episodes featured Billy's dream to become a dancer more than it did basement bombs, blindness, bald car-crash survivors back from the dead, and secret kidnap compartments on boats.) Looks like history won't be repeating itself. Entertainment Weekly 's Hollywood Insider has learned that Heather Locklear has turned down an offer to join the cast of the CW's revival of Melrose Place , which has already attached Ashley Simpson-Wentz, Jessica Lucas, Michael Rady, and Katie Cassidy. "There wasn't a way to bring her back that made sense," an unnamed source close to the production told Entertainment Weekly . (It's worth noting that Amanda had faked her own death, after all, so getting her back to West Hollywood and running D&D

Channel Surfing: Alex O'Loughlin Dips Toe into "Three Rivers," Season Three is Last of "Gavin & Stacey," No Ricky Gervais on "The Office," and More

Welcome to your Wednesday morning television briefing on a glorious day that sees the premiere of an all-new episode of ABC's Lost tonight. (I can't wait!) Former Moonlight star Alex O'Loughlin is said to be in talks to topline CBS medical drama pilot Three Rivers , told from the multiple POVs of transplant doctors, organ donors, and organ recipients. Project, from CBS Paramount Network Television, is written/executive produced by Carol Barbee ( Jericho ) and executive produced by Curtis Hanson and Carol Fenelon. ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) Co-creator/star James Corden has said that Gavin & Stacey 's upcoming third season, set to air in the UK later this year, will be the series' last. "This is it. This will definitely be the last series," said Corden of the series' third season, set to film this summer. "We have a point to which we are working to and that will be the end. It will be sad but it has been a great time for ev

Channel Surfing: Mischa Barton Gets "Beautiful" for CW, Joel Grestch Tackles Aliens in "V," NBC Summer Schedule, and More

Welcome to your Friday morning television briefing. Mischa Barton ( The O.C. ) has joined the cast of CW drama pilot A Beautiful Life , where she will play Sonja, a supermodel who is trying to stay on top of the modeling world but who is finding it not so easy as she thought. Barton was originally up for a role on the netlet's revival of Melrose Place but did not land a role on that pilot. ( Hollywood Reporter ) Joel Gretsch ( The 4400 ) will co-star in ABC sci-fi pilot V , from writer/executive producer Scott Peters, co-creator of The 4400 , and Warner Bros. Television. Gretsch will play a Catholic priest who sees a sudden resurgence of faith among the human population following the arrival of The Vistors. Elsewhere, Donald Faison (Scrubs) will star opposite Cedric the Entertainer in ABC comedy pilot The Law , where they will play reserve LAPD officers; Ben Koldyke ( Boldly Going Nowhere ) has scored a lead role in CBS comedy pilot Big D ; and Natalie Martinez ( Saints & Sinn

Channel Surfing: Morena Baccarin Gets Scaly for "V," Hansen and Watros Get Early "Gossip," Ashlee Simpson-Wentz Moves into "Melrose Place," and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. A slew of pilot castings were announced over the weekend, including former Firefly star Morena Baccarin landing the pivotal role of Anna in ABC's sci-fi pilot V , a remake of the 1980s cult series about an alien invasion. Baccarin will play the charismatic Anna, the leader of the Visitors who is able to manipulate the media very effectively and shows a breadth of knowledge about human culture. ( H ollywood Reporter ) Ryan Hansen ( Veronica Mars ) and Cynthia Watros ( Lost ) have joined the cast of the untitled Gossip Girl prequel backdoor pilot, which will air May 11th. Watros will play Lily's mother CeCe, while Hansen will play Shep, a friend of Owen (Shiloh Fernandez), who has a thing for Lily's older sister Carol (Krysten Ritter). ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) Ashlee Simpson-Wentz ( Seventh Heaven ) has been last in CW's drama pilot Melrose Place , an update of the 1990s FOX mainstay. She'll p

Channel Surfing: Alexis Bledel Scrubs in for "ER," Cassidy and McQueen Book Roles at CW, TARDIS to Get Makeover, "Day One" Nabs Four, and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. Former Gilmore Girls star Alexis Bledel will guest star in NBC's two-hour series finale of ER , where she will play a new intern named Julie Wise in the finale, which focuses on a 24 hour-long shift at County General Hospital. Casting marks Bledel's first major television appearance since the end of Gilmore Girls on the CW. Elsewhere, former Grey's Anatomy cast member Melissa George has been cast as the female lead in CBS' untitled US Attorney drama pilot from writer/executive producer Frank Military; George will play Susan, an ADA and ex-wife of the section chief (Michael Lange). ( Entertainment Weekly 's Ausiello Files ) Katie Cassidy ( Supernatural ) has been cast in CW's drama pilot Melrose Place , an update of the 1990s soap where she will play Ella Flynn, "an up-and-coming publicist with a big career ahead of her." Steven R. McQueen ( Everwood ), meanwhile, has been cast as one of the leads i

Channel Surfing: "Hex" Star Lands FOX Pilot, First "Melrose Place" Casting, Seinfeld Sells Reality Series to NBC, Cassar Quits "24," and More

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. Former Hex star Christina Cole has been cast as the lead in FOX's untitled Ian Biederman drama, where she will play a female surgeon who suffers from adult-onset schizophrenia; Cole Hauser ( K-Ville ) will star in CBS drama pilot Washington Field , where he will play the squad's supervisor; Michael Nouri ( Damages ) has been cast in ABC drama pilot Empire State, where he'll play the wealthy father of a girl involved in a star-crossed romance with a blue-collar worker; and Anthony Carrigan, Michelle Borth, Bob Stephenson, and Rochelle Aytes have been cast in ABC's untitled Jerry Bruckheimer drama pilot (formerly known as The Unknown ). ( Hollywood Reporter ) NBC has ordered reality/comedy hybrid series The Marriage Ref , from executive producers Jerry Seinfeld and Ellen Rakieten, in which celebrities offer advice to real-life couples battling "classic marital disputes." So far there is no launch date for t

Channel Surfing: "Chuck" Plans Game Changer Finale, "Melrose Place" Character Breakdowns, Whedon Has His Fill of Vampires, Pilot Updates, and More

Welcome to your Monday morning television briefing. Chuck creators Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak said that this season's finale will be "game changing" for Chuck and his band of spies. "We're going to launch the show in a really exciting direction next year. We designed our season heading toward it," said Schwartz, appearing this weekend at New York Comic-Con. While Schwartz and Fedak are being tight-lipped, they did mention that Jordana Brewster will reprise her role as Chuck's deadly ex Jill in an upcoming episode. ( TV Guide ) Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello has the character breakdowns for the CW's planned update of Melrose Place , including a character who is the son of the original's Jake (Grant Show), an omni-sexual PR maven, a wannabe filmmaker, a recovering alcoholic, a med student turning tricks to pay her tuition, and a teenage sex kitten. The pilot, produced by CBS Paramount Network Television, will be overseen by Smallv