It’s not even Upfronts yet, but it’s already been a crazy week of unexpected cancellations, renewals, and many surprises. People are, understandably, happy about some shows and upset about others. I’ve already seen many posts about how people will never watch insert network again. Guess what, they’ll be back as soon as another show catches their eye. Cancellations and renewals are the nature of the entertainment business where gambles either pay off or they don’t. Welcome to the game. But enough preparatory speeches, let’s get to the good stuff.
FOX: It all started Tuesday as FOX killed off every one of its low rated shows that wasn’t the already renewed Fringe: Human Target, Lie to Me, The Chicago Code, Traffic Light, Breaking In are all gone. (Though there are rumors of comedy Breaking In possibly being brought back from the dead.) Ordered to series: The Finder (Bones spinoff), J.J. Abrams’ Alcatraz, and comedies The New Girl (Zooey Deschanel) and I Hate My Teenage Daughter. Missing: Josh Friedman’s Locke&Key (possibility of a miniseries or cable series), Exit Strategy (Ethan Hawke, being retooled for maybe midseason), Rob Thomas’ Little In Common (being retooled for maybe midseason), and Weekends at Bellevue (medical drama scrapped after House was renewed).
NBC: NBC was next as it cancelled the extra: The Event (may be continued elsewhere), Outsourced, Law&Order: Los Angeles, and some renewed like Chuck, Parenthood, and Harry’s Law. Ordered to series: Smash (Broadway show), Awake (formerly the much better named REM, but I’m still excited), remake Prime Suspect, Grimm (Buffy&Angel’s writer David Greenwalt, police procedural where Bothers Grimm fairytales exist), Playboy Club. Missing: Wonder Woman is dead. Sadly, 17th Precinct is too.
ABC: All right everyone is upset about the cancelled V, Brothers&Sisters, Off the Map, No Ordinary Family. Renewed: Body of Proof, Happy Endings. Ordered to series: Charlie’s Angels, Good Christian Belles (Desperate Housewives in Texas and it did get a name change), Once Upon a Time (starring Jennifer Morrison from House, fairytale drama), Pan Am, Revenge, Scandal, and The River. Missing: Sadly, Poe.
CBS: Ordered to series: Person of Interest. Missing: Ringer with Sarah Michelle Gellar, but in a surprising turn of events, was picked up by the CW right after.
CW: Renewed: No real word yet, but Nikita will probably be renewed. Ordered to series: Probably Williamson’s The Secret Circle and Hart of Dixie. Still uncertain, is Ringer with SMG which after being picked up from CBS, ABC Studios pulled out of funding.
More details with actual tv schedules to come next week. Now, some tv news not related to pilots and fall schedules.
Interest in Torchwood: Miracle Day is increasing just as they’ve wrapped up filming this week. News of an important last minute casting came in and then there was word of a webseries being involved. From Jane Espenson, looks like Eliza Dushku will be the webseries Torchwood: Web of Lies. There’ll be lots of people from the Buffyverse involved behind and in front of the camera for the series, so watch it come this summer!
One of my favorite Buffyverse writers, Tim Minear was working on the now cancelled The Chicago Code, and has said on his Facebook he’s moving on to Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story. Now with Tim Minear aboard, Connie Britton (Friday Night Lights) already set to star, and it being shown on FX, my allegiance has now shifted to this show. Check it out, too.
Oh, and I’m also really excited to hear Fringe’s Seth Gabel (Lincoln) will be on the show as a regular next season. Yay! This is worth the renewal just by itself.
And movie news including some from the Cannes Film Festival. Between this and pilots, when it rains it pours.
Hunger Games! Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones) has been cast as Caeser Flickerman, the tv host of the Hunger Games. And Woody Harrelson has been cast as Haymitch, Katniss’ mentor. Hunger Games opponents Cato and Clove were also cast this week, with the girl from The Orphan taking the role of Clove. This’ll be interesting.
Joss Whedon’s brother Zack Whedon, who’s worked on Fringe and Rubicon, has been tapped to adapt the comic book Talent into a movie for Universal.
Coming out of Cannes, Andrew Niccol is back on board to direct Stephenie Meyer’s The Host starring Saoirse Ronan. His other film Gattaca was really gorgeous, so I’m even more excited now to see this film.
Amazingly there isn’t anything being cancelled that I am crying over. That has got to be a first for me! I am sad though that I’ll never get to see Poe or 17th Precinct.
Congrats! I’m sad I’ll never get to see them as series, too. I’d settle for just seeing the pilots, but it’d probably just make me more sad about it.
Still pissed over the cancellation ABC did but oh well, I will have less tv to watch next september :D
I heard Ringer has been picked up by The CW finally ;)
Are you upset about V? That’s what everyone seems to be mad about and boycotting ABC. It’s surprising it lasted so long in the first place.
I think the news about Ringer came too quickly, because it actually hasn’t been picked up properly. I think CW is just looking into picking it up after CBS passed, but they need to decide if they really want it and find funding for it. They have until Thursday to do so. Until then it’s just tentative.
No not about V, I am not upset, just sad seeing Brothers&Sisters getting cancelled. I have to admit this season was not the best but well I really enjoyed the dynamic of this crazy family.
Oh ok I haven’t understood it like that so thanks for the explanation !
Oh. Yeah, my parents watched that show, but I don’t think it was getting the ratings they’d hoped. ABC is pretty strict about ratings.