Was it Canceled?

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

When I was a kid, I didn't understand much of why a show was canceled or renewed. I generally thought that the writers had no more stories for a specific set of characters, and that's why so many series finales were big, all-out episodes. The randomness of Michelle's amnesia on Full House comes to mind. Later, I thought that they ended shows when the characters got past the age that the show was designed to portray - like when the Saved by the Bell gang graduated from high school. That made perfect sense to me, especially because Saved by the Bell: The College Years was a completely separate show, as was Good Morning, Miss Bliss, when Zack, Screech, and Lisa were in middle school. When I got to high school, however, I started to learn (the hard way, of course), that it wasn't so much to do with the writers or the characters - it was the ratings. Somewhere around 1998 I began to "try out" new shows, as opposed to catching ones that were already established and joining the crowd. I loved a show I've written about before, which was so forgettable that nobody has ever been able to tell me what it was called... I suspect it lasted about five episodes, and was about teenagers going to high school while pursuing Olympic dreams. In 1999 I thought that Get Real was an awesome show, and I became a fan of Anne Hathaway even before The Princess Diaries. It lasted a single season. Just like last year's Better with You. A lot of shows don't last that long, though... 10-13 episodes are all they get, like Miami Medical, Sons of Tucson, and The Goode Family.

But, the time has come and the hammer is down... the majority of the 2011-2012 shows on the broadcast networks have now been renewed. We knew that the time was coming, what with the network up-fronts this coming week, but the vast majority of renewals and cancellations have already been announced, so here ya go. Hope you're not too upset! After the announcements I'll post a few thoughts.

First, the cancellations. Because, otherwise, you'll just scroll down to read those first anyway. I know you. :)

NBC really has the boatload of cancellations. Chuck is the only show that "just ended" while they have also pulled The Playboy Club, Free Agents, Awake, Bent, Best Friends Forever, The Firm, Harry's Law, Prime Suspect, and Are You There, Chelsea?. If you haven't heard of some of them, you're not alone. Many are blaming poor marketing and bad timeslot placement for several of these shows failing, particularly Bent.

From ABC, many of these were already known, but they've canceled Charlie's Angels, Man Up, Pan Am, Work It, Missing, GCB, and The River. Desperate Housewives has ended as well.

FOX has canceled Allen Gregory, Terra Nova, Breaking In, Alcatraz, I Hate My Teenage Daughter, and The Finder. They've also pulled the plug on House. They have not yet announced the futures for Napoleon Dynamite or Bob's Burgers.

CBS is holding onto the announcements for seven of their shows (including both CSI spin-offs and Two and a Half Men), so stay tuned for more on those, but they've actually canceled A Gifted Man and How to be a Gentleman.

If you care about the CW, they've canceled The Secret Circle and Ringer, and One Tree Hill is also finally ending. An announcement is pending for The LA Complex.


Now, onto the renewals!
On NBC, you'll see more of 30 Rock, Whitney, Up All Night, Smash, The Office, Grimm, Community, Parenthood, Parks & Recreation, and Law and Order: SVU.

ABC will bring you more Modern Family, The Middle, Suburgatory, Once Upon a Time, Last Man Standing, Grey's Anatomy, Castle, Body of Proof, Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23, Happy Endings, Private Practice, Revenge, and Scandal. Cougar Town has not been canceled, but you'll have to have TBS to watch new episodes next season.

FOX has decided to renew Bones, Glee, Fringe, New Girl, Raising Hope, Touch, American Dad, The Cleveland Show, Family Guy, and The Simpsons.

Over on CBS, look forward to more NCIS, NCIS: LA, CSI, How I Met Your Mother, 2 Broke Girls, Mike & Molly, The Big Bang Theory, Criminal Minds, Person of Interest, Hawaii Five-0, Blue Bloods, The Good Wife, and The Mentalist.

And, if you're a CW person, have fun with additonal 90210, Gossip Girl, Hart of Dixie, Nikita, Supernatural, and The Vampire Diaries.


Now, some thoughts...
None of the announced cancellations truly upset me this year. Perhaps if ABC would have officially canceled Pan Am a few months ago I would have cared more, but I've made my peace with it by this point. I'm a tad bummed that Terra Nova won't see the light of day again, but I didn't think it would get renewed so I wasn't crossing my fingers there. Alcatraz's cancellation does bum me out a bit, and I was hoping for an eleventh-hour renewal, but I can handle it going away, too. I'm downright thrilled that GCB is off the air and I'll wave goodbye as House finishes up in a few weeks. I do think that Bent deserved more of a chance, but it's too late now, anyway. I hope you're able to make your peace with the future of your favorite show (and hang in there, folks banking on one of the remaining few to be saved!), but we're going to have a lot to look forward to with the rest of the new pick-ups coming this week!

News Roundup: Lots of Picked-Up Pilots

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Renewals, Cancellations, & Scheduling:
HBO's Treme won't air season three until the fall, even though the previous seasons began in April.

FOX's Touch will launch in more than 100 countries (including Canada, the UK, Germany, Israel, and Russia) on March 19th.

Tonight on TLC, Sorority Girls premieres at 9pm ET/PT. The show will be about five Sorority Sisters who attempt to establish a sorority in Britain, a country that doesn't have the 200+ year history of these fraternal groups.

Bravo's Shahs of Sunset begins on Sunday, March 11th. It's a documentary series that looks at the lives of six thirty-something Persian-Americans living in Los Angeles.

History has a new fishing show coming February 9th: Mudcats, where some folks in Oklahoma catch giant catfish with their hands.

CBS will continue hosting the Academy of Country Music Awards through 2021.

HBO's Eastbound & Down will be back on Sunday, February 19th at 10pm ET/PT.

If you don't want to watch the Super Bowl, ABCFamily is going to air the five Bring It On films, beginning at 9am. Amusingly, they're not showing them in order.

HBO's Luck has already been renewed... mere days after its premiere.

It's a good thing that America's Most Wanted got back on the air after all... four fugitives were put behind bars in one week!


Cast & Plot Updates:
Lea Michele will be a guest mentor on the first episode of the second season of The Glee Project, which airs this summer on Oxygen.

Kristin Chenoweth will appear in a May episode of Hot in Cleveland.

Amber from 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom has struck a plea deal in response to her latest drug arrest - she'll complete a court-mandated drug rehabilitation program instead of going to jail for five years. She plead guilty to one count of "possession of a controlled substance" and one count of "probation violation." The hearing will be February 6th.

Leah from 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom 2 had a miscarriage.

Steve Jones will not be hosting The X-Factor anymore.

Shows in Development & Other Fun Stuff:
If you want to be in Los Angeles for the Simpsons 500th Episode Party (Monday, February 13th), you can enter until 5:59pm PT on Monday, February 6th over here.

Ben Stiller and Alan Alda may star in a new HBO comedy called All Talk, which is planned to be "politically, religiously, culturally, intellectually and sexually irreverent." The show will focus on the life of a Jewish family in Washington, DC.

The CW picked up three pilots - a "time-travel musical" called Joey Dakota, a comedy set in a New England summer resort called Shelter, and a futuristic "Hunger Games meets The Bachelor" called The Selection.

NBC bought TEN pilots last week, eight of which were comedies.

ABC has ordered a pilot based on Beauty and the Beast, despite the fact that the CW has already done the same.

I'd be surprised if you hadn't heard this one yet, but here ya go - Pat Sajak admitted to hosting the show after having a few drinks ("two or three or six") years ago.

Netflix is no longer marketing the DVD-by-mail part of its service, was they "expect DVD subscribers to decline each quarter forever," which is sad, since most brick-and-mortar video rentals are gone now. They also won't be adding video games like they had once intended.

If you're a fan of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, which runs on The Hub, get excited - you will be able to vote for the episodes for a mare-a-thon which will run on Saturday, February 11th and Tuesday, February 14th. Go vote!

As one might expect, visitors to Alcatraz Island are already creeping off the main paths to look for secret rooms. The island has posted signs, reminding tourists that Alcatraz is a fictional television show.

Can't get enough of Dearborn, Michigan after watching All-American Muslim? Well, Lifetime is coming up with ANOTHER sequel to Dance Moms... Ice Moms, which will have six episodes to start.

President Obama is a big fan of Showtime's Homeland, as is Bill Clinton and Diane Sawyer

CBS picked up three drama pilots: a period show, a PI show (Applebaum), and a character-driven procedural (Quean). They also ordered a pilot for a sitcom, written by Louis C. K. and Spike Feresten, who wrote Boomtown together ten years ago.

USA is working on The Moment, which is a nine-episode original reality series where football star Kurt Warner gives people a "second chance at reclaiming the career dreams that they put on hold when their lives took an unexpected turn." Each week, someone will have the shot to pick-up an old career where they left off, thanks to great mentors and opportunities. The someones are secretly nominated by loved ones. [USA Network Press Release]

USA picked up Political Animals, a six-hour drama series, to air this summer. It looks like it'll focus on a fictional former first family. Yep, try saying that five times fast!

USA will also be calling this February "Characters Unite Month" for the second year in a row. The goal is to combat prejudice and discrimination, which are problems everywhere. For examples of what they're doing, read here.

TLC is developing Preacher Wives, to be a "candid look into the holy worlds of outspoken ladies who work to ensure that their churches run as smooth as Southern-churned butter."

ABC is turning Scruples, Judith Krantz's 1978 best-selling novel into a one-hour drama.

The city of Hoboken will not allow Jersey Shore to film a spin-off there.

TCA Winter 2012 - A Day with FOX, Part 1 of 2

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

TheTalkingBox first attended part of the Television Critics Association Press Tour last summer, where we attended sessions for the cable networks and PBS. We've had articles on and off since then, discussing various things that we learned during the week as well as using some of the panels to inform our choices as to which new shows to watch last Fall (the hype about 2 Broke Girls and Hell on Wheels in particular!). Well, the TCA Tour takes place twice each year, and I was late in finding out just how early in January it began... this is technically Day 5! So, due to scheduling conflicts (both professionally and personally), FOX is the only network we are able to cover this time around. Enjoy the fun bits below (and the second half tomorrow!) and we will hopefully be able to attend the entire event come July.

FOX started off a Sunday morning with a large and delicious breakfast spread. What made it even better were the theme songs of long-ended shows playing throughout the room. Critics particularly enjoyed reminiscing about The OC and Party of Five, though I was more excited to hear the tunes of Beverly Hills, 90210 and Melrose Place. Screens around the room scrolled cast photos from the good ol' days of 21 Jump Street, The X-Files, and more. While I had been looking forward to Jason Priestly and Shannen Doherty being present (that was the plan as of Friday evening), we were instead treated to Keenen Ivory Wayans (In Living Color) and David Faustino (Married with Children).

Cr: Brian Bowen Smith/FOX

As one of the most-anticipated new dramas, Touch was the first panel to start off the day. In case you can't recall, Touch has been marketed with the idea that there's an autistic kid who can see hidden patterns that connect people all over the world. That idea was reiterated with the tagline, "we are all interconnected. Our lives are invisibly tied to those whose destinies touch ours." Now, I haven't said much about my thoughts on Touch before, but I'm just not interested. Some people can't get enough of how intriguing the pilot is, but I'm rather uninterested on the whole. Present on-stage were Kiefer Sutherland, David Mazouz, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, plus some producers. It didn't much matter, though, since Kiefer received the majority of the questions. And, as I bet you could guess, there were a handful of questions regarding 24. The big news? The movie is scheduled to begin filming in April or May. Things we learned about Touch? It's a procedural drama, not a serialized show. The initial conversation evolves into another conversation, etc. The show will address the multiple theories as to what's going on, including spiritual, scientific, and nefarious hypotheses.

Cr: Justin Stephens/FOX

Second up on the docket was Alcatraz, which is the FOX show that I am personally most looking forward to this Spring. If you were on Twitter between 10 and 11 this morning, you likely saw Jorge Garcia blow up the internet, as he was one of the actors here promoting the show (alongside Sarah Jones and Sam Neill). Lost questions aside (though you have to laugh at the idea that all shows on land take place on islands), the bulk of the conversation regarding this drama focused on Alcatraz the place and its former residents. Figures such as The Birdman and Al Capone may appear via flashbacks, but there are no real prisoners who will need to be accounted for on the show. Oh, and about Alcatraz the place? The group went, and even saw more of the prison than groups normally see. They filmed part of the pilot there, and Jorge Garcia recorded a bit of the tour in-character. But, the show films in Vancouver, so don't get too excited, Bay Area friends. Sarah Jones, who plays Detective Rebecca Madsen, did share a little about the physicality of her role. It's been "so much fun" and "jumping off a roof was a highlight in my life, not just that day." For such a demanding character, she started boxing and running. While these were interesting things to hear, the show actually began to lose a little of my interest. It's being billed as a "thrilling new series that follows a unique trio investigating the shocking reappearance of 300 of Alcatraz's most notorious prisoners and guards, 50 years after they vanished," the actual excitement isn't uber-thrilling. At least, to me. The idea is that one person comes back each week, and more clues will be uncovered. The idea is to have some questions unanswered at the end of the first season anyway, hoping for a renewal.

And, now, the executive session. First, some news. FOX finished the Fall at #1 among adults 18-49 (tied with CBS), adults 18-34, and teens. This is only the second time they've ever hit #1 with the core adult demographic. FOX also had the youngest median age this Fall (out of FOX, NBC, ABC, and CBS), at age 47. Everyone was hoping for announcements regarding the futures of House and Terra Nova, but, alas, nothing was revealed by FOX President Kevin Reilly. We did find out that the powers that be have pretty much been procrastinating regarding both of those shows (and Fringe, for that matter), which is not usually a good sign. If Terra Nova is to return, the decision needs to be made within the next month in order for production to be on-schedule, so that's something. We also got a half-response as to the future of Glee... some characters are graduating, but there's still a non-spin-off show planned for the fall, with Lea Michele on board. More to come. We also heard that a House spin-off is pretty unlikely. The time has come and gone, as David Shore "never creatively found something that excited him." We did get a definitive answer on Allen Gregory, however. It's done. Okay, enough of the past. What's in store for the future? Saturday late-night programming! Starting next January (as in, a year from now), there will be a 90-minute block, starting at 11pm ET/PT, that will feature animated shorts. I can only imagine that a good chunk of that audience is going to be college students! On a related note, Bob's Burgers has ordered enough episodes through next Spring! And, met with mixed reactions, I Hate my Teenage Daughter is still scheduled to air its remaining six or seven episodes.

Check back tomorrow for the scoop on the afternoon sessions!

News Roundup: A few Renewals and a LOT of Future Projects

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Renewals, Cancellations, & Scheduling:
Disney XD renewed Kickin' It for a second season.

Drop Dead Diva has gotten a 13-episode season four renewal.

Roseanne Barr announced via Twitter that Roseanne's Nuts, a Lifetime show, as been cancelled.

Lifetime did, however, renew Dance Moms for a second season.

The most surprising order goes to The New Girl, getting the go-ahead for a back-11.

TOLN, The Online Network, will launch in January 2012, with new episodes of All My Children and One Life to Live, among other shows.

The best renewal story of the week? Boss received an order for a ten-episode second season. The pilot will air October 21st.

Cast & Plot Updates:
Katie Holmes will play the Slutty Pumpkin that's been referenced semi-annually on How I Met Your Mother.


Shows in Development & Other Fun Stuff:
Comedy Central has a pilot contest going on. Go for it.

FOX has ordered a new Gordon Ramsey Series, currently known as Hotel Hell. This time, the unscripted show will focus on Ramsey & crew fixing hotels, motels, and B&Bs.

FOX also ordered up Touch, a Kiefer Sutherland show to premiere in the Spring. He'll play the dad of a mute son who is gifted with numbers.

Another FOX pick? A show about serial killers who use social networking.

ABC is looking to do a show about an angel who is expelled from Heaven and has to live in NYC. [I know, what??]

Another show ABC is looking to do? A guy has to find clues about the twelve apostles. So, Da Vinci Code fans, get excited.

What else? Oh yeah, another New York show about a cop. But, this is a fictional New York, or, magical, as it were.

CBS, on the other hand, is going to feature a mid-season replacement with Rob Schneider. He marries into a close-knit Mexican-American family, where his father-in-law is played by Cheech Marin.

NBC is looking to have a Dane Cook comedy show next fall.

Weirder yet, NBC also wants an 1880s drama/western. Not a bad idea, until you hear about the doctor character who uses his intellect rather than a six-shooter....

Extreme Musical Chairs, guys. This may be a thing. On the CW.

On Thursday, October 6th, the newest episode of Psych will air in NYC for 1,000 fans... the rest of us will have to wait until the 12th.

There are fewer GLBT characters on television this season than last season. Not a startling number, just less.

Netflix and the Discovery Networks (everything from TLC, the Science Channel, the Hub, and the Military Channel to the Discovery Channel, Investigation Discovery, and Animal Planet) have reached an agreement for a two-year contract to allow streaming of some of the networks' programming.

More on that note, FOX stuff is getting streamed via Amazon and Dreamworks is hitting Netflix.

But, really, the big story about streaming right now is that new episodes of Whitney and Up All Night were available to watch via Yahoo! before they were broadcast this week. Yeah, glad this didn't have publicity three weeks ago, huh?