PickUp-related stories
Posted Sep 1st 2009 3:28PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Pickups and Renewals, Breaking Bad, Reality-Free, Mad Men
This should come as no surprise to even the most casual of TV Squad readers.
Mad Men has been picked up for a fourth season, assuring that Matthew Weiner's engrossing and demanding tale of Don Draper and the people at Sterling Cooper will be played out for at least another year.
When a show like
Mad Men comes along, not unlike
The Sopranos in quality and pop culture appeal, the question usually isn't whether the network will stand behind it for the duration, but whether or not the creative team envisions a long run.
Continue reading Mad Men renewed for fourth season
Posted Aug 20th 2009 9:02AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Celebrities, Pickups and Renewals, Ratings, Reality-Free
See, this is a reason why cable is becoming the best place to watch TV.
Lifetime has picked up Drop Dead Diva for a second season. The show is a real chick-flick kind of comedy/drama that has done well in the ratings ... for Lifetime.
The 2.6-3 million viewers would mean a cancellation on the networks – think
Pushing Daisies – but on Lifetime, the charm and whimsy of
Drop Dead Diva, the appeal to the female demographic, and the pairing with
Army Wives on Sunday nights spells success.
Continue reading Lifetime loves the Diva
Posted Aug 4th 2009 8:02PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Industry, OpEd, Law and Order, Pickups and Renewals, Ratings, Reality-Free, Burn Notice
Things are really cooking at the USA Network. Not only has the new show
Royal Pains been renewed for a second season, but
Burn Notice is also coming back for a fourth.
Law and Order: Criminal Intent is on the verge of being re-upped, and now
In Plain Sight has just gotten a pick-up for Season Three.
Wow! Talk about a winning formula. This part of the Universal family, as opposed to NBC, seems to have figured out how to make dramas work and work well.
Continue reading USA signs up for more In Plain Sight
Posted Jun 10th 2009 11:09AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
Mere hours after the series premiered on the cable net,
Showtime has renewed Nurse Jackie for a second season. Why so fast, you might wonder? Well, Showtime could point to the biggest premiere since 2004, but because it was on pay cable the total number of viewers is less than two million. Those are the kind of numbers that would get it canceled on USA or TNT, not to mention ABC or CBS, but for Showtime it's excellent.
Excellent is also what a majority of TV critics and bloggers -- including
Jane -- had to say about the Edie Falco dark comedy. Some were more effusive than others, but for all intents and purposes, the press was pro-Jackie from the get-go. But not everyone loved the show.
Nurses complained loudly about the depiction of their profession.
Continue reading That was fast! Showtime gives Nurse Jackie second season pickup
Posted May 5th 2009 3:28PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Upfronts, Reality-Free
If this doesn't put a nail in the coffin of the
Seinfeld curse (does anyone still buy into that?), then nothing will. If CBS decides not to give
The New Adventures of Old Christine a fifth season pickup -- and right now they're not committing either way -- ABC is going to add Julia Louis-Dreyfus and company to its roster.
This was rumored a few weeks ago, but now it's confirmed.
ABC has sealed the deal to give Christine 22 episodes in a back up guarantee with Warner Brothers TV .
This isn't the first time ABC has offered to be
Christine's home. It made a similar offer last season, then CBS decided they did want Julia's sitcom after all. Apparently ABC's head man Steve McPherson is a big fan of the show.
Continue reading Old Christine is in a win-win situation for renewal
Posted May 3rd 2009 2:23PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Pickups and Renewals, Upfronts, Chuck, Reality-Free
To me, this should be a no-brainer. NBC should renew
Chuck for a third season, even if it only commits to 12 episodes, it should bring the show back. However, I'm not one of the geniuses in
Jeff Zucker's world; you know, those mental giants that have committed five hours of prime time to Jay Leno starting next fall and recently signed up for more
Donald Trump celebrity/reality BS. No, I'm just a loyal
Chuck viewer who has seen a show improve from week to week culminating with a superb final two episodes in 2009.
Well, there were rumors that on Monday at NBC's "infront" -- a preview for the "upfront" -- that
Chuck would get a pick up.
TV Guide says that's not the case. On Friday,
Chuck star Zachary Levi told a reporter that Josh Schwartz, the
Chuck exec producer, had emailed him that
NBC's decision about Chuck was on hold. The pick up, if it comes, won't be for a couple of weeks.
Continue reading Renewal for Chuck? Not just yet...
Posted Mar 3rd 2009 1:28PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free, The Big Bang Theory
How happy is
Chuck Lorre this morning? I'd say on a scale of one-to-ten, he's an eleven. According to reports,
CBS wants more of its Chuck Lorre sitcoms. In particular, they're talking three years more of
Two and a Half Men and at least two for
The Big Bang Theory.
While other shows sweat out the word of renewal or cancellation, Mr. Lorre seems to be CBS's prime time player they count on the most. Okay, second-most.
Jerry Bruckheimer is numero uno with the
CSI franchises,
Without A Trace, Cold Case, Eleventh Hour and
The Amazing Race.
Continue reading CBS sticking with Men and Big Bang
Posted Feb 26th 2009 11:03AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Industry, The Simpsons, Watercooler Talk, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
Fox just sent word that they've picked up
The Simpsons for two more seasons. So, if you've stopped counting, that means the FOX staple will have completed 22 seasons and an astonishing 493 episodes by the time this pickup runs out. I'd imagine they'd want to push for 500, so don't be surprised to see a 23rd season, as well.
Look, say what you will about what the show has become; it's not as funny as it used to be, it doesn't make news anymore, blah blah blah. It's still quite shocking that in this day and age of quick-trigger-fingered network executives that
any show can last as long as
The Simpsons has.
Continue reading Two more seasons of The Simpsons... will it ever end?
Posted Nov 1st 2008 1:27PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
I can't say I've been thrilled with some of the announced pick ups for the remainder of the season.
NBC's faith in Knight Rider, for instance, has me scratching my head. Here's one that I can get behind:
ABC has given Samantha Who a full season pick up.
The Christina Applegate single camera comedy -- which includes Jean Smart's Emmy-winning supporting performance as
Sam's alternately attentive and annoying mother -- has had a terrific sophomore season thus far.
I'm not talking about the ratings, although ABC is pleased that the show has been doing a good job holding onto the strong lead-in from
Dancing With the Stars (although this is not a scintillating edition of
Dancing). For me,
Samantha Who is just as funny as last year, but now things are getting more complicated and interesting.
Just last week, for instance, Sam was given an experimental drug to -- hopefully -- help her reclaim lost memories. Through flashback flashes we learned a lot more about Todd and Sam's relationship and how they've gotten to where they are. The episode was packed with emotion and funny bits of business, and yet in the end we were still on that precipice, waiting for Sam to remember that she loves Todd.
Continue reading ABC books a full season of Samantha Who
Posted Oct 21st 2008 12:01PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
Okay, the other day
I applauded Fox for giving
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles a pick up for the remainder of the 2008-2009 season. Even though the critics have been expecting more from the sci-fi series, Fox chose to stick with the show and give it a chance to evolve. Good for them!
That said, the news today that
NBC has given Knight Rider a full season order leaves me cold. That's an order for nine more episodes, and it strikes me as throwing good money after bad.
Knight Rider has been struggling in the ratings and generally
dissed by the critics. It hasn't earned a pick up to be perfectly frank.
So why would NBC give this remake of the 1980's action drama a vote of confidence? Well, it could be that it's considered one of NBC programming chief Ben Silverman's pet projects.
Continue reading NBC gives Knight Rider a full order
Posted Oct 18th 2008 3:32PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Pickups and Renewals, The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Reality-Free
Let's hear it for Fox TV! No, you don't need to check my meds. I'm seriously giving a shout-out to Fox for their latest move. Despite so-so ratings, Fox has
renewed Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles for the remainder of the 2008-9 season. This says that Fox understands that shows -- especially the sci-fi genre -- need time to develop and grow an audience.
The greatest sci-fi success of all time,
Star Trek, struggled for three years on NBC in the 1960s where the network was very frustrated with the show because it wasn't a ratings smash. Imagine, if you will, how much NBC might have made if they had stuck with
ST and mined the cult success that exploded into a cultural phenomenon?
Continue reading Fox saves Sarah...Connor, that is
Posted Aug 7th 2007 1:16AM by Varun Lella
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews
(
S01E01)
"I am pretty sure a lot of us are going to crash and burn pretty horribly." - Fred, the 45-year-old virgin
Okay, let me start by saying I won't follow this show on a consistent basis unless you guys beg me to. Really there is not much of a point. There isn't a whole lot to analyze here, nothing to obsess over, nothing to make this an addictive reality competition on par with your
So You Think You Can Dances and those
Dancing with the Starses.
Continue reading The Pickup Artist: Episode 1 (series premiere)
Posted Jan 26th 2007 11:31AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, NBC, Industry, OpEd, The Office, Pickups and Renewals
Interesting piece of news on Ricky Gervais' web site ("RickyGervais.com: The website of Ricky Gervais... obviously."). We already knew that the American version of
The Office has been picked up for a fourth season, but the "News" section of Ricky's site claims that the show has been picked up for a fourth
and fifth season. Here's the quote:
"Ricky has scored further success in America, with NBC deciding to make two more series of the US version of his comedy
The Office. Network boss Kevin Reilly said that The Office represented 'the best of what we consider quality shows'. This will bring the total number of episodes to 94."
Continue reading Two more seasons for The Office?
Posted Dec 13th 2006 11:01AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Industry, OpEd, Animation, Comedy Central, Pickups and Renewals
Larry the Cable Guy cannot be stopped. He's not only one of the most successful stand-up comedians around these days, he's one of the four-headed comedy monster known as the "Blue Collar Comedy" team, and he played a tow truck in the Pixar movie
Cars. Now, he's going to have his own cartoon.
According to
The Hollywood Reporter, Comedy Central
has picked up an animated pilot that Larry co-created and co-wrote with Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow. He will provide the voice of the main character, the co-owner of a cable station that has a lot of wacky programming ideas. In true cliched sitcom fashion, the other owner is a classy woman who completely disagrees with the programming choices Larry's character makes.
Continue reading Comedy Central orders animated Larry the Cable Guy pilot
Posted Oct 12th 2006 6:15PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, CBS, OpEd, Jericho, Pickups and Renewals
TV Squad HQ just got a press release from CBS; they've decided to pick up a full season of their most popular new show,
Jericho.
According to the press release, the show has averaged 11.3 million viewers, a 48% increase from Wednesdays last year, and all the desirable demographics are up. Overall, the show is helping the network see its biggest single-day ratings growth compared to last season. So, even though the show is not a "hit" by normal standards (
Grey's and
CSI, for instance, each drew over 20 million viewers last week), it's doing well enough to warrant a full season.
At the very least, we'll get a chance to see the entire "town stranded in a nuclear war" plot play out. I'm especially intrigued by that Hawkins guy; not sure if he's a good guy or a bad guy yet, but his character is keeping me interested in the show. The press release is after the jump.
Continue reading Jericho gets a full season from CBS
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