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HBO: Sex! Hollywood! Vampires!

True Blood - Sookie Stackhouse and Bill ComptonI must confess that I really don't pay that much attention to TV ratings. I realize that I'm just one girl, and whether I love a show or not doesn't make a wit of difference as to whether other people will love it -- and love it enough to keep it on the air. As a TV writer, I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that TV shows come and go, and sometimes nobody watches the good ones, which results in them leaving the air far too soon.

But I've found myself gravitating towards HBO shows, because they seem to be consistently good, no matter the ratings. Sometimes I'm crazy about the shows right off the bat. Such was the case with True Blood, which I review here on TV Squad.

Continue reading HBO: Sex! Hollywood! Vampires!

Here's how you can help save Chuck

ChuckChuck airs on NBC tonight at 8, and the season finale airs next Monday night. It's actually in danger of being canceled. But a major campaign has started to get the show renewed, and this time TV critics are getting behind it too.

Alan Sepinwall has written an open letter to NBC not just pleading with them to renew the show but also giving logical, business reasons to renew it (product integration, a good show for recession escapism, etc). He calls the show the best thing on NBC right now. Not sure if I exactly agree with that (I love 30 Rock too), but it's certainly one of the top 10 shows on TV right now.

Continue reading Here's how you can help save Chuck

Which shows are renewed, canceled, or on the bubble?

Network logosThe networks haven't announced their official fall schedules yet. That happens next month at the network upfronts, or whatever each network is now calling them - upfronts, announcements, presentations. But just from seeing the ratings of certain shows and stories that have leaked to the press already we can get at least a fairly accurate idea of which shows are going to definitely be renewed, which are probably canceled, and which shows are "on the bubble." ("On the bubble" means they're in the middle, balanced on the fence between getting canceled and being renewed. It's named after Sebastian Bubble, an executive at NBC in the early 50s.)

USA Today has a complete rundown of all of the network shows you might be wondering about (in handy chart form!). After the jump, a look at some of the more interesting possibilities.

Continue reading Which shows are renewed, canceled, or on the bubble?

CBS sticking with Men and Big Bang

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

Update - CBS renews a slew of shows

bigbangFans of the Tiffany network can do the happy dance. CBS has renewed 11 scripted shows for the 2008-2009 TV season. The lucky 11 are: CSI; CSI: Miami; CSI: New York; NCIS; Criminal Minds; Cold Case; Without a Trace; Ghost Whisperer; Numb3rs; Two and a Half Men; and The Big Bang Theory.

There are not a lot of surprises in this bunch, although it's great news that The Big Bang Theory, CBS's rookie Monday-night sitcom from Chuck Lorre's stable, made the cut. Still in limbo, however, are three other Monday-night comedies from the network: How I Met Your Mother, Rules of Engagement, and The New Adventures of Old Christine. The story speculates that Mother will get the greenlight for a fourth season soon, but Rules and Christine seem to be in competition for the 9:30-10:00 half-hour slot.

Continue reading Update - CBS renews a slew of shows

Industry insiders say strike could change the face of TV

WGA StrikeMaybe the strike's not all bad. That's what some studio executives are saying in this Variety article. The winter TCA Tour has been canceled already and upfronts are now in jeopardy. And just as it took the lead in pulling out of the TCA, NBC has already said they will forgo the multimillion dollar extravaganza the upfronts had turned into.

But from the network's point of view these are good things, as they'd been wanting to cut some of these expenses for years. What does that mean? The TCA Tours may be done for good, ditto the upfront "events." And that may just be the start of changes in the television landscape we've come to know and love.

Continue reading Industry insiders say strike could change the face of TV

Not one, but two new seasons slated for Damages

FX - DamagesFX has ordered 26 new episodes of Damages, which will result in two new seasons for the critically acclaimed drama. According to a TVGuide.com article, Jamie Erlicht, the Co-President of Programming and Production for Sony Pictures Television, praised FX for its support of the show.

Many members of the cast were originally contracted for six years including Glenn Close, Rose Byrne, and Tate Donovan, as well as producers Todd A. Kessler, Glenn Kessler, Daniel Zelman.

Continue reading Not one, but two new seasons slated for Damages

NBC's president announces renewals for Office, Earl, SVU, and Heroes - TCA Report

NBC logoNBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly started his network's portion of the TCA press tour by announcing full-season renewals for four shows: My Name Is Earl, Heroes, Law & Order: SVU, and The Office. This means all four shows will be back for new seasons in the fall. Reilly called those shows, and a number of others, "tent posts" that he thinks will bring the network back to a much stronger position than it has been in recent years.

In other news, Reilly announced the pickup of a new improv pilot called Thank God You're Here, where improv comics will don a costume unknown to them, enter a scene, and attempt to improvise through it. It will be hosted by David Alan Grier, and the improv comic's skills will be "judged" by Dave Foley. Where does the name of the show come from? Well, when the comic enters with his costume on, the other comics in the scene will say, "Thank God You're Here!" Clever, ain't it?

More on the executive session later today.

The Upfronts: The CW

the cwThe CW (formerly known as UPN and The WB, its official logo to the right) officially announces its 2006-07 prime-time schedule today, though there was a preview given last night. Some favorites from both old networks have made the cut, while there are some fans of old shows who will likely feel disappointed. The changes in brief:

Returning: 7th Heaven; Gilmore Girls; Smallville; Beauty and the Geek; Supernatural; One Tree Hill; All of Us; Girlfriends; Veronica Mars; WWE Smackdown; America's Next Top Model; Everybody Hates Chris.

Out: The Bedford Diaries; Blue Collar TV; Everwood; Living With Fran; Modern Men; Pepper Dennis; Reba; Related; Survival of the Richest; Twins; Cuts; Eve; Get This Party Started; Half & Half; Love, Inc.; One on One; South Beach; What I Like About You; Charmed.

New: Runaway; The Game; Palm Springs.

Moving:
Everbody Hates Chris
(to Sundays at 8); All Of Me (to Sundays); Girlfriends (to Sundays); The Game (Sundays); One Tree Hill (Wednesdays at 9).

Check back here later in the day for any updates that may come from the official Upfront presentation. Detailed descriptions of the new shows are after the jump below.

[Thanks to The Futon Critic for the info.]

Continue reading The Upfronts: The CW

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