Syfy’s lighthearted dramedy Eureka has been renewed for a fifth season.
The show is currently airing its fourth season, which premiered with a time travel episode that cleverly altered several aspects of the modern-day status quo. Battlestar Galactica’s James Callis also joined the cast this season, further helping to freshen up the show. The alternate timeline story has gone a long way toward keeping the show — about the bemused sheriff of a scientifically-advanced town — from growing stale.
Poor Friday Night Lights. Despite its critical acclaim and high quality production, it’s been on-the-bubble practically since its debut. Given extended life via a special deal with DirecTV, the show has continued to air despite its low viewership, but it couldn’t last forever.
Season 5 will start airing in late October on DirecTV — commercial free! — and then sometime in 2011 on NBC. Its finale will serve as the conclusion to the show. Season 5 is comprised of thirteen episodes. Past cast members including Jesse Plemons, Taylor Kitsch, Scott Porter, Adrianne Palicki, and Zach Gilford, will appear in a handful of episodes to wrap up their characters as well.
After conflicting reports that a final fifth season was on-again and then off-again for Heroes, the final word is in. And that word is canceled. Although NBC has left the door open (just a crack) for a made-for-TV movie to give the show a proper wrap up, the network ultimately decided that even a truncated season simply wasn’t worth the investment.
All but the most hardcore of fans gave up on the show after its memorable first season ended with a whimper instead of a bang. Heroes was never able to repeat its Season One success, and struggled with meandering storylines that often ignored rules and events that past episodes established.
Syfy, the network formerly known as Scifi, has development on a television show based on the classic novel The Lotus Caves. Bryan Fuller, creator of Pushing Daisies, is writing the script alongside collaborator Jim Grey.
After their successes with Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Rubicon, and the strong buzz surrounding the upcoming The Walking Dead, AMC has jumped at the chance to order their fifth original series. Quickly becoming a home for high-quality storytelling, AMC has greenlit a full, 13-episode order for the first season of a new untitled series from writer and executive producer Veena Sud of Cold Case.
Formerly titled The Killing, the serialized drama ties together three distinct storylines that revolve around the murder of a young girl in Seattle. The three storylines follow the detectives assigned to the case, the grieving family of the victim, and the murder suspects. AMC says that the story also explores local politics as it follows politicians connected to the case. Over time, it will become clear that there are no accidents, that everyone has a secret, and while these characters think they’ve moved on, their past isn’t finished with them yet.
The series stars Mireille Enos (pictured above) as the lead homicide detective investigating the murder, Billy Campbell as Seattle’s City Council President; Michelle Forbes as the victim’s mother; Joel Kinnaman (also pictured) as an ex-narc cop who joins the homicide division, and Brent Sexton as the victims father.
The untitled series is based on a Danish TV series called Forbrydelsen that’s hugely successful overseas. Director Patty Jenkins (Monster) is helming the pilot that’s slated to premiere sometime in 2011.
TBS has just begun airing its first promotional piece for Conan O’Brien’s new show, which is set to start in November. Although nothing is revealed about the show in the 10-second commercial — not even its name — it’s a cute little Monty Python-inspired animation.
You may or may not recall that Star Wars: The Clone Wars was originally proposed as a five-season, 100-episode series that chronicles the events of the Clone Wars between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Jedi. If that’s still the plan, then it’s hard to believe that we’re almost halfway through.
The CGI animated show really hit its stride in Season 2, with numerous multi-episode arcs and some of the most imaginative storytelling from the franchise since the original trilogy. Cartoon Network has just announced that Season 3 will premiere with a one-hour episode on Friday, September 17th at 9:pm EST/PST. Season 3’s 22 episodes will unfold on subsequent Friday nights.
Lucasfilm Animation’s hyperbole-filled press release hints at major developments, describing the new season this way:
As war continues to rage throughout the galaxy, the dark side grows even stronger and the Jedi Knights are pushed to the breaking point. The lines between good and evil become blurred as secrets are revealed, truths are questioned and alliances are betrayed. Loyalties are tested as new enemies emerge and heroes rise — and fall. In this transformative new season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, surprises wait at every turn, the fate of the galaxy hangs in the balance and the destiny of the “Chosen One” will at long last be uncovered.
Don’t we already know who the Chosen One is? That’s kinda what the whole prequel trilogy was about. Anywho, here’s the teaser trailer for Season 3:
Big screen stars just keep migrating to pay cable networks. Maybe they’re bored with filmmaking. Maybe they like the steady paycheck HBO, Showtime, Starz, and other networks can offer without sacrificing any quality. Or maybe they’re just attracted to good stories no matter the format.
Laura Linney is the latest to jump to TV, with her own starring vehicle for Showtime called The Big C. It’s about a proper, conservative mother and schoolteacher who’s given devastating news: terminal cancer. Despite such a heavy subject matter, The Big C is billed as a comedy. Because now, with her days now officially numbered, Linney’s character Cathy decides to drastically alter everything about her life, becoming sassy and outspoken and suffering no fools. She starts by confronting her immature husband and spoiled son, and finds herself oddly drawn to social malcontents like her grouchy next-door neighbor and a sarcastic but confident student. The buzz-worthy show also stars Oliver Platt and Gabourey Sidibe.
Showtime is offering a preview of the half-hour pilot episode that’s free to watch online.
HBO has announced that Entourage, the pay-cable network’s longest-running show, will be ending after its eighth and final season. The show is currently filming season seven, and HBO has negotiated with Entourage creator Doug Ellin for a shortened eighth season, which will likely comprise about six episodes.
There’s also talk of a film to follow the series, a la Sex In the City, but nothing is official yet. Meanwhile, HBO president of programming Michael Lombardo tells The Hollywood Reporter that he expects his network to sign Ellin for a brand new show of his own creation in the next few years.
Rosie O’Donnell — the one-time “Queen of Nice” on daytime TV — is returning to host her own daily talk show again in 2011. Only this time, she’s working for her biggest rival from back in the day.
Oprah Winfrey has hired Rosie to host a daily chat program on OWN — the Oprah Winfrey Network — which premieres in January. The hour-long show will be filmed in New York, and OWN describes it as “a fun, uplifting show with Ms. O’Donnell’s playful and energetic style.” (Which translates as: they haven’t decided on the format of the show yet.)
It’s unknown if Rosie’s show will debut in January or sometime later in the year. The show is currently untitled.
