Credit: FX

LOS ANGELES, February 22, 2010 —  FX has given the go ahead for a second season of its critically acclaimed animated series Archer, announced Nick Grad, executive vice president of original programming, FX Networks.  The network increased the episode order to 13 for season two, which is scheduled to debut in 2011.

Archer (TV-MA) has three new episodes slated for air this season. Through seven episodes the series is averaging 1.2 million total viewers, 853,000 adults 18-49 and 573,000 adults 18-34. This Thursday, Feb. 25, FX will air the “Four-Play Marathon,” four episodes of Archer from 10-midnight. Archer will return with new episodes on Thursday, March 4, at 10pm and the season-one finale airs on March 18.

“Executive producers Adam Reed and Matt Thompson are delivering a hilarious series and it truly earned a second season,” Grad said. “H. Jon Benjamin, Aisha Tyler, Jessica Walter, Chris Parnell and Judy Greer comprise one of the best voice casts of any animated series on TV. We’re very happy with the audience response and critical acclaim for Archer and are excited to move forward with it.”

Archer was created by Adam Reed and Floyd County Productions and is executive produced by Reed and Matthew Thompson. The show is produced by FX Productions. FX ordered 10 episodes for its first season.

“We are incredibly excited about the opportunity to make a second season of Archer,” said Reed, “and grateful that FX has enough faith in the show to allow it to build an audience.  Excelsior!”

Categories: Animation, Comedy by sharrison76
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Tags: Adam Reed, Aisha Tyler, Archer, Chris Parnell, FX, H. Jon Benjamin, Jessica Walter, Stacey Harrison

Burbank, CA (Jan. 12, 2010) — ABC Family’s original comedy series 10 Things I Hate About You will return with ten all-new half-hour episodes beginning Monday, March 29 (8:00PM-8:30PM ET/PT). The critically acclaimed series, recently named by New York Times as one of the “Top 10 Television Shows of 2009,” bowed this summer as the network’s highest rated comedy in its history. The series is executive-produced by Carter Covington and Robin Schiff, and stars Larry Miller, Lindsey Shaw, Meaghan Martin, Ethan Peck, Nicholas Braun and Dana Davis.

The half-hour series centers on the Stratford sisters, Kat (Shaw) and Bianca (Martin), as they both approach high school with very contradictory goals. Kat is a strong-willed, in-your-face feminist who is looking to save the world and get out of high school as fast as she can. Bianca is a social butterfly whose only concern is that she be popular, at any cost. As they both attend Padua High, the girls try to find what they want while navigating the popular crowd, boys and their over-protective Dad (Miller).

Categories: Comedy, TV News & Program Updates by sharrison76
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Tags: ABC Family, Dana Davis, Ethan Peck, Larry Miller, Lindsey Shaw, Meaghan Martin, Nicholas Braun, Stacey Harrison, TCA

Stephen McPherson, president, ABC Entertainment Group, announced early pick-ups of hit Wednesday night comedies Cougar Town, The Middle and Modern Family for the 2010-2011 Season today at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour.

Cougar Town (Wednesdays, 9:30pm ET)

Courteney Cox, who was recently nominated for a Golden Globe for her role on the show, stars as Jules, a newly divorced single mother exploring the honest truths about dating and aging in our beauty and youth obsessed culture. While most women in their twenties go through life experiencing the challenges and often humorous pitfalls of meeting men, Jules took on the responsibilities of marriage and raising a son. Now in her forties, she embarks on a journey to self-discovery.

The second-most-watched new comedy on television this season, behind only Modern Family, ABC’s Cougar Town ranks No. 2 on Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. in Adults, Men and Women 18-34. The freshman comedy is also improving the time period year to year for ABC by wide margins across the key Men demos: M18-34 +50%, M18-49 +63% and M25-54 +43%. On its most-recent telecast (1/6/10), Cougar Town marked its highest viewer and young adult numbers in nearly two months.

Cougar Town stars Courteney Cox as Jules, Christa Miller as Ellie, Busy Philipps as Laurie, Dan Byrd as Travis, Josh Hopkins as Grayson, Ian Gomez as Andy and Brian Van Holt as Bobby.

Bill Lawrence (Scrubs, Spin City) serves as executive producer/writer/director, Kevin Biegel (Scrubs) as executive producer/writer, and Courteney Cox and David Arquette are executive producers. The series is produced by ABC Studios. [Read more →]

Categories: Comedy, TV News & Program Updates by sharrison76
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Tags: ABC, Ariel Winter, Atticus Shaffer, Busy Philipps, Charlie McDermott, Chris Kattan, Christa Miller, Cougar Town, Courteney Cox, Dan Byrd, Ed O'Neill, Eric Stonestreet, Ian Gomez, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Josh Hopkins, Julie Bowen, Modern Family, Neil Flynn, Nolan Gould, Patricia Heaton, Sarah Hyland, Sofia Vergara, Stacey Harrison, Stephen McPherson, TCA, The Middle, Ty Burrell

Heat Wave by Richard Castle, star of the hit ABC series Castle (Mondays, 10:00-11:00 p.m., ET), has been a successful cross-platform collaboration between ABC and Hyperion. Published at the end of September 2009, Heat Wave has spent 14 weeks on the New York Times Hardcover bestsellers list, currently holding the No. 32 position for Sunday, Jan. 17, 2010. Hyperion has gone back to press eight times and now has over 170,000 copies in print. With this great success, a second book from Richard Castle will be published at the end of September 2010.

Heat Wave is Hyperion’s No. 2 bestselling ebook for 2009, surpassed only by The Last Lecture. It is also Hyperion’s No. 5 Kindle bestseller for the year. The free chapters of Heat Wave offered on ABC.com have been downloaded almost 100,000 times since the first chapter posted in August 2009. Heat Wave will be released as a mass market paperback edition in August 2010.

UNTITLED CASTLE BOOK 2 by Richard Castle —

In the sequel to Heat Wave, Castle’s new thrilling mystery continues the story of NYPD Homicide Detective Nikki Heat. Tough, sexy, professional, Nikki Heat carries a passion for justice as she leads one of New York City’s top homicide squads. In what’s sure to be another smash sensation by this blockbuster author, readers will once again follow Nikki Heat and hotshot reporter Jameson Rook as they trade barbs and innuendos, all while on the trail of a murderer!

For more information on “Castle,” visit ABC.com

Categories: Comedy, Drama, TV News & Program Updates by sharrison76
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Tags: ABC, Castle, Heat Wave, Nathan Fillion, Nikki Heat, Stacey Harrison, Stanka Katic, TCA

Code 58 (working title), the new action-comedy from Matt Nix (Burn Notice), will have special previews on two nights, Wednesday, May 12, at 8pm ET, and Wednesdays, May 19, at 8pm ET, before making its series premiere Monday, June 7 at 9pm ET on FOX.

“I’m incredibly excited to be doing the show at FOX,” Nix said. “It’s a network that’s known for pushing limits, and that’s what we’re doing here. They’ve really embraced the quirkier, more unconventional aspects of the show, and even encouraged me to go further with them.”

Code 58 (working title) is a comedic look at what happens when an old-school cop and a modern-day detective try to expose the big picture of small crime. Dan Stark (Bradley Whitford) was once a big-shot Dallas detective. Thirty years later, Dan Stark is a washed-up detective who spends most of his time drunk or rehashing his glory days. Dan’s new partner, Jack Bailey (Colin Hanks), is an ambitious, by-the-book and overall promising detective, but is sometimes a bit too snarky for his own good. His habit of undermining himself has earned him a dead-end position in the department. Jack may not see it, but he has little chance of getting out of his situation; his knack for making enemies at the station has assured he is not going anywhere anytime soon.

Jack’s only ally is Assistant District Attorney Liz Townsend (Jenny Wade, Reaper), a quick-witted former girlfriend whom Jack hasn’t quite gotten over and the one person he turns to for help with his current professional predicament. Not helping matters any is Jack and Dan’s boss, Lieutenant Ana Ruiz (Diana Maria Riva), who has committed herself to seeing that Jack and Dan spend the remainder of their days in the Property Crimes Division, assigned to investigate seemingly minor crimes in order to keep them — and the department — out of major trouble.

Code 58 is produced by FOX Television Studios. Matt Nix and Mikkel Bondesen serve as executive producers. Tim Matheson will direct the pilot episode.

Encores of both preview episodes will air Monday, May 31, at 8pm.

Categories: Comedy, Drama, TV News & Program Updates by sharrison76
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Tags: Bradley Whitford, Burn Notice, Code 58, Colin Hanks, Diana Maria Riva, FOX, Jenny Wade, Matt Nix, Mikkel Bondesen, Stacey Harrison, TCA, Tim Matheson, USA

© 2009 Fox Broadcasting Co. CR: Matthias Clamer/FOX

PASADENA, Calif. - Jan. 11, 2010 — FOX has ordered a second season of the genre-defying comedy Glee, it was announced today by Kevin Reilly, president, entertainment, for FOX Broadcasting Company. Glee has become a bona fide cultural phenomenon boasting winning ratings, critical acclaim, a rabid fan base of “Gleeks,” two certified Gold albums and more than 4 million song downloads. The series has received four Golden Globe nominations, including one for Best Television Series — Musical or Comedy; a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series; two Directors Guild of America Award nominations; and a Writers Guild of America nomination for Best Comedy and Best New Series. Additionally, the American Film Institute name Glee one of the Top 10 TV Programs of the Year, and the series also recently own a People’s Choice Award for Favorite New Comedy.

“We’ve loved Glee ever since it was a pilot script, so it’s been an incredible thrill to watch the show take root and see audiences embrace these characters in such a huge way this season,” Reilly said. “The show is a true and rare gem in television. We couldn’t be more proud of what Ryan Murphy and the Glee team have created so far, and can’t wait to see what they come up with for Season 2.” [Read more →]

Categories: Comedy, Drama, TV News & Program Updates by sharrison76
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Tags: Amber Riley, Brad Falchuk, Chris Colfer, Cory Monteith, Dianna Agron, FOX, Glee, Gleeks, Ian Brennan, Jane Lynch, Jayma Mays, Jesalyn Gilsig, Junna Ushkowitz, Kevin McHale, Kevin Reillly, Lea Michele, Mark Salling, Matthew Morrison, open casting call, Ryan Murphy, Stacey Harrison, TCA

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. - Jan. 10, 2010 — NBC will showcase an impressive gallery of marquee guest stars in its series in January-February with Kathy Bates in The Office, Jack Black and Katharine McPhee in Community; Debra Winger in Law & Order; Sharon Stone and Mischa Barton in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit; Elizabeth Banks, James Franco and the return of Jon Hamm in 30 Rock; James Van Der Beek and Michael Imperioli in Mercy; Jason Ritter in Parenthood.

In addition, Pam and Jim experience the birth of their baby in a special two-part episode of The Office on Thursday, March 4, and Thursday, March 11 (9-9:30pm ET both nights).

The announcements were made by Angela Bromstad, president, primetime entertainment, NBC and Universal Media Studios.

A summary of the guest stars and their roles includes:

• In The Office, Oscar and Golden Globe Award winner Bates (Misery) portrays the CEO of Sabre, the mysterious company that buys Dunder Mifflin. The charismatic and iconoclastic CEO is the most exciting guest the Scranton branch has ever seen — and a Southern charmer who has always done things her way. Bates will appear in a multi-episode arc beginning on Thursday, Feb. 4. [Read more →]
  

  Categories: Comedy, Drama, TV News & Program Updates by sharrison76
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  Tags: 30 Rock, Chevy Chase, Community, Debra Winger, Dunder Mifflin, Elizabeth Banks, Jack Black, James Franco, James Van Der Beek, Jason Ritter, Joel McHale, Jon Hamm, Katharine McPhee, kathy bates, Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Mae Whitman, Mercy, Michael Imperioli, Mischa Barton, NBC, Parenthood, Sharon Stone, Taylor Schilling, TCA, The Office

Jeff Gaspin, NBC Universal Television Entertainment chairman, announced Sunday that as of Feb. 12, The Jay Leno Show will no longer air at 10pm ET. This cuts short the 52-week trial balloon Gaspin had hoped to grant Leno’s primetime experiment, but affiliate pressure stemming from the negative effect Leno’s lead-in was having on local news broadcast forced the exec’s hand.

In shuffling the deck, however, Gaspin is hoping all his late-night cards remain in hand. He has proposed Leno move to 11:35pm, while Conan O’Brien would stay host of The Tonight Show at 12:05pm, and Jimmy Fallon would stay with Late Night at 1:05am. This would push Carson Daly’s talker Last Call into affiliate time, and Gaspin says the network hasn’t addressed what Daly’s role would be, but says he wants to keep him aboard.

None of the late-night hosts have agreed to the shakeup, Gaspin says, but they are still “thinking it over” this weekend. He called them “incredibly gracious and professional” about the situation. He also said the jokes he’s hearing on Leno and O’Brien’s shows by the hosts themselves are helpful, not hurtful.

Gaspin described the network’s new strategy as a “back-to-basics” approach that hints that the traditional broadcast model of scripted dramas and ad-based revenue still has more life left in it than previously thought. He stressed that the network was happy with the show, and that it was making money off the 10pm slot, but that discussions with affiliates “grew louder and stronger as time went on,” and that he was forced to make the difficult decision.

To fill the void, the Peacock is embarking on an ambitious development slate that Gaspin estimated would net two more hours of scripted programming per  week, one more hour of reality programming, and perhaps more editions of Dateline.

Among the programs in development (no casting has been announced) are:

Prime Suspect: An American version of the hit British series about a tough female detective investigating complex mysteries in a politically explosive city.  Hank Steinberg (Without a Trace) and Erwin Stoff (The Blind Side) are executive producers. [Read more →]

Categories: Comedy, Drama, TV News & Program Updates by sharrison76
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Tags: Adam Carolla, Angela Bromstad, Chase, Cheryl Hines, Cindy Chupack, Curb Your Enthusiasm, David E. Kelley, David Shore, David Tennant, Dick Wolf, Doctor Who, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, House, J.J. Abrams, Jeff Gaspin, Jerry Bruckheimer, Kindreds, Last Call With Carson Daly, Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, Law & Order, LOLA, Love Bites, NBC, Prime Suspect, Rex Is Not Your Lawyer, School Pride, Sex and the City, Stacey Harrison, Steve Carell, TCA, The Event, The Jay Leno Show, The Rockford Files, The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien, Undercovers

By Mike Frey

Before we get started with this week’s recap — which, is already late (sorry) — here’s a reminder that Glee is now on hiatus until spring 2010. New episodes are slated to start airing April 13 on FOX. Also, the show’s second soundtrack, Glee — The Music, Vol. 2, was released this week, so head over to iTunes to download it. Now, on with the show.

[Read more →]

Categories: Comedy, Horror by Mike
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Tags: Glee, Kelly Clarkson, Lea Michele, My Life Would Suck Without You, Rolling Stones, Sectionals

From FOX:

December 4, 2009, Los Angeles, CA - Legendary R&B band Earth, Wind & Fire has teamed up with animated character Cleveland Brown of The Cleveland Show to record a new holiday song called “Get Your Hump On This Christmas.” The song, as well as a companion music video that features animated versions of the band’s members, is currently available for purchase on iTunes and will be available as a free download exclusively on iTunes for one week beginning December 8. [Read more →]

Categories: Animation, Comedy, Holiday, TV News & Program Updates by RabbitEars
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Tags: Cleveland Brown, Earth Wind & Fire, FOX, Get Your Hump on This Christmas, Mike Henry, Philip Bailey, Ralph Johnson, Richard Appel, The Cleveland Show, Verdine White