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TV News Roundup – December 2009 – Week 1

Disney sells stake in U.K.’s GMTV
ITV swallows early morning broadcaster
Disney has sold its 25% stake in U.K. breakfast broadcaster GMTV. The deal, worth £22.25 million ($37 million), means that ITV, the U.K. terrestrial giant, now owns GMTV outright. In a statement to the London stock market, ITV said: “The acquisition forms part of ITV’s strategy to focus on its core activities and will allow closer integration between ITV and the breakfast service.”

V lives: Ratings halt their decline for midseason finale
This signal of potential stability—and the fact “V” is halting above the 3.0 watermark—makes it very likely that ABC will bring back the alien invasion drama in the spring. In fact, the network ran a promo at the end of the episode saying “V” will return in March, even as ABC’s publicity department continues to say that no decision has been made.

BBC may sell stake in Worldwide
Broadcaster mulls sale of part of commercial arm
The BBC is understood to have held discussions with financial advisers about the possibility of floating part of BBC Worldwide, its commercial arm. According to the Financial Times, Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse were both involved in the talks. “One of the things we should look at over this period is whether 100% ownership of Worldwide is essential going forward,” BBC’s director-general Mark Thompson told the Guardian.

TNT cancels ‘Raising the Bar’
As expected, TNT has canceled Steven Bochco’s legal drama “Raising the Bar.” Here’s a statement from the network: “Everyone at TNT had a great experience working on ‘Raising the Bar’ with Steven Bochco and the rest of the show’s terrific cast and crew. We’re proud of the series and appreciate the efforts of all of the creative people who were involved. Unfortunately, ratings for ‘Raising the Bar’’s second season did not reach the levels required for TNT to renew the series.”

Syfy picks up thriller ‘Haven’
Series is first to be produced for global outlets
Syfy has signed on to pick up 13 episodes of “Haven,” a thriller based on Stephen King’s novella “The Colorado Kid.” “Haven” centers on a spooky town in Maine where cursed folk live normal lives in exile. When those curses start returning, FBI agent Audrey Parker is brought in to keep those supernatural forces at bay — while trying to unravel the mysteries of Haven.

Thanksgiving-averse Aussies leak ‘FlashForward’
This week’s episode of “FlashForward” has leaked online. ABC didn’t air the drama last week because of Thanksgiving. But wouldn’t you know it, Australians don’t care about our guilt-tinged empire-expanding holiday traditions and didn’t take a break. Whether the U.S.-Aussie “FlashForward” schedule being jolted out of sync will result in future episodes also being leaked isn’t known.

CBS pulls ‘Three Rivers’
CBS is pulling the organ-donation medical drama from Sunday nights effective immediately. “Rivers” is still in production and the network will complete all 13 episodes of the show’s initial order. Though network sources say no final decision has been made about its future beyond the 13, given the show’s consistent sub-2.0 ratings, fans shouldn’t expect anything more than a burn-off at some point.

‘Prison Break’ actor joins ‘True Blood’
Marshall Allman set to play Sam Trammell’s brother
Marshall Allman is joining the cast of HBO’s “True Blood” as a regular for the upcoming third season. On Alan Ball’s vampire drama, Allman will play Tommy Mickens, Sam Merlotte’s (Sam Trammell) long-lost younger brother who works at a Tire Depot in Arkansas.

‘The Mentalist’ gets a new boss
Aunjanue Ellis has joined the cast of the sophomore CBS drama in a recurring role. She will play the beautiful but tough new head of the California Bureau of Investigation who is installed after the resignation of the unit’s former chief, Virgil Minelli, played by Gregory Itzin. (Itzin recently signed on to return to “24,” reprising his role as former President Charles Logan.)

McConaughey’s ‘Rooster’ at Fox
Animated comedy based on actor’s brother
Fox has partnered with Matthew McConaughey to develop an animated TV comedy based on his brother’s life. “Rooster Tales” follows the world of a beer-swilling, redneck sheriff who marries a much younger woman from Mexico. The man soon realizes, however, that he’s gained not only a wife but an entire clan — 114 members and counting.

Christopher Eccleston plays Lennon
BBC drama to look at Beatles’ breakup
In the latest biopic, commissioned by BBC Four, former “Doctor Who” actor Christopher Eccleston plays the rock star in “Naked Lennon.” Pic highlights the years from 1967 to 1971 when the Beatle was ending his first marriage to Cynthia as Yoko Ono entered his life, coping with the death of manager Brian Epstein and the group’s own messy and acrimonious disintegration.

BBC chief looks to cut U.S. shows
More money will be spent on local production
BBC topper Mark Thompson has signalled that the corporation will spend less money on U.S. shows in future. Speaking in London Thursday, the BBC director-general said that following digital switchover in 2012 the pubcaster will spend a higher proportion of the license fee — paid by all U.K. TV watching homes — on domestic fare.

Fox reveals midseason lineup — full schedule and premiere dates
“Human Target” is one of three Fox shows to receive the coveted “American Idol” lead-in next year while “Fringe” will keep toughing it out on Thursdays. Mondays will contain the network’s marquee dramas, “House” and “24,” starting Jan. 25, with “24″ getting a two-hour opener the previous week. More after the link:

‘Burn Notice’ gets renewal
USA Network OK’s fourth season
USA Network has renewed its second show in two days: “Burn Notice” has been tapped for a fourth season. Meanwhile, Fox has picked up the back-nine episodes of the Tim Roth drama “Lie to Me”. “Burn Notice,” which stars Jeffrey Donovan as a Miami-based spy, was a key driver of USA’s strong perf this summer. Cabler ran nine episodes and will air the remaining seven in January. USA’s fourth-season order for Fox Television Studios series comes on the heels of Monday’s fifth-season pickup for “Psych.”

Fox picks up ‘Lie to Me’ for full season
“Lie to Me” has been picked up for a full season. Fox has ordered nine additional episodes of the human lie detector drama starring Tim Roth. Lie to meThe episodic order follows the three-script pickup for “Lie” last month. The back-nine order for “Lie” follows Fox’s full-season pickup of sophomore “Glee” and the full second-season order for freshman animated comedy “The Cleveland Show.”

But Wait, There’s More…

The Fine Print

This is by no means meant to be a comprehensive roundup of the entire weeks’ news. All stories are chosen by me for no other reason than that they got my attention and might capture yours. If something you think is more important chime in on the feedback; we’d love to hear comments and have a conversation about it.

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About The Author

Scott From LA

Scott is an art director, writer and comics creator living in Los Angeles. He has been a pop culture maven from a very young age. His very first job was as a manager of a comic book store. He spent several years working in a video store, and yes, we are talking VHS tapes. A student of literature and Writing, he brings his obsessive love of comic book trivia, movie history and science fiction/fantasy writing to bear on the work he does for CoolShite.

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Article Information

  • Posted: Friday, December 4th, 2009
  • Author: Scott From LA
  • Filed Under: News,TV News
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