Following months of uncertainty over the future of ‘Cougar Town’, which stars Golden Globe nominee Courteney Cox, it was revealed on Thursday May 10 that a deal has been made which will see the critically-beloved, but low-rated, series move to TBS for a fourth season, set to air in early 2013.

There had been rumors of such a deal in the last week, with initial reports suggesting that TBS would pick-up ‘Cougar Town’ for 30 episodes spread across two seasons. However, as it stands TBS has only renewed it for Season 4, with the actors under contract for Season 5 should it perform well enough for TBS to order an additional season.

This move comes after a difficult life for the series on ABC. Premiering to strong ratings in the fall of 2009, ‘Cougar Town’ was scheduled alongside ABC’s number one comedy ‘Modern Family’ and performed well-enough to stay in that slot for two seasons. However, its ratings weren’t quite on par with ‘Modern Family’, and ABC pulled it from the schedule while it tried out a variety of other comedies, hoping to find a more compatible fit for ‘Modern Family’.

But no such series was found while ‘Cougar Town’ remained off the air, until February of this year. When the series finally did return to ABC, it was scheduled alongside freshman comedy ‘Last Man Standing’, a much lower-rated series than ‘Modern Family’ and one which skews a significantly different audience demographic. The combination of a protracted hiatus and an incompatible lead-in resulted in poor ratings for ‘Cougar Town’, as well as an unlikely chance at renewal on ABC for next season.

However, with 61 episodes under its belt and with it being owned by ABC Studios, the series is too close to syndication for ABC to cancel it altogether. With the new TBS deal, ABC will still benefit financially if the series produces enough episodes for syndication, which it presumably will in light of TBS and ABC coming to this agreement in the first place.

‘Cougar Town’ is not the first series in recent history to switch networks, nor is it the first for co-creator Bill Lawrence (his last series, ‘Scrubs’, aired on NBC for seven seasons before moving over to ABC in 2008).

Yet, ‘Cougar Town’s move does mark a blow to the long working relationship between Lawrence and ABC. Although ‘Scrubs’ aired on NBC for the majority of its run, it too was owned by ABC Studios, while prior to that Lawrence had co-created the sitcom ‘Spin City” which had a six season run on ABC from 1996 to 2002.

The article ‘Cougar Town’ Moves to TBS for Season 4 appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Emmy-nominated comedy series ‘Parks and Recreation’ ended its fourth season on Thursday May 10, with an episode which revealed the long-awaited result in main character Leslie Knope’s election bid for city council.

The episode, titled “Win, Lose, or Draw”, was written and directed by series co-creator Michael Schur. The episode featured Leslie, played by Amy Poehler, waiting to hear if she had beat rival Bobby Newport, played by Paul Rudd, in an election storyline which had been running all season. The initial result showed that Bobby had won by a margin of 21 votes, however, after Leslie’s campaign manager – and love interest – Ben Wyatt, played by Adam Scott, demanded a recount, it was revealed that it was in fact Leslie who had won by 21 votes.

The result of the election had been top-secret since production wrapped on ‘Parks & Recreation’ several months ago. At a Paley Center event in March, Schur revealed that multiple endings had been filmed for the episode so that he could wait until the last moment to decide which ending to air. Poehler admitted to being a fan of both endings, telling the audience:

“It was really touching and moving to do both the acceptance and the concession speeches. Concession and acceptance speeches are about the same until the end. They thank everybody and talk a lot and say congratulations to the other guy … Having to talk to the cast, which were all my friends, and say thank you for this election year. I couldn’t do it without you, cue the waterworks factory.”

Leslie’s win in the season finale means several changes for the series in its fifth season. Until this season, the series had revolved primarily around Leslie’s duties as the Deputy Director of the Pawnee City Department of Parks and Recreation, whereas now the series is expected to feature more storylines involving Leslie’s burgeoning political career.

Also undergoing some changes is Ben Wyatt, who accepted a job offer in the finale to run a congressional campaign in Washington for six months, effectively forcing Leslie and himself to attempt a long-distance relationship for at least some of next season, assuming that it does not skip entirely over those six months.

For the season, ‘Parks & Recreation’ averaged between 3-4 million viewers per week, but strong critical acclaim and consistent Emmy nominations have ensured its survival on the struggling NBC network. Earlier this month, both the series and Poehler won at The Comedy Awards for Best Comedy Series and Best Comedy Actress in TV, respectively, while the series was recently named as the recipient of the prestigious Peabody Award.

The article ‘Parks & Recreation’: The Election Result! appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Medical drama ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ will soon wrap up its eighth season, and with the status of several stars’ contracts in question, the finale is set to feature at least one character death and several potential exits for those who will not return next season.

Ellen Pompeo, Sandra Oh, Justin Chambers and Patrick Dempsey are among the original stars of the series, which premiered on ABC in March 2005. They all have deals expiring at the end of the 2011-2012 season, and fans have speculated for months over who will be back for a ninth season in the fall. While ABC has yet to formally renew ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ for a ninth season, the series remains one of the network’s strongest programs and a Thursday night anchor, so a renewal is all but a given.

Pompeo portrays main character Meredith Grey, therefore one would assume that the future of the series is dependent on her renewing her contract for another season. Back in September, Pompeo told TV Guide Magazine, regarding her returning next season:

“I would love the opportunity to discuss it. I would never turn up my nose at Grey’s. As long as the stories are honest and truthful … and I feel there is material for us to be passionate about, it still beats a nine-to-five job any day. If I hear from the fans that they want us to keep going, then I would continue because we owe them everything.”

Similarly, Oh, who has won a Golden Globe and SAG award for her portrayal of Cristina Yang, told ‘George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight’, in April, that:

“In my heart of hearts, I’ll tell you this: I love my job. I do. I love my job, and I love the show, and I love that character, and I would love to continue playing her.”

Chambers, who plays Alex Karev, sounded unsure last summer when he told TV Line:

 “I don’t know if I’ll go farther. I don’t know if the show will go farther. When we get to that point, we’ll go from there… We know it’s going to end sooner or later. It’s just about ending well and the audience getting what they want out of it.”

Shonda Rhimes, creator and executive producer, has finalized her plans for the season finale and it has now been revealed that one character will die. The character’s identity is unknown, however, there are suggestions that the departing actor will be one of the cast whose contract does not expire this season. Whatever happens, Grey’s weekly audience of 10 million viewers will be tuning in on May 17th to see how things unfold.

Image Courtesy of   http://abc.go.com

The article Death is Coming on “Grey’s Anatomy” appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

As ‘Desperate Housewives’ heads into its final episodes, the series dealt fans a major blow as one original character met his untimely demise.

At the end of the March 11 episode, titled ‘You Take For Granted’, Mike Delfino, played by James Denton, was gunned down on his porch following a confrontation with a mobster in the previous episode. Mike lay dying in the arms of his wife Susan, played by Teri Hatcher, as the show flashed back over memorable scenes involving the couple from throughout its 8-year run.

The episode had begun with a warning from narrator Mary Alice Young, voiced by Brenda Strong, that one of five characters would die within a few days, and throughout the episode all five had various brushes with death until, finally, it was Denton’s character who failed to survive.

Denton’s exit from the show had been teased by ABC earlier this year, when it was announced that a major character would die before the final episode, however, it was during a testimony from executive producer George Perkins that the identity of the deceased character was revealed.

Perkins’ was testifying in the high-profile court case between ‘Desperate Housewives’ show-runner Marc Cherry and former star Nicolette Sheridan, who is suing Cherry over her dismissal from the series in 2009 and for an alleged physical altercation which took place onset several months earlier, and which Sheridan claims was what precipitated her exit from the show.

When Sheridan’s attorney asked Perkins if any other major characters had been killed off, likely in an attempt to establish whether Sheridan had been singled out for firing following the alleged altercation, Perkins revealed that plans had been made to have kill off Denton’s character. Due to the public nature of this trial, Perkins’ revelation was soon picked up on by various news outlets, and ABC’s ‘murder mystery’ suspense for the March 11 episode was spoiled.

Speaking to EW.com about his exit from the series, Denton expressed no bitterness about his departure from the series, saying:

I think it’s really funny because through all the interviews, all the talk shows, people would ask what I wanted on the show. I’d say: “I just want to live. Just don’t kill me. Whatever it takes, just don’t kill me.” And I made it with six episodes to go — I almost made it. Delfino gets this really big exit, and I’m free for pilot season. It’s ironic. It ends up it’s the best gift I could have gotten.

Denton, however, will make one further confirmed appearance on the show in next Sunday’s episode for “the funeral and some flashbacks, and that’s it.” Desperate Housewives continues to air Sundays at 9pm for the remainder of the season, with its last-ever episode scheduled to air in May.

The article ‘Desperate Housewives’ loses a Husband appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

ABC’s hit sitcom will return for its third season on February 14, following an unprecedented, nationwide promotional campaign. Cougar Town, a half-hour comedy starring Courteney Cox (Friends, Scream), follows Jules Cobb (Cox) and her close circle of friends as they attempt to navigate their way through parenthood, marriage, dating and work.

The series has been off the air in the U.S. since last May after ABC opted against giving the show a spot on its fall schedule, offering only vague assertions that it would return at some point at ‘midseason‘. However, the series’ cast and crew have turned to social media in an effort to maintain public interest and to engage with their fan base in a face-to-face manner.

The main feature of their promotional campaign has been Cougar Town viewing parties, which have been in operation across the U.S. for several weeks now as cast and crew members travelled to various cities to interact with fans, offer special screenings of new episodes, take part in Q&A sessions, and to counteract any waning interest as a result of ABC’s delay in confirming a return date for the series, which had previously been airing alongside the network’s Emmy award-winning series Modern Family.

In a further effort to reignite the old and spark some new interest, series star Courteney Cox joined Twitter in January of this year and has since amassed over 90,000 followers. Cox has sent out over 1,000 tweets, the majority of which have sought to publicise the show and to offer Cougar Town fans exclusive behind-the-scenes footage.

As recently as Wednesday February 8, Cox was overseeing a competition to reward 50 fans with bottles of wine – in partnership with THECULTWINE.COM - provided that fans show proof of their age and make a pledge to watch Cougar Town on Tuesday February 14 at 8:30pm.

This is not the first time that cast-members involved with the series have reached out as a way of rewarding and strengthening their audience’s support. In an April 2011 episode, one character read out a telephone number which viewers could in turn call. If they got through, they could speak to actors, writers, and various others involved with the series.

These tactics have all been designed to keep Cougar Town on the public radar in spite of its middling ratings, with several fans going so far as to display billboards in support of the show during television coverage of this year’s Super Bowl, in the hopes of winning a walk-on role from the producers.

Show-runner Bill Lawrence recently expressed his frustration over the ‘flawed system‘ which monitors television ratings and which will ultimately determine the future of his series beyond this season, explaining that the primary hope of his self-funded campaigning is for:

a Nielsen family [to] … want to keep show alive. Ruining it for the masses or encouraging them to watch on their computer doesn’t matter until the system changes.

While there have been instances in the past of grass-roots campaigns being organised to combat network decisions – for example when Jericho fans persuaded CBS to reverse the series’ cancellation in 2007 – the involvement of the Cougar Town cast in this campaign has been particularly note-worthy, as has the fact the majority of their events have been planned entirely through the use of social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook.

The true impact of Lawrence’s, Cox’s, the audience’s and others’ efforts to promote Cougar Town will be made apparent in the coming weeks when the series returns to ABC’s schedule and everyone involved attempts to lure, and hopefully increase, their 7.3 million weekly viewers from last season.

The article ‘Cougar Town’ Cuts Out Middleman appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

FOX announced on February 8 that its long-running medical drama will come to an end in May 2012 after 8 seasons.

After months of speculation, it has been confirmed that House, starring Hugh Laurie, will air its final episode in May after 177 episodes. The future of the series had been in doubt following the departures of cast members Lisa Edelstein and Olivia Wilde in 2011, declining ratings, and Laurie’s own contract expiring this year. FOX President Kevin Reilly released the following statement on the decision not to renew House for a 9th season:

While it’s with much regret, and a lump in our throats, we respect the decision Hugh, David and Katie have made. A true original, on the page and amazingly brought to life by Hugh Laurie, there is only one Dr. House. For eight seasons, the entire HOUSE team has given us – and fans around the world – some of the most compelling characters and affecting stories ever seen on television.

They have been creatively tenacious and collaborative throughout this incredible run, and they are amongst the most superior talents in the business. For all the above, we wholeheartedly thank them, and the fans who have supported the show.

House debuted in 2004 to instant success, making British import Laurie the highest paid actor in dramatic television – he reportedly earns $700,000 per episode – and launching the careers of the aforementioned Edelstein and Wilde along with Jesse Spencer and Jennifer Morrison.

Over the course of its run, the series has won five Primetime Emmy Awards, three People’s Choice Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. It has been distributed in 66 countries and was credited with helping to reinvigorate primetime medial dramas in the U.S.

Laurie and executive producers David Shore and Katie Jacobs admitted that the decision to end House was a ‘painful one’, however, they wanted to do so ‘while there is still some promise and mystique in the air’ regarding the fate of the show’s titular character.

Details of the final episode are slim, but it is believed that Shore will serve as both writer and director. However, one source of interest for critics and long-time fans will be whether House’s finale will feature the returns of departed cast-members such as Morrison, currently starring on ABC’s Once Upon A Time, Edelstein, who recently joined the cast of The Good Wife on a recurring basis, and Wilde, who departed the series earlier this season in order to focus on her feature film career.

When asked in October if she would consider reprising her role as Remy ‘Thirteen’ Hadley, Wilde declares that ‘if she came back, it would probably seem forced … So I don’t think she should come back‘. However, it has since been revealed that Wilde had already consented to returning to the series if it were to end this season. Wilde herself took to Twitter shortly after news broke of House’s end, telling fans:

House lovers, it’s the end of an era. Shows like that don’t happen, well, ever. I’m honored to have been a part of such a brilliant story.

House will continue to air on Monday nights on FOX for the remainder of the season, with its exact finale date yet to be announced.

The article ‘House’ To End This Season appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

The current US television season is only just half-underway, but already the major networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC and the CW) have made the majority of their pilot orders with regards to new programming for the 2012-2013 season.

John Wells, former show-runner of the hit medical drama ER and current show-runner of the cable dramas Shameless and Southland, makes his return to network television with two pilot orders this development season. The first of his pilots is a comedy co-effort with Glee actor Mike O’Malley for FOX, and is currently titled Prodigal Bully.

The premise of the series, if it is picked up beyond its pilot order, would be that of “a young boy genius who uses his brains and brawn to get whatever he wants“. As for Wells’ other pilot, he is developing a remake of the British drama hit Bad Girls for NBC. This series would follow the activities of a group of female prisoners, and ran for seven years in the UK.

Other notable figures to have sold new pilots to the major networks include: JJ Abrams (Lost, Alias, Alcatraz), who has sold Shelter to CW; Josh Schwartz (The O.C., Chuck, Gossip Girl), who will be writing Carrie Diaries, a teenage prequel to the Sex and the City franchise); and NCIS star Mark Harmon, who will be producing Joey Dakota for the CW.

It is unusual that so many pilot orders have taken place by the beginning of February, as several midseason shows have yet to debut for the 2011-2012 season, while the fates of such long-running hits as FOX’s House and NBC’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit remain uncertain. In any case, the networks appear to be stockpiling in a effort to combat the ratings decline which has struck many of them this season – particularly, The CW.

The CW came into this season with the high-profile television return of Sarah Michelle Gellar, however, its ratings declines have been well-documented and the network has now picked up five drama pilots with the potential pick-up of several more. This aggressive development move is in contrast to CBS which has so far picked up just a handful of projects, although, CBS’ ratings are in a much stronger position.

As the remainder of the 2011-2012 season plays out and the networks learn of the fates of their long-running shows, while also seeing how their new midseasons shows fare among established competition, it will become more clear just how many of the ordered pilots will indeed make it to air in the fall, how many will be benched until midseason and how many will be put out of contention altogether.

The article US Pilot Season Winds Down appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.