Image Credit: Craig Sjodin/ABCABC’s superhero-themed series No Ordinary Family is undergoing some routine post-pilot retooling.
Sources confirm to me exclusively that Family regulars Tate Donovan (Damages) and Christina Chang (CSI: Miami) are leaving the Greg Berlanti-produced drama. READ FULL STORY »
Two weeks after getting dropped by CBS, The New Adventures of Old Christine has been rejected again. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Prashant Gupta/HBO; Eric McCandless/ABC; Randy Tepper/ShowtimeGot a scoop request? An anonymous tip you’re dying to share? Just want to say hi? You can send any/all of the above to ausielloscoop@ew.com
Question: Any chance Shonda Rhimes will do an about-face and give Derek and Meredith a real wedding on Grey’s Anatomy? She backed down on her “no babies” stance, so I’m hoping maybe she changed her mind about the wedding thing too. A girl can dream. —Rebecca
Ausiello: I did some snooping, and it appears the province of Shondaland still legally recognizes Post-It Note weddings. “I deeply appreciate the fans and how much they care about Meredith and Derek, but as a woman and a human being and the mother of a girl, I just feel like this idea that somebody in a big white dress is the be-all and end-all of human existence is a terrible message to send out,” maintains Rhimes. “I felt like Meredith and Derek’s choice to be together becomes a marriage of equals as opposed to some faux fairy tale. And while I love a good wedding, I felt like for Meredith, it was so counter to who she is as a human being. And I love the fact that Derek doesn’t need her to do it. I get why the fans want it; I’d probably want it too if I was just watching. But I literally feel sick every time I think about Meredith in a big white poufy dress.” READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Patrick Wymore/FoxNBC won Tuesday in total viewers (10.41 million), thanks to the debut of America’s Got Talent. The competition show was up 13 percent from last season’s premiere on June 23 among adults 18-49. The two-hour premiere built upon its audience with each half-hour, beginning with 10.3 million viewers at 8 p.m. and ending with roughly 13.5 million viewers at 9:30. It was the most-watched show of the night.
The season premiere of Hell’s Kitchen on Fox — together with an original episode of Glee — helped Fox to finish No. 1 for the night among the key adult demographics and teens. Kitchen posted a 2.9 rating/9 share among 18-49 — up 4 percent versus last season’s premiere on July 21 – and averaged 6.1 million viewers. It posted double-digit increases among adults 18-34 and teens.
Glee earned a 3.8/11 among 18-49 – down 21 percent without its American Idol lead-in, but up 15 percent from its fall season average. Fox says it was the most-watched episode (8.98 million) of the season that didn’t have an Idol lead-in.
ABC aired a special two-hour debut of Wipeout Blind Date, which averaged 8.2 million viewers.
CBS finished second last night in total viewers with 9.01 million, followed by ABC (8.02 million), and Fox (7.57 million).
Your favorite TV scoopster hosted last night’s True Blood Ultimate Fan Experience and all he brought you back was…this awesome photo! Okay, that’s not all I brought you back. I also come bearing two major spoilers from exec producer Alan Ball (Sookie’s headed for a dark spell! Someone’s getting a new hairdo!), as well as a new extended season 3 trailer (embedded below) that’s sure to make the slow march to the June 13 premiere even more agonizing. Enjoy! READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Justin Lubin/NBCNBC announced today that it will debut the new reality show Breakthrough with Tony Robbins on Tuesday, July 27. The network describes the show as an “inspirational, hour-long series starring Robbins and his team of experts who will help participants and their families overcome complex challenges and personal obstacles, and turn their lives around.”
Robbins is expected to motivate six people and their families from around the country. The show is from Reveille (The Biggest Loser) and will join NBC’s summer lineup of originals that includes Losing it With Jillian, The Last Comic Standing, America’s Got Talent, and 100 Questions, among others.
Image Credit: Frederick M. Brown/Getty ImagesCSI will be down one lab rat when the show returns this fall. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Chris Haston/NBCOne of this fall’s most intriguing new dramas is NBC’s Undercovers, a Hart-to-Hart type spy series featuring Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw in the title roles of Steven and Samantha Bloom. The show is noteworthy because it highlights the network’s commitment to diversity (the leads are both black). It also comes from the auspices of J.J. Abrams, the uber-producer of Lost, Fringe and Alias.
That’s probably why an Italian website thought it newsworthy, albeit random, to post the first 20 pages of the Undercovers pilot script. IlPost tries to play it safe by saying “we have reasons to think it is the real thing” but the script, which includes the preface “the pace of this series is intended to be unusually, almost unspeakably, fast,” appears genuine. And the pages do set up the premise of Undercovers, which is about two ex-CIA spies – now married – who are reinstated when a fellow spy goes missing. The pilot was written by Abrams and Josh Reims (Dirty Sexy Money) and also stars Gerald McRaney (Deadwood).
Any news involving an Abrams show seems to be a hot commodity on Italian websites these days. Last month, the site Macchianera.net posted six pages from the Lost finale and the final call sheet. Other than in name, Abrams wasn’t involved in the series finale. Given the ilPost story, however, Abrams may want to go undercover himself to see if he’s harboring an Italian mole at Bad Robot, his production company. Sadly, Warner Bros. – which is producing Abrams’ drama for NBC – isn’t commenting.
NBC will air Undercovers from 8-9 p.m. on Wednesdays this fall.
For more on Undercovers:
Fall TV: 10 rookie shows Ken Tucker wants to see
At the NBC Upfront: Trying to make you forget 2009 ever existed, mostly with ‘sex-pionage’
Image Credit: Stephane Danna/AFP/Getty ImagesEx-Beverly Hills, 90210 pinup/sideburn trailblazer Jason Priestley is joining ABC’s upcoming dramedy Scoundrels for a multi-episode arc.
He’ll play a ubiquitous TV personality who is immediately smitten with Leven Rambin’s aspiring-actress character, Heather.
Scoundrels, which premieres on June 20, stars Virginia Madsen as the matriarch of a family of small-time crooks.
Will you watch?
Image Credit: David M. RussellFans of The Good Wife searching for an Alicia-Will fix now that the show is in reruns should look no further than the embedded video player below. It contains 80 seconds of pure magic. Enjoy! READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Sammy Vassilev/ABCWeek two of ABC’s The Bachelorette averaged 7.55 million viewers and posted a 2.4 rating/7 share — down 16 percent and 14 percent, respectively, from its premiere last Monday. The two-hour episode still won the 8-10 p.m. hour in 18-49 and the key female demographics, having aired against repeats on Fox and CBS and the Stanley Cup Finals on NBC.
At 10 p.m., the season premiere of True Beauty earned a 2.1/6 among adults 18-49, down 34 percent from its series premiere last season on Jan. 5 (3.2/8). The show ranked No. 3 in its timeslot among viewers (5.24 million) but still scored wins in the female demos. Overall, ABC was up 1.3 million viewers and 15 percent among adults 18-49 from Memorial Day last year, when it aired The Bachelorette as a lead-in into the premiere of Here Come the Newlyweds. The Bachelorette also posted year-to-year increases over its performance on Memorial Day last year by 1.6 million viewers.
CBS won the night in viewers (7.74 million), followed by ABC (6.86 million), NBC (5.90 million) and Fox (3.11 million).
Image Credit: Jordan Strauss/Getty ImagesRescue Me and Numb3rs vet Diane Farr has signed on to guest-star in a season 2 episode of USA Network’s White Collar, sources confirm to me exclusively. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Adam Taylor/FoxWanna good scare? Imagine the end of House. And with Hugh Laurie’s contract up next season, it could happen. “I have no idea” how much longer the show will run, he tells me. “I only hope we’ll know when the time is right [to close up shop]. When people blunder on for five years after [they should have called it quits]… it gets taken out of your hands. Someone will say, ‘That’s it.’
“But for now,” he adds, “I’m immensely proud of the things we did this season.” READ FULL STORY »
James Hibberd
@James_Hibberd
Lynette Rice
@EWLynette
