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Do CBS executives want another Chuck Lorre sitcom on their schedule next season?

Of course they do!

The network has given Lorre’s Mom pilot a series order, along with three other shows. Mom follows a newly sober single mom (Anna Faris) tries to pull her life together in Napa Valley with help from her mom (Allison Janney).

Given that Lorre produces CBS hits Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men and Mike & Molly, his new project getting an order was considered one of the safest pilot season bets (along with ABC’s TV-sized Avengers-verse show from Joss Whedon, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.).

CBS also picked up: READ FULL STORY »

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It’s official: Josh Holloway is returning to prime-time.

The Lost actor’s pilot Intelligence just received a series order at CBS for next season. He’ll play an agent at the “US Cyber Command” who has a microchip implanted in his brain that allows him to access the entire electromagnetic spectrum (so he gets free WiFi wherever he goes, at the very least).

The project, from Empire State writer Michael Seitzman, is bound to draw comparisons to J.J. Abrams’ new Fox series Almost Human, which chronicles an android police officer.

CBS also gave a series order to Hostages, about “a family caught in the middle of a grand political conspiracy that will change their lives forever.” That one stars Toni Collette and Dylan McDermott. Hostages is from Jeffrey Nachmanoff, who wrote NBC’s Chicago Fire pilot and episodes of Showtime’s Homeland.

In addition to the two dramas, CBS greenlit four comedies.

UPDATED: Fall TV pilots 2013 series order list

Brian Williams’ prime-time newsmagazine just met the network ax.

Rock Center with Brian Williams has been cancelled by NBC after two seasons.

Despite being well-received by critics, the program only averaged 4.1 million viewers and a lowly 1.0 rating among adults 18-49 this season (the 10 p.m. show aired on Thursdays during the first part of the season, then moved to Fridays).

Image Credit: Doug Hyun/TNT

TNT has cancelled crime drama Southland (while calling it “one of the best police dramas ever made”) and freshman medical drama Monday Mornings. Southland aired five seasons, first starting out on NBC before switching to TNT, while Monday Mornings was a freshman show.

Here’s the network statements: READ FULL STORY »

Image Credit: Justin Lubin/NBC

Matthew Perry can’t catch a post-Friends break: NBC decided to pass on a second season of Go On, a single camera comedy that starred Perry as a grief-stricken radio sportscaster.

Having averaged a 2.2 rating/6 share in adults 18-49 and 5.7 million viewers, the comedy was definitely a bubble player. But NBC’s loss could be CBS’ gain: Could this mean he’ll reprise his juicy role on The Good Wife?

This was Perry’s third attempt at joining a series as a series regular since Friends went off the air in 2004. He headlined Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip in 2006-07 and Mr. Sunshine in 2011.

NBC has yet to make a decision on its other low-rated freshman comedy, The New Normal, as well as the new drama Hannibal.

Related: NBC sitcom carnage: 5 axed

Chicago Fire has only been on the air for one season.

And it isn’t even a hit, exactly.

But NBC is moving forward with the spinoff anyway!

The network has just picked up Chicago P.D., a companion series to the soapy firefighter drama that proved to be a surprisingly sturdy 10 p.m. performer this season for the network. Fire has averaged 7.8 million viewers and a 2.3 adults 18-49 rating including seven days of DVR on Wednesday nights this season. And clearly executive producer Dick Wolf (the Law & Order franchise) knows a thing or two about how to build one show into a franchise.

Here’s the official description of the new show: READ FULL STORY »

UPDATED: With Kiefer Sutherland and Fox plotting the return of Jack Bauer, we’re hearing some additional details about the plan.

You already figured this out, but now we can say with certainty: Touch isn’t coming back for a third season. The mystical drama was shifted to Friday nights this season where it struggled in the ratings. Even without a 24 revival, it was considered pretty much dead in the water.

For 24 miniseries/limited series, we’re hearing Fox is actually currently looking at a 13 12-episode order for the show. For a cable series, that’s pretty much a full season (heck, for HBO’s Game of Thrones, it’s more than a full season). So that would be a pretty significant potential order to bring back Bauer.

Fox had no comment. Hopefully there will be clarity at the network’s upfront presentation Monday.

Of course, a 12-episode order does raise the question: Will 24 continue in its real-time format, but just follow Bauer over the course of 12 hours? That would sort of botch the title, though, right? Or will Bauer face another 24-hour adventure, but the narrative will skip time? It would be great to see Bauer get on L.A.’s 405 freeway at the end of one episode and arrive at his destination two hours later at the start of the next episode — now that would be realistic action!

UPDATE 5/12: This post originally said 13 episodes, we’re told it will actually be 12 episodes. Fox’s upfront is tomorrow. More details to come.

AMC’s The Walking Dead released its first photo from season four. Contextually, this isn’t exciting — Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) in a forest with a zombie is pretty standard stuff. But you could note the Rick sure looks weary, like he’s just going to let that walker come up from behind him and take a bite. Walking Dead returns in October. Check it out below. READ FULL STORY »

Syfy’s ambitious sci-fi drama project Defiance is getting a second season.

The cable network has picked up another 13 episodes of the “transmedia” project, which combines a futuristic TV series and an online game. The Monday night program ranks as Syfy’s highest rated series this year, while the game has garnered more than 1 million registered accounts.  The collaboration between show and game continue into a second season, with players having the opportunity to influence the world of Defiance.