Scrubs is caught in a tug-of-war between NBC and ABC. ABC is in negotiations to pick up 18 episodes of the series from Disney corporate sibling ABC Studios, which has produced the comedy for NBC since 2001. NBC executives are said to have been caught off guard by the development. A network insider said NBC is still in “first negotiation period” - a period of exclusive negotiations - with ABC Studios and hasn’t given the studio official consent to take the series elsewhere.
Given the history between NBC and ABC Studios, which have been at odds over the quirky medical comedy since it premiered in 2001, industry observers are preparing for an ugly battle over a series considered to be on its final lap. The Hollywood writers strike cut short NBC’s 18-episode final-season order for the Zach Braff medical series to 12 episodes. Sources said the network has been reluctant to order additional episodes for the fall, citing the fact that it already has fresh episodes in the can. NBC reportedly floated various endgame scenarios to producers, including ordering one final episode or producing the remaining episodes direct to DVD. Details of the ABC deal are still being hammered out as contracts for most cast members and writers have not been picked up beyond the current season.
NBC has five original episodes left of “Scrubs,” which the network plans to air starting April 10.
CBS will air at least four live ProElite EliteXC fights a year in primetime on Saturdays, becoming the first broadcast network to televise mixed martial arts events. The deal calls for four two-hour primetime specials. It also includes an online component that has not been announced but could include streaming and an online community. The first match will air in the spring. CBS will pay a licensing fee to ProElite for the right to carry the matches; more than likely it will be Showtime’s production team that will produce the events. CBS and ProElite will jointly sell advertising.
Family Guy’s Cleveland Brown might be getting his own show. Fox and 20th Century Fox TV are developing a spin off from its hit animated series centered on Peter Griffin’s bathtub-accident-prone neighbor, says The Hollywood Reporter. The project, tentatively titled Cleveland, is being written by Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, Mike Henry - who voices Cleveland and serves as writer-producer on the series - and The Simpsons alum Rich Appel, executive producer/showrunner on MacFarlane’s other animated comedy for Fox, American Dad.
Cleveland, who plays off black stereotypes, is the most levelheaded among Griffin’s trio of friends. Once canceled by Fox, Family Guy triumphantly returned on the network in 2005. It is Fox’s top-rated comedy and has grown into a $1 billion franchise with red-hot DVD and merchandise sales.
ABC Family is expected to renew Lincoln Heights for a third season, sources said. The network is looking at giving the drama series a 10- to 12-episode order, with the whole cast expected to return. Sources said ABC Family is eyeing a spring start-of-production date for the series, which is produced by ABC Family/Disney and executive produced by Kathleen McGhee-Anderson.
ABC announced the renewal of five competitive ratings performers from its unscripted lineup, bringing back shows such as Dancing With the Stars and Wife Swap says The Hollywood Reporter. For next season, ABC has picked up Dancing with the Stars, Wife Swap, Supernanny, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” and the 19th season of America’s Funniest Home Videos. Absent from the list: Dance Wars, the freshman Dancing With the Stars spin-off effort that recently struggled in its Monday night slot. The Bachelor has already been announced to return with a Bachelorette version that debuts next month.
Turner Broadcasting’s TNT and TBS have signed a deal for network rights to several of Warner Brothers high-profile titles, most of which haven’t been released to theaters yet. Movies in the package include 10,000 B.C., The Dark Knight, Speed Racer, Get Smart, Yes Man and the Leonardo DiCaprio-Russell Crowe vehicle Body of Lies. The Warners/Turner deal goes well beyond just prebuys; six other pictures already released in theaters round out the deal, one of the biggest in the last few years: I Am Legend, Fred Claus, The Bucket List, Fool’s Gold, TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and the animated Ant Bully.
Warner Brothers is, in effect, selling an entire slate of movies to Turner in the network window. The studio pitched the Dark Knight package to USA and FX, the two other aggressive buyers of theatrical movies in cable, but Turner stepped up, at least in part because its rivals had engineered some recent major prebuys. USA bought Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull from Paramount and Sex & the City: The Movie and Semi-Pro from New Line. FX locked up a batch of titles from Sony/Columbia, including two Judd Apatow movies, one of which, Step Brothers, stars Will Ferrell.
TBS will be able to start running Ant Bully in June; TNT will get TMNT in October 2009. The rest of the movies will trickle in to the two networks throughout 2010 and 2011. Before the titles get to TBS and TNT, HBO will get them in the pay-TV window as part of the network’s theatrical-output deal with Warner Brothers.
Variety reports that CBS has picked up three more drama projects. The CBS orders include the pilots NY-LON, from ABC Studios and writers Patti Carr and Lara Runnels, and Mythological X, from 20th Century Fox TV and writer Diane Ruggiero. The network also picked up the drama presentation Can Openers, from Sony Pictures TV and penned by Elle Johnson.
NY-LON is based on a six-episode U.K. series that aired on Channel 4 in fall 2004. The project centers on a man and a woman who attempt an extremely-long distance romance (between New York and London) after a chance meeting in London. (Rashida Jones starred in the British version.)
Mythological X revolves around a woman who discovers - via psychic - that she has already dated the man she was destined to married. The character then embarks on a mission to find “the one” by combing through all of her old relationships.
Can Openers centers on a woman in her 20s as she enters a seven-year neurosurgical residency, encountering a competitive, clubby atmosphere along the way.
Michael Ausiello is reporting that Desperate Housewives’ producers have cast Gary Cole to play Katherine Mayfair’s infamous ex-husband. Mayfair is played by Dana Delaney. Cole will take the pivotal part and show up on Wysteria Lane during the April 20 episode, the show’s second episode back. Cole is expected to stay around for a handful of episodes.
Welcome to the Spoiler Roundup, the most comprehensive weekly spoiler wrapup on the internet. We scour the web for all the best spoilers on some of the most popular shows on the air. Catch it here every Wednesday at The TV Remote.
This week: 30 Rock, Boston Legal, Brothers and Sisters, Criminal Minds, Desperate Housewives, ER, Gossip Girl, Greek, Heroes, How I Met Your Mother, Jericho, Lipstick Jungle, Lost, Mad Men, My Name Is Earl, New Amssterdam and The Shield.
Continue reading The Spoiler Roundup 02.27.08
ABC is considering another renewal of According to Jim, the critically maligned veteran sitcom starring Jim Belushi. The network is in talks with corporate sibling ABC Studios about bringing the show back for an eighth season. The show didn’t make the cut when ABC announced its 2007/08 lineup last May, but received an 18-episode midseason order a month later. While ratings on the broadcast network are down significantly from its heyday, According To Jim is a cash-making machine for ABC Studios from its run in syndication.