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.
TBS has ordered eight more episodes of the late-night sketch comedy show Frank TV starring comedian-impressionist Frank Caliendo. The series, slated to return later this year, combines stand-up pieces shot before a live audience and segments shot on location, with Caliendo doing impersonations of celebrities ranging from John Madden to Jack Nicholson to President Bush.
TBS, has signed a deal with Twentieth TV for an exclusive window to My Name Is Earl 18 months before it becomes available to stations in off-network syndication. Twentieth has pitched Earl to the Fox and Tribune station groups since June, when TBS signed its first deal. TBS plans to premiere My Name Is Earl twice a week in primetime, beginning April 1, drawing on episodes from earlier seasons. In the fall of 2009, these runs will be folded into the daily plays of Earl, which TBS will share with the TV stations. The parties declined to discuss the additional license fee TBS will pony up for the pre-syndication runs, but the network forked over about $625,000 an episode for “Earl” in the original deal.
TBS will renew its single-in-the-city comedy My Boys for a third season, reports Variety. The show, which concludes its second season Monday night, garnered an average of 1.5 million total viewers this summer. Figure is up slightly over the 1.4 million it averaged in its first season, which aired primarily in the fourth quarter last year. TBS is expected to pick up eight episodes for the third season. TBS ordered 13 episodes for its first season but scaled down its order this year to seven episodes, including the one-hour finale set for Monday night.
NBC’s Emmy-winning comedy series The Office will join the TBS lineup this fall. It was announced on Thursday that TBS has picked up the syndication. “The Office is not only a top-notch sitcom, but also one of the most relatable comedies on television,” says Ken Schwab, senior vice president of programming for TBS and TNT. “Anyone who has ever worked for a completely clueless boss, had an inner-office romance or simply worked among an odd assortment of coworkers will immediately get the offbeat humor in this series. It’s a wonderful addition to our lineup, and we’re thrilled to bring it to our audience of comedy lovers.” The Office reruns join other notable comedy shows in syndication on TBS including Family Guy, Seinfeld, Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond and King of Queens.
Update: TBS also picked up the syndication rights for My Name Is Earl along with the rights to air repeats of The Office.
Saturday Night Live alumnus Tim Meadows has joined the cast of TBS’ upcoming comedy The Bill Engvall Show. Engvall plays a family counselor whose own family could use a dose of counseling. Nancy Travis stars as his wife who is trying to make sure their three children turn out all right. Meadows will play Engvall’s character’s friend, a doctor; he recently did an arc on ABC’s Help Me Help You.
TBS has ordered eight episodes of The Bill Engvall Show, in which the Blue Collar Comedy veteran plays a no-nonsense family therapist whose own family could maybe use some counseling. Nancy Travis plays his wife who is trying to make sure their three children turn out all right. TBS will premiere the comedy in the summer. Engvall, famed for his Blue Collar Comedy projects with Jeff Foxworthy, Ron White and Larry the Cable Guy, wrote the series with Michael Leeson. Bill Engvall follows TBS’ first original scripted comedy series, My Boys and 10 Items or Less, which bowed in November. The promising launch of the two shows - My Boys has already been picked up for additional episodes — encouraged TBS brass to step up their efforts in the field.
TBS has given a cast-contingent pilot order to a workplace comedy from former Will & Grace star Eric McCormack’s production company. Imperfect Union, set at a switch factory, is described as a romantic comedy that centers on a young woman who just took over the job as shop steward from her retired father, and a young man who just took over the head of the factory from his father. The half-hour project would be targeted for primetime. The project is based on an idea by McCormack and Michael Forman, his partner in Big Cattle Productions, both of whom are executive producing.
TBS has given a pilot script order to a half-hour family comedy starring Bill Engvall, one of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour comedians. Engvall, who will also co-write the script with veteran TV writer Michael Leeson, portrays the father at the center of the untitled project, which will be the first TBS show to be shot in front of an audience.
Engvall co-starred in Blue Collar Comedy Tour: The Movie and its sequels as well as the sketch-comedy series Blue Collar TV. He also appeared on fellow Blue Collar comedian
Jeff Foxworthy’s comedy series The Jeff Foxworthy Show. Engvall next appears on the big screen in Delta Farce. Leeson, who co-created The Cosby Show, has a list of credits that includes TV’s Taxi, Happy Days, All in the Family and Mary Tyler Moore.
TBS has ordered a half-hour pilot, Late Night Buffet, from the Jim Henson Co. that would stage a talk show entirely with puppets talking with human celebrity guests, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The pilot is part of TBS’ strategy to develop late-night programming aimed at adults. TBS will put as many as seven scripted projects in development, mostly of the sketch comedy/improvised variety, with an eye on ordering several pilots. At least one pilot will be launched as a series sometime next year in anticipation of building a branded block, like sister network Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, from 11 p.m.-1 a.m.
Henson Co. co-chair and co-chief executive officer Brian Henson will do the puppetry for Buffet with Bill Barretta. The show will not feature Muppets such as Kermit the Frog, but rather newer puppets. The host and sidekick will be puppet characters Augustus Pfiffle and Delbert Kastle. Even the band will be puppets, consisting of character Gina Cappellini and her pet monkeys.