The New York Times is reporting that NBC will cancel Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, The Black Donnellys and Crossing Jordan. It also is likely to pass up another year of the comedy Scrubs, which has become prohibitively expensive. While Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and The Black Donnellys were on the bubble, but expected to eventually get cancelled, Crossing Jordan seemed to be performing better leading to rumblings of another season. As for Scrubs, creator Bill Lawrence knew NBC might pass on another season and has talked with network executives about moving Scrubs to ABC next season. In an interview with TV Guide Online, Zach Braff seemed confident that Scrubs would return for another season even if NBC passes on the show.
Michael Ausiello is reporting that multiple sources connected to the drama say that prospects for a seventh season are looking up. That’s quite a turnaround from what we reported two weeks ago in The Spoiler Roundup that the show was all but canceled. “Everyone was expecting to get shut down,” acknowledges a Jordan insider. “But just last week, NBC started to give indications that the show might return. There’s even been some money allocated for next season.”
Take all of this with a grain of salt. We reported back in February that the season/series finale is said to revolve around a plane crash. Among the passengers: Jordan, Woody, Macy, Bug, Nigel and Kate. In other words, the entire cast. It’s obvious the finale is setup to end the series or move on to another season. I have been getting interested in the show again, so I hope they get another season and bring back Jordan’s dad.
Miguel Ferrer and Chris Bowers have been tapped to co-star in NBC’s drama pilot The Bionic Woman, a reimagination of the 1970s series that was a spinoff of Six Million, from David Eick, executive producer of Battlestar Galactica.
With Ferrer joining the Bionic Woman, could this mean that his character will be killed off this season or that this season will indeed be Jordan’s last?
NBC’s crime drama Crossing Jordan is being moved to Wednesday nights, up against American Idol and Criminal Minds. NBC sees more promise in Howie Mandel and Deal or No Deal. That game show is currently in the Wednesday 9 pm timeslot and it’s getting pummeled in the ratings. NBC will adjust its late-winter primetime schedule by moving Deal or No Deal to Sundays (9-10 p.m. ET) followed by The Apprentice: Los Angeles (10-11 p.m. ET) beginning Sunday, March 4. Crossing Jordan (currently Sundays, 10-11 p.m. ET) shifts to Wednesdays (9-10 p.m. ET) beginning March 7.
The moves create an expanded block of unscripted programming on NBC’s Sunday schedule, which will now feature “Grease: You’re the One That I Want,” “Deal or No Deal” and “The Apprentice: Los Angeles,” and a three-hour drama block on NBC’s Wednesday’s schedule, which will now feature “Friday Night Lights,” “Crossing Jordan” and “Medium.” The announcements were made by Kevin Reilly, President, NBC Entertainment.
NBC announced a shakeup to their midseason scheduling. The big news coming out of this announcement is that Crossing Jordan is back on the NBC schedule. Jordan is slated to return to its previously held Sunday night time slot at 10 PM/ET in January. Grease: You’re the One That I Want and The Apprentice will lead into Crossing Jordan. This is great news for everyone that has been waiting for NBC to settle on a premiere date for the new season of Crossing Jordan. The crime drama has been without a time slot after being shifted around the schedule to make room for new shows, and many people thought the show might not ever make it to air. Crossing Jordan fans can breathe a sigh of relief because we will be back in the morgue in January.
NBC has now committed to 15 episodes of Endemol USA’s 1 vs. 100. The pickup comes after the show impressed in its debut Friday, scoring a 4.2 rating in adults 18-49 - the networks’s best performance in that Friday timeslot since 2002. Bob Saget hosts the show, in which one player battles 100 people by answering trivia questions for a shot at winning $1 million. Scott St. John executive produces. “This was an ‘odds-on’ easy decision,” said NBC’s Craig Plestis, senior VP, alternative and West Coast specials programming and development.
Now how will this affect Crossing Jordan. We reported at the end of September that the Crossing Jordan season premiere was being postponed to make room for 1 vs 100 on Sunday nights. Since it performed so well on Friday, will it go ahead with the move pushing the Crossing Jordan premiere back or keep it on Friday along Jordan to come back as scheduled?
TV Squad is reporting that NBC has pushed back the season premiere of Crossing Jordan, in favor of a new game show hosted by Bob Saget. The game show is called 1 vs 100 and it’s a game where one contestant battles 100 other people to win $1 million. It’s the American version of a game show that is already popular in Europe. The series premiere is at 8 pm on October 20th, as a lead-in to the season premiere of Las Vegas. NBC hasn’t announced a new premiere date for Crossing Jordan.
This is very disappointing news. While I didn’t get to watch much of Crossing Jordan last year (thanks to Grey’s Anatomy) I still really like the show. I hope they eventually bring Max Kavanaugh back because I miss his interactions and relationship with his daughter. His character is one of those minor characters that adds so much to the show.
May 7 will mark the 100th episode of Crossing Jordon. This episode will also be the season finale. Executive Producer Tim Kring gives some insight in to the season finale. “Someone the audience has gotten to know pretty well this year ends up dead, and Jordan is accused of the murder. We leave that as the cliff-hanger. She basically has to flee to prove her innocence.” This 100th episode will also feature a wedding.
There will be a new development in the ongoing Jordan-Woody romantic saga. “That gets closer,” Kring hints. “But, obviously, that’s put on hold by the fact that [Jordan] has become a fugitive.”
In other Jordan news, Kring also confirms that Ken Howard who played Jordan’s dad, Max Kavanaugh, will not be returning to the show. “We will not see Ken Howard again,” states Tim Kring. “The one occasion that we’ve had in the last two years to bring him back was not a successful enough episode for us to make that case to the network.”
Via Ask Ausiello