ABC stuck with with its SF series Invasion until the very end, with hopes that it would eventually find an audience, but network president Stephen McPherson told SCI FI Wire that it eventually had to cut the series loose after a dramatic drop in audience.
Even with a lead-in like the hit show Lost, Invasion suffered a dramatic downturn in viewers, and ABC decided not to renew the alien mystery series, though it attracted about 10 million viewers a week. McPherson said in an interview at the Television Critics Association summer press tour in Pasadena, Calif., last week that he is aware that some fans were angry about the decision to pull the heavily serialized drama before its storylines were wrapped up.
Continue reading ABC Claims It Stuck With Invasion Until The End
Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who had a recurring role as an ill-fated heart patient on “Grey’s Anatomy,” has been hired as a regular on a new ABC project from the creator of the network’s hit medical drama. The untitled Shonda Rhimes project, about a group of female journalists, has a pilot order.
On “Grey’s,” Morgan played heart patient Denny Duquette. Duquette, who was romantically linked to Izzie (Katherine Heigl), died in the series’ recent second-season finale. Additionally, Morgan has recurring roles on WB Network’s series “Supernatural,” on which he plays the ghostbusting father of series stars Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, and on Showtime’s comedy “Weeds,” on which he plays star Mary Louise Parker’s deceased husband, who appears in flashbacks and fantasy sequences.
Producers of ABC’s hit series Lost, which aired its surprising second-season finale on May 24, told SCI FI Wire that it sets up the upcoming third season, which will focus more on romance—and on the mysterious Others. “The Others are an important part of season three, and there’s a lot of mysteries and a lot of questions about the Others that the audience is going to be curious about going into season three,” said executive producer Carlton Cuse in an interview. “And those are the things we’re going to explore.”
Cuse added: “There will definitely be some new characters on the show next year. Obviously, Michael Emerson, who plays Henry Gale, he’s someone who’s going to be very prominent in the show next year.” Fans were also introduced to a new character who promises to figure in next season’s storylines: Penelope Widmore, played by Sonya Walger.
Continue reading Lost Producers Talk About Season Three
ABC unveiled its 2006-07 primetime schedule today, which includes six new comedies, six new dramas and three new alternative series, as well as Grey’s Anatomy moving to Thursday.
In Summary:
Shows that got renewed: Grey’s Anatomy, Lost, Desperate Housewives, Dancing with the Stars, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Boston Legal, The Bachelor, Supernanny, What About Brian, According to Jim, America’s Funniest Home Videos, American Inventor, George Lopez, Wife Swap, 20/20, Primetime (limited specials).
Shows that didn’t get renewed: Invasion, Sons & Daughters, Less Than Perfect, Hope & Faith, Rodney, Commander-In-Chief (although that may return as a two-hour movie), Freddie.
New shows: Betty the Ugly, Big Day, Brothers & Sisters, Day Break, Help Me Help You, In Case of Emergency, Greg Behrendt’s Wake-Up Call, Just for Laughs, Let’s Rob . . ., Men in Trees, The Nine, Notes from the Underbelly, Set for the Rest of Your Life, Six Degrees, Traveler, ABC Saturday Night College Football.
Shows that are moving: Grey’s Anatomy (to Thursdays at 9 pm ET), Dancing with the Stars (to Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 8 pm ET), According to Jim / George Lopez (to Wednesdays at 8 pm ET when Dancing isn’t on).
Continue reading ABC Releases The 2006-2007 Primetime Lineup
With ABC’s new fall schedule being releasd this Tuesday, word is going around that ABC does not intend to pick up Invasion for a second season. But that bad news could have a silver lining. It appears that The CW is interested in bringing Invasion to its new network should ABC fail to sign it up for a second season.
Invasion is a very entertaining Science Fiction show, much like Surface. And both shows left us with cliffhanger season finales that I want to see resolved. Ideally they both get renewed for second season, but if not, at least there is hope for another a season of Invasion. Hopefully The CW or another network is looking at Surface too because both of these shows are entertaining, and that is a rare quality in freshman series this year.
Just days after giving series orders to six pilots for the 2006-2007 season, ABC picked up an additional four pilots. ABC picked up the drama “Brothers & Sisters,” which stars Calista Flockhart, Rachel Griffiths, Balthazar Getty and Patricia Wettig in a family soap that focuses on adult siblings. Ken Olin executive produced and directed the pilot.
They also picked up another drama, “Ugly Betty,” the U.S. adaptation of the popular Latin American telenovela that follows the life of a plain but lovable woman working in the fashion industry.
Warner Brothers Television had two of its drama pilots picked up by ABC: “Men in Trees,” which stars Anne Heche as a Manhattan shrink who flees big city life for Alaska; and “Traveler,” a conspiracy thriller about three Ivy Leaguers who get caught up in a national security emergency.
Sinister Eli Szura puts his plan into motion as Hurricane Miranda heads straight for Homestead. Russell and Sheriff Underlay take measures to get their families out of harm’s way, then devote their energies into trying to stop Szura. Meanwhile Dave is determined to videotape the next wave of the alien invasion and break a very big story.
