December 18th, 2006 | 0 Comments
USA Network has won its bet on Casino Royale. After heated bidding with several outlets, including broadcast networks, and cable rivals Spike TV, TNT and FX, USA landed the latest James Bond film, which has grossed about $400 million worldwide to date. Under the five-year deal, said to be worth about $20 million, USA will get the blockbuster movie in June 2009. Casino Royale, the first Bond movie with Daniel Craig as the famous British spy, is on track to outpace Die Another Day as the highest-grossing movie in the franchise. The Bond movies have been strong performers on cable TV. When TBS had the rights to many of the films, it launched a holiday 007 movie marathon. The tradition was continued by Spike TV, which bought the Bond movie package a few years ago.
November 30th, 2006 | 0 Comments
Monk, USA’s critically-acclaimed original series starring Tony Shalhoub, returns in its fifth season with all-new episodes and a roster of top-tier guest stars on Friday, January 19, 2007 at 9pm/8 Central. Guest stars for mid-fifth season return include Steven Weber (Wings, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip), Ricardo Chavira (Desperate Housewives, Six Feet Under), Sean Astin (Lord of the Rings, 24), Charles Durning (Rescue Me, Everybody Loves Raymond), Dan Butler (Frasier, American Dreams), Holland Taylor (Two and a Half Men, The Practice), Michael Cavanaugh (24), David Eigenberg (Sex and the City, Third Watch), Andy Richter (Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Andy Richter Controls the Universe), Heather Tom (One Life to Live, The Young and the Restless), James Gammon (Nash Bridges, Cold Mountain), Chris Williams (Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Curb Your Enthusiasm), Brooke Adams (Lace, Moonlighting) & Emmy Clarke (My House in Umbria, Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus) as Julie Teeger.
Continue reading Fifth Season Of Monk Has All-Star Guest List »
November 27th, 2006 | 0 Comments
British actress Gabrielle Anwar will co-star opposite Jeffrey Donovan in USA Network’s drama pilot Burn Notice. Set in Miami, the show centers on Michael Weston (Donovan), a blacklisted Special Ops agent who uses his elite training to find the reason for the “burn notice” that ended his spy career as well as to help those who can’t go to the police. Anwar will play Weston’s ex, a former IRA terrorist and expert at survival tactics who has a love-hate relationship with him. Sharon Gless will play Weston’s mother, a lonely, an aging chain smoker who has issues with her son. Bruce Campbell will play a former Navy SEAL who is an old friend of Weston’s. Production is slated to begin Tuesday in Miami. Anwar next stars opposite Noah Wyle in the TNT movie The Librarian: Return to King Solomon’s Mines and opposite Jonathan Rhys Meyers on the Showtime series The Tudors.
September 18th, 2006 | 0 Comments
USA Network ordered up a 13-episode sixth season of its hit supernatural thriller series The Dead Zone, starring Anthony Michael Hall, Variety reported. The cable network also gave an order for a 16-episode second season of Psych, its comic one-hour show about an investigator who pretends to have paranormal abilities.
Psych airs Fridays; The Dead Zone airs with The 4400 on Sundays. Dead Zone was an unlikely candidate for renewal: Shot in Vancouver, the show has grown more expensive over the years, rising from a production cost of $1.2 million per episode to about $1.7 million.
August 22nd, 2006 | 0 Comments
USA Network has ordered 13 one-hour episodes of the Emmy®-nominated and critically-acclaimed hit series “The 4400,” it was announced today by Jeff Wachtel, USA’s executive vice president, original programming. The series, which has garnered an Emmy nomination, will return to USA Network in summer 2007 with production scheduled to begin in Vancouver in early 2007. The 4400 is produced by CBS Paramount Network Television in Association with Sky Television, Renegade 83 and American Zoetrope for USA Network.
The 4400 premiered on USA as a limited series in July 2004 as the highest-rated and most-watched new series premiere ever on a basic cable network, and still continues to perform as a ratings powerhouse for the network. The 4400 received three Emmy nominations in its first season, including Outstanding Miniseries, as well as Outstanding Writing and Cinematography for a Miniseries or Movie.
Continue reading USA Picks Up A Fourth Season Of The 4400 »
July 31st, 2006 | 0 Comments
USA Network has ordered three additional episodes of Psych, its freshman comedy drama about an amateur sleuth who tricks the police into believing he’s a psychic.
The pickup, which brings the total order for the show to 15 episodes, including the 90-minute pilot, bodes well for the future of the series. It stars James Roday as the sleuth and and Dule Hill as his best friend. Psych, whose premiere drew 6.1 million viewers, a record for a cable series debut this year, is expected to be picked up for a second season soon.
Since its July 7 premiere, Psych has retained most of its Monk lead-in. Season-to-date, Psych has averaged 3.9 million viewers compared with Monk’s 4 million. Both shows are expected to follow the split-season pattern of “Monk,” running through month’s end and then returning with fresh episodes in January.
