Fans can rejoice as new life has been given into their favorite police drama, Southland, with TNT announcing this morning that they’ve closed the deal to pick up the popular series recently canceled by NBC for being too dark and inappropriate for their 9pm time slot.

TNT has picked up the critically acclaimed series SOUTHLAND, closing a deal with Warner Bros. Television that will bring the drama from Emmy^®-winning producer John Wells (ER, The West Wing) to the network in January.  TNT has obtained exclusive rights to air all six episodes that have been shot for the second season, as well as the seven episodes from the series’ first season.  SOUTHLAND will air on TNT Tuesdays at 10 p.m. (ET/PT), beginning with the first episode of the series on Jan. 12.

We recently reported that there were rumors about TNT picking up the series, but nothing was substantiated and no one really knew if it would come to fruition. Southland has been on quite the journey as its second season run was supposed to start September 25, but was pushed back to October 23 only to be canceled by the network on October 8. Now, almost a month later, the show has found a new home. There haven’t been many shows able to pull off such a feat.

Much credit has to be given to executive producer John Wells who, upon news of Southland’s cancellation, promised to find a new home for the series.

“We’re delighted that TNT has stepped forward to pick up SOUTHLAND.  We are all extremely proud of the show,” Wells said.

I know what you’re thinking. Sure, they’re picking up the show and they’re going to air the six already produced episodes of the second season, but what happens after that? Are they going to order any additional episodes?

TNT has decided to wait until after the initial six episode run before they make a decision on whether or not to order any additional episodes. They’ve given the show a new channel, day and time. Now it’s all up to the fans to make sure it stays that way. Although, if Southland is able to retain a fraction of the average 7.5 million viewers who turned into the first season, it’ll be a home run.

Still, there will be enough time to wonder about the future of the show. Today, fans can be happy as their wishes have been granted.

Now, who at TNT can we talk to about picking up Life? Cause I’ve been hankering for some Charlie Crews, fresh fruit and Zen.

Southland will premiere January 12 at 9PM on TNT.

Source: Turner Newsroom

• ‘Southland’ May Find a New Home on TNT
• ‘Southland’ Canceled Before Any Episodes Air
• NBC 2009 Fall Premiere Dates Announced
• NBC To Move Up Return Date of ‘Chuck’
• NBC Orders More ‘Chuck’ and Cancels ‘Trauma’
• Weekly TV Wrap Up – April 16th, 2009

After we announced last week that NBC had abruptly canceled Southland, fans of the show were appropriately upset as the decision came without a single episode of the second season to making it on air. While executive producer John Wells had said he intended on shopping the show around to other networks in hopes of saving it, we had no idea when or if that would come to fruition.

Today, it looks like there may be hope for the critically acclaimed Southland as TNT is currently in talks about picking up the sophomore series. How far are the talks? Well, TNT has released this statement:

“We continually look at all programming opportunities that fit our portfolio of brands.”

While that’s not anything except the typical “no comment, but read between the lines” sort of statement, sources close to Southland are saying that the talks about TNT picking up the show are “advancing.” I’d say from the position the show was in last week, “advancing” is a pretty good step.

If TNT is interested in picking up Southland, it shouldn’t be too difficult as they have something in common; the parent company of TNT is Warner Bros which, along with John Wells Productions, also produces Southland.

TNT would be a great new home for the show, as they’ve already developed a solid lineup of cop dramas with Saving Grace, The Closer and the new Dylan McDermott undercover police drama, Dark Blue. While no deal has been signed and nothing has been announced, fans of the series may sleep a little bit easier at night knowing that their favorite (now canceled) show may be getting something that others often do not… another chance.

That is… until Jay Leno decides to syndicate his show on TNT.

As more information is released, we’ll keep you up to date when and if Southland is able to find a new home.

Source: Hollywood Reporter [via: Cinema Blend]

• TNT Picks Up ‘Southland’
• ‘Southland’ Canceled Before Any Episodes Air
• NBC 2009 Fall Premiere Dates Announced
• NBC Announces New Shows, Including “Day One”
• Weekly TV Wrap Up – April 16th, 2009
• NBC Announces 2009 TV Schedule

Yesterday, Southland executive producers Ann Biderman and Christopher Chulack walked on the set of the critically acclaimed police drama while they were filming their sixth episode of the season and announced to the cast and crew that it has been canceled and would not return for its sophomore season even though not a single episode of the five completed had aired. They will continue filming and complete the sixth episode of its second season this week.

It’s been reported that the decision to cancel the show after execs over at NBC screened the first four episodes of this season and deemed them too dark an inappropriate for a 9PM time slot. This season was going to focus more on Adams (Regina King), Sherman (Benjamin McKenzie) and their partners Cooper (Michael Cudlitz) and Brown (Arija Bareikis) rather than the ensemble cast of the first season.

No word yet on when/if the six completed episode will air. Although there is still hope as executive producer John Wells (The West Wing & ER) is currently shopping the show around to broadcast and cable networks in hopes that they pick up the now network-less show. Southland might be a good fit for a network like FX who has a police drama spot open now with The Shield no longer on the air.

This news comes a week after Wells (also president of the Writers Guild of America, West) slammed NBC’s decision to move Jay Leno to the 10PM primetime slot by saying, “We lost five hours’ worth of time periods that have been known throughout the history of the network for putting some really terrific shows on. I wish NBC and Jay Leno well; personally, he’s a very nice guy, but I hope he falls flat on his face and we get five dramas back.”

It makes you wonder if he knew this was coming down the pipeline.

Someone else who’s not happy with yesterday events was actor Michael Cudlitz, who played Officer John Cooper. Today he gave an extremely interesting and brutally honest interview with Michael Ausiello of The Ausiello Files.

Here are some excerpts.

What was your reaction? Did you see it coming?

CUDLITZ: In retrospect, I saw it coming. We were two weeks away from airing and [the cancellation news] has created more press for the show than NBC has put into it on its own. They ran the first [Southland] ad – a 30-second spot – last Friday, and that’s the only one that they ran. That’s not a relaunch. When you have a network that nobody’s watching, it doesn’t benefit you to only advertise on your network.

What explanation were you given?

CUDLITZ: We were given the same statement that everyone got. [NBC] said they watched the first [four] episodes and determined that they were too dark. I don’t even know where to go with that. They were the scripts that [NBC] approved for a show that they picked up – a show they themselves advertised as an authentic, raw, and gritty look at the Los Angeles Police Department. So I don’t know what they thought they were getting… There’s something else going on I’m sure. We had a cast and crew screening on Tuesday for the season 2 premiere, and it was phenomenal. It was better than any of the episodes we have aired to date. It was fantastic.

Do you have a theory as to what else might be going on?

CUDLITZ: I really don’t. What audience are they afraid of pissing off? They don’t have an audience… There’s some speculation that they’re trying to cut costs because they’re trying to sell the network, but I don’t know. The thing that strikes me as very bizarre is that they have [six episodes] in the can, they don’t have anything on right now that is doing well, and our show is good. Why would you not put it on? So something else must be going on.

Anything fans can do?

CUDLITZ: They can express their annoyance. Networks are in this to make money, and it’s obviously proven by this decision. Because if they cared about the quality and the art then they would keep the show on the air just because of that. This was not a show that was costing them a ton of money. This is a show that would more than likely have made them money, even if not a lot. And it was critically-acclaimed, and they still chose to cancel it because of the bottom line. They’re obviously in it for the money. So if you let them know you’re not happy with what they did, that can’t do anything but help.

Whether you’re a fan of Southland or not, this brings about an interesting debate concerning whether or not programming like Southland has a place on NBC considering the network no longer has anything after 9PM now that the network decided to move Jay Leno into the timeslot that bore great programming like The West Wing and ER. How many West Wing or ER quality programs are we going to miss out on?

What do you think?

Source: The Ausiello Files

• TNT Picks Up ‘Southland’
• ‘Southland’ May Find a New Home on TNT
• NBC 2009 Fall Premiere Dates Announced
• NBC To Move Up Return Date of ‘Chuck’
• Weekly TV Wrap Up – April 16th, 2009
• NBC Announces 2009 TV Schedule

NBC has released the schedule of dates for their fall 2009 / 2010 season.

A pair of new dramas lined up for us are Parenthood & Trauma and some returning shows are Heroes, Law & Order: SVU and Law & Order.  Southland survived it’s first season and is returning for a second.

NBC is “proud” to announce that they now have more comedy than any other network.  However, they count The Jay Leno Show as part of that comedy lineup.

The following is the important excerpt of the new programming lineup announcement from NBC:

NBC’s Fall 2009-10 premiere schedule (all times ET):

*Denotes new program

Sunday, September 13
7-8:15 p.m. – Football Night in America
8:15-11 p.m. – NBC Sunday Night Football

Monday, September 14
10-11 p.m. – The Jay Leno Show* (Series Premiere)

Tuesday, September 15
8-10 p.m. – The Biggest Loser
10-11 p.m. – The Jay Leno Show*

Thursday, September 17
8-8:30 p.m. – Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday
8:30-9 p.m. – Parks and Recreation
9-9:30 p.m. – The Office
9:30-10 p.m. – Community*
(series premiere – moves to Thursdays 8-8:30 p.m. on October 8;
30 Rock returns October 15, 9:30-10 p.m.)
10-11 p.m. – The Jay Leno Show*

Monday, September 21
8-10 p.m. – Heroes (two hour premiere.
Trauma premieres 9-10 p.m. Monday, September 28)
10-11 p.m. – The Jay Leno Show*

Wednesday, September 23
8-9 p.m. – Parenthood* (Series Premiere)
9-10 p.m. – Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
10-11 p.m. – The Jay Leno Show*

Friday, September 25
8-9 p.m. – Law & Order
9-10 p.m. – Southland
10-11 p.m. – The Jay Leno Show*

Saturday, September 26
8-9 p.m. – Dateline NBC
9-10 p.m. – Drama encore broadcast
10-11 p.m. – Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (encore broadcast)
11:30 p.m. – 1:00 a.m. – Saturday Night Live

Monday, September 28
8-9 p.m. – Heroes
9-10 p.m. – Trauma* (Series Premiere)
10-11 p.m. – The Jay Leno Show*

Yes, there are some shows missing from this list because what I suspect you are looking for is going to premiere after the Olympics or mid-season.  Those would be Chuck, Day One and Mercy.

From what I see, unless Southland takes off, NBC is going to continue to be outside the top-10 in ratings.  Does anyone see anything I’m missing… that is besides completely decimating the 10 o’clock hour with their new comedy show of Jay Leno?  Oh, I just can’t wait. (Sarc)

Are there any shows in particular that you’re excited to see start back up this fall?

Source:  NBC

• NBC Announces 2009 TV Schedule
• NBC Orders More ‘Chuck’ and Cancels ‘Trauma’
• Fox Fall TV Premiere Dates & Times
• NBC To Move Up Return Date of ‘Chuck’
• NBC Announces New Shows, Including “Day One”
• TV News & Notes: 2009 Fall Schedule, The Office & More

On Monday, May 5th 2009, The Jay Leno network NBC announced a slate of new shows at their In-Fronts for the 2009 / 2010 television season.  No the above screen shot is not from their in-fronts.  It’s a behind the scenes shot from NBC’s new show, Day One.

Keeping in mind that we here at Screen Rant are all about action / adventure and sci-fi / fantasy (with a dribble of comedy). I’ve left out some details on the new NBC comedy shows but only because we do like our action-adventure shows.  Rather than babble about what I am going to say, I might as well get right to it:

DAY ONE

Day One is a new futuristic drama that will premiere out of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games and the premise sounds awful familiar.

In the aftermath of a global event that devastates the world’s infrastructures, a small band of survivors strives to rebuild society and unravel the mysteries of why the event took place and what the future has in store. Told from the point of view of an eclectic group of neighbors in a Van Nuys, California apartment building, this journey of survival will show us that hope is found in the smallest of victories and heroes are born every day. (Hey! I grew up in Van Nuys.)

Is it me, or does this show sound a lot like Jericho? Instead of a town, it’s an apartment building. I want to say this is a lame attempt at replaying Jericho, but maybe it can work. Why? Because I see a glimmer of hope from the collected creative team.  I can only hope they won’t blatantly rip off the premise of our beloved canceled show.

It’s Executive produced and written by Jesse Alexander (Heroes, Lost, Alias) and directed by Alex Graves (Fringe, Journeyman).

It will star Adam Campbell (Date Movie), Catherine Dent (The Shield), Julie Gonzalo (Eli Stone), David Lyons (ER), Derek Mio (Greek), Carly Pope (24), Thekla Reuten (Sleeper Cell) and Addison Timlin (Cashmere Mafia).

Back in January, our own Kofi Outlaw reported that NBC ordered Day One and he predicted that we could have the same flash-forward and flash-back story structure like Lost and with Jesse Alexander involved, we’ll be getting mystery upon mystery upon cliffhanger upon cliffhanger mystery.

I hope if they do pull that off it is more creative than what we’ve already seen from their other venues. Otherwise, it will just slide into a Lost-Jericho (Losticho?) slot with spies. Me, I say bring it and we’ll see what comes of it.

TRAUMA

As NBC looks to hang on to their medical success from ER, Trauma is ER on wheels. They say that Trauma is an intense look at one of the most dangerous medical professions in the world: the first responder paramedic. Trauma stars Derek Luke, Cliff Curtis, Anastasia Griffith, Aimee Garcia, Kevin Rankin and Jamey Sheridan. It will be executive produced by Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights)

MERCY

Mercy is yet another medical drama that comes from a different perspective – that of the nurses. Mercy will star Taylor Schilling, Jamie Lee Kirchner and Michelle Trachtenberg as our nurses.

It’s going to be put together by writer/executive producers Liz Heldens (Friday Night Lights) and Gretchen Berg & Aaron Harberts (Pushing Daisies). The executive producers are Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun and directed by Emmy Award winner Adam Bernstein (30 Rock, Rescue Me).

PARENTHOOD

From executive producers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer and writer/executive producer Jason Katims (Friday Night Lights) Parenthood depicts the imperfect Braverman family. The Braverman’s are four grown siblings sharing the ups and downs of being parents (hence the show name, I guess). The cast includes Peter Krause, Maura Tierney, Craig T. Nelson, Dax Shepard, Bonnie Bedelia, Monica Potter, Erika Christensen and Sarah Ramos.

Aside from the above new dramas, shows they announced that are returning are:

• Heroes
• Southland
• Parks and Recreation
• Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday (6 epi’s.)
• The Office
• 30 Rock
• The Biggest Loser
• The Celebrity Apprentice
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
• Friday Night Lights

A few “alternative” series they announced are:

• The Marriage Ref
• Who Do You Think You Are
• Breakthrough With Tony Robbins

Whatever do they mean by alternative?  Is that their new coined term for reality TV and they’re trying to trick us?

Jerry Seinfeld exec produces The Marriage Ref.  Seinfeld himself says it’s not therapy, it’s a comedy show based on real break ups.  I don’t see how this will work, but just from the humor possibility alone, I might check it out.  How many divorcees are going to watch, and root for their own side of the timeless gender war?

I’ll also give the Breakthrough With Tony Robbins thing a try because I have a lot of respect for what he’s done for himself and others… but they better not test my patience.  Robbins has some great messages to deliver about various aspects on the perceptions of life.  If I see some network dribble creeping into the presentation, I’m out of there.

In Case You Didn’t Notice

The one thing I find interesting is the announcement of the return of Law & Order: SVU.  That’s because the stars of the show Mariska Hargitay and Chris Meloni are still in contract negotiations and despite the economy and being lucky they have jobs, they think they have NBC over a barrel of sorts and are asking for more in their new contracts.  They want more than the $350k per episode and are asking for back-end profits.  So right now, they can buy a house in some places with every episode they film…  and they want more.

NBC said the show is going to go on, with or without them, pending contract negotiations.

Whether it’s related or not, NBC does have to make 5 hours of prime time room for the Jay Leno Show… that means someone is losing their time somewhere.

Did you notice that Chuck is missing from the lineup?  No decision has been made yet on whether Chuck is coming back or not.  The initial plan was to announce Chuck’s status yesterday (May 4th) but they’re now waiting an extra week or two.  Testing the advertiser waters is my guess.  Well, at least it’s not bad news yet.

Check out the massive savechuck Twitter campaign.  I don’t think they’re in the same limbo as Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, but they do share the same gray zone for the moment as both shows have some serious save-the-show campaigns going on.

Source:  NBC, Image Source: Sci Fi Scoop

• NBC 2009 Fall Premiere Dates Announced
• Fall 2009 TV: Premiering Tonight – Sept. 28
• NBC Announces 2009 TV Schedule
• NBC Orders More ‘Chuck’ and Cancels ‘Trauma’
• NBC Cuts ‘Day One’ Short
• TV Renewal And Cancellation Notes To Date

It’s Thursday and I hope that April 15th didn’t treat you too harshly yesterday. Whether it did or not, I’m still here to razz or rant on some stuff that’s happening in and around the tube.

Stargate Universe

As if this is a surprise to Stargate fans, but Stargate Universe will be having a few notable guest stars in the form of a few veterans reprising their Stargate SG-1 roles.

Yep, you read that right.

We’ll be seeing Richard Dean Anderson, Amanda Tapping, Michael Shanks and Gary Jones reprising their roles we’ve come to love over the years. Additonally, we’re going to see Christopher McDonald (U.S. senator Alan Armstrong), Janelle Monáe (plays herself. She and her band will perform) and Carlo Rota (Carl Strom, head of the International Oversight Advisory) will also make an appearance.

If this is anything like the way Stargate Atlantis started, we’ll see them in one quick scene, making it an official Stargate send off. I can’t imagine anything else, unless there’s a holodeck on the Ancient’s ship.

Stargate Universe stars Robert Carlyle, Lou Diamond Phillips and Ming-Na and is set to premiere on SCI FI in October with a special two-hour episode.

Source: SciFi Wire

Southland

Southland is a new crime drama show that takes the place of ER on Thursdays. It came in pretty strong with just under 10 million viewers for it’s premiere episode last week. I think this show may just play well into this time slot. I plan on watching it some more because I found it compelling. Did you?

24

Not to give much away for the time-shifted viewers but I thought the last episode of 24 brought some emotion to Jack’s life and a real twister of an ending. What a mind blowing twist of scenes.

If anyone saw it and wants to express their thoughts, try not to leave any spoilers please. (It’s hard, I know.)

The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Normally, this is where I might speak about the last episode of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, since they had their season finale. But we need more space to touch on some issues, so stay tuned and keep your eyes peeled for my upcoming article on the show. I’ll just say this for now: The season finale drew in approximately 3.6 million viewers.

I apologize for the tease.

Harper’s Island

Harper’s Island is a murder mystery drama and that reference isn’t the best draw for some folks. Yet being brought to us by Jerry Turtletaub (Jericho) not only gives it some merit, I believe it’s evident in the show. There’s great character interaction and mystery upon mystery leveled at us like layers of an onion.

With that noted, Harper’s Island premiered 20th on our charts with just over 10 million viewers clocking in to watch it. I found it entertaining enough that the hour flew by for me pretty fast and I was surprised it went so fast.

Did Anyone else catch this show? Have any thoughts?

Damages

Dang. I just got around to watching the last 2 episodes of Damages.

The flash forwards and flash backs throughout the season set me up for some premises I thought I had. Yet they artfully sidestepped everything and took us down a very entertaining path. That last episode moved at a pace that was complimentary to the writing throughout the season. It was one surprise after the other.

Another season, well done for Damages. I am hoping they return for another season.

Smallville

In case you’re wondering where new episodes of Smallville are, well, you’ve come to the right place.

It’s just taking a break and new episodes will be returning on April 23rd.

Leno on NBC in Boston

Remember that NBC Affiliate that said it wasn’t going to air the new Jay Leno primetime show because it was going to be “adverse to their finances?”

After NBC made a statement about pulling their affiliation from the station, they’ve had a change of heart.

WHDH-TV owner Ed Ansin said recently that “upon further consideration,” they will air Jay Leno’s program at 10 pm/ET beginning in September.

Well, that didn’t last long.

Source: THR

Friday Night Lights

Time Shitfted Viewing Light Spoilers.

Friday Night Lights came to season close last week.  Man, I think coach got the shaft from the rich brat dad using his influence to get what he wants or that he was getting revenge for getting turned in to child protective services.  It’s killing me.

Now, as you can see, Coach is going to have his job cut out for him.  What a drastic change of venue.  I’m betting this new job only has one football from the looks of that tattered field.

Trust Me

If you were a Trust Me fan, I hope you weren’t too hooked on it.

Despite TNT confusing me and calling it a “creative success,” TNT pulled the plug on the show last Friday.

Trust Me starred Eric McCormack and Tom Cavanagh as creative executives at the imaginary agency and it just didn’t catch on, averaging only 1.4 million viewers per episode.

I so did not want to tell me wife this news. She’s a big Cavanagh fan.

Source: NY Times

Ratings

Below are network ratings from the week of April 6th to April 12th:

As you can see, American idol dominated. What’s new? NCIS performed consistently with just over 17 million viewers and CSI did well with just over 16 million viewers. The action adventure platform known as 24 pulled in just over 10 million viewers.

The most viewed premiere of the week was Surviving Suburbia with 11+ million viewers, then Harper’s Island with just over 10 million pairs of eyeballs. Southland premiered 3rd amongst premieres with just under 10 million viewers, but I feel like it’s capable of more and will probably do more. We’re still in withdrawal from ER.

NBC’s Parks and Recreation premiered in the middle of the pack as did The Unusuals, both with around 6.8 million viewers.

For me, I tried watching The Unusuals premiere episode. It just didn’t draw me in. In fact I had just watched Southland and I turned of The Unusuals about 20 minutes in. I gave it a 2nd try last night. I didn’t turn it off, but it just felt lacking to me. I might gel with other folks but I just don’t see Amber Tamblyn (Joan Of Arcadia) as a cop. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg on this one, so I’ll be nice and say no more.

Rating Numbers via TV By The Numbers.

• Stargate Universe Premiere Overnight Rating Numbers
• Stargate Universe 2nd Episode Ratings Improve
• Weekly TV Wrap Up – April 30th, 2009
• Weekly TV Wrap Up – May 21st, 2009
• Ratings: ‘Smallville’ Flying High, ‘FlashForward’ Losing Viewers
• Weekly TV Wrap Up – April 2nd, 2009