F/X Programming Update: ‘Justified,’ ‘Archer,’ ‘Lights Out.’ What’s Staying, What’s Going.

There have been three major announcements from F/X over the last few weeks regarding programming for the 2011 -2012 season.

Coming back…

First, in a move that delights us to no end, one of the best shows on television, Justified, has been renewed for a third season.

Via The Longest Press Release We’ve Ever Seen to Announce the Renewal of a Show:

FX’S CRITICALLY ACLLAIMED HIT DRAMA JUSTIFIED GETS PICK UP

Network Orders 13 Episodes for Third Season from

FX Productions and Sony Pictures Television

Six All New Episodes Remain in Season One, Wednesdays at 10 PM ET/PT

With Season 1 Finale Airing June 8

Season Two (First-Run) Averaging 3.9 Million Total Viewers and 2.0 Million Adults 18-49

Marking Gains of +16% in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 vs. Season One Average

With Multi-Run Weekly Average of 7.2 Million Total Viewers and 3.7 Million Adults 18-49

LOS ANGELES, March 29, 2011 – The FX drama series Justified is enjoying one of the most critically acclaimed seasons of any show on television this year and today the network has ordered another season of the hit series, picking up a 13-episode third season, announced John Landgraf, President and General Manager of FX Networks.  Six all new episodes remain in season two, airing Wednesdays at 10 PM ET/PT, with the second season finale airing May 4.

“Justified was a critically acclaimed hit series in its first season, but the show has far surpassed our expectations this season,” said Landgraf.  “Creatively, the show is on a roll. The performances of Timothy Olyphant, Walton Goggins, Margo Martindale and the entire cast are extraordinary. Graham Yost and his team of writers are delivering some of the richest stories anywhere on TV and are doing a brilliant job of being true to Elmore Leonard’s original character, Raylan Givens. We couldn’t be more proud of the work everyone has done.”

Developed for television by Graham Yost and starring Timothy Olyphant, Justified (TV-MA) is based on the popular Elmore Leonard character “Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens” from his short story Fire in the Hole and some of his other novels.

Yost said, “I always say that the best review we’ve ever received on Justified is the fact that Elmore Leonard gets a kick out of the show.  I must add to that.  Now tied for the best feedback we’ve ever received is the news that a network as cool and original and supportive as FX is bringing us back for another year.”

“The show’s appeal speaks volumes to Graham’s fresh approach to storytelling,” said Jamie Erlicht, president of programming and production, Sony Pictures Television.

“The stellar performances by Timothy, Walton and the entire cast are Emmy caliber and we couldn’t be prouder of this series” added Zack Van Amburg, president of programming and production, Sony Pictures Television.

SOURCE: The Nielsen Company, NHI (Live+7)

Through seven weeks, first-run episodes of Justified are averaging 3.9 million viewers (+15% vs. season 1) and 2.0 million Adults 18-49 (+18% vs. season 1).  The weekly multi-run average viewership for the season 2 is 7.2 million total viewers and 3.7 million Adults 18-49, respective gains of +6% in Total Viewers and +6% in Adults 18-49.

The series co-stars Walton Goggins guest stars as “Boyd Crowder,” Nick Searcy as Givens longtime friend and boss “Chief Deputy Art Mullen,” Jacob Pitts as “Deputy Marshal Tim Gutterson,” Erica Tazel as “Deputy Marshal Rachel Brooks,” Joelle Carter as “Ava Crowder,” and Natalie Zea as Raylan’s ex-wife “Winona Hawkins.”  This season Margo Martindale joined the cast in a supporting role as “Mags Bennett,” matriarch of a rural Kentucky crime family and nemesis of Raylan Givens.

Yost wrote the pilot and serves as Executive Producer/Writer on the series. Leonard is an Executive Producer on the series along with Sarah Timberman, Carl Beverly and Michael Dinner, and Olyphant is Producer. Justified is produced by FX Productions and Sony Pictures Television.

FX is the flagship general entertainment basic cable network from Fox. Launched in June of 1994, FX is carried in more than 99 million homes. The diverse schedule includes a growing roster of critically acclaimed and award-winning original series, an established film library of acquired box-office hit movies, and an impressive lineup of acquired hit series.

Later that same day, F/X announced that they would also be renewing the animated comedy series, Archer, for a third season as well, with new episodes airing in September.  We didn’t watch Archer when it first aired but since it’s been on Netflix Streaming, we’ve been getting into it and it’s absolutely hilarious.

 

 

 

 

Saying Goodbye: Lights Out

Finally, in a bit of disappointing (if not unexpected) news, on March 24th, F/X announced that they would not be renewing their critically acclaimed drama, Lights Out, for a second season.  In our review, we stated that Lights Out was the best new show of the Spring and we gave it a coveted 10 out of 10 rating (an honor that has only been bestowed upon one other show since we started the blog, HBO’s Boardwalk Empire) after only seeing two episodes and we firmly stand by that assessment.  We’ve done a separate commentary on the cancellation of Lights Out, which can be read here.

ALERT! FOX Renews American Dad For Seventh Season!!!

Via Press Release From FOX:

GOOD MORNING, U.S.A.! IT’S GONNA BE A WONDERFUL DAY!

“American Dad” RENEWED FOR SEVENTH TERM

Emmy-nominated Animation Domination staple American Dad has been renewed for a seventh season, bringing the series through the 2012-2013 season, it was announced today by Kevin Reilly, President of Entertainment, Fox Broadcasting Company.

“This is fantastic news,” said Roger the Alien. “But you do realize I’m not real, right?”

American Dad follows the lives of ultra-conservative, staunch GOP supporter and CIA agent STAN SMITH (Seth MacFarlane) and his eccentric family that includes FRANCINE (Wendy Schaal), his ditzy-but-lovable wife; HAYLEY (Rachael MacFarlane), his 18-year-old left-wing hippie daughter; STEVE (Scott Grimes), his geeky, 14-year-old son; ROGER (Seth MacFarlane), the selfish and sarcastic cross-dressing space alien; and KLAUS (Dee Bradley Baker), an attention-starved goldfish. The fan-favorite series airs Sundays (7:30-8:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

Expect lots of hijinks from the Smiths this spring! Roger attempts to make Steve a “cool kid” by letting him drive other kids around in a tractor, but the plan quickly backfires. Meanwhile, Francine gets a job at Stan’s office, but she cramps his style; and Roger starts dressing like a teenage girl and quickly seduces Steve’s best friend, SNOT (guest voice Curtis Armstrong). Upcoming guest voices for this season include Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Anjelica Huston, Elisabeth Shue, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Burt Reynolds and Grammy Award winner Cee-Lo Green.

American Dad is a 20^th Century Fox Television production. Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman serve as co-creators and executive producers, while Kenny Schwartz, Rick Wiener and Nahnatchka Khan serve as executive producers. Become a fan of American Dad on Facebook at www.facebook.com/americandad and follow the series on Twitter at www.twitter.com/americandadfox.

We are officially not hating FOX today (ONE day, FOX… you get ONE DAY!) but we would like to point out that after we saw the pilot of Bob’s Burgers we knew that the renewal of American Dad was inevitable and noted it in our review.  So tell your friends about how brilliant our insight is (again) and that they have to read this blog.  That being said, with this announcement today, we find it highly unlikely that Bob’s Burgers will be renewed and we are thankful for that as it’s just awful.

There is a discrepancy here, though, that we would like to point out:  American Dad is currently in its sixth season (2010 – 2011).  The press release indicates that the American Dad renewal will bring the series through the 2012 – 2013 season.  The numbers don’t work on that (it should be 2011 – 2012)  unless FOX intends to split up season seven over the course of 2 years (there are reports that the order was for 22 episodes) premiering each half in January 2012 and January 2013.  We don’t find this scenario likely but it’s not out of the realm of possibility either.

Consider this:  FOX has ordered pilots for at least two new animated shows for 2011 – 2012 and they are continuing to look for more because they want to expand their “Animation Domination” schedule, according to our sources.  There is no change in time-slot according to the press release which means that American Dad will still be airing at 7:30 p.m.   The problem is that FOX stops airing programming at 10:00 p.m. so they are limited on time slots to keep plugging cartoons into.  The only solution would be half-season programming, i.e., air “Cartoon-X” in the Fall of 2011 and American Dad for 11 episodes in Spring 2012, rinse and repeat for the following season.  Although we find this scenario unlikely, it is possible and we don’t think it would necessarily be a bad thing.

The more likely of the scenarios, however, is that they either just made a mistake and meant 2011 – 2012 or they actually renewed it for two seasons.  As much as we’d like the latter, we’re leaning towards the former for obvious reasons.

Of course, we’ll keep you updated as we find out more.

Veterans Day Special: ‘The Pacific’ (HBO – Thursday 11/11/2010 11:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.)

The Pacific is an epic 10-part miniseries that delivers a realistic portrait of WWII’s Pacific Theatre as seen through the intertwined odysseys of three U.S. Marines – Robert Leckie, John Basilone and Eugene Sledge. The extraordinary experiences of these men and their fellow Marines take them from the first clash with the Japanese in the haunted jungles of Guadalcanal, through the impenetrable rain forests of Cape Gloucester, across the blasted coral strongholds of Peleliu, up the black sand terraces of Iwo Jima, through the killing fields of Okinawa, to the triumphant, yet uneasy, return home after V-J Day. The viewer will be immersed in combat through the intimate perspective of this diverse, relatable group of men pushed to the limit in battle both physically and psychologically against a relentless enemy unlike any encountered before. – HBO

9 out of 10

Well it’s DVR time, folks. HBO is airing all ten episodes of the award-winning and critically acclaimed World War II mini-series, The Pacific on today, Veteran’s Day starting at 11:00 a.m., and it is in your best interest to record it if you haven’t seen it already.

Executive Produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, The Pacific is without a doubt one of the top five events ever aired on television. The number one event would be the Spielberg/Hanks companion World War II mini-series from 2001, Band of Brothers.

The problem I had when I first watched The Pacific is that I expected it to be exactly like Band of Brothers and although, like Band of Brothers, it is extremely combat-heavy and the special effects are amazing and cinema-quality (by the way, this series was MADE for Blu-Ray), it is a much different series.

Gunnery Sergeant John Basilone (1916-1945)

Whereas Band of Brothers focuses on the men of E-Z company as an ensemble but no one specifically, The Pacific focuses on the 1st Marines Division in the aggregate but more specifically on the stories of the three major characters as noted in the description, Eugene Sledge, Robert Leckie and the most famous of all, Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient, John Basilone, who is one of my personal heroes. That alone distinguishes it from Band of Brothers but as significant is the focus on the non-combat aspects of the lives of these three men and the Marines in The Pacific theater. There are two complete episodes that literally have no combat in them whatsoever, focusing on the personal aspects of the character’s lives and their struggles after returning home.

The whole series is magnificently done from beginning to end and as an American who appreciates the history associated with this era, personally having several family members who served in the Pacific Theater, I applaud Spielberg and Hanks for bringing to life the stories of these men.

Over the years, within the media and popular culture, the Pacific Theater, in my opinion, has been woefully ignored in favor of the stories surrounding the European Theater. By saying this, I don’t mean denigrate the sacrifices made by those brave men and women who served in the European Theater against Hitler’s war machine, but rather, I simply want to highlight that both theaters were equally as important in the scope of the war effort and we should never forget that.  Spielberg and Hanks have not.

If I were to have one complaint about The Pacific it would be that it does take a little while for the story to pick up (about four episodes) but when it does, the series is damned near perfect.

BONUS: I FOUND A ‘MAKING OF’ VIDEO: