NEW YORK, March 28, 2013 – FX Networks announced a slew of pickups this morning, with Justified getting a fifth season pickup on FX, while It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The League and Legit will all return and move to FXX, announced John Landgraf, President & General Manager, FX Networks.The critically-acclaimed drama series Justified, starring Timothy Olyphant, will continue to run on FX. Season five begins production this fall and will air on FX in January 2014. Season four is currently airing, with the season finale slated to air next Tuesday, April 2, at 10:00 PM ET/PT. To date, season four is pacing to be Justified’s most-watched season ever.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The League and Legit will all move to FXX.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s ninth season will air on FXX this fall, and the network has also placed an order for a tenth season that will air in the fall of 2014. One of the most successful comedies in all of basic cable, Sunny’s eighth season ranked #2 in its basic cable time period in Men 18-49 and Men 18-34 (behind only the NFL on the NFL Network) and #2 in Adults 18-34 and Women 18-34 (behind Jersey Shore).
The League’s already announced fifth season will air on FXX this fall, and the network is announcing a sixth season pickup that will air on FXX in the fall of 2014. Last season, The League ranked #2 in its basic cable time period in M18-49, behind only the NFL on NFL Network.
The new critically-acclaimed comedy Legit’s first season will end on FX Thursday, April 11 at 10:30PM ET/PT. The show has officially been picked up for a second season, and will be moving to FXX, returning in early 2014. Legit continues to build an audience, growing by +25% from its first three episodes to its second three episodes.
Developed by Graham Yost and starring Timothy Olyphant, Justified is based on the works of crime novelist Elmore Leonard, including Leonard’s short story “Fire in the Hole.” The series co-stars Walton Goggins, Nick Searcy, Jacob Pitts, Erica Tazel and Joelle Carter. Yost wrote the pilot and serves as executive producer/showrunner on the series. Leonard is also an executive producer on the series along with Carl Beverly, Sarah Timberman, Michael Dinner and Fred Golan. Justified is produced by Sony Pictures Television and FX Productions.
Justified Returns With Its Fourth Season Tuesday, Jan. 8, 10 PM ET/PT
Anger Management Starts its Back-90 Run on Thursday, Jan. 17 With Consecutive Episodes at 9 & 9:30 PM ET/PT
Archer Returns For Season Four Thursday, Jan. 17 at 10 PM ET/PT
New Original Comedy Series Legit Premieres Thursday, Jan. 17 at 10:30 PM ET/PT
Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell Returns With a New Cycle of Episodes Thursday, Jan. 17 at 11 PM ET/PT
LOS ANGELES, November 28, 2011 – FX, basic cable’s leader for year-round scripted programming, has announced its early 2013 release dates.
The Emmy® Award-winning Justified returns for its fourth season on January 8, and will continue to run Tuesdays at 10 PM ET/PT. Developed by Graham Yost and starring Timothy Olyphant, Justified is based on the works of crime novelist Elmore Leonard, including Leonard’s short story “Fire in the Hole.” In Season 3, Deputy US Marshal Raylan Givens (Olyphant) faced off against dirty politics, hidden fortunes, a mysterious criminal ringleader named Limehouse, and Quarles, an ambitious gangster from the underbelly of Motor City. This January, Raylan will start to pick at the thread of a cold case over 30 years in the making, unraveling a riddle that echoes all the way back to his boyhood and his criminal father’s bad dealings. Meanwhile, Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins) finds his grip on Harlan loosening due to a Pentecostal preacher with a penchant for theatrics and a knack for manipulation to rival his own. Yost is an Executive Producer, along with Leonard, Carl Beverly, Sarah Timberman and Fred Golan. Justified is produced by Sony Pictures Television and FX Productions.
Anger Management will begin its back-90 run on Thursday, January 17 with consecutive episodes at 9:00 & 9:30PM before moving to its regularly scheduled timeslot of Thursdays at 9:30 PM ET/PT. Charlie Sheen stars as “Charlie,” a non-traditional therapist specializing in Anger Management. He has a successful Private Practice, holding sessions with his group of primary patient regulars each week, as well as performing pro bono counseling for an inmate group at a state prison. Charlie thrives on the chaos in his life while still battling his own anger issues. His life is complicated by his relationships with his own therapist/best friend, an ex-wife whose positive outlook but poor choice in men frustrates Charlie, and their 13-year-old daughter who has OCD.
FX’s acclaimed animated series Archer returns for its fourth season starting January 17 and will air Thursdays at 10 PM ET/PT. Archer is an animated, half-hour comedy that revolves around the International Secret Intelligence Service (ISIS) and the lives of its employees. Although their work of espionage, reconnaissance missions, wiretapping and undercover surveillance is daunting and dangerous, every covert operation and global crisis is actually just another excuse for the ISIS staff to undermine, sabotage and betray each other for personal gain. The series features the voices of H. Jon Benjamin as the highly skilled and incredibly vain master spy “Sterling Archer;” Aisha Tyler as Archer’s fellow agent and ex-girlfriend “Lana Kane;” Jessica Walter as Archer’s domineering mother and the director of ISIS, “Malory Archer;” Chris Parnell as the easily intimidated comptroller-turned ISIS agent “Cyril Figgis;” Judy Greer as Malory’s loquacious secretary, “Cheryl;” Amber Nash as the discordant director of human resources for ISIS, “Pam Poovey;” Adam Reed as the gay voice of reason at ISIS, “Ray Gillette;” Lucky Yates as ISIS’s possibly mad scientist, “Krieger;” and George Coe as Archer’s elderly and always exploited butler, “Woodhouse.”
FX will premiere its newest original comedy series Legit, on January 17 at 10:30 ET/PT immediately following Archer. In Legit, Jim Jefferies is an edgy, foul-mouthed stand-up comedian from Australia, in his mid-30s and living in LA, struggling to make his life and career more “legit,” only to find it a difficult, uncomfortable uphill struggle every step of the way. Jim is encouraged in his quest by Steve (Dan Bakkedahl), his neurotic best friend and roommate, a cyber-law library salesman who struggles to stay on his feet in the wake of a divorce, and Steve’s brother, Billy (DJ Qualls), who suffers from advanced staged Muscular Dystrophy and is confined to a wheelchair. Legit stars Jim Jefferies as ‘Jim,’ Dan Bakkedahl as ‘Steve’ and DJ Qualls as ‘Billy.’ Peter O’Fallon, Jim Jefferies, Rick Cleveland and Lisa Blum serve as Executive Producers. The series is produced by FX Productions. FX has ordered 13 episodes of Legit.
Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bellwill return with a new cycle of episodes Thursday, January 17 at 11 PM ET/PT. Totally Biased, from Bell and Executive Producers Chris Rock, CHUCK Sklar and Keri Smith Esguia, stars standup comedian W. Kamau Bell as he hilariously dissects politics, pop culture, race, religion, sex and the media from his own unique point of view. The show features live guests and taped segments. The show is produced by FX Productions.
About FX
FX is the flagship general entertainment basic cable network from Fox. Launched in June of 1994, FX is carried in nearly 98 million homes. The diverse schedule features a growing roster of critically acclaimed and award-winning hit dramas series Sons Of Anarchy and Justified; the miniseries American Horror Story: Asylum; the upcoming drama series The Americans; the acclaimed hit comedy series It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, The League, Louie, Archer, Wilfred, BrandX with Russell Brand, and Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell; and the upcoming comedy Legit. The network’s library of acquired box-office hit movies is unmatched by any ad-supported television network. FX’s other offerings include the acquired hit series Two and a Half Men and How I Met Your Mother, and live sports with UFC and NCAA football.
We’re late to the party on this, we know, but for those of you who haven’t heard, F/X’s smash-hit Justified has been renewed for a fourth season halfway into the third season which began on January 17th. This is one of our favorite shows on television and it just seems to be getting better and grittier every episode. Here’s the full press release:
Via Press Release:
FX Justified IN ORDERING FOURTH SEASON OF CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED SERIES
Network Orders 13 Episodes for Fourth Season from
FX Productions and Sony Pictures Television
Six All-New Episodes Remain in Season Three, Tuesdays at 10 PM ET/PT
With Season Three Finale Airing April 10
Season Three (First-Run) Averaging 4.3 Million Total Viewers and 2.1 Million Adults 18-49
Marking Gains of +8% in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 vs. Season Two Average
LOS ANGELES, March 6, 2011 – FX has ordered 13 episodes for season four of its Emmy® Award-winning hit drama series Justified, announced Nick Grad, FX Executive Vice President of Original Programming. Six all new episodes remain in season three, airing Tuesdays at 10 PM ET/PT, with the third season finale airing April 10.
“Justified is one of television’s best series and this season has reinforced that excellence,” said Grad. “Graham Yost and his writing team continue to deliver compelling material and richly drawn characters brought to life by the brilliance of Timothy Olyphant and our terrific ensemble cast. Their work is validated by universal acclaim, awards, and ratings that have grown every year. We look forward to many more seasons to come.”
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.
“There are many reasons all of us on Justified are grateful to get a chance to do another season,” said Yost. “We get to do more work with amazing actors, writers, producers, directors, musicians, editors and a jaw-droppingly talented crew. We get to keep doing a show that appeals to a wide demographic: people in Harlan, retired US Marshals, criminals (we honestly did hear that), and, most happily, our guide, our muse, Elmore Leonard. Best of all, we get to keep doing a show on FX (and while that may sound like craven ass-kissing, when you look at their roster, you can’t help but feel grateful to be on that list).”
“Graham’s modern day take on the western and masterful storytelling have helped bring the genre to the forefront,” said John Westphal, Senior Vice President, US. current programming, Sony Pictures Television. “The storytelling and performances brought to life by Tim Olyphant, Walton Goggins and the rest of the cast, continue to elevate the series season after season.”
Through seven weeks, first-run episodes of season 3 of Justified are averaging 4.3 million viewers (+8% vs. season 2) and 2.1 million Adults 18-49 (+8% vs. season 2). The weekly multi-run average viewership for the season 3 is 7.0 million total viewers and 3.4 million Adults 18-49.
Justified airs its eighth episode tonight, titled “Watching the Detectives” (10 PM ET/PT). A shocking murder forces Raylan to confront his past mistakes. Boyd grapples with Harlan’s corrupt sheriff.
The series co-stars Walton Goggins as Raylan’s old nemesis/friend “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.” After Margo Martindale won an Emmy Award for her guest-starring role in season two as the evil matriarch “Mags Bennett,” this season brings Neal McDonough as Detroit businessman “Robert Quarles” and Mykelti Williamson as the mysterious “Limehouse” to Face Off against 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, Michael Dinner and Fred Golan, and Olyphant is a 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 98 million homes. The diverse schedule includes a growing roster of critically acclaimed and award-winning hit dramas series including Sons Of Anarchy, Justified and American Horror Story, and acclaimed hit comedy series It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, The League, Louie, Archer and Wilfred. Its library of acquired box-office hit movies is unmatched by any ad-supported television network. The network’s other offerings include the acquired hit series Two and a Half Men and How I Met Your Mother,and live sports with college football and the UFC. For more information about FX, visit our website at www.FXnetworks.com.
In the interest of continuing to be relevant and to give you news when you actually need it and not a month in advance, we decided not to publish the complete midseason schedules for all the networks when they came out last month and instead, just give you the highlights now so you can set your DVR’s accordingly or make sure that you avoid a crappy show. The upside is that most of the shows this midseason look even better than what we got in the Fall.
The Tastic says: As we noted in our preview, this looks like it could possibly be one of the worst shows in television history. Save your soul, do no watch this.
ABC 9:00 p.m. Celebrity Wife Swap YES!
The Tastic says: OK… honesty time. We have to admit that we have our guilty pleasures and most of them revolve around reality shows on VH1, E! and ABC. We actually like the dopey Wife Swap and throwing Gary Busey into the mix can only be a good thing. Here’s a corny music video promoting the series. Like we said… guilty pleasure.
Friday January 6th
SyFy 10:00 p.m. Merlin YES!
The Tastic says: We love Science Fiction but Fantasy has never really been our bag. That being said, we have seen a few episodes of Merlin over the years and it’s good to see it’s back for the fans of the series.
Sunday January 8th
NBC 9:00 p.m. The FirmYES!
The Tastic says: As skeptical as we are about reboots especially when the source material is 20 years-old, we have to admit, this looks pretty good and it’s also nice to see Battlestar Galactica‘s Tricia Helfer getting work. From what we can tell, John Grisham appears to have complete control over this so that’s got to be a good thing. NOTE: This is a two-hour premiere on this night only. The Firm‘s regular timeslot will be on Thursdays at 10:00 p.m. beginning on January 12th.
The Tastic says: Originally titled, Are You There Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea… based on the best-selling book by Chelsea Handler of the same name, we originally kinda-sorta recommended this thinking that it could go either way. Upon further review, it really looks like a complete piece of sh*t.
SyFy 10:00 p.m. Face OffYES!
The Tastic says: Part guilty pleasure, partly just a love for the craft, we can’t wait for new episodes of the SyFy reality series, Face Off to return. Good stuff, indeed.
The Tastic says: A spinoff of Bones that looks a lot more interesting than Bones ever has been.
Sunday January 15th
FOX 8:30 p.m. Napoleon DynamiteNO!
The Tastic says: As we’ve noted before, Napoleon Dynamite was only mildly entertaining when it first came out in 2004 and now it’s just completely dated and irrelevant. Again, there’s a reason FOX only ordered six episodes of this.
The Tastic says: The highly anticipated new series from J.J. Abrams looks like it’s finally going to give us our Lost fix that we’ve been jonesing for for so long. Seriously, does anyone think that this doesn’t look absolutely fantastic? NOTE: This is a two-hour premiere episode. The show’s normal timeslot will be on Mondays at 9:00 p.m.
The Tastic says: We loved the first season despite all of the critics who continued to have to compare it to its BBC counterpart and took a dump on it. We can’t wait for season two.
SyFy 10:00 p.m. Lost Girl YES!
The Tastic says: This popular Canadian import makes its debut on SyFy and we have to say, it looks pretty damned good.
Tuesday January 17th
F/X 10:00 p.m. JustifiedYES! – STAFF PICK
The Tastic says: One of the best shows on television, Justified, returns for its third season.
Wednesday January 18th
F/X 10:00 p.m. ArcherYES! – STAFF PICK
The Tastic says: The funniest show on television, animated or otherwise, is back for a third season. The first season is available on Netflix streaming and we highly recommend that you check it out if you’ve never seen it before.
F/X 10:30 p.m. UnsupervisedYES!
The Tastic says: OK, so the trailer doesn’t look that great but it’s from the producers of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Archer so we’re willing to give it a shot.
Wednesday January 25th
FOX 9:00 p.m. Touch YES! – STAFF PICK
The Tastic says: Kiefer Sutherland returns to television with Danny Glover in this fantastic looking, high-concept, Science Fiction drama from Tim Kring, the creator of Heroes. We are so looking forward to this. NOTE: This is a special “preview event” broadcast date for Touch. It will air in its regular timeslot beginning on Monday, March 19th.
Friday January 27th
Starz 10:00 p.m. Spartacus: Vengeance YES!
The Tastic says: We haven’t had a chance to really get into this series but from we’ve seen of it, we’ve liked it. We also like when a series gives its season a name instead of a number (this is Spartacus’ third season, by the way.).
Sunday January 29th
HBO 9:00 p.m. Luck YES!
The Tastic says: So, we got to see the pilot of Luck when they gave a sneak preview of it back at the end of November and it annoyed the piss out of us as it was confusing as Hell if you don’t know anything about horse racing/betting. Despite that, it was still really well-done and it has an all-star cast that includes Dustin Hoffmann, Nick Nolte and Dennis Farina.
Monday February 6th
NBC 10:00 p.m. Smash YES!
The Tastic says: NBC gets their Glee, albeit a lot more dramatical. Here’s the thing about Smash: it looks good but it’s going to wind up in the bottom of our viewing list and probably sit there until the summer because there is just too much for us to keep with considering all of the other shows that either look a lot better or that we already know are a lot better.
Tuesday February 7th
ABC 9:00 p.m. The RiverYES! – STAFF PICK
The Tastic says: This is by far the best looking show of this entire television season. Talk about getting our Lost-freak on, this show looks like it does that and then some. CAN. NOT. WAIT.
For those who didn’t already know, this will begin the second half of the second season. We also have some more news for TWD fans, right here, as well as news for Mad Men and The Killing.
Sunday February 19th
HBO 10:00 p.m. Eastbound and Down YES!
The Tastic says: This show is absolutely hilarious and it has been under the radar for two straight seasons. We’re looking forward to more hijinks in season three.
Sunday March 4th
ABC 10:00 p.m. GCB NO!
FKA, Good Christian Bitches, FKA Good Christian Belles, all we can say is way-to-go in “let’s-alienate-78%-of-our-audience-before-a-single-episode-has-aired-with-the-title alone” department, ABC. Despite this, however, just watch the trailer to figure out on your own what a total sh*tfest this is going to be. That combined with the fact that it’s an idiotic soap that’s trying to clone Desperate Housewives in order to pick up the mantle after it ends this Spring, provides a compelling enough reason for us to never watch it. That being said, we’re sure it’s going to be massive hit for that crowd.
Thursday March 15th
ABC 8:00 p.m. MissingYES!
Mixed emotions on this. Spies, non-stop action, Ashley Judd… what’s not to love, right? We thought so, too, but then we noticed the timeslot and we’re slightly concerned over the description of the plot and it’s very clichéd nature. The timeslot is an issue because at 8:00 p.m., you can expect a very watered-down show. Still looks great, though.
We’re a little late on the draw on this, but dammit, upfront week was flippin’ tiring and we’re trying to catch up. A&E’s hit summer series from last year The Glades (which we loved) roars back like a hurricane this Sunday night, June 5th, at 10:00 p.m. Good times indeed. Here’s the trailer for the new season and a little sneak peek at what we have to look forward to with Detective Jim Longworth and the rest of the characters:
Via Press Release:
A&E’S HIT SCRIPTED DRAMA “THE GLADES” SEASON 2 PREMIERES
SUNDAY, JUNE 5 AT 10PM ET/PT
SERIES STARS MATT PASSMORE, KIELE SANCHEZ, CARLOS GOMEZ AND MICHELLE HURD
NEW YORK – April 21, 2011 – Season two of the hit A&E original scripted drama series “The Glades,” starring Matt Passmore, Kiele Sanchez, Carlos Gomez and Michelle Hurd premieres Sunday, June 5 at 10PM ET/PT. The second season will feature thirteen one-hour episodes.
In its first season, “The Glades” became the most-watched drama series in network history, averaging 3.1 million total viewers. These ratings propelled A&E to ad-supported cable’s number one network on Sunday nights among total viewers.
In “The Glades,” Passmore stars as Jim Longworth, an attractive and brilliant Chicago homicide detective with a reputation for being difficult. When his captain wrongfully accuses him of sleeping with his wife and shoots him, he is exiled and forced to relocate. He lands in the sleepy, middle-of-nowhere town of Palm Glade, outside of the Florida Everglades, where sunshine and golf are plentiful and crime is seemingly at a minimum. But Longworth soon finds out this town isn’t quite as idyllic as he originally thought, when murders keep piling up. Each case pulls Longworth off the golf course and reluctantly into his element as one of the sharpest homicide detectives to wear a badge.
In the season premiere, the daughter of a notorious Cuban mobster turns up dead in a Little Havana alley, and Longworth and the rest of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement must solve her murder to prevent an all-out war between two rival mob families. Meanwhile, Callie (Sanchez) prepares for her husband’s release from prison.
“The Glades” is produced by Fox Television Studios for A&E Network. The series executive producers are Clifton Campbell (“White Collar,” “Profiler,” “21 Jump Street”) for Innuendo Productions and Gary Randall (“Saving Grace”) for Grand Productions, Inc. The series is created by Clifton Campbell.
About Fox Television Studios
Fox Television Studios produces scripted and unscripted programming for US broadcast and cable networks, and international broadcasters. In addition to “The Glades,” hit series include “Burn Notice” and “White Collar” for USA, and “The Killing” for AMC. The studio also is in production on the pilots “Outlaw Country” for FX, “Three Inches” for SyFy, and “Wild Card” and “Over/Under” for USA. Fox TV Studios also produces the reality hits “The Girls Next Door,” “Kendra and Holly’s World” for E!, and will launch this summer the late-night comedy series “In the Flow with Affion Crockett” for FOX.
About A&E Network
A&E is “Real Life. Drama.” Now reaching 100 million homes, A&E is television that you can’t turn away from; where unscripted shows are dramatic and scripted dramas are authentic. A&E offers a diverse mix of high quality entertainment ranging from the network’s original scripted series, including “The Glades,” to signature non-fiction franchises, including the Emmy-winning “Intervention,” “Dog the Bounty Hunter,” “Hoarders,” “Billy the Exterminator” and “Storage Wars,” and the most successful justice shows on cable, including “The First 48” and “Manhunters.” The A&E website is located at www.aetv.com.
FALLING SKIES opens in the chaotic aftermath of an alien attack that has left most of the world completely incapacitated. In the six months since the initial invasion, the few survivors have banded together outside major cities to begin the difficult task of fighting back. Each day is a test of survival as citizen soldiers work to protect the people in their care while also engaging in an insurgency campaign against the occupying alien force.
At the center of the series is Tom Mason (Noah Wyle), a Boston history professor whose family has been torn apart. His wife was killed in the initial attack, and one of his three sons has been captured. Determined to get his son back and to ensure the safety of his other two sons, Tom must put his extensive knowledge of military history to the test as one of the leaders of the resistance movement known as the 2nd Mass, because of their location in Boston, Mass. They are constantly trying to gain intelligence about the aliens in order to one day outsmart and overtake them and hopefully rebuild their lives.
Moon Bloodgood (Terminator Salvation) co-stars as Anne Glass, a pediatrician who works with the surviving children to help them cope with the traumatic upheaval in their lives. Will Patton (Armageddon, TNT’s Into the West) plays a fierce leader of the resistance, Weaver. The series also stars Drew Roy (Secretariat) as Hal, Tom’s oldest son and a growing fighter in the resistance movement; Maxim Knight (Brothers & Sisters) as Matt, Tom’s youngest son; Connor Jessup (The Saddle Club) as Ben, Tom’s son who was captured by aliens; and Seychelle Gabriel (Weeds) as Lourdes, an orphaned teenager who helps Anne in the group’s makeshift medical clinic. Colin Cunningham (Living in Your Car) is John Pope, the leader of an outlaw motorcycle gang and Sarah Carter (Shark) is Margaret, a wary survivor of Pope’s gang.
FALLING SKIES focuses on the resilience of the survivors and their determination to maintain their humanity when all else has been destroyed. It is a tale of endurance, commitment and courage in which everyday people are called upon to become heroes. They may be outmatched, outnumbered and outgunned, but nothing can beat the human spirit. Most of all, the series is about the ties that bind people together in the most difficult of circumstances.
The aliens in the series are mighty, mysterious and merciless. They are highly intelligent and use military-like tactics, which makes them an overwhelming force against the 2nd Mass. There are two types of aliens that the human survivors have named Skitters and Mechs. Combining live action and special visual effects, the Skitters have spider-like bodies and incredible strength and agility. The deadly, robotic Mechs stand upright and can shoot bullets from their arms. The aliens control captured children, like Tom’s son Ben, through bio-mechanical harnesses but have yet to reveal their ultimate plan for them.
FALLING SKIES is executive-produced by Steven Spielberg, along with DreamWorks Television heads Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank, Graham Yost (Justified, The Pacific) and screenwriter Robert Rodat. Rodat, who earned an Oscar® nomination for his screenplay for Saving Private Ryan, wrote the pilot from an idea he co-conceived with Spielberg. Mark Verheiden (Heroes, Battlestar Galactica) and Greg Beeman (Heroes, Smallville) are co-executive producers. The pilot was directed by Carl Franklin (One False Move, Out of Time). – TNT
Official Trailer:
Longer First Look Extended Trailer:
Steven Spielberg
So, here’s the question of the month: How the H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks did we miss this. Seriously, we’re genetically predisposed to have the first scoop on all new SciFi programming out there. This is just embarrassing. We only heard about Falling Skies yesterday when we saw the trailer on TNT and thought it was for a summer blockbuster that we didn’t know about.
That being said, this looks exceptionally well-done for basic cable with Dreamworks producing it and Steven Spielberg heavily involved with creating the aliens. Dare we say, it looks even better than Terra Novaand we think it has a better chance of staying on the air for a second season then TN as well because basically they’ve done everything right, so far, as far as production of Sci-Fi television is concerned.
Yes... yes they do.
It’s on Basic Cable and NOT on a Major Network. Better yet, it’s on TNT which overall in 2010 was the #4 cable Network on television and #2 for original non-niche scripted programming (for clarification, Disney and ESPN, #2 and #3, respectively, are niche networks) behind only USA. The expectation for high audience numbers is dramatically lower on basic cable than it is on major network which is a luxury that TN doesn’t have on FOX and to make matters worse for TN, over the past decade, Sci-Fi is DEAD on Network television for this generation of audiences and has been an abysmal failure every time it’s been attempted and this dovetails into the next advantage for renewal FS has…
$$$$ Because FS is on basic cable, the production costs will be dramatically lower than any show on a major network and considering that TN is the most expensive show in the history of television, we can only imagine that the production costs of FS is infinitesimal in comparison to TN. Again, this goes back to the ratings expectations that TNT will have for FS as opposed to what FOX will have for TN. One of the biggest factors a show has to overcome is production costs. When 24 was canceled last year, even though the ratings were continuing to drop they weren’t particularly awful. The problem was (besides the fact that the producers admitted that the well had run dry) that the show was just so damned expensive to produce that they couldn’t justify renewing it. A show has to get high enough ratings in order to justify high ad rates in order to justify high production costs. It’s that simple. Considering what we said about the recent history of Sci-Fi on network, the advantage again goes to FS.
The real reason why so many Sci-Fi shows are produced in Canada
“O, Canada, Our Home and Native Land!” As soon as we saw the trailers for FS, the first thing we thought was, “Oh, this has to be being produced in Canada,” and as we confirmed with iMDB, it sure as heck is (Hamilton, Ontario to be precise). It’s well-known that the key to keeping production costs down dramatically with Sci-Fi television is to film in Canada. Don’t believe us? Take a look at this list of Sci-Fi shows filmed in Canada over the last two decades. Where is TN being produced? In ridiculously cost-prohibitive Australia which is just adding to the enormous price-tag of that show. Advantage, FS.
Shorter Schedule Beyond the obvious fact that producing more than twice as many episodes per season (22 for TN as opposed to 10 for FS) will cost twice as much for FOX, there’s also a much bigger issue and that is that a 22 episode season, by its nature, will air over the course of an entire television season, in this case (allegedly) 2011 – 2012. This means long hiatuses and reruns for the show which has proven time and time again to be catastrophic for Sci-Fi and genre which is exactly why they eventually stopped doing it with 24, Lost, and Alias to name a few, instead, choosing to air their entire seasons as mid-season replacements without anything more than the random one week break between new episodes. Today’s audiences have ZERO patience for serials to begin with, nevertheless Sci-Fi serials, and they will not tolerate shows that leave them hanging for six weeks to several months at a time. FS will air new episodes continuously for ten weeks and it’s airing in the middle of summer with no competition from the major networks which is a strategy that continues to be proven successful for basic cable networks.
Finally, 22 episodes of Sci-Fi is just too much for major network television (and no, even though The CW is a major network, they don’t count for the purpose of this discussion for obvious reasons.). Today’s major network audiences just will not hang in there for 22 episodes of Sci-Fi any more. Now, we love Fringe and we’re certainly thrilled it got picked up for a fourth season but that is an anomaly and the audience numbers haven’t been particularly great for it which is why it got moved from the middle of the week to Friday to begin with. The standard 10 – 13 episode seasons for original programming on basic cable works just fine for Sci-Fi. Advantage, FS.
Will the real Slim Shady please stand up?
So why are we so excited about FS? Well, first, the trailers look fantastic and yes, we know it’s not a particularly original concept stealing aspects from The Terminator, Battlestar Galactica, V, The Road, Independence Day and War of the Worlds, to name a few (not to mention that the whole “stealing children and technologically altering them” concept is eerily similar to the Borg in Star Trek) but heck, we like that kind of Sci-Fi because it invariably promises us great action and character development. We also don’t think that it’s a coincidence that Noah Wyle looks like he was separated at birth from Terminator: Salvation star and leader of the resistance Christian Bale (John Connor).
Along with the great action, though, is that shows like this invariably raise thought-provoking philosophical questions about humanity, often without the audience realizing it until after it’s happened. This is one of the marks of great Sci-Fi storytelling which this particular brand of Sci-Fi excels at and we really expect nothing less considering the heavy hitters that are on board for this and their experience and success they bring to this in the writing and production department (see the last paragraph of the show description at the top).
Also, just to preempt the inevitable cries of “it’s not an original concept” from the peanut gallery (that have already begun), we’ve got news for you: there are no original concepts in Sci-Fi anymore. Every concept you can think of has been thought up by someone else in this genre and been done already. It’s the execution of concept that counts and that’s what will be the deciding factor in FS‘s success or failure.
Check out the official Falling Skies webpage, here.
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.
The Glades stars Australian actor Matt Passmore as Jim Longworth, an attractive, brilliant, yet hard to get along with homicide detective from Chicago who is forced into exile after being wrongfully accused of sleeping with his former captain’s wife. Longworth relocates to the sleepy, middle-of-nowhere town of Palm Glade, Florida, where the sunshine and golf are plentiful and crime is seemingly at a minimum. But this town outside the Florida Everglades isn’t quite as idyllic as he thought, as he finds people keep turning up murdered. Each case pulls Longworth off the golf course and reluctantly into his element as one of the sharpest homicide detectives in the field. (A&E)
8.5 out of 10
I’ve been watching police procedural shows for years and I hate most of them that people seem to drool over. I gave up on the entire Law & Order franchise years go, I was never a fan of NYPD Blue (although I concede that it was occasionally entertaining) and I absolutely hate the inane CSI franchise and question the intelligence of the millions of fans who think that it’s actually any good. I could go into my hatred of CSI all day but I’m reserving that for a separate post. Needless to say, for a police procedural to really get my attention it has to be unique and well-written, but most importantly it has to be character-driven as opposed to event-driven which is what most of the generic police fare is. A few of the shows that really stand out in this genre and meet those standards over the last decade for me are The Wire (HBO), the short-lived but brilliant Boomtown (NBC), The Shield (FX) and most recently, one of my favorite new shows, Justified (FX, review forthcoming). Well, add The Glades to that list.
Like its predecessors, The Glades weaves excellent storytelling around and a well-written group of complex supporting characters with a central character that not only brings it all together but stands out as the reason to come back week-to-week.
Passmore is brilliantly cast as Longworth, which is really no small feat because the truth is that the character could easily come off as the clichéd cocky, big fish/small pond, I’m-smarter-than-all-of-these-small-town-hicks cop who every week learns a little lesson from living in small town America that gives him a greater appreciation for his colleagues. We, of course, have seen this more than once in TV and film and of course we’re bored by it. Instead, though, Longworth, cocky as he is, is cocky for a reason: he’s a really good cop, knows it, but isn’t arrogant about it. It’s just kind of a matter-of-fact deal with him but he respects his fellow colleagues who are competent and though he’s tolerant of his unmotivated colleagues like his partner, he recognizes their weaknesses and just goes about his business to make sure that they don’t impede his work. The point is that unlike other clichéd cops on TV, Longworth isn’t all up in anybody’s face about how good he is and how bad anyone else is, he just does the job and does it well. The character is witty and sarcastic and as a viewer you appreciate his ability to think outside of the box to bring clues together from unexpected sources.
Another reason why I put The Glades into the category of unique police procedurals is because it does something that most cop shows really don’t do: it makes the town of Palm Glades, Florida as important of a supporting character as anyone else in the cast, as opposed to just a backdrop for the drama. All of the other shows I mentioned all have this in common. The Wire with Baltimore, The Shield and Boomtown with Los Angeles and Justified with Leland, Kentucky. I always appreciate shows that understand that the locale is an integral character to any good story. It provides a depth to all of the live characters and their perspectives and it acts as a device to truly engage the audience, giving them a sense that they too, truly know what it’s like to be from Baltimore, L.A. or even Leland, Kentucky, even though they may have never even been there before. This approach has been done in film for decades but it is a relatively new concept in television and almost non-existent on network television. That being said, it’s entirely refreshing that a central character of The Glades is the Glades itself.
The pilot was excellent and the writing near flawless, albeit a bit rushed at the end because it’s obvious that they were trying to cram character development/establishment and a complex plot all into one hour (NOTE TO A&E: If a show is as good as The Glades is, a two-hour pilot will keep our attention). The story takes us on Longworth’s journey to connect clues and if you blink, you might miss something which is of course the true sign of a good mystery. The twist at the end is brilliant and of the quality you would expect from premium channels like HBO or Showtime (again, I just wished it wasn’t so rushed) and believe me, unlike everyone spoiling Shutter Island by telling you there’s a twist and ergo you expected it (and like me, probably figured it within the first 20 minutes), it is highly unlikely you will expect this particular twist even though you know one is coming. I just hope that they keep the twists coming like this every week.
You can watch the entire pilot episode right here on A&E’s website if you missed it or don’t have cable (make sure to scroll down and choose Pilot as the latest episode will automatically play when you click the link) and in fact, it looks like you can catch all of the episodes online (yay!).
NEW YORK, March 28, 2013 – FX Networks announced a slew of pickups this morning, with Justified getting a fifth season pickup on FX, while It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The League and Legit will all return and move to FXX, announced John Landgraf, President & General Manager, FX Networks.The critically-acclaimed drama series Justified, starring Timothy Olyphant, will continue to run on FX. Season five begins production this fall and will air on FX in January 2014. Season four is currently airing, with the season finale slated to air next Tuesday, April 2, at 10:00 PM ET/PT. To date, season four is pacing to be Justified’s most-watched season ever.
LOS ANGELES, November 28, 2011 – FX, basic cable’s leader for year-round scripted programming, has announced its early 2013 release dates.
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