ABC Picks Up Cougar Town

A quick update to yesterday's post "Lot's of Upfront News".  Since this is an email update, I'm not giving much info just yet but will follow later with a more proper post when at a computer I can use to update the blog (that's a no-no at work).

 

ABC announced today that they picked up the new Courtney Cox comedy "Cougar Town", which I wrote extensively about.  They also picked up a murder-mystery series called "Happy Town" which I had neglected to post about.  That once kinda came out of nowhere to surprise me. 

 

Other ABC related rumors is that "The Unusuals" won't be returning, which is bad news as the show has really found itself lately.  The pilot episode was kind of annoying, I thought, but producers and writers worked out the kinks and have put together an enjoyable and quirky cop show, a real rarity.  ABC's other new cop show, "Castle" is really on the bubble but apparently has a better chance of returning than "The Unusuals".

 

Word is CBS will not be renewing "The Unit", which is not a surprise but a shame.  It's a good show but running after football has really killed it.  There's not many people looking to watch a special ops drama until 11:15 or so on a Sunday night after a late ending to whatever game was on.  I think the show would be doing fantastic if it were paired up with "NCIS" and it's early prime time slot.  In my opinion, "NCIS" is the weaker or the two and only flourishing because of it's good time slot.  That's the luck of the draw, though.  The better show gets a bad time slot and suffers while the lesser shows gets high ratings and a spin-off.

 

NBC let it be known that "Day One", which I posted a clip of previously, is only a limited run, mid season player.

 

As previously posted, Fox picked up a half hour comedy called "Sons Of Tucson", which I'm not holding out hope for.  They also picked up another half hour comedy called "Brothers" starring real football people (I am not a sports fan, obviously) in a show about an ex-football star that returns home to Texas to rejoin his disabled brother and get his life back on track.  Sounds like a lame version of HBO's trashy but funny "Eastbound And Down". 

 

And in completely shocking news: "Til Death" has not only not been canceled, but it's been renewed for 22 episodes next season.  Color me surprised.  I hadn't heard a peep about this loser in quite some time and figured it had been buried with the other lame comedies it premiered with (I can't even remember their names...one was about cocktails or something...).

 

In good Fox news, Variety says the network is getting real close to renewing "Dollhouse".  Plans are apparently to leave the show in it's Friday night slot where it's been getting super low but consistent ratings while it blows up on the internet.