PASSIONS | DirecTV no longer in Harmony

The satellite provider has decided not to order a second season of Passions from NBC U for its original programming service The 101. It’ll continue to air on the channel through August. Next month, though, it’ll be cut back even more, airing just three days a week instead of four.
Variety points out that the show [...]

STRIKE WATCH | TCA the latest casualty

The winter Television Critics Association press tour, slated for next month in Los Angeles, has been canceled due to the ongoing WGA strike. No surprise here; TCA organizers said previously the event would likely be canceled if the strike lasted through this week.
With last week’s talks breaking down on Friday and no date set for [...]

RIP | Roger King, 63, king of syndication

Via TV Week

SCIFI | ‘Pretender’ among us once more?

Steven Long Mitchell and Craig Van Sickle are riding high on the success of this week’s Tin Man miniseries. SCI FI Wire interviewed the TV veterans, who created The Pretender in the mid-’90s. After four seasons as part of the Saturday night “Thrillogy” (remember when networks programmed Saturday nights?), the series was canceled by NBC; [...]

STRIKE WATCH | ‘Dexter’ to CBS?

Showtime series may be called up to the big leagues if the strike drags on, CBS chief Les Moonves said in a speech today. (CBS and Showtime are corporate cousins.) Dexter would likely be first up, “because it would work well with the network’s popular dark crime procedurals,” according to this TV Week article.
Given the [...]

BB9 | It’s on like Diddy Kong

Dust off your Chenbot yoga mat: Big Brother is back, though a bit later than I predicted yesterday (hey, I was close)! A ninth edition of the reality-show-in-a-box kicks off Tuesday, February 12 at 9p/8c on CBS.
The other two weekly installments are slated for Wednesdays and Sundays at 8p/7c.
NO WORD YET ON… | …whether this [...]

SHO | A modest proposal for ‘Weeds’ and ‘Dexter’

I think Dexter is a fantastic show, but I find most of the characters who aren’t Dexter to be varying shades of irritating. We’ve been promised that one of them will die between now and the Dec. 16 season finale. This has kept me on the edge of my seat, gathering quite the wish list [...]

BB9 | A premiere date prediction

My suspicion is that The Amazing Race will hand off to Big Brother 9 come January. The Futon Critic anticipates that the Race finale will air on Sunday, January 20, freeing up CBS’ post-60 Minutes Sunday slot for Brother’s traditional three-nights-a-week schedule.
Therefore, I’m predicting that the new season of Big Brother could begin as early [...]

CABLE | Red Hot Chili Peppers sue Showtime over ‘Californication’

The band, who had success with a 1999 song, video, and album with the name, are suing Showtime over its David Duchovny comedy.
From the Associated Press:
 The lawsuit alleges unfair competition, dilution of the value of the name and unjust enrichment, claiming the title is “inherently distinctive, famous … and immediately associated in the mind of [...]

WEEDS | A thought on the season finale

Spoilers after the jump…