TV News: Tennant, Stewart "To Be" on PBS; Galactica Takes Home Top Award

- David Tennant of Doctor Who fame will bring his critically acclaimed portrayal of Hamlet to American television as part of PBS' Great Performances series. Set to air in 2010, the cast will also include Patrick Stewart. I can't be the only one geeking out over this news . . . David Tennant, Patrick Stewart, Royal Shakespeare Company production of Hamlet.  There's just no way to lose with this! [Associated Press via MSN]

- Fox has confirmed that Kara DioGuardi will return next year as a judge on the network's ratings juggernaut American Idol. [Associated Press via Yahoo! News]

- The Television Critics Association (TCA) Award winners were announced on Saturday and Battlestar Galactica took top honors as "Program of the Year." HBO's True Blood won three awards, the most of any show this year.  For a full list of TCA Awards and winners, click here. [Hollywood Reporter]

- A remake of The Rockford Files is on tap for NBC, who has asked House creator David Shore to head up the project. The original series ran from 1974–80 and starred James Garner as "an ex-convict private eye who worked cases out of his trailer in Malibu." [TV Guide]

- USA Network has renewed three of its original series – Burn Notice, In Plain Sight and Royal Pains. [Hollywood Reporter]

- The voice cast of the resurrected cartoon comedy Futurama, including John DiMaggio, Billy West and Katey Sagal, have signed new contracts and will return to the show after a contentious negotiation process. [Variety]

- Congrats to Heroes' Ali Larter who tied the knot with fiancé Hayes MacArthur on Saturday! [E! Online]

bxAv110 bxAv110 bxAv110

TV News: CBS Announces Fall Lineup

CBS has unveiled its fall schedule, which sees the network's new hit show The Mentalist moving to a primo Thursday spot following CSI. The network is also rearranging its Monday comedy lineup and, as was expected, is integrating Medium (which, as reported earlier, was dropped by NBC) into its schedule to complement Ghost Whisperer and Numbers.

Without a Trace and Worst Week were added to the roster of shows CBS is cutting. For more details on CBS' new fall lineup, click here. [Variety]

bxAv110 bxAv110 bxAv110

TV News: ABC announces fall lineup, The Unit and My Name Is Earl canceled...

- ABC has presented its fall lineup, which will include returning shows like Grey's Anatomy and Dancing with the Stars. There will also be a Wednesday night, two-hour block of comedies (including Cougar Town). Scrubs and Better Off Ted are supposed to appear midseason. For more about the network's fall lineup, go here. [The Hollywood Reporter]

- Meanwhile, NBC has decided to cancel My Name Is Earl, but 20th Century executives are speaking to FOX and ABC about picking it up. The peacock network has also passed on ordering another season of Medium, but those rumors that show owner CBS could pick it up are still alive and kicking. Meanwhile, CBS has decided not to pick up The Unit. [Entertainment Weekly]

bxAv110 bxAv110 bxAv110

TV News: Renewals and Cancellations as of May 18, 2009

We've been posting sporadic news about recent TV renewals and cancellations since last week, and I just posted my thoughts about the Sarah Connor cancellation here earlier today. But since we've all got day jobs here at Pop Wenches, it's tough to post each and every bit of TV scheduling news that's come out today.

So here's a little rundown of the fall line-ups so far:

- FOX announced its line-up of shows today, confirming the cancellation of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and stating that an abbreviated season of Dollhouse will (still) be airing on Friday nights. Fringe will move to Thursday night, while other established hits like House will stay in their current time slots (which means House will be on Monday nights). For a more comprehensive look at FOX's fall schedule, go here. [THR.com]
[bxA]
- Meanwhile, it looks like ABC has decided to cancel Samantha Who? But executives have renewed Castle, meaning Nathan Fillion is finally on a series — not including Two Guys and a Girl — that hasn't been canceled only 10 or so episodes into its first season. Better Off Ted, which is actually pretty quirky/funny, has also been renewed. And as posted this weekend, Scrubs is coming back...[Entertainment Weekly Link 1; Link 2]

- CBS has picked up four new dramas, including an NCIS spin-off starring Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J, alongside a Jenna Elfman comedy. For more information on that go here. [Entertainment Weekly]

- As posted this weekend, NBC decided to renew Chuck and has renewed established shows like Heroes as well.

For a final tally of all the shows that are getting renewed and canceled, you can always visit this cheat sheet by Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello. It's a little messy, but gives you a good idea of his predictions and final outcomes for each major network's TV line-up.

bxAv110 bxAv110 bxAv110

TV Renewal News: Chuck gets 3rd season, Medium may go to CBS

- NBC has decided to renew Chuck, much to worried fans' relief. In a move similar to what FOX did with Dollhouse, NBC executives have decided to pick up only 13 episodes of the show. Still, something has to be better than nothing! [THR.com]

- In somewhat related news — fans have also been concerned about the future of Medium, another NBC show. Now it looks like the show, starring Patricia Arquette, could wind up moving to CBS. Though the show currently airs on NBC, CBS TV Studios is actually the force behind the supernatural drama. That being said, nothing is set just yet. [The Hollywood Reporter]

bxAv110 bxAv110 bxAv110

TV Renewal News: Dollhouse and Scrubs are coming back

- First things first. It may seem like the miracle of the year, especially considering the fact that its finale reportedly had the lowest rating of all its episodes — Dollhouse is coming back. We won't get an official announcement until Monday, but FOX executives have decided to bring it back for a 13-episode order so far. Now apparently, they do want to continue airing it on Friday nights... but I think it would be interesting if they put it on back to back with a show like Fringe on another night. (That's assuming Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles doesn't come back, and sadly it seems like it won't). [THR.com]

- And now it looks like Scrubs is coming back too for a ninth season, and Zach Braff will be coming back as well (for six episodes). Sarah Chalke is also slated to return for six episodes. Hm. I hate saying it, but it does feel like the Season 8 finale has been cheapened in a way. Can the show still go out on top in the future? [THR.com]

bxAv110 bxAv110 bxAv110