"Walking Dead" will be "darker, harder, faster, deeper"
(Tue, 22 May 2012 14:12:14 -0400)
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - "Completely changed characters," an "ominous, dark and gloomy" vibe and, of course, the much-awaited arrival of The Governor are a few things we can look forward to in the third season of "The Walking Dead," the show's cast and crew promise in a new production video. "There are samurai-wielding characters that are turning up," says Andrew Lincoln, the British actor who plays Southern cop Rick Grimes, the leader of the non-zombified "Walking Dead"-ers. The third season finds the survivors holing up in a prison for safety. ...

'Dog the Bounty Hunter' canceled by A&E
(Tue, 22 May 2012 13:27:34 -0400)
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - "Dog the Bounty Hunter" has been put to sleep. A&E has cancelled the reality series - which followed Duane "Dog" Chapman and his family-run bounty-hunter business - after eight seasons. No reason was given for the cancellation, but the series has generated its share of controversy and headaches for A&E. Last year, Hoang Minh Phung Nguyen - who was presented as a fugitive on the show - sued Chapman and his crew for defamation. ...

'Smash': Raza Jaffrey and Jaime Cepero not returning
(Tue, 22 May 2012 19:33:45 -0400)
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - "Smash" is going through another shakeup. Two of the series' regular cast members, Raza Jaffrey and Jaime Cepero, won't be returning for the NBC show's second season. On the Steven Spielberg-produced musical, which chronicles the backstage machinations behind a play about Marilyn Monroe, Jaffrey played Dev Sundaram, the unfaithful fiance to actress Karen Cartwright (Katharine McPhee). Jaime Cepero, meanwhile, played scheming personal assistant and aspiring show producer Ellis Boyd. ...

"Breaking Bad" to premiere on July 15
(Mon, 21 May 2012 17:12:18 -0400)
LOS ANGELES (ThwWrap.com) - "Breaking Bad" has received a season premiere date. AMC announced that the Bryan Cranston series will return for its fifth and final season on July 15 at 10 p.m. The final season will consist of 16 episodes, with the second eight episodes of the season to run in summer 2013. July 15 will also see the series premiere of the network's new reality series "Small Town Security," which will bow at 11 p.m. "Small Town Security" will focus on a small, family-owned private security company located in rural Georgia. ...

"The Office" gets two new executive producers
(Mon, 21 May 2012 17:20:51 -0400)
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - "The Office" is going to need a couple more desks. The flailing NBC comedy is getting two new executive producers in the form of Dan Sterling and Brent Forrester, who will step in for the series' upcoming ninth season, TheWrap has confirmed. Sterling's credits include "The Sarah Silverman Program" and HBO's recently launched offering "Girls." In addition to serving as a consulting producer on "The Office" since 2006, Forrester, like Sterling, worked on the Fox animated comedy "King of the Hill," which "The Office" co-creator Greg Daniels also co-created. ...

"Today" host Amy Robach moving to ABC News
(Mon, 21 May 2012 17:26:07 -0400)
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Amy Robach, the weekend co-host of NBC's "Today" show, is jumping ship to join ABC News as a national correspondent, ABC News president Ben Sherwood told employees in a note Monday morning. Robach, who has co-anchored "Weekend Today" since 2007, will be based in New York. In addition to her "Today" duties, Robach spent several years anchoring morning news programming for MSNBC. At ABC News, Robach will contribute to all broadcasts and platforms, Sherwood said. ...

"Rules of Engagement" renewed by CBS
(Mon, 21 May 2012 18:22:53 -0400)
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - The CBS sitcom "Rules of Engagement" has been picked up for a seventh season. The series, which stars Patrick Warburton and Megyn Price, averaged a solid 3.3 rating/9 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic for its most recent season. The "Rules of Engagement" renewal comes at the 11th hour, following "Two and a Half Men"'s renewal earlier this month, and the earlier renewal of 18 of CBS' series, including "How I Met Your Mother," "2 Broke Girls" and "The Big Bang Theory."

Alex Trebek Q&A: how Thomas Friedman lost "Jeopardy"
(Mon, 21 May 2012 19:21:34 -0400)
NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - Media watchers are having some laughs today over New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman's loss on "Jeopardy" last week. He came in a distant third to Anderson Cooper and NBC News' Kelly O'Donnell during the show's visit to Washington, D.C. for Power Players week. But speaking to TheWrap on Monday, Alex Trebek said the loss shouldn't cause us to doubt the intelligence of Friedman, a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner. (MSNBC's Chris Matthews also fared poorly last week, while Fox News' Chris Wallace won. ...

MTV cancels "I Just Want My Pants Back"
(Thu, 17 May 2012 17:06:31 -0400)
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - MTV has canceled its romantic dramedy series "I Just Want My Pants Back" after one season. "We're proud to have aired 'I Just Want My Pants Back,' with its impressive creative pedigree and talented group of actors," MTV said in a statement. "Many factors go in to determining renewals, however, and ultimately, we decided not to move forward with an additional season of 'Pants. ...

"Friday Night Lights" alum Plemons joins "Breaking Bad"
(Thu, 17 May 2012 15:33:44 -0400)
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - No one's what they seem to be on "Breaking Bad" - well, except maybe for the often hapless Jesse - and the show's adding another mysterious character to the mix with "Friday Night Lights" alum Jesse Plemons. The man who played beloved "FNL"-er Landry Clarke will join the fifth and final season of AMC's "Breaking Bad" as a guy named Todd, a network rep confirms to TheWrap. Todd is a nice gu... or so he appears, reports TVLine.com. There will likely be more to the "dependable, innocuous, working-class guy" than meets the eye, however. ...

Kelsey Grammer comedy, Dick Wolf drama among USA's new shows
(Thu, 17 May 2012 16:49:53 -0400)
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - USA Network announced its slate of upcoming projects Thursday, including a comedy project from Kelsey Grammer and a drama from Dick Wolf that the network is developing. Grammer, who's currently starring in the Starz drama series "Boss," will executive-produce "The DiCicco Brothers," about a dot-com entrepreneur whose brash style clashes with the politically correct environment of Silicon Valley. The story comes from Chirs Cannistraci and Ed Cannistraci, while the latter wrote the teleplay. ...

CBS's Moonves on Dish's Auto Hop: "it's illegal"
(Thu, 17 May 2012 15:34:11 -0400)
NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) - CBS CEO Leslie Moonves told TheWrap Thursday that he believes Dish's new Auto Hop feature, which allows viewers to skip commercials when they watch previously aired shows, is illegal. "They can't put our content on without commercials," he said in a brief interview at the CW's upfront presentation to advertisers. "They just can't do it. It's illegal." Asked if the situation could lead to a lawsuit, he responded, "I don't know. I hope it doesn't come to that, but you never know. ...