CBS' 'Case' and 'Trace' in Limbo

PopEater

posted: 106 DAYS AGO

comments: 116

filed under: TV News

Text SizeAAA

Some of your favorite CBS shows may sadly be in their final season, depending on whether or not they get picked up again.

The broadcast networks will have their "upfront" presentations next month, looking to sell their shows to advertisers, and depending on the buzz and money behind them, the upfronts can be the breaking point for a show. Such is the case for a batch of popular CBS shows that haven't been renewed yet, including: "Without a Trace," "Cold Case," "Numbers" and "The Unit" -- along with freshman drama "Eleventh Hour."

Skip over this content

Not all shows that haven't been renewed yet are injeopardy: For such series as CBS' "How I Met Your Mother,"which traditionally gets picked up at the last minute, andABC's "Ugly Betty," the orders are just a formality.

But that can't be said for a dozen or so other seriesanxiously awaiting their fate.

For all of them -- especially the two oldest, "Trace" and"Case" -- the decision is tied to the shows' economics, as thenetwork pays most or all of the production costs at thispoint.

The odds for "Trace" and "Case" are considered 50/50 rightnow, with one of the two expected to come back.

"Numbers" looks good to return for a sixth season, as doesits Friday-night companion, "Ghost Whisperer," which wouldenter its fifth cycle.

The prospects for "Eleventh Hour," meanwhile, do not lookgood. The military drama "Unit" also had been consideredunlikely to come back, but in a hopeful sign, executiveproducer Shawn Ryan has been asked by the network to presentideas for a fifth season.

Of Fox's two bubble series, "Terminator: The Sarah ConnorChronicles" and "Dollhouse," sophomore "Terminator" isconsidered all but gone, while freshman "Dollhouse's" chancesare 50/50.

Along with Fox's sci-fi duo, the most discussed bubble showonline is NBC's "Chuck," which finally showed a ratings uptickthis past week but is still performing marginally despite astrong fan base. The dramedy's chances also have been hurt bythe promising start of NBC's police drama "Southland," as thenetwork will have only few hourlong slots in the fall when JayLeno takes over the 10 p.m. hour every night.

Skip over this content

Another NBC Monday series, the modestly rated but reliableprocedural "Medium," is said to have slightly better odds toreturn than "Chuck," while the quirky cop drama "Life" isexpected to join "Kath & Kim" on cancellation row.

Meanwhile, the original "Law & Order" series is expected toreturn for a record-tying 20th season, matching the run of"Gunsmoke," though its order will probably not be for a full22-episode season.

Neither of ABC's midseason entries have broken through, butwhile "Cupid" has been pretty much written off, the comedy"Better Off Ted" and the dramas "The Unusuals" and "Castle" arestill in consideration as ABC brass is said to be happy withthe them creatively.

"Unusuals" has a major test this week: To boost itschances, the network has scheduled a second original episode ofthe show after the "Dancing With the Stars" results show inaddition to its already prominent regular airing after "Lost."

Over at the CW, "Reaper" is gone, while the prospects for"Privileged" have improved, and the show is now considered fora possible midseason order.

(Editing by Dean Gooodman at Reuters)

(please visit our entertainment blog via www.reuters.com or onhttp://blogs.reuters.com/fanfare/)

2009-04-20 06:54:23

PRINT|E-MAIL TWITTER FACEBOOK DIGG AIM MORE