'The Vampire Diaries' returning for a second season.

The CW has announced five series from its 2009/2010 line up will return for 2010/2011. ‘The Vampire Diaries,’ ‘America’s Next Top Model,’ ‘Supernatural,’ ‘Gossip Girl’ and ‘90210′ will all return in fall 2010 as The CW attempts to settle on their 2010/2011 line up ahead of the May upfronts.

The renewal of ‘The Vampire Diaries’ and ‘America’s Next Top Model’ comes as no surprise despite the latter fading quickly. ‘Gossip Girl’ and ‘90210,’ Dawn’s babies, were sure bets because of president – Dawn Ostroff’s continual public praise but ‘Supernatural’ was a surprise. There have been a number of reports that the writers and producers wanted this season, the fifth to be its last, so Dawn must’ve done a good job in convincing the writers and producers for another season.

Absent from the list is veterans, ‘One Tree Hill’ and ‘Smallville’ and freshman dramas ‘Melrose Place’ and ‘Life Unexpected.’ ‘One Tree Hill’ remains on the bubble but ‘Smallville’s’ prospects are in the hands of its star Tom Welling. There have been reports Tom Welling has been auditioning for other projects and if he is successful and wants to start afresh, he might jump ship. However, the chances of him remaining as Clark Kent is relatively strong. With this news, the axe is getting sharper for low-rated drama ‘Melrose Place.’ As for ‘Life Unexpected,’ its still too early to determine the prospects as only five episodes have aired. Its prospects will most likely depend on The CW’s pilot projects.

THE CW CONTINUES TO SCORE BIG IN LIVE+7

VAMPIRE DIARIES, SMALLVILLE, TOP MODEL Each Add 1 Million or More Viewers Once All DVR Playback is Factored In

December 2, 2009 (Burbank, CA) – The CW Network again led all networks in primetime gains from all DVR playback for the week ending Nov. 15, 2009, according to Nielsen Live+7 day vs. Live-Only viewing.  The CW’s biggest increases came in its young target demos of women 18-34 (53%, 2.36rtg v. 1.54rtg) and adults 18-34 (53%, 1.68rtg v. 1.1rtg), followed by adults 18-49 (51%, 1.39rtg v. 0.92rtg) and women 18-49 (50%, 1.85rtg v. 1.23rtg).

Monday tandem of GOSSIP GIRL and ONE TREE HILL continues to deliver big DVR gains, with GG up 57% in women 18-34 (3.84rtg v. 2.44rtg), 59% in adults 18-34 (2.38rtg v. 1.5rtg) and 53% in women 18-49 (2.57rtg v. 1.68rtg); while OTH grew 43% in women 18-34 (3.02rtg v. 2.11rtg), 45% in adults 18-34 (1.91rtg v. 1.32rtg) and 41% in women 18-49 (2.15rtg v. 1.53rtg).

On Tuesday, 90210’s ratings improved 64% in women 18-34 (3.14rtg v. 1.91rtg), 66% in adults 18-34 (2.02rtg v. 1.22rtg) and 74% in women 18-49 (2.16rtg v. 1.24rtg), and MELROSE PLACE improved 80% in women 18-34 (1.69rtg v. 0.94rtg), 70% in adults 18-34 (1.19rtg v. 0.7rtg) and 70% in women 18-49 (1.19rtg v. 0.7rtg).

The penultimate episode of this cycle’s TOP MODEL’s ratings improved by 63% in women 18-34 (3.39rtg v. 2.08rtg), 59% in adults 18-34 (2.05rtg v. 1.29rtg) and 56% in women 18-49 (2.9rtg v. 1.86rtg).

Freshman smash THE VAMPIRE DIARIES only gets bigger once all DVR playback is included, gaining 57% in women 18-34 (3.82rtg v. 2.43rtg), 51% in adults 18-34 (2.68rtg v. 1.77rtg) and 57% in women 18-49 (3.09tg v. 1.97rtg).  SUPERNATURAL improved 40% in women 18-34 (1.85rtg v. 1.32rtg), 47% in adults 18-34 (1.78rtg v. 1.21rtg) and 41% in women 18-49 (1.71rtg v. 1.21rtg).

Friday’s SMALLVILLE remains in heavy DVR demand, as its Live+7 ratings rose above its live viewing by 82% in adults 18-34 (1.69rtg v. 0.93rtg) and 80% in adults 18-49 (1.62rtg v. 0.9rtg).

Several The CW shows added about a million more viewers once all DVR playback was factored in, with VAMPIRE DIARIES adding nearly 1.6million more viewers (4.89mil v. 3.32mil), SMALLVILLE gained nearly 1.3 million additional viewers (3.47mil v. 2.2mil) and TOP MODEL improved by an even 1 million viewers from DVR playback (3.66mil v. 2.66mil).

Mitch Ryan

Australian actor Mitch Ryan is joining the cast if The CW’s ‘One Tree Hill’ in a recurring role.

Ryan, who guest appeared on Seven’s ‘City Homicide’, will play Alexander, a handsome pro surfer-turned-young mogul in the show’s seventh season, currently airing in the US.

Ryan next appearance will be in the HBO/Seven’s upcoming multimillion dollar miniseries ‘The Pacific’, from executive producers Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg.

‘One Tree Hill’ airs 3pm Saturdays on Network Ten.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Sophia Bush

Entertainment Weekly is reporting a couple of CW pick ups this morning.

The network have picked up ‘One Tree Hill’ for a full season, bringing to season total to 22 episodes. The show has been one of the networks strongest performers this season, topping ‘Gossip Girl’ this past week with 2.5 million viewers.

Meanwhile, the network have also ordered nine additional scripts for ‘The Vampire Diaries’, which scored the highest series premiere for The CW with 4.9 million viewers. Curiously, they haven’t picked it up for a full season just yet.

Finally, six more scripts were ordered for ‘Melrose Place’, which has struggled to find an audience this season. The network hopes the ratings will see a turn around once Heather Locklear arrives on November 17.

Source: Entertainment Weekly

This seventh season of ‘One Tree Hill’ introduces three new cast members with the departure of series regulars Chad Michael Murray and Hilarie Burton. Newcomers are Robert Buckley, Shantel VanSanten and Jana Kramer.

Buckley plays Clayton, Nathan’s agent and friend; VanSanten plays Haley’s sister Quinn James; and Kramer plays the Alexis, a model for Brooke fashion line, “Clothes Over Bros”.

Also returning as a series regulars are Lisa Goldstein and Austin Nichols, both had recurring roles during the sixth season.

Danneel Harris who appeared as Rachel Gatina in earlier seasons will also be returning in a recurring role, beginning with the second episode of the seventh season.

Source: Wikipedia

'The Vampire Diaries' coming soon to The CW and GO!

The season will kick-off with The CW’s sophomore drama ‘90210’. You might remember that ‘90210’ premiered to The CW’s biggest numbers in history (4.65M, A18-49: 2.6/7) but those viewers abandoned it in droves with the finale only mustering a little more than half that audience (2.49M, A18-49: 1.3/3). This is a make or break season for the remake and if it continues to shed viewers it will not only damage The CW’s brand but will have a detrimental effect on the heavily promoted freshman drama ‘Melrose Place’ 2.0. The CW is pinning their hopes on ‘Melrose Place’ and their other fall freshman ‘The Vampire Diaries’, which was inexplicably added to their Thursday line-up at the expense of The CW’s highest rating drama ‘Smallville,’ which has now been bumped to Fridays. If both ‘Melrose’ and ‘Vampire’ fail, it may well be the final year for the struggling network as CBS and WB cannot continue to run a network at a loss in this sort of climate. Elsewhere, Tuesdays will be a little dull with procedurals occupying CBS and reality on ABC, NBC and Fox. However, recently the alphabet made a late change noticing a chance to pounce in that timeslot, by pushing mid season sci-fi drama ‘V’ forward for a November 3 start.

The following night sees the fall premiere of summer reality show, ‘So You Think You Can Dance.’  Fox’s decision to air a second cycle of ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ was quite bizarre, the show captures a solid but not spectacular audience during the summer and who’s to say airing it twice a year won’t damage the franchise? Fall has always been the achilles heel for the News Corp. Network and no doubt ‘Dance’ will improve on past year offerings, but will viewers return for future seasons? The decision to move ‘Dance’ to fall was to provide some lead-in support for freshman drama ‘Glee,’ which squandered its ‘Idol’ lead in when Fox aired a sample episode behind one of Idol’s final 2009 episodes, in the ended it averaged only 9.62M, A18-49: 4.4/11.

The aforementioned ‘The Vampire Diaries’ has its series premiere on Thursday, September 10 and it will be partnered with The CW’s other sci-fi drama ‘Supernatural’. The CW greenlighting ‘Diaries’ was no surprise as they wanted to capitalise on the ‘Twilight’ and ‘True Blood’ hype. Even though ‘Diaries’ has generated a lot of negative press, initial sampling will be large but the million dollar question is how long will the audience give it? The following Thursday sees the return of JJ Abram’s latest demo hit ‘Fringe’. ‘Fringe’ will have its work cut out going up against heavyweights, ‘CSI’ and ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ which both return on September 24. ‘Fringe’s’ departure from a solid lead in indicates the confidence Fox has in the sophomore drama, however in comparison to Abram’s previous projects, ‘Fringe’ focuses less on mythology and more on individual episodes which should make it easier to follow but less intriguing to the dedicated fans. Another huge Thursday development is the movement of last year’s freshman hit ‘The Mentalist’ to 10/9c following CSI. CBS is grooming it as the next CSI, which I might add has lost a lot of steam since the departure of William Petersen, however the timeslot is somewhat of a bogey one for CBS as nothing has remained there for more than one year.

Thursdays also see the return of ‘Survivor’ for its 19th season, the 6th season of the Office, the 2nd season of ‘Parks and Recreation’ and the debut of critical darling ‘Community’ which all premiere on September 17. For those waiting for ’30 Rock’ it returns on October 15. The biggest premiere to Thursdays is ‘Flash Forward’, which is being promoted by ABC as the new ‘Lost.’  ‘Flash Forward’ looks to be the biggest show to come out of the states since ‘Lost’ and ‘Desperate Housewives’ and it comes with a lot of buzz. Just recently, the directors noted, they will need at least three seasons to complete the arc they have planned. In a nutshell, ‘Flash Forward’ follows the life of an FBI agent who investigates the reason for a mysterious event, which sees everyone blackout for two minutes and seventeen seconds, travelling six months into the future.

The following two Mondays see the return of ‘WTF’ (No, not What The Beep, but Watch This Fall) drama ‘Gossip Girl’ and veteran ‘One Tree Hill’. This fall, Dawn has decided to do a switcheroo with the two, moving her baby ‘Gossip’ to a higher household viewing time and avoiding direction competition with ‘House’. The aforementioned ‘House’ and the trouble ridden ‘Heroes’ both return with two hour premieres on September 21. It has been quite a steep fall for ‘Heroes’, if Kring can’t stop the bleeding, this might be the end of the one season wonder. The following Monday sees NBC launch their new high-octane medical drama ‘Trauma,’ a number of photos/clips for this show have being doing the rounds on the internet, so expect a large initial sampling. ‘Lie to Me’ will occupate the post ‘House’ slot as Fox tries to groom this as a replacement for ‘House’. Over at CBS, ‘How I Met Your Mother’ has been moved to 8/7c providing some lead in support for the dead on arrival ‘Accidently on Purpose’. ‘Two and a Half Men’ remains, but ‘The Big Bang Theory’ moves to the post ‘Men’ slot. ‘Bang’ was trialled in the slot late last year or early this year and maintained close to 100% retention, so look for ‘Bang’ to reach series highs again.

Wednesdays will be interesting for a number of reasons, ABC has a completely new line up with critical darlings ‘Modern Family’ and ‘Cougar Town’ occupying the key 9/8c and 9:30/8:30c timeslots. ‘Cougar Town’ follows Jules (Courtney Cox), a recently divorced single mother exploring honest truths about dating and aging in our beauty and youth obsessed culture, while ‘Modern Family’ explores the complications that come with being in a family in this day and age. The entrees ‘Hank’ and ‘The Middle’ debut the following week. ‘Eastwick’ a cross between ‘Valentine’ and ‘Sex and the City’ also debuts in the same week as ‘Modern Family’ and ‘Cougar Town’, but things don’t look good for the romantic drama.

The landscape for Fridays has completely changed; networks are finally getting aggressive with their programming. There is less reality from the other three networks which might finally give CBS’ combo of Ghost Whisperer, Cold Case and Numb3rs some headaches. Fox kicks off with a comedy hour with waiting to be cancelled ‘’Til Death’ and ‘Brothers’ followed by the ever improving and surprise renewal ‘Dollhouse’ which all premiere on September 25. The CW veteran ‘Smallville’ has been yanked to Thursdays along with the ever fading ‘Ugly Betty’.

Nothing much has changed on Sundays, with ABC’s ‘Desperate Housewives’ and ‘Brothers and Sisters’ starting on September 27. Fox has shuffled their line up knocking out the every reliable – ‘King of the Hill’, for Seth McFarland’s new, albeit belated project ‘The Cleveland Show’. ‘The Simpsons’, ‘Family Guy’ and ‘American Dad’ all return for their 21st, 8th and 5th season respectively. ‘The Cleveland Show’s’ pilot has been leaked for a while and it doesn’t look too different to ‘Family Guy’ or ‘American Dad’.

Finally, the biggest news this fall is Jay Leno moving to primetime, which begins daily from September 14, 10/9c. All eyes will be on the ratings for ‘The Jay Leno Show,’ but NBC isn’t expecting much, as long as it remains profitable, NBC will be satisfied. Jay Leno recently said he doesn’t expect his show to beat first run CSI, but hopes to push CSI repeats to the limit. The format of the show is: Leno will begin with a 10 second opening sequence which leads into a monologue. He will have at least one special guest a night and music will come from multiple acts. Jaywalking and newspaper headlines will be held until the end of the show to give News affiliates a strong lead in. Leno also gave us a snippet of the ‘Green Car Challenge’ where you can see, as Leno puts it, “who is faster, Shaquille O’Neal or Cameron Diaz.” There will be pre-recorded segments from D.L Hughley and Rachel Harris.As always, this is will be an interesting fall, with networks trying something different.

I hope everyone enjoys the fall TV season and wish for everyone’s favourite TV show to survive.

Premiere Dates

• ‘90210’ 2nd Season Premiere September 8
• ‘Melrose Place’ Series Premiere September 8
• ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ Fall Premiere September 9
• ‘Glee’ Series Premiere September 9
• ‘The Vampire Diaries’ Series Premiere September 10
• ‘Supernatural’ 5th Season Premiere September 10
• ‘One Tree Hill’ 7th Season Premiere September 14
• ‘Gossip Girl’ 3rd Season Premiere September 14
• ‘The Jay Leno Show’ Series Premiere September 14
• ‘The Beautiful Life’ Series Premiere September 16
• ‘Bones’ 5th Season Premiere September 17
• ‘Survivor’ 19th Season Premiere September 17
• ‘Parks and Recreation’ 2nd Season Premiere September 17
• ‘Fringe’ 2nd Season Premiere September 17
• ‘The Office’ 6th Season Premiere September 17
• ‘Community’ Series Premiere September 17
• ‘Heroes’ 4th Season Premiere September 21
• ‘House’ 6th Season Premiere September 21
• ‘How I Met Your Mother’ 5th Season Premiere September 21
• ‘Accidently on Purpose’ Series Premiere September 21
• ‘Two and a Half Men’ 7th Season Premiere September 21
• ‘The Big Bang Theory’ 3rd Season Premiere September 21
• ‘Castle’ 2nd Season Premiere September 21
• ‘CSI: Miami’ 8th Season Premiere September 21
• ‘NCIS’ 7th Season Premiere September 22
• ‘The Goode Wife’ Series Premiere September 22
• ‘The Forgotten Series’ Premiere September 22
• ‘Mercy’ Series Premiere September 23
• ‘Criminal Minds’ 5th Season Premiere September 23
• ‘Modern Family’ Series Premiere September 23
• ‘Cougar Town’ Series Premiere September 23
• ‘Eastwick’ Series Premiere September 23
• ‘Flash Forward’ Series Premiere September 24
• ‘The Mentalist’ 2nd Season Premiere September 24
• ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ 6th Season Premiere September 24
• ‘Brothers’ Series Premiere September 25
• ‘Smallville’ 9th Season Premiere September 25
• ‘Dollhouse’ 2nd Season Premiere September 25
• ‘The Amazing Race’ 15th Season Premiere September 27
• ‘The Simpsons’ 21st Season Premiere September 27
• ‘The Cleveland Show’ Series Premiere September 27
• ‘Desperate Housewives’ 6th Season Premiere September 27
• ‘Brothers and Sisters’ 4th Season Premiere September 27
• ‘Family Guy’ 8th Season Premiere September 27
• ‘American Dad’ 5th Season Premiere September 27
• ‘Lie to Me’ 2nd Season Premiere September 28
• ‘Trauma’ Series Premiere September 28
• ‘Hank’ Series Premiere September 30
• ‘The Middle’ Series Premiere September 30
• ‘Private Practice’ 3rd Season Premiere October 1
• ‘Ugly Betty’ 4th Season Premiere October 9
• ‘30 Rock’ 4th Season Premiere October 15
• ‘V’ Series Premiere November 3
• Cable Premiere Dates
• ‘Dexter’ 4th Season Premiere September 27
• ‘Californication’ 3rd Season Premiere September 27
• ‘Stargate Universe’ Series Premiere October 2
• ‘Sanctuary’ 2nd Season Premiere October 9

Robert Buckley joins the cast of 'One Tree Hill' next season.

‘One Tree Hill’, which famously jumped forward at the beginning of season five, could be headed for another time jump at the beginning of next season.

With the departure of two if it’s lead actors Chad Michael Murray and Hilarie Burton, sources say that the show will pick up one year later.

Also, joining the show next season is ‘Lipstick Jungle’ and ‘Privileged’ actor Robert Buckley, who replaces the rumoured casting of Brian Austin Green.

‘One Tree Hill’ returns in September on The CW.

Source: Entertainment Weekly

'Gossip Girl' The Complete Second Season out August 18 in North America.

‘Gossip Girl’ The Complete Second Season

The 7-disc set contains all 25 episodes from the show’s second season and will hit shelves August 18 in North America. Bonus features include:

• 5th Ave. Meets ‘Gossip Girl’: Click icons on a graphic map and tour the ‘Gossip Girl’ crowd’s favorite haunts
• Faces Behind the Design: Creative forces behind the show’s art and fashion
• ‘Chasing Dorota’ Webisodes
• Gag Reel
• Downloadable audiobook of the bestselling novel “Gossip Girl: You Know You Love Me” by Cecily von Ziegesar, read by Christina Ricci
• Unaired Scenes

'One Tree Hill' The Complete Sixth Season out August 25 in North America.

‘One Tree Hill’ The Complete Sixth Season

The 7-disc set contains all 24 episodes from the show’s sixth season and will hit shelves August 25 in North America. Bonus features include:

• Unaired Scenes
• ‘One Tree Hill’ Goes Back in Time: Recreating the 1940s in episode 11, We Three (My Echo, My Shadow and Me).
• Slammin’ with One Tree Hill: Playing the new sport of SlamBall, a cross between basketball, hockey and gymnastics.
• ‘One Tree Hill’ Celebrity Soundtrack: Guest musical artists discuss their contributions in this look at the role of music in the series with a spotlight on episode 10’s USO concert.
• ‘One Tree Hill’ – The Director’s Debut: Following first-time helmers Chad Michael Murray, Bethany Joy Galeotti and James Lafferty through the process of directing their first episodes.
• Commentary on two episodes by series creator Mark Schwahn and key cast and crew.
• Gag Reel

Source: TV Shows On DVD

Gossip Girl

Returning for its third season, GOSSIP GIRL is a one-hour drama based on an exclusive group of privileged teens on Manhattan’s Upper East Side whose lives revolve around the blog of the all-knowing albeit ultra-secretive Gossip Girl. No one knows Gossip Girl’s identity, but everyone in this exclusive and complicated vicious circle relies on her website and text messages for the latest scoop. The series stars Blake Lively as Serena van der Woodsen, Leighton Meester as Blair Waldorf, Penn Badgley as Dan Humphrey, Chace Crawford as Nate Archibald, Taylor Momsen as Jenny Humphrey, Ed Westwick as Chuck Bass, Jessica Szohr as Vanessa Abrams, Kelly Rutherford as Lily van der Woodsen and Matthew Settle as Rufus Humphrey. Filmed in New York and based on the popular series of young-adult novels by Cecily von Ziegesar, GOSSIP GIRL is from Alloy Entertainment in association with Warner Bros. Television and CBS Television Studios with executive producers Josh Schwartz (“Chuck,” “The O.C.”), Stephanie Savage (“The O.C.”), Bob Levy (“Privileged”), Leslie Morgenstein (“Privileged”), John Stephens (“Gilmore Girls,” “The O.C.”), and co-executive producer Joshua Safran.

One Tree Hill

In season seven of ONE TREE HILL our beloved characters learn the struggle to live an exceptional life doesn’t end once you’ve achieved your dreams. Whether they found true love, answered a call to greatness, or sought redemption for sins of the past, nothing that’s come before compares to the challenges our characters now face to keep their dreams alive, their friendships intact and their lives full in the place they call home. ONE TREE HILL was created by Mark Schwahn and is executive produced by Schwahn, Joe Davola, Greg Prange, Mike Tollin and Brian Robbins. ONE TREE HILL is a Mastermind Laboratories and Tollin/Robbins Production in association with Warner Bros. Television.

90210

The second season of “90210″ focuses on the West Beverly group as they begin their all-important Junior year. They’ll go through all the ordinary teenage struggles and triumphs crushes, sexual discovery, academic pressure, evolving friendships, shunning and isolation, love and relationships, family issues, SATs, STDs, a desire to fit in, a desire to stand out, fear and humiliation, joy and exultation but they’ll do so in the extraordinary world of LA a world of movie stars and overnight success, glamour and glitz, surfing and sunshine; a city where the American dream is writ large in the Hills and yet failure could come around any corner of the Boulevard of Broken Dreams. We’ll follow Naomi, the well-meaning, but delightfully narcissistic rich girl with a heart of cubic zirconium; Adrianna, the gifted, artistic drama queen whose personal life is as dramatic as any role she could hope to play; Silver, the outspoken free spirit who marches to the beat of her own drum machine; Annie, the good girl from Kansas who has gotten a bit lost in the land of Oz; Dixon, her charming, good-natured brother who adapts easily to any challenging situation and yet is still struggling to find his own voice; Navid, whose geeky charm makes all the Blaze girls swoon; and Liam, the troubled New York transplant who abhors the decadent materialistic world of Beverly Hills. These stories could only happen in LA…and only on “90210.” The series stars Rob Estes as Harry Wilson, Lori Loughlin as Debbie Wilson, Shenae Grimes as Annie Wilson, Tristan Wilds as Dixon Wilson, AnnaLynne McCord as Naomi Clark, Ryan Eggold as Ryan Matthews, Jessica Stroup as Silver, Michael Steger as Navid Shirazi, Jessica Lowndes as Adrianna Tate-Duncan and Matt Lanter as Liam Court. 90210 is produced by CBS Television Studios with executive producer Rebecca Sinclair.

America’s Next Top Model

Returning with its thirteenth and fourteenth cycles, the runaway runway hit series stars Tyra Banks. The show gives real people an opportunity to prove that they can make it in the high-stress, high-stakes world of supermodeling. With mentoring by Tyra Banks and exposure to high-profile fashion-industry gurus, young women of various backgrounds, shapes and sizes must endure a highly accelerated modeling boot camp and face weekly tests to determine who will make the cut as they vie for a professional modeling contract. The executive producers are Ken Mok (“Making the Band”), Tyra Banks and Daniel Soiseth (“Hell’s Kitchen”). The reality series was created by Tyra Banks and developed by Mok and Kenya Barris. AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL is produced by 10 by 10 Entertainment in association with Bankable Productions.

Supernatural

Returning for its fifth season, this haunting series follows Sam and Dean Winchester, two brothers bound by tragedy and blood to their dangerous, other-worldly mission. This past season, Dean was rescued from Hell by the angel Castiel, who told Dean he was meant to avert the impending Apocalypse, as well as Lucifer rising from Hell. As the brothers were caught up in the epic battle between angels and demons, Sam and Dean found their relationship was strained almost to the breaking point until ultimately, both brothers were betrayed. Now, in season five, they must battle the Devil himself. The series stars Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester, Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester and Misha Collins as Castiel). SUPERNATURAL is from Warner Bros. Television in association with Wonderland Sound and Vision, with executive producers McG (“Charlie’s Angels,” “The O.C.”), Eric Kripke (“Boogeyman”) and Robert Singer (“Midnight Caller”).

Smallville

Returning for its ninth season, last season SMALLVILLE was filled with twists and surprises, starting with the disappearance of Lex Luthor. However, someone quickly arrived to take his place the enticing Tess Mercer. As Tess maneuvered her way through town, she flirted with her old flame Oliver Queen, discovered Clark’s true identity and unleashed a new world of danger. As if that hurdle wasn’t enough for Clark, he also met his greatest match Doomsday. SMALLVILLE explored the origins of Doomsday, revealing a sympathetic guy named Davis Bloome, who battled an inner demon the Doomsday character fans have loved to hate for years. When Clark wasn’t busy battling the beast, he was knee-deep in work at the Daily Planet. Last season threw Clark and Lois Lane together literally across the desk from each other. As Clark’s persona as the cub Planet reporter emerged, so did his feelings for Lois, the fated love of his life. The series stars Tom Welling as Clark Kent, Allison Mack as Chloe Sullivan, Erica Durance as Lois Lane, Justin Hartley as Oliver Queen and Cassidy Freeman as Tess Mercer. Reinterpreting the Superman mythology from its roots, SMALLVILLE was developed for television by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar (“Shanghai Noon,” “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”), based on the DC Comics characters. Copy/pasted from Futon Critic Kelly Souders & Brian Peterson serve as executive producers, along with James Marshall, Mike Tollin, Brian Robbins and Joe Davola. The series is produced by Tollin/Robbins Productions and Warner Bros. Television. SUPERMAN was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.

“The Way the World Looks” definitely seems like an apt title for Mr. Carr’s debut album as our ‘Australian Idol’; with his career and fame skyrocketing higher and higher each day, life must seem like quite a blessing though this muso’s eyes.

From the first beat, you know the kind of album you’re in for.

It kicks off with a bang with “Any Other Way”, which features the same bouncy British sensibilities of  The Fratellis.

Wes’ catchy no. 2 single “Feels Like Woah” (which is now the 2009 NRL anthem) bridges us to the fist pumping ”Fearless”, which feels like a promo track for Network Ten’s ‘The Biggest Loser’. I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw commercials for the next season running with this track.

Other notable tracks from the album are “When We Were Kings”, a strong anthemic rock tune which progressively builds to a grand chorus, and the similarly bold ”Stay Awake”, which is reminiscent of Gavin Degraw’s 2003-04 hit single ”I Don’t Want To Be” (which went on to become the ‘One Tree Hill’ theme song).

The tone shifts for “Hurricanes”, which feels like a Jack Johnson inspired reggae tune. Wes’ states on his website that he wrote the song while trying to escape a hurricane in Fiji at the beginning of the year.

We’re treated to equally different tones in the softer, Aqualung-esque, piano driven ”Light Years”, the chilled out “Love Is an Animal” and the musing tracks “East Coast” and “The Way the World Looks”.

It’s hard to pick key highlights from the album, with all the tracks bringing something new and unique to the ears. I gather it’ll be a difficult decision to choose the next single from the album, as it’s filled with a plethora of iconic and addictive tracks.

It’s definitely one of the most well rounded debut albums we’ve seen from an ‘Idol’ winner so far, but perhaps that’s more due to the fact that Mr. Carr was already such a well defined artist before landing on ‘Idol’.

From Wes’ humble beginnings at the Robin Hood Hotel in Waverley, to centre stage at the Sydney Opera House forecourt last September; it must’ve been quite an adventure for the Bondi local and “The Way the World Looks” is a testament to his achievements.

The future only looks bright for this accomplished artist.

“The Way the World Looks” is available in stores now and online from iTunes.

Has the ‘Gossip Girl’ spin-off cast the father of Serena van der Woodsen?

‘One Tree Hill’ psycho Matt Barr has been cast in the CW’s spinoff as Keith van der Woodsen, a rich and handsome Malibu prince who is the love interest to Lily Rhodes (Brittany Snow).

While producers of the ‘Gossip’ project didn’t release any more information about the Keith character, it seems fairly plausible that he would be Lily’s future husband (Lily’s married name is Lily van der Woodsen) and father of Serena van der Woodsen.

The backdoor pilot will be produced by Warner Bros. TV and Alloy Entertainment for the The CW, and will air as an episode of ‘Gossip Girl’ later this season.

Clockwise: Tom Welling, Leighton Meester, Jensen Ackles and Anna Lynne McCord.

Smallville, Supernatural, Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill and 90210 have all received early renewals for next season by The CW. America’s Next Top Model has also been given two additional cycles.

“As we continue to build The CW Network as a destination for young women, these six shows have clearly contributed to strengthening our schedule and our brand identity,” CW boss Dawn Ostroff said in a statement.

“By securing these signature hits for next season, we’re furthering our commitment to deliver high-quality, original programming to our viewers, advertisers and affiliates.”

The renewals of Gossip Girl and America’s Next Top Model were pretty much in the bag from day one, however the futures of Smallville, Supernatural, One Tree Hill, and 90210 were less certain.

According to Entertainment Weekly’s Michael Ausiello, Smallville and One Tree Hill we’re both riding on which core cast-members would be returning.

“Smallville’s renewal clearly signals that Tom Welling has successfully concluded his contract negotiations with producer Warner Bros., but the same can’t be said for One Tree Hill leading man Chad Michael Murray. The actor-writer’s participation next season is TBD, although insiders say he’s expected to return in some capacity.”

One show which seems to be missing from the pack is Privileged. What’s the deal CW? Doesn’t this freshman dramedy fit your teen-skewed mould? Let’s hope it gets a renewal sooner than later.

In other CW news, the net have also green-lit pilots for a Gossip Girl spin off and a reboot of Melrose Place.

Some of you might know how much I despise The CW and this dark side is back again. The CW has been quite good during the fall with two brilliant freshman shows in 90210 and Privileged but again they have let me down. Their top rating freshman drama of last year and my favourite show to come out of the 2007-2008 fall season Reaper has been treated like sh*t again! Dawn Ostroff what are you smoking? Here’s some evidence:

• Reaper was on the bubble until the final minute but Gossip Girl which had a lower season average was renewed earlier in its run.
• When I heard Reaper was not returning this fall, instead held back until mid-season and now pushed back even further, starting March 17th is absolutely absurd.
• Only a thirteen episode order! The CW you really know how to kill shows.

To further illustrate my point, The CW is down nearly 14% in the key 18-49 demo. Ok, ok, they might be up 11% in their target demo women 18-34, miniscule in the wider scheme of things, but this drop in the key demo will never be compensated by this small gain in their target demo.

Couple this with the way they have treated their top rating dramas like Supernatural and Smallville, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure they are struggling financially. Yes, they have made it clear their target demo is women 18-34, but surely from the numbers Supernatural and Smallville have managed this season, they can and should widen their target audience. I don’t know if anyone has seen the pdf – What a spot costs? But it is well worth a look. Even though both Supernatural and Smallville are The CW’s top rating shows outside of America’s Next Top Model, its timeslot is worth less than lower rating shows Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill and on par with The CW’s struggling Friday comedies. The executives at The CW need to wake up to themselves and swing the axe on Dawn not their quality shows. Recently, Dawn talked about the importance of flow which totally contradicts her scheduling of Reaper proceeding 90210. Oh Dawn you frustrate me!

As for Reaper, The CW should’ve given it a full season order and premiered season two in January!

Full schedule below:

Monday
8-9 p.m. Gossip Girl (New episodes begin January 5)
9-10 p.m. One Tree Hill (New episodes begin January 5)

Tuesday
8-9 p.m. 90210 (New episodes begin January 6)
9-10 p.m. Privileged (New episodes begin January 6)

Wednesday
8-9 p.m. 13 – Fear is Real (Series premiere January 7)
9-10 p.m. 90210 (Encore Episodes Begin January 7)

Thursday
8-9 p.m. Smallville (New episodes begin January 15)
9-10 p.m. Supernatural (New episodes begin January 15)

Friday
8-8:30 p.m. Everybody Hates Chris (New episodes begin January 9)
8:30-9 p.m. The Game (New episodes begin January 9)
9-10 p.m. 13 – Fear is Real (Encore episodes begin January 9)

Tuesday (Beginning March 17)
8-9 p.m. 90210
9-10 p.m. Reaper

What an interesting fall it has been, with a number of good performances from The Mentalist, Smallville, Supernatural and Gossip Girl to name a few and many casualties in My Own Worst Enemy, Dirty Sexy Money, Eli Stone, Pushing Daisies, Do Not Disturb, Lipstick Jungle, The Ex-List, Easy Money, Valentine, In Harm’s Way and Til Death. Here is how I rate each show.

Winners

The Simpsons: Back for its 20th season, The Simpsons has been Fox’s Sunday night stable mate pulling in an average of ~9M viewers this season. Couple this with the highest rating Treehouse of Horror episode in five years. Simpsons is definitely a winner for Fox even though the jokes seem to be recycled over and over again.

Family Guy: Has not dropped out of the weekly top 10 in the 18-49 bracket and dominates the 18-34 demo against the likes of Desperate Housewives and NFL. Has a number of years left in it.

Desperate Housewives: Now into its fifth season, the housewives seem to never age. Viewership has diminished due to a lacklustre third season (?), nevertheless it is Sunday’s night top scripted drama in total viewers and 18-49 demo.

Chuck: Against some tough opposition, Chuck managed to remain around the 6.5M mark and over the 2 rating in key demos in the fall.

Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother: Continually defies the critics, occasionally winning the timeslot in the key demos and has slowly built an audience over the fall season.

Two and a Half Men: Veteran CBS comedy which defies logic and reaps in excess of 14M viewers every week.

CSI: Miami and CSI: NY: The two spin-offs constantly pull in the masses and in Miami’s case building on its lead in.

Gossip Girl: Season 2 has been somewhat of a break through season for the teen drama, hitting series high numbers and providing a suitable and beneficial lead in for One Tree Hill.

One Tree Hill: After falling below the 3M mark during its 3rd, 4th and 5th seasons, One Tree Hill has bounced back nicely, regularly rating in the mid to low 3M range.

House: The move to 8/7c hasn’t helped its numbers, but it is taking one for the team as Fox continue to develop Fringe. Still pulls in massive demos for the news corp. network.

The Mentalist and NCIS: Against the House and Dancing juggernauts these two dramas have performed admirably, especially The Mentalist which does particularly well for the eye in the demos.

90210: Was off to a flying start, but numbers have settled around the 3M mark. Occasionally out-rates CW’s other teen dramas in One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl.

Criminal Minds: Behind the CSI franchise, it is CBS’s best rating demographic show amongst all the crime procedurals.

30 Rock: Has been nurtured nicely and off the back of the US election and Tina Fey’s extra exposure, numbers have soared to series highs.

The Office: The peacock’s best rating show in the fall, challenges the likes of Grey’s Anatomy, House and Desperate Housewives for the 18-49 crown.

ER: In its final season and still pulling in the viewers left, right and centre. Also defeats the likes of lead in assisted shows Life on Mars and Eleventh Hour in the key demos. One of NBC’s top rating shows of the fall.

CSI: Still pulling in the masses in its ninth season, also stays competitive in the demos against the demo king Grey’s Anatomy.

Grey’s Anatomy: Numbers have died down for the once ratings juggernaut, but it is still the week’s top rating demo show.

Supernatural and Smallville: Are up year-on-year and ratings can not be better with Supernatural soaring to series highs. Well deserved winners.

On the Bubble

King of the Hill: The recently cancelled animated comedy just misses out on the winners list. Regularly winning its timeslot in the 18-34 demo and hovering around the 6-7M mark week in week out. What were the execs at Fox smoking when they swung the axe?

American Dad: My favourite animated comedy of them all, does well in the demos but poor retention out of Family Guy has it a bee’s d**k away from a winner.

Amazing Race: Has slipped significantly in the demo, sometimes even dropping below the 2 rating in the 18-34 demo.

Cold Case: Solid numbers for veteran CBS, but its demos aren’t what CBS are looking for. If not for NFL overrun, CBS would be dead last in the demos on Sundays.

Brothers and Sisters: Averages 10M every week and a 4 rating in the demos, but losing a third of a compatible lead in is not good enough. Anymore it would’ve been a loser.

Heroes: Has lost a lot of steam, in previous seasons in has dominated the demos with nothing coming close to it, but this season Two and a Half Men constantly beats it in the key demos.

Prison Break: Has been stable across the fall season and regularly clears the 2 rating in the demos.

Old Christine and Gary Unmarried: Numbers for a relatively easy timeslot are soft, but CBS haven’t had another comedy block outside of Mondays, so this deserves a little credit, only just.

Samantha Who?: Just makes it into this list, retention out of Dancing with the Stars is a paltry 50 odd percent, but nothing else has done better out of Dancing. My judgement on Samantha Who? might change when the ratings for last night are released early tomorrow morning our time.

Boston Legal: After surviving the culling last year, Boston Legal continues to out perform a number of the alphabet’s other shows even though it is in its final season.

Fringe: Still a work in progress and if it weren’t for a House lead-in would be in the trash by now. Nevertheless, does well in the demos and is Fox’s best rating drama since House itself.

Law and Order SVU: Has tumbled to series low numbers, but still a consistent performer for an otherwise struggling network.

The Biggest Loser: Constantly slides under the radar for NBC, it is one of NBC’s best performers in demos.

America’s Next Top Model: Initially numbers were soft but has built as the season progressed, with the finale pulling in 4.8M and was the night’s top rating program amongst the 18-34 demo.

Private Practice: Best of a bad bunch on a Wednesday night, numbers will improve once it proceeds its sister show, Grey’s Anatomy.

Ugly Betty: Hasn’t reached the highs of its inaugural season, but still one of ABC’s better shows.

Life on Mars and Eleventh Hour: Poor retention out of lead in, but numbers have been acceptable.

Survivor: The reality veteran continues to kick off CBS’s Thursday night with a bang.

Ghost Whisperer and Numb3rs: Solid but not spectacular Friday night performers.

Everybody Hates Chris and The Game: Numbers are down on Smackdown, but approx 1.5-2M isn’t a bad effort for The CW.

Losers

The Unit: Moving it from Tuesday night to Sundays has sugar coated some flaws but retention out of Cold Case is good, however demos are a worry.

In Harm’s Way, Easy Money and Valentine: all lasted less than 6 weeks, could only muster 1M or so viewers and couldn’t even crack a point in the demo.

My Own Worst Enemy: The recently cancelled drama had a lot of potential, but numbers just didn’t stack up.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Continues to bleed viewers from its series premiere, with its last airing netting less than 5M viewers. It might have a core fan base, but that is where it ends.

Privileged: Even though its one of my favourites of the new fall season, numbers have been poor out of a compatible 90210.

Eli Stone: Poor retention out of Dancing which eventually led to its cancellation.

Without A Trace: No longer appeals to the masses, but averages reasonable numbers for procedural kings CBS.

Pushing Daisies: Struggled in a relatively easy slot, with figures slipping below the 5.5M mark and 2 rating in the demo.

Dirty Sexy Money: Another sophomore drama culled due to ABC’s stupidity, however ratings were poor and cancellation was justified.

Stylista: What were The CW thinking here? Project Runway, Shear Genius to name a few.

Knight Rider: Exciting show which hasn’t caught on to the masses.

Life: Has lost its oomph factor from its freshman season and even with the shift to a more viewer friendly timeslot, numbers have been poor.

Lipstick Jungle: Numbers have headed south since its season two premiere.

Do Not Disturb and Til Death: Should have never green lit these two shows.

Deal or No Deal: Viewer fatigue has finally set in for this once stable performer.

My Name is Earl: Novelty is wearing off this once funny comedy.

Kath and Kim: Hasn’t worked out for NBC, but has the potential to be a good comedy.

Kitchen Nightmares and Hole in the Wall: Down year-on-year in that timeslot.

The Ex-List, Crusoe, Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader and Don’t Forget the Lyrics: Crusoe and Ex-List both couldn’t crack it on Friday, averaging ordinary numbers. The shift to Fridays for 5th Grader and Lyrics hasn’t worked out with both pulling less than its Thursday numbers.

Worst Week: Poor retention out of Two and a Half Men.

High Five For Privileged

The CW has ordered an additional five episodes of under-rated show Privileged. This is a vote of confidence for the struggling show which only managed 1.87M viewers with 0.9/2 (A18-49) 1.4/4 (A18-34) last night. Further, during the first two weeks of December, The CW is planning to give it a run in One Tree Hill’s timeslot (Mondays 9/8c) during its hiatus.

Besides Cameron, Medallic Mike and myself, are there any other Privileged fans out there?

David Salzman Is Mad

MadTV, the late-night sketch comedy which currently airs on FOX on Saturday nights has been axed due to financial problems.

Sources have confirmed the veteran sketch show will not be returning for its 15th season but David Salzman, the show’s co-creator, has hopes of a cable channel pick up.

“There’s a long list of parties that have called us, including a few very recently, and we’re going to start conversations with them very shortly,” Salzman says.

The final FOX episode, episode number 326, is scheduled to air in May.

“We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished, we’re appreciative of what FOX has done and we don’t think it should be over yet,” Salzman says.

ABC have cleaned up on the first night of ratings for the US fall season, boasting the largest overall audience figures of all networks. CBS won in the demos with its CSI: Miami/Monday night comedy block.

ABC’s Dancing With the Stars won its timeslot from 8pm to 10pm with massive overall audience figures (5.3/13 in 18-49, 21.34m), setting up a huge lead in audience for legal dramedy Boston Legal. It made for the largest audience on the opening Monday of the season in nine years for the alphabet network.

The CBS comedy block scored highly in the young adult demo with The Big Bang Theory (3.6 rating/10 share in adults 18-49, 9.32 million viewers overall) and How I Met Your Mother (4.0/10, 9.79m) which scored its highest season premiere ever. Two and a Half Men gained on its previous years figures (5.3/12, 14.48m), while newcomer Worst Week closed the night (3.8/8, 10.87m).
NBC didn’t fair as well with overall audience figures. Heroes scored its lowest season premiere ever, however still holding up quite well in the demos (5.0/12, 10.09m).

FOX’s Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2.3/6 in 18-49, 5.89m) and Prison Break (2.5/6, 5.84m) failed to impress as usual, having the unfortunate disadvantage of starting several weeks before ratings season.

The CW remained steady in its demos with Gossip Girl (1.6/4, 3.33m) and One Tree Hill (1.5/3, 3.14m), placing the green network third for the night in women 18-34 (3.6/9). Gossip Girl also scored its second best 18-34 score to date (2.4/7).

Week Three of the US television season has seen the turbulence of last week’s ratings begin to settle.

FOX’s hit medical drama House, returned with 14.77 million viewers, creating a strong lead in for the J.J. Abrams’ new sci-fi drama Fringe (up 59% to 13.27 million). Both shows dominated their time-slots and scored strong results in their key demographics.

Over at The CW Gossip Girl saw its highest ratings ever with 3.73 million, 22% increase in its target demographic. One Tree Hill saw its best figures since season four with 3.37 million viewers. Both 90210 and Privileged retained last weeks figures despite the heavy competition from House and Fringe.

Last night saw the second episode of The CW’s 90210 and series premieres of Privileged and FOX’s new sci-fi drama Fringe. We’re only into the second week of the US ratings period, but already signs of declining viewership is starting to show. 

Fringe, which was one of the most anticipated new FOX dramas, may have won the night, but it failed to make a big impact on the ratings figures with just 9.13 million viewers. Considering J.J. Abrams’ other series, Lost scored a massive 18.6 million viewers during its premiere, it was a rather underwhelming result for the News Corp broadcaster. Although there is still a chance for the Abrams’ series to pick up extra eyeballs next week when House returns and becomes a solid lead in for sci-fi drama.

The CW’s figures also underwhelmed with 90210 dropping to just 3 million viewers. This is equal to the figures which were seen by the Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill combo on Monday night. 90210 lost the top spot once again in its core demographic to The Secret Life of the American Teenager on ABC Family.

Privileged started solidly with 2.64 million viewers, holding on to most of 90210’s audience but it failed to pick up any extra viewers.

Both Fringe and Privileged will be re-broadcast on Sunday night in the US.

It’s that time of year again. So jump in front of the tube and get ready for hours of tears, laughter and joy. The US fall season is here!

Prison Break, Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, The Closer and The Hills headlined today’s festivities, while tomorrow kicks off the anticipated series premiere of 90210 and the return of The Shield and ABC Family’s Greek.

Stay tuned as we review some of this season’s most anticipated series returns and premieres.

Hold on to your hats people! In just under one week, the new US fall television season begins and it’s going to be one hell of a ride.

Kicking off the new season are some of your favourite shows and last years biggest hits. The CW does what it does best, cat fights and melodrama with Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill. FOX breaks into its fourth season of Prison Break. MTV hits The Hills for yet another season of “like whatever” and TNT closes with The Closer.

The prime time US fall season commences Monday, September 1st, 8/7c  (Tuesday, September 2nd, 10:00am AEST).

Here is quick list of season and series premieres to get you started.  Let us know of any other premiere dates in the comments.

Hit more to see the list.

All dates are local time.

24th August

• Australian Idol – TEN

2nd September

• Prison Break –  FOX
• Gossip Girl – CW
• One Tree Hill – CW

19th September

• Smallville – CW
• Supernatural – CW

23rd September

• How I Met Your Mother – CBS
• The Big Bang Theory – CBS
• Boston Legal – ABC

25th September

• Lipstick Jungle – NBC
• Criminal Minds – CBS
• Knight Rider – NBC
• The New Adventures of Old Christine – CBS

26th September

• Ugly Betty – ABC
• Grey’s Anatomy – ABC
• The Office – NBC

29th September

• Desperate Housewives -ABC

30th September

• The Amazing Race – CBS
• Chuck – NBC

2nd October

• Private Practice – ABC
• Pushing Daisies – ABC
• Dirty Sexy Money – ABC

4th October

• Ghost Whisperer

7th October

• Samantha Who? – ABC

11th October

• Kath & Kim  - NBC

15th October

• Eli Stone – ABC

31st October

• 30 Rock – NBC

In the first episode of 2008, your Auscasters discuss the summer break.  New shows in 2008, including Lipstick Jungle, The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Eli Stone.  Returning series LOST and One Tree Hill. Plus a technology thread plug and whole bunch of news headlines and hot topics that surfaced on the forum over the summer.