More Closer and the Ghost Whisperer arrives

TNT has ordered up a third season of The Closer starring Kyra Sedwick. The decision followed the Season two premiere which delivered more than 8 million viewers. TNT has ordered another 15 episodes. The first series was shown here on More4

E4 will premiere Ghost Whisperer starring Jennifer Love Hewitt on July 11th at 9pm. There's also new One Tree Hill on E4 the same week. No, I've never seen it either.

Bravo have confirmed that in addition to the Unit, the David Mamet series, they have acquired the television spin-off of Blade. I've no plans to watch that one either

New shows for Living

Living have bought three news shows from the US. The FOX series Justice comes from the Jerry Bruckheimer stable and stars Victor Garber among others in a drama series about high profile celebrity lawyers.

Men InTrees is a vehicle for Anne Heche who plays an author who moves to Alaska after he fiance cheats on her while Happy Hour is a comedy about a man who loses his girlfriend, his job and his house. Is that funny?

Some new and returning shows

Living will screen "Watching Ellie" from this weekend. Starring Julia Louis Dreyfuss and Steve Carrell this only lasted a season and a half but is well worth catching. It starts on Sunday morning at 9.30am with double bills on following weekends. Not to be confused with "The New Adventures of Old Christine" which also stars Seinfeld's Elaine and is a hit on CBS right now...........Channel Five will screen brand new CSI Miami from July 18th........Medium returns from its World Cup hiatus on July 11th on BBC1........ITV2 will screen Sex Lies and Secrets the same night. This shortlived Denise Richards soap only lasted about ten episodes. Curiously it was previously announced as a Channel Five purchase.......SKY One have reportedly added Stand Off to their (short) list of new purchases......

Huff out of puff

Showtime have axed their highly acclaimed but little watched series Huff. The drama which stars Hank Azaria, Oliver Platt and the emmy winning Blythe Danner will end its second season in the US this weekend. It returns to UK screens on FX on July 17th.

Despite all the awards, the series has attracted only a small following and won't be back next year. Even the addition of Sharon Stone this season wasn't enough to pull in more viewers.

Channel Four Runaway spending

Channel Four have added a sixth show to their summer spending spree. They have bought Runaway starring Donnie Wahlberg and Leslie Hope from the new CW network. Its the story of a family on a run after Wahlberg is framed for murder.

It comes from producer Darren Star, the man behind mega-hits like Sex and the City and Melrose Place. He needs a hit though after several flops in recent years Miss Match (Channel 4), Gross Pointe (Paramount) and last seasons Kitchen Confidential (Paramount) which Fox pulled after four episodes.

Five add Vanished

Channel Five have bought Vanished from FOX, the latest in a line of serialised dramas. The series stars John Allen Nelson and Rebecca Gayheart, as well as Esai Morales, currently in NYPD Blue and Penelope Ann Miller. It looks similar to Kidnapped that Channel 4 have bought, but you have to wonder how many of these type of shows can survive. Will viewers already involved in 24 and Lost fancy more of the same?

ITV buy three shows - but will they work?

ITV have bought three new shows and one or two of them look risky.

First off is Smith which is a show following criminals. Following the failure of Heist on NBC and Thief from FX, aired here on Sky One, you have to wonder about its chances of success. Ray Liotta is the lead and while a known name, can he carry a series? Virgina Madsen and Jonny Lee Miller are also in there, and the pilot is good, but you just have to wonder if there is enough here to make a hit. Expect this on ITV4.

They have also bought the Jeff Goldblum series Raines. He's a detective who solves murders by having the dead people give him the clues. Why don't they just tell him who did it? Medium and Ghost Whisperer are already hits, is there room for another creepy crime show? It starts mid-season in the US, on ITV3 at some future date.

Finally ITV2 have the new series from Crash director Paul Haggis. The Black Donnellys is about four brothers and organised crime in New York. It sounds good, but there is just nobody in it you have every heard of, and NBC might struggle to make this one work. Haggis made EZ Streets a few years ago starring Ken Olin. It was brilliant but didn't make it past a dozen episodes. Haggis was also behind the shortlived Michael Hayes. Lets hope he has better luck this time.

The good news for ITV fans, is that ITV2 will finally begin showing the HBO hit Entourage in September - and its about time too.

The Shield returns and there's new L Word

The fifth season of The Shield begins on Channel Five on Thursday July 6th. Its late though, 11pm, following the first season finale of Greys Anatomy.

Meanwhile the third series of The L Word premieres on Living on Wednesday July 19th at 10pm. Can't understand why nobody has picked up this for a terrestrial showing yet.

Channel Five nab the shark

Channel Five have fought off competition from ITV to land their Shark.

The new CBS crime series stars James Woods as a prosecutor and has a pilot directed by Spike Lee.

The network urgently needs new shows to launch their digital station Five US. Most of their current hits, CSI (all flavours), House, Greys Anatomy, NCIS, all belong to other digital channels with Five owning only the terrestrial rights.

Channel Four sweep for five new shows

Channel Four said they were in the market for 'one or two' new shows at the LA screenings, well make that five.

Top of the pile, and no surprise, Studio 60 on Sunset Strip, the new Aarron Sorkin show which stars Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford (check out the NBC site for loads of clips). Add to that Brothers and Sisters, which includes the return of Calista Flockhart to network television, along with Rachel Griffiths (Six Feet Under), Patricia Wettig and Ron Rifkin (Alias)

They have also taken the 24 copy Kidnapped which stars Jeremy Sisto from Six Feet Under alongside Timothy Hutton and Dana Delaney, which tells the story of a wealthy New York couple's efforts to free their teenage son after he is taken hostage. Great acting, dull story I hear (you can see for yourself at ww.nbc.com)

Channel Four also have two comedies - Betty the Ugly, which features Extras star Ashley Jensen and is produced by Selma Hayek, and is about a plain woman who is hired to be the secretary of the womanising boss of a US fashion magazine.

There's also The Class which comes from one of the creators of Friends.

BBC pay pounds for lbs

The BBC has outbid rival UK broadcasters for US medical drama 3lbs, starring Stanley Tucci.

The Beeb have reportedly paid £300,00 an episode for the new series about a brain surgeon scheduled for mid-season on CBS.
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Channel Five are thought to be close to buying another CBS drama Shark which stars James Woods a prosecuting attorney. Spike Lee directed the pilot.

Five and ITV are bidding for Smith starring Ray Liotta and Virgina Madsen as well as The Nine from Without A Trace creator Hank Steinberg. The show which stars Scott Wolf and Kim Raver is about a group of strangers who bond after being held hostage.

Channel Five US

Channel Five plan to launch a US led digital channel in the autumn. Not sure what will be on it given that they only hold the terrestrial rights to most of their most successful shows. The CSI's screen on Living as does Greys Anatomy, the Law and Orders live on SKY One or Hallmark, the latter has House while NCIS is on FX. So what will we get?
Well Monday week Channel Five starts screening Becker at 6.30pm. Yes, Becker, which ended a couple of years ago having outstayed its welcome and been shown over and over on Paramount.
The network are likely to have dig deep for new shows to make a US only channel work.

Nipping in to Nip/Tuck

Some big names will show up in the fourth season of Nip/Tuck. Larry Hagman, Kathleen Turner and Brooke Shields have all signed on for the award winning show. It returns to Sky One In October

Watch out also for Cybill Shepherd joining the cast of The L Word for its fourth season. Although we'll have to wait a while, Living are yet to screen season three, they're too busy showing cancelled sitcoms and crap like Criminal Minds

The Shield gets another season

Channel Five will screen the fifth season of the Shield in late summer with a further ten episodes set to air in the US in January 2007. It was though that Shawn Ryan would wrap it up at that point, but FX have confirmed a seventh and final season of 13 new episodes, set to premiere in late 2007 or early 2008. When The Shield completes its final season, it will have 88 episodes in the can.

FX have also ordered a new sitcom set in the world of tabloid journalism, Dirt will star ex-Friend Courtney Cox and debut next year.

New Huff

The second season of Huff will debut in the UK next month. The FX network will begin airing season two on Monday July 17th. If you missed the first run then you can find it on dvd, its worth watching with great performances from Hank Azaria, Oliver Platt and an emmy winning turn from Blythe Danner. Season two promises Sharon Stone as the new boss to Platt's character Russell.

Kevin Williamson's Hidden Palms

SKY have picked up the new Kevin Williamson series Hidden Palms. Williamson, who helmed Dawsons Creek, will debut the new show midseason on the CW network. Former NYPD Blue stars Sharon Lawrence and Gail O Grady are among the cast of this new show that sees a family moving to a community in Palm Springs and discovering, guess what, mystery and intrigue. It may sound ropey but then so did Dawsons Creek and look how that turned out. SKY will debut the show next Spring.

Big Love on Five

Channel Five will begin screening the HBO hit Big Love on Monday June 12th. The series will begin with a double episode and runs from 9pm. Bill Paxton plays a man with three wives and three families in a show that has been controversial in US but has already been picked up for a second season