CHANNEL CANADA :: NBC Cancels The West Wing & Will & Grace, Renews A Few Shows, Announces More Olympic Coverage & new midseason shows

NBC Cancels The West Wing & Will & Grace, Renews A Few Shows, Announces More Olympic Coverage & new midseason shows
Posted on Monday, January 23, 2006 - 04:11 PM
NBC announced that its multi-Emmy Award-winning drama "The West Wing" (Sundays, 8-9 p.m. ET) will conclude its storied run on Sunday, May 14 after seven hallmark seasons with an hour-long retrospective (7-8 p.m. ET) followed by a special series finale (8-9 p.m. ET), it was announced today by Kevin Reilly, President, NBC Entertainment. "We are proud to have had the opportunity to bring television viewers one of the most acclaimed series in television history," said Reilly. "From the venerable, moving performances by the first-rate cast to the sterling creative team behind the camera, this series has left an indelible imprint on the landscape of television drama." As the critically acclaimed winner of four consecutive Emmy Awards as Outstanding Drama Series, "The West Wing" -- under the direction of executive producer John Wells (NBC's "ER") -- has always offered viewers a realistic, behind-the-scenes peek into the Oval Office and the campaign trail that leads there. The sophisticated, one-hour drama series stars Emmy winner Martin Sheen ("Apocalypse Now"), the late Emmy-winning John Spencer ("L.A. Law"), Emmy winner Bradley Whitford ("My Fellow Americans"), Emmy winner Richard Schiff ("Deep Impact"), Emmy winner Allison Janney ("American Beauty"), Emmy winner Jimmy Smits ("NYPD Blue," "L.A. Law"), Emmy winner Alan Alda ("MASH"), Emmy nominee Dule Hill ("Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk!"), Emmy nominee Janel Moloney ("Sports Night"), Emmy winner Stockard Channing ("Six Degrees of Separation"), Joshua Malina ("Sports Night"), Kristin Chenoweth ("Wicked") and Mary McCormack ("Private Parts"). "The West Wing" holds the record for most Emmys won by a series in a single season (its first) and has earned 90 total nominations to date. Other awards include a Peabody Award for Excellence in Television, five Golden Globe nominations and one Golden Globe Award for Best Drama Series, and three Television Critics Association Awards. At the core of the current 2005-06 season is the campaign between Democratic nominee Santos (Jimmy Smits) and Republican challenger Vinick (Alan Alda) for the Presidency. President Bartlet (Sheen) and his team find themselves leading the country with the administration's days coming to a close. "The West Wing" is from John Wells Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television Production Inc. Wells serves as the executive producer along with Christopher Misiano, Alex Graves, Lawrence O'Donnell and Peter Noah. Aaron Sorkin is the creator. CTV currently owns the rights to broadcast the show in Canada but they haven't presented an episode of the current season so far. Will & Grace to end* NBC's groundbreaking, Emmy Award-winning "Will & Grace" (Thursdays, 8-8:30 p.m. ET) will officially conclude its eight-year run on Thursday, May 18 with an hour-long series retrospective (8-9 p.m. ET) followed by a one-hour series finale (9-10 p.m. ET), it was announced today by Kevin Reilly, President, NBC Entertainment. "It is a bittersweet moment for all of us at NBC to confirm that this will be the final season of the comedy 'Will & Grace", said Reilly. "For seven years the show assembled one of the finest comedic casts on television, bringing to life the hilarious, groundbreaking scripts from Mutchnick, Kohan and their writing team to create what has truly become one of the classic comedies on television." The comedy series has been averaging a 4.0 rating, 11 share among adults 18-49 and 8.8 million viewers overall in the first two weeks since its January 5 switch to the 8 p.m. half-hour on Thursdays nights. In those two weeks, "Will & Grace" has lifted NBC 38 percent above its 18-49 season average in the time period (with a 4.0 rating vs. a 2.9). On January 12, the second "Will & Grace" live episode of the season generated NBC's highest 18-49 rating in the time period since Feb. 10, 2005. "Will & Grace" is also primetime's most upscale half-hour comedy in the show's concentration of homes with $100,000-plus incomes in its 18-49 audience. To date, "Will & Grace" has been nominated for 73 Emmys, 27 Golden Globes, 19 Screen Actors Guild Awards and 12 People's Choice Awards. Among its 14 Emmy wins, the series won for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2000. In 2002 and 2003, it had more Emmy nominations than any other comedy series. Plus, in 2005 "Will & Grace" was tied as one of the most-nominated series and also scored its highest number of Emmy nominations in a single year with 15. "Will & Grace" has also won eight GLAAD Media Awards, two TV Guide Awards, and one Directors Guild Award. Additionally, the show has been nominated for six American Comedy Awards, seven Television Critics Association Awards, and five Producers Guild Awards. James Burrows, one of the series' executive producers, was nominated earlier this month for a Directors Guild Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy for the episode "Alive and Schticking." Starring Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally, the show continues to focus on the bizarre but abiding friendships between four Manhattan friends -- Will Truman (McCormack), Grace Adler (Messing), Jack McFarland (Hayes) and Karen Walker (Mullally). Emmy winners David Kohan and Max Mutchnick are the creators and executive producers. Gary Janetti, Tracy Poust, Jon Kinnally, and Tim Kaiser serve as executive producers and showrunners. Multi-Emmy winner Burrows (NBC's "Frasier," "Friends") is director and executive producer. "Will & Grace" is a production of KoMut Entertainment in association with NBC Universal Studios and Three Sisters Entertainment. Renewals NBC has rewarded "My Name Is Earl" (Thursdays, 9-9:30 p.m. ET) and supplied "The Office" (Thursdays, 9:30-10 p.m. ET) with full-season orders of 22 episodes each through the 2006-07 season, it was announced today by Kevin Reilly, President, NBC Entertainment. "The strength of the ratings and performance and the quality of these two shows make this a very easy decision," said Reilly. "We are confident that these comedies will only continue to increase in popularity." "My Name Is Earl" is the season's #1 comedy and #1 new series in adults 18-49. Through the first 15 weeks of the season, "Earl" was also television's #1 Tuesday series in 18-49. Since moving to Thursday nights on January 5, "Earl" has increased NBC's 18-49 rating in the time period by 31 percent (with a 5.5 rating vs. a 4.2). Through January 15, "My Name Is Earl" is averaging a 5.3 rating, 13 share in adults 18-49 and 12.0 million overall. Since shifting to the Thursday lineup on January 5, "The Office" has delivered its three highest regular-slot ratings ever in adults 18-49 and its three best retentions ever of its 18-49 lead-in from "My Name Is Earl." "The Office" is also one of primetime's most upscale comedies, ranking #2 in terms of the concentration of homes with incomes of $100,000 or more in its adult 18-49 audience. Through January 15, "The Office" is averaging a 3.9 rating, 9 share in adults 18-49 and 8.0 million viewers overall. In "Earl," the title character (Jason Lee, "Almost Famous") has taken one too many wrong turns on the highway of life. However, a twist of fate turns his life into a tailspin of life-renewing events. Earl won a small lottery, and, after an epiphany, he is determined to transform his good fortune into a life-changing event as he sets out to right all the wrongs from his past. In its first season, "My Name Is Earl" has been nominated for two Golden Globes, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, one Directors Guild of America Award and three Writers Guild of America Awards. It has also won the coveted People's Choice Favorite New Television Comedy Award. Joining Earl along his quest to cleanse his karma are a few dim-witted friends: hapless brother Randy (Ethan Suplee, "Cold Mountain") and the very sexy Catalina (Nadine Velazquez, "The Bold and the Beautiful"). Even Darnell (Eddie Steeples, "Torque"), a worker at the Crab Shack where Earl drinks beer, offers his support. But it's Earl's ex-wife Joy (Jaime Pressly, "Not Another Teen Movie") who won't lift a finger to help unless there's something in it for her. Created and written by Greg Garcia ("Yes, Dear), "My Name Is Earl" is executive produced by Garcia and Marc Buckland ("Medical Investigation," "Ed"). The series is produced by Amigos de Garcia and Twentieth Century Fox Television. From Reveille and NBC Universal Television Studio, "The Office" is a unique comedy series offering a smart, tongue-in-cheek documentary-style look at the humorous, and sometimes poignant, banality of the 9-to-5 white-collar work world. After airing its initial 16 episodes over two seasons, the series received three Writers Guild of America Award nominations, including Outstanding Achievement in Writing for a New Series and Outstanding Achievement in Writing for a Comedy Series. "The Office" takes a painfully funny look at the interactions of the desk jockeys at Dunder Mifflin paper-supply company in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Recent Golden Globe winner Steve Carell ("The 40-Year Old Virgin") stars as unctuous regional manager Michael Scott who hosts the documentary crew on a tour of the workplace. Jenna Fischer ("Miss Match"), John Krasinski ("Jarhead," "Kinsey"), Rainn Wilson ("Six Feet Under"), and B.J. Novak ("Punk'd") star as the employees who tolerate Michael's inappropriate behavior only because he signs their paychecks. With unshaken enthusiasm, Michael believes he is the office funnyman and a fountain of business wisdom. Unaware of how he is perceived by his employees, Michael comes off alternately absurd and pathetic, but always hilarious. Executive producer Greg Daniels developed "The Office" for American television. The series' other executive producers are Ben Silverman, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant and Howard Klein. Expands Olympic Coverage by Two Hours NBC today added a total of two additional primetime network hours over three nights that feature most of the Winter Olympics biggest stars. The additional two hours now bring NBC Universal's unprecedented amount of coverage of the Torino Olympic Winter Games to 418 hours, up from the previously announced 416 hours. The announcement was made today by Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Universal Sports & Olympics and Executive Producer of NBC's Olympic coverage. "After seeing the results of pre-Olympic Trials and competitions and looking at the schedule more closely, we've decided that now there was simply too much rich content featuring some of this Olympics' biggest stars and we needed more time to tell these great stories on these three nights," Ebersol said. "If I didn't add these new hours, I would feel like we would have left the audience wanting more." Following are synopses of the changes to the three primetime nights, all times are ET/PT: SUNDAY, FEB. 12 is now 7-11:30 p.m., changed from 7-11 p.m. and features four of the USA's brightest male superstars all in one night. Bode Miller, who this week scored the rare double of simultaneously appearing on the covers of Time and Newsweek, makes his Torino debut. His teammate Daron Rahlves, who has won three World Cup downhill gold medals this season, could challenge Miller for gold. The two give the U.S. its most potent 1-2 punch ever in downhill -- the most thrilling event in alpine skiing. They won gold and silver, respectively, at last year's World Championships. Apolo Anton Ohno, who dominated the U.S. Olympic Trials and notched five World Cup wins this season, looks to defend his Salt Lake gold medal in the 1500m and continue his reign as one of the Winter Olympics marquee stars. Shaun White, the biggest superstar in action sports and a crossover skateboarder who has thus far won all Olympic qualifying events, leads the American snowboarders who four years ago swept the men's halfpipe medals 1-2-3. SUNDAY, FEB. 19 is now 7 p.m. -Midnight, changed from 7-11 p.m. and it will be highlighted by America's best hope for ice dancing gold in three decades. Tanith Belbin & Ben Agosto could be the first Americans to win a medal in this graceful event since 1976. Belbin, who was born in Canada, became an American citizen when President Bush signed an Appropriations Bill just before deadline that allowed her to be sworn in as a citizen on December 31, 2005, just 41 days before the Opening Ceremony. MONDAY, FEB. 20 (Presidents' Day) is now 8 p.m.-Midnight, changed from 8-11:30 p.m. and it will feature the gold medal final in ice dancing where Belbin & Agosto are expected to face their toughest competition from Russia's Tatyana Navka & Roman Kostomarov, two-time world champions who this week won the European title. * * * NBC Universal's coverage of the Torino Games will feature the most coverage -- including the most live coverage -- across the most platforms of any Winter Olympics in history when the XX Olympic Winter Games from Torino, Italy begin Feb. 10-26. The Networks of NBC Universal, NBC, USA, MSNBC, CNBC, NBC HD and Universal HD now will provide 418 total hours of coverage, an increase over the 375.5 hours of coverage on NBC, CNBC and MSNBC from Salt Lake, the previous record for a Winter Games. The Torino coverage will include the most live coverage ever of a Winter Games, despite the six-hour time difference between the U.S. East Coast and Italy, and will feature the most high definition coverage in Olympic television history. Over the 17 days of the Torino Games the Networks of NBC Universal will now average 24.6 hours -- up from 24.5 hours -- of Olympic coverage per day. The NBC network schedule is divided into three dayparts: daytime, primetime and late night, now totaling 184.5 hours of coverage (123.5 original hours) over 17 days. New & returning midseason shows to premiere after the Olympics & more programming changes "Deal or No Deal" Returns for a Week Beginning February 27 and Continues Weekly on Monday, March 6 -- Followed by Series Debuts of "Conviction," "Heist" and "Teachers" "Law & Order" Moves Up One Hour to Wednesdays (9-10 p.m. ET) Beginning March 22; "The Apprentice" Resumes Competition on Monday, February 27 (9-10 p.m. ET); "Las Vegas" Rolls on to Fridays (9-10 p.m. ET) on March 3 BURBANK, Calif. -- January 22, 2006 -- NBC will introduce several new mid-season series and welcome back other hits following the closing day ceremonies of the 2006 Winter Olympics beginning February 27 with the reprise of the smash "Deal or No Deal" followed by the series premieres of "Conviction" (March 3), "Heist" (March 22) and "Teachers" (April 6). Other early schedule changes include "Law & Order" moving on Wednesdays to 9-10 p.m. (ET) beginning March 22. In addition, "The Apprentice" returns on Monday, February 27 (9-10 p.m. ET), and "Las Vegas" rolls on to Fridays (9-10 p.m. ET) on March 3. "Dateline NBC" also will move from Fridays (9-10 p.m. ET) to Saturdays (8-9 p.m. ET) on March 4. The announcements were made at the Television Critics Association's January Press Tour by Kevin Reilly, President, NBC Entertainment. "We are not going to slip quietly into spring," said Reilly. "With these exciting new shows in our re-configured schedule, we will be very competitive -- and given the promotional momentum of the Olympics, we can give these promising shows the launch they deserve." "Deal or No Deal" -- which debuted from December 19-23, 2005 to huge ratings -- returns on Monday, February 27 (8-9 p.m. ET) and will run at this time for a week through Friday, March 3. The first run of "Deal or No Deal" on NBC won all five of its hours among adults 18-49 and delivered season highs for its time period on four of five nights. Averaging a 4.3 rating, 13 share in 18-49 and 12.7 million viewers overall, "Deal" improved on NBC's season averages in those time periods by an average of 54 percent in 18-49 and 51 percent in total viewers. "Deal or No Deal" will then return on a weekly basis on the following Monday, March 6 (8-9 p.m. ET). Comedian Howie Mandel returns as host of the exhilarating hit game show as contestants play and deal for a top prize of $1 million dollars in a high-energy match of nerves, instincts and raw intuition. Each night, the game of odds and chance unfolds when a contestant faces 26 sealed briefcases containing anything from a measly penny to $1 million dollars. Without knowing the amount in each briefcase, the contestant picks one -- his to keep, if he chooses, until its unsealing at game's end. Based on the successful format from Endemol that has aired in over 35 countries, "Deal or No Deal" is produced by Endemol USA, a division of Endemol Holding. David Goldberg is the President of Endemol USA. The series is executive-produced by Scott St. John. "The Apprentice" follows "Deal or No Deal" when it returns on Monday, February 27 (9-10 p.m. ET). "Law & Order" will follow in its new earlier time (9-10 p.m. ET) when it begins on March 22. "Conviction" -- Emmy Award winner Dick Wolf's ("Law & Order"-brand series) newest series begins on Friday, March 3 (10-11 p.m. ET). This new legal drama series is a fast-paced, character-oriented story focusing on young assistant district attorneys in New York who are confronted with tough, high-profile cases that challenge their limited experience -- and force them to mature quickly or be overwhelmed. The ensemble cast of "Conviction" includes Stephanie March, Jordan Bridges, J. August Richards, Milena Govich, Eric Balfour, Anson Mount and Julianne Nicholson. The series was created by Wolf and the pilot was written by Walon Green ("Law & Order") and Rick Eid ("Law & Order: Trial by Jury," "The Guardian"). "Conviction" is a Wolf Films production in association with NBC Universal Television Studio. Wolf, Green, Eid and Peter Jankowski are the executive producers. "Las Vegas" precedes "Conviction" when it relocates to Fridays (9-10 p.m. ET) starting March 3. "Heist" -- a fast-paced, cops-and-robbers drama from acclaimed director Doug Liman ("Mr. & Mrs. Smith") and writers Mark and Robb Cullen (FX's "Lucky") -- premieres on Wednesday, March 22 (10-11 p.m. ET). The series centers on a group of professional thieves who are plotting to simultaneously rob three prominent Beverly Hills jewelry stores on Oscar week. Over the course of a full season, the series follows the thieves as they plan and execute the heist, as well as the detectives who are hot on their trail. Filled with action, suspense and comedy, "Heist" takes audiences on a joy ride with car chases, gun battles, explosions and cat-and-mouse-like antics. The ensemble cast includes the burglars -- Dougray Scott ("Dark Water"), Steve Harris ("The Practice"), Seymour Cassel ("The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou"), Marika Dominczyk ("North Shore") and David Walton ("Stateside") ? and the detectives -- Michele Hicks ("The Shield"), Reno Wilson ("Blind Justice") and Billy Gardell ("Yes, Dear"). "Heist" is produced by Hypnotic, NBC Universal Television Studio and Sony Pictures Television. The new comedy "Teachers" starts class promptly on Thursday, April 6 (9:30-10 p.m. ET) as it replaces "The Office" after the critically acclaimed comedy's season finale on Thursday, March 30 (9:30-10 p.m. ET). This comedic take on modern education centers on likable Filmore High School English teacher Jeff (Justin Bartha, "National Treasure"), who is surrounded by a school administration mired in bureaucratic red tape and rule-bound, apathetic teachers. Jeff is faced with a class of text-messaging, video-gaming, short-attention-span students who refuse to crack open a book. But despite his own self-proclaimed indifference, deep inside there's still an occasional spark, especially for a few students who just might think he is the best teacher they will ever have. Joining Bartha in the cast is Sarah Alexander (BBC's "Coupling"), Deon Richmond ("The Cosby Show"), radio comedian Phil Hendrie, Sarah Shahi ("The L Word"), Matt Winston ("Six Feet Under") and Kali Rocca ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer"). "Teachers" is produced by NBC Universal Television Studio. Matt Tarses ("Scrubs") and Bill Wrubel ("Will & Grace") are executive producers. James Burrows (NBC's "Will & Grace") directed the pilot. Emmy Award-winning "Law & Order," the longest running crime series and the second longest-running drama series in the history of television, is now in its 16th season on NBC. The brainchild of creator Dick Wolf, "Law & Order" is the most successful brand in the history of primetime television. "Las Vegas" -- from Gary Scott Thompson ("The Fast and the Furious") -- is a fast-paced, sexy drama that follows the elite Las Vegas surveillance team in one of Sin City's largest resorts and casinos. The series, previously broadcast on Mondays (9-10 p.m. ET), stars Oscar and Golden Globe nominee James Caan and Josh Duhamel ("All My Children"), and is now in its third season. "The Apprentice" stars business titan Donald Trump, who returns to test a new crew of would-be executives ? all of whom vie to become his latest apprentice executive.
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