Froodee

Living. Blogging.

Emerson Joins ‘Person of Interest’

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Bad news for fans of Lost‘s Michael Emerson & Terry O’Quinn: their new show, Odd Jobs, has been shelved for the time being. The project, about a pair of former covert operatives, was sold by J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions to NBC, but pushed aside for unknown reasons.

In the meantime, Emerson has signed on for a different project, and it’s another high profile J.J. Abrams production: Jonathan Nolan’s Person of Interest at CBS. The show is about a presumed dead, ex-CIA agent who teams up with a mysterious billionaire to prevent violent crimes before they happen. (This key hook of the series — how they’ll prevent crimes before they happen — has yet to be revealed.) Emerson will star as the “mysterious billionaire.”

Emerson is in demand this pilot season, having also been offered a role on the ABC pilot Once Upon a Time. Which, coincidentally (or not), is being developed by a pair of Lost staff writers.

Canceled: Medium, Dark Blue

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It’s been a long time coming, but CBS has formally announced the cancellation of Medium. Currently in its fifth season after moving to CBS from NBC, Medium‘s ratings just weren’t strong enough to justify the rising production costs of the show.

CBS will air the show’s final episode on Friday, January 21st.

Also in cancellation news, TNT has pulled the plug on Dark Blue. Likewise citing low ratings, TNT decided that 2.2 million viewers per episode simply wasn’t enough to save the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced drama about undercover cops. Dark Blue just aired its second season finale in September.

Yet Another Blog Sold to CBS

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I know what you’re thinking: What’s in the drinking water over at CBS TV? And when will this madness end?

Actually, this time, the idea sounds like a winner. Ashton Kutcher has once again spearheaded the television sitcom rights of a popular weblog/Twitter feed to CBS. Dear Girls Above Me is a blog written by a man named Charlie McDowell, where he chroniclesthe “annoying dumb things” that the two girls who live in the apartment above him say on a regular basis and adds his own witty responses. McDowell himself is expected to work as one of the show’s writers.

The blog is a riot; you should check it out immediately. The titular “girls” are ridiculously stupid and entitled, cut from the same cloth as Paris Hilton and her ilk. Which makes them perfect fodder for sitcom hijinks.

But after all the blogs that have been snatched up lately for TV, I think it’s time to draw the line. Okay, Ashton? Know when to “no more.”

Sam Raimi Producing 3 New Pilots

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ABC, CBS, and Fox have ordered three new pilots from Sam Raimi‘s Stars Road Entertainment. These three new hour-longs represent the first TV commitments from Stars Road, which is looking to expand into all aspects of TV, including cable, now that they’ve appointed Robert Zotnowski (formerly of CBS) as head of their TV division.

For ABC, former The Good Wife showrunner Dee Johnson is developing an untitled project about a female lawyer who moonlights as a vigilante.

CBS has ordered a pilot for Lancaster, about a detective who migrates from Scotland Yard to the LAPD. CSI writer Andrew Lipsitz is the creator.

Finally, at Fox, acclaimed comic book writer and Lost screenwriter Brian K. Vaughan has created an original scifi concept called Smokers. The premise follows a team of working-class heroes who exterminate alien threats in space, and is being filmed documentary style.

Abrams’ 2 New Shows Get Pilot Orders

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CBS is about to go into the J.J. Abrams business for the first time, while Fox will soon be getting its second helping of Abrams-y goodness.

As I predicted, CBS has decided that Person of Interest, the crime thriller Abrams is developing with Jonathan Nolan, might just be a good fit for their lineup. They’ve given a pilot order to the series. Nolan is best known for writing the script to The Dark Knight, which his brother Christopher directed. Next to nothing is known about the plot, but this will be the first time that CBS has broadcast an Abrams show.

Fox, meanwhile, has put in a similar pilot order for Alcatraz, the new Abrams show from Lost writer Elizabeth Sarnoff. Just like the CBS show, next to nothing is known about this drama, other than it focuses on mysteries and secrets surrounding Alcatraz prison. Before Sarnoff wrote the spec script, earlier versions were written by Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt of Kyle XY.