BUSINESS TIME
... My keyboard is dripping with tears as I type this: MTV has declared that the upcoming sixth season of Jersey Shore will be the show's last. It seems like just a handful of months ago that Jersey Shore was still one of biggest things in popular culture, but you know what they say about all good things. Thankfully, many of the cast members have moved on to bigger and better interests—including having babies, starting drama on the U.K.'s Big Brother, and live-tweeting WWE events for money. Seriously though, I probably won't forget those first few seasons of the show, which is more than you can say for most random reality fare. [New York Times Arts Beat]
... Fox News perhaps unsurprisingly dominated the ratings last night during the important speeches from Condoleezza Rice and Paul Ryan that happened during the 10–11pm hour. 7.7 million people watched Paul Ryan talk about his AC/DC record collection on Fox News, more than doubling the broadcast champion NBC's 4.1 million viewers during that same time period. [Deadline Hollywood]
... Shawn Ryan is just as attached to Hank Dolworth and Britt Pollack as the small few of us who watched Terriers are. Ryan is trying to resurrect the project in a movie-length send-off through Kickstarter. The key word is, of course, "trying." He has to clear it with lots of people (writer Ted Griffin, the studio Fox 21) before he even gets to the kick-starting, but Ryan is hopeful that something could happen and we could get just a little more of one of the best shows in recent memory. [Television Business International]
... GLAAD has announced the results of its sixth annual Network Responsibility Index, which measures "quantity, quality, and diversity of images of LGBT people on primetime broadcast and cable TV" and yet again, The CW features the most "inclusive" programming. The CW is followed by ABC, FOX, NBC, and CBS, in that order, on the broadcast side. This marks the fourth year in a row that CBS came in last; the network received a failing grade. On the cable side, Showtime leads the way, followed by ABC Family, TNT, and HBO. Well, at least The CW can say they're first at something—and something important, for that matter. [GLAAD]
... ABC ordered two scripts from familiar names today, one drama and one comedy. The first, Patron Saints, is a mystery thriller from Jeffrey Bell (The X-Files, Angel) and mega-producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura. It's about a covert group helping those in need. The second is a multi-camera sitcom called Housewives. It's set in the 1950s and comes from Happy Endings' Casey Wilson, June Diane Raphael, and Will Gluck. [Deadline Hollywood / Deadline Hollywood]
... NBC has grabbed a high-profile project of its own from Howard Gordon (Homeland, 24, Awake) and Josh Friedman (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles). The untitled thriller script set in contemporary society will follow a detective investigating the first robot-on-human murder and deal with a "growing robot rebellion." So, I, Robot? I could see this being next year's Revolution as the one NBC show that looks really cool and but that ultimately isn't very compelling, though Friedman did awesome work on TSCC. [Deadline Hollywood]
... A follow-up to yesterday's S.H.I.E.L.D. television show news: Joss Whedon will not be the showrunner if/when ABC orders it to series, which was to be expected. He will serve in a consulting role, though it's still unknown how hands-on of a consultant he will be. [Entertainment Weekly]
CASTING NEWS
... Mercy and The Lucky One Taylor Schilling will star in Orange is the New Black, the Netflix original series from Weeds creator Jenji Kohan. The series, based on a Piper Kerman book, will follow Schilling's character as she wades through her dangerous new home: prison. The character finds herself in this predicament thanks to a decade-long relationship with a drug-runner. So it's kind of like After Weeds meets Lock Up. I'm in. [Deadline Hollywood]
... In yet another casting decision that was made to make the internet go crazy, Lost's Jorge Garcia will guest on Once Upon a Time as "The Giant," presumably from Jack and the Beanstalk. By my calculations, Garcia becomes the 91st person announced to appear on OUaT in Season 2, so I'm curious to see how the show balances all these random characters. [TV Guide]
... Shelley Long will return to Modern Family this upcoming season, presumably to ruin some part of Gloria and Jay's pregnancy, but also presumably to help the show continue to reinforce its problematic representation of gender. [TV Guide]
BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH IS STILL MAD ABOUT ELEMENTARY NEWS
... Sherlock's Benedict Cumberbatch and Elementary's Jonny Lee Miller are bros, but the former continues to publicly express is disappointment over the latter's choice to portray Sherlock Holmes for CBS. Cumberbatch said he hoped that Miller would pass on the project, even after Miller asked for his blessing. I appreciate Cumberbatch's honesty, but I especially appreciate his seemingly egoistical propriety over a character that's been around for more than a century. I hope he texted "I forgive you" to Robert Downey Jr. at some point. [The Shortlist]
Cory Barker is a co-founder of This Was Television and the founder of TVSurveillance.com. Follow him on Twitter: @corybarker.
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