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The song is over.
After two, let’s face it, very uneven seasons, NBC has decided to pull the plug on its musical drama “Smash”.
This pretty much concludes NBC’s pre-upfront business. A decision on “Hannibal” is not expected until after the upfronts.
© NBC
NBC has announced its midseason schedule today, and there are some interesting facts buried in there.
- Fan favorite “Community” returns on Thursday, February 7, at 8 PM ET, after “30 Rock” has concluded its 13-episode final season.
- “Revolution” will take an extended break, to make room for new dark family murder mystery ”Deception”, starring Meagan Good, on Mondays. “Deception” debuts January 7 at 10 PM ET. “Revolution“ will return on March 25. This is also the return date for “The Voice”.
- “Smash” returns on Tuesday, February 5, at 9 PM ET, with a two-hour premiere. Jennifer Hudson guest stars. The following week, the musical drama sets into its regular time slot of 10 PM ET.
- New White House comedy “1600 Penn” premieres Thursday, January 10, at 9.30 PM ET. It stars Bill Pullman and Jenna Elfman.
And here’s everything put together, directly from the press release.
Mondays:
The new drama “Deception” – starring Meagan Good (“Think Like a Man”), Victor Garber (“Alias”), Tate Donovan (“Damages”) and Katherine LaNasa (“Alfie”) in a dark family murder mystery — debuts on January 7 (10-11 p.m. ET). Preceding “Deception” is the new season of “The Biggest Loser” which returns with a two-night premiere on Sunday, January 6 (9-11 p.m. ET) and Monday, January 7 (8-10 p.m. ET), and will continue on Mondays (8-10 p.m. ET) until the return of “The Voice.”
“The Voice” maintains its momentum as it returns March 25 for a fourth season (8-10 p.m. ET) and Tuesday, March 26 (8-9 p.m. ET). It continues its two-night Monday/Tuesday schedule as it did this fall. “Revolution” — the season’s only bona fide new hit series — will return and follow “The Voice” on March 25 (10-11 p.m. ET) when it concludes its current fall broadcast dates in November.
Tuesdays:
Last year’s acclaimed musical drama “Smash” makes its much-anticipated return with a two-hour episode on February 5 (9-11 p.m. ET) — with Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson — and will resume on Tuesday, February 12 (10-11 p.m. ET) in its regular day and time. “Betty White’s Off Their Rockers” premieres on January 8 with back-to-back episodes (8-8:30 p.m. ET and 8:30-9 p.m. ET) and will continue in that hour each Tuesday.
“The Voice” also will return on Tuesdays on March 26 (8-9 p.m. ET).
Thursdays:
The new comedy “1600 Penn” — starring Bill Pullman (“Independence Day”), Jenna Elfman (“Dharma and Greg”) and Josh Gad (Broadway’s “The Book of Mormon”) as a typical American family who just happen to live in the White House — debuts on January 10 (9:30-10 p.m. ET). Jason Winer, Emmy-winning director of “Modern Family” is co-creator and director. The critically hailed comedy “Community” returns on February 7 (8-8:30 p.m. ET). “Parks and Recreation” moves up one hour on the Thursday schedule to 8:30-9 p.m. (ET) on January 17.
Sundays:
The new alternative series “Ready for Love” — an innovative and dramatic new relationship show about making real connections with executive producer Eva Longoria – premieres Sunday, March 31 (8-10 p.m. ET). Donald Trump’s “The Celebrity Apprentice” resumes with an “All-Star” edition of former celebrity contestants on March 3 (9-11 p.m. ET) for four weeks before continuing in one-hour episodes on Sunday, March 31 (10-11 p.m. ET).
And more casting news have appeared.
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- Vanessa Marcil and Tom Arnold have both scored guest parts on CBS’ “Hawaii Five-O”, per TVLine’s Vlada Gelman and TVGuide’s WIlliam Keck. Marcil will appear in a November episode as a therapist Steve McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin) suspect of messing with his mind upon her involvement in a murder case. Arnold will guest star in the current season’s ninth episode as the main villain, in a case about a Girl Scout outing that Steve and Danny (Scott Caan) visit.
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Revenge is a dish best served… by Michael Trucco.
The former “Battlestar Galactica” alum has been added to the cast of ABC’s “Revenge” for a recurring role, according to TVLine’s Michael Ausiello.
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Time for another big casting update.
- Per EW’s Tim Stack, veteran actor F. Murray Abraham (“Amadeus”, “The Name of the Rose”) has been added to the cast of Showtime’s upcoming second season of “Homeland”, where he’ll play the heavily recurring role of Dar Adul, “a brilliant intelligence operative in his 60-70’s. He has worked all over the world for the Special Activities Division of the CIA.”
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OK, I might be a bit behind on the reporting of the TCA Press Tour Updates. So let’s get right into the happenings at the FOX and NBC presentations.
First, there was FOX.
- “Glee” has added two new faces for the new season. Sean Geyer will play Brody Weston, a handsome underclassman showing interest in Rachel (Lea Michele), and Jacob Artist will join the cast as Jake Puckerman, Puck’s (Mark Salling) younger half-brother, who wants to join the glee club, but his bad boy attitude might derail his audition.
- Additionally, TVLine’s Michael Ausiello reports that Vanessa Lengies will return to “Glee”, reprising her role as eccentric pupil Sugar, on a recurring basis next season.
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The cast of the upcoming second season of NBC’s “Smash” has just gotten bigger.
Per TVLine’s Matt Webb Mitovich, theater thesp Andy Mientus has joined the cast of the Peacock’s musical drama, poised to return in midseason, as a new series regular for next season.
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When NBC’s musical series “Smash” returns for it second season in early 2013, it has scored itself its very own Oscar winner to bring along.
The network has announced that Jennifer Hudson, who won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and a Grammy in 2007 for her supporting role in “Dreamgirls”, has signed on to appear on “Smash” for multiple episodes.
Chris Eigeman / John Cho
Robert Patrick / Jeremy Jordan
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And here, to cap the week of, the news pack with the latest happenings.
- Per TVLine’s Vlada Gelman, “Gilmore Girls” alum Chris Eigeman has joined the cast of Amy Sherman-Palladino’s new ABC Family series “Bunheads”, where he will play Conor, the director of a play that Michelle (Sutton Foster) and Fanny (Kelly Bishop) attend.
Hello Folks
When the new season starts in the fall, and in the case of “The Game”, early next year, there will be several familiar faces missing from our TV screens, as multiple actors will be exiting their respective shows.
- According to TVLine’s Michael Ausiello, the fifth and final season of FOX’ “Fringe” will have to exist without the presence of Lincoln. Seth Gabel will not be back as a series regular, and, from the looks of it, won’t be part in any other way, either, since the bridge to the other universe, where “our” Lincoln now resides, has been permanently closed.
- Per TVLine’s Michael Slezak, “Smash” will return in midseason to NBC for its second season, but there are several actors who won’t be part of the show – at least not on a regular basis. Jaime Cepero (Ellis) and Raza Jaffrey (Dev) have been dropped as regulars, and it has yet to be decided if they will return to wrap up their characters’ storylines. Additionally, series regular Brian D’Arcy James (Frank, Julia’s “(Debra Messing) husband), and recurring actor Will Chase (Michael Swift) are leaving in season 2 as well.
But the show is in the process of adding three new regular characters to the new season, which have yet to be cast.
- And then there’s “The Game”, which has been renewed for a sixth season on BET, which will suffer quite the loss next year. As the network has announced, leading couple Tia Mowry Hardrict and Pooch Hall, whose Melanie and Dervin are at the center of the comedy, won’t be returning.
“As a result of Pooch’s involvement on a new project [which is Showtime's "Ray Donovan"], BET is in the process of reworking the casting and storyline of the show. While we will miss the incredible adventures of Melanie and Derwin on The Game, we appreciate all of their hard work, the laughs and wish them both the best on their future endeavors,” BET said in a statement. The network brass hopes that both actors are game for guest appearances.
