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‘Happy Endings’ Cancelled At ABC, Will USA Step In?

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday May 10, 2013 @ 5:41pm PDTTags: ABC, Happy Endings, Sony TV, USA Network
Nellie Andreeva

As expected, ABC has cancelled Happy Endings after three seasons. But not all is lost for the cult comedy. Sony TV, the leading studio behind the underrated comedy series, had reached out to a couple of networks, including USA, about the possibility of continuing the comedy there if ABC did not renew it. USA, which has been looking to break into the half-hour original series space, had expressed interest and has had discussions about picking up Happy Endings in case of a cancellation. No real conversations had been held, with the series now officially available, such are expected to begin.

If the financials can be worked out, a Happy Endings pickup would be fortuitous for USA, which has been actively developing half-hour comedies and has ordered several pilots but has yet to greenlight a half-hour series. USA had been looking to have an original comedy on tap for the fall premiere of its marquee off-network series Modern Family. Happy Endings would be a suitable companion for Modern Family as it already spent two seasons on ABC paired with the Emmy-winning family comedy. Happy Endings did well behind Modern Family, but its fortunes changed this past fall when it was moved to Tuesday to form a comedy block with Don’t Trust The B—- At Apt. 23 in a crowded comedy hour. Despite strong cult following and critical praise, Happy Endings struggled mightily on Tuesday and in its last Friday slot. ABC brass had been strongly supporting the show from Day 1, but they will likely won’t be able to keep the series on broadcast TV at these ratings levels.

Related: ABC Cancels ‘How To Live With Your Parents’, ‘Body Of Proof’, ‘Red Widow’, ‘Malibu Country’

Related: ABC Notifies Pilots That Didn’t Make It

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Alexis Bledel To Star In Fox Comedy Pilot ‘Friends & Family’

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Saturday March 2, 2013 @ 10:30am PSTTags: BBC Worldwide Prods., David Rosen, Friends & Family, Sony TV
Nellie Andreeva

In her first series regular role since Gilmore Girls, Alexis Bledel is set as the female lead opposite Jason Ritter in Friends & Family, Fox‘s single-camera comedy pilot from writer David Rosen, Sony TV … Read More »

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Sony Pictures TV Promotes Sales Execs

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday November 8, 2011 @ 10:21am PSTTags: Sony Pictures Television, Sony TV

Sony Pictures Television has upped Flory Bramnick to EVP U.S. Cable Sales and Philip Martzolf to EVP U.S. Syndication Sales, the company announced today. Bramnick, the SVP U.S. Cable Distribution since 2004, will run all sales ops for SPT and … Read More »

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NBC Buys Mystery Drama Penned By ‘Moonlight’ Co-Creator, Helmed By Michael Dinner & Produced By Sam Raimi

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday October 19, 2011 @ 11:00am PDTTags: Michael Dinner, NBC, Sam Raimi, Sony TV
Nellie Andreeva

NBC has bought Vanish, a mystery drama from Moonlight co-creator Trevor Munson, Sony TV and Sam Raimi and Josh Donen’s studio-based Star Road banner. Michael Dinner, who is under an … Read More »

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Fox Buys CIA Drama From Imagine, Family Comedy From ‘Big Bang’ Recurring Duo

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday October 18, 2011 @ 5:09pm PDTTags: 20th Century Fox TV, Imagine TV, Joe Weisberg, Principato-Young Entertainment, Sony TV
Nellie Andreeva

Fox has bought a CIA drama from writer Joe Weisberg (Falling Skies) and a multi-camera comedy from actor-writers John Ross Bowie and Kevin Sussman, best known for their recurring roles on CBS’ hit comedy The Big Bang Theory. The hourlong … Read More »

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NBC Buys Comedies From ‘Chelsea Lately’s Sarah Colonna & ‘Weeds’ Stephen Falk

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday October 18, 2011 @ 1:00pm PDTTags: Happy Madison, NBC, New Wave Entertainment, Sony TV, Universal TV
Nellie Andreeva

NBC has bought two more single-camera comedy projects: Life As I Blow It, from Chelsea Lately and After Lately writer-panelist Sarah Colonna, and Satellites, a workplace comedy from Weeds writer-producer Stephen Falk.

Life As I Blow It is based on Colonna’s upcoming book and follows Colonna and her life in the Midwest surrounded by eccentric friends and family whose opinions and actions know no boundaries. Happy Madison and Sony TV are producing along with Colonna’s management company New Wave Entertainment, Lunch Bag Snail Prods and Universal TV. Colonna will write the script and executive produce with Danielle Sanchez, who will supervise, Doug Robinson, Abbey MacDonald, Michael Pelmont and Brian Volk Weiss. APA-repped Colonna recently performed on the Comedians of Chelsea Lately tour. Read More »

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Sony TV Taps Paula Askanas As EVP Communications

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday October 11, 2011 @ 1:30pm PDTTags: Sony Pictures Television, Sony TV, Steve Mosko
Nellie Andreeva

Longtime Sony Pictures TV top PR executive Paula Askanas has been promoted to EVP Communications. She oversees business and trade press and internal communication for the company worldwide, reporting to SPT president Steve Mosko. “Paula’s ability to understand both a … Read More »

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MTV Buys Krysten Ritter/Eric Garcia Drama, USA Buys Richard Murphy Dramedy

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday October 6, 2011 @ 4:00am PDTTags: Krysten Ritter, MTV, Sony TV, USA Network
Nellie Andreeva

Krysten Ritter, star of ABC’s upcoming  comedy series Apartment 23, has sold her first TV project as a producer, the hourlong drama Cassandra French’s Finishing School For Boys based on Eric Garcia’s novel of the same name. Garcia (Matchstick Men) … Read More »

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‘Pan Am’ Takes Flight In France As TV Bigwigs Descend On Cannes For MIPCOM

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Saturday October 1, 2011 @ 5:04pm PDTTags: ABC, Anne Sweeney, Ashley Judd, Cannes, Disney ABC, Fox, Kevin Reilly, Mike Lang, MIPCOM, Miramax, Pan Am, Paul Verhoeven, Sony TV
Nellie Andreeva

Thousands of TV executives from around the world are en route to Cannes for the annual MIPCOM market, which starts on Monday. The great majority of them, who are flying into the nearby Nice airport, were greeted by a group of Pan Am stewardesses — a promotion for the new … Read More »

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Lifetime Renews ‘Drop Dead Diva’ For Fourth Season

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday September 22, 2011 @ 2:23pm PDTTags: Drop Dead Diva, Lifetime, Sony TV, TV Renewal
Nellie Andreeva

UPDATED: Lifetime has picked up a fourth season of dramedy Drop Dead Diva with a 13-episode order. Along with Army Wives, the Sony TV-produced Diva has been a solid ratings performer for the network, most recently averaging 2.2 million viewers … Read More »

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Pod Script Sales: Koppelman/Levien Set Up First TV Project, Jamie Tarses Sells Drama

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday August 26, 2011 @ 4:07am PDTTags: 20th Century Fox TV, CBS, Fanfare, Fox, Jamie Tarses, Sony TV
Nellie Andreeva

Filmmakers Brian Koppelman and David Levien have sold the first project under their their first-look deal with 20th Century Fox TV, the duo’s first formal TV deal. The project, drama Yard Dogs, which has received a script commitment from Fox, … Read More »

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TV Comedy Exec Scott Landsman Leaves Comedy Central To Go To Sony Pictures TV

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday April 27, 2011 @ 5:50pm PDTTags: Comedy Central, Sony TV
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: Scott Landsman, VP original programming and development at Comedy Central, is leaving the network. After fielding multiple offers, I hear he is in talks to join Sony Pictures TV as VP comedy development. There, he is expected to fill … Read More »

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Is Tal Rabinowitz Replacing Jeff Ingold As Head Of Comedy At NBC?

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday April 22, 2011 @ 2:56pm PDTTags: Bob Greenblatt, Jeff Ingold, NBC, NBC Comedy, Sony TV, Tal Rabinowitz
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: NBC chairman Bob Greenblatt didn’t want to make major changes to his development team until after the upfronts next month. But I hear at least one move is already in the works: that NBC’s head of comedy Jeff Ingold is expected … Read More »

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‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ Gets Israeli And Polish Versions

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday April 4, 2011 @ 3:00am PDTTags: MIPTV, Poland, Sony TV
Nellie Andreeva

More overseas love for Everybody Loves Raymond. Sony Pictures Television is announcing at MIPTV today that it has sold local-language versions of the hit CBS comedy in Israel and Poland. Poland’s TVN has ordered 30 episodes and Israel’s Reshet has picked … Read More »

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ABC Developing 2 Musical Series, Including A Bob Kushell Drama Starring Idina Menzel

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday November 30, 2010 @ 2:20pm PSTTags: ABC Development, ABC Musical Series, Bob Kushell, Sony TV, TV
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: Primetime musical series are red-hot courtesy of Fox’s Glee, and ABC, whose sibling Disney Channel started the genre’s resurgence with High School Musical and Hannah Montana, is developing a couple of music-themed series for next fall. Leading the pack … Read More »

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Lifetime Enters Action Movie Genre With ‘Close Quarters’

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday November 9, 2010 @ 4:57pm PSTTags: Cable TV, Catherine Bell, Gale Anne Hurd, Lifetime, Mekhi Phifer, Sony TV, TV
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: Lifetime, which has built its original movie brand with  biopics and films based on headline-making true stories, is venturing into the action thriller genre with Close Quarters, a telefilm from producer Gale Anne Hurd and Sony TV. Lifetime star Catherine Bell (Army Wives) toplines the movie, about Abby, a happy suburban wife and mother who has been concealing her dark past as a military-trained special-ops agent.  But when her husband is mysteriously kidnapped, Abby’s past returns to haunt her and she must risk everything to protect her daughter and save the man she loves. “It’s turning her role in Army Wives on its head – in this she is a capable special ops agent with a  military background and expertise in technology who holds her ground in the action area,” Hurd said, adding that the film for the first time will showcase Bell’s extensive martial arts training. Read More »

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ABC’s ‘Charlie’s Angels’ To Shoot Pilot

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday October 27, 2010 @ 5:21pm PDTTags: ABC, ABC Charlie's Angels Remake, ABC Pilots, Al Gough, Charlie's Angels Pilot, Drew Barrymore, Leonard Goldberg, Miles Millar, Sony TV, TV, TV Deals
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: After a year in development, ABC’s Charlie’s Angels reboot is headed to pilot production. The Sony TV-produced project was originally set up at ABC with a pilot commitment last November with Josh Friedman as a writer. It didn’t go … Read More »

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Fox Picks Up Peter Tolan ‘Council’ Comedy

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday September 17, 2010 @ 10:40am PDTTags: Bruce Feiler, Peter Tolan, Sony TV, The Council of Dads, The Council of Dads Pilot, TV, TV Deals, TV Pilots
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: Rescue Me co-creator/executive producer Peter Tolan has sold his 4th project to the broadcast networks this pitch season: The Council of Dads, a half-hour comedy based on the non-fiction book by Bruce Feiler. In doing so, Tolan landed one of the biggest commitments so far this year. I hear that, after bidding from multiple networks, The Council of Dads, which Tolan will write and executive produce, has been given a $1.5 million pilot production commitment by Fox. Sony TV, where Tolan is based, is producing. Read More »

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Networks Go For Dramas Based On Source Material; 3 More Adaptations Enter The Fray

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday September 10, 2010 @ 6:25pm PDTTags: Identity, Locke & Key, Michael Seitzman, Sony TV, Stephen King The Dark Tower, The Dark Tower, Treadstone, Treadstone Anthony Zuiker, Zoe Lister-Jones
Nellie Andreeva

With drama sale season in full force, book and format adaptations have emerged as a red-hot commodity. ABC is working on a U.S. version of hit British series Spooks with writer Michael Seitzman, NBC is developing an adaptation … Read More »

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