Not long after CBS showed its hand regarding a trio of drama projects, ABC has given a pilot order to what would be the network's first series from überproducer Jerry Bruckheimer. ABC also greenlit prospective series from Mark Gordon (Grey's Anatomy) and McG (Terminator Salvation).
Bruckheimer's untitled pilot, says the Hollywood Reporter, revolves around a team of amateur detectives who ...
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CBS Mobile is launching this week a cell-phone game based on CSI: Miami. I imagine it's like Donkey Kong, but instead of barrels you jump little flipping sunglasses.... Producer Mark Gordon (Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, Army Wives) has inked a new deal to stay put at ABC Studios through 2011.... Brooks & Dunn, Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood are among the performers lined up thus far for the CMA Awards, airing Nov. 7 on ABC.... Brokeback Mountain writer Annie Proulx has greenlit an opera about those two frisky cowpokes.... The ratings people have begun beta-testing "Hey! Nielsen," an online forum in which TV enthusiasts can express their views.
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ESPN on Sept. 4 will reenter the ring with a third round of The Contender, the first to feature full and uncut fights on ESPN2. Sugar Ray Leonard will again host, says the Reporter.... CBS has given a greenlight to the pilots Worst Week (a half-hour comedy based on the U.K.'s The Worst Week of My Life, and to be penned/exec-produced by Scrubs' Matt Tarses), as well as a medical drama from Kasi Lemmons (Talk to Me) and Mark Gordon (Grey's Anatomy).... Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights) and scribe Sheldon Turner are developing for FX a dark drama about two cops undercover with the Russian Mafia, says Variety. The series is being eyed as a successor to The Shield.
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Lifetime's Army Wives (Sundays at 10 pm/ET) doesn't take a stance on the war, but it's still making a big noise. Since its June 3 debut, the soap has smashed the female-friendly network's ratings records with almost four million viewers a week. It doesn't hurt that the show stars popular TV veterans Kim Delaney (NYPD Blue) and Catherine Bell (JAG) and that it's lustier than Lifetime's usual fare. But Army Wives also seems to be striking a chord with its depiction of military family life — a world full of rituals, duties and sacrifices unknown to most of America. "People keep coming up to me saying it's about time we see the female perspective on war," explains ex
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