Some TV shows are undergoing a bit of a shakeup right now with several shows getting renewals but only just barely according to Zap2It. The good news is that fans of "24", "Alias", "The Shield" and "Smallville" will be happy to hear their shows are all coming back for fourth seasons despite all having suffered slightly eroded ratings during their current third seasons.
In all cases it's believed the drops are partly due to large DVD sales for all four shows with many opting to skip the weekly visits and opt for large 'marathon weekend viewings' of the disc sets which (at least in the first three show's cases) are released a mere few weeks after the season finale and better suit the format of these complex multi-twisted narrative shows.
It's also expected "Smallville" will move to a later timeslot next season to compensate for the drop.
Meanwhile, UPN is undergoing a thorough once-over right now with its former flagship "Enterprise" now under heavy scrutiny about its chances to return for a fourth season next year (at present the decision hasn't been made).
In some surprising news from Mediasharx, The WB looks like it has filled its two new Fall drama slots with coming of age drama "Jack & Bobby" and sudser "The Mountain". As a result it's likely the network will dump both its high profile remakes of classic 60's shows - the gothic vampire drama "Dark Shadows" and the sci-fi update "The Robinsons: Lost in Space". Thus with "Angel" over, it leaves "Smallville" the sole 'genre' series the network has left.
Meanwhile production on "Empire", ABC's eight-episode limited-run series about Ancient Rome, began a month ago but reports are abuzz that ABC may be prepared to pull the plug on the $30 million production or possibly reduce the series order to six episodes after several last minute replacement of major crewmembers and an exchange rate shift adding millions to the hefty initial budget.
Thanks to 'Gareth' & 'Gustavo'
