With murderous cult leader Joe Carroll (James Purefoy) now presumably back in FBI custody, The Following’s tortured hero Ryan Hardy (Kevin Bacon) now finds himself in need of a new nemesis. That’s where Ealy will come in. The former sympathetic android has been cast as a brilliant, chameleon-like serial killer, one that soon attracts the attention of Ryan. This represents a noted departure for Ealy, who usually plays characters operating on the good side of the law.

What exactly this development means for Joe Carroll’s future as a character on The Following is anyone’s guess, as producers have yet to offer any comment on just how involved James Purefoy will be with the horror/drama’s third season, which marks the end of series creator Kevin Williamson’s tenure as showrunner. Purefoy is indeed signed up to return, but he could very well find himself playing the imprisoned Hannibal Lecter to Ryan’s Will Graham, instead of The Following’s main antagonist.

The focus being taken off of Joe Carroll and his cult may actually end up being a blessing in disguise for The Following, as many fans felt that season two was too similar to season one, and often pushed the limits of credulity when it came to Joe’s seemingly worldwide influence.

The post ‘The Following’ Casts ‘Almost Human’s Michael Ealy as New Villain appeared first on TVHackr.

While CBS hasn’t addressed the topic yet, this move likely means that the Anna Faris-fronted comedy Mom will remain on Thursdays going forward. Mom and The Millers had switched time slots for the fall, and were originally set to switch back in January. Mike & Molly officially returns on Monday, December 8th, and it would be quite odd for CBS to bring the show back for a one-month run, then move it to a different night. Mom staying on Thursdays could end up being a blessing for the sophomore comedy, as that means it would stay behind ratings juggernaut The Big Bang Theory, which is consistently the best lead-in on network television.

Of course, Mike & Molly fans should hope that the veteran sitcom’s fortunes take a turn for the better behind 2 Broke Girls, as season four saw the comedy’s average rating drop from a 2.9 to a 2.2. The Millers’ average before being canceled was a 1.7, so M&M obviously still has some ways to go before it enters the danger zone. Still, Mike & Molly getting a sixth season is by no means a slam dunk, and will very much depend on its performance at least staying consistent with last year.

The post ‘Mike & Molly’ Return Date Announced appeared first on TVHackr.

The Millers starred Arnett as recently divorced local TV news reporter Nathan Miller, who has been going out of his way to hide the dissolution of his marriage from his dysfunctional parents Tom and Carol (Beau Bridges and Margo Martindale). Upon hearing the news, Tom and Carol decide to end their marriage as well, leading Carol to move in with Nathan, and Tom to move in with Nathan’s sister Debbie (Jayma Mays). In classic family sitcom fashion, neither pair can stand living together, and are constantly driving each other insane.

The first season of The Millers did quite well in the ratings, averaging a healthy 2.6 in the coveted 18-49 viewer demographic. Of course, a lot of that can be attributed to it airing after comedy juggernaut The Big Bang Theory. For season two, CBS decided to move The Millers to Mondays, with 2 Broke Girls as its new lead-in. Without Big Bang’s sheltering embrace to fall back on, The Millers’ average ratings plummeted to a 1.7, an overall decline of over 30%. While a 1.7 would likely equal a surefire renewal on a network like FOX or NBC, it’s not enough to impress the most popular broadcast network, leading CBS to cut its losses and cancel the show.

The Millers is set to finish filming its currently in-progress episode, then halt production immediately. Whether CBS will indeed air the rest of the series’ already produced episodes remains unclear.

The post ‘The Millers’ Canceled by CBS appeared first on TVHackr.

Below are the five new fall shows that have yet to receive word either way as to their status on the network. Included are the date they premiered, how many episodes they’ve aired to this point, where they’re produced (a sometimes crucial aspect of pickups and cancellations), what shows they essentially replaced, and whether TVHackr thinks they’ll be continuing on past episode 13.

Constantine (NBC)
Premiered: Friday, October 24th
Episodes Aired: 3
Production Studio: Warner Bros. Television
Previous Time Slot Occupants: Dracula (fall), Hannibal (winter/spring)
Will It Get More Episodes?: Yes. As long as Constantine manages to stay within a couple tenths of Grimm and keep itself above the 1.0 demographic line, I don’t see a reason why NBC wouldn’t give it some type of extension. Given the time slot, the show’s genre, and the lack of wide-reaching brand awareness, NBC couldn’t have been expecting Constantine to break out or build off of its lead-in, not when its first two weeks coincided with the World Series and Halloween. Even though the show is hurt by being an outside production vs. a co-production like Dracula or a NBCUniversal production like Grimm, Constantine is still NBC’s best, most reasonable option for the time being, especially with Grimm weaker than usual and the rest of the week in more pressing need of repair. With Hannibal said to not be ready until at least April, look for 18-ish episodes of Constantine, with possibly more if they want to confine Hannibal to summer.

Cristela (ABC)
Premiered: Friday, October 10th
Episodes Aired: 5
Production Studio: 20th Century Fox Television
Previous Time Slot Occupant: The Neighbors
Will It Get More Episodes?: Yes. The only way that Cristela doesn’t get some type of extension is if ABC decides to get rid of the Friday comedy bloc before slotting Shark Tank spin-off Behind the Tank at 8:00 this spring. The network would then end Cristela after its initial 13 episodes before doubling up on Last Man Standing originals and getting it off the schedule by March, a similar decision to ABC’s shortening Last Man Standing and Malibu Country to 18 episodes before using Fridays for Happy Endings burn-off. While that’s a distinct possibility, ABC seems too invested in Cristela to do something like that, not when Behind the Tank could be used to plug other holes on the schedule (e.g. Tuesdays at 8:00). With Shark Tank still around a 2.0 in the demo, Cristela is looking similar to The Neighbors in that it’s not performing that well but it’s not harming the night as a whole, so ABC could easily let it play out the string and see how it holds up come spring.

The McCarthys (CBS)
Premiered: Thursday, October 30th
Episodes Aired: 2
Production Studios: CBS Television Studios and Sony Pictures Television
Previous Time Slot Occupants: Two and a Half Men (fall), The Crazy Ones (winter/spring), Bad Teacher (spring)
Will It Get More Episodes?: No. The McCarthys came in as CBS’ lowest fall comedy premiere of all time and slipped in its second week, so it would have to greatly improve in the next couple of weeks in order to make it all season. And even then, CBS has projects to replace The McCarthys, which was picked up as a result of weak comedy development (a’la Partners from 2012), with, including Matthew Perry-starring The Odd Couple and the 22-episode fifth season of recently syndicated Mike & Molly. With Elementary at dangerously low levels, fellow comedy basement dweller The Millers owned by CBS, and Scorpion becoming the network’s biggest fall hit, thereby keeping the return of the Monday comedy bloc off the table for this season, there’s simply no room on the schedule for The McCarthys. At this point, if the show manages to air a double digit number of episodes, it would be a pretty tremendous victory.

Red Band Society (FOX)
Premiered: Wednesday, September 17th
Episodes Aired: 6
Production Studios: ABC Studios, Amblin Television, and Filmax International
Previous Time Slot Occupants: The X Factor (fall), American Idol (winter/spring)
Will It Get More Episodes?: Maybe. A Red Band Society extension depends on two things: 1) how much FOX values (and can monetize) DVR ratings and 2) what FOX wants to do with Fridays. Red Band Society has made itself competitive for a back order thanks to strong Live + 3 and Live + 7 numbers, which offset pretty dire Live + Same Day ratings, but where those numbers have been harder for the networks to monetize, they might not be enough for Red Band to see past its thirteenth episode. What could help the show’s case, though, is what FOX decides to do with Fridays; back order or no back order, Red Band Society will have to move from its Wednesday slot to accommodate American Idol, so its best hope for an extension is that FOX keeps it around to fill out Fridays this spring. If FOX believes in it enough, it might be able to shift to Tuesdays with female-friendly comedies New Girl and The Mindy Project, where the three would have to feed off of one another, but the most likely fate for Red Band, should it get a back order, is Fridays with the final season of Glee.

State of Affairs (NBC)
Premiered: Monday, November 17th
Episodes Aired: 0
Production Studio: NBCUniversal Television
Previous Time Slot Occupant: The Blacklist
Will It Get More Episodes?: Yes. It’s not as emphatic a yes as one would expect given the factors working for the show (Katherine Heigl’s return to television, a spot behind The Voice, Blacklist-y ad campaign), but that’s moreso due to the strange scheduling than anything about the show itself. NBC will be airing three episodes of State of Affairs behind a weakening The Voice before (presumably) bringing it back in January as a lead-out to Celebrity Apprentice; had State of Affairs started out behind The Voice, thereby getting that show’s highest ratings as a lead-in and airing in a similar pattern, it would’ve been a shoe-in for a back order. However, the on-off scheduling and the weaker lead-in will be a major test for State of Affairs, one that, if it can hang on to February/March and the return of The Voice, could lead to an extension that will take it through the remainder of the season and help it make it a decent push for season two.

The post Which New Fall Shows Will Receive Back Orders? appeared first on TVHackr.

Created by John Logan (Gladiator), the first season of Penny Dreadful focused on African explorer Sir Malcolm Murray (Timothy Dalton) and the search for his kidnapped daughter Mina (Olivia Llewellyn). With the help of enigmatic Vanessa Ives (Eva Green), a friend from Mina’s past, as well as Victor Frankenstein (Harry Treadway), Malcolm must locate his daughter before any harm can be done to her by her supernatural captors.

Debuting to 1.44 million viewers this past April, Penny Dreadful stars Reeve Carney (Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark) as lonely, self-isolating Dorian Gray; Rory Kinnear (Skyfall) as reanimated corpse Caliban, who tracks down the man who brought him back and demands a mate; and Billie Piper (Secret Diary of a Call Girl) as Irish immigrant Brona Croft, a woman seeking escape from her troubled past.

The 10-episode second season of Penny Dreadful is slated to premiere in 2015. You can check out a teaser for the second season below, as well as a recap of the first season finale here.

Will you be purchasing the first season of Penny Dreadful? If you’ve already seen the show, are you going to use its availability to introduce it to others? What would you like to see out of Penny Dreadful next season?

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