Grey's Anatomy will live on — with or without its original cast — but that may not be the case for General Hospital.
Though contracts for Grey's stars Ellen Pompeo, Patrick Dempsey and Sandra Oh expire after this season, the medical drama will continue no matter what happens, ABC Entertainment President Paul Lee said at the Television Critics Association winter TV previews.
Get more scoop on your favorite shows in our Winter TV preview
Lee was less certain about the fate of General Hospital — the last remaining soap on the network. The network has not yet made a decision, and he does not know when it will.
Also a question mark: Cougar Town's return date. An official date will be announced soon, with an eye on a March premiere.
Get caught up with all of ABC's TCA news below:
ABC boss: Still no premiere date for Cougar Town; Grey's looks strong
Whoopi Goldberg signs on to The Middle
Grey's boss Shonda Rhimes trades MerDer for Scandal: It's like a British miniseries
How will Desperate Housewives end? Marc Cherry teases a special cameo
View original ABC at TCA: Scoop on Grey's, General Hospital and When Cougar Town May Return at TVGuide.com
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Charles Barkley hosted Saturday Night Live for the third time which could only mean one thing — Scottie Pippen now owes him $75,000! For his monologue, Barkley offered the real (and very simple) explanation behind five-month National Basketball Association lockout that just ended last month. "In a nutshell, the problem is — ever since I left — the NBA's been crap and everybody's broke. The end." Sir Charles also talked about looking "less gigantic" after losing 38 pounds on Weight Watchers. "Some of you might be saying, 'Charles, isn't Weight Watchers for ladies?' But I tell them, 'Shut up, Michael Jordan! ... And congrats on your engagement.":
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Mocking the popular Twitter hashtag of the same name, Barkley investigated white people problems for a faux Investigation Discovery show. Problems included not sitting together on a flight, not knowing whether a chicken is free-range and a breaking crisis about how to un-invite friends to your summer house:
Barkley dressed in drag to play Joann broke the big news to her friends — that's she a lesbian. "I'm just shocked — look at you," one friend said, obviously referring to her big frame and deep voice. "You're such a girly girl," added another friend:
View original VIDEO: "Less Gigantic" Charles Barkley Returns to Host SNL — Pay Up Scottie Pippen! at TVGuide.com
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The Bachelor's Season 16 premiere averaged some 7.74 million viewers, down about 13 percent compared with a year ago, and its 2.4 rating among industry-prized 18-to-49-year-olds marked a 17 percent decline, preliminary Nielsen data shows.
Catch up on The Bachelor with our recap of Week 1
ABC as well as CBS and NBC apparently figured that folks were recovered enough from their New Year's revelry to watch all-new lineups, as Two and a Half Men returned to its customary post as Monday night's most-watched show (with the highest demo). ABC's sneak peek of Celebrity Wife Swap lured 6.3 million people (2.4 rating) — well shy of Castle's usual audience size this season in prime time's final hour, although the demo was comparable.
Check out the rest of the day's news on TVGuide.com
And more than a footnote: basic-cable numbers always come in later, and they're likely to show large audiences for ESPN's coverage of the Rose Bowl and Fiesta Bowl — both of which turned out to be down-to-the-wire, high-scoring games.
8 p.m.
CBS: How I Met Your Mother 10.22 million viewers (3.9 demo rating); 2 Broke Girls 12.05 million (4.6)
ABC: The Bachelor 7.74 million (2.4) {8-10 p.m.}
Fox: House [rerun] 3.68 million (1.2)
NBC: Who's Still Standing? 5.57 million (1.5)
CW: The Secret Circle [rerun] 992,000 (0.3)
9 p.m.
CBS: Two and a Half Men 13.79 million viewers (4.4 demo rating); Mike & Molly 11.93 million (3.8)
NBC: Fear Factor 5.90 million (2.4)
Fox: House [rerun] 3.83 million (1.2)
CW: The Secret Circle [rerun] 790,000 (0.3)
10 p.m.
CBS: Hawaii Five-0 11.73 million viewers (2.9 demo rating)
ABC: Celebrity Wife Swap 6.27 million (2.4)
NBC: Rock Center with Brian Williams 3.85 million (1.2)
View original Viewership for The Bachelor Premiere Declines 13 Percent at TVGuide.com
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Want to know if your favorite Fox show will be back next season? You're going to have to wait a little while longer.
In particular, the fates of House, Fringe and freshman series Terra Nova remain undecided, Fox Entertainment President Kevin Reilly told reporters Sunday at the winter TV previews. "We've done a good job of avoiding some of these big decisions," Reilly said with a laugh. "I do feel fortunate that we have some high-class problems."
House preps for the end
House's future has been in question since Reilly first announced a year ago that the show's eighth season may be its last. But Reilly says he's yet to come to a firm decision with show creator David Shore. "It's hard to imagine the network without House," Reilly said. "We're talking as we go along, but we haven't had the big meeting about what we want to do."
However, two things are certain: If this is the end of House's run, Reilly said it will "absolutely have a satisfying conclusion. ... It's not going have an unceremonious finish." Secondly, a House spin-off is definitely not in the cards. "That time has come and gone," Reilly said. "David just never creatively found something that excited him. Maybe something comes up in the 11th hour, and I would always want to hear that, but we're not in that desperate place where we need to keep some vestige of it going."
That Fox has a healthy schedule also plays into Reilly's decision regarding the renewal of the expensive dino-drama Terra Nova. (And that decision may be the one to come quickest: Reilly said production needs to get under way later this month if there is to be a second season.)
Get more scoop on your favorite shows in our Winter TV preview
"[Terra Nova] was an exciting bet to take. It was worthwhile," Reilly said. "We're trying to figure out... if that's the best show [for our schedule]. If we had more holes, we'd be thrilled to lock that right in. ... If this is all we produce, we made money on it, the studio made money on it, and the audience enjoyed it."
On the other hand, Fringe 's low ratings, despite improving the network's overall Friday night performance, are becoming increasingly cost-ineffective, Reilly said. "We lose a lot money on the show," Reilly said. "At that rating, on that night, it's almost impossible for us to make money on it. That's been the case now over the last season. We're not in the business of losing money."
But, Reilly insisted, he's not canceling it... yet. "I'm not doing the soft cancel here," Reilly said. "Please don't start the letter writing campaign now. ... We really do have to sit down with that entity and figure out if there's a number at which it makes sense. ... I don't want to drop the ball at the end and let the fans down. I hope we get some credit with the fans of seeing through a great show that they've enjoyed."
Get more scoop from TCA
One show Reilly has made a decision about: Allen Gregory. The animated comedy from Jonah Hill will not return. "We will not be making any more Allen Gregory," he said. "Our goal was to keep as many of the legacy [animated] shows intact, but we want to try to continue to take shots for the next generation. Some are going to work; some aren't. Allen Gregory, it turns out, was not it."
Other highlights from Reilly's session:
There will be no Glee spin-off: After some confusion regarding the future of graduating characters, including Lea Michele's Rachel and Chris Colfer's Kurt, over the summer, Reilly set the record straight. "There will not be a spin-off," he said. "Those characters will graduate, and it's led to a very interesting idea that I think is going to really give us something to dig into next season. That's all I can say about it now. But I like where it's going to really set us up in that spring batch of episodes and where it's going to set us up for next season."
Is Steve Jones out for X Factor's second season? Reilly would only say that tweaks would be made to the show overall before next season. "The hosting gig, as we know, is a much harder job than meets the eye," Reilly said. "I think everyone has come to learn the value of a Ryan Seacrest. Those are very hard jobs to do. Whether Steve's the guy or not, it comes under the heading of growth in general. There will be some tweaks to the show, but I am very happy to have it. It's going to be a part of us for a long time."
Speaking of Seacrest... Reilly said the network absolutely is making a play to keep him as the host of American Idol beyond this season, when his contract expires. "It's very hard to imagine the show without Ryan," he said. "We certainly want to keep him. There's no creative discussion there whatsoever. It is a deal issue... and it's a tough negotiation and one that will come to a conclusion pretty quickly."
Fox axes So You Think You Can Dance results show
On So You Think You Can Dance's format change: "Dance is still kind of a big tentpole of the summer," Reilly said. "I think it's going to be a nice change of format for the audience. It wasn't about reducing hours or cutting costs. We wanted to get a few more shows on over the summer and we wanted to smooth out our summer so we don't stop early and have these dead weeks leading up to the [fall] season."
Fox is launching a new animated comedy block. The network has signed a deal with Nick Weidenfeld, former head of program development for Adult Swim, to create new animated shows for a late-night block (11-12:30 pm/ET) on Saturdays. The original shorts and series will also be a part of a new digital channel that will be available via the Internet, mobile apps, on-demand, and other digital platforms.
View original Fox at TCA: What's Up With House, Fringe, Terra Nova and the Glee Spin-Off? at TVGuide.com
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This is how much of a drag the premiere of the poorly reviewed Work It was: the show put up numbers worse than those that got its predecessor, Man Up!. canceled.
The new series — which has already been criticized by GLAAD and deemed "an instant early candidate for Worst Show of 2012" — posted a 2.0 rating among 18-to-49-year-olds. That's 17 percent below the opening demo of the time slot's previous occupant, which managed to attract 7.7 million viewers for its debut, according to Nielsen overnights. (The series sank to 4.8 million viewers by its final outing.)
Check out the rest of the day's news on TVGuide.com
Meanwhile, The Biggest Loser scored a demo rating 30 percent lower than its January debut a year ago: 2.3 — an all-time low for its springtime run.
CBS scored its best Tuesday night since Premiere Week as NCIS broke the 20 million mark for the second time this season and its spin-off NCIS: Los Angeles pulled in its biggest audience of the season. Unforgettable also returned to easily win the final prime-time hour.
Finally, for those keeping score at home, CBS has taken the lead over Fox in the industry-prized demo after 15 weeks of the 2011-12 TV season (through Sunday, Jan. 1) -- 3.2 vs. 3.1. ABC and NBC are tied with 2.5. And The CW is last with 0.8. In viewership, CBS remains way in front of the pack, averaging 12.11 million viewers. Next comes ABC (8.70 million), Fox (8.57 million), NBC (7.37 million) and The CW (1.87 million).
8 p.m.
CBS: NCIS 20.02 million viewers (4.2 demo rating)
ABC: Last Man Standing 7.87 million (2.4); Work It 6.14 million (2.0)
Fox: Glee [rerun] 2.49 million (0.9)
NBC: The Biggest Loser 6.46 million (2.3) {8-10 p.m.}
CW: The Secret Circle [rerun] 998,000 (0.4)
9 p.m.
CBS: NCIS: Los Angeles 17.07 million viewers (3.5 demo rating)
ABC: Celebrity Wife Swap 6.00 million (2.2)
Fox: New Girl [rerun] 3.06 million (2.0); Raising Hope [rerun] 2.26 million (0.9)
CW: The Secret Circle [rerun] 715,000 (0.3)
10 p.m.
CBS: Unforgettable 11.62 million viewers (2.5 demo rating)
ABC: Body of Proof 6.97 million (1.5)
NBC: Parenthood 4.95 million (1.7)
View original Ratings: Work It Premiere Worse Than Man Up! at TVGuide.com
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