We already have the fall TV season’s most surprising cancelation: Southland.

The NBC cop drama wasn’t even scheduled to bow its second season until Oct. 23, but NBC has already pulled the plug, sadly, on the show that was one of the best network premieres last season. Part of the reason for the cancelation: NBC says the show’s too dark and gritty for the 9PM broadcast network hour, which, of course, is the latest slot NBC has available in primetime with the lame Jay Leno Show taking up 10PM Monday-Friday. Sigh.

Southland, a Warner Bros. TV production, started off as a midseason series on NBC last spring, taking over the timeslot vacated by another John Wells production, ER. The show won good ratings that dwindled as the episodes unfolded, but earned great critical reviews and had a loyal following heading into its new Friday night home for its second season.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the show may be pitched to cable networks … Southland would fit in well with great dramas like Sons of Anarchy and Damages, don’t you think, FX execs?

Meanwhile, it’s bad enough that NBC’s new series – like the generically, forgettably-titled medical dramas Trauma and Mercy – have failed to wow anyone, but now the network is just throwing away the buzzworthy scripted series it could potentially nurture into a ratings hit?

Sad.

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• Filed in Drama, TV News
• Tags: Southland, Southland canceled, The Jay Leno Show

All the tube news that’s fit to surf …

– Here’s official proof that anyone can get a reality series these days: Tobey Maguire‘s mom – yes, Spider-Man’s mama – is working on a reality series that will focus on her attempts with her other son, 15-year-old Weston, to remain normal in the shadow of her famous son’s Hollywood life. Next up: the guy who waves at you when you drive by his house while he’s mowing the lawn gets his own reality show.

– No surprise here: Both Burn Notice and Royal Pains have been renewed on USA Network. The shows’ popularity led to USA ending July as the most-watched cable network on the tube.

– Prison Break star Robert Knepper and his evil Samuel will be a regular on the fourth season of Heroes, and The Hollywood Reporter has a preview clip of the new season.

– Pre-season research is indicating that CBS’ NCIS spin-off NCIS: Los Angeles and The Jay Leno Show could be among the big breakout hits of the fall.

– It’s not a return to Deadwood, but Timothy Olyphant will be playing a marshal again, this time in FX’s new drama Lawman. Olyphant will play Raylan Givens, an Elmore Leonard character whose retro approach to being a lawman gets him sent to Kentucky to deal with baddies in his hometown. Bonus: The Shield star Walton Goggins (who so deserved an Emmy nod for the last season of that show) will be among Lawman‘s guest stars.

– Wonder what you’d look like as a Mad Men character? Would you be a chain-smoking, cocktail-swilling shark of an ad exec, or would you just be drawn that way? Find out at MadMenYourself.com, where you can create your own animated Mad Men-era you.

– Degrassi: The Next Generation star Aubrey Graham, who’s better known as red-hot rapper Drake these days, has signed on to co-star with another Degrassi alum, Mazin Elsadig, in a new Canadian sitcom called Us & Them.

– The Bachelor‘s Chris Harrison and Dancing with the Stars‘ Carrie Ann Inaba have signed a deal to become the new hosts of the TV Guide Channel’s awards show red carpet coverage, beginning with the Emmys on Sept. 20.

– Emmy nominee Sarah Silverman, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen and the Manning brothers will be among the voice guest stars on the 21st season of The Simpsons, which debuts Sept. 27 on Fox.

– USA Today has a fun profile of Hoboken Buddy Valastro, who, thanks to TLC’s addictive Cake Boss, has joined Ace of Cakes‘ Duff Goldman as a rock star cake baker.

– George Lopez‘s late-night talk show will debut on TBS in November.

– And tonight in primetime:

– The top six perform on So You Think You Can Dance (8PM ET, Fox)
– Oxygen is airing the 1998 made-for-TV movie gem Gia (8PM), featuring Angelina Jolie (who won a Golden Globe for the role) as real-life, AIDS-stricken ’80s supermodel Gia Carangi and Lost‘s Elizabeth Mitchell as her girlfriend
– Nate and the team try to catch a bad guy by releasing a deadly virus on Leverage (9PM, TNT)
– They’re in Vegas, baby, Vegas on America’s Got Talent (9PM, NBC)
– Velcro suits and cat costumes are part of the fun (?) on I Survived a Japanese Game Show (9PM, ABC)
– On Throwdown with Bobby Flay (9PM, Food Network), Bobby tries to make better sloppy joes than the guys who own NYC eatery Schnipper’s (good luck, Bob – they make a mean sloppy joe)
– It’s the champions round on Top Chef Masters (10PM, Bravo)
– Women who live in different cities swap towns to try and find love on the premiere of SoapNet’s Holidate (10PM)
– The Dark Blue (10PM, TNT) team tries to nab a drug dealer who’s hip to cop tactics
– There’s a Ponzi scheme afoot on The Philanthropist (10PM, NBC)
– More stage moms and their heavily make-up-ed tots will creep you out on Toddlers & Tiaras (10PM, TLC)
– On Verminators (10PM, Discovery): rats and an 11-foot alligator
– Joey may get the boot when he’d rather party and sleep than work on The Real World: Cancun (10PM, MTV)
– And Michael & Michael Have Issues (10:30PM, Comedy Central) with trying to find a date for Marla

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• Tags: Aubrey Graham, Buddy Valastro, Burn Notice, Cake Boss, Carrie Ann Inaba, Chris Harrison, Drake sitcom Us & Them, George Lopez talk show, Heroes season 4, Mad Men, NCIS: Los Angeles, rapper Drake, Robert Knepper Heroes, Royal Pains, Sarah Silverman Jonah Hill Seth Rogen The Simpsons, Simpsons season 21 guest stars, The Jay Leno Show, Timothy Olyphant Lawman, Tobey Maguire's mom reality show, Walton Goggins

All the tube news that’s fit to surf …

– In the wake of Walter Cronkite‘s death, who’s now America’s most trusted newsman? A Time.com poll says it’s Jon Stewart.

– Speaking of Cronkite, the Discovery Channel is airing the news legend’s eight-part documentary on the 20th century, Cronkite Remembers, this Sunday.

– Nip/Tuck star Joely Richardson will play Henry VIII‘s last wife, Catherine Parr, on the upcoming final season of Showtime’s The Tudors.

– Comedy Central is planning a straight-to-DVD movie version of its politically incorrect (to put it mildly) ‘toon Drawn Together.

– What’s wrong with kiddie beauty pageants? Check out a clip from last night’s Toddlers & Tiaras season premiere, in which a four-year-old describes her mom’s talking hands as her best friends. Really, just watch it.

– The Jay Leno Show will have a different director than Leno’s Tonight Show, and the new helmer is an old Conan O’Brien director. BTW, “Stuttering” John Melendez will be a part of Leno’s new primetime show, but as a writer instead of an announcer. The official Website for the comedian’s new show is up on NBC.com, where fans can watch The Jay Leno Show set being constructed.

– The Bio Channel is premiering new TV-related Biography episodes in August, including installments on Family Ties, Roseanne and Three’s Company.

– TV Guide.com’s complete guide to Comic Con just makes me regret not planning a trip to the San Diego event this year … so many great TV happenings there.

– There’s a great line-up for HBO’s special on the 25th anniversary celebration for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, including Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Stevie Wonder, Metallica, Simon and Garfunkel and Aretha Franklin. Just one quibble: Since the Rock Hall of Fame is in Cleveland, couldn’t organizers have planned the event for that city, which could certainly use the potential influx of tourist cash the concert would bring, instead of Madison Square Garden?

– And tonight in primetime:

– Sadly, it’s officially the end of the road for Samantha Who? (8PM ET, ABC), as back-to-back episodes make up the series finale
– Prepare for next week’s Real Housewives of Atlanta season premiere with a look at The Real Housewives of Atlanta: Lost Footage special on Bravo (8:30PM)
– The rumors were true, and Katie Holmes performs on the 100th episode of So You Think You Can Dance (9PM, Fox)
– On She’s Got the Look (9PM, TV Land), the contestants have to test their TV hostess skills
– It’s night four of the Torchwood: Children of Earth miniseries (9PM, BBC America)
– Michael helps save a boy from his abusive stepfather on Burn Notice (9PM, USA)
– Dr. Drew Pinsky hosts 16 & Pregnant: Life After Labor (10PM, MTV), which reunites all the teen mamas from the first season
– Hank has a patient whose serious injuries aren’t evident at first on Royal Pains (10PM, USA)
– Kat heads to NYC to promote her cosmetics line on LA Ink (10PM, TLC)
– There’s a new episode of Most Popular on WE (10PM)
– A winner is chosen on The Fashion Show season finale (10PM, Bravo)
– And Emily celebrates her move to Vegas in the season finale of Southern Belles: Louisville (10PM, SoapNet)

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• Tags: Comic Con, Drawn Together movie, Jon Stewart, Most trusted newsman in America, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame anniversary concert, The Jay Leno Show, The Tudors Joely Richardson, Toddlers & Tiaras, Walter Cronkite

All the tube news that’s fit to surf …

– Farrah Fawcett‘s death has seemingly taken a backseat to Michael Jackson coverage in the media, but TV Land will air the first two episodes of the late Charlie’s Angels star’s 2005 celebreality series Chasing Farrah on June 27 at 9PM ET. NBC will re-air Farrah’s Story, the recent two-hour documentary that followed her battle against cancer, tonight at 9PM, while the Bio Channel will air Bio Remembers: Farrah Fawcett June 29 at 10PM.

– The deaths of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson apparently sparked some Internet pranksters to start rumors about the deaths of Law & Order: Criminal Intent star Jeff Goldblum and Harrison Ford. Weird, random totally untrue.

– The Sarah Palin hubbub helped David Letterman best The Tonight Show in the ratings for the first time in more than three years.

– It’s a go: Noah Wyle will star in Steven Spielberg‘s alien-invasion pilot for TNT.

– The Scientologists are taking to the airwaves again with a new series of TV commercials, including one that aired Wednesday night during 360 with Anderson Cooper on CNN.

– Privileged star Joanna Garcia will pop up on the new season of Gossip Girl as Bree Buckley, a nasty Southerner who’s rumored to have a little somethin’-somethin’ going with Chace Crawford‘s Nate.

– NBC has announced its fall schedule premiere dates, including the premiere of The Jay Leno Show on Sept. 14 and the Sept. 17 premiere of Community, the best new sitcom to hit the tube since 30 Rock (which, by the way, returns to the network’s line-up on Oct. 15).

– If American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert doesn’t drop a great debut album, it won’t be because of a lack of talented collaborators. Among those writing and performing with Lambert on his disc are One Republic‘s Ryan Tedder and Idol judge/songwriter Kara DioGuardi, but also musicians who’ve worked with Evanescence, David Archuleta, Kelly Clarkson, Katy Perry, Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Christina Aguilera, Jason Mraz and Britney Spears.

– Jeri Ryan will play a new con woman on TNT’s Leverage.

– The U.S Postal Service is releasing a new series of stamps that will honor classic TV stars and shows. The Aug. 11 release will find stamps featuring Groucho Marx, Rod Serling, Howdy Doody, Lassie, The Lone Ranger, The Honeymooners and I Love Lucy.

– And, a Fraggle Rock comic book?! Yep, it’s happening.

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• Filed in Celebreality, Reality, TV News
• Tags: Adam Lambert, American Idol, Chace Crawford, Charlie's Angels, David Letterman, Farrah Fawcett, Fraggle Rock, Gossip Girl, Groucho Marx, Howdy Doody, I Love Lucy, Jeff Goldblum, Jeri Ryan, Joanna Garcia, Kara DioGuardi, Lassie, Leverage, NBC Community, Noah Wyle, One Republic, Rod Serling, Ryan Tedder, Scientologists, Scientology, Steven Spielberg, The Honeymooners, The Jay Leno Show, The Lone Ranger, The Tonight Show

All the tube news that’s fit to surf …

– IGN.com’s counting down the “25 Funniest Will Ferrell Characters.” It’s a great list (when Roger Klarvin, Ferrell’s character in the funny “luv-ahs” skits on Saturday Night Live, only merits a spot at number 20, you know there are some great ones coming up). This is a big week for Ferrell – not only does the big-screen makeover of Land of the Lost open on Friday, but he’s nominated for a Tony Award on Sunday.

– VH1’s upcoming miniseries The Great Debate is sorta like Lewis Black’s Root of All Evil in reverse. Instead of debating which of two pop culture ideas is the worst, The Great Debate will feature talking heads like Omarosa, Jerry Springer and Tila Tequila debating which is better – Star Wars or Star Trek, Rocky or Rambo, Jeopardy or Wheel of Fortune … you get the idea. The week-long series kicks off on July 6, and fans can weigh in now by voting on such topics as “Funny or Not?” (including Adam Sandler, Dane Cook and Kathy Griffin), “Sibling Rivalry” (Kevin or Matt Dillon? Owen or Luke Wilson? Paris or Nicky Hilton?) and “Hot or Not?” (including Michael Phelps, Fergie and Zach Braff). Sounds like a fun summer series, though you have to wonder, weren’t any of the Best Week Ever peeps available? Omarosa and Tila Tequila aren’t exactly, to play off the title, the great debaters.

– So you wanna be a star? Auditions for American Idol, season nine, kick off in Boston on June 14.

– The ratings are in, and the season premiere wasn’t a fluke. Plenty of people are still rubberneckin’ at the trainwreck that is Jon & Kate Plus 8. More Gosselin news: US Weekly is featuring the fam on its cover for a sixth consecutive week. Almost makes you nostalgic for the days when Britney was doing something crazy every week, huh?

– Claire (Hayden Panettiere) is getting a college roommate on Heroes next season, and she’s being played by Californication‘s Madeline Zima.

– The Jay Leno Show will debut on NBC on Sept. 14.

– Breaking Bad‘s second season just ended, but there’s already a preview clip for season three.

– And Grandma Gilmore, a.k.a. Gilmore Girls (and Dirty Dancing!) great Kelly Bishop, will guest star in the new season of Army Wives … as a cougar!

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• Filed in American Idol, Boob Tube to Big Screen, Late Night, Reality, TV News
• Tags: Adam Sandler, American Idol, American Idol auditions, Army Wives, auditions, Best Week Ever, Breaking Bad, Breaking Bad season three, Californication, Dane Cook, Dirty Dancing, Fergie, Gilmore Girls, Gosselins, Hayden Panettiere, Heroes, Jeopardy, Jerry Springer, Jon & Kate Plus 8, Kathy Griffin, Kelly Bishop, Kevin Dillon, Land of the Lost, Lewis Black's Root of All Evil, Luke Wilson, luv-ahs, Madeline Zima, Matt Dillon, Michael Phelps, Nicky Hilton, Omarosa, Owen Wilson, Paris Hilton, Rambo, Rocky, Roger Klarvin, Saturday Night Live, Star Trek, Star Wars, The Great Debate, The Jay Leno Show, Tila Tequila, Tony Award, Wheel of Fortune, Will Ferrell, Zach Braff