CBS Cancels Five Series

For months now, we’ve been wondering whether crime scene investigators in Miami or New York would get the pink slip as rumors circulated that one (or both) of the CSI spinoffs would get canceled.

We now know the answer. And it looks like David Caruso will be hanging up his shades for good after 10 seasons.

CBS has canceled the costlier of the two, so CSI: MIAMI will not return next season. CSI: NY, the cheaper of the two spinoffs, earned a reprieve and will be back for its ninth season.

The ax fell on four of the Network’s freshmen series.

UNFORGETTABLE, featuring Poppy Montgomery as a detective who can’t forget anything, except for the circumstances surrounding her sister’s death, apparently failed to be memorable enough for viewers.

CBS offered no life support to medical drama, A GIFTED MAN, starring Patrick Wilson as a talented neurologist haunted by the ghost of his ex-wife. Wilson caused a minor controversy when he tweeted that after hearing rumor after rumor about whether the show would return, he couldn’t be happier now the question was actually answered, adding that “As good as it was (sometimes) it was not what I signed on for.”

The sitcom ROB! actually looked quite promising when it began, boosting Thursday night numbers while paired with BIG BANG THEORY. But by the end of eight episodes, the numbers slipped enough to get it yanked.

NYC22 didn’t catch on quickly enough, and the show about rookie cops in the Big Apple is now permanently off duty.

Of the five shows, which one will you miss the most?

Live 5 WCSC to Remain on AT&T U-Verse Lineup For Now

Just to clear up any confusion from an errant post earlier: Live 5 WCSC will remain on the AT&T U-Verse service because of a temporary extension agreed to by both parties. Here is the statement from yesterday:

As you know, Live 5 WCSC has been negotiating with AT&T U-Verse to reach a fair, market-based agreement for carriage of our station. Unfortunately, we have not yet reached an agreement.

However, we have agreed to an extension until February 29. As a result, Live 5 WCSC will remain available on AT&T U-Verse as we continue to negotiate. Our goal is to reach an agreement and there will be no interruption of your service.

Please continue to check back here regularly for further updates.

As always, we sincerely appreciate your support and your viewership.

All of us at Live 5 WCSC wish you the happiest of new years!

A Special Message to AT&T U-Verse Customers

As you know, Live 5 WCSC has been negotiating with AT&T U-Verse to reach a fair, market-based agreement for carriage of our station. Unfortunately, we have not yet reached an agreement.

However, we have agreed to an extension until February 29. As a result, Live 5 WCSC will remain available on AT&T U-Verse as we continue to negotiate. Our goal is to reach an agreement and there will be no interruption of your service.

Please continue to check back here regularly for further updates.

As always, we sincerely appreciate your support and your viewership.

CBS Preparing for Thanksgiving Tradition

The Insider’s Kevin Frasier and Entertainment Tonight’s Christina McLarty will host CBS’s THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE starting at 9:00am on Thanksgiving Day.

The CBS tradition, now in its 51st year, will feature portions of the 85th Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade live from New York City, as well as performances by Grammy® Award-winning rock legend John Fogerty.  
 
Additional performances during the Parade will include the Broadway casts of the Tony Award-winning productions of “Anything Goes” and “Memphis.”
 
Frazier and McLarty will anchor from a site along the parade route in Times Square.  The beloved parade is famous for its gigantic balloons of cartoon character favorites, fantastic floats and lively marching bands from across the country.

Y&R’s Cooper Taking Temporary Medial Leave

Actress Jeanne Cooper is taking a brief leave from THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS for unspecified medical reasons. While we don’t know the specifics, Entertainment Weekly reports that the 83-year-old actress, who has portrayed Katherine Chancellor on the series since shortly after the show premiered, is okay.

In her absence, actress Michael Learned, who portrayed another famous matriarch, Olivia on CBS’s THE WALTONS, will fill in.

Learned’s appearances begin on November 10th.

Only once before can we remember a different actress filling in for Cooper, and that was in the 1980s when the late Gisele McKenzie portrayed Genoa City’s top diva for a few weeks.

Longtime fans of the show will no doubt object to the temporary replacement, but as the character is involved in several front-burner storylines, it wasn’t possible to write her off of the show until Cooper could return.

That return, incidentally, is expected to happen later this month, which would put Cooper back in her familiar surroundings some time in December.

Live 5 WCSC Hosting Facebook Chat for ‘Men’ Premiere

Watch tonight’s 9th season premiere of TWO AND A HALF MEN and log on to the Live 5 News Facebook fan page during the program for a live chat with Keke Collins.

Tonight’s the night fans of the show — and Charlie Sheen — have been talking about.  After Sheen’s now famous rants that got him fired from the show, the new season begins with his Malibu home going up for sale and a broken-hearted Internet billionaire showing up on the Harpers’ door as a potential buyer for the property.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months, you already know that the billionaire is being played by Ashton Kutcher, who joined the cast as Sheen’s successor.

Last night on the 63rd Annual Emmy Awards, Sheen made an appearance and mentioned his former show:

“From the bottom of my heart, I wish you nothing but the best for this upcoming season.”

The real question is, how well will the show do without its central character?

Join us tonight on the Live 5 News Facebook fan page at 9:00pm and tell us what you think as you watch!

Reality and Fiction Collide in Soap/Talk Crossover

A few weeks ago, Peter Bergman and Tracey E. Bregman, who play Jack and Lauren on CBS’s THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, made a guest appearance on THE TALK.

They appeared as actors, not their characters, to promote the Jabot cosmetics line.

Jabot is a fictional company on THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, started by Jack’s father, John Abbott. But now Jabot is also a real cosmetic brand created to attract fans of the show who had heard the name mentioned for decades on the soap.

But here’s where it gets really interesting.  Or confusing, depending on your point of view.

On Thursday, during THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS, the characters of Jack and Lauren travel from Genoa City, Wisconsin, to Los Angeles to appear on THE TALK. In that episode, they’ll be promoting the fictional version of Jabot Cosmetics while being interviewed by Julie Chen, Leah Remini, Holly Robinson Peete, Sara Gilbert and Sharon Osbourne, the female hosts of THE TALK, appearing as themselves.

If you understand all of that, you’re probably smart enough to solve the nation’s debt crisis.

Needless to say, the characters’ fictional appearance on the talk show was taped earlier on the same day that the actors appeared as guests.

So be sure to tune in to Thursday’s Y&R; there are sure to be surprises waiting for nearly everyone.

Osbourne Stepping Away from ‘The Talk’

Sharon Osbourne is said to be taking a break from CBS’s THE TALK sometime in September.

The New York Post reports that the reason she’s leaving is to spend more time with her husband, the legendary rocker Ozzy Osbourne, who is currently on an 18-month tour.  He is scheduled to get a break in September.

There’s no immediate word from CBS on how long of a break she has requested, but apparently there is no search for a replacement underway, which could indicate that the break is a relatively short one.

Osbourne is one of five hosts who have been with the daytime talk show from the beginning.  Her colleagues around the big table include Julie Chen, Holly Robinson Peete, Leah Remini and Sara Gilbert.

Osbourne’s other television credits include NBC’s America’s Got Talent and Celebrity Apprentice, as well as the cable reality series The Osbournes which she created and produced.

Osbourne is also a best-selling author of Revenge, about the competitive relationship between two sisters, and Sharon Osbourne Extreme: My Autobiography.

THE TALK airs weekdays at 2:00pm on LIVE 5 WCSC.

Live 5 News Introduces New News App

There’s a new app for that!

Live 5 News in introducing a new version of its popular news app with more features and an easier-to-use interface.

The new app is already available in the Android Market and on iTunes for iPhone users.  A Blackberry version is expected to be released by the weekend.

Users who have relied on the older version of the Live 5 News app will need to download the new version, as the old one is slated to stop working some time in the next few weeks.

The newly-redesigned app will feature the latest news, weather and sports stories and video in a cleaner format. It will also feature more content than its predecessor.

The app also sends out Breaking News push alerts. Viewers can also submit pictures, video and text new tips to us through the app. The entire app is very interactive, allowing viewers to thumb through news stories, scroll up and down, zoom in and share on Facebook, Twitter and through email.

To download the app, viewers can search “Live 5 News” (with spaces) in iTunes or the Android Market.

Get more details on the new app here.

Amazon Prime Adds Thousands of CBS Episodes

More viewing options are on the way to current customers of Amazon Prime, CBS and Amazon announced in a new deal on Wednesday.

The agreement brings 2,000 episodes from the CBS library to the service at no additional cost to consumers, bringing the total number of movies and TV shows available to more than 8,000.

Complete seasons of 18 television series, including the full Star Trek franchise, NUMB3RS, MEDIUM, Frasier and Cheers are part of the agreement. Starting this summer, Amazon Instant Video customers will be able to access dozens of CBS shows.

Though terms of the deal have not been disclosed, analysts have estimated that it could be worth as much as $100 million.

Amazon Instant Video is a paid streaming video service with more than 90,000 movies available for purchase or rental. Customers can watch from Amazon on a PC or Mac, or without a computer on an Amazon-compatible television set.