renewed

This should come as no surprise to anybody who's been following the current television season. CBS has renewed The Good Wife and NCIS: LA for second seasons. Both shows are part of a solid Tuesday night lineup for CBS, amassing strong Nielsen ratings and even better numbers in total viewers, holding much of the audience from the NCIS lead in. All that adds up to a winning formula, and thus, CBS wasn't going to break up a good thing.

As for the quality of the two shows, they both deserved renewal. They've improved as the season has progressed, especially The Good Wife. What started out as a good premise has morphed into a very compelling legal drama with a lingering subplot – exactly what did Alicia's husband do to warrant the wrath of the enemies that have put him in prison? It's also a terrific set of actors and a star-turn by Julianna Margulies.

It was graduation day for a number of hourlong dramas.

TNT announced Thursday that it has renewed the Ray Romano drama 'Men of a Certain Age' for a second season. Meanwhile, CBS made a slightly more obvious decision, picking up the strongly rated 'NCIS: Los Angeles' and 'The Good Wife' for second campaigns, according to the Ausiello Files.

'NCIS: Los Angeles' and 'The Good Wife' rank at the top two new shows on television in terms of total viewers, averaging 16.8 million and 13.7 million sets of eyeballs, respectively.

'Glee' is on a roll, and we're not just talking about the wheelchair-bound, soul-singing character Artie.

Monday morning Fox announced at the Television Critics Association confab that the sweetly buoyant TV phenomenon 'Glee' will return to Fox's 2010 fall line-up for an encore season. The adequately rated program about high school misfits who sing and dance their hearts out has struck a chord with the American public looking for something truly original in a TV landscape mostly filled with run-of-the-mill procedural and medical shows.

It's FOX day at the TCAs, and we've been greeted by a press release announcing that Glee, halfway through its first season, has been renewed for a second season.

"The show is a true and rare gem in television," said FOX entertainment president Kevin Reilly in the release. "We couldn't be more proud of what Ryan Murphy and the Glee team have created so far, and can't wait to see what they come up with for season two."

Can't say this is much of a surprise, given the show's popularity as well as it's off-network marketing potential. Mall tours, concert tours, World Series appearances... all of this is shaping up to make the show the feel-good hit of the 2010s, doesn't it?

It looks like HBO is so in love with Gabriel Byrne's turn as Dr. Paul Weston that they're willing to go into uncharted territory with him. While the Isreali series BeTipul, on which it was based, only went two seasons, HBO has ordered a third round of In Treatment.

This is significant because the series remained incredibly faithful to the original series through both of its first two seasons. For this new third season, the writers will have to create all new patients, stories and drama for our beleaguered psychotherapist. Gabriel Byrne is already attached to continue his role, of course. It wouldn't be a show without him. I hope they can secure Dianne Wiest again as Paul's mentor and therapist, Gina.

When ITV canceled their hit series Primeval, I was baffled. This was the top-rated show on BBC America, and it was a pretty solid hit worldwide as well. Apparently, I was right about that, though, as BBC Worldwide and German ProSeiben are part of a complex deal that enabled the show to go back into production.

If only there were an organizaton like that that could step in every time a network axes a sci-fi show on a massive cliffhanger, like Primeval was. Even better, the renewal gives the series two new seasons at 13 episodes each. We're going to have to wait until 2011 to find out how Connor and Abby get out of that tree, but that's better than never finding out.

Unlike the Jericho renewal of a few years back, this deal doesn't include any reductions in budget of any kind, so not only will they be able to keep the entire cast intact, the effects budget remains untouched. I'm glad to hear that, as I don't think I was ready for men in rubber suits chasing the crew around.

Good news for everyone who's ever been screwed by someone in power. Not so good news for everyone in power. TNT just picked up Leverage for a third season, and I couldn't be happier. In the first season, Leverage worked because of the cleverness of the heists the gang got up to. I found myself trying to figure out all the angles they were working, but by the end they still managed to trick me a couple of times.

The second season saw them lose their stately headquarters and tackle these jobs in a much more street level fashion, and in several ways the show got better. At the same time, rather than the heist always taking center stage, at times it was our five characters that shone brightest.

By that I'm referring to the quirks of their individual personalities, because we haven't gotten a great deal of character development this season. The banter and camaraderie within the crew gives us some great lines and moments each week, though. Now that a third season is secured, I'd like to see the character arcs for those great personalities pick up again.

Just got off the phone with Carter Bays, co-creator of How I Met Your Mother (Craig Thomas was doing another interview). He confirms that, as earlier reports indicated, the show has been renewed for a fourth season.

"I think we can say it. We got our pickup. We're on the schedule, so we hear," he told me. As far as where the show will be on the schedule, he doesn't know, but "we'll be happy to be anywhere." When I asked him if he was confident that the show was going to be picked up, he said "Call me crazy, but I never really doubted it. I just felt like this show has a lot of creative life left in it, and that it's too good of an environment to up and disappear."

I asked him a lot about Britney Spears' appearance and if it was the reason why the show got picked up. "The cynical answer would be Britney, but I do think that even before that ... during the strike especially, when I managed to get out in the world it felt like enough people liked the show and proselytized for it that it's grown in viewership."

The full interview will be up either tomorrow or Thursday, where I ask Bays about Britney, not making the show guest star-heavy, some info on the finale, and why the heck was that framed letter in Stella's apartment. Stay tuned.

Well, it looks like fans of How I Met Your Mother (me! me!) and The Unit (maybe my parents?) have some early good news ahead of CBS's upfront, which is scheduled for tomorrow: The LA Times' Show Tracker blog is reporting that both shows will be renewed (thanks to Greg for leaving a comment with the link last night).

The article talks more about HIMYM, of course, mentioning that Britney Spears' first appearance gave the show the boost it needed to carry it to a fourth season. I wish that wasn't true, but I'm pretty sure it is. As much as fans of HIMYM (me! me!) hated the distraction Brit Brit brought to the show, and really hated her wooden performance (especially last night, according to many of the commenters on my review of "Everything Must Go"), they have to admit that without the pop tart, the show might not have made it.

Sigh. Oh, well. Whatever gets the job done, right? I'll see if I can confirm the renewal when I speak to Carter Bays and Craig Thomas later today.

Great news for people who like standing comics and Americans who have talent: NBC has renewed both Last Comic Standing and America's Got Talent. Both series will return next summer.

The hosts from both shows, Talent's Jerry Springer and Standing's Bill Bellamy, will return for the new seasons. Talent judges Sharon Osbourne, David Hasselhoff and Piers Morgan will also return.

Las Vegas is one of those shows that I've always thought was in the same category as Wings and Just Shoot Me!, one of those nice little shows that never generates any buzz, but does just well enough in its timeslot to keep getting renewed. If you're around on a Friday night and there's nothing to watch, it's always good to stumble across the show; the beautiful triumvirate of Cox, Marcil, and Sims is always nice to look at, and they make good use of celebrity guest shots. Most of all, the show stars James Caan; 35 years after The Godfather, the man is still compelling to watch, even if he only seems half-interested in being on the show most of the time.

Anyway, the crew at the Montecito is going to get another year to distract us from our lonely Fridays, as NBC has decided to pick Las Vegas up for a fifth season, according to TV Week. "The cast and producers have consistently given us what we want from Las Vegas - pure entertainment," said NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reillym "and we're looking forward to another fun ride next season with the show." Ah the beauty of low expectations: the show is averaging a 2.8 rating for the season.

The Rachael Ray phenomenon will stretch at least through the end of this decade. Her syndicated talk show, which premiered last fall, is renewed through 2010. No surprise, really, considering how popular she is. A survey done by King World last year found that she's the "most likeable television host" we have right now, with Paula Deen, Ty Pennington and even Oprah trailing behind her. Although, I have to agree with Bob's assessment that the woman is just plain exhausting.

Bob and I are evidently in the minority, however. Rachael's show is the highest-rated syndicated talk show since Dr. Phil debuted in 2002. According to TV Week, her show averages a 2.1 rating and is consistently ranked among the top five talk shows on television. So far, one-third of the country has signed on to carry Rachael Ray through 2010.

Who knew that eating your body weight in McDonald's could lead to a lasting career? Morgan Spurlock is finding out, as the director/guinea pig from the 2004 documentary Super Size Me is carving out a nice little resume for himself as a producer and director. And his efforts are paying off: Cynopsis is reporting that FX is picking up his documentary series 30 Days for a third season.

For the uninitiated, 30 Days examines controversial issues by following a subject -- someone other than Spurlock, even though he's been the subject in an episode or two -- as he or she experiences something that touches on that issue. Usually, the environment the subject is in is completely foreign to them and, in some cases, runs opposite to their ideology or beliefs.

It's hard to believe, but Mary Hart and her legs have been hosting Entertainment Tonight since August of 1982, meaning that she is now beginning her 25th season with the entertainment news program. Throughout all the changes in how entertainment news is reported -- believe it or not, ET used to be a much more informative and sedate program than it is now -- and all of the show's male co-hosts -- remember Robb Weller? Bob Goen? John Freakin' Tesh? -- she's been there.

Now comes word that Hart has signed a multi-year deal to continue hosting the show. Since Hart is already a month shy of her 56th birthday (she got an honorable mention when I listed the hottest TV women over 50), the deal will likely take her past her 60th birthday. That's quite a feat in the youth-obsessed world she covers. Wonder if the producers still have an insurance policy out on those legs...

Have you noticed that there are some people in Hollywood who are able to keep their careers going, somehow staying in something resembling a spotlight, for years after they should have faded from the scene? You've got to give these people credit; without their determination, pluck, and do-anything-for-a-buck attitude, people like Kathy Griffin might have fallen off the face of the earth after a couple of years. In fact, I did a Five post about folks like this a few months ago.

David Spade was on that list. He's a funny guy, but never the most talented person in that hoary group of former SNLers. But he's been resourceful and scrappy enough to keep things going for more than 17 years. Which is the long way for me to say that Comedy Central has picked up Spade's The Showbiz Show for a third season, which will begin airing in February. In addition to his cable duties, Spade will have a role in the upcoming CBS mid-season comedy The Rules of Engagement. So, as you see, Spade just keeps on keeping on. I'd make an Energizer Bunny joke here, but it's not 1990, so I'll refrain.