‘LOLA’ cast changes, ‘Big Bang’ renewal and more: TCA Press Tour round-up

The cast of "The Big Bang Theory"

The Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour is still in progress, but it has been a slower couple of news days compared to earlier in the week. Yesterday, critics made set visits, and today, NBC held panels for several shows, but there was no executive session due to the imminent Comcast takeover. Other networks took advantage of the vacuum, though, and made some announcements of their own. Some highlights after the jump.

FOX loves ‘Fringe,’ schedules ‘Terra Nova,’ and more at TCA Press Tour

FOX didn’t make any unexpected announcements today at the TCA Press Tour, but the network did trot out its new panel of American Idol judges for a Q&A session, and entertainment chiefs Kevin Reilly and Peter Rice candidly answered critics’ questions during the executive session. Some highlights after the jump.

ABC Family renews ‘Pretty Little Liars,’ ‘Secret Life’

After big sister network ABC announced the early renewals of six series for the 2011-12 season, ABC Family followed suit and gave second and fourth season pick-ups, respectively, to Pretty Little Liars and The Secret Life of the American Teenager.

Pretty Little Liars resumed its first season last Monday to big numbers, and the cable network must be confident that Secret Life will do the same when it kicks off its third season on March 28.

I have the full press release printed after the jump.

ABC gives early renewals to six series

As several news outlets are reporting, ABC Entertainment President Paul Lee announced early 2011-2012 pickups for six of the network’s series at this morning’s TCA Press Tour panel. Modern Family, The Middle, Cougar Town, Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, and Castle will all be back for another season.

AMC begins production on ‘Breaking Bad’ Season Four

Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse (Aaron Paul) in "Breaking Bad"

During the AMC panel at the Television Critics Association press tour, currently taking place in Los Angeles, executives at the cable network announced that Breaking Bad is going back into production next week to start work on its fourth season.

The season won’t air until summer, but any news is good news for my favorite series. With everything that happened during the third season finale, I can’t wait to see what Vince Gilligan and company have in store next for Walt, Jesse, Skylar, Hank, Gus, and everyone else in the outstanding cast.

I have the full press release printed after the jump.

24 | Jack Bauer to see his last hour

Photo Credit: fanpop.com

Well, after much speculation, including rumors that NBC would rescue the show, FOX has officially canceled 24. The long-running show, which led the way after its premiere in 2001 in revitalizing the FOX network , will air its final episode on the fitting date of May 24, capping off an 8-season run that also included the 2-hour 24: Redemption movie.

Greek renewed!

Photo Credit: fanpop.com

What great timing! After my quasi-inaugural blog post on Greek‘s latest episode, The Hollywood Reporter has learned that ABC Family has renewed the series for a fourth season of 10 more episodes, slated to start later this year.

The show is ABC Family’s longest-running original series, and it recently premiered to 1.03 million viewers for part two of season three. Some fans were worried about its prospects (see: savegreek.com), but considering the most recent premiere posted some big gains in the key demos, as THR noted, it isn’t a big surprise that Greek will be back.

It will be interesting to see how the rest of the current season plays out, though, since it seems to be heading toward graduation for several of the key characters. Maybe the timeline will slow down and season four will be plotted as the final 10 episodes? Or maybe, as I conjectured in one of my episode reviews, the graduates will move on to grad school at CRU, thus keeping intact the fictional universe?