The Grab Bag: “Extra” renewed through ’17

Mario Lopez hosts "Extra".
Mario Lopez hosts “Extra”.

But several others get the ax, including “America’s Most Wanted” and “Scooby Doo, Mystery Incorporated”

– Warner Bros. has renewed syndicated entertainment news magazine Extra through 2017, covering 85 percent of the country, including WMAQ-Ch.5 here, who airs the series weekdays at 4 p.m. The deal includes WMAQ and seven other NBC-owned stations, in addition to outlets in the CBS, Media General, Gannett, and Sinclair groups and more. Now in its nineteenth season, Extra is paired with Access: Hollywood in prime access (7-8 p.m.)on six NBC O&Os.

– On the other hand, these shows weren’t renewed: WLS-Ch. 7 canceled weekly Sunday night lifestyle magazine series 190 North last month after fifteen seasons. Declining ratings and revenues were to blame – particularly after WLS moved the series a half-hour later on Sunday nights due to news expansion. The long-running show ended its run on March 31.

– Meanwhile, Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated closed out its run on Cartoon Network after three tumultuous and delayed-plagued years. In what can be described as unusual and slipshod scheduling, the animated reboot aired as a weekly primetime show its first season, but was oddly bumped to a midday slot last July and stripped five days a week. After another long delay, the series was brought back as a early fringe strip on March 25 and finally closed out its run on April 5. Aside from direct-to-DVD movies, there are no plans for another Scooby-Doo series, at least for now. Scooby-Doo debuted in 1969 and has run in various incarnations over CBS, ABC, The WB, The CW, and Cartoon Network.

– Also receiving walking papers recently included long-running series America’s Most Wanted, which was canceled by Lifetime on March 28 – the acclaimed series ran on Fox for 23 years; MTV’s controversial reality series Buckwild, which ended production after the unfortunate accidental death of a cast member; and CW’s Cult, which was canceled Wednesday after failing to find an audience on both Tuesday and Friday nights, with ratings as low as 0.2 in adults 18-49 (including one instance where it had a zero rating/share in men 18-49!)  Five episodes remains unaired; no word on when or if those episodes would air.

– Bad news for fans of Robert Feder – the longtime media journalist exited Time Out Chicago on Monday in a buyout deal after a little over two years. This comes as the Time Out Chicago publication is ceasing and the website was sold to the Time Out Group, which was purchased from Joe Mansueto, who is also CEO of Moringstar and an investor in Wrapports, parent company of the Chicago Sun-Times. As a result, more than 60 staffers are being laid off as Time Out is expected to operate the Chicago website mainly as an entertainment listings guide. But don’t worry Feder fans: he’ll be back soon, as he stated on Twitter Monday.

– As reported by Sitcoms Online, MeTV has acquired the rights to classic off-network series Leave It To Beaver, Adam-12, and the 1960’s version of Dragnet, from NBCUniversal Television Distribution. All three series have previously aired on MeTV’s rival Antenna TV. Beginning May 6, Beaver airs at 8 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. (CT) replacing Daniel Boone, while Dragnet and Adam-12 get the 3 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. slots respectively, replacing Wild Wild West and leads-in to Emergency One!, which like Adam-12 and Dragnet, were created and produced by Jack Webb. No other scheduling changes are planned.

MeToo, the version of MeTV, already owns the rights to Beaver and the color episodes of Dragnet in the Chicago market. Both Mes are owned by Weigel Broadcasting.

0