NATPE: Day 2

The second day of NATPE: – It’s a Friends reunion… but only with the creators of the show. Friends co-creator Marta Kaufmann and David Crane reunited Tuesday for a NATPE panel, reflecting on their success and talked about the future of the network sitcom. The duo didn’t exactly wax praise on the current state of the genre, saying they wouldn’t […]

Syndication wrap-up: “Judge Alex” benched for good

With the annual NATPE gathering taking place this week in Miami Beach, its time to see where several shows and proposed projects for syndication stand in 2014: – As first reported by Broadcasting & Cable a few weeks ago, Twentieth Television canceled Judge Alex after nine seasons. The writing appeared to be on the wall when Twentieth renewed Divorce Court […]

CBS Television Distribution cancels “Judge Joe Brown”

After fifteen seasons, court is adjourned for Judge Joe Brown. CBS Television Distribution announced the cancellation of the long-running courtroom strip Tuesday afternoon. It was reported last month that salary negotiations between CTD and Brown were ongoing as the syndicator wanted him to take a salary cut to return this fall, but reportedly rejected the offer. A statement released by […]

Could CBS remove “Judge Joe Brown” from the bench?

Another long-time face in first-run syndication could disappear – or not. Former Memphis judge Joe Brown, whose syndicated courtroom show is currently in its fifteenth season, could be removed from the bench if CBS Television Distribution doesn’t come to terms on a new contract, Broadcasting & Cable’s Paige Albinak reported exclusively on Wednesday. While the show itself is renewed on […]

Grab Bag: NATPE edition

The National Association of Television Programming Executive – or NATPE convention begins Monday in Miami and as always, there’s syndication news to report on. Here’s the latest: – CBS-owned WBBM-TV in Chicago and twelve other CBS markets have cleared TNT’s Leverage for weekend off-network syndication beginning next fall from Trifecta Entertainment, which acquires the syndication rights from executive producer Dean […]

The offical Comic-Con post game show

The comic book and pop culture gathering in San Diego every July called Comic-Con ended on Sunday. Over 100,000 people attended the four-day geekfest, drawing more bodies than a Nationals-Padres three-game series would’ve drawn – or any homestand involving the Padres. Comic-Con has grown to be a important marketing vehicle for Hollywood studios – its now seen as an important […]

Twentieth drops "Cristina’s Court"

Another courtroom show has bit the dust. Cristina’s Court became the third courtroom to get the ax this season, following the cancellations of Judge David Young and Judge Karen, both from Sony Pictures Television. The economic climate is partially to blame, but the third-season show wasn’t doing itself any favors by averaging around an 1.1 Nielsen rating overall. Twentieth plans […]

Twentieth TV renews all of its court shows

Despite their mostly sub-par performance, all three of its daily courtroom strips – Judge Alex, Divorce Court, and Cristina’s Court have been renewed for the 2008-09 season. (i.e. the move keeps other syndicators at bay with their upcoming courtroom shows – Sony introduced Judge Karen last week.)