No Ordinary Family

Seven have changed their minds about the two hour premiere of No Ordinary Family next Monday May 2. The show will now only air as a single episode at 7.30pm, with a repeat of Bones to air at 8.30pm.

The night now looks like this:

7.30 No Ordinary Family – premiere.
8.30 Bones Rpt.
9.30 Brothers & Sisters.

On Nine at the same time:

7.30 New The Big Bang Theory
8.00 New Mike & Molly
8.30 New CSI
9.30 New CSI: Miami

And on Ten:

7.30 Masterchef
8.30 The Biggest Loser Families Finale
10.00 The BIggest Loser Families Winner Announced.

Seven have revealed timeslots for Australia’s Got Talent and new series No Ordinary Family.

No Ordinary Family will premiere in a double episode at 7.30pm, Monday May 2. As a result, the scheduled Bones repeat at 8.30pm is out.

Australia’s Got Talent will return with a 90 minute episode at 7.30pm Tuesday May 3. As a result, Winners & Losers will start at 9pm, Parenthood at 10pm.

Australia’s Got Talent continues at 7.30pm Wednesday May 4. Both episodes feature auditions. Criminal Minds remains at 8.30pm, and Detroit 1-8-7 will air in a double episode featuring episodes 4 and 5 of the series.

Moving to Thursday, and Airways is back with a new series, offering unprecedented access to the day-to-day running of a budget airline in Australia. It airs at 7.30pm. A new episode of How I Met Your Mother follows at 8.00pm.

The Friday night movie for May 6 in markets not airing AFL is Confessions of a Shopaholic, a first run movie. At 6.30pm Saturday May 7, is the free to air premiere of High School Musical 3, followed by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead man’s Chest.

With Easter just two weeks away, the networks are starting to promote shows that will air after Easter, in May and beyond. Seven lead the way with the most titles, Ten are aggressively promoting Masterchef’s return, while Nine are spruiking the return of two of their local productions Rescue and Sea Patrol.

Here is the run down of some of the shows that will grace our screens in May.

Masterchef, series three. Ten from Sunday May 1^st.

The third series of Masterchef promises to be the best yet with new challenges, new guests, more sponsors – watch out for product placement – and plenty of the drama that has helped make Masterchef the highest rating series on Australian television.

Offspring, second season. Ten in May.

Ten have just started promoting the return of season two of Offspring, retuning in May. At this stage the timeslot is not known. Chances are, Ten will try the show on a different night as Hawaii Five-O currently occupies Offspring’s 2010 timeslot of 8.30pm Sundays and has still has enough episodes to play to continue in that timeslot until the end of May. Despite the second season not even airing yet, Offspring has been renewed for a third season.

Stars: Asher Keddie, Kat Stewart and Don Hany.

Dancing With the Stars 11. Seven in May.

The celebrity dancing contest returns for another year, with eleven more hopeful “celebrities” including My Kitchen Rule’s Manu Fiedell vying for that elusive mirror ball trophy. Dancing with the Stars will almost certainly return to its regular timeslot of 6.30pm Sundays. Premiere date is most likely May 1, the night of the Logies and the premiere of Masterchef season 3.

Australia’s Got Talent. Seven in May.

Judges Kyle Sandilands, Danii Minogue and Brian McFadden return as judges in an effort to find who’s got talent in 2011. The level of promotion for the show suggests a return in the first week of May.

The Amazing Race Australia. Seven late May.

Seven are certainly rolling out the local productions this year. The Amazing Race Australia has already been filmed, and will premiere on Seven after the conclusion of the current US series which is airing on 7mate. The US series has 6 episodes to go, with the next episode airing Wednesday April 20, 7.30pm. Hot tip for timeslot is Mondays, 7.30pm from May 30.

No Ordinary Family. Seven soon.

This show is about the Powell family who mysteriously obtain hero-like super powers after the crash of their plane in the Amazon River. The father Jim has the power of super-strength, mother Stephanie speed, 16 year old daughter Daphne telepathy and 14 year old son JJ who once had a learning disability is graced with genius level mental abilities. The series deals with how the family handle their powers, as they try to come to terms with their new found abilities.

Stars: Michael Chiklis, Julie Benz, Kay Panabaker and Jimmy Bennett.

Downton Abbey. Seven soon.

Downton Abbey is an English produced period drama set in pre-WWI England, centred on the Crawley family and their servants. The seven part series starts off in April 1912, when the heir to the title of Earl of Grantham, long term inhabitants of Downton Abbey perishes on the Titanic. In order to inherit the wealth, the current earl, who owes his wealth to his rich American wife only has three daughters who cannot inherit by law. The challenge is to find a husband for the eldest, but the most likely candidate turns out to be gay. Donwton Abbey has a second season which airs in the UK late 2011. Stars Hugh Bonneville, Laura Carmichael, Michelle Dockery, Elizabeth McGovern and Maggie Smith.

Rescue. Nine, soon.

Rescue, formerly known as Rescue Special Ops, returns to Nine for its third season most likely in May. Stars Peter Phelps, Andrew Lees, Les Hill, Gig Edgley and Libby Tanner.

Sea Patrol. Nine, soon.

Sea Patrol returns to Nine for its fifth and final season soon, also most likely in May. Stars Lisa McCune, Matthew Holmes and John Batchelor.

Seven by FAR have the most new content coming up in May with five titles currently being promoted. On top of those five, there is also Jersey Shore coming soon to 7mate, while 7TWO will expand its British crime library with the addition of The Bill and Doc Martin to its line up in May.

Meanwhile GO! continue to promote new shows like Glory Daze yet to be given an air date. Questions remain as to when numerous new content titles return to GO! including The Vampire Diaries, Pretty Little Liars, Hellcats, Community and the second season of Spartacus.

On SBS ONE in May is the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest, The Secret History of Eurovision, the FA Cup final and new Monster moves. A new (to free to air) nine part series of the UK version of Who Do You Think You Are? returns in May featuring Alan Cumming, Jason Donavon, Rupert Everett, amongst others.

Critically acclaimed East West 101 returns for a new seven part season, Tuesday April 19, 8.30pm on SBS ONE. The return of the multi-award winning series explores the fallout from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through a series of violent crimes committed in Australia. In the first episode, a sophisticated robbery of an armoured guard van leaves four dead, including some of the robbers themselves. Meanwhile Malik clashes with new detective on the squad, a former army officer, Neil Travis, in his impassioned pursuit of those who have hurt him and his family. Stars Don Hany, Susie Porter and Matt Nable

Coming to ABC1 in May is the four part series, The Kennedys starring Katie Holmes as Jacqueline Kennedy and Greg Kinnear as John F Kennedy. It will air as a four part mini series, with each episode being 90 minutes long.

May will also see ONE HD relaunched with more general entertainment – read more about the ONE HD makeover here.

Being Human given fourth season

BBC series Being Human has been commissioned for a fourth season by its network. The supernatural series, which screens here on ABC2, will return for a further eight 60-minute episodes.

Larry King to join Daily Show?

The New York Post is reporting that former talkshow host Larry King may become an occasional contributor on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. 

Benz lands pilot role

No Ordinary Family actress Julie Benz has joined the cast of an upcoming pilot for American network CBS. Benz’s No Ordinary Family co-star Michael Chiklis has also joined a pilot project, fuelling speculation the supernatural series will not be renewed for a second season.

Bachelor, Bachelorette renewed

The Bachelor and The Bachelorette have both been renewed for more seasons in the US, with the former coming back for a 16th run while the latter will mark its seventh season later this year.

Sheen files lawsuit against Lorre and Warner Bros

Charlie Sheen has filed his lawsuit against Warner Bros. and Two and a Half Men creator Chuck Lorre where he is seeking up to $US100,000,000. It is believed that Sheen is also suing on behalf of the show’s crew as well. 

Abrams pilot picked up

J.J. Abrams new pilot Alcatraz has reportedly been picked up for a 12-episode run by Fox. The prison break series, which features Jorge Garcia, Sarah Jones, Sam Neil and Santiago Cabrera, is said to be filming in Vancouver next month.

Chiklis joins comedy pilot

No Ordinary Family actor Michael Chiklis has joined a new comedy pilot for American network CBS. The project will focus on his character who experiences a life-changing event and decides to take a more honest approach to life.

Lowe will not replace Sheen

Parks and Recreation creator Mike Schur has dismissed the talk of Rob Lowe appearing on Two and a Half Men as a replacement for Charlie Sheen. Lowe features on Schur’s comedy and the creator says he is a full-time cast member on the series “and that’s the end of the story.”

Two and a Half Men on production hiatus

CBS has confirmed that Two and a Half Men will go on a production hiatus following the news that Charlie Sheen has been checked into a rehab facility. The network released a statement that said: “Due to Charlie Sheen’s decision to enter a rehabilitation centre, CBS, Warner Bros Television and executive producer Chuck Lorre are placing Two and a Half Men on production hiatus. We are profoundly concerned for his health and well-being, and support his decision.”

Lucy Lawless joins No Ordinary Family

Kiwi actress Lucy Lawless has signed on for a role on new series No Ordinary Family which centres on a family who possesses super powers. Lawless will appear in at least five episodes of the show’s first season.

Idol contestant suing for third time

An American Idol contestant is suing the show for the third time after being rejected from the show in 2006. Ian Benardo is attempting to sue for discrimination after claiming producers “exploited” his homosexuality by asking him to “gay it up”. Benardo originally sought $300 million before it was reduced during his second lawsuit to $100 million. He is now seeking $5 million.

Glee rejects Eminem tracks

The producers of Glee have opted out of using Eminem’s songs on the musical series due to the excessive fee the rapper is charging for the rights. Eminem was seeking $200,000 for the use of one of his tracks, a fee which would put production well over budget.

Walhberg sells sports pilot 

Mark Walhberg has sold a new sports series entitled Home Game to American network CBS which he produced with Entourage producing partner Stephen Levinson. The pilot of Home Game centres on a retired American football player who struggles to readjust to normal life. 

Here is a list of pick ups for the new US TV season from US network, ABC.

“Happy Endings”
An altar-bound couple break up on their wedding day, forcing their friends to choose which side to take after the split. Starring Elisha Cuthbert (24), Zachary Knighton (Flash Forward) and Eliza Coupe (Scrubs)

“No Ordinary Family”
Starring Michael Chicklis (The Shield) as the dad in a typical family that suddenly find they have super powers, after their plane crashes in the Amazon. Julie Benz (Dexter) will play the wife and Tate Donovan (Damages) will also star. Ali Adler has left as executive producer of “Chuck” to apparently work on this.

“The Whole Truth”
This Jerry Bruckheimer show has already lost it’s lead actress. Joely Richardson (Nip/Tuck) was meant to be the female lead, but pulled out due to family. Rob Morrow (Numbers) will be the male lead. The show is about victims and defendants waiting to learn their fate, while lawyers are working behind the scenes and in the courtroom, to tilt justice to their favour.

“My Generation”
Originally called Generation Y this mockumentry style show that “filmed” the students in 2000 at Greenbelt High School. It will follow a group of student on their return home 10 years later. Starring Jamie King

“Detroit 187”
Fictional documentarians follow and film Detroit homicide police in this drama/comedy. Starring Michael Imperioli (Life On Mars) and Joshua Biton (The Pacific).

“Mr Sunshine”
This comedy stars Matthew Perry (Friends) as a sports manager of a second rate ice skating rink in San Diego, who has a mid-life crisis on his 40^th birthday, realising he can’t continue his womanising ways. Perry co-wrote the pilot and will be an executive producer, Allison Janney (The West Wing) and Andrea Anders (Better Off Ted) will co-star.

“Better Together”
A show about two sisters, from two different generations and they have very different outlooks on love. Starring Joanna Garcia (Gossip Girl) it is from “Friends” executive producer Shana Goldberg-Meehan.

“Body Of Proof”
Body of Proof (formerly Body Of Evidence) is about a neurosurgeon who has become a medical examiner. Her expertise in both fields helps her solve murder cases. Dana Delany (Desperate Housewives) will star as the lead with co stars including Jeri Ryan (Law & Order:SVU), John Carroll Lynch (The Drew Carey Show) and Windell Middlebrooks (Scrubs).

“Off The Map”
A new medical drama, from the woman who gave us “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Private Practice.” It’s about a doctor Martin Henderson (Bride and Prejudice) who gives up a great job in the U.S. to find a small, remote clinic in South America. It will also star Jason George (Grey’s), Enrique Murciano (Without A Trace) and Valerie Cruz (True Blood).

Sources: imdb, HR