Variety is reporting that Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman have signed a three-year deal to develop new shows for 20^th Century Fox starting this March.  The deal means that Orci and Kurtzman will create projects, supply the network with show ideas and recruit writers, along with likely continuing their work as consulting producers on Fox’s successful sci-fi show Fringe. Kurtzman and Orci wrote two of last summer’s biggest hits, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and the fucking awesome Star Trek.  They also have several projects in the works on other networks, including CBS’s upcoming Hawaii Five-O reboot and a cartoon series of Transformers for the Hub.

The deal with Fox not only aligns the duo with a single network, but also continues their streak as two of Hollywood’s most successful and talented producers.  They began their careers with the animated Hercules series and went on to produce Alias before moving on to feature films such as Mission Impossible III, The Legend of Zorro, and the Transformers films, among others.  Orci and Kurtzman’s upcoming projects on the big screen are Cowboys and Aliens, The 28^th Amendment, and Paramount’s Star Trek sequel.

Fox is developing a U.S. version of the hit British sci-fi show Torchwood, according to the Hollywood Reporter.  The show’s original producing team of Russell T. Davies and Julie Gardner, who famously revamped Doctor Who in 2005, will be writing the pilot, a BBC Worldwide production.  This is big news for fans of the show, as it will be exciting to see what changes are made to the show’s UK format.  The new show is said to contain a “more global” plotline rather than continuing the UK version’s typical smaller-scale style.

The show is about an “outside the law” group led by Captain Jack Harkness, played by the always awesome John Barrowman, that investigates and monitors alien activity while also adapting extraterrestrial technology for their own use.  Torchwood is one of the spin-offs of the long-running Doctor Who, and last year’s Torchwood: Children of Earth miniseries broke BBC ratings records and was critically well-received so it’s no surprise that a U.S. adaptation of the show is being made.  And hey, if there’s even a small chance that this means more John Barrowman on American TV, then chances are good that this show will be, as the Doctor would say, fantastic.  As far as THR’s mention that Torchwood executive producer Jane Tranter might reboot Who for American audiences, that seems a bit unnecessary as a new season of the show airs next month with the eleventh doctor set to begin his run.

There has been much hearsay and speculation in the past couple days once TMZ reported  that The Jay Leno Show would be removed from the 10 PM hour after the Olympics.  Today, NBC held a press conference  for the Television Critics Association, and as expected discussed their plans for the coming months in detail.

In NBC’s ideal world, Jay Leno will host a nightly half-hour show at 11:30 PM, while Conan O’Brien’s The Tonight Show will move back to 12:05 AM, and Late Night With Jimmy Fallon will be pushed to 1:05 AM.  Leno, O’Brien, and Fallon all have the weekend to consider the offer.

Look for explanation from NBC Universal TV Entertainment chairman Jeff Gaspin, as transcribed by The Live Feed, after the jump.

The new season of American Idol doesn’t premiere until January, but interesting things are afoot already behind the scenes. According to Simon Cowell’s brother, the caustic reality judge is looking to leave the show after the upcoming season to focus on adapting his British hit The X Factor for American television. This is not too surprising, as Cowell himself ruminated on leaving the show as early as last April, several months before Paula Abdul announced her departure.

To add intrigue to the matter, 58% of viewers said they would stop watching American Idol if Simon Cowell left the show in a recent survey. This would be a devastating blow to Idol, and would certainly knock it off its pedestal as America’s favorite show. Fox seems unfazed by such talk though, as the channel is near a deal to extend Idol’s run by three seasons; even if half the viewers jumped ship, Idol would still be among the top rated shows on TV. So look forward to many more years of American Idol, regardless of Cowell’s involvement. In the meantime, catch judges Simon Cowell, Kara DioGuardi, Randy Jackson, Abdul replacement Ellen DeGeneres, and ubiquitous host Ryan Seacrest while you can when the ninth season of American Idol premieres on Fox on January 12, 2010.

If you subscribe to Time Warner Cable for all your television needs, you may find only static on all Fox channels in a couple weeks. Contracts between Fox television stations and Time Warner Cable expire on December 31^st, and both parties have reached a standstill in negotiations for a new contract. If no deal is made by January 1^st, Time Warner Cable will no longer carry such channels as Fox, Fox News, Fox Sports Net, and FX in over 13 million households (that’s 30 million people).

The chances of this actually happening are very slim. You may recall similar posturing about this time last year, when there was an analogous standoff between Time Warner Cable and Viacom that fizzled in the eleventh hour, and most viewers continued to watch Viacom channels none the wiser. My favorite part of the story is Fox’s attempt at a grassroots campaign to get Time Warner Cable to play nice: keepfoxon.com is a flashy website that informs the viewers of the basics of the situation and tries to stir customers to action to keep Fox programming on the air.

FOX has announced their 2009-2010 midseason schedule.  As usual, American Idol returns in January with a two-night season premiere Tuesday, January 12^th and Wednesday, January 13^th.  The other big news from the press release is Lie to Me got picked up for a full season, Fringe airs its winter finale on February 4^th and returns April 1^st, Glee’s fall finale is December 9^th and new episodes won’t start again until April 13^th, and Human Target premieres Sunday, January 17^th.

For a full listing of the schedule including info on all the new and returning shows, hit the jump for the press release:

I have no idea how you people interested in a movie not based on a franchise, starring giant blue aliens some people say look fake (I’m not one of them but I can their understand point), and the first film in twelve years from the director whose last film, “Titanic”, has not aged well.  Fox’s solution is that everyone who has their TV on Fox on Sunday will be aware of “Avatar”.  Having attempted “Avatar Day” back in August for the teaser trailer, on November 1^st Fox will go for the world record of the largest viewing of a trailer in history.  Hit the jump to learn that there is no escape.

I don’t watch “24″ anymore but I assume if you saw the previous seven seasons then you’ll want to see this new trailer because it feature Kiefer Sutherland in his Emmy-winning performance as Jack Bauer, a man who shouts at things and tortures people from time to time under the ticking-clock scenario that never happens in the real world.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but how many seasons have started off with Jack being out of the game but the world needs his help and he’s the only man who can both shout and torture and that’s a lethal combo for terrorists. But fans of the have already heard these kinds of points from detractors and watch the show anyone.  In my experience viewers of “24″ fall into one of two categories: People who genuinely find the show thrilling and action-packed; and people who find it laughably terrible.  Hit the jump to see which group will be happier with the trailer.

“24″ returns to Fox on January 17^th, 2010.

Fox is going to be airing a new “Fringe” promo during the baseball game tonight. While airing promos is nothing new, this one is a little out of the box as they got Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor to lend his song “Zero Sum” for the spot. He also recorded new dialogue for the ad that has to do with this season. So if you’re a fan of “Fringe” or NIN, check it out after the jump. And if you’re not watching “Fringe”, you’re missing out on a great show. Imagine if “The X-Files” were still on and it was good.

Fans of the new hit show “Glee” can rejoice as Fox announced it has ordered a full season of the musical comedy series about a teacher trying to save the McKinley High glee club from falling into obscurity, while also helping its members realize their true potential as entertainers.  More song and dance if you click the jump.

In the wake of Disney’s purchase of Marvel this morning, Fox is hurrying to reboot a Marvel property is still owns: “Fantastic Four”. The franchise is one of four Fox owns in perpetuity, irrespective of Disney’s $4 billion deal, including “X-Men,” “Daredevil,” and “Silver Surfer.” Thought details are scant on the new project, a few names have been dropped. Those, and why this could be a good thing after the jump.

Defying all the skeptics and the cynics, it looks like Joss Whedon’s “Dollhouse” will get a second season…with some preconditions.  According to EW’s Michael Ausiello, Fox has renewed the series for a 13-episode pick-up and with a drastically reduced budget.  While I imagine they’ll still have their beautiful set, I would expect some dolls to start heading up to the attic or other characters to make their exit as salaries will most likely be reduced or roles outright cut.

The question is whether or not fans will come on board for another thirteen episodes.  “Dollhouse” has received the most lukewarm reception of all of Whedon’s shows and while I think the series definitely picked up after its vaunted sixth episode, “Man on the Street”, I’m curious if the show will have the fanatical devotion and appeal to make this more than a final season.  Of course, the other big question is whether or not Whedon can do what he intended with a reduced budget and only thirteen episodes.

On a side note, I’m hoping that this 13-episode pick-up becomes a new trend for shows that are on the bubble.  It seems like the perfect compromise because fans don’t lose their show, the studio doesn’t have to spend money on 22 episodes, and writers don’t have to worry about filler episodes or any of that non-sense.  I’m also hearing that this 13-episode plan may be what’s in store for a little show called “Chuck”…

If Fox has a dog in the game of network television, it’s only because of “American Idol” and every other network head just thanks their respective deity that the show only runs between January and May and not year-round.  There aren’t enough cop and medical dramas in the world to compete with that behemoth.  Of course, networks and Americans could just try to embrace new and exciting programming, but that’s just too much work.  Better to just crunch out forgettable pop singers.

But until the horrific day when Rupert Murdoch can clone Ryan Seacrest*, Fox must make do with original programming and thus, according to THR, they have picked up “Human Target” and “Sons of Tuscon”.  “Human Target” sounds the more promising of the two.  It’s based off a Vertigo comic book about a man who assumes the identity of people in danger and becomes the “human target”.  The show will star Jackie Earle Haley and Chi McBride and will either fall short of its premise or be a smash genre hit that Fox will inevitably cancel.