The 'B--- in Apartment 23' Has Been Evicted

Today in show business news: ABC cancels its bitchiest comedy, TBS cancels its wedding band comedy, David Fincher considers getting Gone Girl, and the first big Sundance hit. 

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ABC has pulled its low-rated sitcom Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 from the airwaves, choosing to not air eight unseen episodes, which essentially means the thing's been canceled. One of the show's stars, James van der Beek, who plays James van der Beek, has confirmed the news on Twitter. The few but devoted fans of the series — which also features Krysten Ritter and Dreama Walker as the titular bitch and her uptight roommate, respectively — are keening and rending their garments on Twitter and elsewhere, but van der Beek at least seems to be keeping a level head. He probably knows that he earned a lot of good will from the show and will probably be in good shape for other offers as pilot scene kicks into gear in the next month or so. So Katie Holmes's play closed two months early, Joshua Jackson's Fringe ended last Friday, and now van der Beek's show is over. When asked for comment, Michelle Williams said "Oh dear," before turning back to the pile of movie scripts that weren't going to read themselves. [Twitter]

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Meanwhile, another former teen TV star is out of work. TBS has announced that it has canceled the sitcom Wedding Band after one season. That's the one featuring Brian Austin Green that was about, uh, a wedding band. The show also featured Harold Perrineau, which... Dude was on Lost and has worked with Anthony Hopkins and Leonardo DiCaprio (he was Mercutio!) and just had a small role in Zero Dark Thirty. Maybe this is good news for him. It's not great news for BAG, but then again, pilot season is starting and people do like him — he's handsome and charming and was great on Sarah Connor Chronicles — so maybe he'll do OK. Maybe. It's a tricky biz, this one they call show. But hey, BAG's been more employed than Ian Ziering of late, so he's at least got that goin' for him. That's gotta count for something. [The Hollywood Reporter]

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Continuing on with dire television news, the stultifyingly awful new Fox show The Following debuted last night to only so-so ratings. It snagged 10.4 million viewers for a 3.2 rating, which is certainly decent, but when you consider that they're lower numbers than what Alcatraz posted in the same position last year, prospects look less promising. I mean, who remembers Alcatraz? There was a show called Alcatraz? What the hell is Alactraz?? Are we being gaslighted? There was no such thing as Alcatraz. And if The Following did worse than a show that never existed? That is not good news. Who knows, maybe some people loved the show and will evangelize about it and the ratings will grow and grow, but this is a less than auspicious start, for sure. [Entertainment Weekly]

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One last TV thing: Marcia Gay Harden has joined the cast of The Newsroom, playing a lawyer defending the cable news network in a lawsuit. This was the role that Rosemarie DeWitt was supposed to play before she wisely dropped out. And, hm. Marica Gay Harden and Rosemarie DeWitt don't exactly seem interchangeable, do they? Like, if Rosemarie DeWitt quits, Marica Gay Harden probably isn't even on my top ten list of potential replacements. But, whatever, she's a great actress and I'm sure she'll do very well, even while Sorkin runs around congratulating himself for fixing yesterday's news. [The Hollywood Reporter]

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OK, on to movies. Director David Fincher is said to be circling the planned film adaptation of Gillian Flynn's wonderfully nasty mystery novel Gone Girl. Which is rather intriguing! Fincher is great at making dark, moody things, and this is definitely a dark, moody book. Though, there are a couple of concerns. One is obviously that the novel presents a really tricky adaptation obstacle in the form of a huge mid-book twist. But also Fincher is a little slick, a little shiny, and I'm just not sure that's the aesthetic this brown, wintry movie really wants. Yeah, yeah, he did wintry in Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but this is different. It's homier, it's the Midwest, it's dusty. Maybe he can make it, but we were kind of hoping for someone like Jeff Nichols, or maybe Sean Durkin. (If he has source material to work with, maybe he won't annoyingly over-rely on ambiguity?) Ah well. Fincher's good too. Now about that Reese Witherspoon thing... [Deadline]

The "Dwayne Johnson" Rock may soon be starring in a whole movie based on a single picture. Yep, one of The Rock's former assistant found this illustration of a teddy bear defending a sleeping girl from a monster, and brought it to his old boss and now it might be a movie. It would made by the same crew who did Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, so you know it'll be good. Our question here, of course, is whether The Rock will be playing the teddy bear. Because if that's what they are thinking, I'm not sure we should endorse this. He could play the monster, that'd work. Or maybe the little girl's dad. Or maybe just the little girl! That would be fine. But the teddy bear? I dunno. Maybe he'd just be voicing the thing -- lotta money for a few hours work, that kind of a thing -- which would be fine. But if they're going to try to live-action it somehow, or put him in a suit? No sir. Nope. Should not happen. Also, guys, don't try to make this like Ted. It's a sweet drawing with magic and whimsy in it. Meaning: don't make the teddy bear sarcastic. No one wants that. [The Hollywood Reporter]

Probably the biggest debut at the Sundance Film Festival so far, Jim Rash and Nat Faxon's film The Way, Way Back — a wistful summer comedy about a teenage boy and his strange mentor (Sam Rockwell) — has sold to Fox Searchlight for a whopping $10.5 million. The movie apparently got a standing ovation at its screening, with people praising its offbeat humor and strong cast, especially Rockwell. So, yeah, this is the one they're calling this year's Little Miss Sunshine. That's a nice vote of confidence for recent Oscar winners (for their Descendants screenplay, which by their own admission was heavily tailored by Alexander Payne) Faxon and Rash. And, y'know, proves it wasn't a fluke. We're excited to see this one -- and to watch Sam Rockwell's Oscar campaign -- but also wary. For every Little Miss Sunshine (which has its own problems, of course) there's a Hamlet 2. Sundance success doesn't always translate to the real world, is the point. But for right now? Yeah, this sounds like the film of the festival. [Entertainment Weekly]

And now on to Canada for some decidedly not low-sy news. Probably two people reading this, if that, care about this news, but, I'm sore-y, it is too big a deal for the three of us who care to not post. Canadian MTV's dishy panel show 1 Girl 5 Gays has named its new host (the 1 Girl) and it is none other than one Lauren Collins. Yes, as in Paige Michalchuk from Degrassi. She's the new host of 1 Girl 5 Gays. Mmhm. I wonder if she'll have Marco on!! Meanwhile, Spinner is still missing and presumed dead. [Yahoo]