TV News Roundup: ‘The Fosters’ and ‘Star Wars Rebels’ Renewed for New Seasons
“The Fosters” has been renewed for season four at ABC Family, and “Star Wars Rebels” has been renewed for season three at Disney XD in today’s TV news roundup . . .
Renewals:
Disney XD has renewed animated series “Star Wars Rebels” for a third season, which is slated to premiere next year, the cable net announced Monday.
“We are proud to bring our audience a third season of ‘Star Wars Rebels,’ a series that has resonated across generations,” Marc Buhaj, SVP of programming and general manager of Disney XD, said. “The creative team behind the series continues to do a brilliant job in delivering on the key tenets that fans have come to expect from a Star Wars property, including adventure, hope and the battle between good vs. evil.”
Hailing from Lucasfilm, “Star Wars Rebels” ranks as Disney XD’s No. 2 series in total viewers (1.3 million), kids 6-11, boys 6-11 and boys 2-11, and is Disney XD’s No. 1 program among adults 18-49 and men 18-49.
“We’re very proud of our incredibly creative ‘Rebels’ team,” added Lucasfilm’s SVP of development, Kiri Hart. “The show continues to tell fun, heartfelt, exciting new ‘Star Wars’ stories week after week, and it’s beloved by fans of all ages. Season three will see our ‘Rebel’ heroes face new obstacles and find new allies in their fight against the Empire.”
“The Fosters” will be returning for a fourth season at ABC Family, soon-to-be Freeform. The renewal, first reported by Deadline, comes ahead of the family drama’s winter premiere on Jan. 25 when the second half of season three will debut.
“We have so many more stories to tell about ‘The Fosters’ family — these incredible characters have come into our lives and touched so many — from Stef and Lena’s wedding to the adoptions of Callie and Jude,” said Karey Burke, EVP of programming and development at ABC Family. “We look forward to more of the groundbreaking storytelling from this creative team.”
“The Fosters” remains one of the network’s top-rated programs, averaging 1.94 million viewers for the first part of its third season this past summer. Among all scripted dramas on television in the summer, it ranked fourth in persons 12-34 (1.07 million), behind only ABC Family’s own “Pretty Little Liars,” MTV’s “Teen Wolf” and Fox’s “Wayward Pines.”
Premiere dates:
Bravo’s “Newlyweds: The First Year” will premiere its third season on Sunday, Jan. 3, at 9 p.m. with a special 90-minute episode. After the first episode, “Newlyweds” will move to its regular Wednesday 10 p.m. timeslot on Jan. 6 with the second episode. The unscripted docuseries will feature four new couples for the new season, following the trials, tribulations and triumphs of newlyweds during the entire first year of marriage.
CBS, ramping up its coverage of Super Bowl 50, on Monday announced that it will devote three hours of programming related to Super Bowl commercials in the days prior to the big Feb. 7 game.
“Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercials 2016” will celebrate 50 years of great Super Bowl commercials with a top-50 countdown culminating in a live announcement of the greatest spot of all time from Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., home of Super Bowl 50. It will be broadcast Tuesday, Feb. 2, from 8 to 10 p.m. CBS Sports analyst Boomer Esiason and “Scorpion” star Katharine McPhee will host.
It will be followed on Saturday, Feb. 6, with “Super Bowl’s Greatest Commercials All-Star Countdown,” a new special in which “Entertainment Tonight” co-host Kevin Frazier takes viewers through the top ten spots revealed in the Feb. 2 special and offers sneak peeks of the commercials to air the next night during the game. Last year, Super Bowl carrier Fox garnered decent ratings for its “NFL Honors” telecast on the eve of the Super Bowl, so it’s possible that CBS could do the same this year and air it after the “All-Star Countdown” special.
Rick Kissell contributed to this report.
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