Media Scribbler

Bits and pieces of press coverage of the summer TCA panels, broken into posts over the next couple of days:

“90210 2.0″: If most of the public heard about one thing that happened at the network panels overall, it’s that Shannen Doherty will be in the “Beverly Hills: 90210″ spinoff. Her publicist must be thrilled. People seem to overlook that there are, um, real teens in this show, and DVR Playground has a good look at them.  If you want to feel old, think about the fact that Shenae Grimes (who has Rob Estes and Lori McLoughlin as on-screen parents) was one year old when the original show went on the air. Think about how old you were and drink accordingly.

Showtime: They’re going to do a spinoff series from “The L Word” at the end of the show’s final season. Two particularly interesting bits — the show will probably be Web-only (this could be the first of a trend for networks after they’ve gotten all of the revenue issues worked out with SAG, because this was a big part of the WGA strike) and it will be centered around one of the main characters (the actress doesn’t even know she’s attached yet.) The L Word Fansite is already speculating on which one it will be. (ed: My money’s on Shane, but I’d love to see Helena or Alice too. No Jenny. Please, please, no Jenny.)

Beyond that, the network has ordered two more seasons of “Weeds”, 10 more eps of “Penn & Teller”, a drama called “Nurse Jackie” that stars Edie Falco as “a drug-addicted NYC nurse” (“Rescue Me” mixed with “House”? Whatever it is, it’ll likely be great with Falco), another series about a gun shop in Colorado, probably more eps of “This American Life”, and orders for the next two series of “Secret Diary of a Call Girl” (ed: Yay!)

ABC: Katherine Heigl is absolutely, positively not going to be killed off next season on “Grey’s Anatomy”. Is that clear enough for everyone? Doesn’t mean they can’t stick Izzy in a body cast for half the season, though. That’s along the lines of “Ugly Betty” showrunner Silvio Horta’s fantasy about how he’d make Heigl suffer. And in response to the press’ deluge of questions for “Grey’s”exec-producer Shonda Rhimes, Marc Cherry made a surprisingly candid statement about that ol’ “Vanity Fair” shoot back in the days when his show ruled TV gossip:

“…The thing that was just so sad was that a writer, one of you guys, saw it from one perspective and it was so much more complicated and so real and understandable. So I ultimately solved it by hugging a sobbing actress in her trailer for 30 minutes and telling her, ‘This too shall pass.’”

STLtoday.com’s “Tube Talk” has a really good look at how the ABC showrunners have become fan favorites on the level with most, if not all, of their respective casts. They were a vital part of the WGA’s negotiations, and it sounds like they’ve all learned a lot about how to play poker. They entertain and distract while not giving anything away. The only real scoop was that Daniel Dae Kim will be back on “Lost” “in some form.”

Next up — who’s leaving CSI? Are they really revamping “The Price Is Right”? And some really good behind-the-scenes stuff from other media bloggers.

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