This morning the Directors Guild notified directors who've worked for The Weinstein Co films and told them they would be notified about the status of their unpaid residuals with that company. This included the prominent Hollywood helmer who alerted me yesterday that he hadn't been paid a six-figure residual by TWC for the fourth quarter 2007 and had been told by the DGA that TWC hasn't paid any residuals for the last quarter on their 20 to 30 films. Shortly after, a DGA spokesperson contacted me today with this formal statement about my posting yesterday: "The DGA has had a long and productive working relationship with The Weinstein Company and its predecessor. It is sometimes the case, with various companies, that residuals payments are late. We are working directly with TWC to resolve this issue and see that our members receive prompt residuals payments." (See my previous, More Red Ink? Now DGA vs Weinstein Co.)

Look, I understand that DGA members are quietly thrilled that I've made this problem public. So here's a thought: what other movie companies and/or studios are paying residuals late or not at all to the various guilds? I would like to shame them into paying up. On a related subject, I understand that the Screen Actors Guild has filed arbitrations for the millions of dollars in force majeure payments that remain unpaid and still due.

UPDATE: I hear MRC now has been asked to consider Moonlight for mid-season. This is such a shot in the dark it's barely worth posting. But I'm posting nonetheless. I've also been told that CBS continues to hold an option on the star of the show, Alex O"Loughlin, and that he's in demand for other projects. 

...I just heard it's a no-go for Media Rights Capital, which is programming Sunday's two-hour block for the CW, to pick up Moonlight. So it's dead, gone, six feet under. The cancelled CBS show was officially offered to MRC yesterday. (It was also offered to others, but the people behind the show thought MRC was their best shot.) And there was enough of a chance of a pick-up that Warner Bros television took the unusual step of agreeing to delay its order yesterday to strike the Moonlightsets until Friday to see what happened. And a lot of lobbying and arm-twisting has gone down since then. However, first thing this morning, MRC officially passed. The reason I'm told is that MRC, rightly or wrongly, is committed to looking for fresh materal, not recycled. (MRC has already semi-announced its four original shows for CW's Sunday time slots...) But in my opinion, it's a dumb move by MRC. Not only would Moonlight's ratings be a huge improvement over anything now appearing on the CW, but the company could take advantage of the awareness already built up thanks to CBS's heavy (in other words, expensive) promotion of the show throughout this past TV season. At a time in the TV biz when it's so hard to market new shows, that's a big plus. A big minus, however, is the tough deal that WBTV would drive, and that's what sunk the show at CBS, too. In the end, like all things Hollywood, it's about business.

1. 'Moonlight' To CW?
2. 'Moonlight' Cancelled
3. 'Moonlight' Not On CBS Fall Schedule But Not Dead

The 2008 "Best of the West" journalism competition, recognized as the West's most prestigious, is designed to reward journalistic excellence and to promote freedom of information. It is administered by the nonprofit First Amendment Funding and draws entries each year from journalists in the 13 states west of the Rockies:

Category: Special Topic Column Writing
First Place: Nikki Finke, "Deadline Hollywood" newspaper columns, LA Weekly
Judge's comment: "Nikki Finke is a badass. Period. She covers Hollywood with a terminally jaundiced eye for the kind of ridiculousness that people in that world take with the utmost seriousness. Her line about Clint Eastwood, that 'the geriatrics who still make up the majority of Oscar balloters love the guy cuz he's still got a prostate and balls,' is classic. I can even forgive the use of the 'cuz.' On 'The Sopranos' cut-to-black-ending, she wrote, 'Maybe we should all register with the Writers Guild for our residuals, since we had to fill in the blank.' Good stuff, written with passion and an utter disregard whether any of the studio heads, or anyone in 'the industry,' will ever buy her lunch."

(This year, my category was judged by Mike Argento, columnist for the Daily Record in York, Pa., and president of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists.)

CBS 2008-2009 PRIMETIME FALL SCHEDULE, For The Record

Monday
8:00 PM: The Big Bang Theory
8:30 PM: How I Met Your Mother 
9:00 PM: Two and a Half Men
9:30 PM: WORST WEEK (new)
10:00 PM: CSI: Miami

Tuesday
8:00 PM: NCIS
9:00 PM: THE MENTALIST (new)
10:00 PM: Without a Trace

Wednesday
8:00 PM: The New Adventures of Old Christine
8:30 PM: PROJECT GARY (new)
9:00 PM: Criminal Minds
10:00 PM: CSI: NY

Thursday
8:00 PM: Survivor
9:00 PM: CSI
10:00 PM: 11TH HOUR (new)

Friday
8:00 PM: Ghost Whisperer
9:00 PM: THE EX-LIST (new)
10:00 PM: Numb3rs

Saturday
8:00 PM: Crimetime Saturday
9:00 PM: Crimetime Saturday
10:00 PM: 48 Hours: Mystery

Sunday
7:00 PM: 60 Minutes
8:00 PM: The Amazing Race
9:00 PM: Cold Case
10:00 PM: The Unit

HARPER'S ISLAND (new) and Rules of Engagement will go mid-season.

EXCLUSIVE: Is this another wave of bad news? Now a prominent Hollywood film director just emailed me the following allegations about a heretofore unknown battle brewing between the Directors Guild and The Weinstein Co over residual payments for 20 to 30 films that may lead to arbitration or worse. (See below for the emails, which I condensed with his permission.) UPDATE: Tonight I spoke to Harvey Weinstein and his CFO Larry Madden, who both contend they know nothing about this and have not been personally contacted by the DGA. 2ND UPDATE: Harvey called again to say he's "just discovered" that The Weinstein Co uses a third party service to calculate and pay residuals. "Whatever the problem is, we're looking into it immediately." (See his full statement below.)

First, here's a condensed version of the director's emails to me:

"As you know, directors and writers rely on their residuals to survive during hard times. Well, with the past WGA strike and the impending SAG strike, times are a little rocky. I personally have been expecting my Weinstein Co residual check for six figures now since February from when it was due for the 4th quarter 2007. I had the DGA get into it and what I was just told was shocking: For the first time in the history of the company, the Weinsteins haven't paid ANY residuals for last quarter to any of the 20 to 30 films they owe on. The person I spoke to at the DGA thinks the Weinsteins may be having problems. 

"The DGA has been chasing TWC for two months almost. And TWC have been stonewalling and not returning the DGA's calls for over a week now. They have an employee at TWC who is either completely incompetent or more likely is feigning incompetence to stall for time. For example, two weeks ago when the DGA called on behalf of my film and 20 to 30 others, the TWC employees asked the DGA person if they had a phone number for Axium. Like what does this have to do with anything? Axium is a payroll company that very publicly went bankrupt last year. The TWC doesn't know this? THEN when the DGA called again last week, the TWC company asked the DGA residual person if they had a list of the SAG actors in the TWC films that are in question. Why would the DGA be keeping track of SAG? Why would TWC ask this?

"The DGA has threatened to go to arbitration over this and will begin legal proceedings in approximately twenty days if TWC does not comply. This info comes from the DGA residuals department. I am extremely frustrated and I know other independent directors who are financially dying right now. Residuals are an essential ingredient to our survival. Please do NOT cite me or specifically point out my film. I don't need to be blackballed by Harvey. I have another movie in development with him."

And here's what Harvey Weinstein, with Madden in agreement, told me tonight:

"If indeed this is true, we are going to make the payments to this director immediately. Maybe there's one person, or a couple of people, where there may be a screw-up. We don't know. Until you told us, we had no idea. And we never received a phone call from anybody saying we were late. We've been current since we started the company. We are very responsible for our bill. If there was a mistake made, we'll fix it.

"This has never happpened before. Both of us have never been contacted by the DGA. Certainly you would call the CFO and certainly you would call Harvey Weinstein. This is the first I'm hearing about this. In 30 years, I've never had a complaint about residual payments. If anything is wrong and an executive screwed up, that executive won't be working for us. And if anything is owed, that will be corrected, too. I find it ridiculous that anybody would write about it. If it weren't Harvey Weinstein, it wouldn't be written about."

And Weinstein said this in a follow-up call tonight:

"I just found out we use a third party service to calculate and pay residuals. The Weinstein Co doesn't do the residuals directly. Whatever the problem is, we're looking into it immediately."

EXCLUSIVE: I've just been told by an insider that "there is a chance, only a chance" that Media Rights Capital which will be programming Sunday's two hours on the CW "may elect to take Moonlight as one of those two hours". This is developing to be quite a behind-the-scenes drama because the order came from Warner Bros TV this afternoon to start tearing the Moonlight sets down. But now WBTV will wait until Friday. Before it was cancelled, it had more than twice the number of viewers on CBS than Gossip Girl despite all the hype. So Moonlight could wind up the most watched CW show. Stay tuned.

1. Primetime Pilot Panic: CW Sked
2. 'Moonlight' Cancelled
3. 'Moonlight' Not On CBS Fall Schedule But Not Dead

CW 2008-2009 PRIMETIME SCHEDULE, For The Record

UPDATE: 'Moonlight' To CW?

That yawning sound you hear around Hollywood is the CW schedule. There are a lot of tipsters telling me that network boss Dawn Ostroff won't be around to see the CW's early launch on September 1st. She's outsourced Sunday night's scheduling to Media Rights Capital, but maybe she should have had all those smart people in India do Monday-through-Friday. A sexed-up Reaper with relationship problems makes no sense for midseason, and 90210 especially with Tori Spelling anywhere near it just makes anyone with sense ill. That said, there will be so many fashionista female clones on the network in the fall that each show will look amateurishly interchangeable. This is what happens when the worst exec (Ostroff) running the worst weblet (UPN) gets put in charge of the merged network. Remember when the old WB actually programmed quality and pleased underserved audiences? Now its successor, the CW, does nothing but pander and even ignores the sacrosanct 8 PM family hour. And its the affiliates and viewers who suffer. Enough!

MONDAY
8 PM: Gossip Girl
9 PM: One Tree Hill

TUESDAY
8 PM: 90210 (new)
9 PM: SURVIVING THE FILTHY RICH (new)

WEDNESDAY
8 PM: America's Next Top Model
9 PM: STYLISTA (new)

THURSDAY
8 PM: Smallville
9 PM: Supernatural

FRIDAY
8 PM: Everybody Hates Chris
8:30 PM: The Game
9 PM: America's Next Top Model (repeat)

Endeavor talent agency will represent both Barbra Streisand as an actress, director and producer as well as her Barwood Films. The Hollywood legend's longtime manager Marty Erlichman will continue to principally help guide her career. Streisand had been with ICM but it's been quite some time since she's starred in a movie (2004's Meet The Fockers) or directed one (1996's The Mirror Has Two Faces). However, she has been an active executive producer in television. And, of course, she's a busy recording artist. I understand Babs now intends to become more active in all entertainment arenas. Mused a source at a rival agency: "And Endeavor will go out with a vengeance for her because whatever she does now, it will be quite obvious who got it for her."

EXCLUSIVE: As you must know by now, in the past 48 hours, Joel Silver had his $160M movie Speed Racer tank at Warner Bros, and his TV series Moonlight axed by CBS. And, because of his many faults, most of the town is ecstatic over it. And, to make matters worse, everybody and their dry cleaner have heard today's rumor that Warner Bros is supposedly cancelling or at the very least not renewing his deal there. Page Six is even writing about it tomorrow. But a Warner Bros spokesman told me officially today that Silver is and will be staying at the studio. So I phoned up Joel who just gave me this info exclusively: "My deal has a year and a half to go. I won't renew it until the deal is up. And my Dark Castle deal has 16 movies released through Warner Bros which are independently funded, and which we have all the money for. And the first one is the Guy Ritchie movie, RocknRolla, which will be in October."

Look, say what you will, but Silver's Lethal Weapon series and Matrix movies made gazillions for Warner Bros. Of course, he and the studio are down in the dumps about Speed Racer's disastrous opening. "Everyone is disturbed about this. I know there's a long list of Hollywood types right now kinda elated about that. But Warner Bros is my family, I've been there for 22 years, and we're fine. But I can't stop the slings and arrows of the world around me."  

UPDATE: CBS has officially let veteran Moonlight know that it's been cancelled. The network even nixed any remote chance of a mid-season back 13-episode order. See my previous about the renewal saga, 'Moonlight' Not On CBS Fall Schedule But Not Dead; Show Lobbying For Back 13-Episode Order. CBS also axed Shark, a show that deteriorated faster than a CSI corpse left out in the sun...

I'm told CBS today has officially let these veteran shows know they're renewed: Old Christine (WBT), Rules of Engagement (Sony/CBS Paramount), How I Met Your Mother (20th Century Fox TV), The Unit (20th Century Fox TV)

CBS didn't just renew The New Adventures Of Old Christine but just gave the sitcom a full season 22-episode order. This show was on the bubble at CBS, even though ABC was ready to steal it with a full season order. As for me, I watched 1/2 of one episode and that was more than enough...

It sounds like this is the guy who'll know where MGM's money is gonna come from. MGM today announced Bedi A. Singh, most recently the exec VP/CFO of Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc, has been named President, Finance and Administration & Chief Financial Officer of MGM, reporting directly to chairman/CEO Harry Sloan. In this newly created position, Singh takes on the overall responsibility for the company's financial activities. This includes oversight of the studio’s relationship with the banking and finance community as well as overseeing MGM’s strategic financial planning, plus other duties.

UPDATE: CBS renews How I Met Your Mother for Monday at 8:30 PM. Given the Britney shtick, there was never any doubt. And Neil Patrick Harris needs to win an Emmy.

I'm told that "bubble shows" won't be notified by CBS until later today or early tomorrow. But in terms of renewals, a network source tells me that the producers of the CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother were "quietly given reassurance a couple weeks ago that their show would be back". But I just received an email from a show insider saying, "The creators have never been given any real reassurance. Everyone has been progressing as if it would happen, but CBS has never said anything REAL. Doesn't matter, just clarifying." Maybe the HIMYM guys didn't recognize the secret CBS handshake? 

ABC 2008-2009 PRIMETIME SCHEDULE, For The Record

As I reported earlier, ABC had strong comedy development this time around. And the fact is that most of ABC's new stuff will need to go midseason because not only have few pilots yet been shot, but most are still only in the casting stage. As a result, this is a much safer and less costly schedule than last fall's, when there were new scripted series galore. This time around, some of those fall and mid-season shows are being given a second chance to find an audience.

MONDAY
8 PM: Dancing With The Stars
Mid-Season -- UNTITLED TYRA BANKS/ASHTON KUTCHER PROJECT (new)
9 PM: Samantha Who?
10 PM: Boston Legal
Mid-Season -- The Bachelor

TUESDAY
8 PM: OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS contest show (new)
9 PM: Dancing with the Stars
Mid-Season -- SCRUBS (moved from NBC)
Mid-Season -- THE GOODE FAMILY (new)
10 PM: Eli Stone

WEDNESDAY
8 PM: Pushing Daisies
9 PM: Private Practice
10 PM: Dirty Sexy Money

THURSDAY
8 PM: Ugly Betty
9 PM: Grey's Anatomy
10 PM: LIFE ON MARS (new)

FRIDAY
8 PM: Wife Swap
9 PM: Supernanny
10 PM: 20/20

SATURDAY
College Football

SUNDAY
7 PM: America’s Funniest Home Videos
8 PM: Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
9 PM: Desperate Housewives
10 PM: Brothers & Sisters

MONDAY 11:30 PM: Tonight I've just been informed by a reliable source that "Capitol Films just had another movie shut down" -- identified as An Invisible Sign Of My Own featuring America Ferrera, the star of ABC's hit show Ugly Betty. It looks increasingly like a Capitol-sparked meltdown is happening in the indie film market, just as my sources feared. I'll continue to follow this breaking story... So add her name to the star actors and directors like John Cusack, Helen Mirren, Gina Gershon, Joe Pesci, Jan de Bont, and Taylor Hackford whom I've learned have been, and Jennifer Lopez with writer-helmer Don Roos may be soon, affected by this cash crunch surrounding Capitol Films.  So it wasn't just Jessica Biel and Jake Gyllenhaal and David O. Russell. "This is a big story that involves many projects," one of my sources informs. All the details are here in my post that explains what's really going on...

1. 5TH UPDATE: 'Nailed' Tip Of The Iceberg: Capitol's Money Woes On More Films
2. 4TH UPDATE: 'Nailed' Production Resumed; More Capitol Films Suffered
3. 3RD UPDATE: David O. Russell Film Drama
4. 2ND UPDATE: SAG Shuts Down Russell Film; Jessica & Jake Stand By
5. EXCLUSIVE: David O. Russell Film Drama! Jessica Biel & Jake Gyllenhaal Sidelined

Sanford Panitch has left Regency to run Fox International Productions (FIP), a newly formed international production umbrella unit of Fox Filmed Entertainment that will produce, acquire and distribute local language films around the globe. Fox Filmed Entertainment chairmen/CEOs, Jim Gianopulos and Tom Rothman made the announcement today. Panitch was prez of filmed entertainment for New Regency (a partnership with News Corporation and Twentieth Century Fox) and now becomes prez of the Los Angeles-based FIP, reporting to Rothman and Gianopulos. The press release says FIP will oversee production activities already in progress in Japan, Germany, Russia and India, and will expand Fox’s local productions in these and other markets in the future. FIP will work closely with Fox’s other production divisions and partners and also will tap into its News Corp sister companies, including STAR, SKY and MySpace, among others. The endeavor also will coordinate efforts with Fox International, run by co-presidents Tomas Jegeus and Paul Hanneman.  Fox International will handle all marketing and distribution for FIP. Panitch was at New Regency for the past seven years, moving from Twentieth Century Fox where he last served as executive vice president of production.

CW

The CW just gave Reaper a mid-season 13-episode renewal.

CBS 

CBS renewed The Unit at an appropriate time: the drama series' cast is over in the Persian Gulf for a week to visit with U.S. soldiers. (See photos below). I hear Robert Patrick arranged the tour through the USO. He and other Unit actors Michael Irby, Max Martini, and Dennis Haysbert landed in Kuwait last Thursday to spend quality time with tropps. The actors are sharing stories about the show, signing autographs and posing for pictures.

MONDAY 11:30 PM: Tonight I've been informed by a reliable source that "Capitol Films just had another movie shut down" -- identified as An Invisible Sign Of My Own starring America Ferrera, the star of ABC's Ugly Betty. 

So add her name to the star actors and directors like John Cusack, Helen Mirren, Gina Gershon, Joe Pesci, Jan de Bont, and Taylor Hackford whom I've learned have been, and Jennifer Lopez with writer-helmer Don Roos, may soon be, impacted by Capitol Films' cash crunch. "This is a big story that involves many projects," one of my sources informs. All weekend I reported on the on-set drama surrounding Friday's shutdown of the David O. Russell film Nailed shooting in South Carolina, sidelining stars Jessica Biel and Jake Gyllenhaal. SAG ordered the actors to leave because insufficient funds were on deposit with the guild. Other unions are looking into the situation. For instance, some Teamsters and IATSE union members left the production because of payroll problems. The film is back shooting today after a Friday-Saturday-Sunday hiatus. But other media sources are now reporting what I revealed on Saturday: that the South Carolina Film Commission may withhold its incentive monies. (A decision will be made when an audit is completed by the panel within 30 days of the end of production.) Now I've learned that Nailed was not the only indie film shut down Friday because of Capitol Films' financing problems: other indie movies have been affected as well. I'm told that "a shitload of people are owed a lot of money," in the words of one film financing expert. One NYC movie funder told me this is going to be "a big crash and burn story" because he'd heard last week that Capitol's major financing source, a hedge fund, had shut down and left it in the lurch. David Bergstein's Capitol Films behind the pic is troubled. David Bergstein in 2006 acquired Capitol, the leading UK-based international sales company which over the years had built a good reputation in the movie biz and made a wide range of commercial and critical successes, including Robert Altman's Gosford Park. But that was then, and this is now.  

-- So I'm told by two significant sources that Capitol Films was also funding the $5M-$7M budget of the Rob Schmidt-directed horror indie Bad Meat. According to one of my insiders, that production was shut down while shooting in Canada on Friday by ACTRA (the Canadian actor's guild) for non-payment of actor salaries. He tells me: "Not sure if this is on SAG's radar yet. The various crew unions have told everyone to go home as well.  They claim to be getting more money tomorrow, but most everyone (SAG members) flew home Saturday morning. If they are having trouble with both pics, that does not bode well. Capitol's problem is looking bigger than it initially seemed." The second source details for me what went on behind-the-scenes:

"The start of the Bad Meat shoot was delayed for ten days because Capitol didn't provide the promised funds. They claimed that Bergstein's father was ill and that he was unavailable to sign checks. Capitol finally came up with starting money, and the shoot was going well. Suddenly on Friday, two weeks away from completing principal photography, we were told that the money has completely run out and production is shutting down. My client came home yesterday. Many, many people are ending up unpaid-- actors, crew, catering, travel, etc. Capitol is claiming that money will be flowing by the end of the week for Bad Meat. They're asserting that they have a very large credit facility coming from Comerica Bank. We all think that's nonsensical."

-- I'd heard there were financing problems and delays with Jennifer Lopez's upcoming star turn in a film because of Capitol's money woes. But a source close to the project now tells me that Love And Other Impossible Pursuits, written and directed by Don Roos, is still supposed to commence principal photography beginning July 8th. "Supposedly, the cash is in the bank." Others contend it may be put on indefinite hold.

-- A source tells me that International Media Films was producing and shooting Jan de Bont's and John Cusack's film, Stopping Power, in Berlin when they ran out of financing. Capitol Film took over and was suppose to continue shooting and pay everyone "and never did. No one was paid from International Media or Capitol Films. All the actors and the crews had to fled Germany. It was and still is a nightmare!"

-- Still another source informs me: "This isn't the first time Capitol has run into trouble. They've developed quite a reputation in New Mexico for running out of money. The Taylor Hackford film, Love Ranch, was shut down for one day because of a 5th straight week of late paychecks. As of the last week of filming, several actors hadn't been paid.

-- From yet another source: "Another one of Capitol's films, Five Dollars a Day, also had the same kind of trouble." I hear the film has been completed.

1. 4TH UPDATE: 'Nailed' Production Resumed; More Capitol Films Suffered
2. 3RD UPDATE: David O. Russell Film Drama
3. 2ND UPDATE: SAG Shuts Down Russell Film; Jessica & Jake Stand By
4. EXCLUSIVE: David O. Russell Film Drama! Jessica Biel & Jake Gyllenhaal Sidelined

EXCLUSIVE: UTA was just informed today, and the actor's agent Shani Rosenzweig is gobsmacked, I'm told. The tenpercentery had repped Emile Hirsch for seven years. The star of Speed Racer, which opened dismally over the weekend, is planning to park himself with his manager Sam Maydew, I'm told. "He claims he just doesn't want an agent," an insider informs me. "It's further evidence how talent is nervous in this town. This is a total shocker." Look, UTA helped make Hirsch one of the best-known young leading men of his generation in films like Into the Wild (for which he was nominated for several awards), Alpha Dog, and Lords Of Dogtown, The Girl Next Door. He'll also be starring in the upcoming Gus Van Sant pic Milk. This year, he was ranked #17 on Entertainment Weekly's high-profile "30 Under 30" actors list. (2008). UTA doesn't deserve this.

See my new information: 5TH UPDATE: 'Nailed' Tip Of The Iceberg: Capitol's Money Woes With 'Bad Meat'; Indie Shut Down Suddenly Friday, Too 

Also see my previous from the weekend:

1. 3RD UPDATE: David O. Russell Film Drama
2. 2ND UPDATE: SAG Orders Actors On David O. Russell Film To Leave; Jessica Biel & Jake Gyllenhall Sidelined
3. EXCLUSIVE: David O. Russell Film Drama! Jessica Biel & Jake Gyllenhaal Sidelined

The news just came in to me from my sources.... "They're fighting for a back 13 at mid-season, but Moonlight is definitely not on the fall schedule. But it's not dead, either. Insiders tell me the sticking point is money: that CBS wants Warner Bros to "step up" more financially. But WBTV is saying back to CBS that the network has to step up as well, even though CBS doesn't own the show. Here's what I can tell you about the behind-the-scenes:

Moonlight has been fraught with problems (see below). But CBS' Nina Tassler told the producers that she was "very happy" with the direction of the series. The show pitched her the stories for all next season, "and Nina loved them". And then CBS gave the show its list of what the network wanted. But CBS made clear that the renewal of the show was "all going to be dependent on making the last four shows of this season ratings-wise. Well, those ratings were only fair. They didn't win the night, but they won their demos. On the other hand, Friday's ratings are always low. But the real story is, as usualy in Hollywood, all about the money. Even though comparatively Moonlight is being done on the cheap (especially when put up against another WBTV show, Pushing Daisies on ABC, which is a notoriously expensive production), and was picked up in the beginning by CBS for a relatively low licensing fee, CBS now wants Warner Bros to pick up more of the tab. There was a specific conversation between the two Big Media outfits about this on Wednesday of last week. "We need you to step up," CBS reportedly told WB. To which WB responded to CBS, "You step up, and we'll step up." Interestingly, I hear that CBS just ordered to series the pilots The Mentalist and 11th hour which both have higher licensing fees than Moonlight. But the producers knew all along that their series was "on the bubble," so to speak. And iun response to communication pushing the network to pick up Moonlight, I understand rthat CBS responded to the effect, "Where's WB? Why won't they step up?"

Meanwhile, there have been other problems. Coming back from the writers strike, the executive producer and showrunner Chip Johanssen was cut loose, despite being a close friend of Tassler’s. Also, series creator Ron Koslow was shown the door after the picket signs went down. That left no official showrunners in place to guide the episodes produced after the strike ended. Husband and wife writers / producers Harry Werksman and Gabrielle Stanton were informally given the reins, and they supervised the most recent four shows ending the season. The question is whether they are up to the task. I hear the Moonlight producers offered to change showrnners to get a CBS renewal. Already, the fallout has led one of the few surviving players, staff writer and producer Jill Blotevogel, to be unceremoniously dumped before any renewal is announced. There's a rumor which I havenm't confirmed that, if CBS does renew, it may bring the showrunners from the expected-to-be-cancelled Shark to come in and retool Moonlight.

Shame on the trades and mainstream media for not making the big deal out of this angle of the Sunday box office story I did. (Or, is that the reason? See my previous, Rival Studios Accuse WB Of Inflating #s). It's now clear that Warner Bros wildly exaggerated its domestic gross claims for its disastrous Speed Racer. The WB-inflated tally of $20.2M put its anime actioner 2nd and Fox's What Happens In Vegas only 3rd with $20M, when every other studio had the ranking the other way around and Speed Racer's tally around $19.7M. Those rival studio execs told me Sunday there was no way WB's kiddie pic would suddenly have a huge Sunday. And, remember, there's primo PR value in these Top 10 ranking which get reported in newspapers and on TV and the Internet. But now the official figures have been reported Monday, and everyone can see how fudged WB's figures really are. Speed Racer made only $18.5M for the weekend, while Fox's Vegas totalled $20.1M. That's a difference of more than $1.6M. Jeez. As I noted yesterday, these kind of controversies don't develop often in Hollywood, but when they do, they can be ugly. That's because there is a certain code of honor among thieves, if you will -- a tacit agreement that every Hollywood studio will try to report weekend box office numbers as accurately as possible. Now it's shame on WB.

UPDATED: Below are photos of an unscheduled upfront week event. Early this morning, because the sitcom Back to You had been cancelled, upset fans made a "memorial" in front of the gates at Fox studios. And the star of the sitcom Kelsey Grammar even posed for a picture beside it. (I just heard that Kelsey found out from my website Friday night that the show was cancelled!) I can confirm that "CBS has shown interest in Back To You.") There were candles, balloons, floral bouquets, over 30 sympathy cards, neckties in honor of "Chuck", and American flags. I was initially told that Fox security removed the memorial, but now fans are telling me it's still there and even being expanded. But everyone connected to the show, especially showrunner Steve Levitan, knew about it and appreciated it.

CBS

2ND UPDATE:  I can confirm that "CBS has shown interest" in Back To You, Steve Levitan's Kelsey Grammar/Patricia Heaton sitcom cancelled by Fox. 

UPDATE: I'm told that the comedy Single White Millionaire (WBTV) has been killed. The Tower (CBS Paramount) isn't dead, but also isn't on the schedule. Its fate might be decided in a few weeks. The comedy Worst Week (Universal Media Studios) is picked up. The drama NY-LON (ABC TV Studios/Beacon) is dead. Also, the Ed Yeager/Rick Swartzlander comedy pilot that's been picked up to series and stars Jay Mohr (I love this guy) is now called Project Gary.

Mythological X (CBS/20th Century Fox TV) drama receives a series order, but it's unclear if it's for fall or mid-season. It has been re-titled The X List.

The Mentalist (WBTV) drama ordered to series.

Untitled Ed Yeager (ABC TV Studios) comedy pilot ordered to series.

11th Hour (WBTV/Jerry Bruckheimer TV) drama ordered.

Jon Turtletaub's Harpers Island (CBS Paramount) drama ordered for mid-season.

ABC 

UPDATED: I assumed everybody already knew that ABC has renewed NBC's Scrubs (hey it's an ABC show, after all...) Now Zach Braff today made an "official" announcement. But it's been official for weeks and weeks...

Eli Stone renewed for 13 episodes.

October Road cancelled.

Life On Mars (20th Century TV) received series order for 13 episodes.

So upfronts week is here. And news about the networks' pickups, renewals and cancellations has been slowly trickling in (slower than previous years). Here are my posts, including TV topic stories, in case you missed any from the past 2 weeks: