CW cuts ‘Runaway’ loose

Paul Rader and his family succeeded in remaining unfound after all.

The freshman CW drama “Runaway” about a family on the lam is the first casualty for the fledling network, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The show only aired three episodes before cancellation, giving it the dubious distinction of being the second show to get the axe this fall after CBS’ heist drama “Smith.”

“Runaway” had a slow start following up “7th Heaven” on Mondays. When the CW decided to swap its Sunday night comedy line-up with the two Monday dramas, the comedies’ ratings saw significant increases in adult viewership. Unfortunately, “Runaway” didn’t fare as well, averaging only 1.8 million viewers on its new night.

For now, the CW will pull “Runaway” and fill its slot with repeats. The only other new show that debuted on the CW this season is the sitcom “The Game.”

“Runaway” starred Donnie Wahlberg as a Paul Rader, a man who was falsely accused of murdering a colleague at work. After receiving death threats aimed at his family, he took them all on the run and ended up laying low in a small Iowa town. Leslie Hope, Dustin Milligan, Sarah Ramos and Nathan Gamble co-starred.

December finales for ‘Race,’ ‘Survivor’

The latest seasons of CBS’ venerable “The Amazing Race” and “Survivor” franchises will have their finales on consecutive Sundays in December.

The 10th season of “Amazing Race” will cross the finish-line Dec. 10 in a relatively restrained finale only running one hour.

The following week, though, “Survivor: Cook Islands” will dedicate two hours to its last episode but, as usual, the winner won’t be revealed until the hour-long live special airing at 10 p.m. The “Survivor” reunion special will film, once again, at CBS Television City in Los Angeles.

The Phil Keoghan-hosted “Amazing Race” has won four consecutive Emmys in the outstanding reality-competition category. CBS transplanted “Race” to Sundays this fall and the latest season has averaged a solid 11.15 million viewers, leading into “Cold Case.”

In its 13th incarnation, “Survivor” has had a somewhat difficult season. A wave of mostly negative press greeted the show’s decision to split the season’s tribes along racial lines and then a second wave of mostly negative press greeted the show’s decision to integrate the tribes after only two episodes, before the latest social experiment made any impact at all. While that controversy failed to build any new audience, “Survivor” has still averaged nearly 16.7 million viewers this season, outdrawing ABC’s freshman hit “Ugly Betty.”

Fox foments future for ‘Firefly’s’ fillion

Dozens upon dozens of Browncoats are already hopelessly devoted to Nathan Fillion, a number Fox hopes to increase.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fox and 20th Century Fox have signed Fillion to a talent holding deal, aiming to either develop a new property for the “Firefly” star or else to slot the actor into an existing show.

Fillion is best known for his work as Mal Reynolds on both Fox’s short-lived Joss Whedon offering “Firefly” and in the subsequent Universal feature “Serenity.” His additional TV credits include “Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place,” “Miss Match” and a run on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

Message boards have also been buzzing that Fillion will appear in an upcoming episode of “Lost.”

On the feature side, the 35-year-old actor was most recently seen in the feature “Slither.” He’s also completed work on “White Noise 2: The Light.”

VH1 savors ‘Flavor’ finale

Former Public Enemy sidekick Flavor Flav has cemented his position as perhaps the most unlikely TV star ever with huge ratings for the finale of “Flavor of Love 2.”

The hour-long finale on VH1 Sunday, in which Flav picked contestant “Deelishis” as his love match – if they get married, will she be “Deelishis Flavor”? – drew 7.5 million viewers, the most ever to watch a program on the cable network. It was also far and away the No. 1 show on cable for the night.

It also scored a 4.6 rating among adults 18-49, another all-time record for the channel. In that demographic, which advertisers love so much, “Flavor of Love” was the top-rated non-sports show on basic cable for all of 2006. (A few other shows, including AMC’s movie “Broken Trail” and the season premiere of “The Closer” on TNT, drew bigger overall audiences.)

The ratings for the season two finale easily outpace the first “Flavor of Love,” which drew 5.9 million viewers to its final episode.

“Flavor of Love 2” was Flav’s fourth go-round on VH1. He first appeared on the third season of “The Surreal Life,” then co-starred with Brigitte Nielsen on the spinoff “Strange Love” before landing his own “Bachelor”-style show.

“Flavor of Love” has itself spawned a spinoff now. “Flavortte” will have a pack of men vying for Flav rejectee Tiffany “New York” Patterson; it doesn’t have an airdate yet.