CBS gets chummy with full ‘Shark’ season

When is a show that loses 8 million viewers from its lead-in not a failure? When it’s CBS’ “Shark.”

CBS has ordered up a full season of the James Woods-driven legal drama despite the fact that it retains only a chunk of its powerful “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” lead-in.

On a positive level, CBS touts “Shark” as the season’s top drama, at least in total viewers. The series averages 14.36 million viewers, including a 4.1 rating among adults 18-49. Of course, “Shark” has a lead-in that averages closer to 22.9 million viewers and a demo rating above 7.

But back to the positives, as “Shark” has reliably finished within shouting distance of NBC’s “ER” in total viewers. The Imagine Television production has routinely thrashed ABC’s new “Six Degrees,” averaging roughly 4 million viewers per week more than the J.J. Abrams produced relationship drama, which has “Grey’s Anatomy” as its lead-in.

“Shark” is the second freshman CBS drama to get a back-nine order, following the solidly performing “Jericho.”

The CW orders more ‘Game,’ ‘Heaven’

Although the CW recently bid adieu to its new drama “Runaway,” two other shows will get their full run for the season.

The fledling network has picked up the back nine episodes of the freshman comedy “The Game” as well as giving a full season order for the long-lived family drama “7th Heaven.”

“The Game,” a sitcom about a woman (Tia Mowry) adjusting to life as a pro football player’s live-in girlfriend while juggling her med school studies, has performed well in the post-“Girlfriends” slot, retaining 95 percent of women 18-34. The show also stars Coby Bell, Pooch Hall, Hosea Chanchez, Brittany Daniel and Wendy Raquel Robinson. “The Game” is part of the Monday night comedy line-up that also includes “Everybody Hates Chris” and “All of Us.”

“The Game” is only one of the two new shows that debuted on the CW this fall. “Runaway,” a drama about a family on the lam, only lasted three episodes before getting pulled.

“7th Heaven” marks its 11th season on television and stars Stephen Collins, Catherine Hickes, Beverly Mitchell and George Stults. This season also adds Tyler Hoechlin and Haylie Duff as regulars.

Woodruff plans return to ABC

ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff, who was wounded in Iraq early this year, is ready to go back on the air.

Woodruff will anchor a prime-time special in the spring that will tell the story of what happened on Jan. 29, when he and cameraman Doug Vogt were wounded in a roadside bomb attack outside Baghdad. They were traveling with a U.S. Army patrol.

At the time, Woodruff was only a few weeks into his new job as co-anchor (with Elizabeth Vargas) of ABC’s “World News Tonight.” He suffered a head injury from shrapnel and several broken bones; Vogt also sustained a head injury, though his was not as severe as Woodruff’s.

The anchor went through a long recovery period at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., and over the summer started easing back into his professional life with trips to the ABC newsroom.

The prime-time special will include interviews with eyewitnesses and the medical personnel who treated Woodruff following the Jan. 29 attack, and Woodruff will also give a personal account of his recovery. ABC also says the documentary will “report on the heroic efforts of the military medical teams that have saved thousands of soldiers’ lives, and on the stories of how those injured soldiers and their families bravely carry on.”

Following the documentary, it’s unclear how much work Woodruff will take on at ABC News. The network has since settled on Charles Gibson as the solo anchor of “World News”; Vargas, after taking a leave to give birth to her second child, is back as a co-anchor of “20/20.”

Woodruff and his wife, Lee, also have a deal with publisher Random House to write a memoir about their experiences over the past nine months.

Terminatrix hooked on Sci Fi’s ‘Painkiller’

How can you top being a killing machine from the future? Stepping into the shoes of an indestructible superhero isn’t half bad.

Kristanna Loken, best known for playing the T-X in “Terminator: Rise of the Machines,” will star as the Sci Fi Channel’s action heroine “Painkiller Jane,” which is slated for 22 one-hour episodes.

In the drama based on the Jimmy Palmiotti and Joe Quesada comic book, Loken stars as DEA agent Jane Vasko who’s in a covert operation to hunt for “Neuros,” genetically enhanced people with superhuman mental powers. Early on, however, she learns that she also has extraordinary abilities that allow her to heal and regenerate fully from any injuries, making her pretty much invulnerable. Of course, she still feels the pain, so it’s not all gravy.

As she continues her pursuit of the Neuros, they just might be the answer to why her body has undergone this particular transformation.

Loken will pull double duty as a co-executive producer on “Painkiller Jane” along with showrunner Gil Grant (“24,” “NCIS”).

Insight Film Studios, in association with Starz Media and Kickstart Comic Arts Studio, will produce the project, which begins production in Vancouver in November. Sci Fi will premiere the series in Spring 2007, followed by a domestic broadcast weekly syndication window in the fall.

Loken’s other film credits include “BloodRayne” and the upcoming Uwe Boll film, “In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale.” On TV, she’ll guest star on Showtime’s “The L Word” this coming season. She’s also appeared on “Sliders,” “Mortal Kombat: Conquest” and starred in Sci Fi’s miniseries “Dark Kingdom.”

NBC takes the money and the mob

Cable’s Game Show Network no longer calls itself that – just GSN. So maybe it can transfer the name to NBC.

The Peacock, which currently has “Deal or No Deal” on three times a week, has extended the order for the new quiz show “1 vs. 100” following a strong premiere last week. NBC has asked for 10 more episodes, bringing the total to 15.

“‘1 vs. 100′ grabbed the public’s attention when it delivered solid ratings last Friday and staked out its own identity to become a great extension of our game-show franchise,” says Craig Plestis, head of alternative programming at NBC. “Our partners at Endemol (which also produces “Deal or No Deal’) have produced another high-quality series. This was an “odds-on’ easy decision.”

Hosted by Bob Saget, “1 vs. 100,” as its title implies, pits a single player in a match of trivia wits against a group of 100 others. Solo players win money for every member of the mob they eliminate, but if the “1” gets a question wrong, the mob splits his or her winnings.

The show’s premiere logged close to 12.8 million viewers last Friday, along with a 4.2 rating among adults 18-49. Excluding sports, that’s the best 18-49 rating on a Friday night, on any network, since January 2005. It also built on its “Deal or No Deal” lead-in by more than a million viewers.

NBC will keep “1 vs. 100” in the 9 p.m. Friday spot this week, following “Deal,” then move it to 8 p.m. starting Oct. 27.

‘King of the Hill’ returns in January

“King of the Hill,” a surprise pick-up last spring, will return to Fox’s schedules on Jan. 21, 2007.

As expected, the 11th season of Mike Judge’s beloved animated saga will kick off as soon as Fox’s NFL commitments end this winter. After many years of having episodes pre-empted or postponed due to long-running football games, Fox just elected to delay the Texas-based comedy’s premiere for this season.

As a result of the constant schedule shifting, it’s always been hard to get an exact sense of the “King of the Hill” audience. Last season, the show averaged a bit under 6 million viewers per week, actually a solid improvement over the previous season.

Guest voices for the early part of the season include John Goodman and ZZ Top. Of plot developments, Fox says, “This season in the heartland of America, Hank continues to work hard and takes his love of propane to a whole new level, while Peggy develops a passion for real estate. Meanwhile, newly engaged Luanne and Lucky (Tom Petty) fight for each other’s attention and Bobby gains confidence as a leader at school.”

And if that’s not enough of a tease for you, the first episode involves Bobby’s pet snake slithering down the toilet. Hilarity most certainly ensues.