Repeats wilting in the heat

"Two and a Half Men" USA's "White Collar" hit a season high with Tuesday's finale seg. "House" Original episodes of scripted favorites can't come soon enough for the broadcast nets, which have seen significant ratings declines this summer for key veteran comedies and dramas.In recent years the nets gave up trying to rerun serialized shows like "24" and "Desperate Housewives" in the summer, but still hoped to recoup advertising coin by repeating laffers and procedural dramas. Now, for the most part, even these aren't performing all that well.The Eye's Monday comedy anchor "Two and a Half Men," which started losing audience for its repeats in the spring when Charlie Sheen's departure cut the season short, has seen its demo declines for encores accelerate this summer.While CBS remains competitive demo-wise in the summer months with a sked comprised of "Big Brother" and mostly repeats, it may have to look at bolstering its reality output in years to come because its scripted skeins are wilting in the heat.Part of the reason for "Men's" 37% tumble in adults 18-49 this summer (1.5 vs. 2.4, according to Nielsen) may be that it lost skedmate "The Big Bang Theory," which shifted to its new Thursday home and is off a steep 32% itself (1.9 vs. 2.8). Other CBS comedies, "How I Met Your Mother" (down 24%) and "Rules of Engagement" (down 17%), have also fallen off. At NBC, "30 Rock" and "Community" are both down more than 20% this summer, while their Thursday skedmates "The Office" and "Parks and Recreation" have limited their declines to between 10% to 15%. Fox and ABC are holding up better, with the former's Sunday animated laffers down all down about 10% vs. last year. The Alphabet's "Modern Family," the biggest 2010-11 in-season riser, is one of the few scripted gainers this summer, up a tick (1.7 vs. 1.6), while the net's "The Middle" is down just a tick (1.1 vs. 1.2). On the drama side, veterans down by 20% or more include CW's "The Vampire Diaries," CBS' "CSI: Miami" (in part due to a new timeslot) and Fox's "House," while NBC's "Law & Order: SVU" is off by 18%.And original scripted fare hasn't exactly been a tonic. The few new original scripted shows like ABC's "Combat Hospital" and NBC's "Love Bites" posted predictably soft numbers, while returning dramas "Flashpoint" on CBS and "Rookie Blue" on ABC are down by double-digits.Fortunately for the broadcasters, reality shows like NBC's top-rated "America's Got Talent" and CBS' "Big Brother" are having strong summers, up 18% and 15%, respectively. And fresh episodes of primetime's biggest scripted hits will be returning in about a month.Last week in primetime, Fox, rang up a demo victory behind its core summer reality contests like top-5 performer "Hell's Kitchen" (2.8/9 in 18-49), and "So You Think You Can Dance," which finished its season on an upswing (2.0/6).The net's week ended on a quiet note, though, with soft premiere scores for sketch comedy series "In the Flow with Affion Crockett" (1.0/3 in 18-49 for its second of two half-hours).Fox's 1.8 rating/6 share in adults 18-49 for the week was followed by CBS and Univision (both at 1.4/4), ABC (1.3/4) and NBC (1.2/4).CBS, which won in total viewers for a sixth straight week, saw "Big Brother" again win all three of its timeslots -- led by Wednesday's hour (2.8/9 in 18-49, 7.39m). ABC welcomed back "Bachelor Pad" to solid numbers (2.3/6, 7.00m), but Friday newbie "Karaoke Battle USA" hit the wrong ratings notes in its debut (0.9/3, 3.74m).USA dominated the cable pack in demos, as the season finales of "White Collar" (1.5/4, 4.30m) and "Covert Affairs" (1.4/4, 4.70m) delivered season highs.Elsewhere, MTV's "Jersey Shore" (3.7/12 in 18-49, 7.37m) fell off from its record-setting premiere of the previous week but still ruled as primetime's No. 1 series in 18-49.ABC Family's "Switched at Birth" had a strong finish to its season (1.3/4 in 18-49, 2.8/8 in females 12-34, 2.84m) and became the summer's top new scripted show among viewers 12-34. Food Network's "Food Network Star" had a strong finale Sunday (1.5/4 in 18-49, 4.23m), standing as the night's No. 1 ad-supported cable program in adults 25-54 (1.6/4). And on the same night, History's "Ice Road Truckers" hit season highs (1.2/3, 3.44m) and "Top Gear" achieved some series highs (0.9/2, 2.23m).VH1's season finale of "Basketball Wives" (1.3/4, 2.60m) on Monday became the net's top-rated telecast in more than two years, with the show drawing 4.6 million if you add its repeat later that night.Also of note: Fox News drew 5.05 million for its Republican presidential debate on Thursday and was cable's No. 2 ad-supported cable network for the week in total viewers; pay cabler Cinemax (available in roughly 16.7 million homes) drew 567,000 viewers for the Friday preem of its first primetime original series, "Strike Back," and 1.1 million combined for its three airings that night; and Style's docu-drama "Tia & Tamera" drew 751,000 viewers Monday, the most for a series launch in net history. Contact Rick Kissell at rick.kissell@variety.com

Kate Gosselin Says Shes Ready To Find A New Job

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Kate Gosselin has eight mouths to feed and shes already got her eye on finding another line of income now that her Kate Plus 8 show has been canceled on TLC. The Gosselin matriarch revealed shes ready to look for a new job after a fellow Twitter user suggested the cancellation of her show could lead to some sun-filled free time. Very sorry to hear Kate. Think of it this way. Little more vacation time ohhhh lets say AT THE BEACH? user HSPncElvis wrote. more like finding a new job??! :) No beach for this girl! Kate added. The mom of twins and sextuplets also revealed that her brood was disappointed by the news of the show being axed. there were many tears at the breakfast table this morning! she Tweeted. Kate herself said she is looking at the networks move, which despite cancelling the show, still leaves the door open for specials, with rose-colored glasses. As is very typical for me, I am choosing to see the positive in this situation and I am excited to consider the many more invigorating opportunities that may come my way!I poured my entire self in2 last 6 yrs of Kate+8, she Tweeted. I poured my entire self in2 the last6years of Kate Plus 8 & I cant wait2have the chance2challenge myself again w future endeavors she noted. In the meanX,I hope 2have more time4motivational speaking,book writing &other fun work opportunities that come my way. Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Three stars compete to star with Cruise Jack Reacher

Three stars are presently reading through for that female lead opposite Cruise Jack Reacher over night.The Hollywood Reporter has says Hayley Atwell, Alexa Davalos and Rosamund Pike have been in contention for that role, that is stated to become a tough female lawyer.Atwell demonstrated a likeably no-nonsense foil to Chris Evans' Captain America within this summer's super hero period piece, and given Cappy's fate, it appears unlikely she'll be employed for that Avengers.She also made an appearance within the Duchess and Brideshead Revisited, so she has not yet were built with a mainstream role inside a modern-day setting.Alexa Davalos might not be a recognisable title, but she's a good listing of credits to her title including Clash From The Leaders, Defiance and also the Mist. We'll just bypass The Stories Of Riddick...Pike is likely to be probably the most experienced from the bunch, but despite getting an earlier breakout in Die A Later Date, she's never hit the A-list. Nevertheless, she's shipped some impressive supporting turns (Instruction, Barney's Version) among more generic fare (Disaster, Fracture).Based on the Hollywood Reporter, Brit Marling (Another Earth) seemed to be out there, but she bowed out early because of arranging conflicts. The studio are stated to become following a not-yet-A-list actress for that role.There is significant uproar when Cruise nabbed the role of Reacher, the six-feet-something, taciturn badass who's charge character in Lee Child's number of books.Cruise's casting has certainly elevated the intrigue factor of 1 Shot, as all eyes is going to be about the beaming megastar to ascertain if he is able to accomplish a significant image reinvention.Christopher McQuarrie is writing and pointing the variation, that is set to shoot this fall.

Old toon comedies remain Emmy-fresh

Shows like 'The Simpsons' and 'Futurama' know their way around the Emmy process. Few Emmy nominees are as long in the tooth as the comedies in the animation programming category, where "The Simpsons," "South Park" and "Futurama" not only have more than 40 seasons of shows among them but have owned the category in every year but two this century.The most obvious explanation of their dominance is they continue to be good even those that overcame the ultimate hurdle. "I don't think our secret weapon in the Emmys is getting ourselves canceled every couple of years so we can always come in as the fresh underdog," says David X. Cohen, co-creator and exec producer on "Futurama," which originated on Fox and was resurrected on Comedy Central.Even after having produced enough episodes to creatively exhaust dozens of other shows, animation has several advantages over live-action when it comes to keeping the material fresh. It is no more difficult to send Homer Simpson to the moon for a single joke or have "Family Guy's" Peter Griffin parody "Singin' in the Rain" than it is to have characters sit at a table and talk.Also, characters need not age, allowing Bart Simpson to still be 10 years old after 22 seasons."If people like it, then it doesn't have to change, whereas with a sitcom, things are changing and biology is working against you," says Cohen.Being so long-lived has created some unusual dynamics in the Emmy race, including a little bit of fanboy fervor from the competition."We watch their shows," says Seth Green, co-creator of "Robot Chicken," nominated this year for its third "Star Wars" parody special. "We're actually really, really into them, and they're part of why we're into animation." 'South Park' feels like it gets better and sharper every year, 'Simpsons' is still funny, 'Futurama' is still funny. There's a reason those shows don't get cancelled and keep winning awards."Even with such consistency, it remains a difficult category to predict. "It's truly a program award, so you're looking at direction, you're looking at the storyboards," says Rich Appel, who has worked as a writer and producer on most of Fox's primetime animated series and is exec producer on "The Cleveland Show," nominated for the first time this year.However voters decide, Appel says quality should be rewarded regardless of how long a show has been on the air. "I have no principled belief that old shows have to make way for new shows," he says. "If a show can maintain the heights that it reaches at its best, it's going to be nominated year after year."ROAD TO THE EMMYS: COMEDYLaughed behind | Old toon comedies remain Emmy-freshThe nominees"I have no principled belief that old shows have to make way for new shows," he says. "If a show can maintain the heights that it reaches at its best, it's going to be nominated year after year." Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Vampire Diaries Enlists Sebastian Roch to Play Vampire Hunter

Sebastian Roche Vampires of Mystic Falls, beware! A new vampire hunter is coming to town, Entertainment Weekly reports. Fringe and Supernatural alum Sebastian Roché has been cast on The Vampire Diaries as a mysterious man who appears to be hunting vampires, specifically Klaus (Joseph Morgan). "For some reason, Klaus, who shouldn't be afraid of anybody, seems to be concerned about this person," executive producer Julie Plec tells the magazine. Vampire Diaries Season 3 preview: Will Jeremy see more dead people? The yet-to-be-named recurring character was originally described in casting breakdowns as "rugged, handsome, charming and dangerous." It is unknown when exactly Roché will make his Vampire Diaries debut, but the role was originally being cast for the third episode of Season 3. Roché recurred on Fringe and Supernatural last season and most recently guest-starred on Criminal Minds. However, he is best known to many, including Plec, for his role on General Hospital as Jerry Jacks. "He's a classically-trained theater actor, he is mysterious, he has an element of danger to him," Plec told EW. "We liked the idea of bringing an adult into our world that wasn't one of our founding families. He's just got a quality that is really exciting." The new season of The Vampire Diaries premieres on Thursday, Sept. 15 at 8/7c on the CW.