This week in TV news, CBS orders Supergirl while Fox cancels The Mindy Project. Plus, Orphan Black receives a fourth season and an Orange Is the New Black character writes a new memoir!
Networks are heading into upfront week Saturday, but the superhero drama Supergirl already received an early series order from CBS. Melissa Benoist (Glee) will play Kara Zor-El, a young Kryptonian who escapes her home planet before its destruction and finds refuge on earth with her famous cousin, Superman. Hiding her superpowers and living as a normal young person for most of her life, Kara eventually embraces her powers to stop the evil-doings of super villains. Supergirl is produced by co-creator Greg Belanti, whose new Arrow–Flash spinoff and NBC drama, Blindspot, are also in the works.
Good news, Clone Club! Orphan Black is renewed for a fourth season. BBC America made the announcement Thursday that its sci-fi drama, starring Tatiana Maslany as multiple clones at the center of a deep conspiracy, will return with a fourth season in 2016. “Tatiana Maslany’s buzzy, virtuoso performance headlines a brilliant cast and we are delighted to let our vocal and passionate fan base know that this wildly entertaining ride will continue next year,” said BBC America president Sarah Barnett. Orphan Black director John Fawcett revealed in April that he and writer Graeme Manson were hoping for five seasons to tell a full story with “a beginning, middle, and end.” Season three is currently airing Saturdays at 9 pm on BBC America. See reviews for the latest episode, “Formalized, Complex, and Costly,” here.
The Mindy Project, Fox’s rom-com Tv series starring Mindy Kaling, was cancelled this week after three seasons. Fans should not despair however, as Entertainment Weekly reports that Hulu may pick up the show where Fox left off. According to EW, Universal Television is in “serious talks with Hulu for multiple additional seasons.” Hulu, which already holds the streaming rights for The Mindy Project, is a logical home for the cult favorite. Meanwhile, a smirking Kaling shared a cryptic video on Instagram and Twitter just as the news was spreading on social media. “Hey guys, I’m in Montana, is anything happening in LA?” Kaling asked in a caption, along with the hashtag #themindyproject. Season three of The Mindy Project is Fresh at 82 percent.
Most Orange Is the New Black viewers are aware of the memoir by Piper Kerman (portrayed as Piper Chapman) that inspired the show, but another inmate has a book of her own: Out of Orange. Cleary Wolters is the real-life person behind Piper’s on-and-off girlfriend, Alex Vause (Laura Prepon), and even has the black-rimmed glasses to prove it. In an interview with Huffington Post Live, Wolters, who hasn’t spoken about OITNB since an interview with Vanity Fair last year, said that the experience of seeing her character on TV was “very bizarre.” Wolters has never been contacted by the show or consulted for it, but admits to having watched every episode. “I don’t play front and center in [Piper’s] book at all — there’s barely a mention of me,” Wolty told HuffPo. “So when Alex’s character does play front and center so much in the first season I was like, ‘Wow, okay. This is weird.'” Season three of Orange Is the New Black premieres on Netflix on Friday, Jun. 12. See the video interview here.
