It’s official: Gotham, Fox’s Certified Fresh Batman prequel, is the hottest new show of the fall. This, according to internet pirates. Variety reported that Gotham has the dubious distinction of having been illegally downloaded 1.3 million times since its debut last Monday — which is at least five times more than any other new show according to the piracy-tracking firm Excipio. Oddly, at least 177,000 of those illegal downloads came from inside the US, where you can stream the first two episodes of Gotham for free on Fox websites. Where’s Batman when you need him?
Shirley fans will be disappointed to learn that actress Yvette Nicole Brown, who played Shirley Bennett on Community, is leaving the show after five seasons. Confirming the news to TV Guide on Tuesday, Brown cited personal reasons for why she won’t be doing the sixth season (ordered by Yahoo! Screen this summer). “My dad needs daily care and he needs me,” Brown told TV Guide. “The idea of being away 16 hours a day for five months, I couldn’t do it. It was a difficult decision for me to make, but I had to choose my dad.” Brown also said she’s totally open to whatever Community wants to do with her character, including future guest appearances.
Deadline reported Thursday that USA renewed Satisfaction for a second season and Graceland for a third season. The medical drama Rush, which completed its first season in September, was cancelled. Matt Passmore and Stephanie Szostak star as a couple with an unconventional marriage in Satisfaction, described by USA president Chris McCumber as “sparking a cultural conversation about modern love and marriage.” Season one of Satisfaction is Certified Fresh at 82 percent. Still no word on the fate of USA’s freshman comedy Playing House.
Cougar Town‘s Bill Lawrence and Blake McCormick will pen the script for an hour-long action-comedy pilot based on the Rush Hour movies, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Similar to the films, which grossed nearly $850 million worldwide, Rush Hour will be about a by-the-book cop from Hong Kong assigned to cocky partner in the LAPD. The CBS pilot joins a growing list of movies adapted into TV shows this development season — one that includes Real Genius, Big, Problem Child, and Minority Report.
AMC’s Breaking Bad marathon, which began in August, concludes this Sunday, Oct. 5. Immediately following the finale at 7:15 p.m., AMC will air a special music video of the Better Call Saul song, written by the show’s executive producers Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould, and series composer Dave Porter (who also created the opening theme and score for Breaking Bad). Country artist Junior Brown performs the song for the Breaking Bad spin-off, which stars Bob Odenkirk as Saul Goodman and is expected to premiere in February 2015.
