In a statement, The Weinstein Co., which produces the show with executive producers Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz of Magical Elves, announced that it entered a five-year deal for the show with Lifetime — a development that prompted legal action by NBC/Universal. In the same statement, the Weinstein Co. acknowledged that NBC filed a lawsuit today in New York Supreme Court in an attempt to block the series from moving to Lifetime. "We believe that this lawsuit is without merit. While good for the market for lawyers, it is always unfortunate when parties try to win in court what they have lost in the marketplace," said David Boies, counsel to The Weinstein Co.
The NBC/Universal lawsuit asserts that the company had been
negotiating with The Weinstein Co. for a year to obtain additional installments of Runway but the production company "never intended to negotiate in good faith." It goes on to say, "Instead, The Weinstein Co. threatened to take future cycles of the program to a competing TV network unless [NBC] agreed to pay many millions of additional dollars to Weinstein to acquire a 'package' that included TV rights to second-tier Weinstein films unrelated to Runway." The Weinstein Co. was contractually obligated to give the NBC-owned Bravo the right of first refusal when it got the offer from Lifetime, says the suit.
The Weinstein Co. has already begun pre-production of Runway's fifth season for Bravo, which is scheduled to air in June. NBC released this statement today: "NBC Universal has continuing legal rights related to Project Runway, including a right of first refusal to future cycles of the series, which The Weinstein Company unfortunately has refused to honor. NBC Universal regrettably had no alternative but to bring legal action to enforce its rights to this program, including the right to decide whether it is in the best interest of the company to continue to air the show under the proposed financial terms."
One source familiar with the negotiations argues that Bravo was damaging the Runway brand by airing too many repeats of the show and surrounding it with copycat series like Top Design, Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style, and Make Me a Supermodel. "It's a phenomenon that needs to be protected," the source says. "Lifetime provided a substantial offer. NBC chose not to provide a competitive bid." That rerun marathon strategy, however, is what made Runway a hit in its first season. When Bravo began to heavily repeat the show, the fourth episode of the first season broke the 1 million mark — and the series has continually grown from there. In fact, the show's fourth season finale last month — in which the "fierce" Christian Siriano earned the top prize — attracted a whopping 5.2 million total viewers, down slightly from the 5.4 million viewers who watched the season 3 finale.
I think it's interesting that the incessant reruns and copycat shows are being cited as a cause of concern - especially since Top Design essentially bombed because (at the time) it was the only show not produced by the Magical Elves. That, of course, has since been remedied and Magical Elves will be producing the 2nd season of Top Design. That sort of points more to the production element of these types of programs, not necessarily the idea, cast, etc. Another thought being floated is that Lifetime is traditionally part of basic/regular cable plans while Bravo is often only available through extended plans. As such, the move would make the show more accessible. On the flip side, however, Lifetime definitely has a different vibe than Bravo and many are concerned that the move will alienate men who don't want to watch a "network for women" OR that the Powers That Be at Lifetime will tweak the show and make it less palatable to edgier viewers. I agree that Lifetime won't be as good a fit with the show as Bravo... Granted, Bravo is essentially reality TV 24/7 and that can be a bit draining after a while but I don't see all the people tuning in to watch reruns of The Golden Girls and Reba staying tuned for PR. Lifetime's schedule is a bit... old (as in "not current" - not for old people!). I guess we'll have to wait and see...
2. If anyone watches NCIS, there’s a “major cast shake-up” on the horizon this season. According to TV Guide’s Ausiello:
CBS and Paramount declined comment, but sources confirm to 
me exclusively that a major cast member — a series regular — is on the way out. And as tempted as I am to blab this person's identity, after much soul searching, I've decided that doing so would prove WTS (Way Too Spoilery). And here's why: The actor in question will exit the series in a dramatic fashion. I might even go so far as to call it a major freakin' twist, the repercussions of which will be felt well into next season and, perhaps, beyond. One thing I feel reasonably comfortable letting you know is that the aforementioned twist does, in fact, occur this season — i.e., sometime between tomorrow night's post-strike return and the season finale in May.
Message boards are already chockablock full of speculation and the general hope, er, consensus is that Lauren Holly’s character, Jenny, will be leaving. She’s all tied up in the La Grenouille storyline and is a regular character that could be off’d without much disruption to the core cast. Another candidate is Ducky, because (1) he’s old and I guess that means he wants to retire; and (2) Jimmy has been groomed to take on more responsibility in the past few episodes and that supposedly means he’s ready to take over as head honcho. Or, Jimmy himself could be leaving since he, too, is not central enough to affect the core dynamic and he has a girlfriend. Which means he could run off with her or something, I guess – not the most dramatic plot twist I could imagine but I’m not the one speculating here. :o) I personally find Abby excruciatingly annoying and would not miss her one peep should she exit the show but I doubt I’d be so lucky as to have her leave. I think someone should spike her farting hippo with something lethal and have her be gassed to death. Literally. Poetic justice, I think! But I digress… As long as DiNozzo doesn’t leave, I’m cool. He’s the best part of the show and I definitely wouldn’t be able to stomach Abby’s annoying lisp and Ziva’s incessant malapropisms without his humor and hotness!
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