CBS orders three comedy aircraft pilots

CBS has became a member of the late-Friday hurry of pilot orders, greenlighting three laffers, including one a in the Iron Guy of pilot season, Greg Berlanti, and "Buddies" vet Greg Malins. The untitled Warner Bros. TV project form Berlanti and Malins focuses on a guy who realizes following a health scare that he's deeply in love with his femme closest friend and business partner of fifteen years. Malins and Berlanti composed the pilot and can professional produce. Project marks an uncommon foray in to the half-hour realm for Berlanti, that has already arrived three drama pilot orders this development cycle spread among Fox, CBS and CW. Another Warner Bros. TV project originates from "Will & Sophistication" alums Max Mutchnick and David Kohan. "Partners" involves two long term male buddies whose relationship is sort of a strange marriage that's examined when one decides to got married. Duo will professional produce. Buddy comedy "Friend Me," from CBS TV Galleries, was composed by Alan Kirschenbaum & Ajay Sahgal. It set among two twenty-something men who range from Indiana to L.A. to dedicate yourself Groupon. Kirschenbaum and Sahgal professional produce with Eric and Kim Tannenbaum. Contact Cynthia Littleton at cynthia.littleton@variety.com

Antipiracy bills delayed in Congress

Hollywood-backed antipiracy legislation stalled out on Capitol Hill today, as Senate and House versions were delayed to come up with major changes to the bills.Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said that he is postponing a vote on a Senate version of antipiracy legislation, after a storm of protest and a defection of a number of supporters made it doubtful that he had the votes to get the bill to the floor.Reid had stood firm on plans to hold a procedural vote on the PROTECT IP Act on Tuesday, but announced today that more time was needed to work out a compromise.Reid said in a statement, "I admire the work that Chairman Leahy has put into this bill. I encourage him to continue engaging with all stakeholders to forge a balance between protecting Americans' intellectual property, and maintaining openness and innovation on the internet. We made good progress through the discussions we've held in recent days, and I am optimistic that we can reach a compromise in the coming weeks."In the House, Judiciary Committee chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) said that the committee would postpone consideration of the Stop Online Piracy Act until there is wider agreement on a solution."The committee will continue work with both copyright owners and Internet companies to develop proposals that combat online piracy and protect America's intellectual property," Smith said. "We welcome input from all organizations and individuals who have an honest difference of opinion about how to address this widespread problem."He said that after hearing from critics, "It is clear that we need to revisit the approach on how best to address the problem of foreign thieves that steal and sell American inventions and products."One of the chief critics of the legislation in the House, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), has introduced alternative legislation on which content owners could file complaints with the International Trade Commission to take steps to choke off support of sites that traffic in infringing content. But supporters of SOPA and PROTECT IP say that the proposal would expand the bureaucracy and that the remedy for fighting piracy would not be effective.The response from Rupert Murdoch, via Twitter: "Mega loads! One week earlier and things would be different. Even some solons may have recovered their courage."Leahy said that he hopes "other members of Congress won't simply stand on hollow promises to find a way to eliminate online theft by foreign rogue websites, and will instead work with me to send a bill to the President's desk this year."But Leahy, perhaps the most visible champion of the legislation in Congress, had hoped that despite the online protest this week the Senate could have a vigorous floor debate on Tuesday.He added that the "day will come when the Senators who forced this move will look back and realize they made a knee-jerk reaction to a monumental problem. Somewhere in China today, in Russia today, and in many other countries that do not respect American intellectual property, criminals who do nothing but peddle in counterfeit products and stolen American content are smugly watching how the United States Senate decided it was not even worth debating how to stop the overseas criminals from draining our economy." Contact Ted Johnson at ted.johnson@variety.com

Ashley Judd Goes From Harvard to Swimming inside the Seine

After punching the books at Harvard College, Ashley Judd is experiencing finding her acting muscles again.Peak activist (she's campaigned for women's rights, animal rights, Helps awareness) acquired amasters degree in public areas administration at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government this season.In "Missing," she plays a CIA operative extended outdated who's expected to find her spy capabilities when her boy will get lost while at school in Italia. The ABC drama, which bows March 15 at 8 p.m., is shot on location in the succession of European urban centers (Paris, Budapest, Prague) as Judd's CIA operative tracks individuals who needed her boy."I were living a very sedentary existence [at Harvard]," she states. "I basically sitting lower for just two-and-a-half many didn't awaken.InchNow she's doing nearly all her stunts, including jumping to the Seine in Paris."Clearly we should have stunt doubles," she states. "However do nearly all my own, personal stunts. After I am on that bridge in Paris and i'm shot which i come under the Seine, I really did that."She states she practiced yoga and labored with reliable trainers to have the ability to get healthy.InchShe really was quite heroic," states series creator Greg Poirier. "We put her through all sots of horrible things. And he or she managed to get happen with great aplomb.""I enjoy fight," adds Judd. "I have thought it was rewarding.""Missing" is Judd's first TV series just like a headliner (she came out round the 1990's drama "Brothers and sisters") carrying out a career largely round the silver screen. And he or she mentioned it absolutely was the material as well as the show's modest episode order (the initial several weeks are ten episodes, while potential subsequent seasons would not be any longer 13 episodes) that attracted her for the project."Clearly I used to be conscious of this is often a golden ages of television," she states. "The once impermeable membrane between TV stars and film stars is [disappearing]. From the initiating 'The Large C,' the demonstrate that I like, to determine Liam Neeson.""Each episode is great Tv in the glorious European capital," she adds. "What's not to like?""Missing," whichskipped the pilot process and was bought to series, is very serialized, a genre that might be hard to sustain.Nevertheless the showrunners guaranteed the ultimate episode will give you a payback round the central story, though they stopped missing proclaiming that Judd's character will definitely find her boy and offered handful of clues about how precisely a potential second season would participate in.InchI recieve as annoyed as anybody with one with suggests that [don't pay off]," mentioned Poirier, who may have been talking about AMC's "The Killing." "This story will close by the conclusion of the year. So when you watch prior to the finish of the year you'll feel satisfied. In my opinion we really put lower not to offer you among people disappointments just like you achieve the conclusion of some [shows]." The Hollywood Reporter

PGA unwraps film, TV noms

'The Artist''Hugo''The Girl using the Dragon Tattoo''The Help'Opting mostly for mainstream studio game titles, the Producers Guild of America has drawn on 10 nominees because of its top feature award -- "The Artist," "Bridesmaids," "The Descendants," "The Lady using the Dragon Tattoo," "The Assistance,Inch "Hugo," "The Ides of March," "Night time in Paris," "Moneyball," and "War Equine." The PGA, which introduced the noms because of its Daryl F. Zanuck award Tuesday morning, will disclose the champion Jan. 21 at its honours gala in the Beverly Hilton. The PGA list comprised largely of honours season management and contained merely a couple of mild surprises in "Bridesmaids" "The Lady using the Dragon Tattoo" and "Ides of March." From the PGA nominees, only "The Lady with Dragon Tattoo" wasn't named recently like a Golden Globes feature nominee. Notable PGA exclusions incorporated "50/50," "Drive," "Very Noisy & Incredibly Close," "J. Edgar," "Harry Potter and also the Deathly Hallows: Part 2," "My Week with Marilyn," "Super 8," "Mess, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" and "The Tree of Existence." "50/50" and "My Week with Marilyn receieved Golden Globe" nods. Casts of "The Artist," "Bridesmaids," "The Descendants," "The AssistanceInch and "Night time in Paris" received SAG ensemble nominations recently. Uni's "Bridesmaids" and Disney/DreamWorks' "The AssistanceInch would be the greatest box office achievements from the 10 PGA nominees with $169 million each in domestic grosses then Sony's "Moneyball" at $74 million. The Weinstein Co.'s "The Artist" is undoubtedly the littlest domestic grosser at $5 million as the next littlest are Fox Searchlight's "The Descendants" and Sony's "Ides of March" at $40 million each. The PGA made the decision in This summer to stay with 10 nominees because of its top feature award instead of following a modified voting methods from the Academy of movement Picture Arts & Sciences, which modified its voting in June to some system that will lead to between five and ten best picture nominees every year. Oscar noms is going to be introduced Jan. 24. The producers branch of AMPAS has 8Percent from the voting membership with 450 people from 5,783. Producer Letty Aronson, nominated for Woodsy Allen's "Night time in Paris," told Variety the pic most likely resonated with PGA voters because of the universality of their theme and it is $18 million budget. "I believe the PGA voters were impressed using the whole concept of getting a better some time and place, the industry fantasy that everybody has," added Aronson, who's Allen sister and longtime producer. "And that we succeeded on the minor budget." A maximum of 24 producers were drawn on as PGA nominees: Thomas Langmann for "The Artist" Judd Apatow, Craig Mendel and Clayton Townsend for "Bridesmaids" Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor for "The Descendants" Cean Chaffin, Scott Rudin for "The Lady using the Dragon Tattoo" Michael Barnathan, Chris Columbus and Brunson Eco-friendly for "The AssistanceInch Graham King and Martin Scorsese for "Hugo" George Clooney, Grant Heslov and John Oliver for "Ides" Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum for "Night time in Paris" Michael P Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Kaira Pitt for "Moneyball" and Kathleen Kennedy and Steven Spielberg for "War Equine." "That one means a great deal to us," Heslov stated. "To obtain identified by other producers to have an adult drama having a 12.5 billion dollar budget, which was really only a labor of affection, it is simply terrific."Horovitz, who started focusing on "Moneyball" nine years back, stated, "It is a miracle when something works out in addition to you wished it might.InchIn the past, about 80% of PGA nominations also get an Oscar nom for the best picture. Last year's list matched up on nine from the 10 nods using the PGA using the only divergence around the PGA choosing for "The CityInch while AMPAS opted for "Winter's Bone."15 from the 22 PGA those who win go onto win the Oscar for the best picture and also have matched up during the last 4 years with "The King's Speech," "The Hurt Locker," "Slumdog Uniform" and "No Country for Old Males." Last year's PGA victory by "The King's Speech" symbolized something of the level within the honours season, which in fact had seen "The Social Networking" carry a lot of the momentum at that time. The PGA champion last diverged in the Oscar Best Picture for that 2006 award when "Little Miss Sunshine" won as the AMPAS elected for "The Departed." It is the third year where the PGA, that has over 4,750 people, has selected 10 films as challengers, in following a lead from the Academy to grow the area from five slots. Both orgs make use of a preferential voting system for his or her best picture award. The PGA's choices of accredited producers happen to be utilized by AMPAS within the last 4 years as recommendations in identifying the nominated producers within the Oscar best picture category, however the Academy has enforced a restriction since 1998 of three nominated producers per film -- even though it did exceed that in 2008 when four producers were incorporated for "The Readers" as well as in 2010 for "The Hurt Locker." Spielberg and Kennedy received another PGA jerk on Tuesday within the animated category for "The Adventures of Tintin" together with the producers of "Cars 2," "Kung Fu Panda 2," "Puss in Boots" and "Rango." "Toy Story 3" won the award this past year. The nominees in longform TV incorporated a trio of Cinemax game titles -- "Cinema Verite," "Mildred Pierce" and "Too Large to Fail" -- together with "Downton Abbey" and "The Kennedys." And Also The NOMINEES ARE:Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the season Award in Theatrical Movies:"The Artist" - Producer: Thomas Langmann"Bridesmaids" - Producers: Judd Apatow, Craig Mendel, Clayton Townsend"The Descendants" - Producers: Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor"The Lady Using the Dragon Tattoo" - Producers: Cen Chaffin, Scott Rudin"The AssistanceInch - Producers: Michael Barnathan, Chris Columbus, Brunson Eco-friendly"Hugo" - Producers: Graham King, Martin Scorsese"The Ides of March" - Producers: George Clooney, Grant Heslov, John Oliver"Night time in Paris" - Producers: Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum"Moneyball" - Producers: Michael P Luca, Rachael Horovitz, Kaira Pitt"War Equine" - Producers: Kathleen Kennedy, Steven SpielbergThe Producers Guild of America Producer of the season Award in Animated Theatrical Movies:"The Adventures of Tintin" - Producers: Healing For Peter Jackson, Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg"Cars 2" - Producer: Denise Ream"Kung Fu Panda 2" - Producer: Melissa Cobb"Puss in Boots" - Producers: Joe M. Aguilar, Latifa Ouaou"Rango" - Producers: John B. Carls, Gore VerbinskiThe David L. Wolper Producer of the season Award in Lengthy-Form Television:"Cinema Verite" (Cinemax) - Producers: Zanne Devine, Karyn McCarthy"Downton Abbey" (Masterpiece) (PBS) - Producers: Julian Fellowes, Nigel Marchant, Gareth Neame"The Kennedys" (ReelzChannel) - Producers: Jon Cassar, Jonathan Koch, Stephen Kronish, Steve Michaels, Michael Prupas, Jamie Paul Rock, Joel Surnow"Mildred Pierce" (Cinemax) - Producers: Todd Haynes, Pamela Koffler, Ilene S. Landress, Christine Vachon"Too Large To Fail" (Cinemax) - Producers: Carol Fenelon, Jeffrey Levine, Paula WeinsteinThe Producers Guild of America Producer of the season Award in Documentary Theatrical Movies:"Beats, Rhymes & Existence: The Travels Of The Tribe Known as Mission" - Producers: Michael Rapaport, Edward Parks (*additional producers qualifications pending arbitration completion)"Bill Cunningham NY" - Producer: Philip Gefter"Project Nim" - Producer: Simon Chinn "Senna" - Producer: James Gay-Rees"The Union" - Producers: Cameron Crowe, Michelle PanekThe Danny Thomas Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Comedy:"30 Rock" (NBC) - Producers: Robert Carlock, Tina Fey, Marci Klein, Jerry Kupfer, Lorne Michaels, David Miner, Shaun Richmond, John Riggi, Don Scardino"The Large Bang Theory" (CBS) - Producers: Chuck Lorre, Steve Molaro, Faye Oshima, Bill Prady"Glee" (FOX) - Producers: Ian Brennan, Dante Di Loreto, Kaira Falchuk, Ryan Murphy, Kenneth Silverstein"Modern Family" (ABC) - Producers: Paul Corrigan, Abraham Higginbotham, Steven Levitan, Christopher Lloyd, Shaun Morton, Jeffrey Richman, Serta O'Shannon, Kaira Walsh, Bill Wrubel, Danny Zuker"Parks and Entertainment" (NBC) - Producers: Greg Daniels, Serta Goor, Howard Klein, Amy Poehler, Morgan Sackett, Michael SchurThe Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama:"Boardwalk Empire" (Cinemax) - Producers: Eugene Kelly, Howard Korder, Stephen Levinson, Martin Scorsese, Rudd Simmons, Tim Van Patten, Terence Winter"Dexter" (Showtime) - Producers: Sara Colleton, John Goldwyn, Nick Johannessen, Robert Lloyd Lewis"Bet on Thrones" (Cinemax) - Producers: David Benioff, Frank Doelger, Mark Huffam, Carolyn Strauss, D.B. Weiss"The Great Wife" (CBS) - Producers: Brooke Kennedy, Michelle King, Robert King, Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, David W. Zucker"Mad Males" (AMC) - Producers: Jonathan Abrahams, Scott Hornbacher, Andre Jacquemetton, Maria Jacquemetton, Blake McCormick, Dwayne Shattuck, Dahvi Waller, Matthew WeinerThe Award for Outstanding Producer of Live Entertainment & Talk Television: "The Colbert Report" (Comedy Central) - Producers: Meredith Bennett, Stephen T. Colbert, Richard Dahm, Tanya Michnevich Bracco, Tom Purcell, Jon Stewart (*additional producers qualifications pending arbitration completion)"The Ellen DeGeneres Show" (Syndicated) - Producers: Mary Connelly, Ellen DeGeneres, Melissa Geiger Schrift, Erectile dysfunction Glavin, Andy Lassner, Kevin A. Leman II, Jonathan Norman, Derek Westervelt"Real-time with Bill Maher" (Cinemax) - Producers: Scott Carter, Sheila Griffiths, Marc Gurvitz, Dean Johnsen, Bill Maher, Billy Martin"Saturday Evening Live" (NBC) - Producers: Ken Aymong, Steve Higgins, Erik Kenward, Lorne Michaels, John Mulaney"The 64th Annual Tony Honours" (CBS) - Producers: Ough Kirshner, Glenn WeissThe Award for Outstanding Producer of Competition Television:"The Astonishing Race" (CBS) - Producers: Jerry Bruckheimer, Elise Doganieri, Jonathan Littman, Bertram van Munster, Mark Vertullo"The American Idol ShowInch (FOX) - Producers: Charles Boyd, Cecile Frot-Coutaz, Simon Larger, Patrick Lynn, Nigel Lythgoe, Megan Michaels, Ken Warwick"DwtsInch (ABC) - Producers: Ashley Edens Shaffer, Conrad Eco-friendly, Joe Sungkur, Take advantage of Wade"Project Runway" (Lifetime) - Producers: Jane Cha Cutler, Desiree Gruber, Tim Gunn, Heidi Klum, Jonathan Murray, Sara Rea, Colleen Sands"Top Chef" (Bravo) - Producers: Daniel Cutforth, Casey Kriley, Jane Lipsitz, Serta Murphy, Nan Strait The Award for Outstanding Producer of Non-Fiction Television:"30 for 30" (ESPN) - Producers: John Dahl, Connor Schell, Bill Simmons"American Masters" (PBS) - Producers: Susan Lacy, Julie Sacks"Anthony Bourdain: No Bookings" (Travel Funnel) - Producers: Christopher Collins, Julie Lei, Lydia Tenaglia, Tom Vitale"Most harmful Catch" (Discovery Funnel) - Producers: Thom Ales, Shaun Conroy, John Grey, Sheila McCormack, Ethan Prochnik, Bill Pruitt, Matt Renner"Undercover Boss" (CBS) - Producers: Chris Carlson, Susan Hoenig, Eli Holzman, Sandi Manley, Stephen Lambert, Allison SchermerhornNews Programs:"Physical Violence Worsens 360" (CNN)"BBC World News America" (BBC)"NBC News with John Williams" (NBC)"The Rachel Maddow Show" (MSNBC)"an hourInch (CBS)Sports Programs: (*There is a tie, and that's why you will find six nominees.)"Monday Evening Football" (ESPN)"Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" (Cinemax)"Sports Center" (ESPN)"30 for 30" (ESPN)"2010 FIFA World Cup" (ABC / ESPN / ESPN2)"U.S. Open Tennis Championship" (CBS / ESPN2 / Tennis Funnel)Children's Programs:"Dora the Explorer" (Nickelodeon)"iCarly" (Nickelodeon)"Phineas and Ferb" (Disney Funnel)"Sesame Street" (PBS)"SpongeBob Squarepants" (Nickelodeon)Web Series:"Request a Ninja" (blip.tv)"The Guild" (WatchTheGuild.com)"Parks and Entertainment Presents: 'April & Andy's Road Trip'" (NBC.com)"30 Rock Presents Jack Donaghy, Executive Super hero" (NBC.com)"Web Therapy" (LStudio.com) Contact Dork McNary at dork.mcnary@variety.com