The Office's Rainn Wilson Goes Drama for Fox; Paint the Town with Cougar Town

Wednesday, January 08, 2014

The Office's Rainn Wilson Goes Drama for Fox; Paint the Town with Cougar Town

Fox Broadcasting Company (Fox) has given a 13-episode series order to Backstrom, a one-hour drama from 20th Century Fox Television, based on renowned Swedish criminologist and novelist Leif G.W. Persson's hit series of books of the same name. Created and executive-produced by Hart Hanson (Bones, The Finder), the series centers on Detective Everett Backstrom (three-time Emmy Award nominee Rainn Wilson, The Office), an offensive, irascible detective, as he tries, and fails, to change his self-destructive behavior. Throughout the series, Backstrom leads his team, the Serious Crimes Unit, as they navigate Portland's most sensitive cases.

Hanson serves as executive producer on the series with Persson and Niclas Salomonsson. Emmy Award-nominated director Mark Mylod (Entourage, Shameless, Ali G Indahouse) served as director and executive producer on the pilot. Production is scheduled to begin in early 2014. The series will air in the 2014-15 TV season. In the pilot episode, after the apparent suicide of a Senator's son is ruled a homicide, the Portland Police Bureau's Serious Crime Unit, led by Detective Backstrom (Wilson) must solve the case. Following the team's arrival on the scene, forensics expert Sergeant Peter Nierdermayer (Kristoffer Polaha, Ringer, Life Unexpected) verifies that the death was indeed a homicide. This starts the trail for Backstrom and his team: Detective Nicole Gravely, Detective Sergeant John Almond (Dennis Haysbert, The Unit, 24), uniformed officer Frank Moto (Page Kennedy, Weeds, S.W.A.T.) and the tech-savvy Nadia Paquet (Beatrice Rosen, The Dark Knight, Cuts). Together, they must follow leads, while trying to maintain a low profile in this highly scrutinized case.

Cougar Town

To kick off the fifth season of Cougar Town, which premiered last night (Tuesday) on TBS, the hit series has partnered with Pinot's Palette, pioneer of the upscale social art and wine experience, on an unprecedented promotion bringing fans closer than ever to their favorite characters...wine included. The new partnership will offer Cougar Town viewers and Pinot's Palette fans a chance attend exclusive painting parties by utilizing a Pinot's Palette code that will be posted on the Cougar Town Facebook page. These exclusive parties will feature a Cougar Town inspired painting and guests in select markets will also receive special co-branded merchandise. Pinot's Palette will also extend the Cougar Town celebration through the month of January with Cougar Town themed public painting parties in various markets. The series airs Tuesdays at 10:00pm on TBS!

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Thursday, December 1

Young Sheldon - "Four Hundred Cartons of Undeclared Cigarettes and a Niblingo" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
George Sr. bails Meemaw and Georgie out of jail. Also, Sheldon and Missy meet Mandy (Emily Osment), and Mary feels unwelcome at church.

Ghosts - "Possession" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Hetty accidentally possesses Jay’s body just as he and Sam are to about show Woodstone Mansion to a renowned wedding planner.

Welcome to Flatch - "Open House" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Barb's first open house in Flatch draws all kinds of attention; Mandy displaces Father Joe as the Flatch advice giver; Kelley rises to the occasion as an up-and-coming real estate agent.

Call Me Kat - "Call Me Fancy Puffenstuff" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Kat's murder mystery-themed friendsgiving dinner isn't a crowdpleaser; Phil has a romantic dilemma; Kat tries to encourage Max's career ambitions, but she worries that he has a bigger problem.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of November 28)

Thursday, December 1

Don Cheadle (The Wonder Years/Black Monday/House of Lies/The Golden Palace) - Catch Don on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Keke Palmer (Scream Queens/True Jackson, VP) - Keke makes a special guest appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
John Krasinski (The Office) - John is a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
David Duchovny (Californication) - David appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Sarah Hyland (Modern Family) - Sarah is a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Sally Field (Gidget/The Flying Nun/The Girl with Something Extra) - Sally appears on Watch What Happens: Live at 10pm on Bravo.
Mindy Kaling (The Mindy Project/The Office) - Mindy talks new book imprint on ABC's Good Morning America some time between 7-9am. She chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
Alfred Molina (Angie Tribeca/Laides Man) - Alfred will be on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Keshia Knight Pulliam (Tyler Perry's House of Payne/The Cosby Show) and Brad James (Tyler Perry's For Better or Worse) - Keshia and her husband Brad discuss how they met on set, their decision to share freezing Keshia's eggs and being reunited on their new Lifetime film, Noel in New Orleans, on Tamron Hall, so check your local listings.
Whoopi Goldberg (Whoopi/Bagdad Cafe) - Whoopi appears on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
Ken Jeong (Dr. Ken/Community) - Ken will be on The Jennifer Hudson Show, so check your local listings.
Freddie Prinze Jr. (Punky Brewster/Freddie) - Freddie is a guest on E! News on E! at 11:30pm.
Jane Lynch (Angel from Hell) and Kate Flannery (The Office) - Jane and Kate discuss their Christmas cabaret tour and participate in a holiday-themed quiz on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
Tom Everett Scott (I'm Sorry) - Tom talks about NBC's Dolly Parton's Magic Mountian Christmas on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.