TNT renews "Southland" for third season

Finally, after weeks of waiting, the news is in. "Southland" will be back for a third season.

TNT announced yesterday that they have ordered 10 new episodes, slated to air in January 2011.

Says Michael Wright, head of TNT, tbs and TCM programming: "Southland is a challenging, visceral show that engages viewers with its immersive style, provocative storylines, and complex characters. These qualities have made "Southland" a favorite among critics and appointment viewing for an extremely loyal audience."

"Southland" is an expensive show to produce, so the decision from TNT to renew the series came as a bit of a surprise, but boy am I glad they made it.

Even though Southland has pulled in only moderate ratings since starting its run on TNT, the network was quick to point out that the series gains about 50% more viewers with DVR numbers and averaged about 2.7 million viewers for the season once time-shifting numbers were added.

The John Wells-produced cop-drama focuses on a police unit in Los Angeles. It stars Ben McKenzie (The O.C.), Tom Everett Scott (TNT's Saved), Michael Cudlitz (Band of Brothers) and Regina King (24).

Can't wait to see what they have in store for season 3.

NBC renews "Parks and Recreation" for Third Season

NBC has renewed the Amy Poehler-led sitcom"Parks and Recreation" for a third season, says the Hollywood Reporter.

According to the Hollywood Reporter: The early pickup was done strictly for production reasons to lock in actors' schedules, a rep for NBC said, stressing that the sole pickup for the sophomore comedy in no means reflects on the renewal chances of NBC's other Thursday comedies.

Indeed, "The Office," "30 Rock" and freshman "Community," which pull higher ratings than "Parks," all look good to return for another season as well. After a soft start as a midseason entry last spring, "Parks," which stars Amy Poehler and Aziz Ansari, has been gaining steam this season creatively and ratings-wise.

The sophomore series--part of NBC's Thursday night comedy block--was created by two of the executive producers behind fellow NBC sitcom “The Office”--Greg Daniels and Michael Schur.

I gave “Parks and Recreation” a shot last year because of my love for “The Office,” but it didn’t hold up for me. I can admit, though, that this year the show has been much better creatively, and clearly that has affected the ratings. The same type of thing also happened with “The Office” originally--it started slow, and eventually it became a huge hit.

One reason "Parks and Recreation" has been so good this year is due to Ansari. He is the funniest character on the show (Rashida Jones is pretty good too). I’ll be looking forward to a third season.

“Parks and Recreation” airs Thursday nights at 8:30 p.m. on NBC.