With six new episodes already in the can, Warner Bros. is looking for a cable network to take “Southland” after its cancellation by NBC. The cop drama is reportedly being widely shopped.
LA Times writer Joe Flint suggests that TNT would be the most logical place for it to land. For one thing, Warner Bros. and TNT both have the same parent company, Time Warner. Flint notes that “The Closer” is still a strong ratings draw for TNT, while some of its newer dramas aren’t setting the world on fire.
“While ‘Southland’ certainly would be a good fit on TNT, it remains to be seen if the network would want to buy someone else’s castoff,” Flint wrote in his “Company Town” blog. Because Warner Bros. is sitting on six episodes it is already getting paid for by NBC, he suggests that the production company could cut a “slight break” on the license fee, then push the price back up if the show is a real hit for the cable outlet. Flint said people close to the production told him that NBC was paying $1.5 million per episode for Southland. “That is not a huge fee for a cash cow like TNT,” he added.
Who else? Flint wrote that A&E, despite being a logical destination, had already passed. USA is, of course, owned by NBC, plus Southland is too gritty. The problem is the opposite for FX, for which it is too tame. AMC would appear to make sense, but Flint suggests that it might not want a network TV castoff.
