CompleteCoverage: Upfronts 2013
To fill out the original programming of itsFXX network, comedies It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The
League and Legit have all been renewed for additional seasons to air
on the new network targeting adults 18-34.
Sunny and The League's previously announced
ninth and fifth seasons, respectively, will premiere on FXX this fall, with the
new seasons announced Thursday debuting in fall 2014. Legit, which has
been picked up for a second season, will return in early 2014.
Drama Justified has also been renewed for a fifth
season to premiere on the flagship FX channel in January 2014.
FXX will also be the new home of late-night comedy series Totally
Biased with W. Kamau Bell, which expands to a five-nights-a-week strip
starting this fall. The half-hour show will air Monday through Thursday at 11
p.m., with a best of the week compilation show on Sunday.
No decision has yet been made on the future of late night
series BrandX with Russell Brand,
which is in the middle of its latest episode run in a new live format. "The
live format has been great, really a boon for Russell," said John Landgraf, FX
Networks president and general manager. "The show's really found its footing."
If it is renewed, it will move to FXX with Totally
Biased, he said.
Kicking off its move into limited series, FX has ordered an
adaptation of the Coen Brothers film Fargo from writer Noah Hawley. The
10-episode series from FX Productions and MGM Television will follow a new
"true crime" story inspired by the film and is slated to premiere in
spring 2014. Hawley, Joel and Ethan Coen and Warren Littlefield will serve as
executive producers.
FX Networks is also in development on four other limited
series with film talent attached: a portrait of the Puritan settlers in Mayflower from executive producer Paul
Giamatti; Grand Hotel, about a Paris
hotel that becomes the center of a terrorist attack from executive producer Sam
Mendes; Shawn Ryan's Mad Dogs, which
follows the reunion of four 40-something men heading to Belize to visit their
old school friend; and Sutton from
Alexander Payne, about the prolific bank robber who leaves prison and takes a
reporter and photographer on a tour of his crimes.
Landgraf has additionally picked up two comedy pilots. The first, How and Why from Academy Award winner
Charlie Kaufman, is the story of a man who can figure out how a nuclear reactor works but
is clueless about life. The animated Chozen,
executive produced by Eastbound & Down's
Danny McBride, follows a white rapper recently released from prison looking for
redemption. If ordered to series, the comedies would likely air on FXX as the
new network looks to grow to six comedies next year.
