Good Wife Resurfaces As TV3 Loses Not Just Fox Touch But Also Other Touchstones
November 7, 2013 
5 Comments
One bright spot over the programming upheaval at MediaWorks TV is it opens up TV3’s schedule for an overdue “new” season of The Good Wife.
But the series it replaces from 11.15 Tuesday next week, Chicago Fire, isn’t a 20th Century Fox property but an NBC Universal show.
It turns out Fox series aren’t the only casualties of MediaWorks restructuring — a new deal with NBC Universal also means In Plain Sight is being blindsided and there’s a question mark over series like Law & Order continuing on TV3.
Although the network won’t confirm if any other NBC Universal shows are in jeopardy, one of the studio’s best, The Blacklist, is among its 2014 highlights.
And NBC Universal’s Grimm, Community and Parks and Recreation seem set to stay on Four, with none being among the scheduling fatalities announced today.
Indeed, Community and Parks and Recreation are replacing Fox comedies like How I Met Your Mother and New Girl.
Also gone from Four’s schedule as of next week are Glee, The Simpsons, American Dad, Raising Hope and The Glades.
As for The Good Wife, it’s left over from MediaWorks’ CSB Studios deal. Although Prime now has the rights to new CBS fare, shows licensed earlier by TV3 remain with the network.
It will resume this fine drama series from the start of season three; season five has just started in the US.
Other changes that affect HD staples include a re-run of Underbelly: Razor replacing repeats of The Finder (November 9), repeats of 7 Days and Jono and Ben at Ten replacing Touch (November 10), a re-run of Bikie Wars: Brothers in Arms replacing Sons of Anarchy (November 11) and re-runs of CSI: Miami replacing In Plain Sight (November 15).
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November 11, 2013 at 10:59 pm
Well, I know this will save MediaWorks money but this is terrible news for fans of off-peak shows! Philip, what does this mean for the cancelled broadway drama Smash and Parenthood? Is it not coming back at all? Glad The Good Wife is back but it would of been better off in primetime on a Saturday night.
“Although Prime now has the rights to new CBS fare, shows licensed earlier by TV3 remain with the network.” Bummer. Does that mean CBS shows like Hawaii Five-O will only be in SD from now on?
No, TV3 will retain the CBS shows it licensed before Prime acquired the distributor’s output. So the likes of H5O, The Good Wife and Blue Bloods will continue to air in HD on 3.
Leo — I’m not sure if Smash would have been back on 3, anyway. It probably would have been consigned to Four given how badly the first season bombed on 3. Parenthood is an NBC Universal series. Whether it will return is questionable given MediaWorks also has renegotiated this deal to save money. The broadcaster is refusing to identify which other Fox/NBC Uni series have been lost other than those already announced.
Thanks, Philip, for replying and giving some insight into what’s happening. I think it’s poor form that MediaWorks are not going to tell the viewing public about the other show casualties. Smash would of made a perfect replacement for Glee on FOUR or paired with it if the show returns to FOUR. The waiting continues and we shall see if TVNZ have snapped up the Fox shows with their new season announcement tomorrow.