renewed series

In addition to considering a number of pilots for the Fall TV season, ABC is committing to bringing a dozen shows back. The network announced today that it's picking up 12 series for an additional season, including its entire regular Thursday and Sunday night lineups.

That means the embattled Ugly Betty — which has dropped in the ratings this year and was pulled for a few weeks while ABC tried comedy on Thursdays — will be back, along with Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice. Sunday's America's Funniest Home Videos, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers and Sisters will all be back as well.

The other series picked up are Lost (which we basically already knew) and the reality shows The Bachelor, Wife Swap, Supernanny, and Dancing with the Stars. More shows can still be renewed between now and May's Upfront presentation.

I'm not sure any of those are huge surprises — even though Betty seemed in danger earlier this season and Private Practice didn't perform that well till it started airing after Grey's. But it's still interesting to see pieces of ABC's future plans falling into place. What do you make of the news? Any shows you're sad to see left off the renewal list so far?

Photos copyright 2009 ABC, Inc.

Get ready for more eyerolls and almost-certainly-manufactured drama: The Hills — the show oh so many people love to hate and/or hate to love — isn't going away anytime soon. The show has just been picked up for a fourth season (not to be confused with the current "season three, part two") that will start in August.

According to Us Weekly, the new season will have 19 episodes following what Lauren, Whitney, Audrina and the gang do this Summer. Which, I'm guessing, will be approximately the same thing they do the rest of the time. Oops, that was bitter. It's just that . . . well, I've admitted before that The Hills is one of my guilty pleasures, but how long can this show really go on? Nineteen more episodes is a long time to spend feeling guilty!

So, the question. For all you Hills lovers, are you still on board for a season four, or are you starting to feel a little bit over it? And for the Hills haters in the audience, well, feel free to vent your anger in the comments below.

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ER has already aired its 300th episode and outlived virtually all the other series that premiered in 1994. Now, it appears that the stalwart Thursday night medical drama is likely to return for a 15th season in the Fall.

The producers seem pretty confident that they'll cut things off after No. 15, though — and so they're starting to court some of the show's former stars to see if they'd be willing to return for one last go-round at County General. Noah Wyle is already set to return as Dr. Carter for four episodes, and Goran Visnjic is expected to pop in as well. Maura Tierney had previously said she'd leave after this season, but it sounds like she'd be around for at least some of this final round.

What about Eriq LaSalle, Julianna Margulies, or — the prize of all prizes — George Clooney? One of the top producers told Entertainment Weekly they'd love to bring everyone back, saying:

"We want to revisit characters that have existed on the show over the years and say where they are now. We'd love to get them all back in some way, but that doesn't mean we're going to. But we're gonna try."

So, ER watchers, tell me: Which former characters would you most like to see return? Are there any you could live without? And, even if you stopped watching ER years ago, would you come back to see Carter, Doug, Carol, Benton, or Corday again?

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