“Three Rivers” Returns to CBS in June with Unaired Episodes

May 26, 2010 By 4 Comments

[Updated 04-June-10] Between June 5th and July 3rd, Three Rivers is returning to CBS at 8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT on Saturdays. Commencing with Win-Loss – the original unaired pilot – the network will air five episodes, including four new ones which were completed last November-December after the cancellation of the series was announced.

June 5: Win-Loss – When a bride is shot at her wedding, the team is sent to harvest her heart to transplant into a college basketball player.

When a bride is gunned down at her wedding, the team is sent to harvest her heart to transplant into a college basketball player, on THREE RIVERS, Saturday, June 5 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

June 12: A Roll of the Dice – Andy is forced to make a tough decision when the wife of a man in need of a kidney transplant is not a suitable match.

Andy must decide if he will allow a woman to start a “daisy chain” and donate her kidney to another patient on the chain until an exact match is found for her husband.  Meanwhile, Andy suspects that a recent patient is rejecting his new heart, on THREE RIVERS, Saturday, June 12 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

June 19: Every Breath You Take – A female firefighter must make the difficult decision of whether to donate a portion of her lung to her captain.

A firefighter must decide whether to be a living donor to her captain, a man who mistreated her.  Meanwhile, Andy’s uncle turns up with a stab wound and asks him not to report the incident out of fear that it will violate his parole, on THREE RIVERS, Saturday, June 19 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT), on the CBS Television Network.

June 26: Case Histories – Andy is upset when his nemesis, a hot shot heart surgeon (Oded Fehr), returns to the hospital.

Andy is upset when his rival, an arrogant heart surgeon with no bedside manner, returns to the hospital,  on THREE RIVERS, Saturday, June 26 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT), on the CBS Television Network.  Oded Fehr (“Charmed”) guest stars as Dr. Luc Bovell, a heart surgeon.

July 3: Status 1A – Andy puts his patient Kuol at the top of the donor list to receive a new heart after his condition takes a turn for the worse.

When Kuol has a stroke, Andy puts him at the top of the donor list to receive a new heart. However, his transplant is put in jeopardy when the cops threaten to seize the money that was raised for Kuol’s surgery, on THREE RIVERS, Saturday, July 3 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT), on the CBS Television Network. Oded Fehr (“Charmed”) returns as Dr. Luc Bovell, a heart surgeon.

The above information is derived from entertainment releases issued by CBS on May 25th and Alex O’Loughlin’s most recent blog post. CBS’s schedule is available online, but please also check your local listings.

Filed Under: Alex O'Loughlin, Three Rivers, TV Tagged With: , , ,

Matt Mitovich Blogs About Possible Moonlight Resurrection

January 9, 2010 By 3 Comments

Where other media outlets are focusing on the cancellation of Three Rivers in today’s TCA reports, Matt Mitovich at FanCast prefers to tackle the Moonlight angle. Matt writes that CBS and Warner Bros. have approached several cast members and a former producer of the show to gauge their interest in “Moonlight 2.0″.

Nina Tassler’s response, when FanCast addressed the topic:

“I just want to say one thing – who was out there first with vampires?” she at first responded. “Who was out there first?”

So…? Might Mick St. John resurface for another “bite”?

“['Moonlight' executive producer] Joel Silver and I were talking about it the other day – but we talk about a lot of things,’ Tassler told us. Any possible ‘Moonlight’ rebirth would be a ways down the line, however, seeing as “we’re about to pick up all of our [2010-11 season] pilots,” Tassler stressed.

One way or another, CBS is determined to find a new project for Alex O’Loughlin, whose ‘Three Rivers’ has been canceled, Tassler confirmed on Saturday.

“We love [Alex] and want him to stay around for a long time,” she said.

As for why the organ donation-themed medical drama failed to draw an adequate audience despite the Aussie actor’s ardent and vocal following, she offered, “‘Moonlight’ was a much more [O'Loughlin]-centric show, whereas ‘Three Rivers’ was more of an ensemble.” She then added, “Some shows find their legs earlier than others.”

Thanks to Kris for the heads up!

Additional reports by:

Filed Under: Alex O'Loughlin, Interviews & Articles, Moonlight, Three Rivers, TV Tagged With: , , , ,

Nina Tassler Confirms Three Rivers’ Cancellation

January 9, 2010 By 5 Comments

THR’s James Hibberd today blogged from the CBS Executive Session at the TCA Press Tour in Pasadena, where Nina Tassler confirmed the cancellation of Three Rivers. The CBS Entertainment President also indirectly confirms that there is still a relationship between Alex O’Loughlin and the network:

On “Three Rivers”: Yes, it’s officially canceled. “We’ve all known each other long enough to know that when something is on ‘hiatus,’ it’s code for something else. Eight lives were saved because of organ donation awareness of that show.” In the huddle, Tassler is asked about whether “Moonlight” might return and remarks that they were the first network on the scene with a vampire show (of course, CBS was also the first to cancel one). She doesn’t expect a fan uprising over “Three Rivers” like there was over “Moonlight” and says they’re trying to find a new show for star Alex O’Loughlin.

TV Squad’s Joel Keller reports:

Howdy from Pasadena! I’m here covering the Winter TCA tour, and the first bit of news has already come up. During her executive session, CBS entertainment president Nina Tassler was asked by the throng of reporters here if the Alex O’Laughlin medical drama Three Rivers was cancelled. Her response?

“You know what? Yes.”

She went on to say that she didn’t want to beat around the bush on it; the show just took longer to develop than they hoped. She was heartened by the stories she heard from transplant patients who appreciated the show’s message, but that wasn’t enough to save the show.

In the reporter scrum after her press conference, Tassler told me that she didn’t anticipate as many angry letters from O’Laughlin fans as she got after she cancelled Moonlight, but judging from some of the notes we got here, I doubt that.

Additional reports by:

Filed Under: Alex O'Loughlin, Interviews & Articles, Three Rivers, TV Tagged With: , ,

How “Three Rivers” Inspired the Gift of Life

December 4, 2009 By 1 Comment

dla-03

Alex O’Loughlin, Carol Barbee, the writers, cast and crew of Three Rivers can rest assured that they have made a difference in people’s lives. With the involvement of Donate Life, Dr. Gonzo Gonzalez-Stawinski and other experts, Three Rivers was the one medical drama on television that gave audiences accurate organ donation storylines.

For once, the organ and tissue donation community did not have to resort to letter-writing campaigns to set the record straight or have to worry about a television show preventing viewers from becoming much needed donors.

Tenaya Wallace, Donate Life Hollywood’s campaign director, and CEO of OneLegacy, Tom Mone,  write in a recent article titled “Television Can Save Your Life“:

The night that “Three Rivers” premiered, 9.2 million people saw what could essentially be called a 42-minute PSA on organ donation. There are not many public education campaigns that can reach 9.2 million people in a single hour.

From the outset, producer Carol Barbee and her writers reached out to donation and transplant professionals to ensure accuracy in each story and to find the stories that reminded us that death touches us all, that precious legacies can be left by anyone, and that people can gain life through a tremendous gift. Alex O’Loughlin, the show’s star, became a Donate Life Ambassador and wore the Donate Life pin and wristband proudly each episode. This was television taking the high road.

Unfortunately, the high road doesn’t immediately translate into high ratings and the advertising revenue on which television depends. At a time when networks are casting about for new ways to combat declining audiences, quick decisions to shelve compelling shows without allowing them to mature and develop an audience may be a part of their problem, not their solution.

In the world of organ donation, saving lives comes first, and “Three Rivers” helped to do just that. We can only hope that whatever new form “Three Rivers” takes on, even in a midnight rerun, it will keep inspiring the gift of life.

Alex O’Loughlin confirmed his intent to continue his work with Donate Life America in his latest blog post. Undoubtedly, he was very inspired by the stories of how the show has helped to save lives, some of which are shared in Tenaya Wallace’s and Tom Mone’s article.

Alex blogged, “Already in this short time I have received so many beautiful letters of support and gratitude from so many of you who have lost loved ones, and also shared the gift of life with others as a result of those tragedies.”

Even if Three Rivers‘ course is coming to an end, it’s encouraging to know that the gift of life will continue.

[tags]alex o’loughlin, alex o’lachlan, three rivers, andy yablonski, cbs, donate life, carol barbee[/tags]

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Alex O’Loughlin Blogs About Three Rivers Cancellation and Donate Life

December 1, 2009 By 6 Comments

Monday, November 30, 2009

THREE RIVERS

Hey everyone…..

Well, like usual I have been meaning to write you all and, like usual, not getting around to it. Before Thanksgiving….. during

Thanksgiving….after Thanksgiving! But today, I thought I better get to it…..

A lot of you probably already know this, because you guys know what’s happening in my life before I do, but today I was informed that Three Rivers would soon draw to an end.

To be honest I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

After Moonlight was canceled I needed to go away and regroup for a while. I was hesitant to engage in another show at all, even when Three Rivers was proposed, but I realized immediately how important this story was and would be. This, the story of so many different people all around the world who’s lives have somehow been affected by organ donation and transplant medicine.

I often catch myself saying things like “We’re actors! We’re not curing cancer or feeding the hungry.” (Of course referring to the fact I don’t always feel that as an actor my job is that important or relevant.) But I soon realized that Three Rivers would be a source of great comfort to those aforementioned people, providing perhaps for the first time an accurate and cathartic experience directly related to that which they all shared.

Already in this short time I have received so many beautiful letters of support and gratitude from so many of you who have lost loved ones, and also shared the gift of life with others as a result of those tragedies. And this sudden cancellation has rocked me completely.

As most of you know, through Three Rivers I was blessed to have been afforded the chance to work with the organization Donate Life America. This potential opportunity was one of the main reasons I agreed to do the show, and having only recently finished my Ambassador training I had become an official spokesperson. We have done a couple of events and some PSA’s and there has been growing excitement about the possibilities of exposure and support we at Three Rivers could provide as the show gained in numbers and strength. Well, though the news of the show is heartbreaking I view it as nothing more than a temporary setback in the work I plan to do with Donate Life America. For me this is just the beginning of what I hope to be a long relationship.

To be honest I don’t really know what else to say. I am beginning my process of detachment and will be in touch soon.

All my love,….

….

Alex O’Loughlin x

9:12 PM

Filed Under: Alex O'Loughlin, Three Rivers, TV Tagged With: , , , ,
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