FX are Eastbound & Down; Primeval cancellation details

Here in the UK, FX have picked up the rights to the first two seasons of black comedy Eastbound & Down. The series stars Danny McBride as failed baseball player Kenny Powers, who returns to his hometown to work as a PE teacher but can't stop behaving like a celebrity. The first season was shown on HBO a few months ago and another six-episode season has been ordered.

Jason Thorp, Managing Director of FX UK:

"We’re keen to push into comedy and Eastbound & Down represents this. It's an excellent script and we’re very confident our audiences will love it."

It's also been revealed that Impossible Pictures, creators of the now defunct Primeval, had offered to make a fourth series for ITV at a bargain cost of £600,000 per episode. The savings would have been made via a partnership with The Sci-Fi Channel, who would have aired new episodes first.

Tim Haines, Impossible Pictures' founder:

"There was a lot of talk when Primeval was cancelled that it must have been because it is a big show, with lots of CGI and special effects. That’s not the case. ITV wasn’t paying the whole costs anyway but we offered to lower the price further and bring in 50% of the funding with co-pro deals. It would still have been getting a show worth more than £1m for less than £600,000."

Right now, Impossible Pictures are negotiating with a US broadcaster to adapt Primeval. The US version is expected to "start from scratch" with a slightly edgier feel. Haines also hopes that Primeval will be back on ITV one day, but only in the form of the US remake.