Upfronts 2013: 'It's Always Sunny,' 'The League,' 'Legit' Renewed, Moving to FXX

FX picks up fifth season of  'Justified' for January 2014

By Andrea Morabito -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/28/2013 11:45:10 AM

Complete Coverage: Upfronts 2013

To fill out the original programming of its FXX 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.