NEWSMAKERS | ‘Castle,’ ‘Cougar Town’ among ABC renewals

NEWSMAKERS

‘Castle,’ ‘Cougar Town’ among ABC renewals

PASADENA, Calif.

Fans of “Castle,” “Cougar Town” and four other ABC TV series can rest easy: The network says the shows will be coming back next season.

“Grey’s Anatomy,” “The Middle, “Modern Family” and “Private Practice” are the other shows given an early pickup for another year, ABC announced Monday.

But the fates of “Desperate Housewives,” “Brothers & Sisters” and “Detroit 1-8-7” remain unsettled, ABC Entertainment Group President Paul Lee told the Television Critics Association.

He lauded the three series’ quality but signaled that ratings are the issue as he decides on their return for the 2011-12 season.

Paltrow, Bush cousins of shooting victim

LOS ANGELES

Gwyneth Paltrow is a cousin of the congresswoman who was wounded in Saturday’s shooting that killed six people in Arizona. Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is the first cousin of director Bruce Paltrow, who is the late father of “Country Strong” actress Gwyneth Paltrow.

“One Tree Hill” actress Sophia Bush also has a connection to the shooting. According to an Us Weekly report, Bush is the second cousin of Christina Green, the 9-year-old who was killed in the rampage.

Judge: ‘Survivor’ star violated release

PROVIDENCE, R.I.

A judge says reality-TV star Richard Hatch has violated the terms of his supervised release, but he didn’t immediately send the “Survivor” winner back to jail.

U.S. District Judge William Smith said Monday it was clear that Hatch had failed to refile his 2000 and 2001 tax returns, as required by a judge at the time of his 2006 sentencing. Hatch was convicted of failing to pay taxes on the $1 million prize he won on the debut season of “Survivor.”

The Internal Revenue Service says he now owes about $1.7 million in taxes for those years, including interest and penalties. Smith said he would sentence Hatch after receiving additional written arguments from lawyers on both sides.

Ruth Cavin, editor of mysteries, dies

NEW YORK

Ruth Cavin, a longtime and late-blooming editor at St. Martin’s Press who worked on hundreds of mystery novels in a career that began in her 60s and became so revered she was unofficially known as the “First Lady of Mysteries,” has died.

Her daughter, Nora Cavin, says her mother died Sunday morning at White Plains Hospital in New York. Ruth Cavin was 92 and had continued to work at the St. Martin’s division of Thomas Dunne Books — commuting through a car service provided by her publisher — until diagnosed with lung cancer late last year.