https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/screens/2013-05-23/small-screen-big-news/

Small Screen, Big News

By Monica Riese, May 23, 2013, 2:15pm, Picture in Picture

You've seen plenty of big-screen news in Film Flam and Trailer Park of late, but what about your television favorites?

Here's what's new in Central Texas TV land.

• Austin is among the list of networks currently being threatened by a partial blackout on Time Warner Cable. The cable provider is in talks with LIN Television, which seeks increased reimbursement for its services of retransmitting local broadcast stations. The current agreement between the two companies expires at the end of business on Friday, May 31. Read more about the negotiation, including viewing alternatives, on Variety.

• The King of the Hill trio of Mike Judge, John Altschuler, and Dave Krinsky have a little something to celebrate. Their Silicon Valley dark comedy, as yet untitled, has been picked up by HBO for a full series. Given the success of HBO's current comedy offerings – including Girls and Veep – they're likely in pretty good hands.

• Robert Rodriguez does Robert Rodriguez. The director is adapting the From Dusk Till Dawn, the 1996 film he co-directed with Quentin Tarantino, into a TV series, he announced at a Univision press conference last week. Read Marc Savlov's review of the original here.

• A Central Texas woman is a finalist on HGTV Star, "the toughest home renovation competition yet." Abby Vasek, of Wimberley, will compete in an episode that airs Sunday, June 9, 7pm. The winner of the premiere episode will have a piece of art for sale on One Kings Lane. Check out Vasek's portfolio on the HGTV site.

• Janell Vela Smith of Austin-based Iron Dragon Productions was named a finalist of the Producer Guild's ProShow Competition last week. Her project, The Next Dragon, joins two others in the reality television category, sponsored by Ryan Seacrest Productions. There are also five finalists in the feature film category and three in online content; this is the first year for the reality and online categories. One winner from each will be selected at the 2013 Produced By Conference, June 8-9 in California; all finalists receive award packages worth $20,000, but the grand prize is a development deal.

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