Universal's crazy Tower Heist plot will not come to fruition. Also today: A Disney princess makes progress with her very own grownup show, three of your least favorite shows will live a little longer, and Ben Stiller has lots of ghosts, which one you need?

  • After lots of movie theater owners were like "Um, please don't?" Universal has decided to not put their upcoming comedy Tower Heist On Demand three weeks after its theatrical opening. I guess the theaters figured that people would wait to watch the movie at home instead of paying the GDP of Burkina Faso to take their family to the theater. Ha, though, of course Universal was planning on charging SIXTY DOLLARS to get the thing On Demand, but at least the popcorn's cheaper at home. So let's be glad that these two impoverished industries have worked out a solution that benefits everybody. [EW]
  • Ashley Tisdale, better known as Sharpay Evans from the psychosexual documentary series High School Musical, has languished in the Disney/kiddie ghetto for a long while now (unless you count Hellcats, which you shouldn't), but finally she is getting a chance to spread her fuzzy blonde wings. ABC (OK, so it's still Disney, but whatever) has bought a semi-autobiographical sitcom starring Tisdale as a young woman who buys a house that turns out to be a money pit, so she moves into her parents' place while her dad renovates her house. So, perfect. A theme we can all relate to in these crater times. The problem of having too many houses to live in! I hope the show is called Too Many Houses! John McCain will produce and direct. [Deadline]
  • So a bunch of shows have gotten full season orders or at least orders for more scripts and the first is, surprisingly, Sarah Michelle Gellar's somewhat struggling CW noir mash Ringer. (I initially typed "Ringtone" and probably should have kept it as a sad testament to these sad techno times.) Yeah! A full season. I wasn't too keen on the pilot, but it's gotten progressively better, so I am happy for it. And, of course, I am happy for beloved SMG. [EW]
  • Next up is NBC's Prime Suspect, which wasn't formally picked up for a full season, but six more scripts have been ordered. That doesn't necessarily mean they'll film those scripts, but it's a small vote of confidence at least. And this is a good thing too! I know that it's just another police procedural, but it's actually a really engaging police procedural that's well acted (Maria Bello is wayyy more subtle than the promos make her out to be) and filmed. I mean, it's from Peter Berg! Peter Berg makes good TV. Just give it a shot, folks. It's not going to win any medals at the TV Olympics (well, Bello might), but it's solid entertaining television and the world always needs more of that. [THR]
  • Thirdly we have HBO's highly effective sleep aid Boardwalk Empire (for a good take on why that show doesn't sing for some, read Emily Nussbaum's spot-on review), which has been picked up for a third season. Will Nucky ever stop frowning? Will everyone continue to live lives of quiet desperation? Will Paz de la Huerta finally achieve full Ascension and sprout tattered dragonfly wings and fly away into the brown, brown sky? Perhaps the third season will answer all of those thrilling questions. [THR]
  • Comedy scion Ben Stiller is reteaming with his Night at the Museum scribes Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant to make a movie based on the 1970s British kids series Rentaghost, about a guy who runs a ghost rental agency. Like, if you need something haunted, you go to the Rentaghost guy and you rent a ghost. You just up and damn rent a motherfucking ghost. Man, think of all the people trying to buy cheap amusement parks and factories and stuff on Scooby Doo who could have benefited from this service. "Hey guys, where's Velma?" "Shaggy, she was killed by a ghost." "What?" "Yeah, she assumed it was just an old man in a mask so she tried to take its face off and it killed her." "Wow." "Yeah, but it's not like anyone will miss her." "Daphne you're such a bitch." "Oh shut up Fred you old fag." That would have been such a better show! [Deadline]