TV Mistresses

Not all TV shows and characters are created equal, and there are a subset of popular series whose quality took a nosedive when one or more main characters left the show. Check out some glaring examples.

Mistresses fans should hold on to their stilettos; the ABC summer soap has been canceled and won't return for Season 5.

The current revival era is giving TV audiences a chance to reconnect with some of their favorite characters of past years, but what about characters that have been missing from shows that are still on the air? Here are 9 characters that we want to see returning to the shows that made them popular.

And as far as the summer schedule goes, ABC is keeping at least one successful part of it around for another year, as the sudsy drama Mistresses has been renewed for Season 4, but one cast member won’t be returning.

Deck the halls with soundproof paneling. Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la. Tis the season for streaming, not channeling. Fa-la-(coughing fit). I was never cut out to be a caroler. Find out what's new to streaming this week!

It’s been a week of highs and lows for fans of ABC’s summer drama Mistresses. Yesterday, the network announced that Mistresses would be receiving a third season order. However, with that third season came some budgetary changes, leading actress Alyssa Milano to announce she was leaving the drama.

It seemed a likelihood that Under the Dome's ratings would dip some from its especially strong premiere last week, so it's not entirely surprising to see the drama's numbers fall in its second episode. With that said, Under the Dome actually held up pretty well, all things considered, with a 15% drop from last week's viewers, but still managing to surpass ten million viewers. NBC's new series Siberia didn't do nearly as well. In fact, the series came in last in its timeslot, which it shares with Under the Dome at 10:00 p.m. on Monday night.

Wondering if the unfaithful characters are going to get caught is part of the draw, and there's a fair amount of suspense and tension in that, but the show doesn't tread much darker. It would be surprising if Mistresses found itself in Unfaithful or Fatal Attraction territory. But there's a slow tension brewing as we see the four leads deal with their romantic struggles, and that should be enough to hold viewers' attention.

Just yesterday, ABC revealed the dates of their season finales, which begin trickling in starting next week. Most of the network's currently airing programs wrap up in May, which is also when ABC will begin rolling out its summer slate, starting with the return of Wipeout. The network announced their summer schedule today. The list includes the return of The Bachelorette, Rookie Blue and Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition, as well as the series debuts of Mistresses, Motive and What Would You Do?.

While we still have a couple of months to wait for ABC to debut their new series Mistresses, the network has released some new photos for the series, which show off its glamorous cast, which includes Alyssa Milano and Lost's Yunjim Kim. The sight of four beautiful women, dressed in gowns in a swanky backdrop conjures a brief Desperate Housewives flashback, however - as you may have guessed by the title - this story doesn't follow a group of housewives. But like the women of Wisteria Lane, these characters do have complicated love lives.

The actress appeared as Addison’s mother, Bizzy (I just can’t get enough of that name) in ABC’s Private Practice, and last year she played Dr. Zoe Hart’s mom on The CW’s Hart of Dixie. Williams won’t be continuing her trend of playing a doctor’s mother when she joins Mistresses. Instead, Williams will play the mother of Alyssa Milano’s lawyer character, Savi, and Jess Macallan’s real estate broker, Josslyn.

Among her most recent roles, Penelope Ann Miller played a part in the Oscar-winning film The Artist and appeared numerous times in TNT's Men of a Certain Age. But I may always associate her best for her part as the panicked Brenda in Adventures in Babysitting. And maybe a little bit for her part in Kindergarten Cop (...and Big Top Pee-Wee). Among her upcoming roles, it looks like we'll be seeing her in ABC's Mistresses.

Shannyn Sossamon spent the early 2000s appearing in a slew of flicks, including A Knight’s Tale and The Rules of Attraction, before deciding to do more television roles in recent years. Her role in Moonlight led to a gig on HBO’s How To Make it in America, and now the smoldering beauty is headed to ABC to take part in the soapy drama, based on the U.K. drama of the same name.

Among the dramas set to join ABC at some point during the 2012-2013 season is Mistresses, a female-focused series that follows a group of four women who are each dealing with their own personal issues. Alyssa Milano and Lost's Yunjin Kim are among the cast. More details and the trailer ahead!

The Avengers is the gift that keeps on giving for Disney, with Hulk-size box office numbers totaling more than $1 billion globally already. So why wouldn't ABC want to cash in on that in their own way? It looks like the network is aiming to do just that with a Hulk TV series being developed for the 2013-2014 season.

Those who want to find Alyssa Milano on television will get their wish soon enough, as she’s set to return to Fox’s under-appreciated comedy series Breaking In later this season. And fans of the Who’s the Boss star will get an even bigger dose of her in Summer 2013, as she’s signed on for an ABC series.

Is ABC desperate to replace Desperate Housewives? It looks that way; as the veteran series is on its way out at the end of this season, the network has given the greenlight to Mistresses from KJ Steinberg, creator of The Nine to go straight to series with a summer 2013 debut. From housewives to the “other woman” is an interesting shift, but is it interesting enough to both differentiate it from the cancelled series and earn the love of its fans?

Are you ready for a celebrity Cheaters spin-off series? Would it be tacky to have two of the most notorious celebrity cheaters mistresses host the show? Michelle "Bombshell" McGee (Jesse James' mistress) and Jamie Jungers (one of Tiger Woods') have agreed to host Celebrity Cheaters