White Collar and Covert Affairs renewed for a 5th and 4th season each; Royal Pains renewed for 2 more seasons.

The American TV dramas White Collar, Royal Pains and Covert Affairs have all been renewed for further seasons, while Common Law is definitely cancelled and a 3rd season for Universal Channel (DStv 108) Fairly Legal looks extremely unlikely.

Royal Pains (seen in South Africa on M-Net) has been renewed for a fifth and sixth season and a sizeable 26 episode order. White Collar with Matt Bomer (seen in South Africa on M-Net Series) was renewed for a 16 episode fifth season. Covert Affairs (seen in South Africa on M-Net Series) was renewed for a 16 episode fourth season.

"All three of these series have found ways to stay creatively fresh and culturally relevant. The execution in writing, acting and production is among the best on television," says the USA Network, the TV channel who has these shows in America, in a statement. "In an increasingly competitive landscape, these series got new-season pickup the old-fashioned way - they earned it."

BREAKING. M-Net stays in the spy game: snags the exclusive broadcasting rights to the new white hot drama Covert Affairs.

You're reading it here first.

I can exclusively reveal first that M-Net has snagged the broadcasting rights to the fantastic new drama series Covert Affairs with Christopher Gorham and Piper Perabo.

Covert Affairs just got renewed for a second season yesterday in America, barely six episodes into its first season because its doing spectacularly well in the ratings. There is now more pay TV competition in South Africa but M-Net is still ahead of everyone by snagging the exclusive first show rights to this great show. A cross between Alias (that was on M-Net first) and Chuck (that's first on M-Net now), Covert Affairs is simply brilliant (yes, I've watched it already) and tells the story of the CIA trainee agent Annie Walker (the new Sydney Bristow!) and the blind special ops agent Auggie Anderson.

''We do have the rights but its not starting for some time still,'' M-Net tells me. But so far . . . wonderful news.