MTV announced at the Television Critics Association press tour that it’s renewing Catfish for a fourth season, while also ordering an adaptation of Terry Brooks’ Shannara series, titled (appropriately) Shannara. Brooks’ series is, according to the studio, the best-selling currently unadapted fantasy series in print—the Shannara series consists of over 20 books, and Brooks is slated to publish more. (High Druid’s Blade, the latest, came out Tuesday.)
In an unconventional move, Shannara will go straight to series instead of going through the pilot process, meaning 10 episodes will be made, even if nothing else does. The first order of episodes will be based on Brooks’ second book, The Elfstones Of Shannara.
Shannara will be written and produced by Al Gough and Miles Millar, who both worked on Smallville, Spider-Man 2, and the rebooted-for-TV Charlie’s Angels.
Along with offering praise for Catfish, which remains a ratings hit for MTV, the studio ordered more episodes of Faking It and Awkward., a second season for Are You The One?, and announced the upcoming premieres of two new shows: Happyland, a teen soap about romance and sex behind the scenes of an amusement park; and Virgin Territory, a docuseries on teens who abstain from sex.