Love Bites Bumped Back to Mid-Season, Loses Showrunner

Looks like you'll want to keep an eye out for Love Bites in 2011 instead. In a bit of a surprise, NBC announced that their buzz-y new anthology would be bumped to mid-season and replaced by episodes of The Apprentice on Thursdays at 10 p.m. this fall. The reason(s) for the change? Star Becki Newton is pregnant and -- more important -- showrunner Cindy Chupack is stepping aside, but will remain on as a writer. Says Chupack: "Launching an anthology series, which breaks the form in so many ways, is a huge undertaking, and I strongly feel that I can be most helpful not showrunning, but writing. It just became clear that for several reasons, some of them personal, this change (and a little more time) is what we need to launch this show properly." In other words: Expect to see an anthology-less Love Bites hitting NBC in January! [EW]