According to the Hollywood Reporter, the mutant-based TV series Mutant X has been renewed for a fourth season.  Tribune Entertainment, which produces Mutant X, also renewed Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda for a fifth go-round.  Both Tribune series will appear in at least 140 markets in the U.S. including 45 of the top 50. 

Mutant X has been the cause of considerable legal wrangling, which started when Twentieth Century Fox, which produced the X-Men movies, sued both Marvel and the Tribune Company on the grounds that Mutant X was too similar to the X-Men and had the potential to dilute the franchise.  The initial round of lawsuits has been settled, but late last year the Tribune Company decided to sue Marvel for $100 million, claiming changes Marvel made to placate Fox have gutted the property and made it unprofitable. 'The Tribune Company has not realized any profit at all from the production and distribution of Mutant X, but has instead lost millions of dollars,' said the company (see 'Tribune Entertainment Sues Marvel').  Evidently the losses are not substantial enough to result in the cancellation of the series.

Just last week Tribune Entertainment signed a licensing deal with the Sci Fi Network for Andromeda, which will gain increased exposure with regular reruns of all five seasons on the Sci Fi cable network.  So far there is no deal for Mutant X, but most live action series have to pass the 100-episode mark before having a chance at this kind of a run on cable.  ADV Films releases both Mutant X and Andromeda to the home video market on DVD.