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Monday, May 19, 2008
5/19: 2008-09 season tease
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With the 2007-08 TV season mercifully ending this Thursday, the broadcast networks are already looking for the fall for some salvation. I have already posted NBC, CBS, the CW and ABC previews. I had to battle off a bout of food poisoning last week so I didn’t post the Fox stuff. To give everyone one spot to check info out, here’s what I wrote for the Saturday print edition of the paper (which I fortunately wrote before I got sick.)
I’ll do a summer preview later this week, focused a bit on cable, since that’s where the cool stuff will be anyway.
The TV broadcast networks can use all the excuses in the book for what has turned out to be a disastrous season: a 100-day writers strike, the rising use of DVRs, YouTube.
But the bottom line is nobody was able to generate a genuine big hit . No “Grey’s Anatomy.” No “House.” No “Survivor.” Instead, we got dyspeptic cavemen, a distasteful use of lie detectors and the return of “American Gladiators.”
The strike hastened what has been a steady decline in broadcast viewership over the past three decades and cut short the development season, meaning fewer new shows across the board. And hundreds of cable networks keep stealing away eyeballs.
But ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox are still the biggest players in town. Here’s what they and the stumbling CW will offer this fall, as announced this week.
ABC
ABOVE: “Scrubs” moves to ABC after seven years at NBC
The female-friendly network is keeping its lineup stable, launching a single new drama, one reality show and zero new comedies this fall.
What survived: “Boston Legal,” “Brothers & Sisters,” “Dancing With the Stars,” “Dirty Sexy Money,” “Eli Stone,” “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Lost” (midseason), “Private Practice,” “Pushing Daisies,” “Samantha Who?” “Supernanny,” “Ugly Betty,” “Wife Swap,” “According to Jim” (midseason), “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” “The Bachelor” (midseason), “Saturday Night College Football”
What didn’t: “Big Shots,” “Carpoolers,” “Cashmere Mafia,” “Cavemen,” “Men in Trees,” “October Road,” “Oprah’s Big Give,” “Women’s Murder Club,” “”Just For Laughs,” MIss Guided.”
What’s new: ABC nabbed NBC’s quirky sitcom “Scrubs.” “Life on Mars” is a remake of a successful BBC series about a modern-day detective stuck in 1973. “Opportunity Knocks” has camera crews hitting random households to create a game show on their front lawns.
FOX
ABOVE: Two vet sitcom stars Patricia Heaton and Kelsey Grammer get the boot after just one season on “Back To You.”
The network held up better than its rivals, but only two freshmen shows got renewed, and its animated lineup is aging. Even “American Idol” is losing steam.
What survived: “24,” “American Idol,” “Family Guy,” “House,” “The Simpsons,” “Bones,” “Prison Break,” “The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” “Til Death,” “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” “Don’t Forget the Lyrics,” “Moment of Truth,” “America’s Most Wanted, ” Cops,” “Hell’s Kitchen” (midseason), “Kitchen Nightmares,” “King of the Hill,” American Dad”
What didn’t: “Canterbury’s Law,” “K-Ville,” “New Amsterdam,” “Back To You,” “Unhitched,” “The Return of Jezebel James,” “Nashville,”
What’s new: “Lost” and “Alias” creator J.J. Abrams is creating a new ambitious “X-Files”-type sci-fi show called “Fringe.” “Do Not Disturb” is a comedy directed by Jason Bateman.
CBS
ABOVE: “The Big Bang Theory” was the only freshman show to make it to year two on CBS.
Its most popular shows are getting gray, from “Survivor” to the three “CSI” shows. But the network has enough strong performers to sprinkle in a few new shows (none in the reality genre) and move a couple of old reliables.
What survived: The three CSIs, “Without a Trace,” “Criminal Minds,” “Cold Case,” “NCIS,” “The Unit,” “Survivor,” “The Amazing Race,” “New Adventures of Old Christine,” “The Big Bang Theory,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “Two and a Half Men,” “Ghost Whisperer,” “Numb3rs,” “60 Minutes,” “48 Hours Mystery”
What didn’t: “Moonlight,” “Shark,” “Cane,” “Power to 10,” “Jericho,” “Welcome to the Captain,” “Kid Nation,” “Viva Laughlin.”
What’s new: “Without a Trace” moves to Tuesdays at 10 p.m. “Christine” opens a Wednesday comedy hour with new sitcom “Project Gary” starring Jay Mohr. “Worst Week” is yet another American adaptation of a British sitcom. “The Mentalist” will run on Tuesdays and “The Ex-List” is a dramedy on Friday nights.
NBC
ABOVE: NBC is planning a midseason spinoff of its sitcom “The Office”.
For years TV’s biggest network, NBC remains mired in fourth place and needs something to break out soon. NBC announced its schedule through summer 2009, spreading out its new series rather than throwing them all on at once in September.
What survived: “30 Rock,” “Celebrity Apprentice” (midseason), “The Biggest Loser,” “Chuck,” “Deal or No Deal,” “ER,” “Friday Night Lights,” “Heroes,” “Law & Order,” “Law & Order: SVU,” “Life,” “Lipstick Jungle,” “Medium,” “My Name is Earl,” “The Office,” “Dateline NBC,” “Sunday Night Football”
What didn’t: “1 vs. 100,” “Bionic Woman,” “Journeyman,” “Las Vegas,” “The Singing Bee,” “Scrubs” (to ABC), “Quarterlife,” “My Dad is Better Than Your Dad,” “Phenomenon,” “Clash of the Choirs.” “Amne$ia.”
What’s new: Watch for a remake of “Knight Rider,” an Australian import remake “Kath & Kim” (starring Molly Shannon and Selma Blair), and a Christian Slater vehicle, “My Own Worst Enemy.” There’s also a new version of Robinson Crusoe set for Friday nights. A spinoff of “The Office” is planned for midseason.
THE CW
ABOVE: A spinoff of the ’90s hit “Beverly Hills 90210” is in the works.
When the WB and UPN combined in 2006, they hoped to build a bigger network. It didn’t work. The network is foundering and lost wrestling to My Network, creating a new hole on Friday nights. Even with all the hype over “Gossip Girl,” the show is at best a minor success compared to “The O.C.” or “Dawson’s Creek” of years past.
What survived: “America’s Next Top Model,” “Reaper” (midseason), “Smallville,” “Supernatural,” “One Tree Hill,” “Gossip Girl,” “The Game,” “Everybody Hates Chris.”
What didn’t: “Aliens in America,“ “Beauty & the Geek,” “Pussycat Dolls Presents,” “Girlfriends.” “WWE Smackdown” (now on My Network), “CW Now,” Life is Wild,” “Online Nation,” “Crowned”
What’s new: The network sold off its Sunday night programming to a third party Media Rights Capital. What used to be an African-American comedy block is now reduced to one hour on Fridays. It’s touting a remake of “Beverly Hills 90210,” plus a new drama “Surviving the Filthy Rich,” plus a companion to “Next Top Model” called “Stylista.”
