Yesterday, we gave you a preview of ABC's upcoming fall comedies and dramas. Today, we got the official lowdown on the network's 2009-2010 schedule during its upfront presentation.
As expected, the network picked up a number of new shows and stuck with some of its most solid performers.
Returning: Lost (Update: Lost will be back, but exactly where and on what night has not been determined.), Castle, Scrubs, Better Off Ted, Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, Ugly Betty, Dancing With the Stars, 20/20, Supernanny, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Desperate Housewives, Brothers & Sisters, The Bachelor. Wife Swap, True Beauty, America's Funniest Home Videos
Gone: Samantha Who?, Cupid, The Unusuals, In the Motherhood, According to Jim
New:Cougar Town, Hank, The Middle, Modern Family, Flash Forward, Eastwick, Shark Tank, The Forgotten
New for Mid-Season:V, Happy Town, The Deep End
Watch this space for more details on the new shows and comments from ABC execs...
More on the schedule, comments and some details on the new shows after the jump.
So You Think You Can Dance is still slated to start its annual summer run this Thursday at 8 PM ET, the night after American Idol's finale. It's tradition, you know. But apparently, Fox is thinking SYTYCD could shore up its fall lineup a bit, as well. As everyone knows, Fox tends to flail around in the fall while they're waiting for 24 and American Idol to start up each January. A fall edition of So You Think You Can Dance, if it performs well, could be a nice counterpoint to Idol, and provide some dancing alternatives to ABC's Dancing With the Stars.
I have to admit, it's a decent idea. If this works, it would give Fox two nights a week of programming, and they could even put it on the same nights as Idol. That way, they don't have to cave to the pressure of all the other reality shows and double up on Idol with both fall and winter seasons. If nothing else, I think that would start to bring Idol's ratings down even faster.
So they were down to the final two on the Hell's Kitchen season finale last night, Danny and Paula. Watching the early episodes I didn't think that Danny would even make it that far. Here's the whole episode if you missed it. Did the right person win? (Video also here.)
Leave it to FOX to do something like this. Mike Fleiss, the guy behind ABC's The Bachelor, will make another single guy dating show (this time starring a fat guy) called The Fatchelor. It's slated to air this summer but might be pushed to the fall.
Something tells me that a show titled The Fatchelorette would cause controversies and get various groups in an uproar, but having a fat guy in it is funny! Will he be the only fat one? Will the women all be hot and make this into sort of a reality show version of According To Jim or Still Standing? Wasn't there a prank reality show several years back that did something like this?
What other network show would you like to see get, um, bigger?
...the Bio channel hopes that you do. Bio is looking to expand its programming schedule for the new TV season with a number of new shows and pilots, including Celebrity Ghost Stories.
The show will offer eight hour-long episodes featuring celebs like Carrie Fisher, Joan Rivers and Scott Baio talking about their real-life run-ins with ghosts.
OK, this show sounds crazy, but I'm gonna watch it anyway. I'll skip the Joan Rivers ep (she's nuts, so I buy that she sees ghosts, giant purple elephants and God knows what else all day), but I'm curious to hear what Carrie Fisher has to say.
OK, I actually loved watching the latest version of American Gladiators on NBC, but even I think this is a weird idea. But it's actually happening. American Gladiators: The Movie is in the works, according to show creator Johnny Ferraro.
Ferraro says American Gladiators was originally conceived as a film more than 20 years ago, but instead became a "TV phenomenon." I'm not sure how a game show that's basically WWE Smackdown meets Double Dare was originally conceived as a film, but what do I know. I like to watch American Gladiators.
If you didn't see it, here's a video ofThe Real Housewives of New York City ringing the stock market opening bell yesterday morning. They also give their opinion on the economic crisis, because they have a reality show on Bravo.
You won't believe which show is kicking the collective ass of TV Land's The Cougar. Then again, maybe you will.The New York Times reports that reruns of (Shazam!) The Andy Griffith Show are the cable network's most watched show.
So does this mean that the former classic TV network will go back to running shows that people actually want to watch? Probably not. Sorry to break the bad news to you. Oh, and there is no Santa Claus, and if the tooth fairy does exist, she's probably a big ol' commie.
So, was The Fashion Show a worthy successor and/or replacement for Project Runway, or did it just scream "copycat" (or maybe "copycatwalk")? The first episode (video below or here) aired last night, with Isaac Mizrahi as host. Let us know what you thought about it.
It's finally that time when Tyra has three contestants left on America's Next Top Model. After weeding out the competition, we are left with Allison, Aminat, and Teyona. Like every finale, the girls will have to complete a Cover Girl commercial/photoshoot, and then the final two will have a runway walk-off.
Who has the upper hand? None of them. Each contestant is missing a piece of the model puzzle. None of the winners ever had every aspect down, bringing it all down to the decision of Tyra Banks. Let's take a look at some of the advantages, disadvantages, and outlying factors that will affect the girls in the final episode.
Next week is the season finale of this run of The Biggest Loser. But before we can get there, they had to perform the hardest task of their entire lives; a full 26.2 mile marathon. All this while spending 30 days at home. But this isn't the going home before the finale trip. This 30 days culminated in another weigh in before the finale. And the revelation that only three of the final four would be competing for the quarter of a million dollars.
I've really found myself enjoying the gameplay this season, especially the Ronfather's maneuvering to keep his son Mike in the game. The fact that he somehow managed to keep himself in the game to this point is equally astonishing. In fact, considering his extensive injuries and the sheer number of times he's fallen below the yellow line, I think we need to give him credit for being one of the shrewdest players in the game. But let's look at all four of our finalists.
So you lose a really popular show (Project Runway - moving to Lifetime). What's a network to do? Well, you just start a similar show! Bravo's The Fashion Show starts tonight at 10PM. This one is hosted by Isaac Mizrahi and Kelly Rowland. Each week the winner will have their dress sold in an online store, and the season winner will get their own clothing line. Now I just wonder if people will actually watch this or just consider it a pretender and go over to Lifetime when the next Project Runway premieres. Here's a preview.
If you were to summarize any of the Real Housewives shows, it would be "stupid people doing stupid things for stupid reasons." Is there ever anyone on these shows that you actually like? In this clip from last night's season finale of Real Housewives of New York City, Ramona (love these names) goes all loopy ("it's a cocktail party, not a disco party!") and then dances with some guy (check out Bravo's site if you can't see this video). Um ... enjoy?
Bill Maher recently brought up the tour-de-frump that is the Susan Boyle phenomenon on his HBO Real Time show, along with an interesting observation on her runaway success.
Now I'm not a regular watcher of these flashy Gong Show remakes like American Idol, America's Got Talent or America's Got Nothing Better To Do Than Watch This Crap, so maybe my opinion doesn't count in the court of reality show watchers. It seems to me that every few years or so, a phenomenon will bust out of one of these shows for reasons other than their ability to do whatever it is they do on these shows. These shows feed on humiliation like great white schadenfreude sharks.
Enter Mrs. Boyle, the "lovely Scottish troll with the voice of an angel," as Maher put it. But Maher feels her success is due to the unconscious guilt everyone secretly feels from watching these bottom-feeding talent shows.
Earlier this week, I let you know of the ten shows I thought should be renewed. Now it's time to reverse the question and think about the shows that shouldn't be renewed. Yes, there are some shows that should end now, either because they have annoying characters (*cough* Meredith Grey *cough*), are not treated properly by their network (insert here pretty much all shows on FOX), have been on TV for too long and have a hard time being original (I'm talking about you Survivor), etc. ER would have been a prime candidate for this list, but NBC finally made the right decision and ended the show a few weeks ago. Note that my list includes some shows that have received early renewals. Still, I think they should be canceled asap. So what other shows, besides ER, I think should bite the dust? Let's find out!
Yesterday, we gave you a preview of ABC's upcoming fall comedies and dramas. Today, we got the official lowdown on the network's 2009-2010 schedule during its upfront presentation.
So You Think You Can Dance is still slated to start its annual summer run this Thursday at 8 PM ET, the night after 
Leave it to FOX to do something like this. Mike Fleiss, the guy behind ABC's The Bachelor, will make another single guy dating show (this time starring a fat guy) called 
...the Bio channel hopes that you do. Bio is looking to 
OK, I actually loved watching the latest version of 
Next week is the season finale of this run of 
Bill Maher recently brought up the tour-de-frump that is the Susan Boyle phenomenon on his HBO Real Time show, along with an interesting observation on her runaway success. 
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