NBC seems to be sending out their screeners in dribs and drabs, so I'm making my way through their fall offerings very slowly. I've already given you previews of both Community and Trauma, and now we've got Parenthood, a new series based on a movie that was already turned into a series nearly twenty years ago. Who says Hollywood is out of ideas?
Parenthood is basically a less-melodramatic Brothers & Sisters. It follows the Braverman clan, a family in Fresno made up of four siblings: Adam (Peter Krause), Crosby (Dax Shepard), Sarah (Maura Tierney), and Julia (Erika Christensen), along with their children and parents, played by Craig T. Nelson and Bonnie Bedelia. They all have their share of drama, but at the end of the day, they're all brought together in the most suburban of pursuits: Little League. Say it with me now: "awwww."
Leo G. Carroll did it in 1966. Lisa Bonet sort of did it in 1987. What am I talking about? Double duty. That is, playing the same role on two series which are running at the same time. There are probably quite a few other instances, but Leo was head man Mr. Waverly on both The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. for a year, and Lisa was Denise Huxtable in college (A Different World) and when she came home to visit the family in Brooklyn on The Cosby Show.
Generally speaking, CBS had a strong 2008, developing one bona fide hit drama -- The Mentalist -- even though shows like The Ex-List never found an audience or a critical plaudit. Ironically, I liked The Ex-List based on the screener I reviewed last summer, so go figure. Sometimes a preview can inform you about a show's potential and sometimes it's just the best it'll ever be.
CBS has shared previews for the new season and we've had a chance to take a look. There are star vehicles for Jenna Elfman, Alex O'Loughlin and Julianna Margulies, which would seem logical based on the success of Simon Baker as The Mentalist. CBS is counting on familiar, popular TV stars to win over audiences. Will the strategy work? It's probably too soon to tell.
Good news is probably an understatement. It's really great news because with SVU moving to Wednesday, 9 p.m., the show really didn't need to shake up the cast at this point in time. Stability mattered and NBC found a way to bring the two stars into the fold, offering them both the flexibility they sought.
In the yearly scramble to pick up pilots, renew old shows, and dispose of last season's weaker offerings, ABC is shorting 80s sci-fi favorite V.
The original 1983 miniseries featured a race of stealthy, guinea pig swallowing lizards from the stars taking over the world with fascist strategies reminiscent of the rise of Nazi Germany. The following year's TV series dumbed it down a bit and became a weekly battle between freedom fighters and creepy aliens.
You can catch the upfront trailer for V here. It looks a bit like ABC is being invaded by Independence Day -- though Independence Day looked like it was being invaded by the original V. Fortunately, these new invaders bring Firefly's Morena Baccarin (right) along for the trip as their spin doctor.
The CW knows what it's good at and they're sticking to it: sex and beauty. After the success of Gossip Girl and 90210, two very buzzed about shows, the CW announced this morning that they're picking up three new dramatic series in the same vein for next fall: Melrose Place, Vampire Diaries and The Beautiful Life. In addition, the network is also dumping any original Sunday night programming. Next season, local affiliate stations will program these slots. They also announced this morning that in addition to renewing hits like Gossip Girl & 90210, the CW is also bringing back Smallville for an 8th season, 9th season but moving the aging drama out of its competitive Thursday night 8PM slot to Friday night at 8. More details after the jump.
A very tired-sounding Jimmy Kimmel went on Howard Stern yesterday (before his ABC upfront appearance) and talked about his break-up with Sarah Silverman, why ABC made him fly commercial to the upfronts, and a rather bad experience after eating a big steak. Videos below and after the jump. (It's Howard Stern/SIRIUS, so it's very NSFW).
ABC released video previews of some of its upcoming shows for the 2009-2010 season today. Below are some early looks at three of the network's new comedies, Hank, The Middle, and Cougar Town (complete with some snap judgments). All three shows will be part of ABC's new Wednesday night comedy block along with Modern Family.
Lets start with Hank:
I like Kelsey Grammer, but I won't watch everything he does. I never made time to catch a single minute of Back To You, his short-lived Fox comedy, but Hank looks like a solid family sitcom. It definitely doesn't look like a classic or even a gut-buster, though. I can see it catching on and becoming a strong lead-in for ABC's Wednesday night. It's basically about a family of rich New York City jerks who are forced to move to the burbs when dad (Grammer) loses his high-paying job as a CEO.
I'm sure the rest of the staff here at TV Squad would like to thank Jimmy Kimmel for the laughs he's served up at ABC over recent years on Jimmy Kimmel Live as his career on that network comes to an end.
That possibility seems like more than a good bet after Kimmel ravaged his home base during an upfronts presentation Tuesday.
In a monologue that seemed to generate more winces than laughs, Kimmel not only bit the hand that feeds him, he band-sawed it clean off. Appearing before a New York City press corps, Kimmel tore apart NBC, ABC, Jay Leno and anyone else who wanders anywhere near the world of network television.
What's most strange is that anyone reading even a partial transcript of his monologue will be left wondering what part of it this gifted comic thought was funny. His remarks seem more vitriolic than comedic.
I'll admit that it looks like Tyler Labine is doing his best Jack Black in this clip from the new FOX sitcom Sons of Tucson, but you know what? It actually looks like a cute, funny show. The premise seems a little far-fetched (at least one stretched to season length and not just one episode or one movie), but I'm going to check this out.
NBC has been leaking like a sieve for weeks, so other than a few on-the-bubble cancellations, there aren't any huge surprises in their official upfront announcement. The big change is that they're doing two official seasons. A lot of the networks have been doing this unofficially, but NBC seems to be one of the few that is putting a label on it.
Gone:Life, Medium, My Name is Earl, Kath & Kim, Kings, Knight Rider New:Trauma, The Jay Leno Show, Parenthood, Community. New for mid-season:Day One, 100 Questions, Mercy, The Marriage Ref Not reflected on the schedule, but will be returning in the summer:America's Got Talent, Friday Night Lights (which will once again be aired first on Direct TV).
Watch this space for more details on the new shows...
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.
It looks like ABC is prepping Flash Forward to eventually succeed Lost, which is slated to end next season. Flash Forward, a mythology-laden show based on a Robert J. Sawyer novel, is only one of six new dramas the network has ordered for next fall.
Continuing its trend of green lighting quirky, high-concept shows, ABC is moving ahead with V, a revamp of the 1980s sci-fi series/miniseries, and Eastwick, a character-centric drama based on the John Updike novel and the Jack Nicholson movie, The Witches of Eastwick. Actor Paul Gross will play the Nicholson role on Eastwick.
ABC will make official pick up announcements Tuesday, but the trades are already reporting that the network has ordered a large number of new shows for the upcoming fall season.
Along with some dramas and mythology-laden shows, it looks like ABC is playing it safe by picking up four half-hour family comedies starring some well-known TV vets.
Joining the already renewed Scrubs and Better Off Ted will be Hank, a multi-camera family show starring Frasier's Kelsey Grammer and The Middle, a single-camera comedy with Grammer's former Back to You co-star Patricia Heaton. Both shows seem to have pretty tired concepts. Hank is about a washed-up Wall Street deal maker who moves back to his home town, and The Middle is about a middle-class mom who is approaching middle age. Hopefully the stars, and the jokes, will make these shows worth watching.
Well it looks like buying all of those $5 footlongs really paid off: Chuck has officially been renewed for a third season. The spy comedy hasn't always gotten the greatest ratings, in no small part because its highly-competitive Monday night timeslot, but fans all over the internet have been pushing hard for its renewal.
There has been a huge outpouring of support on Twitter, where #savechuck has often been a trending topic. Even the show's star, Zachary Levi, has done his part to get Chuck back for another season. In addition to taking to his official blog to plead his case, he even showed up at a Subway (one of Chuck's biggest sponsors) to make sandwiches for fans.
Generally speaking, CBS had a strong 2008, developing one bona fide hit drama -- The Mentalist -- even though shows like The Ex-List never found an audience or a critical plaudit. Ironically, I liked The Ex-List based on the screener I reviewed last summer, so go figure. Sometimes a preview can inform you about a show's potential and sometimes it's just the best it'll ever be. 
Well, that's a relief. After months of speculation that NBC would be bringing 
In the yearly scramble to pick up pilots, renew old shows, and dispose of last season's weaker offerings, ABC is shorting 80s sci-fi favorite V.
The CW knows what it's good at and they're sticking to it: sex and beauty. After the success of Gossip Girl and 90210, two very buzzed about shows, the CW announced this morning that they're picking up three new dramatic series in the same vein for next fall: 
I'm sure the rest of the staff here at TV Squad would like to thank Jimmy Kimmel for the laughs he's served up at ABC over recent years on Jimmy Kimmel Live as his career on that network comes to an end.
NBC has been leaking like a sieve for weeks, so other than a few on-the-bubble cancellations, there aren't any huge surprises in their official upfront announcement. The big change is that they're doing two official seasons. A lot of the networks have been doing this unofficially, but NBC seems to be one of the few that is putting a label on it.
Yesterday, we gave you a preview of ABC's upcoming fall 
It looks like ABC is prepping 
ABC will make official pick up announcements Tuesday, but the trades are already reporting that the network has 
Well it looks like buying all of those $5 footlongs really paid off: 
The TV Squad Podcast: Vik Sahay of Chuck, Oprah talk, brutal timeslots, and more!
TV Squad Ten: Top Ten ESPN shows from worst to first
Andy Richter: The TV Squad Interview
