I actually didn't even think about this when CBS grabbed Medium from NBC a couple of months ago, but how would the show appear on the schedule first? On the shelf until the fall? Would CBS wait until mid-season because they didn't have room for it in the fall? And how would they introduce the show to CBS viewers? Would they just start airing the show with new episodes?
Well, the answer comes tonight, as CBS airs a repeat episode ("Soul Survivor") of Medium at 10PM.
Maura Tierney, most recently on ER and now one of the stars of NBC's new comedy/drama Parenthood, is ill and will be going through a medical evaluation that will take several weeks. This means that the show will not start filming at the end of this month as originally planned. Instead, production will begin in September. No word yet on what exactly is wrong with Tierney.
ABC will kick off its upcoming fall season in earnest Sept. 21 with three nights of Dancing With the Stars. The hit show – that continues to gain viewers no matter how much I wish it would die and stay dead -- will lead off the network's prime time schedule on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays before being reduced to two nights a week to make room for a pair new comedies.
There's still no word on exactly when Lost will return, but the new mystery drama Flash Forward will bow Sept. 24 at 8 p.m., right before the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy.
The new seasons of Ugly Betty and Supernanny will debut in October with several new and renewed shows – like Scrubs, Brothers & Sisters, Eastwick and Private Practice – expected to show up on the network schedule later.
This E! interview with Alex O'Loughlin was recorded at the recent CBS upfront, so he talks a lot about his new medical drama Three Rivers. But the heck with that; he also talks a lot about Moonlight! He misses the show and is glad that The Sci-Fi Channel (sorry, SyFy) is showing it again.
But seriously, fans, the show is not coming back. Sorry!
It probably strikes some people as odd that a network would greenlight a show in 2009-2010 that's based on a movie from 1989 that was later made into a series in 1990 (one of the writers on that version was Joss Whedon). But this seems like a natural for a network family sitcom, and it least it has some good people behind it: producers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, director Thomas Schlamme, and cast members Peter Krause and Maura Tierney. Could be worth checking out.
John has already told you about the V remake that will air on ABC next season, and that got me thinking about the original 80s version. I clearly remember one scene where head baddie Diana (Jane Badler) chowed down. Here's the clip. I really hope they redo this scene in the new version.
I want to give every show (that isn't a reality show) the benefit of the doubt, because even the more mundane premise can be great with the right writing and cast. Having said that, do we really need another TV show about a team of quirky investigators solving crimes? Here's a clip from the first episode of The Forgotten. (And here are previews of ABC's new comedies.)
Canterbury's Law didn't last too long (be honest, you barely remember it), but Juliana Margulies is donning the power suit and getting back into the courtroom in CBS' new drama The Good Wife. This show is "ripped from the headlines" in every way. Her husband is a politician who goes to jail after a money/sex scandal, she's all over YouTube, and even her boss has her picture taken with Hilary Clinton and looks a little like Gloria Allred (it's Christine Baranski). Margulies' character could probably get a few million for writing a tell-all, but she decides to practice law again.
There seems to be a ton of new medical dramas on the fall schedules, including this new CBS show from Jericho producer Carol Barbee. I guess the only question is, can a medical show with such a specific premise (a hospital that specializes in transplants) do enough different stories throughout the season? Never mind - this one has Moonlight star Alex O'Loughlin!
The networks are going to unleash their new fall schedules in a few weeks. Which new shows are in the running? Well, Juliana Margulies is going to be an attorney (again), Kelsey Grammer is going to be a Wall Street CEO who gets canned (you knew you were going to see at least one show with that premise this fall), Lauren Graham is going to be a self-help guru, Chevy Chase and The Soup's Joel McHale are going to be community college students, and Thomas Jane is going to be ... well, Hung.
AOL has a list of the 30 shows that have the best shot at being on our TV screens when the fall rolls around. Not all of the shows will make it, of course. Some we'll never see at all, unless the pilot episode is leaked online. I'm still ticked that ABC didn't pick up Marlowe (with Life on Mars star Jason O'Mara) a couple of season ago. The gallery is after the jump.
The networks haven't announced their official fall schedules yet. That happens next month at the network upfronts, or whatever each network is now calling them - upfronts, announcements, presentations. But just from seeing the ratings of certain shows and stories that have leaked to the press already we can get at least a fairly accurate idea of which shows are going to definitely be renewed, which are probably canceled, and which shows are "on the bubble." ("On the bubble" means they're in the middle, balanced on the fence between getting canceled and being renewed. It's named after Sebastian Bubble, an executive at NBC in the early 50s.)
It's coming. The table is set, the players are on the field, the sails are raised, and the pretty maids are all in a row. Of course, I speak of the 2008-09 television schedule. In just a few short weeks viewers will be able to dine on a number of favorite and new dishes that are being served by the networks as well as the increasing number of cable channels who are delving into original programming.
While other fall seasons have come and gone with nary a whimper, this season may be different. Due to the prolonged Writers Strike many shows ended their seasons quite early. Programs like Life, Private Practice, Pushing Daisies, and Heroes haven't aired original episodes since the end of 2007. Heck, there hasn't been a new episode of The Shield since June of last year! So, the beginning of the 2008-09 season will be a second chance for some of these shows, particularly the ones that premiered last season, to show their worth to fans and the networks.
When you're a ratings-challenged fledgling network like the CW, you're going to do anything you can to get a leg up on the competition. Releasing sex-filled advertisements for your most high-profile show is a good start, but that alone won't get the job done. To that end, the CW has just announced that it's moving its fall premiere dates up to September 1st, well ahead of the beginning of the traditional broadcast season.
The idea behind the move is that you're already going to be hooked on Gossip Girl and Top Model by the time the other networks get around to premiering their fall shows, sometime around mid-to-late September. The season isn't the only thing the CW is starting early, however. Starting in November, they're also extending prime time, with original programming beginning at 6:30 on Sunday nights.
Check out CW's full premiere schedule after the jump.
The network has announced that instead of unveiling their 2008-09 schedule in May, when all of the networks give their upfront presentations, they're going to do it a press conference next week. The press conference will be held at Rockefeller Plaza and will be headed by NBC chairman Ben Silverman and Universal Media Studios chairman Marc Graboff.
So, NBC's fall schedule sucks. At least, that's the message I'm getting today with the news that president of NBC entertainment, Kevin Reilly, has lost his job.
I'm trying to understand why NBC Universal president Jeff Zucker would hold on to Reilly for the crucial planning of the fall schedule after his lackluster performance with last fall's expensive-but-low-rated Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Kidnapped, etc. And this spring, NBC once again came in last in the ratings among the big four networks (NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX).
After NBC's upfronts presentation earlier this month, advertisers didn't really leap at any of the offerings on the new fall lineup (because they're boring). That's an obvious reason to get rid of Reilly, but it also doesn't put a lot of confidence in the fall schedule.
I actually didn't even think about this when CBS grabbed Medium from NBC a couple of months ago, but how would the show appear on the schedule first? On the shelf until the fall? Would CBS wait until mid-season because they didn't have room for it in the fall? And how would they introduce the show to CBS viewers? Would they just start airing the show with new episodes?
Wow, this sounds rather serious.
ABC will kick off its upcoming fall season in earnest Sept. 21 with three nights of Dancing With the Stars. The hit show – that continues to gain viewers no matter how much I wish it would die and stay dead -- will lead off the network's prime time schedule on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays before being reduced to two nights a week to make room for a pair new comedies. 
The networks are going to unleash their new fall schedules in a few weeks. Which new shows are in the running? Well, Juliana Margulies is going to be an attorney (again), Kelsey Grammer is going to be a Wall Street CEO who gets canned (you knew you were going to see at least one show with that premise this fall), Lauren Graham is going to be a self-help guru, Chevy Chase and The Soup's Joel McHale are going to be community college students, and Thomas Jane is going to be ... well, Hung. 
It's coming. The table is set, the players are on the field, the sails are raised, and the pretty maids are all in a row. Of course, I speak of the 2008-09 television schedule. In just a few short weeks viewers will be able to dine on a number of favorite and new dishes that are being served by the networks as well as the increasing number of cable channels who are delving into original programming.
When you're a ratings-challenged fledgling network like the CW, you're going to do anything you can to get a leg up on the competition. Releasing sex-filled advertisements for your most high-profile show is a good start, but that alone won't get the job done. To that end, the CW has just announced that it's moving its fall premiere dates up to September 1st, well ahead of the beginning of the traditional broadcast season.
NBC is trying to get a head start on all of the other networks by unveiling their new fall schedule not in the traditional month of May but six weeks earlier.
So, NBC's fall schedule sucks. At least, that's the message I'm getting today with the news that president of NBC entertainment, Kevin Reilly, has lost his job.
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