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Syfy comes off as heroes for picking up Alphas

Heroes has nothing to do with Alphas, a new Syfy pilot.Alphas -- a science fiction/action pilot that certainly has nothing to do with Heroes on NBC -- just got picked up by Syfy. The network would also like to assure you that their new show has nothing to do with Heroes.

The 90-minute adventure has been kicking around Hollywood for a couple years now. Alphas tells the story of "a team of ordinary citizens who possess hyperdeveloped neurological abilities."

That sounds nothing like Heroes at all -- which is fortunate because Syfy is a member of the NBC/Universal family of networks.

Continue reading Syfy comes off as heroes for picking up Alphas

Which of these new shows are you most looking forward to?

Network logosThe 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.

Continue reading Which of these new shows are you most looking forward to?

Sneak Peeks: Pilot Season starts today

MyDamnChannel has a new web series starting today called Pilot Season, a new series that follows a bunch of actors, agents, managers, and other Hollywood types as they navigate, well, pilot season. It stars Sarah Silverman, Sam Seder, David Cross, Andy Dick, Isla Fisher, Marc Maron, and Brenden Small. Here's a sneak peek.

Dr. Spaceman gets a new show

ParnellThe pilot casting is coming fast and furious now.

Chris Parnell has been cast in the new CBS comedy Big D. He'll play a preacher who is the brother of a woman who moves back to her hometown of Dallas with her husband. Hopefully this doesn't mean that Parnell won't be able to reprise his role of Dr. Spaceman on NBC's 30 Rock. Too much Dr. Spaceman could be too much, but it's really great to see him every once in a while.

More pilot news after the jump...

Continue reading Dr. Spaceman gets a new show

NBC chief details new approach to television

Jeff ZuckerHey, it looks like all that time the strike has allowed network executives to rethink the industry may actually lead to some positive changes after all. NBC's president/CEO Jeff Zucker explained how the struggling net is changing its whole strategy on television.

The days of the $10 million dollar mini-movie pilot, which bears no resemblance to later episodes done for less than $100,000 each, appear to be over at NBC. Instead, more series will be committed to based on script treatments alone, and rather than make sixty-two pilots and throw them all at the wall, they'll focus on maybe five or six. And you can forget about the lavish "upfronts" where they unveil a circus cavalcade of wasted money ... and their new pilots. Cable's been doing it this way for years. Now let's analyze where the most talked about shows on television are being broadcast.

Continue reading NBC chief details new approach to television

Back to You -- An early look

Back to youIn July, I was at a sitcom writing seminar in which Sam Simon (who helped develop The Simpsons) declared: "the sitcom is dead." Veteran comedy writer Ken Levine (who hosted that sitcom seminar), however, disagrees. Ken believes the traditional multi-camera sitcom might be on a respirator, but still has a pulse. Levine said, "I would amend Sam's statement and say that yeah, the bad, stale, family sitcom with tired rhythms, forced laughs, and bogus characters is dead."

I guess if you're trying to revive the dying sitcom, a good way to start is by assembling a top-notch team. And Fox's new Wednesday night comedy, Back to You, does just that.

Continue reading Back to You -- An early look

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