upfront-related stories
Posted Oct 10th 2009 1:35PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Programming, OpEd, Chuck, Reality-Free
When
NBC did its upfront -- it wasn't really like the other networks, because they had leaked so much information -- one of the things the powers that be decided to do was split the season into two sections. Or two official seasons. It all seemed a bit strange, and now that NBC has gotten off to such a dreadful start, things are changing. One change seems to be that
Chuck may be back before March.
Continue reading Chuck may be back sooner than we thought
Posted May 28th 2009 9:02AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Video, Celebrities, Reality-Free
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!
Posted May 21st 2009 12:03PM by John Scott Lewinski
Filed under: Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Upfronts, Reality-Free
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.
Continue reading Various versions of V's fate arrive with motherships
Posted May 20th 2009 8:26AM by John Scott Lewinski
Filed under: Industry, Upfronts, Reality-Free
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.
Continue reading Kimmel blasts ABC at upfront media day
Posted May 19th 2009 12:03PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Upfronts, Reality-Free
We're still over 24 hours away from
CBS making their official announcements about the new season, but apparently pre-upfront news is as plentiful as upfront news, so here we are with
more information about what CBS will be telling us tomorrow. In addition to the already leaked
three dramas that are a go -- Alex O'Loughlin in
Three Rivers, Julianna Margulies in
The Good Wife, and LL Cool J and Chris O'Donnell in the
NCIS spin-off -- today we've learned about three more new shows.
Jenna Elfman is back on TV with a new sitcom. In 2006, she tried a CBS comedy called
Courting Alex that failed to click, but she had a five-year run on ABC with
Dharma & Greg. The actress toplines
Accidentally on Purpose, playing a film critic (and I hope whatever publication she writes for doesn't go belly-up like so many others these days) who accidentally gets pregnant after a fling with a younger man. I'm laughing already.
Continue reading More about CBS's plans for the new season
Posted May 16th 2009 9:01AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Industry, Programming, Pickups and Renewals, Reality-Free
Just when you thought this series was going to be a one seasoner, ABC goes ahead and does this.
The network has
renewed Castle for a second season. ABC hasn't said how many episodes the renewal is for. In fact, they haven't even said officially that the show has been picked up for a second season. We won't find out until this Tuesday, May 19, when the network unveils all of the new shows (and which of the old ones are staying or going away) at their upfront presentation.
Continue reading ABC renews Castle
Posted May 15th 2009 1:35PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Upfronts, Reality-Free
Next Wednesday, CBS will be announcing its schedule for the new season, and while rumors have swirled that
Cold Case or
Without A Trace might be on the chopping block -- despite good ratings -- one sure thing seems to be the spinoff from
NCIS.
Well, now that I've seen the two-part
NCIS episode that served as a pilot for the show, I'm hoping that CBS gives this new series a thumbs-down. I don't expect that to happen, but if it were my decision, I wouldn't dump a solid series with a loyal viewership like
Cold Case or
Without A Trace, for the hope of LL Cool J and Chris O'Donnell's overly fussy, overly procedural
NCIS derivative step-child.
Continue reading Why CBS shouldn't pick up the NCIS spinoff
Posted May 5th 2009 3:28PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Upfronts, Reality-Free
If this doesn't put a nail in the coffin of the
Seinfeld curse (does anyone still buy into that?), then nothing will. If CBS decides not to give
The New Adventures of Old Christine a fifth season pickup -- and right now they're not committing either way -- ABC is going to add Julia Louis-Dreyfus and company to its roster.
This was rumored a few weeks ago, but now it's confirmed.
ABC has sealed the deal to give Christine 22 episodes in a back up guarantee with Warner Brothers TV .
This isn't the first time ABC has offered to be
Christine's home. It made a similar offer last season, then CBS decided they did want Julia's sitcom after all. Apparently ABC's head man Steve McPherson is a big fan of the show.
Continue reading Old Christine is in a win-win situation for renewal
Posted May 15th 2008 2:02PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Pickups and Renewals, Upfronts, Reality-Free
Yesterday,
CBS presented their new schedule for 2008-09. If you'd like to see a sample of the new shows coming to CBS next year, click over to
TV Week.
There are clips from Eleventh Hour, The Ex-List, Harper's Island, Project Gary, The Mentalist and Worst Week. I've given them a once-over (actually, I watched them more than once) and here's my impressions. That means if you want to watch them fresh without my observations mucking up yours, take a look at them first before reading on.
Continue reading TV Week gives a peek at CBS's new shows
Posted May 13th 2008 9:37AM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Industry, Programming, How I Met Your Mother, Pickups and Renewals, Upfronts, Reality-Free
Well, it looks like fans of
How I Met Your Mother (me! me!) and
The Unit (maybe my parents?) have some early good news ahead of CBS's upfront, which is scheduled for tomorrow: The
LA Times' Show Tracker blog is reporting that
both shows will be renewed (thanks to Greg for
leaving a comment with the link last night).
The article talks more about
HIMYM, of course, mentioning that Britney Spears' first appearance gave the show the boost it needed to carry it to a fourth season. I wish that wasn't true, but I'm pretty sure it is. As much as fans of
HIMYM (me! me!) hated the distraction Brit Brit brought to the show, and really hated her wooden performance (especially last night, according to many of the commenters on
my review of "Everything Must Go"), they have to admit that without the pop tart, the show might not have made it.
Sigh. Oh, well. Whatever gets the job done, right? I'll see if I can confirm the renewal when I speak to Carter Bays and Craig Thomas later today.
Posted Mar 27th 2008 12:01PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, Industry, House, Law and Order, Cable/Satellite, Interviews, Psych, Upfronts
Last night, USA Network invited some of their favorite advertisers -- and a few reporters -- to their upfront presentation, held at The Modern, a sleek restaurant and lounge located at New York's Museum of Modern Art. It was an opportunity for USA and NBC Universal executives to crow about the network's continued success as well as let advertisers know what's coming up in 2008 and how they can combine their advertising message with the unique "characters" that USA offers.
All that's well and good -- be ready for more product placement and ad pods that other networks have recently adopted -- but the best part about an upfront presentation are the stars that the network drags out to schmooze and booze with those advertisers. And USA brought the big guns, including Tony Shalhoub from
Monk, Debra Messing from
The Starter Wife, Jeffrey Donovan and Bruce Campbell from
Burn Notice, Dulé Hill, James Roday, and Corbin Bernsen from
Psych, Kathryn Erbe and Chris Noth from
Law & Order: Criminal Intent, the WWE's Triple H and Shawn Michaels, and Mary McCormack from the network's new show
In Plain Sight. I got to speak to a few of them; audio of those interviews is after the jump.
Continue reading USA Network upfront: old characters, and a few new ones - AUDIO
Posted Mar 19th 2008 12:20AM by Brad Trechak
Filed under: Industry, Programming, Battlestar Galactica, Eureka, Upfronts, Casting
I have just got back from the Sci Fi Channel's 2008 Upfront and the new year looks very exciting. Upon arrival, the press was treated to an interview with the cast of
Battlestar Galactica along with co-producers Ronald Moore and David Eick. They were introduced onstage by Mark Stern, the Sci Fi Channel's executive vice president of original programming.
A few announcements were made regarding the upcoming season throughout the night. I tried to keep things spoiler-free, but stuff might leak through. You have been warned.
- The new season begins April 4th, if you didn't already know.
- A streaming version of the season premiere will be available on scifi.com that day at noon if you can't wait until that night.
Continue reading The 2008 Sci Fi Channel Upfront: A report
Posted May 13th 2007 6:18PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Industry, Programming, Law and Order, Pickups and Renewals
A lot of people thought that one or both of the NBC shows Law and Order and Law and Order: Criminal Intent would be on the cancellation list when NBC presents its upfront tomorrow, but the network has surprised many fans by renewing both shows.
There is a little twist when it comes to Law and Order: CI though. The show will actually first run the new episodes of the season on USA and then NBC will run repeats.
Law and Order is a straight renewal though. The show will head into its 18th season of shows "ripped from the headlines!" As far as Law and Order: SVU goes, most expect that to be renewed with no problem. We'll have full coverage of the network upfronts all this week, starting with NBC on Monday.
Six Mad Men characters who are in limbo after the finale
Fact or Fiction: Big Bang, Brothers & Sisters and CSI
The TV Squad Podcast: Linda Purl talks about The Office, we talk spoilers, and more
