Looking for some clips of the upcoming new shows? The networks have their own streaming video areas (NBC Fall Preview, ABC Fall Preview) where you can check out The Bionic Woman or Cavemen, but YouTube is both much more accessible and, honestly, much faster. As a result, here’s some YouTube links for NBC’s pilots, all in one place. I’ll try to grab what I can as they come up, and hopefully ABC’s will join them in time.
The Bionic Woman (Wednesdays at 9)
Filed under ABC, Cavemen, NBC, Television, The Bionic Woman, Upfronts
CBS has gone with what, for them, likely seems to be a rather risky lineup (Variety). However, the thing for CBS is that their idea of taking a risk is taking two Tylenol instead of one: it’s just a little dangerous, but there’s still no chance of anything negative happening.
CBS launches with a lineup which, despite new entries, seems awfully familiar. It is still anchored by three CSIs, it’s still got a large assortment of procedural crime dramas, and it still has a dose of reality where it counts. It is for this reason that any risk they take is really not risky at all: as soon as one of their new shows fails, they’ll just plop in a CSI rerun and wait until the next series is ready to go. This is the way CBS operates.
Cane – A Latin-American family, led by Jimmy Smits, enters into the alcohol business. It still sounds a lot like ABC’s Brothers & Sisters in Latino form, but with Smits at the helm the show carries gravitas. It’s not a huge risk for CBS at all, except that they’ve had trouble with such shows in the past. It’s a serial drama, and the network has nothing but procedurals at the moment (No, seriously, look at the lineup if you think I’m lying. Every single returning drama is a procedural drama.) Still, they’ve got to start being successful with serials at some point, and Cane has a shot.
Timeslot: 10pm on Tuesdays
Competition: Tough, with Boston Legal and Law and Order: Special Victims Unit to contend with.
Swingtown – A drama about the swinging lives of various romantic couplings, it’s both raunchier and less procedural than anything else in CBS’ lineup. This is an attempt to get a Desperate Housewives-style hit for the network, and I don’t think it will prove successful. The show has potential, but it just seems to be trying too hard to be THAT show. You know, the one the Parents’ groups get all uppity about. As a result, I worry about it becoming self-conscious, and losing any creative edge it perhaps had.
Timeslot: Held Until Midseason
Competition: We don’t know yet, but I don’t think it bodes well for the drama. It could be asked to slot in early should Cane falter in its tough slot, and that’s asking the drama to rush itself…and that would be disastrous for this particular show.
Viva Laughlin – A musical-comedy-crime drama surroundinga man who wants to open a casino in Laughlin, Nevada. I don’t really know what to think about this one: it’s a bizarre coupling, and with Hugh Jackman as producer it is certainly a unique experience. I would have more faith in the series if likely jobless Veronica Mars creator Rob Thomas was coming on as showrunner as rumoured, but that appears to be off the table. For me, the show needs to prove that its construct is a good one, and can’t just rely on being quirky to succeed. I think that’s a tough job for a show on a network where simple = successful.
Timeslot: 8pm on Sundays
Competition: Tough. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is never an easy show to beat, and it has to hope to compete with Sunday Night Football for its audience.
Moonlight – A vampire private investigator who, well, investigates supernatural happenings in a procedural fashion. The show is a likely companion for Ghost Whisperer on Fridays, and perhaps has the best chance of succeeding since it’s basically “Generic CBS Procedural + Vampires”. I think it will be a far cry from shows like Buffy or Angel which actually dealt with the true supernatural elements of their stories and created mythologies…Moonlight just wants to masquerade as such a drama to make it stand out within a crowd, which does little to interest me.
Timeslot: 9pm on Fridays
Competition: Weak. Moonlight has a good shot at continuing CBS’ dominance of the night with only ABC’s weak Girls Murder Club and NBC’s Las Vegas to worry about.
Big Bang Theory – A comedy from Two and a Half Men producer Chuck Lorre, this sitcom is…well, your tradition multi-camera sitcom about geeks and hot girls and blah. It’s depressing to see it getting the nod over more interesting single-camera fare, but the reality is that CBS is looking for its next King of Queens or Everybody Loves Raymond (Ratings wise), and they expect to find it here. However, this is a comedy about young people (Kaley Cuoco, 8 Simple Rules, stars), not about old people. This is a young person’s sitcom being expected to play the role of a middle aged one, and the result is likely to be another The Class: high expectations and decent results behind How I Met Your Mother
Timeslot: 8:30 on Mondays
Competition: Average. CBS’s comedies are successful counterprogramming, they’ll pull through just fine.
– The Amazing Race is officially off the fall schedule, as it will be held over until the new year and only air a single season this year. This is unsurprising, but troubling; I worry that if ratings are low for this one season they’ll pull the plug. I think that the show has plenty of gas left, but a lot of miles on the car. They can keep driving, they just need to slow down a little and everything will be okay. It’s like Speed. (Note: Everything can be like Speed. True Story). It will be indirectly replaced by a new reality show, Kid Nation, a new Lord of the Flies-esque story of kids taking over a ghost town revealed today (Variety). It will be airing on Wednesdays at 8pm
– The New Adventures of Old Christine, the 5th Wheel on the Monday comedy block, will be returning midseason.
– Shark and Without a Trace have switched spots, with the latter moving back to its old post-CSI slot and Shark spending some time on Sunday Nights against Brothers & Sisters.
It’s official: Jericho and Close to Home are no longer on the air. This was pretty well confirmed on Tuesday, but they’re definitely gone. Also gone is “The Class”…but no one notices.
For the full Fall Schedule, continue on.
Filed under How I Met Your Mother, Jericho, Reality TV, Shark, Survivor, Television, The Amazing Race, Upfronts
I think we all had our doubts: Gilmore Girls was a show that was left in tatters just a season ago, and it has spent the last 21 episodes picking up the pieces. And then, at the last moment, the series apparently had the rug pulled out from under it when an attempt to gain an 8th season fell apart. Expectations couldn’t help but be low: a show past its prime, on its last legs, throwing together what was supposed to be a season finale that was suddenly the end of the road for the entire series. The verdict is in: while it might not be the finale we wish we’d gotten in a perfect world, David S. Rosenthal has delivered an absolute best case scenario. “Bon Voyage” was a finale with style, grace, and an understanding of how these characters tick. It wasn’t perfect, but it was the best we were going to get, and a proper sendoff for the girls Gilmore.
There were certain things which felt a little forced, such as Christiane Amanpour’s cameo in the cold open, however the rest of the episode was subtle and meaningful. Rory is sent into a tailspin when she’s offered an unbelievable opportunity working on the campaign trail of one Barack Obama, and Lorelai steps into ultimate “Mom” mode with lists, shampoo bottles (Mini, not big) and fanny packs. The entire episode, up until the very end, is spent with these two riffing off one another, neither discussing the fact that their last months together (A Rollercoaster excursion was planned) had turned into just two days. The irony of the situation, as it parallels our own disappointment at losing a future season and ending up with only two episodes, is not lost on the creators, nor its audience.
Filed under Gilmore Girls, Television, The CW
Well, it looks like there’s some new word from The Hollywood Reporter about some bubble shows.
– Confirming earlier reports, The CW is renewing Smallville, Supernatural and One Tree Hill for next year to go along with their pilot pickups (Gossip Girl, Reaper, and Wild at Heart are now joined by comedy Aliens in America).
However, most interesting is that this basically fills the CW schedule…and yet there is still the fate of Veronica Mars to be decided. At this point, I don’t think the show has a chance. Chances are that the network will fill its programming gaps with reality television as opposed to ordering up Veronica’s FBI spinoff. The fate of the show looks bleaker than ever, although there’s always still a chance it could make it by the skin of its teeth.
– On the CBS side of things, the network has its pilots in place [See: Monday Night Update]. However, the big question now is the fate of its bubble shows and there’s been some movement.
A renewal looks good for Rules of Engagement, the David Spade-led sitcom which performed well after Two & a Half Men earlier this year. Things look somewhat worse for The New Adventures of Old Christine, but it’s expected to get at least a shortened midseason order. Nowhere to be found in Variety’s article, however, is How I Met Your Mother. HR goes all out to list the network’s returning dramas (The Unit, Shark, Ghost Whisperer, Criminal Minds), and the above comedies, but says nothing about the bubble comedy…or the beloved Jericho. This is not a good sign for either show, and they remain the big question marks heading into tomorrow.
EDIT: Well, there’s some final word from Variety…and it’s good news for How I Met Your Mother, and bad news for Jericho fans.
CBS has apparently nuked “Jericho,” dismissed “Class” and closed the book on “Close to Home.”
Net wasn’t commenting Tuesday, but several people familiar with the situation said none of the skeins has been given a series order for next season. “Close to Home” had been considered near dead for several months now, with “Class” on the longshot list, but there had been speculation that CBS would exercise some patience with “Jericho.”
Eye skeins getting better news this week include “How I Met Your Mother,” which has been picked up for a third season. Eye’s most buzzworthy laffer might seem to be a no-brainer for renewal, but CBS execs make producers sweat it out until the last minute.
So Jericho is canceled, while How I Met Your Mother lives to see another day.
– For those looking to see how each night of their broadcast is shaping up, Cornballer over at NeoGAF has been kind enough to point us in the direction of Metacritic.com (An Awesome Site for Reviews) and their extensive schedule which very plainly lays out what each night of primetime is going to look like. Head over there to take a look, and keep an eye on it as CBS, FOX and The CW get filled in over the next few days.
Filed under How I Met Your Mother, Jericho, One Tree Hill, Reaper, Supernatural, Television, The CW, Upfronts, Veronica Mars
Well, ABC’s schedule is official, and there’s not much in the way of changes for the network. In fact, to be honest, the schedule is downright boring.
Reminder: Cultural Learnings’ ABC Fall Preview Schedule
– Private Practice, the Grey’s Anatomy Spinoff, will be slotting in at 9pm on Wednesdays, the spot currently occupied by underperforming comedies. It will be sandwiched by two new shows: Bryan Fuller’s Pushing Daisies and Greg Berlanti’s Dirty Sexy Money. This means three new shows in a single night, which is a departure from the stability found in Lost (Which is now officially held back until February).
– Thursday’s only change is that Big Shots, a male-themed CEO drama, is inheriting the post-Grey’s spot. Why, exactly, this show has the spot over the female-themed Cashmere Mafia (Held until midseason) I don’t really know. I guess because Dylan McDermott and Michael Vartan bring sex appeal? Seems to be the only logic I can think of.
– Dancing with the Stars goes to an hour and a half full time on Mondays as Sam I Am, the Christina Applegate amnesia comedy, fills in between the reality show and The Bachelor at 10. The network’s other two comedies, Cavemen and Carpoolers, fit in at 8pm on Tuesday (Where no other comedies are, good choice), but then lead into an hour-long Dancing with the Stars results show. ABC, the show doesn’t deserve that much of your schedule, cut it to a half hour and slot in another comedy.
– The other new show, Women’s Murder Club, leads out of Men in Trees on Fridays as the latter moves to the opening slot at 8pm. It’s a tough one, against Ghost Whisperer, and we’ll see what momentum the show has after a shortened first season.
– Meanwhile, Notes from the Underbelly and October Road will be headed for midseason.
For the full schedule (It’s really this boring, I swear!), continue on.
It is with a sad heart that Cultural Learnings must say good-bye to Gilmore Girls today, May 15th. While its health has been ailing in past years and the writing was on the wall, it was still with some level of shock that its finale was announced a week and a half ago. Tonight, at 8pm EST, The CW will air its final episode, appropriately entitled “Bon Voyage”, and the era of the two Lorelais will come to an end.
The show came into being in the year 2000, ushering in a new century with a speed of dialogue befitting such a milestone. Amy Sherman-Palladino had worked on the writing staffs of Roseanne and Veronica’s Closet before creating Gilmore Girls, and it was clear that her own creation would have a decidedly different tone. It was youthful, it was vibrant, and yet most importantly it was FAST. The speed at which Lorelai, a single mother, and her teenage daughter, Rory, talk has been one of the series’ most divisive qualities, and yet it’s what gave it its charm. And, just as fast as the show’s dialogue, it is disappearing from the airwaves.
It is survived by fond memories of the people and places around Stars Hollow, even those we found hideously annoying half the time like Taylor. The eccentric townspeople gave the show much of its unique qualities; after the show leaves, there is no small town like Stars Hollow left on television.
However, the show is also survived by memories of a family who struggled through hard times. Lorelai’s strained relationship with her parents, specifically her mother, has been one of the show’s strongest qualities, a constant reminder of their past. It is regrettable that this rushed conclusion will not allow for their relationship to be reconciled, but perhaps it is best this way.
And yet, we would be remiss in discussing the passing of this drama to ignore its romantic overtones. As young Rory bounced from her puppy love Dean, to her badboy rebel Jess, back to her adulterous ex Dean (Part Two), and then into the arms of her mature (But not THAT mature) reformed badboy Logan, she was emotionally drained, struggling with a great deal of inner turmoil. It is perhaps fitting, then, that she finds herself not with a romantic conclusion but with an empowering one. Tonight, she does not need to have a boyfriend to succeed, but rather a future of any form.
However, perhaps most beloved of all, the relationship between Luke and Lorelai has been going on for seven seasons and reaches its conclusion this evening. Romantic tension finally turned into real romance two seasons ago, and after Amy Sherman-Palladino left their relationship in scrambles it has taken 22 episodes to get it back. Tonight, for better or for worse, their saga comes to an end but their romance is unlikely to die in the hearts of the world’s shippers.
As we say goodbye to this drama, I would suggest that in lieu of cards and flowers that people begin sending letters to members of the Academy of Television in support of Lauren Graham and Kelly Bishop. In what is technically a very weak year for female-led dramas, Lauren Graham might well have a chance at achieving what she has yet to achieve: a lead actress in a comedy Emmy nomination. With three SAG noms and a Golden Globe nomination earlier in the series’ run, Graham has still gone unrecognized amongst the Academy, and I think she deserves it. Even as the show has fallen in terms of ratings and quality, she has nonetheless remained the show’s heart and soul. Similarly, Emily Bishop’s performance as Emily is biting and powerful, and as a veteran actress she should have been recognized by now. I can imagine a no better send off than to have these two actresses finally get their due.
Saying goodbye is never easy, but we lost Gilmore Girls too soon. With a show with so many characters, so many memories, it’s hard to just let go without proper time to cope. Although this season was somewhat of a swan song thanks to the depature of Sherman-Palladino over contract terms, it’s still not easy to say goodbye to these characters she created. Tonight, as Lorelai and Luke head towards a reconciliation and Rory plans her future, fans could cry, or weep, or become angry at it all. However, for the sake of moving on, I shall simply say:
Filed under Gilmore Girls, Television, The CW
As a special treat for the One Tree Hill fans flocking to the website in the wake of the recent upfronts. This is from Variety:
That would mean a new time slot is in store for “One Tree Hill, which skated to a renewal.
However, that’s not all the news that Variety offers this morning. They’ve also got the scoop on The CW’s possible scheduling plans and their likely pickup of another bubble drama:
“Reaper” may well get the post-“Smallville” 9 p.m. Thursday slot now held by “Supernatural,” which is expected to graduate to a third season. “Gossip Girl” sounds tailor-made for the post “America’s Next Top Model” berth on Wednesdays.
Yep, Supernatural definitely seems like a sure thing, although it is likely to move timeslots (I think Monday is its best bet, but they seem insistent on keeping their comedies there for pretty much no reason). And yes, as I predicted, Gossip Girl is likely to air after ANTM on Wednesdays. Reaper, meanwhile, needs to get itself away from that Grey’s/CSI spot, especially with The Office officially there full-time. Reaper needs a chance to succeed, so the better idea would be to move another show into the slot and hope for the best instead of wasting a pilot.
All of The CW’s final details will be unveiled on Thursday when they present their full upfront presentation: we’ll have all the news as it breaks over the coming days.
Filed under Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, Reaper, Supernatural, Television, The CW, Upfronts
I can only speculate at this point, but it is my belief that some people will be upset with tonight’s penultimate episode of Heroes, “Landslide.” Because, although this was touted as the first half of a two-part finale, this particular episode had almost no dramatic climax and was really just one last hour of setup for the final showdown yet to come. And, to an extent, the complainers have got a point. If you were to watch commercials, or read the hype from producers, this WAS supposed to be the first half of the two-part finale (The final hour of Heroes airs next week). You could argue that if you’re watching a landslide, you don’t want the rocks to all suddenly stop before they smash into the helpless village below; you want to see the carnage, you want to see the mayhem. And, well, you’ve got a point…but I have to respectfully disagree.
For me, the show wasn’t yet to a stage at which it could really be ready for that final confrontation between Peter and Sylar which is arriving next week. Sure, Peter’s been ready for it for weeks, and even Claire has been (They spent the episode running around like chickens with their heads cut off, and it showed). However, although the show hasn’t really been spending much time with it as of late, I believe that the show’s most important character, Hiro, wasn’t ready yet.
I decided midway through the episode that I wished that Hiro had his own show. His arc over the past season has been fairly well played out. Starts out discovering his powers, losing control along the way, loses his powers, regains them in order to assist a friend, travels forward in time to get a glimpse of what he could become, faces a final test but fails, and then finally through his father learns the skills he needs to succeed. That right there? That’s something tangible, something real, something interesting.
The problem is that it has been drowning within a million other storylines, and Hiro’s been left to the side of the road for awhile. In this episode, his arc was the only one working at normal speed while the rest was rushing all over the place. He’s been disconnected from it all, but for me all that has shown is that the rest of the plot is too chaotic, too lost in itself.
This was seen especially within Niki/Jessica, by far the show’s worst character and unfortunately one who survived to the end of the hour. Perhaps the worst piece of acting the series has seen thus far was found in the moment when Niki took over from Jessica. It was an orgasmic sigh straight out of a cheap porno, and Ali Larter deserves to have things thrown at her for it. Her entire arc has been a colossal waste of time, and this apparently “redeeming” moment for Jessica only made that more clear. D.L.’s death had no resonance, and the fact that he got to kill Linderman is absolutely ridiculous.
Speaking of which, Linderman and Thompson both bit the bullet in this one…and this is a colossal mistake for the series (I like the word colossal today). On one hand, yes, Thompson and Linderman both complicate things moving forward: the producers are setting up Sylar as the only villain moving into the finale to simplify things. However, I think that Linderman and Thompson each represent a worthwhile force that is neither pure evil nor pure good, but rather something in between. This isn’t Spider-Man 3, you could balance these three individuals without the finale seeming too bogged down. Killing them off just limits your options, and makes for a more predictable finale.
But still, we’re moving towards that finale at a fairly fast pace; in just one week, Heroes ends its first season with an hour-long showdown between good and evil. Sylar vs. Hiro and Peter [Who was noticably absent this episode: honestly, his biggest contribution was RENTING A CAR], with the winner deciding the fate of an entire city and an entire country. The “Landslide” may not have reached the bottom of the hill tonight, but rest assured: it will crush some civilians in a week’s time.
For a recap of some of the episode’s big events in case you missed it or want to job your memory, do continue on.
Filed under Heroes, NBC, Television
Well, NBC has made it official (Variety), as their schedule has made it to press before their upfront presentation.
EDIT: NBC has now released their official Fall Preview Website with sneak previews of all of their new shows. Check it out at the link below.
Now, onto the summary of what went done, and then the final schedule with commentary after the jump.
– First, and most interesting, is that NBC has found as solution for their problem of Heroes going on hiatus: a prequel series. Heroes: Origins will be featuring characters not yet on the show, characters in the periphery, and then at the end of its run fans can vote on their favourite who would then join the main cast (I will talk more about this at some point, it’s fascinating). This is sure to keep fans happy, and gives the network more fresh programming.
“Heroes: Origins” will center on characters not yet seen on the original show. Peacock has also added an interactive element to the show: Viewers will be asked to pick their favorite character from “Origins,” who will then join the cast of the full-blown “Heroes” skein the following year. [Variety]
– NBC, you made a huge mistake placing Friday Night Lights at 10pm on Fridays. It’s a family show, damnit, and it deserves a slot where people can watch it together. Now, as it stands, it is far too late to get a decent shot at succeeding, and the show deserves much better. I also think that moving Las Vegas might have been a decent option, but I figure that the addition of Tom Selleck to the cast might be enough to give it some life. (I forgot about it in my predictions: whoops)
– I also forgot about football. Man, I don’t know how I forgot about the NFL so easily, but I did. This means that Law & Order, Medium and Lipstick Jungle (New Series starring Brooke Shields) won’t be around until January, which freed up some room on the schedule.
– The new shows slotted in where you’d expect them to [For full info on these shows, check out Cultural Learnings’ NBC Preview.]: Journeyman [Time-travelling drama] has been given the post-Heroes dead zone, which leave sci-fi contender The Bionic Woman to find for itself on Wednesdays (Against American Idol in the Spring). Life, meanwhile, inherits the tough Wednesdays at 10 slot, and Chuck (From Josh Schwartz) finds itself possibly facing House at 9pm on Tuesdays.
– Only two Deal or No Deals? It’ll work for now, but let’s not see any more NBC.
– The only shows missing? Crossing Jordan and…The Apprentice! Yes! Woohoo! *Fireworks* Trump has finally fallen.
I’ll have some more analysis later after the Upfront Presentation when they explain these ideas further, but for now here’s NBC’s final schedule [with full analysis of each night] after the break.
Filed under 30 Rock, Friday Night Lights, Heroes, Law & Order, Medium, NBC, Ratings, Reality TV, Television, The Apprentice
So, Day One of the Upfronts is coming to an end, and NBC’s time in the spotlight is over. I’ll likely discuss Heroes: Origins some more tonight as I discuss ‘Landslide’ tonight, but the turnaround time is short: tomorrow at 4pm ABC presents their fall schedule [See: Cultural Learnings’ ABC Preview]. You might be wondering, then, why CBS’ eye is in the image above [ CBS Preview]. Well, there’s a reason for this. First, it’s clear that people are most interested in hearing what CBS has to say on Wednesday. Second, ABC’s pickups are fairly set in stone so CBS is where the breaking news lies. Thus, here’s an update on what’s going on with The Eye.
CBS has been active today (Hollywood Reporter), officially ordering four dramas and a comedy (Along with a reality show, which I’m ignoring). Those dramas are similar to what I had predicted, although there is one key difference that bugs me. And yet, I’ll get to the news you likely want most first.
There is still no word as to the fate of Jericho. The drama sits decidedly on the bubble, and as of early Monday evening there is no word as to its fate. Chances are we will hear final word tomorrow ahead of Wednesday’s upfront, but things aren’t looking good with four dramas picked up (And one of them fitting in Jericho’s alternative-drama slot). So, it’s another night of waiting for fans of the drama. Plus, it’s not just Jericho: How I Met Your Mother remains in limbo, and Cold Case and Close to Home wait to hear whether they’ll be around next year.
The network has picked up Cane, the drama starring Jimmy Smits, as well as Viva Laughlin, the musical drama produced by Hugh Jackman. Also, against all odds, Swingtown has been picked up by the network, which should be an interesting fit for their demographics.
However, most interesting is the pickup of Moonlight, which is the vampire drama the network had send to pilot. This means that Babylon Fields (The Amber Tamblyn Zombie vehicle) is unlikely to be picked up. I personally think that zombies are much more hip right now, compared to Vampires (Didn’t Buffy deal with that enough? Or Angel?), but CBS appears to think otherwise.
The comedy pickup is more interesting: Big Bang Theory wasn’t on my radar, and the drama about two science geeks who befriend a party girl sounds too similar to both NBC’s The IT Crowd and even other shows starring geeks like NBC’s Chuck. It just doesn’t seem very interesting, and I think that CBS had better options. Still, it sounds like a decent companion for How I Met Your Mother in terms of youth-skewed comedies.
ABC presents at 4pm EST tomorrow. CBS presents at 2pm on Wednesday.
Filed under How I Met Your Mother, Jericho, Television, Upfronts
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