Ray Wise and Bret Harrison in Reaper by Michael Courtney/The CW
It took a year, but the CW (the network cobbled together from the ashes of the WB and UPN) is finally starting to look like a real network, albeit one aggressively and obsessively focused on the 18-34 youth market. Which no doubt is causing more than a few existential crises among those longtime vets of the TCA press tour who said goodbye to that demo a while ago.Dawn Ostroff, the network’s relentlessly perky entertainment president, took a “no regrets” approach to her upbeat presentation Friday morning. She’s serious about tapping into trends with her programming and with various online/digital offshoots (especially where the new teen soap Gossip Girl is concerned), but otherwise, there’s something kind of refreshing about a network that doesn’t take itself too seriously.There was loud laughter in the room during clips of the CW’s various lightweight reality shows, including a first look at the new twist on guilty-pleasure fave Beauty and the Geek...
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Ray Wise and Bret Harrison in Reaper by Michael Courtney/The CW
A few thoughts after sitting through an L.A. satellite feed of CW’s Upfront presentation on Thursday, which was more impressive (the Pussycat Dolls performance aside) than I expected.The Reaper looks much funnier than I expected. Should have guessed given that the appealing lead, Bret Harrison as a schmo who learns his parents sold his soul to the devil, is best known for sitcom work (Grounded for Life, That ’70s Show, The Loop). Ray Wise is a scream as his demanding new boss, aka Lucifer. Only drawback: Reaper’s time-slot competition includes another largely comedic series about a reluctant nerdish hero, NBC’s Chuck. Is there room for two?Also getting a good response: Aliens in America, with its Muslim exchange student fish-out-of-water befriending his classmate/host, a nerdy social pariah. This looks perfectly suited as a companion piece to the similarly sardonic Everybody Hates Chris.Gossip Girl may well become a brand-appropriate hit, but I’m personally ...
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A few premiere and return dates from Fox:The Mark Burnett and Steven Spielberg-produced reality competition, On the Lot, kicks off May 16, then moves to a Monday/Tuesday schedule starting May 28. Season 3 of So You Think You Can Dance begins May 24. Hell's Kitchen returns for a third helping on June 25. And the sophomore season of The Loop premieres June 10.
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Question: Did I just not read carefully enough? TV Guide's Winter TV Preview 2007 listed 43 new and returning shows, but I did not see Fox's zany, irreverent The Loop listed. I understood that Fox was lightening its mid-season order from 13 episodes to 10, but I still thought we would see it returning Wednesday nights at 9:30, after the American Idol results shows. Please tell me Fox did not pull an Arrested Development and bail on another promising-but-underperforming comedy.
Answer: I checked with Fox, and The Loop is still in the mid-season loop and very well could return to the schedule in March (or thereabouts), once American Idol moves into its results phase. Nothing's been announced yet, but that could change once Fox meets the press on its TCA day on Jan. 20 ...
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Fox found itself unexpectedly thrust into damage-control mode on Monday when an otherwise benign write-up in the Great Falls Tribune (Montana) suggested that production on The O.C. had been shut down, effective immediately and forever. "The O.C. has not been canceled," insists a show rep. "The show is in production on [Episode 11] and will continue production until it completes its season order [of 16 episodes]."Elswehere at Fox, the network has cut back its order for Season 2 (there was a 1?) of The Loop, from 13 episodes to 10, partly due to limited shelf space and the fact that at least three other series are in queue to premiere mid- or late season.
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Sarah Mason, All You've Got
Now out on DVD, the teen comedy All You've Got (costarring Grammy winner Ciara and One Tree Hill's Daniella Alonso) could have just as well been titled "You Got Overhand Served," as three pampered volleyball stars are forced by their ritzy academy's closing to team with their blue-collar rivals, the Lady Phantoms of Cathedral High. Playing Lauren, the leader of the posh Madonnas, is Sa
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Fox isn't doing too much tinkering with its schedule. The complete press release is below.FOX ANNOUNCES PRIMETIME SLATEFOR 2006-2007 SEASONTHREE NEW DRAMAS AND TWO NEW COMEDIES JOIN NETWORK’S SCHEDULE ADDITIONAL DRAMA AND COMEDY ANNOUNCED FOR MID-SEASON NEW SATURDAY LATE-NIGHT ENTRY HOSTED BY SPIKE FERESTENUNSCRIPTED SERIES INCLUDE SIMON COWELL’S “DUETS” AND MARK BURNETT AND STEVEN SPIELBERG’S COMPETITION “ON THE LOT” New York (Thursday, May 18, 2006) – FOX today unveiled its primetime schedule for the 2006-2007 television season, featuring the network’s most stable and balanced slate in years. Three new dramas and two new comedies will complement returning favorites on every night of the week this fall, announced Peter Liguori, President, Entertainment, Fox Broadcasting Company.The new dramas premiering this fall are VANISHED and STANDOFF from 20th Century Fox Television and JUSTICE from Warner Bros. Television and hitmaker Jerry Bruckhe...
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The LoopWow, considering last night’s main plot point, I’m gonna have a little trouble keeping this thing PG-rated. What’s that you say? You missed the episode? Well, suffice it to say it involved Sam suffering a groin injury and a treatment method that prompted Lizzy to ask, “You want riverboat-style or regular?” That’s the line, folks. I ain’t crossing it. Besides this little bit of naughtiness at the hands — ha! — of the smokin’-hot Sarah Mason, last night’s ep was so-so, mostly because the show seems to be repeating itself. Sure, all TV shows have a formula to which they adhere pretty consistently, but the whole “Sam screws up big, then saves the day completely unintentionally” thing has officially become old. This is goofball comedy, people! Must it be this predi
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The LoopThere are many reasons why I like this show, Sarah Mason's booty dancing on the bar being only one of them. But oh, what a reason. Fanboys, you with me? Of course you are — I've read the message boards. Fangirls, how about you? No? OK then, moving on….
Week 2, ladies and gentlemen! I say Sam and the gang deserve a hearty round of applause for making it this far — mad props to Fox for keeping a non-megahit on the air — it's pretty refreshing. More importantly, it allowed us to answer the age-old question: If I were made entirely of smoked-turkey cold cuts, what would I look like? The answer: disgusting, yet attractive to wild felines. Sully's turning out to be the Gob of the piece, which is definitely not a complaint — someone's gotta deliver th
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The LoopIf I ran TV — and I eventually will, so treat me nice — I'd always air the second episode the night after the premiere, just like Fox did with this little gem. You can't go wrong! The folks who liked it in the first place get an immediate second helping, the fence-sitters don't have to wait a week to get a second look, and the naysayers... eh, who needs 'em. Me, I was happy to jump back into The Loop, and not just because I'm totally crushing on Darcy the overqualified assistant. I hear ya, sister. (Note to boss: Don't fire me.)
More importantly, last night's episode brought the funny in a big way. The "Jack" ads cracked me up, Philip Baker Hall's prom-queen metaphor was priceless, but the Joke of the Night award definitely went to foxy
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