The Uprising

The fans of Jericho have succeeded. The NUTS campaign (which reportedly sent 20 TONS of nuts to CBS) convinced the network to give Jericho a second season order for seven episodes (expect some characters to disappear or die suddenly when it returns -- they had to cut budget in order to do this).

Now, watching the success of this campaign, some Veronica Mars fans are emboldened. Introducing the Mars for Mars campaign! $1.79 will get you a Mars bar sent to the CW (and right now it's free shipping).

This news comes from Aint It Cool News. The poster of this story muses that if each fan gave $2 upfront to pay for an episode, (with supposedly at least 1 million viewers) they could have $2 million per episode budget. I talked about this kind of subscription model during the Geekerati show on Monday night. I don't think the timing is right for this yet, but I wouldn't be surprised to see some lower budget indie-type show financed in this way.

There is one big difference between Jericho and Veronica Mars -- Jericho had at least 7 million viewers when it pulled the plug. The first six or seven episodes had at least 10 million. Veronica Mars season high of viewers: 3 million. It's a steeper hill to climb to convince CW to renew Mars. The only promising news I can give you is that Rob Thomas had a concept for a 'reboot' of the show for another season, and the CW is pretty hard up for content right now.

This is all very interesting. Some shows have been saved before through the sheer devotion of fans, but this strikes me as a potential paradigm shift. The fans are going to need to do more than send nuts or candy bars to support their show, however. A show needs viewers. These fans are going to need to find a way to recruit new viewers (or reenlist old ones) to keep the show's ratings from sinking again. That requires a lot more commitment than clicking a 'buy' button at an internet store.

Will a viral campaign from fans work? Time will tell.

Same old song

I hate when I hit a lull like this. It happens every June just after the frenzy of upfronts. For a week, I am firing on all cylinders, posting three or more times a day, keeping up with the news. It's heady and fun. My web traffic spikes to levels I never see the rest of the year (well, unless some show like 'Smith' gets cancelled, and brings me three thousand people looking to find out why).

And then...nothing. Summer movies, which I generally don't have any energy to blog about. Besides, what else can I say?

And that question then starts to apply to everything. What am I adding? What value does my voice have? Am I just a broken record? Sound and fury signifying nothing? White noise?

I come back to WHY I STARTED. I started an online journal on my old website (still up and running though more a place holder than anything useful) because I just had to vent. Then I felt like I had nothing else to say. So I stopped.

I started this blog nearly three years ago (3 years next month in fact) at first to start venting about random stuff, and then just to warm up for my screenwriting. Then it evolved into TV news, writing links and other randomness.

At some point I took my soul out of the blog. Part of the reason may be that I already feel that there is far more information about me on the web than should really be there. I suppose I feel like keeping some of who I am out of public eye.

Again, I don't know what I'm adding to the conversation. Would you really want to hear about what I do when I'm not writing (day job, watching too much TV, playing Guitar Hero, or finding reasons not to go to the gym). And really, what more is there?

I guess I feel a little like Tony Soprano these days... "is this all there is?"

I need a nap.

News for my parents (and other Jericho fans)

Several sources are reporting that the campaign to save Jericho may have actually had an impact. Apparently CBS received THOUSANDS of pounds of nuts sent from fans (and having talked to someone inside CBS, I can confirm that it was A LOT of nuts, most of which got donated to charities). Sources (starting with TVGuide.com and TVWeek, linked above) say that CBS is close to a deal to bring back Jericho as a midseason replacement, starting with an 8-episode commitment.

If true, this is a monumental achievement for the fans. Stay tuned.

John Mayer at Hollywood Bowl on Saturday

I have an extra ticket to the Saturday concert. If you are interested, contact me through email and I will let you know where it is and how much. Definitely less that those tickets on craigslist. Probably upper levels.

Geekerati BlogTalkRadio Show tonight

We got a better time slot -- now you can listen to us at 7 PM!

Tonight the Geeks will be discussing the ever increasing interactive nature of entertainment. It is a brave new world when an audience can choose not merely how and when to watch the shows they like, but also contribute to what stories are being told in more direct ways then ever. What is the future of entertainment now that the "Choose Your Own Adventure" generation is getting more and more control of many media? Steven Merrill will also be reviewing The Complete Champion, the most recent class book for Dungeons and Dragons.

Stop by and give us a listen.

Here are some of the topics we have covered in our prior episodes:

1. Summer Blockbusters with the Geeks: During this episode the panel discussed the, then, upcoming blockbuster season and talked about what films we planned to see and which ones we planned to avoid. It was a lively conversation and a nice premiere for the Geeks.
2. Downloading the Upfronts: The upfronts are the event where the major television networks discuss the shows they will be adding to this year's fall schedule. It is when those employed in the television industry jump for joy, sigh with relief, or cry with panic. The geeks discussed which shows they were looking forward to in the upcoming fall season, and which ones they thought wouldn't last until Halloween. Minus a couple of technical difficulties with Skype, the show was an excellent discussion. This show also featured the beginnings of a playtest of Out of the Box game's Cineplexity.
3. Cinema, Cineplexity, and TV Wars: In this show you can begin to see the development of our format. We began the show with a discussion of two of the blockbusters which have already been released in theaters, Pirates and Spider-Man. We then moved on to what will soon be a regular feature, Wes's MMORPG Moment. Wes reviewed Lord of the Rings Online and discussed a growing controversy over CCP's EVE game. If you have an opinion on the CCP controversy, you can comment on the Geekerati site. This was followed by our weekly game review where Christian Johnson gave Cineplexity a full review, listen in to see what I thought. Then Shawna and Christian discussed the summer television season when many cable networks run their big shows during the broadcast network's summer hiatus. We also had our first listener giveaway, a copy of Free Enterprise.

The Chuck Mystique

So when did Chuck become the go-to everyguy name? "Chuck" is the new NBC show -- two films reference Chuck in the title -- "I Now Prounounce you Chuck and Larry" starring Adam Sandler and Kevin James and "Good Luck Chuck" starring Dane Cook.

I need some background on how we went from Joe or Ed to Chuck so very quickly. Is this Charlie Brown syndrome? Has everyone turned into Peppermint Patty?

Other questions to ponder from upfronts:

"Darling" as the last name in 2 series -- "Dirty Sexy Money" and "Back to You". In the former series, the family is a mess, far from "Darling". In the latter series, Kelsey Grammer plays Chuck (!) Darling, news anchor and probably beloved in his own mind but nowhere else.

Christian already asked this, but it's worth repeating: What is ABC's fixation on a group of four friends? Check this out:

Big Shots: (From ABC press release) This is the story of four friends...

Carpoolers: (Again, from the press release) Less about saving the environment than male bonding, four guys from very different backgrounds...

Cashmere Mafia: (I wish I was making this up) Four ambitious and sexy women, who've been best friends since business school...

Women's Murder Club: (seriously) Based on James Patterson's bestselling novels, The Women's Murder Club, four working women in San Francisco - a detective, a district attorney, a medical examiner and a reporter...

So, uh, I guess four is the magic number for them? Mental note: create series with four leads for ABC...

Another trend: Chicks as series leads is in. (Cashmere Mafia, Lipstick Jungle, Women's Murder Club, Return of Jezebel James, Sam I Am, Private Practice, The Bionic Woman, Sarah Connor Chronicles, When Women Rule the World (reality show on Fox), and Miss/Guided)

I'll keep parsing data for more trends...

Realizing what you already know

There are a lot of things we as writers already know. We just don't know that we know those things.

At the Rossio and Elliot panel last night, they talked about characters having differing points of view (their example was Shrek -- how Shrek is 'ok' and knows he's ok (as in, how he feels about himself as an...ogre) which is very different than Fiona who is 'ok', but thinks she's not. Anyway, by having each character with a different view (oh and Donkey is very much NOT ok) it sets up instant conflict.

This discussion somehow spun into dialogue, how to create good dialogue. Terry mentioned how he goes from Tia Dalma (in POC:vDead Man's Chest) asking "Are you all ready to get Jack Sparrow?" to what she *actually* says. He also threw in the idea of knowing what the character of the scene is. The scene is about throwing down a challenge to this group (to set up the next movie) -- think of it like Survivor, where Jeff Probst gathers the contestants and then tells them about their next task. Tia's line becomes a challenge -- "Are you ready to do what it takes to get Jack Sparrow?" which becomes this:

TIA DALMAWould you do it?
(to all of them)
What would you do, would any of you, be willing to do? Would you sail to the ends of the earth and beyond to fetch back Witty Jack and his precious Pearl?

Cleary Terry and Ted find ways to use the vernacular of the character to spice up the line, but as it reads it evokes emotion and character far better than "so are you ready to go get Jack?"

Okay, so that got me thinking about my own work. I asked myself, do I give each character an emotional viewpoint for every line in every scene? That may seem like a lot of work, but think about it. Right now, you have an emotion. It may not be grandiose, but you could be annoyed with this post, amused, interested, angry, even indifferent. Each emotion would color any response you might give, and they would all do it differently. So, I looked at one of my scenes in my pilot. Braden (protag, a cop) has to deal with a guy who has locked himself into a room. The guy, Buddy, has gone crazy.

Braden's emotion in this scene is one of annoyance. Buddy is a nuisance who is just causing Braden trouble. But Braden likes Buddy despite himself. He doesn't want the little bugger to die. Buddy, however, is out of his mind crazy. He's scared. He's desperate for escape, to the point he's willing to throw himself out a window So the question I have to ask myself is: does every line as written reflect the emotions and POVs of each character.

Guess what I'll be doing this weekend? Yep, asking myself this question for every. single. line.

WGA Foundation Panel Tonight

I'll be there listening to Terry and Ted (Rossio and Elliot) talk about the Pirates franchise and other collaborations of theirs.

If you are interested in seeing something that may only be viewed once every couple of years, I'm wearing a dress tonight.

Lord help me.

Breaking into the Box - WGA event recaps

Clark Perry has done a fantastic job recounting this event so far this week. Check out his posts here and here.

This event was held over the weekend, and I really wanted to attend -- showrunners, some of the best in the business spilling their guts -- why wouldn't I want to be there?? Sadly, my schedule prevented it.

I can guarantee that won't happen again.

100,000 visits, 3 years, 700 posts

I know others do it bigger, faster, better, but somehow I managed to cross this milestone. I don't know whether I have 100 of you to thank 1,000 times each or 10,000 of you to thank 10 times each. However many you are, for what ever reason you landed here, thanks for reading and participating.

With upfronts over, the posting will drop a bit as we head into summer, but that doesn't mean I won't have things to talk about -- my own writing, summer tv shows, summer blockbusters (yes, I do still see films!) and any other random thing pops into my head. I hope you'll stick around and even get involved in the discussion.

Your comments are my favorite part of this blog. Truly.

And obviously for that, I can't do this without you.

Where I'll be Monday night

...on Blog Talk Radio for Cinerati. The show is from 10-11 PM PST and you can call in to the show during that hour. I'll be talking about the upfronts and the new fall schedules announced this week.

If you can't catch the live show, it will be streaming from that link after the broadcast.

I hope you can join us!

Life steps in.

I don't often blog about my personal life here, because I never really intended this blog as a place to do naval gazing about my own thoughts, feelings etc when they aren't connected to my writing.

Still, I've come to think of a lot of you as my friends...some I know better than others, but I don't mind sharing a personal life detail here and there.

One thing most of you may not know about me is that I haven't been in a relationship in two years. In fact, it's really been closer to three, but I know how bad that sounds so I just say two and leave it at that.

It has come to my attention recently that I might want to reconsider my position on this. Not the 'declaring how long I've been out of the dating world thing' but rather the 'being out of the dating world thing'. As in, maybe I'll get back in.

So, since I trust you all to have my best interests at heart, I will now let you know that I am back in play. Available. Unattached and looking. Etcetera.

I suppose I'll save the details of why and what I want for some time later. Just let it be known that I am open to dating possibilities. God help me.

Previews of new fall shows

In earlier posts I embeded and linked to some video clips for some of NBC's new shows. ABC and CBS also have some video clips up at the following locations:

ABC Fall Preview
CBS Fall Preview
Fox Fall Preview
The CW Fall Preview

2007 Upfronts: Fox announces Fall Schedule

From The Futon Critic:

FOX PRIMETIME SCHEDULE: FALL 2007 (All Times ET/PT)

MONDAY
8:00-9:00 PM PRISON BREAK
9:00-10:00 PM K-VILLE

TUESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM NEW AMSTERDAM
9:00-10:00 PM HOUSE

WEDNESDAY
8:00-8:30 PM BACK TO YOU
8:30-9:00 PM 'TIL DEATH
9:00-10:00 PM BONES

THURSDAY
8:00-9:00 PM ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5th GRADER?
9:00-10:00 PM KITCHEN NIGHTMARES

FRIDAY
8:00-9:00 PM THE SEARCH FOR THE NEXT GREAT AMERICAN
BAND (working title)
9:00-10:00 PM NASHVILLE (working title)

SATURDAY 8:00-8:30 PM COPS
8:30-9:00 PM COPS
9:00-10:00 PM AMERICA'S MOST WANTED: AMERICA FIGHTS BACK
11:00 PM-MIDNIGHT MADtv
MIDNIGHT-12:30 AM TALK SHOW WITH SPIKE FERESTEN

SUNDAY
7:00-8:00 PM THE OT (NFL post-game)
8:00-8:30 PM THE SIMPSONS
8:30-9:00 PM KING OF THE HILL
9:00-9:30 PM FAMILY GUY
9:30-10:00 PM AMERICAN DAD

FOX PRIMETIME SCHEDULE: BEGINNING JANUARY 2008 (All Times ET/PT)

MONDAY
8:00-9:00 PM K-VILLE (January)/PRISON BREAK (Spring)
9:00-10:00 PM 24

TUESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM AMERICAN IDOL
9:00-10:00 PM HOUSE

WEDNESDAY (January)
8:00-8:30 PM BACK TO YOU
8:30-9:00 PM 'TIL DEATH
9:00-10:00 PM AMERICAN IDOL

WEDNESDAY (Spring)
8:00-8:30 PM BACK TO YOU
8:30-9:00 PM THE RETURN OF JEZEBEL JAMES (working title)
9:00-9:30 PM AMERICAN IDOL Results Show
9:30-10:00 PM 'TIL DEATH

THURSDAY
8:00-9:00 PM ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5th GRADER?
9:00-10:00 PM CANTERBURY'S LAW

FRIDAY (Spring)
8:00-9:00 PM BONES
9:00-10:00 PM NEW AMSTERDAM

SATURDAY
8:00-8:30 PM COPS
8:30-9:00 PM COPS
9:00-10:00 PM AMERICA'S MOST WANTED: AMERICA FIGHTS BACK
11:00 PM-MIDNIGHT MADtv
MIDNIGHT-12:30 AM TALKSHOW WITH SPIKE FERESTEN

SUNDAY (Spring)
7:00-7:30 PM KING OF THE HILL
7:30-8:00 PM AMERICAN DAD
8:00-8:30 PM THE SIMPSONS
8:30-9:00 PM FAMILY GUY
9:00-10:00 PM THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES

2007-2008 FOX PRIMETIME SCHEDULE NEW SERIES SYNOPSES

The following new dramas will premiere this fall on FOX:

K-VILLE (Mondays, 9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT): From writer and executive producer Jonathan Lisco ("NYPD Blue," "The District") comes a heroic police drama set in New Orleans. Two years after Katrina, the city is still in chaos. Many cops have quit, and the jails, police stations and crime labs still haven't been properly rebuilt. But the cops who remain have courage to burn and a passion to reclaim and rebuild their city. MARLIN BOULET (Anthony Anderson, "The Departed," "The Shield") is a brash, funny, in-your-face veteran of the NOPD's Felony Action Squad, the specialized unit that targets the most-wanted criminals. Even when his partner deserted him during the storm, Boulet held his post, spending days in the water saving lives and keeping order. Now he's unapologetic about bending the rules when it comes to collaring bad guys. Boulet's new partner, TREVOR COBB (Cole Hauser, "The Break-Up," "ER"), was a soldier in Afghanistan before joining the NOPD. He's tough and committed, but if he's less than comfortable with Boulet's methods, it's because he's harboring a dark secret. Cobb has come to New Orleans seeking redemption, but redemption can be dangerous. Will Boulet be able to trust him? Will Cobb's past endanger them both? Rounding out the crew of cops are hotheaded BILLY "K-9" FAUST (Maximiliano Hernndez, "Law & Order," "Shark"), who often speaks before thinking; wisecracking JEFF "GLUE BOY" GOODEN (Blake Shields, "Sleeper Cell," "Veronica Mars"), the team's comic relief; tough-as-nails GINGER "LOVE TAP" LeBEAU (Tawny Cypress, "Heroes"), the only female on the squad, who gives as good as she gets; and CAPTAIN JAMES EMBRY (John Carroll Lynch, "Zodiac," "The Drew Carey Show"), who wrangles the eclectic personalities of his squad with equal parts humor and tenacity.

PRODUCTION COMPANY: 20th Century Fox Television

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/WRITER: Jonathan Lisco

DIRECTOR: Deran Sarafian

CAST: Anthony Anderson as Marlin Boulet, Cole Hauser as Trevor Cobb, Maximiliano Hernndez as Billy "K-9" Faust, Blake Shields as Jeff "Glue Boy" Gooden, Tawny Cypress as Ginger "Love Tap" LeBeau, John Carroll Lynch as Captain James Embry

NEW AMSTERDAM (Wednesdays, 9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT): Directed and executive-produced by visionary Lasse Hallstrm ("My Life As a Dog," "The Cider House Rules," "Chocolat," "The Hoax") and written by Allan Loeb ("Things We Lost in the Fire," "21") and Christian Taylor ("Showboy," "Six Feet Under"), NEW AMSTERDAM is the story of a New York homicide detective unlike any other. He is brilliant, mysterious, reckless, magnetic, unknowable. And he has a profound secret he is immortal. In 1642, JOHN AMSTERDAM (Nikolaj Coster Waldau, "Kingdom of Heaven"), then a Dutch solider in the colony of New Amsterdam later to become New York City stepped in front of a sword to save the life of a Native Indian girl during a massacre of her indigenous tribe. The girl in turn rescued Amsterdam, weaving an ancient spell that conferred immortality upon him. Amsterdam will not age, she told him, until he finds his one true love. Only then will he become whole and ready for mortality. But Amsterdam has found this to be a mixed blessing. Over the course of three centuries, he's experienced endless adventure and honed his many talents. But everyone Amsterdam meets must leave him in time; lovers and children die while he remains young. His sole confidant and current lifelong friend is the sage jazz club owner OMAR (Stephen Henderson, "Law & Order: SVU"), the keeper of Amsterdam's secret, as well as a few of his own. As the exhilaration of eternal life has given way to emotional isolation and bitter loneliness, Amsterdam discovers the blessing has become a curse. Bringing to bear the unorthodox techniques and unique knowledge gained from his vast life experience, Amsterdam today is one of the NYPD's best homicide detectives, sparring with his vibrant, strong-willed partner EVA MARQUEZ (Zuleikha Robinson, "Rome," "The Lone Gunmen") as they solve difficult murder cases. But when Amsterdam suffers and then recovers from what appears to be a massive heart attack while chasing a suspect, and DR. SARA DILLANE (Alexie Gilmore, "Find Love") pronounces him dead in the ER, he realizes that the Indian girl's prophesy may have come true he felt the pain in his heart that she had foretold so long ago. His soul mate must have been nearby. As he works to find a killer on the streets of New York, Amsterdam understands that his own life and possibly his death have changed forever.

PRODUCTION COMPANIES: Regency Television, Scarlet Fire Films

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Allan Loeb, David Manson, Lasse Hallstrm, Leslie Holleran, Steven Pearl

WRITERS: Allan Loeb & Christian Taylor

DIRECTOR: Lasse Hallstrm

CAST: Nikolaj Coster Waldau as John Amsterdam, Zuleikha Robinson as Eva Marquez, Alexie Gilmore as Dr. Sara Dillane, Stephen Henderson as Omar

The new comedy premiering this fall on FOX is:

BACK TO YOU (Tuesdays, 8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT): In the 90s, the local TV news scene in Pittsburgh was dominated by one team: CHUCK DARLING (Kelsey Grammer, "Frasier," "Cheers") and KELLY CARR (Patricia Heaton, "Everybody Loves Raymond"). They had that elusive quality all news teams need: chemistry ... at least on-screen. Off-screen, Chuck was a bit of a self-centered womanizer, Kelly a bit of an uptight know-it-all. So when Chuck got the call to move up to a larger market, no tears were shed. But after an embarrassing on-air tirade ended up on the Internet, Chuck found himself on the downswing career-wise. He even questioned whether his lifestyle of chasing women and living in hotels was as exciting as it used to be. So when he got the call to return to Pittsburgh, to reunite with Kelly and try to take the newscast back to No. 1, it was an offer he couldn't refuse. Back in Pittsburgh, Chuck has a new coworker in RYAN CHURCH (Josh Gad, "Mary and Joe"), the overstressed news director. There are also familiar faces like MARSH McGINLEY (Fred Willard, "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy," "Best in Show"), the affable, endlessly inappropriate sports anchor, and GARY CREZYZEWSKI, pronounced Kre-shoov-ski (Ty Burrell, "In Good Company," "Out of Practice"), the perennially put-upon field reporter who always seems to get left out in the snow. But, mostly, there's Kelly, now a single mom to 10-year-old GRACIE (Laura Marano, "Without a Trace"). There was magic between them once. Can they find it again?

PRODUCTION COMPANIES: 20th Century Fox Television, Levitan/Lloyd Productions

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS/CREATORS: Steven Levitan, Christopher Lloyd

DIRECTOR: James Burrows

CAST: Kelsey Grammer as Chuck, Patricia Heaton as Kelly, Fred Willard as Marsh, Josh Gad as Ryan, Ty Burrell as Gary, Laura Marano as Gracie

New unscripted series joining the FOX schedule this fall include:

KITCHEN NIGHTMARES (Thursdays, 9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT): Hell hath no fury like an angry chef, and no chef has a sharper temper than Gordon Ramsay when things go wrong in the kitchen. The star of the highly rated culinary boot camp "Hell's Kitchen" returns to FOX with another sizzling unscripted series. This time, Chef Ramsay hits the road in each episode, tackling a restaurant in crisis and exposing the stressful realities of trying to run a successful food business. Inspired by one of the UK's biggest hits, KITCHEN NIGHTMARES is seen in more than 50 territories around the globe, and the series reveals a whole new side to Ramsay. He's still prone to the explosive outbursts and spectacular confrontations familiar to fans of "Hell's Kitchen," but he also shows his sensitive and nurturing side a unique blend of fury, passion, inspirational leadership and tough love that can coax a small spark of talent into a roaring flame. There's no time for polite small talk as Ramsay embarks on his mission to turn things around. If the wine waiter's service isn't up to par, he'll be out the door before he can say "merlot." If the head chef doesn't match up to Ramsay's expectations, Ramsay will hammer him into shape, and if he can't stand the heat, he may quit the kitchen. Ramsay's reputation is on the line, so there's bound to be high blood pressure, raised voices and serious clashes as he attempts to do the impossible: turn a deserted dining room into the most sought-after venue in town in just a week.

PRODUCTION COMPANIES: Granada America, Optomen Television, A. Smith & Co.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Arthur Smith, Pat Llewellyn, Kent Weed, Gerry McKean, Curt Northrup

CAST: Gordon Ramsay

THE SEARCH FOR THE NEXT GREAT AMERICAN BAND (working title) (Fridays, 8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT): What "American Idol" did for individuals, THE SEARCH FOR THE NEXT GREAT AMERICAN BAND is going to do for musical groups. The producers of "American Idol" will conduct the ultimate search for an undiscovered band. THE SEARCH FOR THE NEXT GREAT AMERICAN BAND is scouring the country, seeking groups from all musical genres who think they have what it takes to make it big. Judges will narrow down bands from all walks of life musicians of different ages, family acts, garage bands, etc. to 10 semi-finalists, who will perform in front of a live studio audience. Viewers then will have the opportunity to vote for their favorite bands. The final three acts will compete for a major recording contract and the chance to become music superstars.

PRODUCTION COMPANIES: FremantleMedia North America, 19 TV LTD.

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Simon Fuller, Nigel Lythgoe, Ken Warwick, Cecile Frot-Coutaz

NASHVILLE (working title) (Fridays, 9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT): From the creative minds behind the hit series "Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County" comes NASHVILLE, a high-stakes, high-drama docu-soap set in "the biggest small town in America." The show focuses on the dreamers and dream-makers in the music industry, as well as those trying to make their mark on Nashville's big business and high society. The series features a diverse, vibrant young cast perched on the cusp of achieving their greatest successes in a town that can make you or break you. Talent, power, drive, love and hope are the fuel that makes Nashville burn bright and makes this unique place the true embodiment of the American Dream. Behind every song there's a story waiting to be told, and there are many such stories in NASHVILLE.

PRODUCTION COMPANY: Go Go Luckey Productions

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Gary Auerbach, Julie Auerbach

The following new dramas are slated for January launches:

CANTERBURY'S LAW (Thursdays, 9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT): From executive producers Denis Leary and Jim Serpico ("Rescue Me," "The Job") and writer Dave Erickson ("Murder in Greenwich") comes CANTERBURY'S LAW, a courtroom drama about a rebellious female defense attorney who's willing to bend the law in order to protect the wrongfully accused. ELIZABETH CANTERBURY (Julianna Margulies, "ER") is a force of nature. An attorney on the rise, she puts her career on the line to take on risky and unpopular cases, even when they take a toll on her personal life. Elizabeth and her law professor husband MATTHEW CANTERBURY (Linus Roache, "Batman Begins," "The Chronicles of Riddick"), haunted by the disappearance of their young son, have settled in Providence, Rhode Island, in an attempt to distance themselves from the tragedy and put their relationship back together. But those goals become elusive whenever Elizabeth's work provides a stark reminder of the justice absent in their own lives. At the office, Canterbury has surrounded herself with a brilliant but motley crew of attorneys. RUSSELL CROSS (Ben Shenkman, "Pi," "Angels in America") was forced out of the Providence District Attorney's Office when he went toe-to-toe with his morally bankrupt boss, D.A. Zach Williams. His reputation tarnished, Russell turned to Canterbury, the only attorney willing to take him in. Now Russell provides a much-needed voice of reason for Canterbury even when she doesn't want to hear it, his position of influence well-earned by their years of friendship. CHESTER FIELDS (Jocko Sims, "Dreamgirls," "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation") and MOLLY McCONNELL (Trieste Dunn, "United 93") are the associates rounding out Canterbury's legal crew. Chester is a blue-blooded congressman's son who is embarrassed by his privileged upbringing and has turned his back on politics. Molly, in contrast, is headstrong, passionate and quick to take sides even if she finds herself in the opposite corner from Canterbury.

PRODUCTION COMPANIES: Sony Pictures Television, Apostle

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Denis Leary, Jim Serpico, Mike Figgis

WRITER: Dave Erickson

DIRECTOR: Mike Figgis

CAST: Julianna Margulies as Elizabeth Canterbury, Linus Roache as Matthew Canterbury, Ben Shenkman as Russell Cross, Trieste Dunn as Molly McConnell, Jocko Sims as Chester Fields

THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES (Sundays, 9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT): Executive producers Josh Friedman ("War of the Worlds"), David Nutter ("Supernatural," "Smallville") and C-2 Pictures ("Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines") bring to television an intense new drama based on the celebrated heroine of the "Terminator" movies: Sarah Connor. At the end of "Terminator 2: Judgment Day," Sarah vanquished the liquid metal Terminator sent from the future to kill her teenage son, John. Sarah and John now find themselves alone in a very dangerous, complicated world. Fugitives from the law, they are confronted with the reality that still more enemies from the future, and the present, could attack at any moment. THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES reveals what happens when SARAH (Lena Headey, "The Brothers Grimm," "300") stops running and goes on the offensive against an ever-evolving technological enemy bent on destroying her life, and perhaps the world. Her son, 15-year-old JOHN CONNOR (Thomas Dekker, "Heroes"), knows that he may be the future savior of mankind, but is not yet ready to take on the mantle of leadership that he's told is his destiny. John finds himself inextricably drawn to CAMERON (Summer Glau, "Serenity," "The Unit"), an enigmatic and otherworldly student at his high school, who soon proves to be much more than his confidante she assumes the role of Sarah and John's fearless protector. On their trail are not only threats from the future, but an intelligent and tough FBI agent, JAMES ELLISON (Richard T. Jones, "Judging Amy"), who soon becomes a powerful ally. Directed by David Nutter and produced by Warner Bros. Television and C-2 Pictures, THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES represents an exciting reinvention of the "Terminator" franchise, in which the strong and intrepid Sarah discovers that protecting her son and stopping the rise of the machines is more difficult than she had ever imagined.

PRODUCTION COMPANIES: Warner Bros. Television, C-2 Pictures

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Josh Friedman, David Nutter, James Middleton, Mario Kassar, Andrew Vajna, Joel Michaels

WRITER: Josh Friedman

DIRECTOR: David Nutter

CAST: Lena Headey as Sarah Connor, Thomas Dekker as John Connor, Richard T. Jones as James Ellison, Summer Glau as Cameron

The new comedy scheduled to premiere in January is:

THE RETURN OF JEZEBEL JAMES (working title) (Wednesdays, 8:30-9:00 PM ET/PT): Can two estranged sisters, polar opposites, live together when one agrees to carry the other's baby? SARAH THOMKINS (Parker Posey, "For Your Consideration," "Best in Show") is a bright, optimistic, determined woman who seems to have it all a great job as a children's book editor, an eager-to-please assistant, BUDDY (Michael Arden), who helps keep her life together, and a no-strings-attached personal relationship with successful businessman MARCUS SONTI (Scott Cohen, "Kissing Jessica Stein"). Nevertheless, as her father, RONALD (Ron McLarty, "Law & Order"), is constantly pointing out, something is missing from Sarah's life. Her hard work may garner accolades, but when she goes home at night, she is very much alone. All too aware that she isn't getting any younger, Sarah decides to have a baby on her own and gets the shock of her life when the doctor tells her she can't get pregnant. Having no concept of the term "can't," Sarah wills herself to execute a plan. With nowhere else to turn, Sarah sets up a meeting with her quirky younger sister, COCO (Lauren Ambrose, "Six Feet Under"), and proposes a plan for Coco to carry her baby. They haven't seen each other in a while, and Coco refuses to go along with such a huge favor. But something happens when Sarah mentions that she's turned Coco's imaginary childhood friend, Jezebel James, into a children's book. Even though she doesn't say so out loud, Coco is clearly touched, and, realizing that her current living situation sharing a couch with her friend's sick dog isn't working out, Coco decides that this just might be worth a try.

PRODUCTION COMPANY: Regency Television

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Amy Sherman-Palladino, Dan Palladino

DIRECTOR: Amy Sherman-Palladino

CAST: Parker Posey as Sarah, Lauren Ambrose as Coco, Scott Cohen as Marcus, Michael Arden as Buddy, Ron McLarty as Ronald

The comedy slated for a spring debut is:

THE RULES FOR STARTING OVER (working title) (Date and Time TBA): From the creatively fruitful minds of the Farrelly Brothers comes a single camera comedy, set in Boston, about a group of newly single friends learning the painful lessons of starting over in their 30s. They'd all love to get remarried, if they could just find their true loves. JACK "GATOR" GATELY (Craig Bierko, "Cinderella Man," "Boston Legal") is a charismatic, optimistic leader who never expected to be single again. But now that he is, he's determined to make the best of it. He's going to sift through all the bruised, damaged, occasionally psychotic fruit until he finds "the one." Joining Gator in bachelorhood redux is his thrice-divorced best friend TOMMY (Johnny Sneed, "The Guardian," "Fever Pitch"). The founder and brewmaster of an upstart microbrewery, Tommy has a voracious appetite for food, beer and women. He falls in love easily and always disastrously, yet truly hopes his fourth starter marriage will be "the one." DR. FREDDY SAHGAL (Shaun Majumder, "24," "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle") has seen some pretty strange stuff during his years as a successful surgeon, but he's never seen any of it through the eyes of a single man. Probably the least equipped of the group to handle this unexpected life change is Dr. Freddy, who can execute a triple bypass in his sleep, but is all thumbs when it comes to the opposite sex. Rounding out the group is KATE (Rashida Jones, "The Office"), a smart, successful attorney who handled all three of the boys' divorces. Having just turned 30, Kate finds herself dumped after a seven-year engagement. She reluctantly joins the guys in negotiating the treacherous waters of dating. Kate owns the brownstone next to Gator's. Over time, this pair may find that "the one" is just a brick wall away.

PRODUCTION COMPANIES: 20th Century Fox Television, Conundrum Entertainment, Watson Pond Productions

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly, Bradley Thomas, Brad Johnson

WRITERS: Chris Pappas, Michael Bernier, Kevin Barnett

DIRECTORS: Bobby Farrelly and Peter Farrelly

CAST: Craig Bierko as Gator, Rashida Jones as Kate, Johnny Sneed as Tommy, Shaun Majumder as Freddy

The new unscripted series scheduled to premiere this summer is:

ANCHORWOMAN (Date and Time TBA): PHIL HURLEY is the owner of a tiny Texas news station, KYTX Channel 19, and he is desperate to turn the tide of his mediocre ratings, or even just compete with a rival channel. Phil has shocked the station and town of Tyler, Texas, by bringing in a gorgeous model and ex-WWE diva with no previous news experience to be his next ANCHORWOMAN all in hopes of reinventing the look of Channel 19 and overhauling its below-average 6 share to a number more like his competitor's dominating 36. Former Miss New York and ber-vixen LAUREN JONES packs up her Versace dresses and heads to the middle of nowhere to start a new career. Can this bombshell cut it as a serious reporter? Will she save KYTX, or make it the laughingstock of the Lone Star State? Lauren wants to show everyone she's no airhead, and this is her big chance to prove she's more than just a pretty face. The entire newsroom thinks the boss has made a giant mistake. Reigning anchor ANNALISA PETRAGLIA is not about to lose her Queen Bee status to some L.A. hottie. News Director DAN DELGADO is fit to be tied as his beloved journalistic standards go out the window. MICHELLE REESE, a hard-nosed reporter bound for CNN, will take no prisoners. Lauren will struggle not only with the news team and an unfamiliar town, but also with the not-so-Hollywood news stories covering bake sales, cowpie-tossing contests and county fairs like they were Watergate. News anchor or dead weight? Only the ratings will tell, so stay tuned for the next ANCHORWOMAN: Lauren Jones.

PRODUCTION COMPANIES: Fox 21, The G Group

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Brian Gadinsky

SUPERVISING PRODUCERS/WRITERS: Chad Damiani, JP Lavin

CAST: Lauren Jones as herself, Phil Hurley as himself, Annalisa Petraglia as herself, Dan Delgado as himself, Michelle Reese as xherself

2007 Upfronts: The CW announces Fall Schedule

Monday
8:00 p.m. Everybody Hates Chris
8:30 p.m. Aliens in America (new comedy/sitcom)
9:00 p.m. Girlfriends
9:30 p.m. The Game

Tuesday
8:00 p.m. Beauty and the Geek (new day and time)
9:00 p.m. Reaper (new drama)

Wednesday
8:00 p.m. America’s Next Top Model
9:00 p.m. Gossip Girl (new drama)

Thursday
8:00 p.m. Smallville
9:00 p.m. Supernatural

Friday
8:00 p.m. Friday Night Smackdown!

Sunday
7:00 p.m. Online Nation (new reality)
7:30 p.m. CW Now (new reality/newsmag)
8:00 p.m. Life is Wild (new drama)
9:00 p.m. America’s Next Top Model (repeats)

"One Tree Hill" and "Pussycat Dolls" are held until midseason. No "Veronica Mars" on the schedule, but the CW has until June 15 to make a final decision on its future.

New Program Descriptions (from Mediaweek)

Dramas

GOSSIP GIRL
Based on the series of young adult novels of the same name, the lives of a privileged, but dysfunctional group of prep school teens on Manhattan’s Upper West Side is the focus. Being super-rich and super-popular are not necessarily synonymous with finding true happiness. The cast includes Penn Badgley, Chace Crawfrod, Blake Lively, Leighton Meester, Taylor Momsen, Matthew Settle and former Melrose Place star Kelly Rutherford.

LIFE IS WILD
A blended family living in New York City relocate to spend a year at a broken-down lodge in a game reserve deep inside South Africa. Outsiders at first, the family begins to appreciate the breathtaking scenery, the enchanting locals, and the vibrant culture surrounding them. Brett Cullen (Friday Night Lights) leads the ensemble cast.

REAPER
When a 21-year-old slacker (Bret Harrison) learns that his parents sold his soul to the devil before he was even born, he must now serve as a bounty hunter, tracking down evil souls that have escaped and returning them to Hell. With his friends and trusty vessel-of-the-week at his side, Sam is ready to face his destiny as the Reaper.

---------------

Comedy

ALIENS IN AMERICA
A sensitive, nerdy 16-year old (Justin Tolchuk) trying to make it through high school with the help of his well-meaning family finds his world turned upside down when a Pakistani exchange student of the same age (Adhir Kalyan) arrives. The cast includes My Pietz (Caroline in the City), Patrick Breen (Kevin Hill) and Lindsey Shaw as popular sister Claire.

--------------------

Non-Scripted

CW NOW
In this adult 18-34-targeted newsmagazine, the focus is on the hottest fashions, the coolest music, the A-list movies, and the best in technology.

ONLINE NATION
Scouring the endless number of websites, blogs and user-generated materials on the Internet, Online Nation will feature everything and anything that has captured the attention of the online world. Viewers, in addition, will be able to communicate with each other live on the air.

CROWNED: THE MOTHER OF ALL PAGEANTS (midseason)
In this eight-episode competition judged by Carson Kressley (Queen Eye for the Straight Guy) and former Miss U.S.A. Shanna Moakler, teams of mothers and daughters are pitted against each other in a no-holds-barred beauty pageant.

FARMER WANTS A WIFE (midseason)
In this reality sounding hybrid of Green Acres and The Bachelor, a group of 10 women fed up with bad dates in the big city will compete for the hand of a charming, hard-working farmer.

2007 Upfronts: CBS announces Fall Schedule

Mondays
8 pm - "How I Met Your Mother"
8:30 p.m. - "The Big Bang Theory" (new)
9 p.m. - "Two and a Half Men"
9:30 p.m. - "Rules of Engagement"
10 p.m. - "CSI: Miami"

Tuesdays
8 p.m. - "NCIS"
9 p.m. - "The Unit"
10 p.m. - "Cane" (new) (was called "Los Duques")

Wednesdays
8 p.m. - "Kid Nation" (new reality)
9 p.m. - "Criminal Minds"
10 p.m. - "CSI: NY"

Thursdays
8 p.m. - "Survivor: China"
9 p.m. - "CSI"
10 p.m. - "Without a Trace"

Fridays
8 p.m. - "Ghost Whisperer"
9 p.m. - "Moonlight" (new) (was called "Twilight")
10 p.m. - "Numb3rs"

Saturdays
8 p.m. - "Crimetime Saturday"
9 p.m. - "Crimetime Saturday"
10 p.m. - "48 Hours Mystery"

Sundays
7 p.m. - "60 Minutes"
8 p.m. - "Viva Laughlin" (new)
9 p.m. - "Cold Case"
10 p.m. - "Shark"

I really like this schedule, much better than the one I proposed actually. Moving "Without a Trace" back to Thursday at 10 is incredibly wise. "Shark" did well in the spot, but it was always a little soft. Also glad to see "Shark" get the 10 PM spot on Sunday, which I wasn't sure would happen, but since CBS was willing to move "Trace" back to its old time slot, it makes perfect sense. I'm not sure how good a fit "Viva Laughlin" is into "Cold Case", but we'll see. "Swingtown", "Amazing Race" and "Old Christine" sit on the bench until midseason. I got Friday right, but Wednesday I got thrown a curve by CBS adding "Kid Nation", a reality show in that hour. Now "Two and a Half Men" is safe on Monday with "Rules of Engagement". It's a solid lineup. We'll see how it flies against the other nets, but I think this will keep CBS at the top of the heap for another year.

CBS Schedule Predictions

CBS once again has a relatively stable schedule. They renewed a large number of their shows, and only have a few time periods to really worry about. Still, I'd like to see CBS mix things up a little bit to counter some of the moves by their competitors.

Monday

This is one night where CBS should stay the course. Monday is a good comedy night for them, but ratings have been weaker of late. Still, I think we'll see "How I Met Your Mother" paired with newcomer "The Big Bang Theory" in the 8 PM hour. For 9 PM "The New Adventures of Old Christine" could play lead-in to "I'm in Hell". At 10 PM CBS will most likely stay with what works -- CSI: Miami.

Tuesday

CBS has done well on Tuesday nights, and since they are keeping NCIS and The Unit, I'd expect them to continue airing these shows on this night. This could be the night that new series "Swingtown" gets a tryout at 9 PM, sandwiched between the aforementioned shows.

Wednesday

An hour of comedy on Wednesday seems to work well, so I think we'll see "Rules of Engagement" appear here after "Two and a Half Men". If ROE gets bumped to midseason, the slot will go to "The Captain", another new half hour. 9 PM would be a good hour to premiere "Viva Laughlin", but if they decide to be lame and keep their night the same, we'll see "Criminal Minds" followed by CSI: NY. Pardon me while I yawn at the prospect.

Thursday

This one's a cakewalk: "Survivor" and "CSI" for sure. Now, at 10 PM I really think they'll try out a newbie and bump "Shark" to another night, so my money is on "Los Duques", the new Jimmy Smits show to get the pimp spot.

Friday

This has been a good night for CBS, except for the lackluster numbers for now cancelled "Close to Home". I think "Twilight" would be a decent fit out of "Ghost Whisperer" and before "Numb3rs". Vampires after ghosts makes total sense to me.

Saturday

48 Hours and whatever other crap they come up with. Did I mention this is a wasteland night?

Sunday

CBS went with Race-Case-Trace as their lineup this night (which I kinda dug the mnemonic for), but I expect this to get a shakeup. For one thing, I think "Amazing Race" will get held for spring, and in its place we'll see either "Shark" relocated from Thursday to 8 PM or "Cold Case" bumped to 8 and "Shark" at 9. Of course, "60 Minutes" will continue to air at 7.

Tune in bright and early for the real schedule.

And now, the news many of you have waited for...

UPDATE:

Veronica Mars is Cancelled...Maybe.

5/16: Futon Critic reports this morning that The CW may not make a final decision on this until June 15. So I guess I *will* shut my big fat mouth and see what happens...

Other CW news: Series orders confirmed for half hour "Aliens in America" and hourlongs "Gossip Girl", "Reaper" and the untitled South Africa project.

"One Tree Hill", "Supernatural", and "Smallville" are all renewed for next year. Sitcom "All of Us" has been cancelled, but "Girlfriends" and "The Game" have been renewed.

CBS has renwed "How I Met Your Mother" and "The New Adventures of Old Christine" and dramas "The Unit", "Shark", "Criminal Minds" and "The Ghost Whisperer." "Rules of Engagement" is also renewed for next year.

"Close to Home", "Jericho", and "The Class" are cancelled.

A moment to reflect

...and pay homage to the first casualty of the 2006-2007 fall season... Fox's "Happy Hour". R.I.P.

Video clips of new NBC shows

The Bionic Woman

Fighting! Jumping! Katie Sackoff!! Miguel Ferrer. I already love this show.

Interview with Exec Producer David Eick

Chuck

Car chase in Nerd Mobile

The NSA catches up with Chuck and Sarah

Life

Charlie and his partner are escorted out.

Journeyman

Dan saves Neil.

Dan is thrown out of his house in 1987.

2007 Upfronts: ABC announces Fall Schedule

First, the schedule:

MONDAY:

8:00 p.m. "Dancing with the Stars"
9:30 p.m. "Sam I Am" (new comedy)
10:00 p.m. "The Bachelor"

TUESDAY:

8:00 p.m. "Cavemen" (new comedy)
8:30 p.m. "Carpoolers" (new comedy)
9:00 p.m. "Dancing with the Stars the Results Show"
10:00 p.m. "Boston Legal"

WEDNESDAY:

8:00 p.m. "Pushing Daisies" (new)
9:00 p.m. "Private Practice" (new)
10:00 p.m. "Dirty Sexy Money" (new)

THURSDAY:

8:00 p.m. "Ugly Betty"
9:00 p.m. "Grey's Anatomy"
10:00 p.m. "Big Shots" (new)

FRIDAY:

8:00 p.m. "MEN IN TREES"
9:00 p.m. "Women's Murder Club" (new)
10:00 p.m. "20/20"

SATURDAY:

8:00 p.m. "Saturday Night College Football"

SUNDAY:

7:00 p.m. "America's Funniest Home Videos"
8:00 p.m. "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"
9:00 p.m. "Desperate Housewives"
10:00 p.m. "Brothers & Sisters"

"Cashmere Mafia," "Notes from the Underbelly" and "October Road" will premiere after "Dancing with the Stars" and "The Bachelor" conclude their fall seasons.

"Lost" returns in January.

Missing from the schedule: "What About Brian", "Knights of Prosperity" and surprisingly "According to Jim" which have all been cancelled, but it is a safe bet that "Supernanny" and "Wife Swap" are waiting in the wings to sub in the spring for any open timeslots.

I got Saturday and Sunday night. I scored on Friday as 'girl's night' but totally got the shows wrong. They picked 'Big Shots' for the post-Grey's spot instead of "Dirty Sexy Money" which will air out of "Private Practice" Wednesday at 9. Overall the schedule has some bold programming moves, though I can't say I'm thrilled that "The Bachelor" is back in the fall. I also think ABC is playing a dangerous game with their reality windfall "Dancing with the Stars" by airing a series in the fall and spring.

I did sit in on the ABC conference call this morning (at 5 AM) and jotted down some notes:

Cavemen - if it was just about the Geico cavemen, it wouldn't work. Exec producer from 3rd Rock from the Sun has come on board.

Miss/Guided - From Ashton Kutcher. No matter where you are, you are still in high school. A woman goes back to high school as a guidance counselor.

Sam I Am - Christina Applegate stars. Single camera, fun romantic comedy.

Carpoolers - Bruce McCullough of "Kids in the Hall" is behind this show about

Tuesday and Wednesday are a big focus for ABC this year.

Lost is a better 9 or 8 PM show. The numbers aren't down at all. Live plus seven ratings are the same, more people are using DVRs now. Lost will air 16 episodes uninterrupted in the spring.

People didn't show up for the serialized dramas last year, but the shows that hit last year were escapist in some way or another. The Nine was not escapism where Ugly Betty and Heroes were. Shift in the viewer right now for what they "thirst for".

Promotional efforts for so many new shows. Not all of these shows premiere in the fall at the same time. Certain shows will be priorities, but ABC feels they have the assets to launch new shows.

Geico will discontinue cavemen ads once show airs to avoid rights issues of the characters.

Testing process needs to improve - hoping to use the internet more in the future to tap into audiences and get immediate feedback on new shows.

Would have loved to have gotten Scrubs, but happy it is going on another year at NBC.

I am working on an article for another website and if it gets accepted, I'll post the link here.

Check out Geekerati

Geekerati is a new blog talk radio show by one of my blog friends, Christian Johnson of Cinerati. The first show is available.

I will be a guest on the show next Monday night at 10 PM PST. Please tune in if you can. It is a live call in show, so just hit the link above to get the number and call in with questions or chat topics.

It should be fun!

Troubled waters for NBC

Thinking more about NBC's announced schedule...they really need one or two shows to hit. Consider this:

ER - 14th season, rumored to be its last
Law & Order - 18th season
Law & Order: SVU - Ninth season

These shows are all long in the tooth and expensive. Law & Order barely escaped cancellation, only surviving after NBC reached an agreement with Dick Wolf to reduce costs on the series this year. A story in the Hollywood Reporter today quotes Kevin Reilly at the upfronts about whether this will be the last season for "ER":

"We'll make a determination in October," Reilly said, noting that NBC will be in the last year of its contract for "ER" with Warner Bros. Television. "If we feel like this is it, we will make a very big deal of it, driving the finale."

If NBC doesn't find some viable replacements out of their development this year, we'll see "Deal or No Deal" on four nights a week. And that's too much Howie Mandel for anyone.

ABC Schedule predictions

This is pure conjecture on my part. In no way is this to be considered ABC's schedule for the fall. ABC will announce tomorrow (and there is a 5 AM Conference call I will join just to get the word that much more quickly to you people), so we'll do the compare/contrast after that.

Okay, so on to my totally non-scientific predictions:

Monday

Monday was tough for ABC this year, but this spring they did bang up business with "Dancing with the Stars" and "The Bachelor". While neither is a shoo-in for a fall premiere date (Dancing with the Stars has a shot), I think ABC will opt for some new and moved programming for this night.

While NBC has "Deal or No Deal", "Heroes", and the new "Journeyman" for its lineup, CBS will likely continue to program sitcoms Monday night, and Fox will continue with male skewing shows "Prison Break" and something new, ABC would do well to counter program Mondays to women. I would suggest a lineup which includes "Men In Trees" on this night and possibly intro new show "Women's Murder Club". Another possible fit would be "Private Practice", but I think it will get a pimp spot on another night. Filling the 8 PM hour should be one of the net's reality shows, possibly "Wife Swap" or "Supernanny", which have performed well here in the past. If they get moved to midseason or summer, this spot is a toss-up to me.

Tuesday

Tuesday again has been decent with "Dancing with the Stars" results show and "Boston Legal" at 10 PM. I think, however, there is room to really compete on Tuesday night. While "House" is dominant on Fox at 9 PM, don't be surprised to see ABC really push the 10 PM hour further with the Grey's spinoff, "Private Practice." This would bump "Boston Legal" to another night, possibly Monday or Friday. When "October Road" comes back midseason, it should be slated in on Tuesdays, but may air out of Grey's depending on how well the new shows airing in the post-Grey's spot performs. At 8 on Tuesday I wouldn't be surprised to see "Eli Stone" get a shot (though I'm on the fence as to whether this is an 8 PM or 9 PM show). Expect all of this to get tossed for "Dancing" in the spring.

Wednesday

A night of trouble for ABC. I think they'll move "Lost" back to 9 PM and try to launch "Pushing Daisies" out of it at 10 PM. I know this strategy didn't really work for "The Nine", but "Lost" performs far better at 9 PM, even with the competition. The 8 PM hour should see the launch of sitcom "Caveman" (ugh) at 8:30 and possibly "According to Jim" resuming it's 8 PM duties.

Thursday

Are you ready for a powerhouse night? Prepare for "Ugly Betty", "Grey's Anatomy" and "Dirty Sexy Money", which I think will take the 10 PM post-Grey's slot. The show has great buzz and will probably be the show (besides the Grey's spinoff) that gets the most promotion. If it takes off, they could then move it to a weaker night to anchor. I think ABC is happy with what they have for Thursday, and the only possible change would come at mid-season with some other show getting a shot post-Grey's.

Friday

ABC for years was king of Friday. I think they'll try to make this a "girl's night", and they should -- Air the two new sitcoms "Sam I Am" and "Carpoolers" in the 8 PM hour to lead off. Then continue the femme vibe at 9 with new show "Cashmere Mafia" and finally "Big Shots", which I hear has tested very well.

Saturday

College football and reruns. Wasteland.

Sunday

This night will remain mostly unchanged. I expect we'll see all the current lineup in their usual timeslots -- "America's Funniest Home Videos", "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition", "Desperate Housewives" and "Brothers and Sisters".

What's left over? Midseason pickups for "October Road" and "Notes from the Underbelly", and we'll probably see "The Bachelor" return in the spring. I also wouldn't be surprised if ABC picks up one or two more dramas for midseason. Depending on ratings for "Traveler" -- that's a long shot -- could still get a midseason order.

Now we wait to see what the professionals will do tomorrow.

2007 Upfronts: NBC announces Fall Schedule

I didn't get up early enough to do my schedule prediction, so we'll skip NBC for that. Here's the new schedule for next year with comments:

MONDAY
8-9 p.m.: "Deal or No Deal"
9-10 p.m.: "Heroes"
10-11 p.m.: "JOURNEYMAN"

TUESDAY
8-9 p.m.: "The Biggest Loser"
9-10 p.m.: "CHUCK"
10-11 p.m.: "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"

WEDNESDAY
8-9 p.m.: "Deal or No Deal"
9-10 p.m.: "BIONIC WOMAN"
10-11 p.m.: "LIFE"

THURSDAY
8-8:30 p.m.: "My Name Is Earl"
8:30-9 p.m.: "30 Rock"
9-9:30 p.m.: "The Office"
9:30-10 p.m.: "Scrubs"
10-11 p.m.: "ER"

FRIDAY
8-9 p.m.: "1 vs 100"/"THE SINGING BEE"
9-10 p.m.: "Las Vegas"
10-11 p.m.: "Friday Night Lights"

SATURDAY
8-9 p.m.: "Dateline NBC"
9-11 p.m.: Drama Series Encores

SUNDAY (Fall 2007)
7-8 p.m.: "Football Night in America"
8-11 p.m.: "NBC Sunday Night Football"

SUNDAY (January 2008)
7-8 p.m.: "Dateline NBC"
8-9 p.m.: "Law & Order"
9-10 p.m.: "Medium"
10-11 p.m.: "LIPSTICK JUNGLE"

"Journeyman" which is described as a 'time travel thriller'. If so, it's a great fit out of Heroes. Two things which stick out: "Friday Night Lights" will air on Friday now and there are no new comedies on the fall schedule (NBC did pick up "The IT Crowd" for midseason). "The Apprentice" is nowhere to be found, though NBC wouldn't say if it was cancelled. "Medium" gets a January slot opposite "Desperate Housewives", another tough spot, but out of "Law & Order" should be pretty safe. "Lipstick Jungle" will go head to head with "Brothers and Sisters", provided ABC keeps that show in the same time period. Finally, NBC swapped "30 Rock" and "The Office" time periods, I'm sure because "The Office" has a stronger following for a 9 PM show.

Midseason orders include "The IT Crowd" and a 6-episode arc for "Heroes" called "Heroes: Origins", which will fill in while "Heroes" takes a breather, technically that will bring the episode order for "Heroes" to 30. What this does for people's possible specs, I have no clue.

More thoughts on the schedule after all of the upfronts are announced and we can see how the competition shakes out. NBC also wasn't afraid to shift programs after upfronts were over last year, so this is by no means final.

Upfront presentation schedule

Monday 5/14: NBC
Tuesday 5/15: ABC
Wednesday 5/16: CBS
Thursday 5/17: CW and Fox

Each day I'll post a proposed schedule for each network. Then we'll see what they do.

Upfront-o-rama

Lots of stories on the eve of upfronts. Let's take a look:

First, from the Hollywood Reporter comes word that Law & Order (Original Flavor) will be back for another season on NBC. The interesting news is that Law & Order: Criminal Intent will move to USA with a replay window on NBC. No word yet on where (day/time) each show will be scheduled.

Another article in the Reporter -- Fox has picked up "Canterbury's Law", "The Sarah Connor Chronicles", "K-Ville" and "New Amsterdam" for drama and "Back to You" (was called 'Action News'), "The Return of Jezebel James" and "The Rules of Starting Over". They've also renewed "Til Death".

NBC has picked up "The IT Crowd" (sitcom), "The Lipstick Jungle" and "Scrubs" for a seventh season (18 episodes).

But wait, there's more! One more time the Reporter gives us news on ABC pickups. In a world with no justice, ABC has picked up the "Cavemen" sitcom. I weep for the future. Otherwise, they've picked up "Dirty Sexy Money" and "Eli Stone", "Private Practice," "Cashmere Mafia," "Pushing Daisies," "Women's Murder Club," and "Big Shots" (formerly untitled Jon Feldman project). Other sitcom pickups include "Sam I Am" and "Carpoolers". ABC also renewed "October Road" and "Notes from the Underbelly" for 13 episodes each.

Variety has the skinny on CBS shows with news of orders for comedies "The Big Bang Theory", "The Captain" and "I'm in Hell". Drama pickups include "Viva Laughlin," "Swingtown," "Twilight" and "Los Duques."

No word out on the CW pilots except what I've already reported. More to come...

NBC news

Friday Night Lights is a go for Season 2 (thank you Kevin Reilly, my new best friend!)

Bionic Woman -- confirmed pick-up. So are 'Life' and 'Journeyman' in the dramas. 'Chuck' looks like a pick-up for comedies. Read more on this at the link above (Futon Critic).,

Drive burn off on July 4th

From Zap2it:

The remaining 2 episodes of 'Drive' will be aired from 8-10 PM on July 4th.

Tim Minear has posted show scripts over at his website.

Danger Zone

I feel like pulling this out of the Watch List just so I can keep track of changes.

These shows are considered 'on the bubble', or in danger of cancellation:

Close to Home (CBS)
Jericho (CBS) (though I'm hearing things are looking up a bit here)
The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS)
The Class (CBS)

Scrubs (NBC)
Law and Order (NBC)
Law and Order: Criminal Intent (NBC)
Crossing Jordan (NBC)

According to Jim (ABC)
Notes from the Underbelly (ABC) (hearing this one has a shot of making it)
October Road (ABC) (I think it will get a 13 ep order)
What About Brian (ABC)

The War at Home (FOX)
Til Death (FOX) (hearing this will live and be paired with the new 'Action News')

Veronica Mars (CW) (news on this changes daily)
Girlfriends (CW)

As more news emerges, I'll update with changes here and in the Watch List. Stay tuned.

Pilot news and rumors keep coming

According to the Reporter (click the link above for article) the nets aren't picking up a lot of comedies, but dramas appear to have turned out well. Latest word:

Reaper (CW) and Sam I Am (ABC) have been given permission to hire staff.

The Bionic Woman (NBC) is a lock at this point, they started hiring staff last week, and now Glen Morgan has been tapped as showrunner for the series.

Looks like Shark will get renewed and may move to allow the new Jimmy Smits show in at 10 on Thursday.

I'll be pulling together a round-up of changes to post as upfronts begin on Monday.

Yay! It's Jack Bauer Appreciation Day

Dammit!! Appreciate Jack Bauer today or thousands of people will DIE!!

Over at Blogs for Bauer they are celebrating JBAD. I love the rules: (as posted on that site)

1) Give somebody your word. When Jack gives you his word, he's forging an iron-clad bond with you. When you live up to your obligations, you're inching closer to being like Jack.

2) Commandeer a vehicle. This one is always a good time. Let's say you're walking out of Dunkin' Donuts and you realize your car is on the other side of the parking lot. "DAMMIT!" you say to yourself. But right in front of you is some insurance salesman in his brand-spanking new Jeep Liberty. Perfect. Approach the man, announce yourself briefly and inform him that you are commandeering his vehicle. To help sell the urgency of this moment, mutter "I don't have time for this" to yourself, but loud enough for the person to hear. And if you have your hands free at the moment, push the person down to the ground in a firm yet gentle manner. This shows that you're all business, but you're not a sadist.

3) Whisper. Man, I gotta tell ya, when I'm sitting in my office and I hear Emily over the cubicle partition yapping away about some sort of silliness, I feel the Bauer inside me start to rage. Most people do not know how to use their voice effectively. But not Jack. Oh no, he is the master. When Jack is emphatic, he starts to express himself in an urgent yet dignified whisper. So, when you're on the phone with Jill from accounting and she's telling you there is no time in the day to get a budget estimate out on that last-minute project, you better start that whispering, pal. "Jill, if I don't get that estimate before the end of the day people are going to die, do you understand me?" Also, inform Jill that you are a federal agent, and give her your word for good measure (see #1 above).

4) Scream. So, now you've gotten the whispering in and you've drawn people into your sphere of influence. But wait, they're not moving fast enough in following your instructions. Well, that's the moment when you put aside the whispering and start screaming like your pants are on fire. Obviously, you need to start it off with "DAMMIT!" as that is what cuts through all the bullshit of the moment. From there you have to reiterate your instructions with gusto-- "DAMMIT JILL, I NEED THOSE BUDGET ESTIMATES NOW!" Sure, she'll be a little flustered, she may even cry a little, but the only thing poor Jill wants more than a Valium is to get those budget estimates done so you'll stop yelling at her.

5) Don't eat Chinese food today. This one is tough for me personally, because I could eat Chinese food everyday if... ya know, what am I saying? This one isn't that tough at all. Well, anyway, the Chinese government tortured Jack for 18 months (boo!) and they broke Audrey 's brain (yay!) but they stole a vital computer chip that has the Russians crapping their pants (boo!) but they drive American vehicles (yay!). I go back and forth on the Chinese. But because of the whole 18 months of hell that Jack had to endure, I think it makes sense to skip the spare ribs and egg rolls for at least today. Well, if you really wanted to honor Jack, you'd skip ALL food for the day, as he never gets a chance to eat. But that's for the more orthodox followers of Jack Bauer. For the rest of you people, have a taco instead.

I can't wait to celebrate 'Talk Like Jack Bauer Day'. It could be my favorite day next to 'Talk Like a Pirate Day.'

(Hat Tip: The Colossus)

New Wijit

I got one of those 'hi, try our cool widget' emails, and decided to give it a go.

Say hello to Lijit. It's a search engine you can use to search the blog, etc for stories about, say, 'Veronica Mars' (I've done a few of those). Not all of my posts have meta tags (this blog is a couple of years old after all) so this will help you find some of the older posts that don't have tags. It will also search blogs in my blogroll, so it may help you find info somewhere else in the scribosphere.

I'm open to feedback. Like? Dislike? Want something different? Inquiring minds want to know.

If you want to check it out for yourself, hop on over to Lijit to give it a looksee.

Now this is interesting...

TNT may be willing to play the part of White Knight if NBC decides to finally kill the OLO (Original Law and Order) golden goose. TNT has indicated they would be willing to take over the production and air new episodes of the series.

Very very interesting...

Veronica Mars lives!

...and it looks like 'Gossip Girl', from Josh Schwartz (he who hath created 'The O.C.') is gonna get a pickup from CW also -- they were given the go ahead to start staffing.

Yes, the news is trickling in. I've also heard 'Action News', the comedy pilot with Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton is a lock at Fox and 'Dirty Sexy Money' is gonna get a pimp spot, just like the new Grey's spinoff 'Private Practice' will...my bet is one of them goes to Monday and Brian hits the trash heap. But more about my predictions later...

UPDATE (10:49 AM WED): Or maybe it won't live. Ratings last night were beyond dismal into non-existant. Even with fire coverage pre-empting the show in L.A. there was an approximate loss of 500,000 viewers. The show has been pulling in less than 3 million viewers all season. Last night it was probably less than 2 million. Sadly, I'm not sure even a retooled VM could take off next season, certainly not if there are less than 3 million viewers for it...

'Medium' gets another season

So the news I had heard is confirmed.

My spec lives to fight another day!!

(Watch List updated)

Gilmore Girls Cancelled

Reported yesterday. No word yet on the future of Veronica Mars...

Welcome to Specville (or What to Spec, Part III)

It's that time again. Time to knuckle down and hammer out a new spec. Based on a number of sources, I present to you a partial list of what shows are "specable". Also, since most people assume a show not on the list should never be spec'ed, I include a list of the shows you should UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES condsider a spec for. Anything which isn't on either list could be considered, but probably didn't make the 'hot' list for one reason or another. Most likely, because no one mentioned it.

UPDATE: The Riches and Dirt on FX have been renewed. I think there *may* be a case for a spec of 'The Riches' -- but I am skeptical about 'Dirt'. I also think 'Psych' is a borderline choice. Stick with shows which actually get some ink in the trades or online...

Hot Specs (Drama):

Ugly Betty
Heroes
Shark (likely to be picked up next season)
Dexter
The Closer
House
Criminal Minds
Desperate Housewives
Boston Legal
Men In Trees
The Wire (one season left -- get in while you can)
Big Love (I'm personally skeptical, but I know someone who mentioned it, so it's on the list)

Losing Ground, but still viable (Drama):

Medium
Cold Case
CSI
L&O: SVU
The Unit
Monk
Rescue Me
Veronica Mars (until it gets cancelled)


Forget it; Spec only if you enjoy rejection:

Las Vegas
CSI: Miami
The Ghost Whisperer
Prison Break
Crossing Jordan (likely cancellation)
Close to Home (possible cancellation)
What About Brian (possible cancellation)
24

Hot Specs (Comedy):

Entourage
Weeds
The Office
How I Met Your Mother
My Name is Earl
The New Adventures of Old Christine
30 Rock

Fading, but still viable:

Everybody Hates Chris
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Don't Bother (Comedy):

The Class (likely cancellation)
The War at Home
The George Lopez Show

She's alive!

I pronounced her dead two days ago, but she started blogging again yesterday. I like getting fast results like that.

Things They Won't Tell You in Film School.

And all was put right in the world. Except Nathan Fillion still doesn't have a TV show. Dammit.

Please hire Nathan Fillion

...because he's unemployed again.

Fox has cancelled 'Drive' after 3 airings (the 2 hour pilot and two episodes). In its place Fox will air repeats of 'House' on Monday nights.

I weep for Tim and Nathan. And everyone else. This makes me very sad.

Time Bandits

Time-shifting. It's all the rage. Many refer to the practice as 'TiVoing' or 'DVRing' or heck, even the antiquated and totally inaccurate 'taping'. What it is is digitally recording a program and replaying it at a later time (and if you are like me, gleefully skipping through the commercials).

For the networks, it's an interesting trend and a dilemma.

Read this USA Today article for details, but I'll pull out one bit:

For some shows, time-shifting accounts for most of the falloff. Last year at this time, only 5% of the homes in Nielsen's sample had the recording devices; now 15.8% do. That has sparked a wider gap between ratings for shows watched live — the only yardstick used by Nielsen last year — and those watched within seven days of their initial airing.

"If you look at live plus seven-day viewing, those declines for several shows start to vanish," says Fox's Preston Beckman. Lost lost 14% of its live viewing this season, but when time-shifting is factored in, the show is down only 1%. The Office, down 10%, is actually up 2% with delayed viewing included.

"We can't really examine things in the same mind-set that we did a year ago," ABC research chief Larry Hyams says.

You ask "what does this have to do with writing for TV?" EVERYTHING. The networks are still the primary source for scripted series, drama and comedy. While there is certainly a gain in the number of cable shows, most people are still going to be looking to the networks for signs of where the jobs will be. The DVR revolution is coming. To go from 5% to 15% of households using DVRs is enormous. If this pace continues, Nielsen will have better luck measuring the viewership of test patterns.

Already Nielsen has reacted to this new trend and is attempting to develop new ways to measure ratings for shows, based on timeshifting. The problem is with the advertisers, not the networks.

The advertisers believe (mostly rightly) that people who record shows to watch later are skipping through the commercials to watch the program. If you aren't watching commercials, there's no reason to advertise. If there's no reason to advertise, networks lose money. If networks lose money...well, I think you see where this is going.

Keep an eye on this. Some people are considering this the 'tipping point' for networks focusing more on content for the internet or VOD. We'll only know by looking back on this time, but for now, we must all be aware of the changes to the status quo.

Bring out Your Dead

I'm not the only one watching the networks and reading the tea leaves of what will be spared execution and given new life, and which shows are being sent to the gallows.

Read this article in the Olympian for other thoughts. You'll notice most of them line up with my previous musings and Watch List predictions.

(Hat tip: a poster at the Programming Insider Forum.)

"October Road" actors get an upgrade

This news bodes well for "October Road" getting a pick up for next year. The article states that two of the actors on the show have been upgraded to regular cast status for next season...we'll keep an eye on this. I expect we won't hear confirmation until after the last episode airs on Thursday this week.

Link: "October Road" actors get an upgrade

By the way, in case you haven't noticed, I've been a busy blogger bee today. The watch list and blog list are updated, and I posted an Obit for blogs which are departing my blogroll (and hello to those I've added recently).

More to come tomorrow -- I have two more posts in draft status!

TV Show Blogs 2006-07

UPDATE: 4/24/07 - Poked around again and found some more show blogs and podcasts. When in doubt, check the home page for the network/cable channel which airs the show.

I particularly like blogs that aren't 'character blogs' but rather blogs written by the writers about the show. I've scoured the web to find these blogs and bring them to you.

'Behind the Scenes' Blogs

• Brothers and Sisters (ABC)
  
• CSI:Miami (CBS) The Executive Story Editor, Corey Miller blogs.
  
• The Closer (TNT) Written by show creator James Duff
  
• Friday Night Lights (NBC)
  
• Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
  
• Heroes (NBC)
  
• Men In Trees (ABC) Written by Creator/Showrunner Jenny Bicks
  
• Monk (USA) So far, only one post, but hopefully this will continue forward. Also a couple of fun character blogs on the site.
  
• Criminal Minds (CBS) Okay, it's an actress's blog, but every once in awhile there are some insights into the process of making a TV show.
  
• Prison Break (FOX) Huh, this one is new -- written by Wade Williams who plays Bellick on the show. In fact, there are several blogs at TV Guide written by actors on shows such as 'The Office' (Jenna Fisher) and several others...
  
• Standoff (FOX)
  
• Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (NBC)
  

I'll add to the list as more pop up. I think it is a good trend as it gives us insight into what makes these shows tick.

Character blogs

These are blogs written in the 'voice' of a character on the show. Sometimes they are maintained by the actors, other times a writer on the show writes the blog. For the 'Lost' diary last year, the writer's assistant maintained it (not sure who is doing it this year). I have listed these by show in alphabetical order.

• Crossing Jordan (NBC) Nigel's Blog
  
• Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
  • The Nurse's Station
    
  • Emerald City Bar
• Heroes (NBC) Hiro's Blog
• How I Met Your Mother (CBS) Barney's Blog
  
• The Office (NBC) Dwight's Blog

Podcasts

• Lost
  
• Ugly Betty
  

Miscellaneous

• NBC Blog (with blogroll of all show/character blogs)
  
• ABC.com Home Page (including link to watch shows online with commercials for free)
  
• CBS.com Home Page (with link to Innertube)
  

In Memoriam

Normally the loss of a screenwriting blog in the scribosphere is a time of mourning. I'm finding more and more of the links in my blogroll lead to a 'file not found' type error, or a blog that hasn't been updated in months.

So I thought I'd present an obituary of "dead" scribe blogs.

First up, Sal Calleros's Blog, "Let us in!" provided us a great wealth of information on the ABC Fellowship Program, what with him having been in it. I actually rejoice at this blog death since he got an agent who advised him to shut the blog. Hmm, keep blogging, get a writing job...yeah, I'd close up shop too.

Shawn at "Agents are Evil" closed very recently. He said he lost interest in blogging. All I know was that he could rant with the best. His blog will be missed.

Reaching Above the Line was a fairly recent add to the blogroll, by virtue of linking me. Sadly, he seems to have been MIA since November. I've given him 5 months to return, with no signs of life. It's time his link was laid to rest.

Things they Won't Tell you in Film School -- a classic blog. Julie was detailing her many attempts to break into the industry long before I was. Fortunately, she too is a victim of success. Best of luck to you Julie! At least you left the blog up so that we could look back at your journey fondly.

ScreenwriterBones - Philip Morton, one of the few pros who blogs has been gone since September. He's pulled this disappearing trick before, so I hold out hope he will one day return. In the meantime, his blog is still there, and has a wealth of advice and information for aspiring screenwriters.

Writergurl's blog was always a fascinating read. I met her once at the Screenwriting Expo, and I am sad that's been gone from the scribosphere for more than six months. Come back to us!

New Yorker in Hollywood has also vanished as of the end of October. Now, I happen to know this blogger, and it is possible that work has kept her from updating. Again, I hope she returns.

Scriptweaver has an excuse for the demise of his blog -- he got a writing job! Good luck to you!

How to Write Screenplays, Badly at least tells us it is dead. Thanks for the heads up.

52 Screenplays seems to have turned into a search page with popups.

Todd A. has left us archives and a link to published articles.

Chained to the Keyboard may be the oldest corpse I'm burying. He hasn't updated since July last year.

I Want to Write has completely vanished. No trace...perhaps Google can find some old relic.

Finally, Cathy Seipp was one of those writers I really admired. She was funny, smart and could hold her own in a debate. Sadly, she died last month of lung cancer, having never smoked in her life. My condolences to her daughter, the rest of her family and friends.

But where there is death, there is also life, and I am happy to add new blogs to the blogroll:

12 Months
Screenwriter Guy
The Good, the Bad, and the Whatever
Day Al-Mohamed
Ancient Wisdom from a Young Man
The Rouge Wave
The Working Screenwriter

Pilot dirt

Oh I love a good rumor mill story. Especially if it is in the Reporter.

Read it and feel enlightened as to which pilots may make the cut next month.

Too lazy to click the link at the top of this post? Fine, here's a summary:

ABC: "Dirty Sexy Money" appears to be a frontrunner for a spot on the schedule. "Marlowe", "Suspect", "Pushing Daisies" and "Football Wives" are also looking good.

CBS: "Viva Laughlin", "Babylon Fields", "Swingtown", "Protect and Serve" and "The Man" are said to be favorites.

Apparently "Demons" got leaked last week accidentally...anyone got a copy?

Fox: "Action News" and "The Sarah Connor Chronicles" look to be making the grade. "The Return of Jezebel James" and "The Life and Times of Tim" are also "heating up" in Reporter-speak.

NBC: "Lipstick Jungle", "Life", "Winters" and "Chuck" seem to be early front-runners.

The CW: They like "Gossip Girl" and "Reaper" and the untitled South Africa wildlife preserve show.

I won't speculate on the comedies until they are all shot. I'm sure they'll follow up with those later.

New York State of Mind

I know, I know...a whole week. You hate me, right? Well, consider this: Upfronts are fast approaching. And you know how I am about upfronts. That's right, make predictions, follow the announcements, praise and snark. So, stop whining, you know there's lots of content to come in the next month. In fact, if you are new here and have an interest in TV shows that get picked up/cancelled (and I know you are out there -- you googling people you) bookmark my site (shameless promotion) and come back at least once a week leading up to the big shew in NYC -- THE UPFRONTS. I'll do a primer on the upfronts next week to prepare you.

But today, I thought I'd recount my trip to New York City this weekend. Now, a lot of you have been to New York or lived in New York. You might be thinking, 'why do I care about YOUR trip to New York?' Answer: I don't know, but you're at my friggin blog, so you might as well read it. (Yeah, I'll update the watch list later...sheesh, no pleasing you people).



This was a milestone event for me. While a trip to New York on its own is exciting, and a first trip to New York is even more anticipated, there was something very special about this trip.

September 11, 2001. I was standing in the boarding line of a Delta flight, waiting to board a plane at the Orlando airport, headed to LaGuardia. I noted after a few minutes that our line wasn't moving. It was 8:30 AM.

Then an attendant announces that our flight is delayed. There had been the remains of a hurricane on the northeast coast in previous days, and I mused that perhaps the weather was still bad in New York.

If it weren't for the TVs in the terminal, we might never have known what was happening.

I was supposed to attend the wedding of a friend at Block Island. Going to New York was a treat I was giving myself. I had asked a friend to accompany me, a friend who had been to New York a couple of times and could serve as my guide. The events of the day made that trip impossible.

April 19, 2007 - Redeye: I finally breathe a sigh of relief as my life comes full circle. The trip, so long ago postponed would now come to pass. 9/11 marked a turning point in my life. In the wake of the tragedy, my sister got laid off and broke up with her long time boyfriend, our family dog died, and four months later my grandmother died. It was a dark time. From the darkness came new hope, however. My sister and I vowed to jumpstart our lives -- pick up and move to Los Angeles. I didn't know how I was going to get here 5 years ago, I just knew I had to do it. By the one year anniversary of that fateful day, I had a ticket in hand to visit Los Angeles. In January 2003, I was transferred by my job to L.A. And the rest you can deduce from my journey the last few years.


I was haunted by the aborted trip over the years. Yearning to close the book on that chapter of my life. I know that 'getting closure' is a cliche' worthy of an eyeroll, but I'll tolerate your looks of disdain to tell you that I really needed closure on this.



I was only there for two days. I met up with new friends who had never been there either. We wandered around like lost lambs for most of one day. But I didn't care. I was in New York...finally.

Medium and Friday Night Lights -- picked up?

I haven't seen this tidbit in any of the usual places, so let's hope CNN International knows what they're talking about.

Medium and Friday Night Lights (according to this source) have received script orders for next year. Not full-fledged pick ups but it is encouraging.

I'll keep an eye out for confirmation on this...

I saw "Hot Fuzz" this weekend.

It's good. Really really good.

Shaun of the Dead is one of my new favorite films. In fact, it may be the only film not starring Will Ferrell produced in the last five years which is quoted by me often. I can watch the film any number of times and it never gets old.

I think Hot Fuzz will be the same way.

I'm for serious here, peeps. I don't "do" movie recommendations much, but when this one comes out (on April 20th)... Go. See. It.

For serious.

It's done

Well, it took almost a year. It went through 3 (official) and an untold number of unofficial rewrites. It's possible it will get one more, depending on the readers it is going to now. But my first pilot spec is done.

I'm working on the bible now, and very soon it will go out to a few readers outside of my usual suspects (congrats, you all are now free!!) Once I feel that it is getting a passing grade there, it goes to the top of the portfolio, with the two show specs.

I see the light, and it is neon, blinking...

NEXT PROJECT.

30 Rock gets another year

Futon Critic reports the news this morning. 30 Rock will live!

As a side note, I know many people have speculated that it would be an either/or situation with 30 Rock and Friday Night Lights -- both critically loved but low rated shows. Well, Friday Night Lights is getting a Peabody award. While this doesn't mean NBC MUST keep it, I do think it helps make their case that the show is worth saving. (Ugly Betty and Showtime's Brotherhood also received Peabody recognition this year).

More fallout from the schedule

This Variety article gives the details, but the basics are clear:

Six Degrees - gone.

Black Donnelly's - yanked from the schedule, probably never to return.

Notes from the Underbelly - so bad they keep moving the timeslot (now it's scheduled for Wednesdays at 8:30, behind According to Jim)

7th Heaven is dead...again.

Watch List needs a lot of updating today.

The Wedding Bells gets pulled

Looks like a couple of episodes will still air on 4/6 and 4/20, but then it's done.

In its last airing, it pulled a 1.5 rating. WWE Smackdown ranked higher. Ouch.

Back in the Saddle

Good to be back home. It was a long week, and I'm sure most of you know what it's like to deal with a family funeral. Lots of visits, lots of grieving, lots of emotional burnout.

I'm still sifting through all the news I missed. I have so much stacked up on the DVR to watch, I'm cross-eyed looking at the list (3 weeks of Lost??)

In writing news, I developed good ideas on a new pilot I'm working on. Hope to start outlining the sucker soon. Still rewriting my draft pilot. All other rewrites locked and loaded. Once the pilot is done, I'm going out...and yes, I realize my timing now sucks. Well, I was planning on going through the manager/agent gauntlet 2 weeks ago, but the fates conspired to ixnay that.

So, bad timing or no, I'm going.

Thanks to all who emailed or left well wishes here. It really helped.

Hiatus

Sorry for the hiatus. My grandfather died on Sunday so I'm home for the funeral.

I'll be back next Monday to regular updating and such. Sorry for the unusual quiet on the blog.

Fox schedule updates

Last year's minor comedy success 'The Loop' returns to the schedule on June 10th.

Hell's Kitchen, one of my favorite non-scripted shows, is back on June 25.

The new Mark Burnett produced show, 'On the Lot' will premiere on May 16 and then settle into a Monday-Tuesday pattern. This one may be of particular interest to writers/directors as it is the show produced by Spielberg to find a great unknown directing talent.

ABC to Introduce October Road to Thursday Lineup

Starting March 15 in place of 'Men in Trees' at 10 PM Thursday...

ABC to Introduce October Road to Thursday Lineup

Michael and son permanently off the island?

According to this story, Harold Perrineau will be co-starring in a new CBS pilot, 'Demons'. The article notes:

There has been talk about Perrineau possibly returning to the Emmy-winning adventure series, but sources said the sides could not reach an agreement.

If this show gets picked up, I guess we'll never know if Michael and Walt made it back to land.

Perrineau to face 'Demons' for CBS