Five Days, Ten New Shows -- Terra Nova

TERRA NOVA



When and Where:
FOX; Mondays 8/7c; Debuts Sep. 26 (Two-Hour Premiere)

Who:
DreamWorks Television, with Steven Spielberg as Executive Producer

What:
In the distant future of 2149, a select few are sent back to prehistoric times to start their lives anew living in a wilderness colony. They all attempt to survive against wild beasts, including dinosaurs.

Why:
So according to this show, we still have about 150 years left before our planet becomes uninhabitable, and that's with the influx of people trying to help it.

So, its basically not my problem.

On a more serious note, this is one of the Fall's most hotly anticipated new shows. The FOX network is successful enough to make a huge gamble with a series this high-profile, sporting special effects and a visual flavor more akin to a major blockbuster feature film. In fact, they had intended to launch it back in May with a sneak preview airing of the pilot, akin to how Glee premiered in 2009. That plan was scrapped, however because the special effects on the premiere couldn't be finished on time. In fact, the whole order of 13 episodes for the first season was made long before the upfronts.

Terra Nova is only the second science fiction series launched by DreamWorks TV this year. The first was TNT's Falling Skies. about a band of human rebels up against invading aliens, set in a post-apocalyptic setting akin to the cult CBS drama Jericho. Now, this premise comes out at a time when it comes off fresh and new. The current TV audience knows nothing about the similar Mid-90's drama Earth 2, which only lasted for one season. I've also been informed on other attempts to try this premise out in the past, none of which saw much in the way of success.

But, will it work this time? Will it blend? With Spielberg backing it, the odds lean in it's favor.

Lynx:
Official Fox Network Page
Facebook Page

Trailer:

Five Days, Ten New Shows -- New Girl

NEW GIRL



When and Where:
FOX; Tuesdays 9/8c; Debuts Sep. 20

Who:
Stars Zooey Deschanel; Co-stars Jake Johnson of No Strings Attached; Created by the writer of said film, Liz Meriwether

What:
Deschanel stars as Jess, who moves into an apartment with three guys following a messy breakup. In the time that follows, she proceeds to get her life on track and contemplate her next personal move.

Why:
Since both That 70's Show and Malcolm in the Middle ended in 2006, FOX has been relatively lax with new live-action comedies and seemed to have allowed their animated sitcoms to make up for it. In the mean time, the Sunday night block was able to represent the network's comedic offerings perfectly whilst the best they could offer in the live-action arena was the Brad Garrett dud, 'Til Death which ran for four seasons, two of which went straight under the radar.

This past season, on the other hand at least yielded one very good comedy -- Raising Hope. This new show will lead into Hope, representing a reasonable gamble considering how middling the numbers for the latter wound up in it's first season. (And yet, one must consider the lead-in of Glee, which will at least help for the debut.) Unsurprisingly, New Girl comes off as FOX's most ambitious new live-action comedy.

Deschanel propels herself into TV (following into the same network employing her sister, Emily over on Bones) as the quirky Jess. So far, she really seems to steal the show. One of this character's many attributes and ticks has her sing a theme song to herself, offering the lyrics "Who's that girl? It's Jess!" She even sings this when walking in on her boyfriend and discovering that's he's been cheating.

We don't see much of her male co-stars in the promos. Of course, this could be because one of them won't be on the show for long. Damon Wayans, Jr. had New Girl as a backup in case ABC didn't renew Happy Endings, and that renewal happened after FOX picked up this show. Regardless, the trailer posted below has the inciting role for the males to play to propel Jess into seeking her rebound.

Overall, the buildup is sort of underwhelming but I think this has some potential. I still haven't seen No Strings Attached, although as I write this it's lying around my house waiting to be viewed before it goes away, so I can't make comparisons there. Deschanel is a fine actress, and I enjoyed her presence in Elf and (500) Days of Summer. It might be interesting to see how this develops over time, and I do feel inclined to tune in leading into Raising Hope.

Lynx:
Official Fox Network Page
Facebook Page

Trailer:

Five Days, Ten New Shows -- Introduction

First and foremost, I should make something clear. I don't claim to be any kind of TV expert. I'm no critic or any sort of professional in programming or development. I'm not even that much of a watcher. For a nerd type, I do watch a significant amount and have a variety of favorite shows on both cable and broadcast. I'm mostly into comedies, as well as some dramas. I have an anemic interest in reality TV, however (but by just considering Jersey Shore or The Real Housewives, it shouldn't be hard to understand why). And I'm most certainly into animated shows, which one tends to find on cable as well as the FOX network.

But, TV and how one approaches it is a subject that fascinates me. Hell, how one persues general free-time entertainment and its social effect is among my favorite subjects. I read news websites that cover TV ratings and the activities of the networks, both ones paid for and available for free. I'm fascinated by the medium's past, and love watching clips of old promos, commercials and bumpers on YouTube. I consider Netflix and the internet, and what became of cinema and radio with TV's evolution. I wonder what will become of TV and what function, if any it will retain when the internet absorbs its basic uses.

For the time being though, there still exist networks available over-the-air for free. Your NBC, FOX, ABC, CBS and CW. All of them are trying to adapt and co-exist with cable channels (who have their own conflicts) and with the abundence of electronic entertainment platforms obtaining their once basic functions. For now at least, we still have hoards of new shows launching during the Fall. These networks still have popular shows which impact popular culture, if not as much as in years past. And among the fleets of premieres, each new show still has the potential to grow and develop significance in its own right.

Last May, I spent a whole week gushing along with each network's upfronts, repeating to the world which new shows were sure things on the free channels. As such, I feel it is only appropriate to elaborate on some of these new shows, especially since we are closing in on the first official week of the new season. Some new shows will debut prior to the official kickoff date of September 19, such as the CW's slate of shows, CBS' Survivor and a few NBC shows. Others still won't launch until later in the Fall, complimenting the already vast selection of premieres on standby for midseason. And yet, that one week from the 19th to the 25th is the most solid row of show launches we are going to get. With the date fast approaching and early debuts sneaking up on us, now is the time to take a closer look at this new season.

All next week, I will write up about two new shows each day, and comment on additional shows along with other details on the entire spectrum, such as Summer shows I've followed and returning series. Each complete entry will include a comprehensive analysis wherein the questions, What, Who, Where, When and Why will be asked, hopefully wringing some insight about the new season along the way.

Furthermore, I would like to implore you all not to take this too seriously. As I said, I'm no critic or any sort of expert. This is just a casual viewer looking at trailers and promotions, as well as reading more professional insights and reacting. Sure I may comment on the scheduling here and look a bit deeper into the content, but this is just an average consumer looking at hot new shows as well as new comedies that have caught his eye. His response is meant to be something to the effect of "This looks like it could be good".

So now without further ado, this is FIVE DAYS, TEN NEW SHOWS

9/5 -- New Girl (FOX, Comedy); Terra Nova (FOX, Drama)
9/6 -- Up All Night (NBC, Comedy); The Playboy Club (NBC, Drama) BONUS: Write-up on Whitney
9/7 -- Suburgatory (ABC, Comedy); Once Upon a Time (ABC, Drama)
9/8 -- 2 Broke Girls (CBS, Comedy); Ringer (The CW, Drama)
9/9 -- Allen Gregory (FOX, Comedy); Grimm (NBC, Drama)

Watch this post all next week for updates and links for each new show.

New Hope for the Soaps

Well, the last time I wrote on this blog roughly a month ago, I touched upon the fact that ABC has cancelled two of their three soap operas. As I said then, the way they went about this decision (made in light of changing times and diminishing financial stability for the network) was remarkably unprofessional and quite a unnecessarily cruel blow to the both fans and the genre itself. I'm still not a soap fan, but I empathize with the fans and express a great deal of respect for the genre itself.

But today, it would appear that the cloudy skies over the shows' heads have started to break. The production company Prospect Park has gained the rights to produce new episodes of both All My Children and One Life to Live, which will be streamed online. TVLine has the press release here.

There is quite a lot that I find downright fascinating about this decision, beginning with the very nature of this experiment. If we're lucky, this just may be the evolution that the soap opera needs to survive and keep going.  There's been a little bit of questioning on whether or not that the built-in audience for the genre would be substantial enough to keep it going in this new medium. Other questions that naturally arise involve how much the budgets would have to be cut to make it work, if it can work at all.

Personally, I'm rather optimistic about this venture. It's certainly an interesting experiment to say the least, and it will at least extend the life of both these prolific shows. At the same time, I'm already a big fan of content made for the internet, in the form of the company Channel Awesome. That particular company operates the website ThatGuyWithTheGlasses.com and offers comedic videos covering elements of popular culture in the form of reviews and the occasional sketch. Granted, each video is the effort of a few people at most working to produce at the longest a half-hour review. These are nerds just talking about their favorite things and editing their compositions on their own. But these videos are very popular and have a niche audience all their own, not unlike the soap opera.

If anything, while ambitious this leap to higher-budget productions also seems fairly natural for the medium of the internet. It should be possible to get enough sponsors for these shows and generate plentiful product as good as when it aired on broadcast TV. And the audience for the soap opera is quite loyal, a poll on TVLine shows a whopping majority of fans, specifically 72.7% (at the time of this writing) would follow their favorite shows to the internet. There would be some kinks to be sure, but I reiterate that if it works it can easily be a revolutionary move that can potentially salvage the genre.

And I must say, if a single nerd can make a living off internet-based reviews (a case in point being "Atop the Fourth Wall", the official blog for which I have posted right to the side) and a whole company can base itself around showcasing these various individual's works, I remain optimistic. It can work out for All My Children and One Life to Live.

Incidentally, this decision came a week and a half after ABC announced when the final episode of All My Children (or rather, final for now) will air. Said finale will air September 23, and the new "lifestyle show" The Chew will debut the following Monday. Of course, with this announcement ABC had to figure out what The Chew was about. I've read that press release, and it appears to be about a talk show. Or more specifically, a talk show about food.

Uh-huh. I will grant ABC that this decision to shake up their daytime schedule makes financial sense, based on diminishing audiences for the lineup. This is akin to CBS launching their own talk show The Talk after Procter and Gamble decided to close As The World Turns. Furthermore, they deserve the benefit of the doubt for taking a reasonable stance on their old soap operas and letting another company try to continue them.

But, what ABC regards as "lifestyle shows" and it would appear "introducing bold new reality concepts" I still view as "making this all up as they go along". This seems to be why The Revolution, the show replacing One Life to Live still can best be described on Wikipedia as a "Health and lifestyle show hosted by Tim Gunn." I'm not the target demographic for Gunn to appeal to me, but I'm certainly familiar with him, having seen him in commercials and on an episode of How I Met Your Mother. I can certainly understand his forte and his profession, so he's certainly the right man for the job of hosting such a lifestyle show.

Still, that makes it all the more apparent how lazy this development was, especially since I can recall that this was supposed to be a makeover show. Are ABC executives still going over whether to devote five hours (a week of shows) to a single subject, or if they can get enough participants to keep up with the potential demand of a daily show? (I imagine the latter should make sense, even if it sounds like it shouldn't.) If you don't know what your show's about but you do know who's going to be a part of it, it displays more committee thinking than the lack of effort put into the title.

Maybe I'm naive and am not giving enough credit to them. After all, they have a better idea now for The Chew than they used to. It may all work out in the end, and these may be worthwhile, appealing shows. But, I cannot ignore how unprofessional and irrational the development of The Chew and The Revolution were. ABC was too quick to cancel both the soap operas compromised for them, and it was quite an unnecessary blow to their fans. If I can say anything can serve as the death knell for broadcast TV, it would be this whole business that's gone about. It almost seems like ABC is embracing its own decline as it downplays its daytime schedule like this. (And yet, their primetime schedule remains ambitious, as far as I can tell with the choices of new shows and the recent pickup of the Hallmark Hall of Fame movies CBS dropped a few months ago.)

And after all that cynicism, I do have one interesting note to point out. Prospect Park, the very company picking up both the ABC soaps, also produces the very likable USA Network dramedy Royal Pains. That series stars Mark Feuerstein as a concierge doctor serving a variety of patients in the Hamptons of Long Island, NY. With their name on such an affable show, it seems too fitting that these same producers are going to try to save the soap opera.

The Changing Face of ABC Daytime

Earlier this week, ABC announced that they will cut their daytime schedule down by an hour in Fall 2012. This move will accommodate a brand new talk show hosted by Katie Couric, the former Today anchor who just signed on with ABC News. Said show will air in syndication, intended for broadcast at 3:00 PM EST -- the slot currently occupied by General Hospital.

This is not the only news relevant to soap opera fans and ABC this year. In April, they've announced that both of their other soaps, All My Children and One Life To Live will be going off the year within a year's time. Now, I'm not a soap opera fan. I've never watched any of these shows or ones on other networks regularly, the closest I've ever come being my older brother's interest in Passions from 2000 until the show left NBC in 2006.

And yet, the cancellations of these shows and the recent development posing a potential threat to General Hospital is news that's incredibly distressing to me.

We're living in a time when a majority of the population has a cable subscription and retains access to a vast assortment of channels and shows. This has splintered the overall audience to the point where only cheap shows (ie, without scripted productions to maintain) can thrive on the given audiences, regardless of quality. The consequences of this move are what's posing a threat to the soaps. It's been ge

tting to a point where these shows are too expensive for the networks to keep producing. For similar reasons, these same networks don't bother with children's programming on Saturday mornings anymore (and I'm inclined to believe that there are more negative consequences from that than benefits, but let's not worry about that now).

What makes the cancellations of both these shows such a disaster and a blunder more than anything is the way ABC went about it. For one thing, both cancellations were announced at once. Granted, the respective shows will end at different times, but that's far from any excuse. Over the last few seasons, CBS dropped a few soap operas of their own. But they had a far more reasonable exit strategy -- ending one show at a time. ABC's approach just felt like a sucker punch with barbed knuckles.


Making matters worse is the replacement shows they've announced. Replacing All My Children this fall is The Chew, a talk show about food. And next spring when One Life To Live wraps up, the replacement will be The Revolution, which will provide makeovers to its participants. The group that protested at the ABC Upfronts called these two shows "glorified infomercials appropriate for late-night basic cable channels, not for a major broadcast network." It may sound like some fan-wanky whining, but I have to admit they kind of have a point.

When CBS cancelled Guiding Light after a run of over 70 years, at least they were certain of the kind of show to replace it. That show was a revival of Let's Make a Deal, itself a veteran of daytime TV from back in the day. By the time Procter and Gamble and CBS ended As The World Turns (and part of that was P&G getting out of the daytime business), at least the choice of The Talk being in the same vein as ABC's own The View made some sense.

But these new ABC shows literally feel like they were made up on the spot. The premises touted for each new show are about as bland as their respective working titles. I mean, you can argue that TV shows always constantly evolve and change with time, always trying new approaches in response to new circumstances or when trying to improve. But I'm not sure I can look at reality television like that, usually because each reality show relies so much on a high concept.

These shows don't have much substance to their "high concepts" to begin with. A twelve-year-old can come up with a more creative concept than these.

Soap operas are a television institution, enduring for a long time and predating even the medium itself. Say what you will about the content of the shows themselves, but they've left a strong impression on popular culture. They still have a devoted core fanbase. If the genre itself is dying off, then it should go out with more dignity than this.

If you must parn them down to save money, then that's fine. But to cut off two out at the same time? To throw out half-baked ideas instead of solid series propositions as replacements? To make an announcement that your remaining soap is on thin ice while fans are still reeling? There is absolutely nothing dignified or professional about these decisions and how they were carried out. If anything, it signifies that broadcast television just may be in its twilight days, having lost its overall genuine look and appeal long after losing its dominance.

Reflecting Upon "South Park"

NOTE: This post goes into extensive analysis, including MAJOR SPOILERS. If you have yet to view this recent South Park episode, please do not read forward. Otherwise, if you have seen it or do not care you are free to proceed.

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Last night's mid-season finale of South Park, entitled "You're Getting Old" has ensighted a lot of discussion and speculation. There is only good reason for that, and most of it comes from the final moments. I myself am a fan of the show and have been since about the time I started high school. It should go without saying that this show isn't for everyone, working as an animated comedy for adults and relying on shock value and vulgarisms for it's humor, albeit among a sense of real-world satire.

"You're Getting Old" was a more disgusting and offensive episode than usual, relying on a single vulgar and graphic metaphor to base the entire story on. I won't get into the full details too much and risk repelling potential readers as I summarize this story. As Stan celebrates his tenth birthday, he starts to realize that the things he previously loved suddenly seem absolutely horrible. He's unable to do anything and have fun in the process, coming off as dejected every waking moment. This is particularly apparent when he goes to the movies with his friends, Kyle, Kenny and Cartman, and is unable to find anything appealing in even the trailers or sit through them without complaining. Meanwhile, his father listens to a CD recieved as a present, and tries to capitalize on the style of music on his own, performing at the bowling alley.

Really, the way it ended is what's leaving many fans confounded and dejected themselves. Most sitcoms resolve their conflicts within a single episode's runtime or at least in an arc of a few episodes, and South Park is no exception. But in this case, Stan is still as painfully cynical at show's end as he developed, with no signs of reverting to the attitude a child should have. The subplot with his Dad, Randy ends with an argument with the mother, Sharon in which the two decide that they're just growing apart. The closing montage has the two getting a divorce, Sharon retaining custody of the kids.

And this is despite the fact that this is only the mid-season finale, with another run of new episodes set for the Fall. Even more compelling is how Randy and Sharon talk about how every comical scenario the town gets into just feels like the same old thing repeating over and over. With such a final touch in mind, who can blame the fans unaware of the impending fall run for assuming this was the series finale?

Indeed, that was what the chatter among the internet was about. The ending felt like sort of a cliffhanger, but in many other ways just felt like one last development. Randy apparently left town after the divorce. The rest of the family moved to a new house and, apparently a new school. And we even got a touch showing Kyle somehow warming to Cartman as a friend, which is only more significant if you know what their relationship is like.

This was a real stark change in tone after relying on gross-out humor so much. And yet, this mood whiplash felt like it fit in so well. If it was meant to have any sort of closure to it, it was a real down note to end on.

It only gets more interesting the more you think about it. As many other commentators and critics have pointed out, it almost feels like creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker are growing tired of doing the show (such an idea complimented by the immense success of their Broadway musical The Book of Mormon). Another fan pointed out how the show is different from other animated sitcoms, that it feels like Matt and Trey talking directly to the viewers as opposed to through a team of writers. With that in mind, he refers to this episode as "Having a conversation that you don't want to have, but know is true."

Only adding to these emotions is how the episode is the only one in this recent run to focus on the main protagonists, the original core of the show. The rest of the Spring run each covered various cultural events or situations, and did so through the perspective of supporting cast members such as Butters Stotch or Kyle's brother, Ike. I also saw another episode right before in which Butters was the focus, "The Ungroundable" from season 12. Cartman made a single appearance in the episode, but it mostly focused on Butters as he joins a vampire-inspired circle of popular kids and takes the culture far too seriously. In what seemed like the first episode reliant on Stan's interactions and behaviors in seasons, "You're Getting Older" sees him grow so cynical and distant from the rest of society. So much so that his last resort, his circle of friends reject him by episode's end and say he's not fun to be around anymore.

Certainly, the episodes slated for the fall will present the show in a new light. Such should go without saying, especially given the serious tone to the final montage and for a cartoon. We can all probably agree that it may mark a new direction for this show, if not a final lap altogether. This show may be evolving, and if it does go on only now does it seem to be really moving away from it's original characters and focus.

The CW's Fall 2011 Schedule

And the last network to hold it's upfronts is also the biggest outlier among broadcast networks. Often outperformed by Spanish-language channels, the five-year-old CW network operates like a cable channel that offers itself over-the-air. The niche audience they seek out is very pronounced in the shows they air, very clearly seeking to appeal to young women.

This makes you really wonder how they can pull this off, especially when you realize how low their ratings tend to skew. I've read plenty of analysis on the CW, and among the best I understand regards the loophole they operate out of. Apparently, the CW operates at a loss of itself, but manages to recoup via sales of their programs in international markets, and eventually syndication. As a consequence, said programs are limited to productions by its two corporate parents, CBS and Warner Bros. In fact, one of these new fall shows is a transplant from CBS proper, and one of the partner producers, ABC Studios actually bailed out of it when it moved to the CW.

Personally, I don't really care about the CW. I seldom watch the channel, but that's mostly because I am a young man. For the most part, I just don't gravitate towards the kind of shows they pick up. Hell, this network hasn't aired a comedy since Everybody Hates Chris ended it's four-year run two seasons ago. They don't consider themselves in that business anymore, just sticking to dramas.

But, I must also give credit where credit is due. Among the female-skewing shows the CW picks up, some of them are interesting genre shows that are able to appeal to wider audiences than one would expect. Supernatural is a series that's run just long enough to have aired on the CW's predecessor, the WB. (Long story there.) I've watched some of it, and it's really impressive. The same goes for this past season's freshman, Nikita, and I've also watched one episode of The Vampire Diaries, a drama whose female appeal is quite pronounced. And yet, that was also pretty good.

In any case, onto next season. One Tree Hill, a drama which had been on for three seasons when the WB shut down and the CW launched, will wait until midseason to start it's newest season. In addition, look for new reality shows The Frame and Re-Modeled come midseason.

There is substantially less ground to cover here than on the other networks for the fall schedule. You see, unlike the other broadcasters which simply take it easy on Saturday nights, the CW skips the weekend entirely. They only broadcast Mondays through Fridays, and with as much primetime space each night as the FOX network this adds up to a mere ten hours a week.

And in those ten hours, there's a lot of shifting about as the CW tries a big batch of new shows and shuffles it's deck of existing shows for the fall:

Mondays
8/7c - Gossip Girl (Drama; 5th Season)
9/8c - HART OF DIXIE (New Drama; Light drama with Rachel Bilson as a city doctor who defects to a small-town practice she inherits)

The thing that brings these two shows to the same table is the presence of producer Josh Schwartz, the creator of The O.C. As someone who's never seen it, or Gossip Girl I cannot judge of similarities between the two, although I've heard about similar themes. This new show, Hart of Dixie reunites Schwartz with former O.C. actress Bilson, and takes up an ambitious effort to reclaim "that old-school WB flav" (as I said, referring to the network's predecessor). The biggest parallel comes from Everwood, a drama that ran for the last four seasons the WB existed and had the similar premise of a city doctor uprooting his family and moving to the Rocky Mountains.

Tuesday
8/7c - 90210 (Drama; 4th Season; New Night)
9/8c - RINGER (New Drama; Sarah Michelle Gellar plays a woman on the run from the mob, and tries to take her twin's identity to protect herself)

The remake of 90210 tries its hand on the next night over, and all I can say it "More power to it". Following it is that CBS transplant I've mentioned earlier. Ringer brings the star of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer to the very network formed by the merger of the two that aired her old show.

Wednesday
8/7c - H8R (New Reality; Mario Lopez hosts the chronicle of celebrities who confront their biggest and fiercest critics)
9/8c - America's Next Top Model (Reality; 9th Year)

What makes this night distinctive is that it's the only night of the week without any dramas. Instead, one of these shows is the CW's single hit reality show, and the only series left that ran on the long-forgotten UPN. It only makes sense for this one show to stay put, and to try out more reality shows alongside it.

Thursdays
8/7c - The Vampire Diaries (Drama; 3rd Season)
9/8c - THE SECRET CIRCLE (New Drama; A woman discovers she's a witch and confronts a potential war going on)

Thursdays has their most popular show, The Vampire Diaries. Naturally, this season also sees another supernatural-themed series launching alongside it, a near-perfect match of one premise to the next.

Fridays
8/7c - Nikita (Drama; 2nd Season; New Night)
9/8c - Supernatural (Drama; 7th Season)

And Nikita, arguably the widest-appealing show the CW launched this past season moves to Fridays in it's second run, in the slot Smallville settled well into in it's final two seasons. Supernatural joined it last season, and both shows performed about up to the low standards for both the network, and Friday nights in general. This is one scenario where the night seems to work out best.

The shows not coming back are Hellcats, Life Unexpected, Shedding for the Wedding, and Smallville.