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This featured article is one of a series in which pilots each of the networks have ordered to series for the coming fall schedule are listed in detail. Skip to the bottom to find links to others and more information.
We're coming to the end of the upfront presentations, with Fox and The CW bringing up the rear. I'll get to The CW if my back quits barking at me, which isn't likely, so it's pretty obvious which of these two gets first billing.
Fox has been creaming everyone in sight with American Idol and House, yet both of those series are just about done. House only has one more episode left for this season, and I couldn't even begin to guess how many Idol's are left since I don't watch, but it can't be more than a few.
Unlike all other networks, Fox can take the most risks because they have virtually nothing to lose. They are not in need of new series at this point and could live off of what they got all year if they chose to. Oddly enough, their slate seems to be the most balanced of all the networks, with 4 new sitcoms, 4 dramas, and 3 reality shows.
Once again, this only offers a look inside new series, not those that have been renewed. As was previously the case, you can skip to a particular genre if you'd like (Sitcom, Drama, Reality) or take them one at a time.
This one makes no sense from top to bottom, but it's shiny, so Fox likes it. Neither Lavin nor Damiani have any credible history on imdb (Lavin has none at all) and the show is described as a hybrid, half comedy, half reality. Brian Gadinsky is attached as an executive producer, coming over from American Idol.
Anchorwoman is described thusly: "a supermodel settles down in a southern Texas town and becomes an anchorwoman for the local news". Six episodes ordered, which means with Fox's temperament, about half that will ever make it to air.
synopsis: A supermodel becomes an anchorwoman for the local news station in a southern Texas town.
Both have written for Frasier and Wings, which means they should have a very good sense of what funny is and how to run a show. It shouldn't be any surprise then that Kelsey Grammer has signed on to star, moving from the radio mic to a news anchors desk. Fox must have something for news anchors this year.
The sitcom is based on a team of news anchors in 1990's Pittsburgh, after one of the team moved up the ladder only to be knocked back down a few notches. Pretty typical setup for a sitcom where the employees play off of each other, but mostly their bosses. 13 episodes ordered, might be worth a look.
synopsis: A pair of star news anchors work together at a local TV station.
Sherman is an EP coming off the freshly canceled Gilmore Girls and has been doing sitcoms as far back as Roseanne both as a writer and producer. She is more than qualified to helm this series on her own, so the question is will it be any good?
A woman who isn't on good terms with her sister decides to ask her sister to carry a baby for her, because she can't have one. Sounds like a drama setup to me, but whatever. It's weaved too tight to be a good sitcom so I'm not sure she had a solid comedy premise, cause I'm not seeing the funny.
synopsis: When a newly single professional woman learns she's unable to conceive, she looks to her estranged younger sister to carry her baby for her.
Again we've got another series with two creators who have no credits in imdb, meaning they haven't a clue what they are doing and probably aren't running the show, so we've got to look to the attached executive producers, of which this show has at least four. A couple of those have no credits either. That's bad news people, rookies running a show is never a good sign.
And then it hit me. Two of the EP's are the Farrelly brothers, gods amongst comedy men. I don't know if they can save this premise though: people in their 30's trying to date again. Ugh.
synopsis: A 35-year old guy who got married right out of college finds himself newly divorced and ill-prepared to re-enter the dating scene.
Forget Erickson, the guy has a short string of really bad TV movies to his name and not much else. What really matters is that Denis Leary is onboard as an EP, which was inevitable with the success of Rescue Me, which by the way is a fantastic show that I don't have time for because there are way too many cool dramas on cable these days.
Fox owns FX, so Fox knows Leary, and Leary as an EP and I guess as a writer can produce good drama. This series could really be a hit if the premise rings true with viewers. Julianna Margulies stars as an attorney "who's willing to bend the law in order to protect the wrongfully accused." Could have a winner here folks, make a point to watch this one.
synopsis: A television pilot centered on a female attorney.
Lisco has written for NYPD Blue and a TV movie but doesn't have a lot of history beyond that. His first producing gig was as a co-producer, which is very odd, so as is getting usual, we'll look to the attached EP's to find out who is really running this show.
Welp, bad news, there aren't any of significance. In fact the only thing that seems worth mentioning is that Cole Hauser is starring. Well, at least there's that.
This is a cop drama set in a post-Katrina semi-apocolyptic New Orleans, and I'll tell you something, Steven Spielberg did a drama on ABC a number of years ago that Cole Hauser was in called High Incident which was fantastic -- so this is a terrific fit for Hauser. I'm going to watch this just to see him, I'm letting the entire series ride on his shoulders.
synopsis: Police officers patrol the streets of New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Loeb is primarily a feature writer and probably won't be doing much writing for this series. Taylor is fresh off management experience for Lost and has written for Alan Ball's Six Feet Under.
Another cop drama, this one is "unlike any other" in that he's really smart and reckless, because there aren't any other really smart and reckless cops on TV right now. Also, he's 365 years old. He's immortal apparently because he saved a Native American girl in 1642 that can cast immortality spells -- forget the fact that Native Americans didn't cast spells or anything remotely like that. So now this guy stalks the mean streets of New York City (because there aren't cops anywhere else in the country it seems) who never ages. How exciting!
synopsis: A New York homicide detective is cursed with immortality.
You've almost certainly heard about this show based on the Terminator franchise, starring Thomas Dekker (Heroes, until he found out his character was going to be gay, then his manager pulled him) has John Conner. This show is set after T2 but before T3.
This is being headed up by Josh Friedman, which is very strange since he's a feature writer and as far as I know has never so much as come within 100 feet of a writers room before. Still, he wrote the script for the remake of War of the Worlds (good or bad, depending on how you look at it) and I read his blog, so we're obviously best buddies and I've got the inside scoop on this. Want me to let you in? Okay..
It's gonna suck. Sorry. All due respect Josh, this is Jim Cameron's sandbox and everybody else needs to get the hell out.
synopsis: Set after the events in 'Terminator 2' Sarah Connor and her son John, trying to stay under-the-radar from the government as they plot to destroy the computer network Skynet in hopes of preventing Armageddon.
Reality shows, what else is there to say? Gordon Ramsay (a temperamental chef of some sort) goes across the country trying to fix restaurants with severe problems. ... And that's about it. Like I said, it's a reality show.
synopsis: 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 Search for the Next Great American Band
From: A bunch of producers from American Idol
Sorry for the lack of links (there are none) and the brevity, it's pretty self explanatory though. Fox got high snorting Idol and now they want to shoot up with whole bands, which is probably going to be better because bands actually require skill and talent instead of just being lucky to have been born with a nice voice and face.
synopsis: The producers behind mega-hit phenomenon AMERICAN IDOL take the musical reality genre to a whole new level when ... blah blah blah.
I have no solid information on this series other than is supposedly places women positions of power, which they are supposedly unfamiliar with. Kind of sexist, don't you think? Yep, it's on Fox!
synopsis: N/A
I'll update this when Fox releases the time slot information. Until them, feel free to browse the previous articles in this series to see what the other networks will have on the air this fall.
If I can, I'll do The CW later tonight.
This featured article is one of a series in which pilots each of the networks have ordered to series for the coming fall schedule are listed in detail. As each network takes their turn making official "upfront" announcements this coming week (May 14-17) these pages may be updated at any time. Much of this information has been gathered from outside sources. A huge thanks to The Futon Critic for making their development tracker available to the public. Without it, this series would not even be possible.
Part 1: NBC, Part 2: ABC, Part 3: CBS, Part 4: Fox, Part 5: The CW. (links will go live as new parts become available.)
