Network midseason guide
David
Midseason 2004: ABC Series
By Daniel Fienberg
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The Big House
Premieres: Friday, April 2 at 8:30 p.m. ET
Airs: Fridays at 8:30 p.m. ET
This is the story of how Kevin Hart's life got twisted upside down.
You see, in West Malibu he was born and raised, in the shopping mall
was where he spent most of his days, chilling out, maxing, relaxing
all cool. But his father was up to no good, and was arrested for
embezzling millions. Next thing you know, Kevin is living with his
aunt (Arnetia Walker) and uncle (Keith David) in West Philadelphia.
With "Scary Movie 3" comic Hart starring, writing and executive
producing, "The Big House" hopes to show that it's more than "The
Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" in reverse. Probably the sitcom, which
co-stars Faizon Love ("Elf"), Yvette Nicole Brown and Aaron Grady,
wouldn't mind a little of that Alfonso Ribeiro.
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The D.A.
Premieres: To Be Announced
Airs: To Be Announced
Try not to get too emotionally invested in this standard issue legal
drama from James Duff ("Enterprise"). Despite featuring former Los
Angeles District Attorney Gil Garcetti as a consulting producer, ABC
has only committed to giving "The D.A." a four-episode limited run.
Steven Weber stars as David Franks, an ambitious district attorney
with his eye on higher elective office. Bruno Campos ("Jesse"), Sarah
Paulson ("Leap of Faith"), J.K. Simmons ("Oz") and Michaela Conlin
co-star. Felicity Huffman ("Sports Night") is signed to guest star in
the final three episodes of the series, which finds the men and women
of the district attorney's office battling the usual array of moral
and ethic quandaries.
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Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital
Premieres: Wednesday, March 3 at 9 p.m. ET
Airs: Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET
Proprietary credit aside, this 15-hour event (which could be spun off
into an ongoing series) is reported quite close to Lars Van Trier's
Danish miniseries "Riget." Brat Packer Andrew McCarthy, Oscar nominees
Bruce Davidson and Diane Ladd, Jack Coleman and medical drama veteran
Ed Begley, Jr. ("St. Elsewhere") star in this horror and humor-tinged
drama about a haunted hospital and the doctors and patients within.
The only new character is Coleman's Peter Rickman, a famous author who
finds himself in Kingdom Hospital after getting hit by a drunk driver.
No bonus points for guessing where King, who wrote all 15 hours, came
up with that character.
Midseason 2004: CBS Series
By Rick Porter
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Century City
Premieres: Tuesday, March 16 at 9 p.m. ET
Airs: Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET
Set in the year 2030, "Century City" is a legal drama that explores
some what-if issues, such as selective genetics and a different kind
of identity theft, through the cases handled by a firm in the city of
the title. An early episode also includes the line -- no kidding --
"Give me back my nano-pants" (we're assuming that's hyphenated).
Hector Elizondo ("Chicago Hope"), Nestor Carbonell ("Suddenly Susan,"
"The Tick"), Viola Davis ("City of Angels") and Ioan Gruffudd
("Horatio Hornblower") are part of the ensemble cast.
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The Stones
Premieres: Wednesday, March 17 at 9:30 p.m. ET
Airs: Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. ET
Barbara and Stan Stone (comedy veterans Judith Light and Robert Klein)
decide, after 25 years of marriage, that they should get a divorce.
The news throws their two grown kids, research scientist Winston (Jay
Baruchel, "Undeclared") and photographer Karly (Lindsay Sloane,
"Grosse Pointe"), for a loop -- as does the fact that their folks will
still live in the same house. "Will & Grace" creators Max Mutchnick
and David Kohan and Kohan's sister Jenji are the creative team behind
this sitcom, which should fit nicely in the spot vacated by the
most-likely-retired "Becker."
Midseason 2004: FOX Series
By Daniel Fienberg
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Cracking Up
Premieres: Tuesday, March 9 at 9:30 p.m. ET
Airs: Mondays at 8:30 p.m. ET
From the always twisted and often twistedly funny mind of Mike White
("Chuck and Buck," "Pasadena") comes a new comedy about a family so
dysfunctional, you'd swear they were your own. A psychology graduate
student ("Rushmore" star Jason Schwartzman) moves in with the
Shackleton family to counsel their son Tanner (Bret Loehr), only to
discover that it's the rest of the family that's insane. Molly Shannon
and Christopher McDonald star.
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Forever Eden
Premieres: Monday, March 1 at 9 p.m. ET
Airs: Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET
When it was originally conceived, FOX's "Paradise Hotel" was designed
as a reality show without an end. However, after a lengthy summer run,
several arbitrary winners were selected and the series went off the
air. The producers of that guilty pleasure are back with "Forever
Eden," which once again promises to be reality television's equivalent
of the perpetual motion machine. Attractive singles go off to a remote
luxury resort where they could hypothetically stay forever unless
they're removed (through some yet-to-be-determined process) or they
quit. Along the way, players accumulate prize money for hanging
around, cash that they can't pick up if they choose to quit. Expect
lots of surprises, twists, abs, breast implants and wanton hooking up.
FOX spokespeople vehemently deny that "Paradise Hotel" star Toni will
make any "Forever Eden" appearances.
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The Jury
Premieres: To Be Announced
Airs: To Be Announced
Even though casting on "The Jury" was still ongoing at the end of
2003, FOX has put the show on a fast-track, ordering six episodes,
which could start airing at just about any time, so don't look back,
this drama from Tom Fontana and Barry Levinson ("Homicide: Life on the
Street") could be gaining on you. The show's conceit is that each week
a new set of rotating lawyers presents a different case to a brand new
jury. Billy Burke ("24") and Keenan O'Brien play two of the
prosecutors, while Shalom Harlow is a prominent defense attorney.
Other regulars include Adam Busch's ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer")
bailiff and an intern played by Cote de Pablo. Levinson cameos as a
stern, no-nonsense judge.
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Still Life
Premieres: To Be Announced
Airs: To Be Announced
Presented to critics last July as a midseason offering, but seeming
supplanted by "The Jury," the metaphysical family drama "Still Life"
remains, like its lead character, in limbo. Jake, you see, is dead. He
also narrates the series, as he watches his parents (David Keith and
Susanna Thompson) and his three siblings (Jensen Ackles, Audrey Marie
Anderson and Jeanette Brox) try to move on with their lives without
him. The series was created by Kip Koenig and former "Buffy the
Vampire Slayer" executive producer Marti Noxon joined the team after
the pilot. Six episodes of "Still Life" have reportedly been shot.
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Wonderfalls
Premieres: Friday, March 12 at 9 p.m. ET
Airs: Fridays at 9 p.m. ET
The year's most appealing, confounding and wildly eccentric pilot
finally makes its way onto FOX's schedules. Dubbing by creator Bryan
Fuller ("Dead Like Me") as "Touched by a Crazy Person," the show stars
Caroline Dhavernas as an overqualified clerk at a Niagara Falls gift
shop who suspects her sanity when the inanimate objects in the story
begin talking to her. When the inanimate objects -- including a
misshapen plastic lion and the eagle on the back of a coin -- lead her
to help the lives of those around her, she begins to listen.
"Wonderfalls" is a darker and funnier spin on CBS' freshman hit "Joan
of Arcadia," which happens to provide an atypical off-network lead-in.
The pilot is full of visual effects and unexpected touches, but it
remains to be seen how that converts to a week-to-week series.
Midseason 2004: NBC Series
By Rick Porter
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Come to Papa
Premieres: March
Airs: To Be Announced
Tom Papa has dreams. Unfortunately, he also has a job and a wife, so
he's kind of stuck. Stand-up comic Papa plays a guy named Tom Papa, a
reporter for a New Jersey news paper with aspirations of making it as
a comedy writer. His wife, Karen (Jennifer Aspen, "Bob Patterson"), is
a bright spot in his life, but his overbearing boss at work ("The
Daily Show's" exceedingly funny Steve Carell) and a belligerent
mailman (former NBA player John Salley) are not. Robert Patrick
Benedict ("Felicity") plays Judah, a long-time friend living off his
trust fund, despite the fact that it pays him only $8,000 a year.
Midseason 2004: UPN Series
By Daniel Fienberg
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Game Over
Premieres: Wednesday, March 10 at 8 p.m. ET
Airs: Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET
This season, the television networks have joined the Kingston Trio in
singing, "Where have all the young men gone?" One answer has been that
young male viewers are now too busy playing video games. UPN tries to
cut into that audience with "Game Over," a computer animated comedy
that goes behind the scenes with a family of video game characters,
the Smashenburns. The father, Rip (voiced by Patrick Warburton), is an
unsuccessful racecar driver. The mother, Raquel (Lucy Liu), raises a
family while raiding tombs and fighting monsters. They have two
teenage kids and a big obnoxious pet. With cameos by real-life video
game characters and a constant slew of in-jokes, UPN hopes to lure the
young men to primetime, though it may take some heavy promotion to
explain why this series in in primetime at all.
Midseason 2004: The WB Series
By Rick Porter
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The Help
Premieres: Friday, March 5 at 9:30 p.m. ET
Airs: Fridays at 9:30 p.m. ET
"Married ... with Children" creator Ron Leavitt has made scads of
money from the long-running FOX series. He started to wonder if his
maid really wanted those old clothes he left out for her or resented
his wealth, and thus was born "The Help," a class-conflict comedy
about the wealthy Ridgeway family and the people who work for them.
Brenda Strong ("Everwood," "Sports Night") stars as self-centered
matriarch Arlene Ridgeway, while "Married" alum David Faustino plays
her eldest son. Fellow Gen-X TV touchstones Mindy Cohn and Tori
Spelling also have roles on the show, with Cohn playing the family's
cook and Spelling their professional dog walker. Keri Lynn Pratt,
Antonio Sabato Jr. and Al Santos also star.
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High School Reunion 2
Premieres: March 14 at 9 p.m. ET
Airs: Sundays at 9 p.m. ET
There's more drama in paradise as creator Mike Fleiss ("The Bachelor")
takes a new batch of high-school classmates and plops them down in
Hawaii to sort through their decade-old issues. This year's class
hails from Round Rock, Texas, and includes the typical mix of
Homecoming Queen, Nerd, Popular Girl and Jock. There's also a couple
who married shortly after high school but are now divorced -- she
wants to get back together, he's not sure -- and three women who dated
the ex-husband and are steamed because the ex-wife broke them up. All
that's in just the first two episodes.
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Summerland
Premieres: Summer
Airs: To Be Announced
Fashion designer Ava (Lori Loughlin) has herself a pretty great life
-- a good job, a sweet beach house and a close-knit group of friends
that have become like family to her. All of it gets thrown in the air,
however, when her sister and brother-in-law die in a car accident and
she takes in their three children: 16-year-old Bradin (Jesse
McCartney), brooding 12-year-old Nikki (Kay Panabaker) and 8-year-old
Derrick (Nick Benson). As the kids try to adjust to a new life without
their parents, Ava has to come to terms with the responsibility she
now bears.
Midseason 2004: Network Movies and Specials
By Daniel Fienberg
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ABC
The Mystery of Natalie Wood
Airs: Monday, March 1 at 8 p.m. ET
Oscar nominee Peter Bogdanovich ("The Last Picture Show") helms this
look at the life and mysterious death of Natalie Wood ("West Side
Story"). Relative newcomer Justine Waddell plays Wood, while Michael
Weatherly ("Dark Angel," "Navy: NCIS") co-stars as Wood's two-time
husband Robert Wagner. Friends and loved ones from Wood's past were
interviewed for the project and those interviews -- with figures
including actors Margaret O-Brien and Robert Vaughn and director Henry
Jaglom -- appear throughout the film. The three-hour project is based
on biographies by Suzanne Finstad and Warren G. Harris and a teleplay
by Elizabeth Egloff ("The Reagans").
Super Millionaire
Airs: Feb. 22 to 27 (9 p.m. ET premiere, all other nights 10 p.m. ET)
So, you want to win $10,000,000. The show that both saved and almost
killed a network is back with a five-night February run. ABC is
counting on the idea that the reason viewers ultimately rejected "Who
Wants to Be a Millionaire?" wasn't that they were sick to death of the
entire premise, but that they just wanted to see people have the
chance to win more money. Thus, Regis will be back and the lifelines
will be back and that obnoxious pulse-pounding music will be back, but
the stakes will be raised. Expect new lifelines, harder questions and
the return of "Is that your final answer?" as America's hottest catch
phrase. And if this special works out, ABC seems to have 10 or 15
programming holes where "Millionaire" would look just perfect.
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CBS
Helter Skelter
Airs: To Be Announced
Pay no attention to CBS Entertainment President Nancy Tellem when she
says that this telefilm is intended to "celebrate" the 35th
anniversary of the Manson killings. No, CBS' reason for returning to
this fertile creative ground is that they found an actor who looks
terrifyingly like Charles Manson. Jeremy Davies, best known to fans of
films like "Three Kings" and "Spanking the Monkey," plays the
homicidal cult leader and songwriter. The last time CBS adapted
Vincent Bugliosi's seminal piece of crime nonfiction, it became the
highest rated two-part original movie in television history, so this
version -- which focuses more closely on the Manson psyche and how he
was able to seduce his followers -- should have a built in audience.
John Gray ("Martin and Lewis") directs a cast that also includes Bruno
Kirby, Clea Duvall, Allison Smith and Margeurite Moreau.
Scott Turow's Reversible Error
Airs: To Be Announced
Scott Turrow's best-selling novel comes to the small screen in this
four-hour telefilm, which has one of the strongest casts of the
spring. William H. Macy, Tom Selleck, Monica Potter, Felicity Huffman
and Glenn Plummer star in the story of a corporate lawyer (Macy) who
finds himself drafting the final appeal for a death row inmate who may
be innocent. Mike Robe ("Shake, Rattle and Roll") directs from an
adaptation by Alan Sharp ("Rob Roy").
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FOX
The Littlest Groom
Airs: Monday, Feb. 16 and Feb. 23 at 8 p.m. ET
If we were more cynical, we might suggest that this special is FOX
reality programming hitting a new low. Fortunately, advocacy groups
for "Little People" have already either condemned the show for making
light of the plight of midgets and dwarves or praised the show for
giving a voice and an on-screen presence to the under-sized. That kind
of ambiguity should help make this truncated dating show intriguing.
Dani Behr ("Boy Meets Boy") hosts, as a 4'5" Glen looks for love in a
group of 12 women. Some of the possible mates are fellow little people
and some are of average size. Will he find love with a woman of his
own stature or will he find compatibility with a larger lady?
That's Just Wrong
Airs: Friday, Feb. 6 at 9 p.m. ET
If we were more cynical, we might suggest that this special is FOX
reality programming hitting a new low. Oh. Wait. This one actually
sounds fairly innocuous (despite the tempting title). Twins Elaine and
Diane host a special laden with absurd contests, perplexing stunts and
video clips of generally unbelievable behavior. For example, watch
on-location commentator Chris Meyers present tangible displays of just
how powerful the engine of a 747 is. Or observe man-on-the-street
reporter Eric Edelstein as he tempts people to shave their entire
bodies for prizes. How low are people willing to go? FOX has yet to
find humanity's nadir.
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NBC
Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of "Charlie's Angels"
Airs: Monday, March 8 at 9 p.m. ET
NBC's strategy of doing behind-the-scenes movies based on other
networks' television shows continues with this expose on ABC's
"Charlie's Angels." From the good people who brought you "Behind the
Camera: The Unauthorized Story of 'Three's Company,'" this telefilm
documents the rise of Farrah Fawcett-Majors (Tricia Helfer), Jaclyn
Smith (Christina Chambers) and Kate Jackson (Lauren Stamile) as they
became famous sex symbols as well as the price of that fame. Dan
Castellaneta ("The Simpsons") is inspired casting as the show's
producer, Aaron Spelling.
10.5
Airs: May
Get ready to shake, rattle and roll as NBC has fun destroying the
Western seaboard in a miniseries that calls to mind the Irwin Allen
disaster films of the 1970s. Kim Delaney stars as a earthquake expert
desperately trying to convince her superiors that a series of large
earthquakes on the West Coast are merely a prelude to "The Big One."
Other plot lines involve the president (Beau Bridges) and a couple
surgeons (Dule Hill and Ivan Segei) trying to help earthquake victims.
Hearts will be tugged and normal people will become heroes, but at the
end of the day, viewers will mostly tune in to watch things get
destroyed. Scenes screened for television critics featured Seattle's
Space Needle collapsing and the Golden Gate Bridge doing the same. As
long as this telefilm has enough of those chaotic money shots, people
will watch.
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PBS
Prime Suspect VI: The Last Witness
Airs: Sunday, April 18 and 25 (check local listings)
Fans of the long-running "Prime Suspect" series know that Helen
Mirren's Jane Tennison is one detective you don't want to mess with.
Emmy voters have agreed, giving the Dame four nominations and one win
for her work in previous installments. Years have past since we last
saw Tennison and she's older, if not necessarily wiser. Now working
the murder beat out of London (after years in Manchester), Tennison
still has to butt heads with her superiors to prove her value. Peter
Berry ("The Luzhin Defense") wrote the script, with Tom Hooper
("Daniel Deronda") directing.
Lexy
Correcting an error: (regarding Summerland) Ava is NOT a fashion
designer.Shes a lawyer.her friend Susannah(now Merrin Dungey) is the
fashion designer.And the kids' parents don't die in a car
accident.They die in a fire,which takes place off screen.
Yeechang Lee
> Century City
> Premieres: Tuesday, March 16 at 9 p.m. ET
> Airs: Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET
>
> Set in the year 2030,
Changed from the original 2053.
> "Century City" is a legal drama that explores some what-if issues,
> such as selective genetics and a different kind of identity theft,
> through the cases handled by a firm in the city of the title.
Unclear, but this may also have been changed from the original
premise, which set the law firm in LA (and presumably its Century City
neighborhood).
> Cracking Up
> Premieres: Tuesday, March 9 at 9:30 p.m. ET
> Airs: Mondays at 8:30 p.m. ET
>
> From the always twisted and often twistedly funny mind of Mike White
> ("Chuck and Buck," "Pasadena") comes a new comedy about a family so
> dysfunctional, you'd swear they were your own. A psychology graduate
> student ("Rushmore" star Jason Schwartzman) moves in with the
> Shackleton family to counsel their son Tanner (Bret Loehr), only to
> discover that it's the rest of the family that's insane. Molly Shannon
> and Christopher McDonald star.
_Arrested Development_ clone.
> Game Over
> Premieres: Wednesday, March 10 at 8 p.m. ET
> Airs: Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET
With shows like these, why does UPN even bother trying? (And I say
this as someone who *enjoyed* _Jake 2.0_.
> The Help
> Premieres: Friday, March 5 at 9:30 p.m. ET
> Airs: Fridays at 9:30 p.m. ET
>
> "Married ... with Children" creator Ron Leavitt has made scads of
> money from the long-running FOX series. He started to wonder if his
> maid really wanted those old clothes he left out for her or resented
> his wealth, and thus was born "The Help," a class-conflict comedy
> about the wealthy Ridgeway family and the people who work for them.
> Brenda Strong ("Everwood," "Sports Night") stars as self-centered
> matriarch Arlene Ridgeway, while "Married" alum David Faustino plays
> her eldest son. Fellow Gen-X TV touchstones Mindy Cohn and Tori
> Spelling also have roles on the show, with Cohn playing the family's
> cook and Spelling their professional dog walker. Keri Lynn Pratt,
> Antonio Sabato Jr. and Al Santos also star.
Unusual combination of veteran stars (Faustino, Cohn, Spelling) and
wannabe stars (Sabato, Pratt, Santos).
--
Read my Deep Thoughts @ <URL:http://www.ylee.org/blog/> PERTH ----> *
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Ian J. Ball
>
>Correcting an error: (regarding Summerland) Ava is NOT a fashion
>designer.Shes a lawyer.her friend Susannah(now Merrin Dungey) is the
>fashion designer.And the kids' parents don't die in a car
>accident.They die in a fire,which takes place off screen.
If you are going to correct one series out of 30, would it kill you to delete
all the text pertaining to the other 29 series in your reply?! Sheesh...
--
Ian J. Ball | http://homepage.mac.com/IJBall/TV.html
IJB...@aol.com |