SOMETHING BORROWED, NOTHING NEW AFTER SUCCESS OF GAME SHOW, NETWORKS DECIDE WISTFUL FALL TV WAY TO GO.Byline: David Kronke Television Writer Next fall, there will be no need for cable networks like Nick at Nite and TV Land - the networks have thoughtfully repackaged all your nostalgic favorites in tidy, refurbished packages with shiny, new ribbons. Everything new is old again, as the networks mine series ideas past and present to cobble together cobble together Verb [-bling, -bled] to put together clumsily: a coalition cobbled together from parties with widely differing aims Verb 1. the freshman series on their fall schedules. For example: ``Tucker'' is a teen ``Malcolm in the Middle Malcolm in the Middle is a seven-time Emmy-winning,[1] one-time Grammy-winning[1] and seven-time Golden Globe-nominated[1] American sitcom created by Linwood Boomer for the Fox Network. .'' ``Gideon's Crossing'' transposes the righteous speechifying speech·i·fy intr.v. speech·i·fied, speech·i·fy·ing, speech·i·fies To give a speech: "In Washington, cabinet secretaries pose and speechify" Jonathan Alter. from ``The West Wing'' into a dedicated, caring ``Marcus Welby, M.D.'' with a dash - no doubt - of ``ER.'' ``Girlfriends'' is ``Sex and the City.'' So is ``The $treet,'' with an unholy combination of ``Dallas'' and ``Melrose Place'' thrown in for good measure. ``Don't Ask'' is ``Will & Grace'' meets ``Daddio.'' ``Geena'' is ``Sara'' in ``Something So Right.'' ``The Bette Show'' is ``The Larry Sanders For the television show and fictional character, see . Larry Sanders (born in New York) is an Oxfordshire County Councillor. He has lived in Oxford since 1969. He was trained professionally as a social worker and lawyer. Show'' meets ``Cybill.'' ``Night Visions'' revisits ``The Twilight Zone twilight zone - [IRC] Notionally, the area of cyberspace where IRC operators live. An op is said to have a "connection to the twilight zone". ,'' while ``Boston Public'' harkens back to ``Room 222.'' ``Deadline'' is a crime-fighting ``Lou Grant Lou Grant may refer to:
Companies that continue to operate even though they are insolvent. Also known as living dead. Notes: It's advisable to avoid investing in zombies at all costs their life expectancies are highly unpredictable. and werewolves. ``The Fugitive'' is, um, ``The Fugitive.'' We could go on, but we've gone three paragraphs in a story about TV without mentioning ``Who Wants to Be a Millionaire'' and could be sued for malpractice. Here's another thing we can attribute to Regis Philbin's quizzery: The networks have momentarily ceased wringing their hands over audiences lost to cable and the Internet. Of course, it's still happening: Scratch Regis from the schedule and the network hemorrhage continues. We don't really have any shows anymore that can be discussed around a water cooler at a company with even mildly diverse employees, except you know what. (Herewith here·with adv. 1. Along with this. 2. By this means; hereby. herewith Adverb Formal together with this: , a promise to dispense with To permit the neglect or omission of, as a form, a ceremony, an oath; to suspend the operation of, as a law; to give up, release, or do without, as services, attention, etc.; to forego; to part with To allow by dispensation; to excuse; to exempt; to grant dispensation to or for. all the lifeline and hot seat and final answer puns.) And so, the boggling success of something as retro as a game show apparently forced the networks into a re-evaluation of its goals: Maybe what's needed isn't something as confrontationally cutting-edge as ``Action'' or ``Wonderland'' or as recherche re·cher·ché adj. 1. Uncommon; rare. 2. Exquisite; choice. 3. Overrefined; forced. 4. Pretentious; overblown. as ``Freaks & Geeks,'' which were canceled last season. Maybe audiences are just hungry for the same old same old. Even Fox, which is famous for taking adventurous leaps with edgy programs, has an uncharacteristically bland schedule. An NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. executive even anonymously admitted to The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times that the network's new programming - tagline, ``The Quality Shows'' - is lousy. So the best we can do is be grateful that the summer Olympics will delay the fall season until October, whereupon the World Series will divert our attention away from it until November, at which point sweeps stunts will take up our time through December and that holiday programming will interrupt shows into January, when most of the worst stuff will have already been canceled. So, before the body is cold, let's autopsy next season: Diversity: Last year's hot-button topic confronting the networks was the shocking dearth of minority characters on virtually all of the white-bread series (very few of those series survived, incidentally). Many of the new series include minority supporting characters, particularly African-Americans and Asian-Americans. Four feature African-Americans in lead roles: ABC's ``Gideon's Crossing'' stars Emmy winner Andre Braugher as a passionate doctor, CBS' ``The Fugitive'' stars Mykelti Williamson as the fed tracking down accused murderer Tim Daly, David Alan Grier David Alan Grier (born June 30, 1955) is an American actor and comedian known for his work on the sketch comedy television show In Living Color. Biography Early life stars as a Secret Service agent in NBC's comedy ``DAG,'' and UPN UPN User Principal Name (Microsoft Windows 2000) UPN United Paramount Network UPN Unión del Pueblo Navarro (Navarrese People Union) UPN Umgekehrte Polnische Notation offers an ensemble comedy titled ``Girlfriends.'' On the other hand, Latinos remain woefully woe·ful also wo·ful adj. 1. Affected by or full of woe; mournful. 2. Causing or involving woe. 3. Deplorably bad or wretched: invisible (CBS (Cell Broadcast Service) See cell broadcast. rejected a Latino series from award-winning filmmaker Gregory Nava). Latino viewers will have to subscribe to Showtime in order to see their lives depicted on ``Resurrection Blvd.,'' which debuts next month. Stars who can't open a movie: Outside of Lisa Kudrow, none of the ``Friends'' has a particularly promising film career ahead (except maybe Jennifer Aniston, if she starts exhibiting some taste in the projects she selects). So what did NBC think it was buying when it ponied up that $750,000 per episode for the likes of David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc? As for Bette Midler, the reported $250,000 checks she'll be cashing for each episode of CBS' ``The Bette Show'' may after a single season amount to more than the grosses for her last two films, ``Isn't She Great'' and ``Drowning Mona.'' Oscar winner Geena Davis spent too much of the '90s starring in lame, money-pit action flicks directed by ex-husband Renny Harlin and recently played second-fiddle to a cartoon mouse, which may explain her willingness to star in an ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. sitcom. Charlie Sheen's action flicks devolved to the direct-to-video stage, so he jumped to Michael J. Fox's ``Spin City.'' Despite dash and elan, Gabriel Byrne hasn't quite become a marquee star, so he had a hand in developing the ABC sitcom ``The Madigan Men.'' And Oliver Platt enlivens any movie he's in, but doesn't seem to be leading-man material, so his move to star as an investigative journalist in NBC's ``Deadline'' is simply film's loss. New Yorkers: Never in danger of being underrepresented un·der·rep·re·sent·ed adj. Insufficiently or inadequately represented: the underrepresented minority groups, ignored by the government. on television, the Big Apple is home for at least seven new series (and still no Latino characters!). NBC offers up ``Deadline'' and ``The Steven Weber Show'' (starring the ``Wings'' actor as a man whose life is cursed by a vengeful blind date). CBS brings in an Indiana weatherman to gawk at skyscrapers on ``Welcome to New York'' (the show is executive-produced by former Indiana weatherman David Letterman). ABC's sitcoms ``Geena,'' ``Madigan Men'' and the paranoid ``People Who Fear People'' all take place there, while the street in question in Fox's soapy ``The $treet'' is Wall Street. Families: ``Malcolm in the Middle'' and ``Daddio'' proved what ``Everybody Loves Raymond'' already knew - that there was life left in the family sitcom - and ``Titus'' proved that those families could be very strange indeed. Hence, CBS' ``Yes, Dear,'' starring Anthony Clarke as a bumbling father; NBC's ``Tucker,'' a bald ``Malcolm'' ripoff; and Fox's ``Don't Ask,'' featuring John Goodman as a gay father. Byrne must contend with a teen-age son and an eccentric father in ``Madigan Men.'' ``Schimmel Schimmel is a German surname and may refer to:
adj. 1. Standing erect; upright: a standup collar. 2. Taken, done, or used while standing: a standup supper; a standup bar. comic Robert Schimmel as a long-suffering father, may show up - it was yanked from the schedule almost as soon as it was announced. In direct contrast to last season, there are virtually no new series focusing on teens. Last year, everyone tried to emulate the WB's young-and-cute formula for success (even the WB), and nobody (not even the WB) had any luck with it. On the other hand, adult generational dramas like ``Judging Amy'' and ``Providence'' strengthened their audience bases. Hence, more adult drama. Even the WB is skewing older - just a smidgen - with ``Gilmore Girls,'' a family story about a young mother and her teen daughter. CBS is offering the generational dramedy ``That's Life,'' about a Jersey 30-something who returns to college. The paranormal paranormal, adj 1. outside the realm of normal experience or scientific explanation. n 2. collective term for anomalous phenomena. : ``The X-Files'' has spawned many imitators, but no successes - NBC recently scrapped its entire Saturday night ``thrillogy'' - but that doesn't mean people won't keep trying. Fox is still insistently dipping into that well, with ``Dark Angel,'' from filmmaker James Cameron; ``Night Visions,'' a Serling-esque anthology series; ``Fearsum,''from one of the producers of ``The Blair Witch Project''; and ``The Lone Gunmen,'' the nerdy, conspiracy-minded ``X-Files'' spinoff. NBC has a midseason replacement, ``News From the Edge,'' which posits that everything you read about aliens and bat-boys in the supermarket tabloids is true. And now, projected winners on a night-by-night basis: Sunday: By default, ``Ed'' on NBC. Rob Burnett, head writer on ``Late Show With David Letterman “Late Show” redirects here. For other uses, see The Late Show. The Late Show with David Letterman is a multiple Emmy Award-winning hour-long weeknight comedy talk show broadcast by CBS from the Ed Sullivan Theater on Broadway in New York City. ,'' created this oddball dramedy - about a lawyer returning to his hometown and buying a bowling alley - that's more ``Northern Exposure'' than ``Providence,'' set in the surrealistically normal Midwest. This probably isn't the best place on the schedule for the show, since ``The Simpsons'' and ``Malcolm'' could usurp u·surp v. u·surped, u·surp·ing, u·surps v.tr. 1. To seize and hold (the power or rights of another, for example) by force and without legal authority. See Synonyms at appropriate. 2. its likely audience, but it at least has a better chance than a WB sitcom. Monday: CBS' ``Yes, Dear'' has a cushy cush·y adj. cush·i·er, cush·i·est Informal Making few demands; comfortable: a cushy job. [Origin unknown. spot on the schedule - between ``King of Queens'' and ``Everybody Loves Raymond'' - that even won the weak ``Ladies Man'' an OK audience last season. It's a more conventional family comedy in the manner of its surrounding programming, so if this is any better - and its clips had a couple of laughs, more than ``Ladies Man'' ever mustered - then it should fare well. ``Boston Public'' comes mere months after David E. Kelley - who still has ``Ally McBeal'' and ``The Practice'' on the air - conceded the dangers of spreading himself too thin. And with the perception that ``Ally's'' appeal is, well, thinning, ``Boston Public'' - its pilot hasn't even been shot yet - may not have enough sizzle siz·zle intr.v. siz·zled, siz·zling, siz·zles 1. To make the hissing sound characteristic of frying fat. 2. To seethe with anger or indignation. 3. to draw viewers. But the time seems right for a show set in a school that focuses on the adults, not the kids. Dick Wolf's ``Deadline'' stars Oliver Platt as a crusading, crime-fighting journalist. It's in pricey real estate (opposite football, ``Raymond'' and ``Ally''), but Wolf's ``Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' survived the slot last year and was moved to Fridays, where it thrived. (Wolf's enlisting real-life reporters to make cameo appearances on the show, so clearly, he's not aiming for telegenic tel·e·gen·ic adj. Having a physical appearance and exhibiting personal qualities that are deemed highly appealing to television viewers: "Do we insist on a telegenic President?" William F. faces as he did with the WB's ``D.C.'') Tuesday: Cameron's high-tech thriller ``Dark Angel'' should help Fox immeasurably, even if it tries too hard to cram lots of backstory back·sto·ry n. 1. The experiences of a character or the circumstances of an event that occur before the action or narrative of a literary, cinematic, or dramatic work: and mythology into its early shows. More to the point, it should chip away at the WB's celebrated Tuesday pairing of ``Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and ``Angel.'' Wednesday: CBS' ``The Bette Show'' has emerged as the most highly anticipated series of the upcoming season, as everyone seems anxious to watch Midler send up her persona on a weekly basis. The question, though, is once you get past the jokes about her not winning an Oscar for ``The Rose'' and the fact that much of her fan base is gay and that she isn't svelte - all covered in the introductory five-minute clip from the pilot - how many Bette-specific jokes can you tell every week? ``Gideon's Crossing'' on ABC offers Andre Braugher as a compassionate yet commanding physician. It's filled with the sort of stirring, if-we-don't-help-our-fellow-man-who-will? monologues that brings 'em to their feet over at ``The West Wing.'' Trouble is, it's on opposite ``Law & Order,'' one of TV's few sure bets these days. Thursday: Lauren Graham's NBC sitcom ``M.Y.O.B.'' hasn't even debuted yet in order to get canceled, and she's already receiving kudos for her upcoming WB series, ``Gilmore Girls,'' about a young mother and her teen daughter running a bed-and-breakfast. It's on opposite ``Friends,'' but ``Popular'' was able to carve out to make or get by cutting, or as if by cutting; to cut out. - Shak. See also: Carve a niche audience in that time slot last year. Friday: CBS has a couple of promising shows, with the no-brainer remake of ``The Fugitive'' and the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced ``C.S.I.'' about forensic investigators in Las Vegas. But as successful as these shows should be on Fridays, they'd be that much stronger elsewhere on the network's schedule. ``C.S.I.,'' on the other hand, might attract the same viewers staying home to watch NBC's cop procedural ``Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.'' Saturday: With the other networks abnegating Saturday nights - ABC and NBC will run movies - it's CBS' night to lose. ``The District'' looks like good, old-fashioned programming for Saturday night cocooners, with a proven star (Craig T. Nelson Craig T. Nelson (born Craig Richard Nelson on April 4, 1944 in Spokane, Washington) is an American actor. He has appeared in numerous motion pictures. He starred in three television shows, Coach, Call to Glory and The District. of ``Coach'') and premise (a top cop cleans up crime in a troubled city - Washington, D.C., to be precise). As for the losers, there's really only one: People who don't like ``Who Wants to Be a Millionaire:'' It's on all over ABC's schedule, and something you do enjoy will probably be scheduled opposite it, meaning a likely quick cancellation. Sorry. CAPTION(S): 11 photos, box Photo: (1 -- 4 -- cover -- color) Clockwise from left: CBS' "The Bette Show," the WB's "Grosse Pointe," Fox's "Dark Angel' and ABC's "Gideon's Crossing." Cover design by Lori Valesko (5) Anthony LaPaglia, second from right, and John Goodman co-star as single fathers who redefine the family unit when they share a home in ``Don't Ask.'' (6 -- 7) Geena Davis, left, stars in her own ABC sitcom aptly titled ``Geena.'' Mykelti Williamson, right, is Lt. Phillip Gerard in the updated version of ``The Fugitive.'' (8) Steven Weber returns to TV in ``The Steven Weber Show'' on NBC. (9) Stand-up comedian Robert Schimmel's show may or may not be a go. (10) Jessica Alba is a sci-fi fighters in Fox's ``Dark Angel.'' (11) Lauren Graham, left, and Alexis Bledel are the ``Gilmore Girls,'' WB's family story about a young mother and her teen daughter. Box: Prime Time 2000-2001 |
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