Re: 2006-07 Primetime Television

[MadAdder]

Alright, I'm posting this mostly to gauge everyone's interests in the upcoming Fall television series. A lot of now shows are going to be premiering, and critics are saying that this will definitely be one of the better seasons in recent years, at least when it comes to new series. I mean, does anyone ever watch anything that premiered in '06 other than maybe My Name is Earl or The Office? And I don't think that many shows that premiered last year are coming back either. I work in television, but I started a new job on a show about a month ago, so I haven't had much time to watch TV lately (except maybe Dodgers baseball and Grey's Anatomy, definitely my fave right now), but I understand that networks are doing a LOT to hype their new shows, NBC in particular (who are really trying to get back into the ratings race).

Basically with the poll I'm listing some of the shows that have generated the most hype so far, and asking what you guys would choose to watch. Granted, premieres are a month away, but I'm throwing it out there now regardless.

Here are the shows that I listed in the poll and a quick synopsis from TVGuide.com about some new Fall shows, I'll add my thoughts in a new post -

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (NBC, Monday, 10 pm/ET)

Aaron Sorkin reteams with West Wing exec producer Thomas Schlamme for a drama about the politics and romance that take place behind the scenes of a sketch-comedy show. Matthew Perry, Amanda Peet and Bradley Whitford star.

The Nine (ABC, Wednesday, 10 pm/ET)

After having been held hostage for 52 hours during a botched bank robbery, nine people discover their lives have changed forever. Each episode will begin with a 10-minute flashback to the hostage crisis, revealing how the experience has linked the characters to each other in the present. The cast includes Chi McBride, Tim Daly, Kim Raver and Scott Wolf.

Smith (CBS, Tuesday, 10 pm/ET)

Ray Liotta is Bobby Stevens, an expert thief who leads a double life. While his wife (Virginia Madsen) thinks he?s holding down a 9-to-5 job, he?s really leading a tight-knit crew of bandits in a series of big heists, hoping to make enough money to retire from crime. Jonny Lee Miller, Franky G, Simon Baker and Amy Smart costar.

Vanished (FOX, Monday, 9 pm/ET)

Two FBI agents (Gale Harold and Ming-Na) and a reporter (Rebecca Gayheart) investigate the disappearance of a prominent senator?s wife and uncover clues to a larger conspiracy.

Kidnapped (NBC, Wednesday, 10 pm/ET)

When the teenage son of a wealthy New York family is kidnapped, the police, the FBI and the family?s private negotiating team must play an elaborate game to find him. Jeremy Sisto, Delroy Lindo, Dana Delany, Timothy Hutton, Mykelti Williamson, Linus Roache, Carmen Ejogo, Will Denton and Boris McGiver star.

30 Rock (NBC, Wednesday, 8:30 pm/ET)

Tina Fey writes, exec-produces and stars as Liz, the head writer of a (you guessed it) TV variety show in New York City. Alec Baldwin and Tracy Morgan are the network president and unpredictable movie star (respectively) who make her life difficult.

Friday Night Lights (NBC, Tuesday, 8 pm/ET)

Based on the feature film of the same name, this drama centers on a small Texas town where high-school football is everything. Kyle Chandler plays the champion team?s new head coach.

The Class  (CBS, Monday, 8:30 pm/ET)

A group of twentysomethings (Jason Ritter and an ensemble of relative newcomers) who were in the third grade together decide to reunite on the 20th anniversary of the day they met. Once they?ve shared memories of the playground, their lives intersect in unexpected ways.

Six Degrees (ABC, Thursday, 10 pm/ET)

J.J. Abrams? newest drama examines the theory that all strangers are connected to each other by at most six degrees of separation. Jay Hernandez, Bridget Moynahan, Hope Davis, Campbell Scott, Dorian Missick and Erika Christensen star as six New Yorkers who discover their lives are intertwined.

[MadAdder]

First off, I'm extremely biased because I'm working on Studio 60 as a PA, so obviously I'm going to want people to watch that show. The Pilot is out on Netflix, and if you liked West Wing you'll probably like Studio 60. I think Tommy Schlamme and Aaron Sorkin are definitely among the best in the biz at what they do (directing and writing, respectively). Add in a strong cast, and I really don't see how this show can't succeed (well, unless a ton of people watch CSI: Miami in that timeslot instead). I know a lot of people will say that this show has a liberal bias, but I honestly think that it's a little balanced. Yeah, it takes some shots, but it also gives some props to the same places.

I've heard great things about The Nine, and I know some of the people working on it, it should be a solid show. I work with some of the people who did the pilot of Smith (a lot of them worked on West Wing and were under contract with John Wells Productions, then Tommy and Aaron brought them over to Studio 60 over the summer), and I've heard that the pilot was great, I wouldn't be surprised if it's a good show, but I dunno if it can live up to the pilot. I haven't heard anything about Six Degrees other than spots I've seen for it while watching Grey's Anatomy, but I really like the concept.

And that's about all I've heard about the new pickups for this season. Watch Studio 60. Please, just do it.

But yeah, I won't vote in the poll. And if you'd rather watch another new show, too bad, just pick one on the list, hehe.

[tmh8286]

Hate to put the kibosh on your well-thought-out post, adder, but if it ain't a premier on History Channel, I'm unlikely to watch it.

I can tell you what has interested my family - my three teenage boys watch, probably in this order:

1 - The Office

2 - Lost

3 - Scrubs (against my better judgment)

How does the fall lineup stack up against these?

[praetorfenix86]

I was a big West Wing fan and that is why I'm gonna watch Studio 60 this fall.  Perry and Peet were great in The Whole Nine Yards and who can forget new Chief of Staff Josh Lyman (though I would have voted for Arnold Vinick).  I think it will be good.  As for right now I'm loving Psych and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

I hope Studio 60 succeeds.  I think it will for as long as Sorkin sticks around.

[Dr. Cornelius]

I don't watch much TV except for LOST and sports. I tried to watch the US version of The Office but just didn't find it as funny as the UK version. Pretty much anything with Ricky Gervais (EXTRAS) is worth checking out. Studio 60 sounds interesting though...

[tmh8286]

First off, I'm extremely biased because I'm working on Studio 60 as a PA, so obviously I'm going to want people to watch that show. The Pilot is out on Netflix, and if you liked West Wing you'll probably like Studio 60. I think Tommy Schlamme and Aaron Sorkin are definitely among the best in the biz at what they do (directing and writing, respectively). Add in a strong cast, and I really don't see how this show can't succeed (well, unless a ton of people watch CSI: Miami in that timeslot instead). I know a lot of people will say that this show has a liberal bias, but I honestly think that it's a little balanced. Yeah, it takes some shots, but it also gives some props to the same places.

Here's an interesting take on "Studio 60".  It's an article posted on the Drudge Report today:

NBC's "crazy christians" show

[MadAdder]

Good article, but I think the writer was missing the point. Aaron doesn't hate Christians, he dated one not too long ago, and he wasn't expressing his personal point of view through Matt's character, he was making Matt out to be a jerk who's bitter towards his ex. Episode 3 featured a sketch called Science Schmience, which poked fun of different types of people, represented by the following characters - an Orthodox Jew, a Taliban Member, a Liberty student, Tom Cruise, and a witch. Aaron isn't about offending people with his writing, he's trying to get people to talk about and think about the topics that his writing touches on, because he's tired of the state of television today (how many people are gonna sit down an have an intelligent discussion about anything after watching an hour of Deal Or No Deal?), he called it "bad crack in the schoolyard" not too long ago, and this comes up in this week's episode (which also features Sting if any of you wanna check it out).

On a different note though, most of the new shows this season aren't doing well at all. Smith was canned after 3 episodes, Kidnapped was told to wrap up their series in 13 episodes and were moved to Saturday night. Studio 60 and The Nine pulled in a 5.7 this past week, Friday Night Lights has been even worse than that in its first two weeks, and I doubt Vanished will last much longer. The only strong shows so far have been Heroes (which will hafta go up against 24 in the Spring), Shark (up against a surging ER), Jericho (doing great in the 18-49 demo), Ugly Betty (doing well against Survivor), and Brothers and Sisters (mostly cuz of the Desperate Housewives lead-in, not sure how long that will last).

[tmh8286]

Good response, Adder, except for the gratuitous slam of "Deal or No Deal".  I've had meaningful discussions with my family after that show - about the good old days of St. Elsewhere, about what a clown Howie Mandel is, about what kind of bravery it takes for a person to be seen in public with no hair on their head, except for a soul patch, about whether the banker is REALLY clueless about how much the contestant has in his briefcase, and so on.  Meaningful stuff.

JK of course.  I'm not a game show fan.  But my boys like to watch "Deal or No Deal".

[Dr. Cornelius]

On a different note though, most of the new shows this season aren't doing well at all. Smith was canned after 3 episodes, Kidnapped was told to wrap up their series in 13 episodes and were moved to Saturday night. Studio 60 and The Nine pulled in a 5.7 this past week, Friday Night Lights has been even worse than that in its first two weeks, and I doubt Vanished will last much longer. The only strong shows so far have been Heroes (which will hafta go up against 24 in the Spring), Shark (up against a surging ER), Jericho (doing great in the 18-49 demo), Ugly Betty (doing well against Survivor), and Brothers and Sisters (mostly cuz of the Desperate Housewives lead-in, not sure how long that will last).

The fact that Ugly Betty even made it to air is enough to shake my already precarious faith in humanity.

[ORU Eli]

Only show that's on right now that I always watch faithfully is The Office and to a lesser extent, My Name is Earl. Friday Night Lights is what I voted for - I've been watching it and it's pretty good, albeit predictable. I grew up in one of the towns mentioned in the book and movie (they made us read the book in 6th grade), so I saw a lot of that Friday Night Light stuff going on with the whole culture of high school football - I think Jenks and Union have pretty much the same thing going on. Plus, i'm just a sucker for anything football related, period.

[tmh8286]

The upshot of this thread may be that people aren't watching all that much network TV.

[ORUTerry]

I watch very little television - except for sports. My 13 year old son have watched the last three episodes of Jericho. The story is about what happens to a community after the US is hit by multiple nuclear explosions. The stories and acting are a bit weak, but it does allow for some good discussion.

I also tivo Survivorman.....

[MadAdder]

I found this article from the Atlanta Journal Constitution on another message board, it's a commentary on Harriet Hayes, the Christian character on Studio 60, as well as a couple other shows this season with Christian characters or influences.

http://www.ajc.com/search/content/shared/news/stories/2006/10/TV_VALUES_1016_COX.html

[tmh8286]

Another interesting article, Adder.  Here is a quote from the artice, spoken by a pastor, that takes the exact opposite angle on "Studio 60" from the article I posted:

"It is "well-written, well-acted and bringing great issues to the suface," Stevens says. "I see it from two sides: The Christian world needs to realize that we are often viewed by the rest of the world as out of touch and irrelevant; and the rest of the world needs to see that it is possible to use your brain, contribute to society and be a follower of Christ all at the same time."

[Mike Minyard]

I haven't really given any of the new shows a chance yet.  I watched about half of the premiere for Studio 60.  It looks like it could be OK. I watched a few other shows, but nothing just locked me into it.  I'm tired of Grey's Anatomy, and have moved on from it.  I watch Prison Break (Fox, Monday, 7), How I Met Your Mother (CBS, Monday, 7), 2 1/2 Men (CBS, Monday, , Colbert Report (Comedy Central, Daily, 10:30) and sometimes Dancing with the Stars.  Not to mention the ridiculous amount of basketball, baseball and football that I watch almost daily.  I ran across a great show on NBAtv if you like to watch basketball practices.  NBAtv runs these 2-3 hour shows called Training Camp, and they basically put a mic on a coach during a practice.  It is very rough television, but you get the main point.  They could definately do some things to improve the quality of the program.

[EagleFanatic]

I used to watch a very minimal amount of television, but have really gotten hooked on some recently. The Office is really the only comedy show i watch, and all i need. Asside from The Office my other "shows" are Lost and Prison Break. The only new shows i have watched this season are Heroes and Jericho. Both i really like and i hope they do well.

[tmh8286]

Sorry to here it, Adder :

'Studio 60? Cancellation Iminent

[MadAdder]

Heh, no worries.

I'm not entirely convinced we're about to get canned though. We've got some strong episodes coming up for November (with John Goodman guest starring in a couple of them), NBC has to pay us for 13 episodes whether they air that many or not (that was part of the deal when they bought the series), and they'd still hafta pay for something else to put in that timeslot that can get better ratings than what we're bringing in now. The guy who wrote that article for Fox News didn't like our show from the beginning, and I have my doubts about the article for 2 reasons - 1. If the cast was told, I doubt they would tell any friends that would pass the word along to Fox. It's a pretty liberal environment out here, they'd probably pass the word to CNN if anyone. 2. He misspelled "imminent!" lol.

Things are definitely carrying on at the office like normal, we've got a full week of shooting, meetings, and finishing of Episode 6 (airs next Monday night).

I'll be a little more convinced when I read something on a site like Zap2It, The Futon Critic, or when I hear word from some of our producers.

That said, things definitely aren't looking good for our show, but it would make sense for NBC to keep it around for 13 episodes and see if it gains any traction. I would be surprised if they canned us without at least trying us in a different timeslot. Right now we're up against CSI: Miami (pretty much a juggernaut) and Monday Night Football. I wish they'd move us to Wednesdays at 10 (the old Kidnapped timeslot that they gave to Medium, then just move Medium to our timeslot after Heroes) or maybe even Tuesdays at 9 (can / move Friday Night Lights, move Law & Order CI up an hour).

Anyways, time will tell, but I dunno if we'll know anything for sure until the end of November after sweeps.