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Posts tagged as “UK”

The Guessing Game 2009 – Pilots

Wow, just as I’m about to post my list of Pilots that I think are gonna get picked up, NBC announces 6 shows that are getting picked up.

Anyway, the Guessing Game still continues with this time the list of Pilots that will get picked up (says me, and I’m always right wrong).

In the interest of full disclosure I have kept here untouched what I thought the NBC pick-ups were gonna look like.

Here goes everything:

Comedies

The Karenskys
What: A woman reunites with her eccentric family.
When: Mondays.
Why: You need your annual comedy that is gonna get canned ASAP.

Accidentally on Purpose
What: A San Fran movie critic becomes pregnant of a much younger man with whom she had a fling.
When: Wednesdays.
Why: Jenna Elfman.

Dramas

Three Rivers
What: A medical procedural about organ donation told through the points of views of the doctors, the donors, and the recipients.
When: Sundays.
Why: It’s a procedural, and we’re talking about CBS here.

Back
What: A man reported missing for eight years after 9/11 comes back home to his family.
When: Sundays.
Why: Cry Out Loud Sundays.

Washington Field
What: Experts travelling around the world to protect the U.S. national interest.
When: Thursdays.
Why: Come on, “Experts travelling around the world to protect the U.S. national interest.”

NCIS Spin-Off
What: NCIS 2.0
When: Coupled with NCIS (Tuesdays).
Why: It’s an NCIS spin-off.

Comedies

100 Questions for Charlotte Payne
What: The story of Charlotte Payne, a young woman in the New York dating scene with her friends.
When: Thursdays.
Why: It might be good? (LOL)

Community
What: …College.
When: With 100 Questions.
Why: Joe and Anthony Russo from Arrested Development. And Chevy Chase (fresh off his Chuck stint).

Parenthood
What: A mother uproots her kids to return to her hometown.
When: Fridays.
Why: Great cast.

Dramas

Day One
What: Jericho meets Survivors, in Van Nuys.
When: Mondays, eventually coupled with Heroes.
Why: Post-apocalyptic show and seems like a good replacement for Heroes in the long run.

Legally Mad
What: A partner at his Chicago law-firm working with his daughter.
When: Mid-Season and Sundays at 9PM.
Why: It’s a David E. Kelley procedural.

Lost & Found
What: John and Jane Does at the LAPD.
When: Wednesdays, in replacement of Law & Order?
Why: Dick Wolf.

Trauma
What: An emergency medical procedural taking place “out in the field”.
When: Sundays?
Why: Sounds to me like the perfect E.R replacement.

Comedies

Cougar Town
What: Courtney Cox at 40 and on the prowl.
When: Scrubs‘ timeslot.
Why: ABC seemed to love Scrubs so much that it literally bought it back to life. Why not another Bill Lawrence project?

No Heroics
What: The daily lives of fail super-heroes.
When: Mondays.
Why: Because it’s so original that it’s actually inspired by a U.K. show of the same name (and content).

The Bridget Show
What: A self-help guru that can’t follow her own advice.
When: Wednesdays.
Why: Barry Sonnenfeld, Lauren Graham and Jeffrey Tambor.

The New Twenty
What: Two friends, one who just had a baby, the other whom’s wife just left him.
When: Mid-Season.
Why: Eric McCormack and Tad Quill.

Dramas

Flash Forward
What: Take a look at all those posts.
When: Wednesdays at 10PM and then coupled with Lost.
Why: ABC has been talking about the show for months, and are promoting it like it has already been picked up. Also, it’s replacing Lost.

Empire State
What: Romeo & Juliet set in modern days.
When: Until it gets canned.
Why: Too much of a great cast to let it slip away.

See Kate Run
What: Jack & Bobby meets Commander in Chief.
When: Wednesdays at 8PM.
Why: Hilary Clinton will be so proud.

Eastwick
What: TV adaptation of the 1987 movie.
When: Mid-Season 2010.
Why: Witches in primetime, why not?

V
What: Remake of the 80s mini-series.
When: Wednesdays at 8PM.
Why: Because they’re pushing it already.

Happy Town
What: Twin Peaks 2.0, from the guy that made the U.S. version of Life on Mars.
When: Wednesdays at 9PM (until Lost).
Why: Because I want to see Amy Acker back on TV sooner than later.

Comedies

AbFab
What: U.S. adaptation of the cult British show.
When: Sundays.
Why: They want to try to emulate the iconic British success.

Brothers
What: A retired football player returns to his hometown.
When: Sundays (hey, it’s FOX).
Why: Mitch Hurwitz meets CCH Pounder.

Dramas

Human Target
What: Based on the DC Comic, a bodyguard that impersonates his clients.
When: With Dollhouse if it gets renewed, if not, with 24.
Why: Why would FOX not take a chance on an “edgy” SF-action drama?

Maggie Hill
What: A schizophrenic heart surgeon.
When: Thursdays.
Why: Alfre Woodard & Brian Grazer.

All done.
Once the Upfronts are done I’ll check back on both posts to count the points!

Until then, as usual, Wait & See…

Upcoming


Former Illinois Governor Rod “Lego Man” Blagojevich has made a deal to star in NBC’s I’m a Celebrity, Get me Out of Here, the American adaptation of the famous UK reality show.

I admit I laughed out loud a bit at the announcement.
And even more when an NBC spokesman soon after declared:

Rod Blagojevich will be a participant on the show pending the court’s approval.

Priceless.

On a whole other subject, most of the Stargate SG-1 cast will unite once again and join the spin-off Stargate Universe.
Richard Dean Anderson, Amanda Tapping, Michael Shanks, and Gary Jones, will reprise their roles in guest stints.
Janelle Monáe will also guest as herself to play a couple of songs from her latest album.

I find interesting that so many cast members from the original show are jumping on the new ship, especially given the fact that this spin-off is supposed to be almost completely detached from its two predecessors with almost no real tie-in to the current Stargate mythology (except of course being the show’s launching pad).
Add that to the fact that the premise is based on them stuck on a spaceship and not being able to return to Earth, and you’ve got yourself some strange cameos throughout the show’s history.

And finally, a bit of 3-D news.
AMG TV is to become the first 3-D dedicated network in America.
For about $50, you’ll be able to turn any HDTV into a 3-D TV, including the cost of glasses, with the help of an add-on box for cable and satellite subscribers.

The deal links AMG to Signet International Holdings and to Kerner Broadcast Corp., a spin-off company from non other than the famous Industrial Light and Magic.
Kerner will basically supplying the programming, creating new 3-D content as well as upgrading and converting already-existing 2-D content.

Although the quality is not yet on par with actual High Definition (5 out of 10 in terms of quality says the CEO of Kerner Broadcasting), the technology is affordable enough to get it to the masses.

Surely a very interesting year to come for television.

Absolutely Useless

Tough news to swallow today: Fox has picked up the pilot of the US adaptation of Absolutely Fabulous.
SNL and 3rd Rock‘s Christine Zander has penned the script set in L.A. with basically the same plot as the original UK show.
Will this be Kath & Kim redux?

ABC has picked up another pilot, this time a 2-hour, written by Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec and Scott Rosenberg.
The show is named Happy Town and seems to be a bit similar to Twin Peaks.
In the hamlet of Happy Town, peace after a series of kidnappings has been observed for now seven years. But not anymore, as another crime hits the village.
Sounds creepy.
And a bit like CBS’ Harper’s Island.

Meanwhile, Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof have declared that they would be happy to meet US Airways pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger.
Will he make a cameo on Lost?