Sunday, May 16, 2010

PEACOCKING: After last year's debacle known as The Jay Leno Show, NBC inarguably had the most rebuilding to do, and their primetime schedule for next fall shows it. More than half of the lineup is either new shows or shows with new timeslots (though the David E. Kelley drama with Kathy Bates as a "renegade patent lawyer" is being held for midseason). Dan Fienberg has some thoughts--a few of mine:
  • Even though I'm sad we'll be waiting till midseason for new Parks & Rec, I think it's a good thing, less for P&R than for The Office. A number of writers from Office left to go help P&R, and it's shown in the shows' respective qualities this year. The scheduling may allow some folks to write for both shows, which will help The Office, which has had an off season this year (at least from a bringing-the-funny perspective).
  • I like the pairing of 30 Rock and Community, the two more reference-heavy, manic, and cartoonish shows on NBC's Thursday lineup--it's far more compatible than Community-Parks and Rec.
  • Launching J.J. Abrams spy drama Undercovers Wednesdays at 8 is definitely a competitive move--that's a wide open slot right now, and Wednesdays generally are a pretty open night. (The choice to slot SVU at 9 is less explicable, and putting the thus far uncast LOLA in the Wednesday at 10 in the slot that the Mothership held for 16 of its 20 seasons may not endear fans of the original show to this spinoff.)
  • The gutsiest move? Launching Jimmy Smits drama Outlaw (about a SCOTUS justice who quits the bench in order to create a practice to "help the little guy") on a Friday night. For the past few years, networks have largely written off Friday and Saturday nights, opting to use it as burnoff territory, for programming that they know has an exceedingly limited audience (Dollhouse), or old-skewing stuff. However, remember that CSI launched on Friday, and Friday-Saturday have been home to big hits like ABC's TGIF lineup in the 90s. I think this is less NBC playing a weird game than it is an effort (perhaps a misguided one) to say that they're interested in competing in every timeslot on every night.

15 comments:

  1. Get it? He's out! of the law! (It was originally titled Garza; much of the pilot was filmed here.)

    I just dispute the premise: you're on SCOTUS, but you think you can do more via rebellious lawyering? Why not just do the Luttig/McConnell story? A distinguished appellate judge, passed over for the Supremes, quitting the bench to go into private practice ... more plausible. Also, they have the Swimfan boy. Via NBC:

    "Starring Emmy Award winner Jimmy Smits (NYPD Blue, West Wing), Outlaw is a new drama from executive producer John Eisendrath (Alias, Felicity, Playmakers). Cyrus Garza (Smits) is a Supreme Court justice who abruptly quits the high-level position. A playboy and a gambler, Garza had always adhered to a strict interpretation of the law until he realized the system he believed in was flawed. Now that he's quit the bench and returned to private practice, he's determined to represent "the little guy" and use his inside knowledge of the justice system to take on today's biggest legal cases -- and he's making plenty of powerful people unhappy along the way. Jesse Bradford (West Wing), Carly Pope (24), Ellen Woglom (Californication) and David Ramsey (Dexter) also star."

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  2. Becca4:29 PM

    As an aside, a friend went to a test screening of the new Kathy Bates show and said it was AWFUL. No one in the room liked it at all. I'm curious to see if they're revamping, and if the show that finally airs (if it does) will be completely different.

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  3. Well, the male lead is being recast, and reports were that the show didn't test well, but Bates' character tested very well, so I expect there's more than a bit of retooling going on. NBC had a bunch of legal dramas in development, so I assume they saw something here.

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  4. Benner6:52 PM

    what about this guy? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hessin_Clarke#Resignation

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  5. Yeah, we need more lawyer shows about helping the "little guy." Why didn't they go with something original, like doctors who save people at a hospital but can't save themselves from their own personal issues?

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  6. Shani7:29 PM

    I think putting LOLA in the mothership's old slot is perfect. The people who were still watching the original in first-run (not that many of them, or they'd have renewed it instead of refreshing) will keep watching, and perhaps they'll get some new viewers if they cast it well.

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  7. sconstant10:05 PM

    Ok, I know we talk about things we're watching rather than things we can't stomach watching, but please can someone explain why the Marriage Ref isn't being buried quickly and quietly in the cemetery in the same plot as Jay at 10? The dirt there is not packed down yet. It would be quick and easy.

    It's listed as a midseason replacement show. I know, the Marriage Ref costs effectively $0, but it's so horribly bad, just painful to watch. I did occasionally watch Jay at 10 kind of a/bemusedly, but this is so much worse, I can't even go back to it after seeing it once, no matter what stars they put into it. Is it pulling any ratings that justify keeping it? Is there so little depth that if anything fails in any timeslot, there's nothing real to put in there? Does Jerry know something about someone important?

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  8. Sconstant, I have to confess--I watch The Marriage Ref. It is not something I'm proud of, but I do think Jerry Seinfeld is doing something that's at once very "old Hollywood" yet a biting social criticism. Perhaps I read too much into nothing. Also, I'm pretty sure the Kenny Banyan character is based on Tom Papa--is that common knowledge?

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  9. Charles Carmicheal11:43 PM

    "A playboy and a gambler, Garza had always adhered to a strict interpretation of the law until he realized the system he believed in was flawed." So why not become an activist judge? Why quit? Its a lifetime position and not even the President can tell you what to do.
    The pilot should be interesting if they address those questions, the rest of the episodes, not so much....

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  10. It costs almost nothing and pulls decent ratings, especially considering that. It also allows them to suck up to Jerry Seinfeld, who's still making the network money off reruns to keep him happy. It's also done that at 10 PM, which is very hard to launch a hit in these days--save Parenthood, 4 of NBC's 5 nights have a new scripted show at 10--and where networks typically half not programmed half-hour comedies. When "Love Bites" tanks (competition is likely to be "Private Practice" and "CSI"), I expect "Marriage Ref" to return there.

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  11. If they continue shooting the Jimmy Smitts show iin Philly, I will probably watch for a while just because of that.

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  12. I have fallen into several conversations where people say they LOVE the Marriage Ref. I will also admit to watching it when I've actually watched the other shows live and I'm too lazy to figure out what else is on. It's pretty bad but gets some big guests.

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  13. Watching the trailer that's been released, it's clear what they're going for is a legal take on "House." Garza is a self-destructive gambling addict/boozehound who's nonetheless brilliant.

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  14. Paul Tabachneck7:30 PM

    Hey, but HEY! Are we not talking about Chuck Season 4? Is that not a big deal? I think it's a big deal.

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  15. So reports are it won't be shot here. Oh well.

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