2011 fall TV thread

http://www.tvguide.com/special/fall-preview/fall-schedule.aspx

new network shows premiering over the next couple months:

ABC: Last Man Standing, Man Up, Suburgatory, Revenge, Charlie's Angels, Once Upon A Time, Pan Am

CBS: 2 Broke Girls, Unforgettable, How To Be A Gentleman, Person Of Interest, A Gifted Man

NBC: The Playboy Club, Up All Night, Free Agents, Whitney, Prime Suspect, Grimm

FOX: Terra Nova, New Girl, The X Factor, I Hate My Teenage Daughter, Allen Gregory

CW: Hart of Dixie, Ringer, H8R, The Secret Circle

not really sure if much is happening on cable in the fall, may have to look around for that, but this is a start

AMC: Hell on Wheels

FX: American Horror Story

Showtime: Homeland

ABC Family: lol j/k

i guess it's a midseason replacement, but Awake w/Jason Isaacs & BD Wong looks p cool. i'll probably watch that

Pan Am looks like someone decided to make a show out of the airport scenes from Catch Me If You Can. that and Playboy Club seem weird to me because it seems like they're going after a piece of the Mad Men zeitgeist, except... Mad Men isn't really particularly popular, is it? i was under the impression that it was more of a critical fave than a ratings success, anyway...

terra nova looks like a disaster-on-arrival considering the size and cost. i could see myself watching an ep for Stephen Lang

Awake is the one by Kyle Killen of Lone Star fame. Hmm..

This slew of NBC sitcoms coming in all look pre-cancelled.

iirc mad men is really popular w/ the sort of ppl advertisers care about

yeah i mean success is success, it doesn't matter if Mad Men is 'popular for cable' or a 'critics' show,' it's a big deal in TV period so it's going to influence programming.

This slew of NBC sitcoms coming in all look pre-cancelled.

Especially the Hank Azaria one. It fell into the present through some kind of 90s wormhole.

i kinda lol'd at the "armenian gangster's acquittal party" joke in the hank azaria promo

i am so sick of the fucking commercials for "whitney" that i just can't even

lol the Azaria promo was what inspired me to post that comment.

fine! but...i won this.

lol

yeah i mean success is success, it doesn't matter if Mad Men is 'popular for cable' or a 'critics' show,' it's a big deal in TV period so it's going to influence programming.

― some dude, Thursday, August 18, 2011 8:24 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

success isnt always success tbh, especially with broadcast tv. a lot has been made recently of how difficult networks are finding it to monetize certain types of success, they're finding themselves frustrated with certain shows that get great ratings but mostly with the wrong demos, making them poison to advertisers. even if what Lamp says is true the commercial pressures of broadcast are wayyy higher, which is why mad men-style serialized storytelling (and this is a really rough time for serial dramas, even on cable - the president of FX said earlier this year that he wouldn't dream of greenlighting a show like Damages today) mostly makes its home on cable today, where the standards for success are a lot lower. and i find it instructive that no cable networks are seeking to imitate mad men, because... they want shows that get ratings, i presume. so yeah this seems like a crummy idea imo

a lot has been made recently of how difficult networks are finding it to monetize certain types of success, they're finding themselves frustrated with certain shows that get great ratings but mostly with the wrong demos

curious about what shows you're taking about here - is it like cbs procedurals that tend to draw lots of older middle income viewers?

i mean i get what yr saying. like amc can sell a drama like mad men to advertisers by saying that it reliably delivers a 'high value' audience for commercials for luxury cars or imported beer or middlebrow awardsbait movies or w/e but the broadcast networks are in the business of delivering mass audiences so they cant sell themselves the same way to media buyers

The CBS procedural model is probably why the networks are desperate for the next Lost or even Glee. They want to ride the zeitgeist, even for a little while.

yeah cbs stuff, but every network's seemingly having the same problem - harry's law was one of nbc's few legitimate new hits last year, but its audience is mostly over-60. the good wife gets pretty good raw ratings, but again it skews really old. from an 18-49 perspective, it's on the bubble. advertisers really hate old people!

werthers originals and Buick can't buy all the ads u know

old people are on a very fixed income.

that new tim allen show (Man Up? How to Be a Gentlemen? idk) looks like the worst show to air on tv since Hank (w/ Kelsey Grammer). i'm gonna guess it's Man Up since Hank was on ABC and they seem to be willing to take a chance on these offensive right wing fantasy sitcoms

Will watch at least one ep of: 2 Broke Girls, The Playboy Club, New Girl, Grimm, Allen Gregory and Pan Am
Kinda excited for: Terra Nova
Don't know much about or care about: others
On cable, kinda interested in American Horror Story -- haven't heard about the others.

oh, i'll watch an episode of ringer too y? bc smg is still cute.

i also forgot about up all night which should be the perfect premise for me (about couple raising baby) starring ppl i enjoy watching (c applegate + arnett) but still looks totally forgettable. but i'll watch an ep or two of that too, i'm sure.

oh yeah i have to remember to watch ringer

American Horror Story bombed at the TCAs, which the network was not expecting at all. They're trying to rework it. Apparently it is nuts.

btw, xp to myself, apparently the tim allen show is last man standing which is a) an ABC show and b) one of two on the same theme they're running this fall???

i think they even had the same name at one point

Nancy Travis has a pretty good record of being on short-lived and/or killing longer-lived sitcoms (see Becker, Bill Engvall, and some others I'm sure). Tim Allen's show won't be around long.

btw, when did televisionwithoutpity become so terrible? i was glancing through their 'new shows preview' and they are wrong about pretty much everything!

when Bravo bought them out.

When Angel Cohn took over as editor.

it's terrible now

They've always been terrible.

True.

yeah i mean success is success, it doesn't matter if Mad Men is 'popular for cable' or a 'critics' show,' it's a big deal in TV period so it's going to influence programming.

― some dude, Thursday, August 18, 2011 8:24 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

success isnt always success tbh, especially with broadcast tv. a lot has been made recently of how difficult networks are finding it to monetize certain types of success, they're finding themselves frustrated with certain shows that get great ratings but mostly with the wrong demos, making them poison to advertisers. even if what Lamp says is true the commercial pressures of broadcast are wayyy higher, which is why mad men-style serialized storytelling (and this is a really rough time for serial dramas, even on cable - the president of FX said earlier this year that he wouldn't dream of greenlighting a show like Damages today) mostly makes its home on cable today, where the standards for success are a lot lower. and i find it instructive that no cable networks are seeking to imitate mad men, because... they want shows that get ratings, i presume. so yeah this seems like a crummy idea imo

― https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_i_qxQztHRI (Princess TamTam), Thursday, August 18, 2011 11:06 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark

you're not wrong with anything you're saying, but that wasn't my point. i just meant that "hey sexy '60s period dramas seem really HOT RIGHT NOW" isn't the kind of zeitgeisty showbiz mentality that's going to be held back by details like that the show that kickstarted that trend is not a ratings blockbuster. lots of trends get started with relatively minor successes that lead to bigger ones.

can't wait for the 'save grimm' campaign

lol

i also forgot about up all night which should be the perfect premise for me (about couple raising baby) starring ppl i enjoy watching (c applegate + arnett) but still looks totally forgettable. but i'll watch an ep or two of that too, i'm sure.

― Mordy, Friday, August 19, 2011 12:36 AM (2 days ago) Bookmark

omg sneak dissing Maya Rudolph! on the real though i am looking forward to that show more now that it was supposedly retooled to feature MR more heavily after the success of Bridesmaids

so i don't have cable so i pretty much only know about shows when they get crazy hype/notoriety beforehand or when sepinwall gets around to writing about them. so all i know about this group is 1) networks trying to make sexier, dumber mad men (could be down w/ this)(suspect they'll succeed more at dumber than sexier though) 2) sitcoms based on laura ingraham monologues (pass) 3) some dumbed down sarah silverman (egads) has two new shows and there's a possibility i'll watch the kat dennings one 4) minka kelly

i'm not counting on any new community/parks must see tv out of this bunch but is there anything up there that looks like it could rise to 'happy endings' level of watchability?

i dont have an answer to that question but man did happy endings up end up being a p lol decent timefiller of a show huh

advertisers really hate old people!

I'm always interested in this fact, because I thought that the fixed ideas advertisers had about old people had been largely disproved in recent years: that they never switch brands, that they don't buy into new technologies or new ideas, that there's no point in marketing to them.

I wonder how much this will change as the recession deepens, given that the coveted 18-49 demographic will basically have no money to play with anymore, and only older people who are already drawing their fixed-benefit pensions will have any spare cash to throw around.

ime advertisers dont hate all old people so much as lower/middle income old people. also the spending patterns of old people are still p predictable and there are better/cheaper ways of reaching them if they are your target market than prime time television broadcasts. (i.e. try watching golf telecasts or sunday morning current event shows and youll realize advertisers do want to reach older people)

ok, this doesn't really belong here, but since I have very little enthusiasm for this immediate crop of newbies, let's look ahead to a potential future:

New Shawn Ryan pilot picked up

The Last Resort is described as a big swing and massive in scope. It is a thriller set in the near future when the country is very fractured and revolves around the crew of a U.S. nuclear submarine who become hunted after ignoring an order to shoot nuclear missiles. They escape to a NATO listening outpost where they publicly declare themselves to be the world's smallest nuclear nation with 24 nuclear warheads. The show will explore the society the fugitives create, the natives they meet and how what they've done affects the group and its unity.

I'm not interested in any of these shows, which is rare. I might watch the first couple episodes of the X-Factor to see how trainwrecky it is going to be.

xp that sounds really cool!

when does the new sorkin show come out?

NBC has just purchased a drama set in the “golden age” of the 1980s professional wrestling boom -- yes plz.

apparently there's a new episode of "Happy Endings" on tonight? are they starting the season really early or still burning off ones from the first season?

i watched "In The Flow with Affion Crockett," which is a FOX variety show starring a guy from Wild 'N Out who's basically one of those Aries Spears/Jay Pharoah-type black comics who's just really good at impersonating rappers and nothing else -- stupid show by the Drake sketch was hysterical

It's probably the 13th ep they never showed during the original run.

def. interested in that wrestling drama

AV Club Fall Preview!

http://www.avclub.com/articles/ah-screw-it-heres-a-bunch-of-shows-the-av-clubs-20,61296

Part 2!

re grimm

Best-case scenario: More self-contained, comic-like adventures that will make for an easy transition to a monthly comic book when the series inevitably fails to lure enough geeks away from their standing Friday-night appointments with Fringe or Supernatural.
Worst-case scenario: Giuntoli and Mitchell become the wisecracking stars of Law & Order: Supernatural Victims Unit.

I think they got their scenarios backwards. Would watch Law & Order: Supernatural Victims Unit every day.

this is the first time I've laughed at something Kristin Schaal has done, her character is so unbelievably wrong

You don't like Bob's Burgers? You are a monster.

^ this

I've never watched Bob's Burgers!

garrett morris on 2 broke girls is sadding me out

I've never watched Bob's Burgers!

You need to rectify this!

I've reached the point with Up All Night now where I think it's one of the best shows on tv. (Maya Rudolph still has the ability to annoy if not reined in, though.)

ugh half the time it's like Baby Blues: The Live-Action Version

i dont think theres a single new show that im still watching tbh

oh n/m totally into revenge

prime suspect still waiting to "make the leap" but its watchable week after week, however, they have introduced a HORRIBLE, seriously, THE WORST, titles sequence, doesnt fit the show at all, which is too bad cause the old one was good

it's not great, but anything is better than the Homeland intro. WTF?

Showtime innit

OTFM
xpost

it NEVER. FREAKING. ENDS.

otoh i love the show

it's really slow to build, but i think if it progressed faster, it'd be a lot less realistic.

Is 'Boss' any good? Premise looked interesting, but screencaps on the download site I usually use make it look like a cheesy T&A-fest

Getting some really good write-ups but haven't seen it myself.

it's completely ridiculous.

i watched the second and third episodes of "once upon a time" because my sister was watching them. it is very, very, very dorky, but in a cute, endearing way. it's like syfy's "tin man" miniseries crossed with "lost."

RIP Prime Suspect

you're kidding!

It's 1.2 average rating in the demo pretty much made it forgone conclusion some time ago. It's been increasing, but only slightly, and that's after they desperately aired episodes of it in every nook and cranny of their schedule. They were REALLY banking on it as well.

right now max is off in a corner somewhere, hiding his tears underneath a tilted fedora

What the fuck is wrong with the American people? : (

haha i already "tumbld" about prime suspect

seriously though, prime suspect is exactly the kind of show that has a shot at getting a nice sizable audience if the network just has patience to let it figure itself out--i guess nbc cant afford to wait, though

like the single-episode mysteries was really hobbling it--felt like NBC wanted it to be law and order when it clearly wasnt

If NBC was really interested in letting a good show build an audience Thursdays at 10, Southland wouldn't be on TNT right now.

dont remind me! though, thank god for TNT, theyve probably treated southland a lot better than nbc wouldve

it sucks that the only network interested in making cop shows that aren't CSI-style science procedurals is also the only network that doesnt have the cash or patience to let them develop

I don't blame NBC for it at all. There's 'having patience' and then there's realising that the game is lost. It's an expensive show, and it's ratings were sub-Free Agents. They needed it to be at least a moderate success, and boy did they try to make it one, but it just wasn't. That's also a particularly rough timeslot because you've got local affiliates who make most of their bank on the 11:00 (or 10:00) news, and they get uppity when their lead-in is so small.

kinda feel like you cant NOT cancel a fukken 1.2 i mean even USA network is str8 laughing at u

i'll never understand why they did this show with self-contained episodes

I'm half shocked that they haven't started airing Covert Affairs or something to fill in the gaps since they own USA.

Everything at NBC is so wonky right now. Parenthood is a reasonable performer for them, but they're still ending its season in February or March to make way for an Elle Macpherson-hosted reality competition.

they wanted it to be a huge hit, not a niche performer.

USA totally has better dramas than NBC at this point tbh -- they should just pick up Suits

isnt usa like one of the bright spots for nbc/universal? i thought they were actually increasing their audience atp?

xp - haha man i totally dug suits but that shit is corny as hell, i feel like nbcs whole thing now is making quality shows for ppl that dont watch broadcast tv anymore

USA and Telemundo make more money for the company than NBC does.

Suits is corny compared to what, though? not NBC's dramas.

well i mean i havent watched an nbc drama in years cuz i am part of the problem but i guess my impresh was that prime suspect and... idk something abt rapists or some shit idk what else they have on was sorta 'ambitious' or w/e

i guess... you win THIS argument, some dude

lol

i mean it's not like i said they should air Fairly Legal or Necessary Roughness (although those trifles are, again, better than most of NBC's dramas)

Prime Suspect is/was really solid. Too bad it never found an audience.

Caught two episodes of Once Upon a Time and...kind of liked it.

Sepinwall has been talking about how good Prime Suspect has been and the shame of it being cancelled.

Prime Suspect has been consistently entertaining, I'm kind of surprised they cancelled it

I'm not surprised they canceled it. I'm just surprised it never found an audience.

i didnt realize its ratings were THAT low

Bravo to Sepinwall for dropping an "Enos" joke in there.

Somebody shared this via an insult generator on FB this evening:

"Um, have you noticed Whitney is on and I am watching it? This is how little I care about what you're saying."