2011-2012 NETWORK SHOWS LA SCREENINGS 2011 T
his year is Steven Spielberg’s year; the acclaimed director of E.T. and Jurassic Park has moved into television in
a big way. There is his Broadway- inspired passion project, the musical drama Smash, which is produced by Universal Media Studios for NBC. Then for Fox there is the (delayed) launch of dinosaur drama Terra Nova. Spielberg was also heavily involved, through his DreamWorks TV division, with graphic novel remake Locke & Key, which failed to make the cut, although could ulti- mately resurface on cable.
Marion Edwards, president, interna- tional television, 20th Century Fox Television Distribution, which is distrib- uting Terra Nova, says that Spielberg is all over this TV season. “Having Spielberg on board is a big help, but it is also a big challenge; I think the level of expectation is huge,” she says. Belinda Menendez, president, NBC Universal International Television Distribution, which is distributing Smash, adds: “Anything with Spielberg does well internationally.” Spielberg’s young protégé J.J. Abrams’ fingerprints are also all over network schedules. Despite falling hard with last year’s flop spy drama Undercovers, Abrams and his Bad Robot production company have returned with two shows: supernatural prison drama Alcatraz for NBC and high-tech crime series Person of Interest for CBS. Alcatraz deals with the mythology of the famous jail and Person
CBS Studios International
The 2-2 The most remarkable thing about this New York police procedural isn’t its casting or its high concept, but rather its exec producer: Robert De
Niro.The show, which will launch on CBS in midseason and was formerly
of Interest is Minority Report-meets-The Conversation, or a modern-day version of The Equalizer, according to Jeffrey Schlesinger, president, Warner Bros International Television Distribution. “It doesn’t hurt that J.J. Abrams is a big film director; when he’s at his best there’s no one better and this is right back where he’s comfortable,” says Schlesinger.
Jerry Bruckheimer, meanwhile, has seemingly decided to take a year off. There are numerous high-concept series on the network line-ups including Touch, created by Heroes’ Tim Kring and starring Kiefer Sutherland, NBC Universal’s Buffy The Vampire-esque fairytale detective series Grimm and Disney-distributed Once Upon A Time. Notably, most of these series are episod- ic rather than serialised, a move that all of the studios are keen to make, given the additional benefits internationally and in syndication with that format. “We’re making a concentrated move away from serialised shows, but equally you want something that’s more than just a standard procedural,” says Schlesinger.
Disney Media Distribution
Good Christian Belles (right) Good Christian Belles, which is based on Kim Gatlin’s hit novel Good Christian Bitches,is exec- utive produced by Sex in the City showrunner and soap legend Darren Star. The show stars Popular’s Leslie Bibb as former mean girl who returns to her home town 20 years later to find that not much has
changed.The soap is one of the most high-profile series on ABC Entertainment’s president Paul Lee’s first net- work schedule.
The River The River was created by Paranormal Activity creator Orin Peli. It tells the story of wildlife expert and TV personality Emmet Cole who goes missing while filming in the Amazon. Subsequently his family start searching for him, with a camera crew in tow, and unravel the mystery around his disappearance. The show takes the shaky handheld camera style of Peli’s hit movie and combines it with a Lost- style mythology.
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known as Rookies, follows a group of young police officers in the Big Apple. “It’s a very rich drama that will fit in well to the CBS schedule. Throw in the production auspices and it’s even more interesting,” adds Nunez.
Comedies are also back in force, from edgy hipster offering 2 Broke Girls for CBS and New Girl, starring indie heart- breaker Zooey Deschanel, to traditional multicamera comedies such as Tim Allen-fronted Last Man Standing and Warner Bros.-distributed Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea, based on Chelsea Handler’s book. There is also single-camera fare including NBC Universal’s Free Agents, which is a remake of the Big Talk-produced British series. It certainly seems there is a return to funny.
NBC Universal’s Menendez says: “Comedy does seem to be a theme on our network. It is challenging and we’re all looking for the Holy Grail. We have five new comedies so I’m hopeful that some of them breakout.”
CBS has also been concentrating on comedies over the last 12 months. The network has cancelled William Shatner- fronted, Twitter-based, sitcom $#*! My Dad Says and wants to replicate the suc- cess of Two and a Half Men, in which it recently replaced Charlie Sheen with Ashton Kutcher. The company’s distri-
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