NBC Day at The TCA Summer Press Tour

THE PROGRAMMING INSIDERTuesday, August 2, 2010 LIVE FROM THE SUMMER TELEVISION CRITICS ASSOCIATION PRESS TOUR IN LOS ANGELES, CA NBC NBC Executive Session:Jeff Gaspin and Angela Bromstad On the NBC Panel Front:The Event, Undercovers, Law & Order: Los Angeles, Outsourced, Outlaw, Chase, School Pride Press Tour Tidbits:Notes of Interest On the Air Tonight:Prime-Time Programming Options ______________________________________________________________________ NBC NBC Executive Session:Jeff Gaspin and Angela Bromstad After last fall’s Jay Leno fiasco, one of the worst programming blunders in the history of television, there is only one place for NBC to go, and that’s up. So, it is a welcome relief to see a schedule peppered with seven new series (six dramas and sitcom Outsourced) and changes on four nights of the week. “I think we made too many changes too quickly from a position of weakness,” said Jeff Gaspin, Chariman, NBC Universal Television Entertainment. “And so it was a self-fulfilling prophecy. The goal is to rebuild, get stronger. We’ll have more information, but we won’t be working from such a position of weakness, which I think really jeopardized some of the decisions that we made and some of the moves that we made.” “We want to improve on time periods and hopefully build some nights,” added Angela Bromstad, President, Primetime Entertainment. “And we do feel better. Just like we feel great about Community and Parenthood returning from last season, we hope that we have a crop from this season that will carry on as well.” Although Parenthood earned its renewal stripes for dominating the Tuesday 10 p.m. hour (opposite CBS’ The Good Wife) among adults 18-49, Community is not a strong enough half-hour to still anchor Thursday and the upcoming arrival of CBS’ relocated The Big Bang Theory will only make matters worse. “Big Bang is a great show, and it’s going to do very well on Thursday night,” noted Gaspin. “I’m hopeful that there’s room for two comedies. I think their audiences are somewhat different, but Community has been there for the year. The audience is accustomed to watching it there and we’re going to wait and see what happens. We’re not making any changes now.” There was concern in the room, of course, regarding how the departure of Steve Carell next spring will impact The Office. But the demo friendly sitcom will indeed move forward. “It’s just publicly become known that Steve is leaving, but obviously we and the producers have been preparing for it for some time,” said Bromstad. “They do have a plan in terms of who’s going to replace Michael, and so there will be a lot of storylines leading up to that, and there will be some mystery as to who that will be.” Kathy Bates will return to The Office on a recurring basis next season, which will feature an episode with slimmed down guest star Drew Carey. As for the inherent comparisons of Monday drama The Event to failed ABC entry FlashForward, said Bromstad: “We are going to do everything in our power to guard against FlashForward. That was a great script. That was a really good pilot. It was something that we were afraid of competitively, and I understand that it did disappoint the audience. We take those lessons really seriously. And all I can tell you is that the audience and critics will be, and rightly so, skeptical and we’re going to have to prove it. And I think that we will.” With three more new series this fall than one year earlier, plus a beefed up number of new midseason entries (dramas The Cape and Harry’s Law; comedies Friends With Benefits, The Paul Reiser Show and Perfect Couples; and delayed romantic dramedy Love Bites), NBC is on the path of reconstruction. Since all it takes is one, or two, new hit series to ignite an entire line-up, keep a positive eye (or two) on NBC. _________________________________________________________________________________ On the NBC Panel Front:The Event, Undercovers, Law & Order: Los Angeles, Outsourced, Outlaw, Chase, School Pride The EventMonday 9 p.m. -The Premise:After an “everyman” (Jason Ritter) investigates the mysterious disappearance of his fiancé (Sarah Roemer), he inadvertently exposes the biggest cover-up in U.S. history. Blair Underwood (L.A. Law) plays the newly elected President. Lead-in: Chuck-Competition: Dancing With the Stars (ABC), Two and a Half Men (CBS) and Mike & Molly (CBS), Lonestar (Fox), Gossip Girl (CW) -Who Was on the Panel:Jason Ritter, Laura Innes, Blair Underwood, Zeljko Ivanek, Sarah Roemer, executive producer/show-runner Evan Katz and creator/co-executive producer Nick Wauters. -The Scoop: Evan Katz on the comparisons to 24: “This show will not be as dark. One of the things that I sort of read about 24 in the long run is it got so faithful to his character. And I like starting with Jason’s character who is really an ordinary man, an innocent man, and it will give us a much longer, hopefully many-season arc for him. But, yes, there will be that intensity. I think most importantly there’ll be that roller coaster and a visceral response to what you’re watching.” -The Reality:There are two ways to look at the scenario for The Event. On the downside is lead-in Chuck, which is not capable of anchoring an evening. The serialized nature of the story-telling is asking a lot of the audience. And the competition, ABC’s Dancing With the Stars and CBS’ Two and a Half Men, in particular, is fierce. But the pilot was big, bold and very ambitious. Buzz is building. And viewers who enjoyed Fox’s 24 in this time period may very well be interested. While nothing is a sure thing, the positives do outweigh the negatives and The Event stands a decent chance of succeeding. -Chance of Survival for The Event (Based on a scale of 1-1 to 10-1):4-1 -Did You Know?:Jason Ritter’s father, of course, was the late and great John Ritter, who rose to fame in long-running Three’s Company. In the final three seasons of Three’s Company, a very young Jason is seen in the opening credits next to Joyce DeWitt as she is petting a goat. --------------- Undercovers Wednesday 8 p.m. -The Premise:A so-called typical married couple (Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw) who met when they worked for the CIA as spies are reinstated to that world after their fellow spy and friend (Carter MacIntyre) goes missing in this new drama from J.J. Abrams. Gerald McRaney will appear on a recurring basis. -Competition: The Middle (ABC) and Better Together (ABC), Survivor: Nicaragua (CBS), Lie to Me (Fox), America’s Next Top Model (CW) -Who Was on the Panel:Mekia Cox, Boris Kodjoe, Carter MacIntyre, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Ben Schwartz; and executive producer Josh Reims. -The Scoop:Josh Reims on why Undercovers is not Alias: “When J.J. Abrams and I sat down, the first thing we talked about, obviously, was neither one of us wanted to do Alias, for different reasons. Obviously, J.J. already did it. And I felt it was one of the mostconfusing shows ever and I could not understand anything that was being said because when I was on Felicity, Alias writers and our writers were in the same building. So we would pass each other in the halls, and they would look confused, and we would look angst-ridden. (laughter) When we sat down, I said, “We’re not doing Alias.” And J.J., to his credit, would say, “Yes, if I go too far in the confusing, mythological whatever, craziness, just stop me.” So that was the extent of our discussions with Alias. And obviously I’ve heard since then, “Oh, if Sydney Bristow and Michael Vartan’s character got married, this is what it would look like.” But I can honestly tell you I don’t know what that would look like, so that’s the answer to that.” -The Reality:Comparisons to former ABC spy drama Alias are, of course, running rampant. But what few people seem to realize is that Alias was never a hit, only a small core favorite, and facing CBS’ relocated Survivor will be no easy task. Given how soft the Wednesday 8 p.m. anchor hour has been in recent years, there is no real reason to think unproven Undercovers will make that much of an impact. -Chance of Survival for Undercovers (Based on a scale of 1-1 to 10-1):7-1 -Did You Know?:The last time NBC kicked-off the fall season with a successful scripted series in the Wednesday 8 p.m. hour was dramedy Ed, which departed in 2004 and was never what you would call a bona fide hit. --------------- Law & Order: Los Angeles Wednesday 10 p.m. -The Premise:Southern California is the setting for this new edition of the long-running franchise, which will be split between the cops and prosecutors. -Lead-in: Law & Order: SVU -Competition: The Whole Truth (ABC), The Defenders (CBS) -Who Was on the Panel:Skeet Ulrich, Corey Stoll; creator and executive producer Dick Wolf; and executive producers Rene Balcer and Blake Masters. -The Scoop:Dick Wolf on the Law & Order franchise: “Obviously Rene and I and the hundreds of people that have been associated with Law & Order over the past 20 years in New York were extremely disappointed that the show didn’t come back for a 21st season. That’s business. That’s life. Everything on television is born under a death sentence. They just don’t tell you the date of execution. We had one of the greatest runs in the history of the business with the mothership. We are here today to talk about the future, and basically the past is the past. This is a new show. We have had an enormous opportunity, out of the disappointment, to bring over many of the people who have been part of Law & Order for these many years, including Rene, and the bulk of the writing staff. We’ve also got new blood with Blake, at the end, coming in. So we are doubly blessed in terms of moving forward into the future. Joining Alfred Molina will be Terrence Howard switching off as the other district attorney.” Rene Balcer on the Los Angeles setting: “The essential difference between New York and L.A. is New York is a big stew of people. It really is the melting pot. And it’s also been the site of innumerable TV shows, like The Naked City. So I could argue that New York has been mined as much as L.A. has. L.A. is a mosaic of communities, and I think that’s going to be part of the fun of these shows is each episode can focus on a separate community, a separate piece of that mosaic. And though New York has Central Park, we have the beach, which is the great equalizer. It’s where everybody goes to. We even have an episode about surfers and the beach and how that played a part in the mythos of Los Angeles. So I think there is all kinds of territory that has not been mined by a lot of shows. We have an episode on an oil rig, for example. So, you know, a lot of things, we can do here that have not been done by other shows.” -The Reality:After two decades, the mothership, Law & Order, finally received its walking papers, while long-running spin-off Law & Order: SVU continues to lose steam. So, it is fair to wonder why it is even necessary to introduce a new Law & Order series. But the familiarity of the franchise coupled with a new setting should be beneficial (think: NCIS: Los Angeles). The lead-in, SVU, is a flawless fit. And the competition (ABC’s The Whole Truth and CBS’ The Defenders) is unproven. While the run won’t be 20 years, Law & Order: Los Angeles has the best chance of any new show this fall to succeed. -Chance of Survival for Law & Order: Los Angeles (Based on a scale of 1-1 to 10-1):2-1 -Did You Know?:When the original Law & Order launched, I was working at NBC in research, where I estimated that the show would be a modest success with a five to six year run. Little did I know! ------------ OutlawFriday 10 p.m. -The Premise:Jimmy Smits returns to primetime as a Supreme Court justice who abruptly quits his job and opens a private practice, determined to represent “the little guy” and use his inside knowledge to take on the biggest cases. Jesse Bradford (West Wing), Carly Pope (24), Ellen Woglom (Californication)and David Ramsey (Dexter) also star. -Lead-in: Dateline -Competition: 20/20 (ABC), Blue Bloods (CBS) -Who Was on the Panel:Jimmy Smits, David Ramsey, Ellen Woglom; and executive producers John Eisendrath and David Kissinger. -The Scoop:The show according to Bob Eisendrath: “David Kissinger and I ran into each other, and he said, “What do you think about doing a show about a Supreme Court Justice who leaves?” So David had the idea. And it appealed to me because I have a belief that the judicial system doesn’t always lead to justice and that good people in the system often can follow the law, do their job, and know in their heart that it’s hurting innocent people. So I always imagined that a judge who has to do that might have a hard time living with himself and going home at night. And in the real world, probably they go home perfectly fine and never give it a second thought. But the idea that someone would have that problem fascinates me. And the idea that it was someone atthe top of the criminal justice food chain made it even more appealing. Once David mentioned it, it was easy for me to see through the prism of my particular point of view about the justice system.” -The Reality:The good news about troubled Friday, at least again for next season, is how the networks are still trying to program it. Although you won’t find any of the new “A” list product on the night, the networks are trying to keep Friday alive and familiar Jimmy Smits is a welcome addition. From a competitive standpoint, CBS crime drama Blue Bloods is unproven and ABC’s veteran 20/20 has been losing steam for years. So there might be room for Outlaw, which could benefit from the respectable (albeit older-skewing) support from Dateline. But considering how challenging it remains finding an audience on Friday, you may want to keep the expectations low. -Chance of Survival for Outlaw (Based on a scale of 1-1 to 10-1):8-1 -Did You Know?:Jimmy Smits, to-date, has been nominated for 12 Emmy Awards, which resulted in a win in 1990 for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for L.A. Law. --------------- OutsourcedThursday 8:30 p.m. -The Premise:A customer service manager (Ben Rappaport) in Kansas City is sent to India to train his replacement after his department is outsourced. Diedrich Bader (The Drew Carey Show), Jessica Gower and Rizwan Manji co-star. -Lead-in: The Office-Competition: Grey’s Anatomy (ABC), CSI (CBS), Fringe (Fox), Nikita (CW) -Who Was on the Panel:Ben Rappaport, Deidrich Bader, Rebecca Hazlewood, Anisha Nagarajan, Rizwan Manji, Pippa Black, Sacha Dhawan; and executive producers Ken Kwapis and Robert Borden. -The Scoop:Ken Kwapis on how Outsourced is different from other workplace comedies: “One of the things that we want to do — and you can see it in the pilot and we’re going to just try and go even further in that direction — is that unlike most workplace comedies, our workplace has windows that open up onto India itself. You get a sense of street life. You get a sense of the textures and colors of India, and we just want as much of that as possible in the show. Part of what I think is really going to be fun for an audience is to feel once a week that they’re transported to India.” -The Reality:For some, the subject matter may be painful to digest given the reality of having departments outsourced. Do we really want to visit this after a long day at the workplace? But the pilot has plenty of laughs and the show itself seems like a good fit out of The Office. Regardless, NBC is in dire need of breakout hits, and Outsourced seems like nothing more than a small core favorite. Expect rating results similar to former occupant 30 Rock (which heads to 8:30 p.m.), and that is not necessarily a positive. In case you don’t know. 30 Rock has never been much of a ratings grabber. -Chance of Survival for Outsourced (Based on a scale of 1-1 to 10-1):5-1 ------------ Chase Monday 10 p.m. -The Premise:A team of U.S. marshals go in search of America’s most dangerous fugitives in this new crime drama from executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Kelli Giddish, Cole Hauser, Amaury Nolasco and Rose Rollins are featured in the ensemble cast. -Lead-in: The Event -Competition: Castle (ABC), Hawaii Five-O (CBS) -Who Was on the Panel:Kelli Giddish, Cole Hauser, Rose Rollins, Jesse Metclafe, Amaury Nolasco; and executive producers Jonathan Littman and Jennifer Johnson. -The Scoop:Jonathan Littman on these dangerous criminals: “If U.S. Marshals are after you, you don’t have parking tickets on your record. You’ve done something really wrong. And Jennifer has always said that it’s — they are a short story unto themselves. There is a journey they are on as well, and so it’s not just about violence. It’s not just about bloodshed. It’s about, really, trying to capture someone that is really going out of their way to get away from you. -The Reality:From a competition standpoint, there could be room for Chase, which faces ABC’s older-skewing Castle and the unproven revival of Hawaii Five-O on CBS. But the lack of proven lead-in support from The Event, ABC’s growing Castle and the built-in familiarity of Hawaii Five-O will not work in its favor. -Chance of Survival for Chase (Based on a scale of 1-1 to 10-1):8-1 -Did You Know?:NBC’s track record in recent years introducing new programs in the Monday 10 p.m. hour has not been positive given the rapid departures of The Jay Leno Show (2009), My Own Worst Enemy (2008), Journeyman (2007) and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006). --------------- School PrideFriday 8 p.m. -The Premise:Cameras will follow students, teachers and parents as they motivate their community to renovate their school in this inspirational reality series from Curb Your Enthusiasm star Cheryl Hines. -Competition: Secret Millionaire (ABC), Medium (CBS), Human Target (Fox), Smallville (CW) -Who Was on the Panel:Executive producers Cheryl Hines and Denise Cramsey. -The Scoop:The two producers on the focus of the show: “The whole idea of School Pride is to bring the community together, to empower the community to make changes in the school,” said Cheryl Hines. “We’re not going in and changing the infrastructure of schools. We’re going in and saying to that school, reach out to your community, to local businesses. Everybody join together with the district. Work together and show the kids that you care about their school.” Added Denise Cramsey: “We’ve had great cooperation from the cities and the towns that we’ve been in so that, you know, everyone gets behind the idea of the school project, and they just help us get it done.” -The Reality:The first thing to keep in mind is that School Pride is sharing the Friday 8 p.m. hour with returning Who Do You Think You Are? So, NBC’s goal may be more focused on keeping the low HUT-level time period occupied than thinking this could be a breakout hit. It won’t, and facing the similarly inspirational Secret Millionaire on ABC (a former Fox hour) will not help. Consider School Pride nothing more than temporary time period filler. -Chance of Survival for School Pride (Based on a scale of 1-1 to 10-1):10-1 -Did You Know?:Cheryl Hines, who to-date has been nominated for two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, was once the personal assistant to Rob Reiner. _______________________________________________________________________________ Press Tour Tidbits:Notes of Interest -30 Rock Live:NBC will air a live episode of sitcom 30 Rock on Thursday, Oct. 14 at 8:30 p.m. ET. Two versions will be telecast -- one live for the East Coast and the other for the West Coast. -Expanded Law & Order: SVU:The upcoming 12th season of Law & Order: SVU will kick-off a two-hour installment on Wednesday, Sept. 22 at 9 p.m. ET. The expanded season-premiere will feature guest stars Joan Cusack, Peter Strauss and Lost’s Henry Ian Cusick. -Rob Lowe Upgraded on Parks and Recreation:Former Brothers & Sisters star Rob Lowe will become a series regular on NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation, reprising his guest-starring role as state auditor Chris Traeger. -Three Renewals at TNT:TNT has ordered new seasons of dramas The Closer, Leverage and the recently introduced Rizzoli & Isles. Fifteen new episodes have been commissioned for The Closer and Leverage, with 13 for Rizzoli & Isles. All three begin their new seasons in 2011. -2010 TCA Award Winners:The growing list of accolades continues for Fox’s Glee, which was named Program of the Year and Outstanding New Program at The 2010 Television Critics Association (TCA) Awards. Jane Lynch as Glee’s Sue Sylvester won for Individual Achievement in Comedy and The Good Wife’s Julianna Margulies for Individual Achievement in Drama, while Outstanding Achievement in Comedy went to ABC’s Modern Family. Sharing the trophy for Outstanding Achievement in Drama was ABC’s Lost and AMC’s Breaking Bad, while TV of yesteryear was honored with MASH snagging the Heritage Award and James Garner cited for Career Achievement. Since no TV awards ceremony is not complete without HBO, named Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries & Specials was the cable net’s The Pacific, with executive producer Tom Hanks front and center to pick up the trophy. Winners of the 2010 TCA Awards, which were handed out at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles on Saturday are as follows: Program of the Year: Glee (Fox)Outstanding New Program: Glee (Fox)Individual Achievement in Comedy: Jane Lynch (Glee, Fox)Outstanding Achievement in Comedy: Modern Family (ABC)Outstanding Achievement in Drama: Lost (ABC) and Breaking Bad (AMC)Individual Achievement in Drama: Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife, CBS)Outstanding Achievement in News & Information: Life (Discovery)Outstanding Achievement in Youth Programming: Yo Gabba Gabba (Nick Jr.)Outstanding Achievement in Movies, Miniseries & Specials: The Pacific (HBO)Heritage Award: MASHCareer Achievement: James Garner On the Air Tonight:Prime-Time Programming Options Monday 8/02/10 8:00 p.m. The Bachelorette (season finale, two hours)10:00 p.m. The Bachelorette: The Women Tell All CBS: 8:00 p.m. How I Met Your Mother (R) 8:30 p.m. Rules of Engagement (R) 9:00 p.m. Two and a Half Men (R) 9:30 p.m. The Big Bang Theory (R)10:00 p.m. CSI: Miami (R) NBC: 8:00 p.m. America’s Got Talent (R) 9:00 p.m. Last Comic Standing 10:00 p.m. Persons Unknown Fox: 8:00 p.m. Lie to Me 9:00 p.m. The Good Guys (summer season finale) CW: 8:00 p.m. One Tree Hill (R) 9:00 p.m. Gossip Girl (R) _______________________________________________________________________________ Coming Up Tomorrow: ABC

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NBC Day at The TCA Summer Press Tour

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