Question: I have a laundry list of questions about summer viewing: Is Life on Mars going to have a second season, or was it a one-off? (I'm scared to death of the American remake — I'm expecting Starsky & Hutch.) I was disappointed to hear about the bad ratings of Brotherhood — it's too good to be ignored. If there is no second season, will we be left hanging, or does the first series come to some sort of resolution? I know it's early, but what is the likelihood of Vanished making it through the season? Is Fox willing to take a chance based on the success of 24 and Prison Break, or will this be another Firefly/Wonderfalls/Reunion? Finally, what is your reaction to Denis Leary getting an Emmy nomination for acting but not one for writing? As good as he is as Tommy Gavin, his and Peter Tolan's scripts are the heart of that series. How could the writing be ignored?
Answer: There is a second series of Life on Mars, but no word on when BBC America will present
read more
Question: First 24, then Lost. I love that we're going to see more of these high-end productions, but do you think the networks will cause viewer burnout since every major network will have new serialized dramas to tout in the fall? I'm sure that money has everything to do with their breaking into new platforms for these shows. Even Lost will have toy figures for its characters!
Answer: It's a fact that just about every network wants to have a show that commands as much media attention, viewer loyalty and branding possibilities as the best of the serial thrillers tend to generate. (It helps when you have breakout stars like Prison Break's Wentworth Miller; you should have heard the screams at the Fox upfront.) It's also a fact that there are going to be a few too many of these continuing mysteries on the fall schedule, more than most will be able to keep up with. Call it a glut. And they sound almost indistinguishable: Vanished. Kidnapped. Runaway. There may well be burnout, and I
...
read more
Reunion, Love Monkey and Commander in Chief
Reunion. Threshold. E-Ring. Invasion. Emily's Reasons Why Not. Love Monkey. Commander in Chief. Heist.
What do these shows have in common? They all debuted at some point during this soon-to-wrap TV season, yet each saw their run either cut surprisingly short or handicapped by irregular scheduling. Was 2005-06 the worst year ever to sample a new show? Were the networks especially hasty in deciding the fate of freshman series? TVGuide.com consulted a panel of experts with unique points of view to examine this strange little season gone by.
Are New Shows Getting Short Shrift?Jeff Bader, executive vice president of ABC entertainment programming and scheduling, dismisses the suggestion that prime time is a crueler-than-ever proving ground for new series. "
read more
Question: I've been waiting for the show Reunion to return. I thought it was supposed to return sometime in February, but nothing yet, and it's already April. I was wondering if you knew if and when it's returning. Sincerely, a faithful fan.
Answer: I vowed never to utter this show's name again, but because I keep getting questions, especially during this period of mid-season churn, one last time: Reunion is dead. It's not coming back. Fox canceled it before it got to the end of its story, and there's no point in airing any unseen episodes without a resolution. Fox execs have said that one scenario for the solution of the whodunit was that Samantha was murdered by the daughter she gave up for adoption. But they obviously never got to produce the episodes leading up to this reveal. So it's history ...
read more
SupernaturalWelcome to Thursday-night TV, Supernatural! Yes, this week the show moved to the post-Smallville spot and I'm back to writing about three Thursday shows (remember, I used to cover Reunion, too. Moment of silence, please). Sam's having wacky nightmares and visions about a dark, possibly cursed, family in Michigan. He feels connected to the family's scary son, who's mastered the skill of telekinesis. Meanwhile, Dean tries hard not to freak out about Sam’s new powers. (Add telekinesis to the list.) Two genuinely scary moments: When the guy got guillotined and that whole vision of Max stabbing his mother in the eye. Best Sam and Dean moments: Father Frehley and Father Simmons, anyone? Also, the very last scene in the entire episode.
I'm
read more
Question: Someone recently wrote in about the poor chances of Invasion getting a second season. That would sadden me (I like the show), but I have wondered where it would even go for a second or third season. Some shows seem to be able to keep it fresh and fun for years, and others burn themselves out quickly. I know networks want shows that keep making money year after year, but do you think they might keep the "Arrgh, they canceled my show!" viewers happier if sometimes they released a show that was only meant to have one season? Some stories are too big for cinema, but they're not long enough to last five or six seasons. Sometimes one season is just about right. (I got this idea from animé, in which stand-alone 26-episode stories are very common.)
Answer: We'll see how this plays out when the networks experiment this summer and into next season with the telenovela format (on My Network TV), which (from what I understand) tells closed-ended soap-opera stories in season-long formats. I
...
read more
Question: I have to know — is One Tree Hill going to make it to the new CW network? I can't lose both that and Reunion!
Answer: According to exec producer Mark Schwahn, "I don’t think we'll get word until right before the upfronts [in May]. I think we’re certainly on the bubble. We'd like to be included." If it does come back, Schwahn says next season will take place during the second half of senior year.
read more
Question: When I was posted overseas, I found myself an avid watcher of a Brazilian telenovela called Terra Nostra. Luckily, I know some Spanish and was able to get the gist of the dialogue using Spanish and English cognates. It was a great story and made me realize that I'd like to see a series that had a beginning and an end. My question: Don't you think the telenovela format would be a welcome change from TV shows that you start to get invested in, such as Threshold or Love Monkey, just as they're prematurely canceled? Or do you think it would be more like a longer miniseries, such as Roots or North and South? Of course, Centennial doesn't count because they switched that around so much I lost track of when it was on. Maybe it was too long?
Answer: If the networks' experiments with the telenovela format means a sideways return to the old-style miniseries, I'm all for it. (Actually, I've been saying for a long time that many of HBO's acclaimed dramas, most notably The Wire and Rome,
...
read more
In other pilot news, Skeet Ulrich will star in Jericho, CBS' drama about a small town isolated from the world after a nuclear disaster.... Gail O'Grady has joined Kevin Williamson's CW sudser about a teen whose family moves to Palm Springs, while Hot Properties costar Sofia Vergara has been cast on ABC's new comedy from Donal Logue.... John Billingsley (Star Trek: Enterprise) and Owain Yeoman (Kitchen Confidential) have been added to ABC's Nine Lives, about strangers who bond during a bank robbery.... John L. Adams (The Dead Zone) will play newscaster Angie Harmon's cameraman in Secrets of a Small Town, from Charles Pratt Jr. (Desperate Housewives).... And, in short order, Mark Feuerstein (Good Morning, Miami
read more
Question: Have you heard any news about Reunion? Are they going to finish this season to reveal who the killer is?
Answer: I'm guessing no, since Peter Liguori pretty much ID'd Sam's daughter as the culprit in the middle of Tuesday's exec session. He added that it was "regrettable" that Reunion ended "before its time… I do wish there was a way to wrap it up, [but] Reunion was particularly cumbersome to try and provide an ending for the audience. To gap those additional 14, 15, 16 years was an incredibly complex path. And there was just no way to accelerate that time."
read more
