Wednesday, July 19, 2006
TCA Tour ABC: Day 2; In2TV Spanish Channel
ABC could take a second look at Patricia Heaton's sitcom project, the Everybody Loves Raymond actress who had a pilot the network declined to pick up. ABC is in discussions with producers of the pilot about redeveloping the project, which McPherson said "didn't come together." McPherson on Grey's Anatomy moving: "We definitely think 'Grey's' is a self-starter," McPherson said. "We really believe in these comedies (Big Day and Notes from the Underbelly). It's the first time we're really going to go full bore against Thursday nights." And now that J.J. Abrams has moved from Touchstone to Warner Bros., he will still play huge roles on Lost, Six Degrees and What About Brian. Abrams is expected to direct select episodes of Lost and be in the writing room as well, McPherson said. Lost, as mentioned yesterday, will air for 6 episodes in the fall before returning in early winter for the rest of the season, which could be anywhere between 16-18 weeks. He mentioned that Lost likely will create supplementary content, though not broadband episodes, to sate viewer appetites when Lost takes a midseason break.
McPherson also issued a vote of confidence for Desperate Housewives, which critics carped suffered from a creative malaise in its second season (the beginning of it at least). The network likes what it sees from early scripts and descriptions of seasonlong story lines coming from creator and executive producer Marc Cherry, who has the reins to himself now that Tom Spezialy has left the show.
McPherson also aired some regrets over the failure of Commander in Chief, adding that if he could do it over again he would have launched later in the season to avoid overwhelming executive producer Rod Lurie, who was removed from the series because of production delays.
"I think if we had gotten way out ahead, we would have had a much better chance of being able to deliver a show week to week," McPherson said. And he mentioned Invasion as well, "We just could not get a large audience off of it. We really believed in it. It came down to the wire. It was a very tough call for us." He also said, the cast for the next Dancing with the Stars is "almost set."
As for today, ABC had a session with ABC News, effective TODAY ABC will officially change the name of World News Tonight with Charles Gibson to World News With Charles Gibson. So they are removing the word "tonight." Why? ABC News President David Westin says: “The program we air each night remains our flagship broadcast, but it has evolved well beyond thirty minutes on television,” said Mr. Westin. “With an afternoon webcast downloaded by millions, and updated content available throughout the day on ABCNEWS.com, ‘World News’ is always on. We are committed to expanding ABC News and ‘World News’ into the 24-hour space created by the digital world, and it makes sense for that reality to be reflected in the title of the broadcast.” Also, injured ABC News reporter Bob Woodruff is "recovering rather miraculously" and has spent the last two afternoons in the ABC newsroom in New York after morning physical therapy sessions, according to ABC News spokesperson Jeffrey Schneider. Wonderful news and we wish Bob the best of luck in a speedy recovery!
And finally, the rest of the day will be devoted to ABC's other new series/specials: The Knights of Prosperity, Notes from the Underbelly, MEN IN TREES, Brothers & Sisters, and The Path to 9/11.
We mentioned a few weeks back on our In2TV July post, that a few series will be getting Spanish episodes also. We said Jesse, Presidio Med, Animaniacs were getting that treatment. So we sort of were the first to release that because today they officially announced details on the Spanish episodes. They have created an all-new channel with episodes in Spanish! The channel is called "In2TV En Espanol," and launches today! In2TV En Espanol showcases fan favorites from Babylon 5 to Wonder Woman to Perfect Strangers, and many more. According to weekly tracking by AOL, these are among the most popular shows on In2TV, the new broadband network with the largest offering of popular television series available online for free. This new Spanish-language channel will expose an entire online community to television programs that have previously only been seen in their original English broadcast format.
The following are all the shows that are currently on this channel and the episodes for the sitcoms in parenthesis: Growing Pains ("Jealousy," "Carol's Article," "Mike's Madonna Story"), Kung Fu, La Femme Nikita, Lois & Clark, Babylon 5, Pinky & the Brain, Wonder Woman, Jesse ("Live Nude Girl," "Boo! He's Back," The Best Deal Possible"), Animaniacs, Freddy's Nightmares, The Fugitive, Spenser: Fore Hire, People's Court, Hangin' With Mr. Cooper ("Call Me Irresponsible," "My Bodyguard," "Matinee"), Freakazoid!, The Adventures of Brisco County Jr., Beetlejuice, Falcon Crest, V: The Series, Max Headroom, Presidio Med, New Adventures of Batman, Sisters, Dark Justice, and The FBI. Their press release mentioned Head of the Class and Perfect Strangers, but I don't see them listed for this month. Head of the Class doesn't even have new episodes in the regular English this month either. I'm surprised Chico and the Man is not in Spanish yet!
Finally, in related news, the blog [itvt] had an interview with Eric Frankel, President Warner Bros. Domestic Cable Distribution. The interview is all about In2TV, so you should go read it. It is quite good! Click here to read it.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight
Thursday, March 30
Young Sheldon - "A Stolen Truck and Going on the Lam" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
Missy steals her dad’s truck and hits the road with her friend Paige (Mckenna Grace).
Ghosts - "Alberta's Descendant" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Alberta is thrilled when a living relative, Alicia (Ashley D. Kelley), visits Woodstone to learn more about her, but things take a turn when she hits it off with Todd (Rodrigo Fernandez Stoll), Sam’s podcast co-host. Also, Nigel uses his knowledge of Trevor and Hetty’s secret tryst to try to blackmail Hetty.
Animal Control - "Peacocks and Pumas" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
Frank and Victoria stake out a squawking peacock; Emily and Patel attend to Shred.
Call Me Kat - "Call Me Not Okurrr" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
In the heat of the moment, Zoey kisses Kat at karaoke night; when Randi discovers a secret hideaway in the condo, she hides it from Carter and makes it a place for her to unwind.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of March 27)
Thursday, March 30
- Brett Goldstein (Ted Lasso) - Catch Brett on Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Brooke Shields (Suddenly Susan) - Brooke appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Fred Armisen (Los Espookys/Forever/Final Space) - Fred sits-in with the 8G Band on Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Kyra Sedgwick (Call Your Mother) - Kyra and Kevin Bacon are guests on The Late Late Show with James Corden at 12:37am on CBS. Kyra will also be on LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan (check your local listings) and chats with the ladies of The View on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- John Leguizamo (The Brothers Garcia) - John guest hosts Comedy Central's The Daily Show at 11pm.
- JoAnna Garcia Swisher (Animal Practice/Better with You/Reba) and Morris Chestnut (Out All Night) - JoAnna and Morris guest co-host The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
- Katie Lowes (How We Roll) - Katie guest co-hosts LIVE! with Kelly and Ryan, so check your listings.
- Ike Barinholtz (History of the World, Part II/The Afterparty/Bless the Harts/The Mindy Project) - Ike appears on The Kelly Clarkson Show, so check your local listings.
- Julie Bowen (Modern Family/Ed) - Julie is a guest on The Jennifer Hudson Show, so check your local listings.
- Method Man (Method & Red) - Method Man will be on The Jennifer Hudson Show, so check your local listings.
- Larenz Tate (South Central/The Royal Family) - Larenz appears on The Jennifer Hudson Show, so check your local listings.
New on DVD/Blu-ray (November-March)
11/08 - Frasier - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/08 - Young Rock - Season Two (Blu-ray) (DVD)
11/15 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Seven / The Complete Season Eight
11/22 - That '70s Show - The Complete Series (Mill Creek)
11/29 - Ghosts - Season One (Blu-ray) (DVD)
12/06 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - 70th Anniversary Ultimate Christmas Collection
12/13 - And Just Like That... - The Complete First Season
12/13 - Hogan's Heroes - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
01/03 - Andy Richter Controls the Universe - The Complete Series (2023 Release)
01/27 - Master of None - Season Three / The Complete Series
02/21 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Nine / The Complete Season Ten
02/28 - Growing Pains - The Complete Series
03/28 - Rick and Morty - Season 8 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
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