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 / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Monday, June 30
The Neighborhood - "Welcome to the Sting" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
Calvin and Marty send Courtney on a mission to find out information about Fuse Box’s impressive new rival. Meanwhile, Malcolm attends an event for his creative writing program at USC, where he scores a meeting with a book agent, Lisa (Angelique Cabral).
The Neighborhood - "Welcome to Your Own Medicine" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT) (Repeat)
After Dave’s disastrous attempt to dunk a basketball, Calvin takes care of his injured neighbor. Also, Gemma befriends a cool mom group while babysitting Daphne.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of June 30)
Monday, June 30
- Don Johnson (Kenan) - Watch Don on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- George Clooney (Roseanne/The Facts of Life/ E/R (1984-1985) - George appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Christopher Sieber (It's All Relative/Two of a Kind) - Christopher is a guest on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
- Kel Mitchell (Game Shakers/Kenan & Kel) and Thomas Lennon (The Odd Couple/Sean Saves the World/Reno 911!) - Kel and Thomas are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Evan Handler (And Just Like That...) - Evan talks about And Just Like That... on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am and on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your local listings.
- Hugh Jackman (Human Resources) - Hugh chats with the ladies of The View on a repeat on ABC at 11am ET/10am CT-PT.
- Jeff Hiller (Somebody Somewhere/Nightcap) - Jeff talks about Actress of a Certain Age: My Twenty-Year Trail to Overnight Success on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.
- Amy Poehler (Duncanville/Parks and Recreation) - NBC's Today has Prompter Wars with Amy in the 10am hour.
- Kevin Hart (Lil Kev/Die Hart/The Big House/Undeclared) - NBC's Today catches up with Kevin in the 10am hour.
- Amy Schumer (Life & Beth), Jillian Bell (Bless the Harts/Idiotsitter/Eastbound & Down/Workaholics) and Brianne Howey (Dollface) - NBC's Today catches up with Amy, Jillian and Brianne on NBC's Today in the 10am hour.
- Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/One Day at a Time) - Drew is introducing the newest Drew-crew member, Valerie Bertinelli on a repeat of The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings. Plus, Valerie is making a shrimp and veggie cups recipe from her latest cookbook, Indulge.
- Mario Cantone (And Just Like That.../Sex and the City) - Mario talks about Max's And Just Like That... on a repeat of Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
- Edwin Lee Gibson (The Bear/Unprisoned) - Edwin is a guest on PIX11 Morning News on WPIX in New York at 9:30am.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
05/13 - The Drew Carey Show - The Complete Series* (missing 4 episodes and some music has been replaced or altered)
06/06 - Shoresy - Season 2
06/17 - Looney Tunes - Collector's Vault - Volume 1 (Blu-ray)
07/08 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
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