Thursday, May 13, 2010

SitcomsOnline.com 2010-11 Upfront Preview: The CW; Network Pick-Ups

The CW continues to struggle, but they found one hit (Vampire Diaries) and a moderate success (Life UneXpected) this past season after many struggles (Melrose Place). And to make things worse, for the second straight year they have zero sitcom pilots in development, so all of their new series pick-ups will be dramas again. They could need a sitcom or two to change things up.
Here is the SitcomsOnline.com The CW 2010-11 preview:

New Series Already Picked-Up: None.
Already Renewed Returning Series: 90210, America's Next Top Model, Gossip Girl, Smallville, Supernatural, and The Vampire Diaries.
Likely Returning Series: One Tree Hill and Life UneXpected.
Likey To Be Canceled or Already Canceled: The Beautiful Life: TBL, Fly Girls, High Society, and Melrose Place.
Likely New Series: Nikita (drama), Hellcats (drama), Betwixt (drama) and Nomads (mid-season drama).

OUR FALL 2010 PREDICTION:

Mondays
8:00PM Gossip Girl
9:00PM Hellcats (NEW!)

Tuesdays
8:00PM Life UneXpected
9:00PM 90210

Wednesdays
8:00PM America's Next Top Model
9:00PM Nikita (NEW!)

Thursdays
8:00PM Vampire Diaries
9:00PM Betwixt (aka Changelings) (NEW!)

Fridays
8:00PM Smallville
9:00PM Supernatural

Comments: The CW only has five nights to program, so that is only 10 hours worth of programming. With zero comedies again, they again are going with all dramas and Top Model. It would have been nice to see a comedy hour somewhere. For Mondays, Gossip Girl could be back to leading off Mondays and they can try new drama Hellcats at 9pm which focuses on cheerleaders. Sounds like a perfect fit out of Gossip Girl.
For Tuesdays, they should start the night off with Life UneXpected at 8 leading into 90210. 90210 needs to do much better and needs all the help it can get. Melrose Place was a dud and should be canned for good. I think 90210 should be also, but The CW renewed it.
Wednesdays will of course have America's Next Top Model leading off the night followed possibly by a drama that could be their top pilot, Nikita, a remake of the TV/movie franchise about a female assassin. That could be the fit The CW was looking for, instead of wasting the timeslot with repeats or duds like Fly Girls/High Society.
For Thursday, that is The CW's biggest night! Highest rated drama The Vampire Diaries will continue to lead off the night at 8pm. They could move Supernatural off to Fridays and try a new drama at 9pm. I think they should go with the drama Betwixt (aka Changelings). That pilot centers around teens who find something strange about themselves in the woods. Could be a good match with The Vampire Diaries.
And finally on Fridays, long-running hit Smallville returns at 8pm for sure. But the 9pm hour will likely not be repeats anymore, with possibly Supernatural moving here, as they already are airing repeats of that in this slot in the summer.
For mid-season, they will have One Tree Hill ready to go (watch your back 90210!). They could pick-up another drama for mid-season such as Nomads, about a group of traveling teens that work for the CIA.
With only two hours to program each night, The CW should start each night with a proven show (Gossip Girl, Life UneXpected, Top Model, Vampire Diaries, Smallville). It still baffles me why they had no sitcoms in development. I think a comedy hour would work on Tuesdays following Life UneXpected, especially if they are in the same vein as something like Reba. It is too bad they are wasting time on 90210, as that has been a bust and still is entering its third season next season.
Discuss your thoughts on our prediction and feel free to make suggestions of your own.

Remember, next Thursday (May 20) is the actual date when we will find out The CW's plans for the 2010-11 season. So, come on back next Thursday and we will let you know the details and you can see how much we were right (or wrong).
And as a reminder, stay tuned starting Sunday evening (through Thursday) for all the final schedules released by all the networks! We will put them up as soon as they are released by the networks, so this will be your home to see them first!


With upfronts next week, the networks are giving some early pick-ups and renewals. NBC has green-lit the new romantic single-camera comedy Perfect Couples for its 2010-11 season. The sitcom joins previously announced dramas Chase, Undercovers, The Event, Love Bites, and fellow comedy Outsourced as the sixth new scripted series currently unveiled for NBC's new season with additional pickups yet to be announced. NBC unveils its schedule on Sunday at 5:15pm ET.
Perfect Couples depicts the misadventures of three engaging couples as they struggle to find out what makes the ideal relationship -- and how to maintain it through humorous trial-and-error. The series explores their heroic journey in search of the perfect relationship without destroying each other in the process.
Dave (Kyle Howard, My Boys) and Julia (Christine Woods, FLASHFORWARD) are the relatable, normal couple, but Julia's hope of remaining the cool, low-maintenance chick is tested by Dave's attempts to keep both his wife and his needy best friend Vance (Dave Walton, NBC's 100 Questions) equally happy. Vance, along with the neurotic Amy (Mary Elizabeth Ellis, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia), are the high-passion, high-drama couple who bring out the best and worst in each other.
The third duo features Rex (Hayes MacArthur, She's Out of My League), a reformed party guy, and, and his wife, Leigh (Olivia Munn, G4's Attack of the Show), who considers herself as the group's mother hen. Believing that they are relationship experts, Rex and Leigh have attended every class and seminar on relationships -- and regard themselves as the "perfect couple."
Meanwhile, NBC is close to canceling Heroes and bringing back Chuck. There is word that Heroes could get a two-hour movie to wrap things up, but there is nothing official yet. Chuck will likely air in the fall and possibly for the full season if it does well enough. Stay with us for updates.

Fox also has announced five series pick-ups. Single-camera comedy pilots Traffic Light, Keep Hope Alive and Running Wilde, as well as dramas Ride-Along and Lone Star (aka Midland). And on the bubble series, Lie To Me and Human Target both are being renewed for 13 episodes. Maybe they share a slot this season, with Human Target airing in the fall and Lie To Me in mid-season (since it is airing this summer)? Fox hasn't issued a press release on any of this yet, so we don't have descriptions for the new series.

And finally ABC has picked up the drama No Ordinary Family for the fall. The drama is about a typical American family whose members - mom Stephanie (Julie Benz), dad Jim (Michael Chiklis), daughter Daphne (Kay Panabaker), son JJ (Jimmy Bennett) - discover they have special abilities. Tate Donovan, Autumn Reeser, Christina Chang and Romany Malco also star.
Look for more ABC early pick-ups soon, as single-camera comedy pilots Mr. Sunshine, Happy Endings, and multi-camera sitcom pilot That Couple are hot right now. Drama pilots Generation Y and Off the Map are also looking good. Nothing official on these yet, so stay with us.

Stay with us for updates this weekend and of course during the week next week for the schedules!


Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Sunday, October 1

The Simpsons - "Homer's Crossing" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT)
eeling worthless at work, Homer volunteers to be a school crossing guard; when Homer's safety squad receives too much funding, the crossing guards become a force to be feared.

Krapopolis - "Wife Swamp" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Tyrannis returns from a quest with a girlfriend; Hippocampus, Stupendous, and Schlub fight and then befriend a species of wolves.

Bob's Burgers - "Fight at the Not Okay Chore-ral" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
When Linda and Bob suggest the kids do chores, the family ends up in a showdown.

Family Guy - "Fertilized Megg" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Meg agrees to be Bruce and Jeffery's surrogate, causing a pregnant Meg to annoy her family; when the couple fails to pick up the baby, the Griffins must take care of their new family member.

Complete TV Listings


Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of September 25)

Friday, September 29

  • Amy Poehler (Duncanville/Parks and Recreation) - Watch Amy on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
  • Lea Michele (The Mayor) - Lea is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
  • Nathan Lane (Only Murders in the Building/Modern Family/Charlie Lawrence/Encore! Encore!/One of the Boys) - Nathan appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
  • Margaret Cho (All-American Girl) and Maria Bamford (Lady Dynamite) - Margaret and Maria are guests on repeats of Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen on CBS between 12:37-1:37am.
  • Patton Oswalt (A.P. Bio/The Goldbergs/The King of Queens) - Patton will be on CBS Mornings sometime between 7-9am.


New on DVD/Blu-ray (June-October)

Mayberry R.F.D. - The Complete Series Night Court (1984-1992) - The Complete Series Family Matters - The Complete Series Step by Step - The Complete Series ALF - The Complete Series (Deluxe Edition)

06/13 - Mayberry R.F.D. - The Complete Series
06/13 - Night Court (1984-1992) - The Complete Series
07/18 - South Park - Seasons 21-25 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
07/25 - The Neighborhood - Season Five
07/25 - Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin - Season One
07/25 - Superstore - The Complete Series
08/22 - Back to Life - Season 1 / Season 2
08/29 - Smiling Friends - Season 1 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/05 - Young Sheldon - The Complete Sixth Season
09/12 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Second Season
09/12 - Rick and Morty - The Complete Seasons 1-6 (Blu-ray) (DVD)
09/26 - Family Matters - The Complete Series
09/26 - Step by Step - The Complete Series
10/10 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Complete Season Thirteen / The Complete Season Fourteen
10/17 - ALF - The Complete Series (Deluxe Edition) (Shout! Factory Special Offers)
10/17 - Night Court (2023) - The Complete First Season
More Recent and Upcoming TV DVD Releases / DVD Reviews Archive / SitcomsOnline Digest


Recent SitcomsOnline.com News Blog Posts

09/30 - SitcomsOnline Digest: WGA Strike Officially Over; ABC Cancels Home Economics
09/29 - Lifetime Announces New Thrillers; Big Mouth Season 7 Trailer
09/28 - New Season of Wolf Like Me on Peacock; Max Original Animated Series Debuts October 19
09/27 - Moonlighting Coming to Hulu; Showtime Announces Date for The Curse
09/26 - Rick and Morty Season 7 Trailer; Fox's Krapopolis Debuts Well
09/25 - Laff Fall 2023 Schedule with Last Man Standing and Man with a Plan; Upload Returns October 20
09/24 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of September 25, 2023)
09/23 - SitcomsOnline Digest: An End on the Horizon for WGA Strike?; Hallmark Ready for Christmas
09/22 - The Santa Clauses Season 2 Launches November 8; CBS Alters Fall Schedule
09/21 - Penn & Teller: Fool Us Gets New Return Date; Netflix's Unicorn Academy Premieres November 2
09/20 - Paramount+ Announces Colin from Accounts; The Really Loud House Gets Halloween Movie
09/19 - The Simpsons Season 34 Streams October 11 on Disney+; Good Burger 2 Set for Holiday Season
09/18 - Hulu's Huluween and Disney+'s Hallowstream Line-Up; Shining Vale Returns October 13 on STARZ
09/17 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of September 18, 2023)
09/16 - SitcomsOnline Digest: ABC Cancels Wonder Years Reboot; Byron Allen Makes $10 Billion Offer to Buy ABC
09/15 - Antenna TV's Bewitched Halloween Marathon; Rewind TV's Sabrina the Teenage Witch-O-Ween Marathon
09/14 - Dancing with the Stars Season 32 Cast; BUZZR Celebrates 40 Years of Press Your Luck
09/13 - TBS Acquires Modern Family; The Frasier Awards on COZI TV
09/12 - Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen Gets CBS Late Night Run; Unsolved Mysteries: Behind the Legacy Special
09/11 - Matt Rife Gets Netflix Special; Star Trek Day and Kid Cudi Join Forces
09/10 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of September 11, 2023)
09/09 - SitcomsOnline Digest: Warner Bros. Television Suspends Deals with Top Creators; Fran Drescher Re-Elected President of SAG-AFTRA
09/08 - CBS Announces Hosts of Game Show; New Goosebumps Premieres Friday the 13th This October on Disney+ and Hulu
09/07 - MeTV Presents Svengoolie's Halloween BOOnanza!; The CW Moving Fall Comedies to Thursdays
09/06 - CBS to Air NCIS: Sydney This Fall; Fox Makes Fall Change
09/05 - TBS and TNT September Stunts Include Big Bang Theory Batman Day Marathon; Netflix UK Produced Series Updates
09/04 - TV Marathons on Labor Day 2023 Include Three's Company
09/03 - Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows; This Week in Sitcoms (Week of September 4, 2023)
09/02 - SitcomsOnline Digest: No Third Season for How I Met Your Father; Spectrum Dispute with Disney Could Spell End of Cable
09/01 - September Is Anniversary Month on Hulu; Freeform's 31 Nights of Halloween Returns for Its 25th Anniversary
08/31 - Max's Original Comedy Series Starstruck Season 3 and Our Flag Means Death Season 2 Premiere Dates; AXS TV Announces Fall Programming Lineup
08/30 - The Partridge Family Coming to AXS TV Starting Oct. 2; CBS to Air A Tribute to Bob Barker Special Aug. 31, Marathon of Match Game Episodes to Air Sept. 2 on Game Show Network