On Tuesday during lunch, members of the Television Critics Association got buzzed.
There was no open bar, understand. Rather, a few enterprising fans of the recently-cancelled period drama “The Borgias” rented a small plane that trailed a banner pleading for us, and Showtime, to save their favorite series. The fan campaign was also represented a lone protester standing in front of the Beverly Hilton holding a sign that read “Give us Season 4!” and “Sardines 4 Showtime.” Seeing an opportunity for a display of good will, The CW — which, like Showtime, is owned by CBS Corporation — sent a few pages dressed in Renaissance costumes in support of their sorta historical series “Reign” to stand with the man — who, as it turns out, was paid to picket and reportedly hadn’t even seen the show.
Be that as it may, every television executive wants viewers to be that passionate about their programming. The problem is that more often than not, the passion for a series is not necessarily matched by the size of the audience or strong enough to justify the cost of said show.
Filmed entirely on location in Budapest, “The Borgias” was sexy, visually lush, featured solid performances and, like most period dramas, was probably quite expensive. It had to be. Cut the costs and… well, visually speaking, we’d probably get something like The CW’s new Renaissance romp “Reign,” premiering 9pm Thursday, October 17. “Reign” filmed its pilot in Ireland but will produce subsequent episodes in Toronto, and dresses its Mary Queen of Scots (played by Adelaide Kane) and her four ladies-in-waiting in gowns that look more fit for prom than for court. That may suit the shopping needs of The CW’s target audience — whether it’s a good fit for the network’s primetime line-up is yet to be seen — but Showtime’s viewers pay a subscription fee for its content and expect to get their money’s worth for that extra dough.
Thus Italy’s most infamous and corrupt Renaissance-era family has joined Showtime’s history books, and the premium cable channel is redirecting its resources to developing new comedies and dramas — including the following projects announced this week.
Showtime greenlighted a pilot starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Kathryn Hahn called “Trending Down,” a comedy and commentary on our youth-obsessed society. Hoffman plays Thom Payne, described in the press release as “a man facing his own obsolescence after his advertising agency is taken over”. Hahn plays his wife Lee.
The cable channel has also picked up a six-part documentary series executive produced by Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz, the Magical Elves production team (i.e. the folks that gave us “Project Runway” when it was on Bravo, and “Top Chef“) that tackles end-of-life issues from the viewpoint of several terminally ill men and women titled “Time of Death”. It will premiere on Showtime this fall.
Adding to the previously announced pilot orders for “The Vatican,” which stars Kyle Chandler (“Friday Night Lights), and “The Affair”, helmed by Dominic West and Ruth Wilson, the premium channel also announced that Eva Green and Josh Hartnett will co-star in the channel’s genre series “Penny Dreadful,” which goes into production this fall in time for a 2014 series premiere.
Also premiering in 2014: “Shameless“, “House of Lies,” and “Episodes” return to the schedule on January 12 at 9pm, 10pm and 10:30pm respectively. “Californication” and “Nurse Jackie” will make their season premieres in spring of next year.
Meanwhile, with The CW’s schedule already set — view the updated list of premiere dates by clicking here — CW president Mark Pedowitz teased reporters by confirming that the network is developing spinoffs for “Arrow” and “Supernatural“. Seeds for “The Arrow” spinoff will be planted during the upcoming season with the introduction of the recurring character Dr. Barry Allen, whose origin story we will follow until we know him as… The Flash.
“We do want to expand upon the DC universe,” Pedowitz told reporters. “We think they have rich characters that we can use, and we felt this was a very organic way to get there.”
Asked about the previously mentioned Wonder Woman project in development currently known as “Amazon,” Pedowitz characterized its status as being on pause right now, explaining that the script isn’t where the network needs it to be. “It’s an iconic DC character, and we are not going to put it on unless it works, ” Pedowitz explained, adding that with Black Canary joining Arrow along with The Flash, “it’s better to wait and get it right.”
Meanwhile, “Supernatural’s” spinoff will be set in Chicago, featuring monster and hunters that the show’s fans will meet during an episode airing within the upcoming ninth season.
As for the fate of the mothership, Pedowitz says he doesn’t see an end to the adventures of Sam and Dean Winchester for the time being.
“As long as the fan base is there and the ratings are there,” Pedowitz said, “there’s no reason why this couldn’t continue.”
CBS Presents Its 2012-2013 Primetime Schedule
May 16th, 2012 | Posted by Melanie McFarland in Casting alert | Commentary | Fall TV | Renewals | The Pick-Up Game | Tune In Info | TV News - (Comments Off)When you’re winning, why change? That’s been CBS’s attitude for most of the last decade because it has had more series at the top of the Nielsen ratings, consistently, for nine years running. Mind you, nobody is going to call the bulk of CBS’s programming innovative — indeed, some embody the very definition of “killing time.” That is, they exist for the sole purpose of getting a person from the top of any given hour to the bottom with the speed and efficiency of a Japanese economy car.
Clearly there’s something to that, because people continue to watch by the millions — many more millions that most of its competition. Yes, CBS has a schedule that works, and not much room for additions or failures. But the network is not above a little tinkering from time to time.
This is why “Two and a Half Men,” the comedy that has served as the network’s Monday night tentpole since 2005, is moving to Thursday nights at 8:30pm, where it will hopefully retain “The Big Bang Theory’s” sizable audience. “2 Broke Girls” will take over its 9pm Monday slot. Meanwhile, “The Mentalist” is moving from Thursday nights to Sundays at 10pm.
CBS is going into the fall season with only four new series on the schedule, and two waiting in the wings for midseason. New series include “Vegas,” starring Dennis Quaid and Michael Chiklis; the perhaps unfortunately named “Made in Jersey” (although the original title was worse); and the Sherlock Holmes update “Elementary” starring Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu. The network is adding just one new comedy this fall, “Partners.” Click here to read descriptions of CBS’s new series.
Midseason will bring the drama “Golden Boy” and the comedy “Friend Me.”
Cancelled series include “CSI: Emoting With Sunglasses“, “A Gifted Man“, “How to Be a Gentleman“, “NYC 22“, “Rob” and “Unforgettable“. The fate of comedy pinch-hitter “Rules of Engagement” has yet to be determined.
Keep reading for the complete CBS fall 2012 schedule, taken from the network’s press release.
Monday
8pm “How I Met Your Mother”
8pm “Partners” (New Series)
9pm “2 Broke Girls”
9:30pm “Mike & Molly”
10pm “Hawaii Five-0″
Tuesday
8pm “NCIS”
9pm “NCIS: Los Angeles”
10pm “Vegas” (New Series)
Wednesday
8pm “Survivor”
9pm “Criminal Minds”
10pm “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”
Thursday
8pm “The Big Bang Theory”
8:30pm “Two and a Half Men”
9pm “Person of Interest”
10pm “Elementary” (New Series)
Friday
8pm “CSI: NY”
9pm “Made in Jersey” (New Series)
10pm “Blue Bloods”
Saturday
8-10pm “Crimetime Saturday” (Repeats)
10pm “48 Hours Mystery”
Sunday
7pm “60 Minutes”
8pm “The Amazing Race”
9pm “The Good Wife”
10pm “The Mentalist”