- Image by Getty Images via @daylife
A dozen things to note about the fall network schedules
announced this week.
1) Minka Kelly (pictured right) of “Friday Night Lights,” “Parenthood”
and Derek Jeter fame, is coming back to network TV as one of “Charlie’s Angels” on ABC. Count me in – for one episode—of the remake.
2) ABC’s new series set in the 1960s, “Pan Am,” has
some curious scheduling. It airs at 10 p.m. Sunday, where AMC’s “Mad Men” normally was carried in the summer and early fall. However, the fifth season of “Mad” isn’t expected to air until early 2012. The series set in a 1960s advertising agency is believed to have inspired “Pan Am” and NBC’s “Playboy Club,” which also is set in the 1960s. “Playboy” airs at 10 p.m. Monday.
3) Glad to see that Jennifer Morrison of “House” is back on network TV in ABC’s “Once Upon a Time” with Ginnifer Goodwin of HBO’s “Big Love.”
4) Henry Ian Cusick – Desmond of of “Lost” fame — also is back in ABC’s “Scandal.”
5) There also is a Western New York angle in “Scandal,” the new series from Shonda Rhimes (“Grey’s Anatomy”). The cast includes Katie Lowes, a WNYer who is in the cast of the heavily-promoted J.J. Abrams movie premiering next month, “Super 8.”
6) James Van Der Beek of “Dawson’s Creek” is playing James Van Der Beek in ABC’s “Apartment 23.” Now that should be a role that shouldn’t stretch his talents.
7) I hadn’t realized that “American Idol” judge Jennifer Lopez may be a one-and-done player. She reportedly signed a one-year deal and may not be back. J-Lo probably would say she is “really, really, really” thinking about the impact on her career if she decides to quit.
What no “Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior”? “No “Law & Order: Los Angeles”?I guess there is no such thing as a sure thing anymore.
9) If I had watched “America’s Most Wanted” in the last 10 years, I would be upset that it has been canceled as a regular series. It will interesting to see which shows Fox chooses to rerun on Saturday nights. “House” and “Bones” would be the best bets to get larger audiences against the network reruns on the other broadcast channels.
10) I thought last fall’s new shows were practically all losers, but kept a wire service story the Buffalo News ran in September that addressed “10 new series that deserve an early look.” Eight of the 10 were on the Big Four – Fox, NBC, CBS and ABC. The only survivors were “Hawaii
Five-O” on CBS and “Raising Hope” on Fox, which is back despite low ratings. “The Event,” “Running Wilde,” “Lone Star,” “My Generation,” “Outsourced” and “No Ordinary Family” all crashed. Keep that in mind when you look at next fall’s schedule loaded with new series.
11) Glad to see Dana Delany will be back on ABC’s “Body of Proof” next fall even if she is a lot better than the series is on a weekly basis.
12) When did Steven Spielberg take over the TV world? He is producing a new TNT summer series, “Falling Skies,” a new NBC series, “Smash” and a new Fox sci-fi series, “Terra Nova.” Spielberg’s track record in TV isn’t quite what it has been in movies – but then the failure rate in TV can be higher than it is in movies.
pergament@msn.com
Alan Pergament was the television critic for The Buffalo News for 28 years. He currently is an adjunct professor at Buffalo State College and Medaille College, teaching courses in communications. He also writes a monthly column on the media for Buffalo Spree magazine.
I was glad to see that ABC renewed Body of Proof. BUT, I still think ABC would have been better off if they developed a spin off series based on FBI agent Jordon Shaw. The charater that Delany played last year on two episodes of Castle. Body of Proof is okay, but not great. It looks like it is trying to be a cross between Castle and Bones, but it has a lot of work to do.