DVDizzy Forum

# Pushing Daisies: The aforementioned magical detective series, with Lee Pace (Wonderfalls) as a man who can bring back the dead with a single touch—and the woman he loves but can never touch.
# Private Practice: You know what, starring you know who.
# Dirty, Sexy Money: Peter Krause stars as a lawyer for the most obnoxiously rich and famous family around. I looooved this pilot!
# Eli Stone: Greg Berlanti (producer of Everwood and Brothers & Sisters) continues his good-TV streak with this drama about a lawyer who learns he could be a prophet.
# Women's Murder Club: A drama about a group of novice crime solvers, based on a book by James Patterson.
# Cashmere Mafia: Lucy Liu stars in this business-world drama from Darren Star.
# Big Shots: A sudsy drama about high-powered men, including Michael Vartan and Dylan McDermott. (Likely for midseason.)
# Carpoolers: A comedy of four guys who commute to work each day.
# Cavemen: You've seen the Geico commercials, right? Well, they're living in Atlanta.
# Sam I Am: Christina Applegate wakes up from amnesia to learn she was an awful person.
# Miss/Guided: Judy Greer returns to her high school to be a guidance counselor.

As for returning series, October Road and Notes from the Underbelly have been renewed. Sadly, What About Brian has gone to the great cancellation pile in the sky (a fact I knew for sure yesterday when I saw Sarah Lancaster promoting her new NBC series, Chuck, and she told me, "It was time to move on"), along with George Lopez, Knights of Prosperity, In Case of Emergency, Six Degrees and According to Jim.

Just got back from a powwow with the man behind the curtain. No...not Jacob from Lost but rather Mr. Steve McPherson, President of ABC, who had much to say about the decisions announced today. Here's what you should know:

Lost is not on the fall schedule. And this is a good thing! In its place at 10 pm on Wednesdays, we will get a show to which I'm already freakishly addicted: Dirty Sexy Money, starring Peter Krause as a lawyer to a hilarious, Hiltonesque family. And Lost will come back midseason to run back-to-back episodes. McPherson says, "I like the Lost model. I like being able to run it straight through." And the best news for us early risers? McPherson says Lost is "better off as an 8 or 9 pm show." He also plans to keep it on Wednesday night.

McPherson Really Wanted Scrubs. "I was bummed," he says when asked about losing the chance to pick up Scrubs (which is staying on NBC). "Bill [Lawrence] and I developed that show together, and we had a beer early last week and we were hoping it would work out. But I'm happy for those guys that they got another year. It's such a great show."

Grey's Anatomy's cast may be losing a member. As reporters met with McPherson at ABC headquarters this a.m., the most-asked question was about Grey's Anatomy's on-set scandal, and whether Isaiah Washington or TR Knight might be leaving the show. The answers ranged from, "At this point, nothing's been decided," to "The show will return in tact next season," to "Most of the cast will return." Call it a hunch, but something tells me a main cast member may indeed be leaving--or at the very least, left cliff-hanging at the end of the season.

Private Practice Will Be Tweaked a Bit. More story. More drama. Less character introduction now that we're moving past the pilot. McPherson points out that while Grey's is about young, up-and-coming surgeons finding their way, this show is about established docs who already have deep relationships and connections. "We are not trying to imitate Grey's."

Knights of Prosperity Alllmost Made the Cut. "Knights of Prosperity was a show we all really loved," McPherson admitted. "But in the end there were a lot of factors that didn't, you know, Mick Jagger's kind of disappearance from the show, and in the end, performance, that we were all a little baffled by, but we thought they did a great show and we were excited by it." He said he tried to find a space for it and couldn't, and also that The Nine was the hardest to let go. "Every episode of that show was incredibly well written and well acted."

It's All About "Escapism." McPherson says that after The Nine and Daybreak flopped last season, he started to realize a "tonal shift in the audience," and he calls the three break out shows of last season--Heroes, Ugly Betty and Brothers & Sisters--all "escapist in different ways." That said, this season is all about closed-ended, stand-alone-episode series that are mystical, soapy or spiritual.

It's All About The Number Four! Cashmere Mafia is about four women who are business school buddies, Big Shots is about four men who are CEOs, Women's Murder Club is about four women who are amateur crime-solvers and Carpoolers is about four very different men who commute to work. Anybody notice a trend here? McPherson seems to be ditching the large ensemble casts (too problematic?) in favor of finding the new Sex and the City or Desperate Housewives.

Steve McPherson Hearts Bryan Fuller and Greg Berlanti. These producers we fans love from Heroes, Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls (Fuller) and Everwood and Brothers & Sisters (Berlanti) got mad love from McPherson this morning as he discussed their new shows coming to ABC."I can't say enough about the script and the words that were on the paper," McPherson said of Fuller's Pushing Daisies pilot. "His vision is extraordinary and it's like nothing you've seen before on television." As for Eli Stone's Berlanti, whom he credits (along with the addition of Sally Field) for rescuing Brothers & Sisters from its troubled pilot, McPherson says, "He's been an unbelievable asset to us. And he will stay on Brothers & Sisters while driving this new show." Phew!

2099net wrote:Re: No Footballers' Wives.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/a46602 ... s.html?rss

MickeyMousePal wrote:What happen to Super Nanny?

¡Ay, caramba! Just barely made it into my seat after getting lost on the wrong side of town, accosted by a hot dog vendor, stuck inside Central Park and finally over to Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Phew! At least I have a reward for my efforts: Vartan and McDermott and Krause, oh my! They're all in the house at ABC's upfront presentation and the lights are dimming...Here we go!



Ooh, sizzle reel has more Lost than any other show—looks like they're still hot on it! Plus, of course, lots of Grey's and Betty.

Mark Indelicato from Ugly Betty (love him!) takes the stage in a little tux and top hat to sing "One Singular Sensation." Now, Becki Newton and Michael Urie...and holy crap they all can sing and dance—like gangbustahs! Seriously, Broadway quality! I can't wait for Ugly Betty: The Musical! Miss America is now out on stage in a purple evening gown doing high kicks. And now Christopher Gorham and high kicks and oh my...Why can't you all be here?! I'm actually tearing up. Man, I'm lame.

Now the new-show previews...Stand by!

HILARITY ENSUES (2:27 p.m. update)

Up first, comedy, and the big show ABC is hot on: Sam I Am. Christina Applegate, aka Sam, comes out of a coma and realizes she was a terrible person. The upside? She's got Barry Watson as a love interest. Guess they knew What About Brian wasn't coming back fairly early, given that he's on this and Sarah Lancaster is on NBC's Chuck. Regardless, Sam looks funny and entertaining, and the really amazing cast includes Jean Smart!

Cut to: Jerry O'Connell and three guys singing, "I'm All Out of Love." Big laughs from the crowd. We see these guys are Carpoolers and that the show's from Bruce McCullough, best known as one of the Kids in the Hall. Now, I don't want to oversell since this is just a preview, but this could very well be in the vein of Arrested Development—not to mention the fact that Jerry O'Connell and Jason Bateman are often mistaken for each other! Anyway, looks really funny.

Up next, Miss/Guided, which looks something akin to 13 Going on 30—it has that fun, youthful vibe and also Judy Greer, who is playing a geek who returns to high school as an awkward guidance counselor who teaches her students about popping and locking. Looks cute.

Cavemen, this is the one about the Geico commercial characters, who are played by different actors, McPherson jokes, because the originals were "too expensive". In the clip, they're playing Jeopardy!, going on CNN, dressing up like cowboys, disco dancing, attending picnics. Think I need to see more of this.

UP NEXT, DRAMA...

The Walkers are here! The Walkers are here!

Huge, big, raucous applause that just won't die down. The entire Brothers & Sisters cast is onstage doing a funny little bit on what a year it's been.

Rob Lowe then introduces a clip reel of the stars who are "gone but not forgotten," showing all the people who died on ABC this year. (Hey, did they get that idea from our Tater Tops?) The clips end with Denny and Meredith and...holy frak! The Fray is onstage performing "How to Save a Life" in front of big screen of touching clips of ABC shows!

Okay, either I'm PMSing or ABC is just that good, 'cause dammit I'm teary again. Me = sap. I love TV.

First new drama presented is Private Pra...Wait, no, Pushing Daisies, yay! The whimsical drama, a forensic fairy tale if you will, from Bryan Fuller, about a guy who can bring the dead back to life. Audience is riveted. Laughing. Gasping. Engaged. McPherson is right: This show looks and feels totally different than anything else on television. I've seen the pilot, and you guys are gonna love it.

Now Private Practice. This one you know. All about Addison's life crisis that brings her to Los Angeles.

Cashmere Mafia is about four women living in New York City, from the creator of Sex and the City...from the clip, it looks very SATC, but somehow not in an annoyingly knockoffish way. It stars Lucy Liu, Miranda Otto, Frances O'Connor and Bonnie Somerville, who—whoa!—is kissing a girl. This show looks more dramatic than SATC but nonetheless juicy and watchable.

The promo for Dirty Sexy Money doesn't do it justice. This one I've seen and the one that I absolutely went ape-dung over. So, so good! Peter Krause is the lawyer for a nutty cuckoo rich family. The promo man tells me "From the producers of Brothers & Sisters and Six Feet Under and the director of Grey's Anatomy..." You sold yet? Thought so!

The Angie Harmon starrer Women's Murder Club, about four friends solving cases, is based on the James Patterson books. Looks gritty and intriguing.

Big Shots, about four CEOs "living the dream," stars Dylan McDermott, Michael Vartan, Chris Titus and Josh Maloney. It's getting some laughs from the audience. I've seen this one and loved the casting. Definitely feels a bit like a male version of Desperate Housewives.

Steve McPherson encourages crowd to watch the finale of Lost, which is "one of the best episodes they've done—not this season, but of the whole series." I second that emotion.

Bingo! Yes, we are playing bingo, in honor of new show National Bingo Night. You are sooo jealous.

Ooh, we have a winner—and a marching band and confetti, no joke. The cleaning lady's gonna be pissed. And speaking of pissed, I gotta scoot! Presentation is over, party is starting, and I gotta see who's doing too many shots and willing to dish.

Signing off for now...thanks for playing!

MickeyMousePal wrote:It's possible that According to Jim might return as a mid-season show.

MadonnasManOne wrote: I can understand him being upset about not being renewed, and I can understand the frustration he feels, but, I get so sick and tired of people who aren't white, pulling the "race" card. Come on! It has nothing to do with television becoming "really, really white again." That statement is so ridiculous, that it's laughable. Television, especially today, has a great mix of many different races. It has nothing to do with the color of his skin. It's all about business, and this is something he apparently doesn't understand.