Cable (And Network) Television Rundown: Television Critics Association Conference For Dummies

Recently, with the devlopment of Twitter and blogs and all that interweb business, following stuff of interest has gotten a lot easier to do. Have you noticed that, readers? That this new-fangled interweb thing is helping you find out the latest developments in stuff quicker than you've ever known before? With the advent of said technologies, I was able to follow the updates of the annual Television Critics Association conference. Via great sources like NJ.com's Alan Sepinwall, Jace from Televisionaryblog.com, Michael Ausiello from Entertainment Weekly, and The Futon Critic, I could follow along with all the hijinks that television producers, writers, directors, show-runners, and actors got themselves into. (Not to mention the times that networks would skimp out on things like coffee for our beloved critics. What were you thinking, ABC?) But since most of you aren't total television geeks like I am, with a hat tip to those who came before me and those whom I followed intently via Twitter feed and Google Reader feed and the fantastic work they did (thank you to all!), I now recount to you, Blogulator reader, the notable newsworthy notes for each network.

NBC
First off, there's almost nothing coming that is noteworthy to NBC this fall, aside from Community, a half-hour comedy starring Joel McHale (yes, that Joel McHale!) and Chevy Chase that is generating some good buzz. McHale had the zinger of the week when he was asked how long the narrative of the series could continue: ""We will get off the island." Mostly, though, NBC was the subject of derision from the rest of the conference participants, mostly for two reasons: 1) Jay Leno, and 2) Ben Silverman. Leno, for having the show that will now take up NBC's nightly schedule and thus push opportunities for new dramas out the window, and Ben Silverman, the now former NBC prez, for being a total d-bag and also running NBC down to 4th place in the ratings. So, if you want to impress a Hollywood insider, start with a joke like "So I had a terrible meal today. It was so bad that Ben Silverman came to the restaurant and asked for the same thing." Yeah.



ABC
Things are looking better for ABC. In addition to the final season of Lost coming this fall, they also have FlashForward (one word), which "comes from the mind of co-screenwriter of The Dark Knight David S. Goyer". For some reason, that description did not include screenwriter of other gems like Jumper and The Unborn, but that's neither here nor there. See the official trailer below. The premise of the show is that all of mankind sees the future for 2 minutes and 17 seconds, i.e. "flashes forward". Sooo...basically, it's taking the flash-forwards of Lost and making that into a series? Not completely -- while the series will answer most of the questions that are posed in the pilot throughout the first season, the central mystery of "why did these people have a flash-forward" is the central mystery that will continue as the series goes on. (See that? They're developing serialized shows with actual plans!) The show also features Sonya "Penny Widmore" Walger, Dominic "Charlie" Mognahan, Joseph Fiennes, and some random cameos from Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, for some reason. Also get used to April 29, 2010 being the new "numbers". And, remember the Lost polar bear? FlashForward's got a kangaroo! Needless to say, apparently this show is one of the more buzzworthy shows of the fall, moreso even than the other ABC sci-fi program, V. Also looking good is Modern Family, where ABC gets into the mockumentary game. The commercial doesn't look like a complete and utter larf riot but I trust the good buzz.



CBS, Fox
Yawn. CBS still has The Mentalist on all the time, took some pot shots at Ben Silverman, and Paula Abdul quit American Idol. Zzzzzzzzzzz......

HBO
In an effort to appear to be less of a fanboy of HBO, I put this recap in the middle. Needless to say, there's lots of good stuff coming soon. This fall brings the premiere of Bored to Death and, finally, a new season of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Curb this season features all four members of the cast of Seinfeld and will feature a show-within-a-show reunion of the series in which we will learn what the characters of Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer are up to these days. Meta! (Also in HD for the first time.) And, knowing Larry David, undoubtedly hilarious. Meanwhile, True Blood and Hung were renewed last week to return next summer. Big Love returns for its fourth season this January, a mega-high-budget World War II 10-part miniseries The Pacific bows in March 2010 (if I'm reading the trailer correctly it has kind of a Terrance Malick vibe I'm hoping?), and the new David Simon (The Wire) drama Treme premieres in April 2010. Meanwhile, the assumed deaths of In Treatment and Flight of the Conchords are not quite true -- both will probably return assuming they can come up with new scripts and new songs, respectively, for both shows. (In Treatment's return hinges on whether writers can continue the series without the benefit of the source material, the Israel series Be'Tipul, while the Flight dudes understandably want to take a break before getting back to writing songs for their show.) TV!





FX
Finally, we reach FX, which is starting to get on a roll. The final season of Nip/Tuck premieres in October 2009, while a new series Lawman, starring Deadwood's Timothy Olyphant as, basically, a modern-day Seth Bullock, based on a work by Elmore Leonard premieres next spring. And Sons of Anarchy starts season two this Fall as well. Personally, given the good buzz that Sean's "Fat Wife" has gotten from the likes of Jezebel, I think they should give his show a chance too.

This entry was posted by Unknown, on Monday, August 10, 2009. You can leave your response.