View Full Version : Is US Network tv running out of ideas?
With most of the new 2009/10 US TV network shows bombing, I've had a trawl through the net to discover what pilot shows are being prepared for next season.
It's clear to see that with the following examples, the Network Suits still don't have a clue.....
The Rememberer (CBS): drama about a female fbi agent who remembers everything, helping her career but makes for turmoil in her personal life.
Betwixt (CW): drama about three teenagers who learn of their true, "changeling" nature and their uncertain, intertwined destinies after attending a secret summer rave in the woods.
The Cape (NBC): drama about a former cop framed for a crime he didn't commit who becomes The Cape, a masked hero, to clear his name and reunite with his son.
Chaos (CBS): drama about a group of rogue cia operatives who combat bureaucratic gridlock, rampant incompetence and political infighting.
Cutthroat (ABC): drama about an ambitious single mother who finds running her own international drug cartel is perfect training for navigating the cutthroat world of beverly hills high society.
The Event (NBC): a thriller with a unique storytelling device that features multiple points of view concerning a decent, regular fellow who battles against mysterious circumstances that envelope a larger conspiracy.
Hellcats (CW): drama set in the world of competitive college cheerleading.
Luck (HBO): drama set in the world of horse racing about what happens in the clubhouse and the grandstand, but also on the backside of the track, where the training is done and where they house the horses.
Off the Map (ABC): drama about three doctors, each anxious for a fresh start, who leave the comfort of the States to work at an isolated tropical clinic, where they face both exotic and unusual medical challenges as well as personal ones.
The Quickening (FOX): A bi-polar LAPD detective must wrestle with the fact that the medication she has been prescribed makes her "normal" but her disorder, with all the paranoia and risks it comes with, makes her extraordinary.
Some of those sound soooo bad, they might actually be alright... maybe. :doh:
joconnor
17-02-2010, 10:08
You sure that's real and not off some **** take site like newsarse?
All sound better than Celebrity Bird Watching and Muslim Driving School ;)
Hellcats (CW): drama set in the world of competitive college cheerleading.
This sounds like it could be OK :n0rty:
To be honest has it not always been this way?
People can point at LOST, Sopranos, House, Wire, West Wing, etc, etc as to how great TV was, but there was a hell of a lot of unimaginative crap that come out when these shows did as well that died a death.
Chaos - CIA operatives who fight beaurocracy? That can't be real!? :lol:
New - indeed, and that HBO one about racing might be promising.
You sure that's real and not off some **** take site like newsarse?
Honest! .. I wish I were making them up. All info is from The Futon Critic website which is always legit.
Chaos - CIA operatives who fight beaurocracy? That can't be real!? :lol:
Not only real, but the pilot is to be directed by Brett Ratner! :gag:
Mr Majestik
17-02-2010, 10:18
All sound better than Celebrity Bird Watching and Muslim Driving School ;)
Muslim driving schools a pretty decent show.
It's like all the suits got together over a very liquid lunch and made a wager on who can commission the most ridiculous pilots this year! There isn't one that stands out from the boiled down to LCD descriptions and only 2 that sound watchable (and they're remakes of old shows). One of which is 'Hawaii Five-O' and the other I can't remember.
If 'The Rememberer' makes it to air I give up.
Monkey Tennis!
Cooking in Prison would definitely get commisioned now. I am surprised it hasnt been.
The Rememberer (CBS): drama about a female fbi agent who remembers everything, helping her career but makes for turmoil in her personal life.
Ummmmmm... Is there something missing there? How can someone having a good memory make for a decent premise? :shrug: :thinking:
Hellcats does sound good though... :n0rty:
hookbeak
17-02-2010, 10:30
it's no more crazy than last years pilot rundown. Actually it's possibly a bit saner.
Hellcats will be one i'd watch out for :D
(The subject made for a decent movie anyway, so it could work :shrug:)
Blimey! ... Sifting through the shows that are just at the script/development stage before becoming a pilot, is proving to be amusing. Hands up who wants to see....
SCALES OF JUSTICE : new orleans-based drama about an overweight ex-cop who enlists his overeaters support group to fight crime. :lol:
The FOLLOWER : drama described as a dark social satire chronicling the dating lives of a group of twentysomething new yorkers as seen through the eyes of a stalker. :eek:
Some are just downright lazy, for example....
Police Surgeon : drama about a female cop who is also a surgeon. :|
Some don't even have names. For example, can anyone help the NBC suits come up with a suitable name for this beauty....
...A drama about a master magician whose career is in ruins after he develops stage fright and agoraphobia who is subsequently recruited by an elite law enforcement agency to take an unusual approach to cracking tough cases.
Points off for stating the obvious, "The Mentalist". :p
Mr Majestik
17-02-2010, 11:24
Blimey! ..
[Some don't even have names. For example, can anyone help the NBC suits come up with a suitable name for this beauty....
...A drama about a master magician whose career is in ruins after he develops stage fright and agoraphobia who is subsequently recruited by an elite law enforcement agency to take an unusual approach to cracking tough cases.
Points off for stating the obvious, "The Mentalist". :p
Jonathan Creek?
We need more CSI types shows. There are still a few people left alive on the planet who haven't been murdered. It's not like there are that many anyway.......a good hour of tv last night wasn't a crime related show ;)
TigaSefi
17-02-2010, 11:34
There a distinct lack of shows to take over when LOST finally get found and 24 runs out of time as well House losing his home!!!!!
unrealnils
17-02-2010, 11:48
the cape
(NBC): drama about a former cop framed for a crime he didn't commit who becomes The Cape, a masked hero, to clear his name and reunite with his son.
:lol:
These descriptions really do sound like when Adam & Joe do their fake ones on their radio show.
unrealnils
17-02-2010, 11:55
Is here a way to watch pilots from the last few years i'd like to see how bad some of this stuff would be like to watch.......
stuff that didnt make it into a series
I have to say that based upon these single sentance premises, you can't really judge....
Lets look at some forum favourites:
Chuck
A drop out gets a top secret government supercomputer downloaded into his head and becomes a hapless spy. :|
House
The story of a rogue genius doctor who diagnoses complicated illnesses :|
Battlestar Gallactica
Remake of the kitch 80s classic....but with a female starbuck, human cylons and lots of religious dogma :|
Lost
I don't have a clue :|
Heroes
Story about a group of people with mutated super powers coming to grips with their abilities and being chases by a shadowy government agency :|
CSI
Every week, scientists solve crime using complicated forensic techniques in a lab..but to cool music, in montage with lots of close ups of things to make it look cool :|
Bones
See CSI :|
Big Bang Theory
Story about 4 socially inept nerds who live opposite their hot but fairly simple neighbour :|
How I met your Mother
Ongoing story of 6 friends who live in New York :|
X Files
2 FBI Agents investigate paranormal activity and alien abduction...One believes, the other is skeptical...
When you break them down to their most simple...most of these things sound really stupid...it's how well it's done and the relationships between the characters that make a show, not always the premise
douglasb
17-02-2010, 12:52
Horse racing might make for a killer show. Who'd've thunk a drama about advertising would work?
There was, indeed, a lot of woe in these forums when the BSG remake was announced. Female starbuck! Would never work!
Saigon, most of those descriptions sound pretty good. (Apart from Chuck which I have never seen) You can just go "Band of Brothers - Some soldiers do some fighting", and it still sounds a hell of a lot better than 'The Cape' sounds.
The Cape (NBC): drama about a former cop framed for a crime he didn't commit who becomes The Cape, a masked hero, to clear his name and reunite with his son.I can see it now... sponsored by twitter!
"starring James Van Der Beek. Follow him... from The Creek to The Cape."
There was, indeed, a lot of woe in these forums when the BSG remake was announced. Female starbuck! Would never work!
Saigon, most of those descriptions sound pretty good. (Apart from Chuck which I have never seen) You can just go "Band of Brothers - Some soldiers do some fighting", and it still sounds a hell of a lot better than 'The Cape' sounds.
OK....but for example...the Heroes description (cool) could equally be applied to Mutant X (naff)
OK....but for example...the Heroes description (cool) could equally be applied to Mutant X (naff)
I'll give you that, but you are also forgetting that Heroes is *****.
SCALES OF JUSTICE : new orleans-based drama about an overweight ex-cop who enlists his overeaters support group to fight crime. :lol:
I.. I would watch that. :lol:
robzinski
17-02-2010, 18:16
I suppose I'll have to give the pilot of Hellcats a go.
rbullivant
17-02-2010, 18:44
I.. I would watch that. :lol:
I would too, might be funny with jokes about fat people.
Also you must remember that most pilots are pap, pick any year and loads of shows don't get picked up. However you should remember that someone has read a script and got it approved.
The only show that is getting much love is the cheerleading show, sounds awful and actually the worst of the bunch. Just good looking girls Being bitchy
basegreen
17-02-2010, 19:09
wonder what the storytelling device is on the event
robzinski
17-02-2010, 19:45
wonder what the storytelling device is on the event
Sounds like that series that had Mykelti Williamson and Donnie Wahlberg in, which showed the same event from different viewpoints.
I would too, might be funny with jokes about fat people.
<div style="display: block; margin: 10px auto; text-align: center;"><embed src="http://media.entertonement.com/embed/OpenEntPlayer.swf" id="1_1b0f7a4e_1c0b_11df_ae62_0015c5f4d4ea" name="1_1b0f7a4e_1c0b_11df_ae62_0015c5f4d4ea" flashvars="auto_play=false&clip_pid=fwmptkczkb&e=&id=1_1b0f7a4e_1c0b_11df_ae62_0015c5f4d4ea&skin_pid=wfxswdnlkf" width="300" height="30" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" allowscriptaccess="always" wmode="transparent"></embed><div id="1_1b0f7a4e_1c0b_11df_ae62_0015c5f4d4ea_anchor" style="font-size: 8px; color: black; text-decoration: none; display: block; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.entertonement.com/clips/fwmptkczkb--It's-funny-because-he's-fat" style="font-size: 8px; color: black;" target="_blank">It's funny because he's fat sound bite</a> <a href="http://www.entertonement.com/collections/19540/The-Hangover?ht_link=1_1b0f7a4e_1c0b_11df_ae62_0015c5f4d4ea" style="font-size: 8px; color: black;" target="_blank">The Hangover sound bites</a></div><img alt="It's funny because he's fat sound bite" border="0" height="0" src="http://www.entertonement.com/widgets/img/clip/fwmptkczkb/1/1_1b0f7a4e_1c0b_11df_ae62_0015c5f4d4ea/blank.gif" style="visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px; margin:0; padding:0; float:right" width="0" /></div>
Sounds like that series that had Mykelti Williamson and Donnie Wahlberg in, which showed the same event from different viewpoints.
Boomtown! Loved that show. Interesting gimmick, which was phased out over the show's only season, thus making it a whole lot less interesting towards the end.
Yes, Boomtown was very good.
The new shows sound absolute tat, but the main clues that Network TV is running out of ideas are all the remakes (BSG, Knight Rider, The Prisoner etc). Also, if you took all cop shows, legal shows and hospital shows out of the schedules it would absolutely decimate them.
danielsesay
17-02-2010, 20:50
Hellcats - sounds like an 80s kids cartoon. :nuts:
Boomtown! Loved that show. Interesting gimmick, which was phased out over the show's only season, thus making it a whole lot less interesting towards the end.
As I recall, they managed to keep the gimmick going over the first season, which was ace. But then the second came along, they dumped the gimmick totally, and the show was cancelled before but a scant number of episodes had aired.
God knows what happened to make it go so horribly wrong so quickly, but it was fun while it lasted.
You're right, it did have a second season; my mistake.
Luck (HBO): drama set in the world of horse racing about what happens in the clubhouse and the grandstand, but also on the backside of the track, where the training is done and where they house the horses.
I am actually looking forward to that one. The pilot is directed by Michael Mann and it was created by David Milch.
These descriptions really do sound like when Adam & Joe do their fake ones on their radio show.
Or TV Go Home
MetalGearAl
18-02-2010, 12:46
Cutthroat (ABC): drama about an ambitious single mother who finds running her own international drug cartel is perfect training for navigating the cutthroat world of beverly hills high society.
Sounds a bit like Weeds but moved a bit further north, really.
mnementh
18-02-2010, 13:06
Some don't even have names. For example, can anyone help the NBC suits come up with a suitable name for this beauty....
...A drama about a master magician whose career is in ruins after he develops stage fright and agoraphobia who is subsequently recruited by an elite law enforcement agency to take an unusual approach to cracking tough cases.
Points off for stating the obvious, "The Mentalist". :p
CSI: Houdini ?
I am actually looking forward to that one. The pilot is directed by Michael Mann and it was created by David Milch.
I'm sold :notworthy
Ummmmmm... Is there something missing there? How can someone having a good memory make for a decent premise? :shrug: :thinking:
It's trying to imitate The Mentalist which has a superficially similar premise and was the biggest show last season (despite the premise to The Mentalist being a suspiciously similar to Psych to begin with). Successful US shows are often followed by similar-but-different conceptual or stylistic rip-offs the following seasons, and quite a few can be seen in the OP's list (e.g. The Quickening because of House, Hellcats because of Glee, The Event because of FlashForward, Cutthroat because of Breaking Bad/Weeds).
It's also worth remembering that quite a few pilots are made, usually there's only one-or-two breakout shows per season, and the vast majority of pilots are utterly rubbish. That said, I expect that NBC will commission some shows off the back of poor pilots simply given the huge hole in their schedules thanks to the Jay Leno Show.
Mr Majestik
02-03-2010, 08:55
Well 'Luck' the horse riding show must be good. Dustin Hoffmans signed up for it!
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!
CBS have postponed production of "The Rememberer" because they've had difficulty casting the lead (a female in her mid-30's).
Damn! ... I was looking forward to this show with probably the worst title EVER! :|
Ahhh, not to worry. I've found a new contender for best/worst upcoming tv-series....
"It's one of the oldest forms of banking and, until the 1950s, it was the leading form of consumer credit in the U.S. Now the fascinating world and history of the pawn business is revealed in the new 14-part series called......"
...... Pawn Star$ :notworthy
CBS have postponed production of "The Rememberer" because they've had difficulty casting the lead (a female in her mid-30's).Oh what a shame! :lol:
...... Pawn Star$ :notworthy
aka the show that is thrashing 'Damages' in the ratings! :oh-hum:
aka the show that is thrashing 'Damages' in the ratings! :oh-hum:
Is that the show that's currently on the history channel (las vegas pawn shop)?
I quite like it:(
Yeah that's the one. It's obviously popular so don't feel bad.
Even Keeping up with the Kardashians is thrashing 'Damages'! double :oh-hum:
Mr Majestik
03-03-2010, 12:56
they've had difficulty casting the lead (a female in her mid-30's).
:|
To be fair there's not many actress's in that age bracket.
Ahhh, not to worry. I've found a new contender for best/worst upcoming tv-series....
"It's one of the oldest forms of banking and, until the 1950s, it was the leading form of consumer credit in the U.S. Now the fascinating world and history of the pawn business is revealed in the new 14-part series called......"
...... Pawn Star$ :notworthy
That show has been going for a while and is quite popular by all accounts.
That show has been going for a while and is quite popular by all accounts.
Ahhh, my bad, the article I read was about a new second series.
welshmatt
03-03-2010, 13:16
For me nothing could be as bad as 'The Listener', wonderfully summed up here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/mar/07/screen-burn-fx-the-listener
For me nothing could be as bad as 'The Listener', wonderfully summed up here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/mar/07/screen-burn-fx-the-listener
I was just about to post that.
For me nothing could be as bad as 'The Listener', wonderfully summed up here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/mar/07/screen-burn-fx-the-listener
At one point he hears his boss thinking, "Man, I'm grumpy when I don't get to watch the wrestling", so he decides to cheer him up by offering to lend him a WWF video. It really is that exciting.:notworthy
Further evidence that the Network suits have ran out of ideas...
NBC first confirmation of a new show for the 2010/11 season is...... *Drum Roll*
LAW & ORDER: LOS ANGELES :|
Be still my beating heart, how many man hours did it take them to think up that beauty?
The only positive is the showrunner for this is Blake Masters who last worked on the short-lived but excellent "Brotherhood".
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