Wednesday, May 02, 2007

A Soupçon Of This & That

Just a brief update today, loyal dozens, but I promise to make up for it with a really cool exclusive I have from the "Lost" set that will run in some time this week in The Telegraph and macon.com.

A&E appears to be getting back into the quality drama game with its announcement of a new adaptation of Michael Crichton's "The Andromeda Strain." The miniseries will be produced by Ridley Scott and Tony Scott and directed by Mikael Salomon. Production is set to begin this summer.

Meanwhile, TBS and TNT announced the return of their original programs for this summer. The Golden Globe-winning "The Closer," starring Kyra Sedgwick, returns June 18. It will be teamed with the new drama "Heartland," about a transplant surgeon, starring Treat Williams and Kari Matchett.

TNT will debut "Saving Grace," starring Holly Hunter as a detective in Oklahoma City who meets an angel that helps her put her life back together, on July 18. Perhaps the most interesting project from the network is "The Company," starring Michael Keaton, Chris O'Donnell and Alfred Molina. It's a miniseries that looks at the CIA during the Cold War. It debuts Aug. 5.

TBS' newest comedy is "Tyler Perry's House of Payne," which arrives June 6, and will be joined by "The Bill Engvall Show," starring Engvall and Nancy Travis, on July 17. "My Boys," a very clever comedy that got better each episode, returns on July 30.

R.I.P. TOM POSTON: The veteran comedy actor and Emmy winner died Tuesday from an undisclosed illness at 85. Poston was a master at playing goofy, clueless, loveable characters, most notably on "Newhart." He made his TV debut on "The Steve Allen Show," and had notable roles on a number of sitcoms over the years.

WEDNESDAY'S BEST BETS: Fox really hasn't done "Bones" a whole lot of favors, constantly yanking it for "American Idol." Two weeks here, three weeks there, with long interruptions. I didn't mind the pulling of the original episode two weeks ago in wake of the Virginia Tech tragedy, but the rest of the time it's been really annoying. Anyway, it's all-new tonight (Fox, 8 p.m.), followed by "AI," which features guest star Jon Bon Jovi.

Speaking of "Lost" (ABC, 10 p.m.) tonight's is new and is Locke-centric, always a good thing. By the way, the story I'm writing focuses on next week's "Lost."

CBS is airing a new "Jericho" at 8 p.m., a show that is really on the bubble last I heard for next season, followed by "Criminal Minds" and "CSI:NY," which are both safe bets to return. NBC is also all-new, with "Thank God You're Here," "Crossing Jordan" and "Medium."

As always, I must plug the best of the British stuff with a new "Hustle" (AMC, 10 p.m.) although I must say this series just isn't the same without Adrian Lester.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Agree with you about "Hustle".

Definately not up to past years standards.

Anonymous said...

Why is not surprising that "Jericho" would be on the bubble but the dull CBS procedurals like "Criminal Minds" and "CSY: NY" are fine. That's so typical.

What CBS should factor in is 1) the downloads of episodes online, 2) DVR/Tivo playbacks, and the fact that "Jericho" is one of the few, original and different and somewhat buzz-worthy shows the Network actually has.

They may get all of Middle, aging America to watch their CSI's and endless copycats, but critics and younger fans are watching shows like "Jericho".

As for the way Fox treats "Bones", haven't you learned yet Phillip that Fox basically doesn't care about ANYTHING on its schedule other then "American Idol".

Phillip Ramati said...

On Hustle, I hope Lester returns if they do another series.

On Jericho, the numbers went way down after it went on a too-long hiatus. None of the networks factor in DVRs/downloads, so I don't see why CBS would now.

On Bones, even Fox can't fill every hour with AI (though I'm sure there are some there who would try). Bones has a decent sized, loyal audience that could grow if Fox would be consistent with showing it, especially with good critical buzz.