Skip to main content

ABC - 2009-2010 Pitch meetings and schedule


ABC announced its schedule for 2009-2010 and it offers the complete antithesis of what NBC put out there. Earlier I wrote about my imagined meeting of NBC execs and plebes coming up with ideas (or lackthereof) for next season. Let's take a walk through ABC's meeting rooms and get a glimpse of one of their pitch meetings.

To start, here is a link for ABC's actual scehdule for next fall. Now on to the meeting:

ABC executive: Okay cretons, we have a bunch of time to fill here. We need ideas and we need them quick. Let's put those Ivy League minds to good use. Go

A flurry of commotion, papers flying everywhere, everyone's voice going at once shouting louder to be heard above the din:
Kelsey Grammar! Lawyers! More Cold Cases! Docu-Comedy! Courtney Cox, remember her? Courtney Cox!!!! Old Ladies! Cougars! Updike meets Desperate Housewives! Small town intrigue! Tiiiimmmmeeee TRaavvveeelll!!!!!!!!

ABC Executive: Whoa, whoa, whoa people. Not to worry. I love all those ideas. There's plenty of room for everybody. In fact, we are going to use everything you just suggested. Mumbling: too bad we can't do it all in one show.

Where NBC lacked anything new of substance. *** ABC is throwing everything but the kitchen sink out there (and they might even have a show about a kitchen sink starring Joey Tribiani or something like that. We could call it Joey's sink. Bam, there's another show). Some of the programming looks like recycled parts from already recycled garbage, but there is some promise here.

Flash Forward: I have now read three descriptions of this show and still have very little idea what it is all about. It involves glimpses of the future and Jospeh Fiennes and that is about all I know. The uncertainty alone makes me want to watch. Replacement for Lost? Never.

Happy Town: I can't tell if this is more Twin Peaks or Desperate Housewives, but reading the summary I am inclined to think it falls somewhere in between. Here's a new idea: everyone in town has a secret. Run with it.

Modern Family: I am firm believer in the docu-comedy format (Office, Parks and Recreation) and this show could be fantastic. The cameras following around a "normal" family is a concept that could really work if done correctly.

Other than that, it is more of the same from ABC. Cold cases, actors trying to get sitcoms up and running again (Grammar, Cox), law firms, etc. Nothing of consequence although I suspect one or two will catch on because of the minion television watchers who trend toward anything that has to do with courtrooms or dead bodies.




***Caveat here: NBC's fall schedule is abyssmal, while their mid-season programming has a bit more promise (but not much)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Sons of Anarchy - Albification Recap

Season two opens with the gang taking target practice while the rest of Charming goes about its merry business. One of my favorite things about Sons of Anarchy is the dilemma the gang causes in the town (they are its biggest threat and biggest protector) as well as the inner turmoil among many members as they struggle with their day-to-day family and work duties along with maintaining the outlaw life. Click here to continue reading at CinemaBlend .

The Office - Cafe Disco

The Office hasn't been the same since Michael came back. At least that's his claim and it precipitates the inception of the "party room." Who wouldn't love this in their job? A room where they played techno music and everyone raved all day? Scratch that, I would hate it. Michael doesn't have the same connection with the larger staff at Dunder Mifflin as he had with his workforce of three at Michael Scott Paper (Pam and Ryan). He yearns for the same connectivity and tries to achieve it through exxpresso (sic) and house music at annoyingly loud decibels. He turns the old Michael Scott Paper into a meet-and-greet disco type place for office workers to kick back and relax. Unfortunately, no one can take it easy with Michael around. Nor do they want to. It isn't until Michael gives up all hope of the space that the two Kelly's (secretary and customer service) take it over and make it into the party atmosphere Michael dreamed off. I loved how th

Stranger Things Season 3 - A Breakup Letter to Friendship

My thoughts on Stranger Things Season 3. If you haven't watched it, all of the spoilers are ahead. So tread carefully, like a Mind Flayer could be around the corner. “But I know you're getting older, growing, changing. I guess, if I'm being really honest, that's what scares me. I don't want things to change.” - Jim Hopper True friendship, at least to the Duffer Brothers, seems defined by finding those people who truly understand you. Who you don’t really need to explain your life to because they already get it.  There’s shared happiness and shared trauma. They are those with whom you speak a common language, who understand what a Mind Flayer or Demogorgon are without explanation. Who can walk into your parents’ basements unannounced. They can get you up on the walkie-talkie at any time for a meetup somewhere on a D&D game, trip to the pool, walk at the mall or take down a secret Russian military base. These are true friends.  Friendships