TV with MeeVee

Fox Announces 2008-09 Season Plans

Fox wants you to feel their electricity. No, really. "“Broadcast television needs a jolt. We feel it’s our responsibility, as the No. 1 network for the last four seasons, to provide that electricity,” Fox Broadcasting Entertainment Chairman Peter Liguori says in remarks  prepared for his upfront presentation to advertisers in New York today.

The schedule announced this morning puts the most focus on dramas from J.J. Abrams ("Lost") and Joss Whedon ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer"). The network is not exactly reinventing the wheel, but they are putting something besides repeats on Friday night. And the bloated "American Idol" results show gets cuts back to a half hour in '09.

Fox executives on a conference call with reporters this morning admit that, like the other networks, Fox has fewer new shows due to the writers strike's disruption of the development cycle. Of course, when you're the most-watched network among total viewers as well as viewers 18-49 ...no worries mon. And they say they actually have shows in development now for all the way to the start of 2010.

Two new series debut in the fall:

"Fringe" (above), a thriller from Abrams, stars newcomer Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson and John Noble as allies thrown together to investigate weirdness emanating from a mysterious Boston plane crash. Think "Lost" meets "The X-Files." It will air behind "House" on Tuesday nights in the fall.

"Do Not Disturb" is a comedy with Jerry O'Connell as a manager at an upscale New York hotel; Jason Bateman of "Arrested Development" will direct some episodes.

The "24" prequel also airs in November, as we reported earlier this morning. One Fox exec on the call just termed it "a really cool piece of standalone business."

Coming after the first of the year - along with "24" and "American Idol" - are four more new series, including another giving-it-away reality show, called "Secret Millionaire."

The year's most anticipated drama is Whedon's "Dollhouse" (right). Eliza Dushku, who enlivened the final seasons of "Buffy," stars as one of an underground group who have their personalities "wiped" and replaced with new ones in order to better carry out their secret missions.

In the spring we'll see two comedies, the unlikely "Family Guy" spinoff "Cleveland" and the animated "Sit Down, Shut Up," from "Arrested Development" creator Mitchell Hurwitz. That's about a group of less-than-dedicated teachers, with Bateman leading the voice cast.

Tidbits from the conference call:

Someone just asked the execs how they decided whether to give "Fringe" or "Dollhouse" the fall launch. Entertainment President Kevin Reilly - I think it was him, anyway - said it was "a high-class problem to have." Whedon had seven scripts written from the get-go, but Abrams finished pilot production sooner. Whdeon welcomed the extra time, the execs said.

"Unhitched" Brings Monkey Sex To Primetime

Tim Goodman gives "Unhitched" a very positive review that still makes me pretty sure I don't want to watch it. He says "If you're uptight about things like, say, a man being raped by a monkey ...  well, you'll need to really lower your expectations here."

In fact, it's the attempted monkey rape that was the lead-in for last night's episode, embedded here for your enlightenment. See, a dude called "Gator" has a hot date, and his hot date has a pet monkey, and it all leads to Gator needing some stitches on his butt, which is really the only logical conclusion to a TV scene involving two naked humans and a monkey wearing pants. The only logical conclusion I can reach about this show is that Fox has sorely overestimated the number of people who think that what prime time TV really needs is more pixelated monkey junk.

Fall TV Night-By-Night: Thursday

Only one new show tonight but a considerable amount of new attitude scattered around the schedule, and Sunday night's Emmys could add some more for "Ugly Betty," "Grey's Anatomy," "The Office" and others.

The new show is ABC's "Big Shots," at 10, which delivered a very funny press conference from stars Michael Vartan, Dylan McDermott, Joshua Malina and Christopher Titus, and could be a ratings winner. They're four reasonably powerful and successful guys, but the show follows mainly their romantic and domestic difficulties. It was at least unofficially called "Big Dicks" in the beginning, and seems intended to take a male-centric view of the world. But as it follows the guest-star-laden "Ugly Betty" at 8 and "Grey's Anatomy" at 9, I think ABC is counting on a large number of women sticking with the network to eyeball Vartan and McDermott. Not a bad bet, actually, though I didn't much like the show. All three debut Sept. 27.

CBS stands pat on the night with three dependables: "Survivor" (Sept. 20), "CSI" and "Without a Trace" (both Sept. 27). Not much to report here except A) one has to wonder when the "CSI" juggernaut will cool, and B) "Survivor" is going to China this fall for an inland episode, as seen at left.

Fall TV Night-By-Night: Tuesday

Tuesday's prime-time lineup features the most doomed hour of television this fall and a tough choice for viewers at 9 o'clock.

Many, me included, think ABC has lost its mind in opening this night with the new sitcoms "Cavemen" and "Carpoolers." "Cavemen," spun off from the Geico insurance ads, is a) bad b) controversial c) really bad or d) all of the above. As you may have guessed, the correct answer is (d). The producers say they're trying to satirize prejudice, but for some viewers at least, they're enacting it. "Carpoolers," on the other hand, is just bad. Some critics predict "Cavemen" will be the first show canceled this fall, although you can perhaps wonder if sheer curiosity might bring enough of an early tune-in to earn it a reprieve. ABC isn't rolling out these two until Oct. 2. Otherwise, the network is sitting pretty with returning shows "Dancing With The Stars" and "Boston Legal," both due Sept. 25.

CBS stands pat for its more traditional viewers with "NCIS" and "The Unit" followed by the new Jimmy Smits drama "Cane," all on Sept. 25 The latter show, about a large Cuban American sugar-cane dynasty in Florida, is more soap opera than action thriller, but still, this looks like a solid if unsurprising evening of television. And there's a lot of word of mouth on "Cane," thanks mainly to Smits and some young eye candy.

Fall TV Night-By-Night: Monday

A big night for all the networks, with a couple of tough head-to-head matchups.

ABC will find out if "Dancing With The Stars" remains strong. The new "Samantha Who?" got much buzz for Christina Applegate (left) as an amnesiac trying to change her screwed-up life, with Jean Smart and Kevin Dunn as her parents and Barry Watson as her boyfriend. It's not clear if repeated title changes and an Oct. 15 premiere date reflect backstage problems or just the usual Hollywood mishigas. "dancing" and "The Bachelor" bow on Sept. 24.

CBS has a lot riding on the success of its Monday-night comedies, notably the growing popularity of "How I Met Your Mother." But "Big Bang Theory" looks like a loser, with two nerds getting all hot and bothered over their new neighbor Kaley Cuoco, in a lame Internet-era version of leering "Three's Company" comedy. And no one understands why the underwhelming "Rules of Engagement" is back while "New Adventures of Old Christine" waits in the wings. Still, with "Two And A Half Men" and "CSI: Miami," CBS will likely continue to rule Mondays. All its shows roll out Sept. 24.

CW, Fox, NBC and a schedule after the jump.

Fox Popcorn. "Family Guy" Movie Spoof.

Don't believe bloggers or old-school journos when they tell you they can't be bought. There is one price we all have: Food. I mean, what are you going to do, send it back? It'd spoil. So I should probably tell you that I am sitting here munching from a giant-ass can of Fox Sunday Animation popcorn as I write this. The Fedex guy brought it the other day with a DVD of upcoming episodes of "The Simpsons," "Family Guy" and the rest. It's in four flavors: Regular, Cheese, Caramel and, uh...Orange. (That's not the flavor, that's the color.) Anyhoo, all that's prep to telling you that the ever-hilarious and deeply sick "Family Guy" has a season premiere on Sept. 23 you won't want to miss. It's called "Blue Harvest," and it's a "Star Wars" parody. I think we can all agree that Lois looks hot in the Princess Leia haircut, no?

MeeVee Video Top 5: Fall Preview 2--Bionic Woman, K-Ville, Cane, and more

Fall is coming. That means the leaves are gonna start changing colors, temperatures drop, and children everywhere begin to complain how much they hate their teachers. Fall is a time for change and the world of television is no exception. Some of your crappy guilty pleasure shows didn't make the cut for the fall line-up and are replaced with potentially new crappy guilty pleasures. Hopefully, for the networks' sake, the five shows we have previewed this week will be successful on their debut this fall.

Video Top 5 features five fresh shows coming to your sets this autumn. We have preview clips for Bionic Woman, Cane, Gossip Girl, and Carpoolers. As well as, the full pilot episode for K-Ville. 

Also, in the wake of Miss South Carolina's "blonde moment", our YouTube Clip of the Week plays off the classic dumb blonde jokes.

Ruper Murdoch's Reading Rainbow! (All Fox, All The Time)

Fox has named "American Idol" host geek Ryan Seacrest for the same task at the "Super Bowl" this season, which will be followed by an episode of "House." Seacrest will handle pre-game and halftime festivities; no word yet on a musical guest. But since Prince, U2, Sir Paul and the Stones have already done it, I'm not sure who's left. Maybe Sanjaya is free. ... In a slightly related item, Give Me My Remote reports that "House" co-stars Jennifer Morrison (Cameron) and Jesse Spencer (Chase) have ended their engagement, which, if I know Hollywood writers, means they'll have at least a couple of makeup scenes before their characters' inevitable breakup. ... And in one more Fox item, Televisionista and many others are reporting that production on the new season of "24" has been postponed once again to give the writers more time for their desperate quest to come up with a story that doesn't suck. The show is still supposed to debut early in January. Good luck with that, gang!

"Half-Hour News Hour" Loses A Half-Hour

The only surprise is that the unfunny right-wing answer to "The Daily Show" lasted all of 15 episodes.

"Bones" Replaces "New Amsterdam" on Fall Sked

Maybe there's a curse on immortal-detective shows this season. Maybe it's some kind of David Boreanaz/"Angel" mojo.

CBS' "Moonlight," about a vampire private eye, has been playing musical showrunners for weeks now, most recently shedding former "Angel" honcho David Greenwalt in favor of former "Millennium" honcho Chip Johannessen. Several supporting roles have been recast too, reportedly. And now Fox's "New Amsterdam," about an immortal detective in New York City, has been pushed back to midseason, as Fox handed over its time slot to Boreanaz and "Bones" in a schedule reshuffle.

"Bones," starring Boreanaz as an FBI agent and Emily Deschanel as a forensic anthropologist, will now air on Tuesdays at 8, right before the ratings juggernaut and critical favorite "House." The summer sort-of -hit/"Singing Bee" clone "Don't Forget The Lyrics" will take the Thursday 9 p.m. slot, while Gordon Ramsay's "Kitchen Nightmares" will move from that slot to the old "Bones" time period, Wednesdays at 9 p.m.

It's all part of Fox's attempt to strengthen its fall schedule, which has generally languished in recent years while the network got all its ratings punch with the arrival of "American Idol" and "24" in January. Some mild erosion for those shows - including a drubbing from fans and critics for this season of "24" - suggest Fox is smart to concentrate on building a season-long strategy instead of abandoning the fall to the baseball playoffs and repeats as in the past. After all, no one lives forever.