Twice a year, TV critics from around the country gather at a posh hotel in the Los Angeles area to get the lowdown on upcoming programs from the broadcast and cable networks.
It’s not a bad gig for someone who loves entertainment, when the opportunity to mix and mingle with celebrities and executives presents itself not just during interview panels but at the evening cocktail parties.
Over the past couple of years, the situation for NBC television has been pretty grim, and on more than one occasion I have discussed the “sagging fortunes” of the peacock network.
Well, the feathers on the old bird may look a little brighter and shinier this fall.
Things can only look up after last year’s debacle when the NBC brass misguidedly moved Jay Leno to the 10 o’clock hour.
The Chicago Cubs, for that matter, have already endured a bad century. But misfortune doesn’t cling to network television in the same fashion. After all, a network doesn’t have to contend with New York Yankee imperialism or the curse of a goat.
With the right team of writers, stars and producers converging in a slew of successful programs, a network can outperform even the most talented baseball managers.
When the nation’s TV critics gathered at the Beverly Hilton, a hotel with a celebrity pedigree of its own when it was owned by Merv Griffin, to hear about new shows, Jeff Gaspin, chairman, NBC Universal Television Entertainment, signaled the network’s change of pace.
The chairman acknowledged that NBC has been “trying to rebuild” while striving for more stability and putting “a lot more money into development this year.”
Often a network on the ropes will try to do too much too soon, a situation that Gaspin recognized when he said that the network “made too many changes too quickly from a position of weakness. And so it was a self-fulfilling prophecy. The goal is to rebuild, get stronger.”
Judging from an ambitious fall schedule, I’d say the network may yet achieve its goal, and far sooner than the woeful Cubs will go the distance. Progress is made when risks are taken and new series are given a chance.
NBC is targeting a number of action-oriented drama series, starting with a retooling of the “Law & Order” franchise. “Law & Order,” as we know it from its 20-year run, is moving away from its setting in New York, to be replaced by “Law & Order: Los Angeles.”
The show’s creators have pointed out that there will be an episode about surfers and the beach. How’s that for a break from gritty crime in the Big Apple?
How do you get sexy fun in a spy drama that does not involve James Bond? “Undercovers,” starring Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw as a married couple brought out of retirement from the CIA, may do the trick. This fun couple, Steven and Samantha Bloom who met on the job as spies, has settled down in Los Angeles to operate a small catering company.
When a fellow spy and good friend goes missing while on the trail of a Russian arms dealer, the Blooms are reinstated to locate and rescue their friend. Now thrust back into the world of espionage, the Blooms find that the undercover lifestyle provides the kind of excitement they have been missing by leading a normal existence.
Jimmy Smits is back on screen as playboy Supreme Court Justice Cyrus Garza who has an epiphany and decides to retire so that he can enter private practice in “Outlaw.”
That’s a curious title for a legal drama in which former Justice Garza’s first case is a last ditch attempt to save a condemned client from death.
Making his mark as a legal crusader may have consequences, because flouting the system and turning maverick may have made some dangerous enemies in very places. Without the political intrigue, “Outlaw” would probably be just another courtroom drama.
I haven’t taken the time to figure out what “The Event” is all about. But what from little I know, it’s an emotional, high-octane conspiracy thriller that follows Jason Ritter’s Sean Walker, an everyman who investigates the baffling disappearance of his girlfriend (Sarah Roemer).
Apparently, he unwittingly begins to expose the biggest cover-up in U.S. history, and Sean’s quest will send ripples through the lives of an eclectic band of strangers, including the newly elected U.S. president and the leader of a mysterious group of detainees.
There’s something about everyone’s future being on a collision course in a global conspiracy that could change the fate of mankind. If I am watching this show, I may have to wear a hat made of tinfoil.
Jerry Bruckheimer, the master of the action adventure genre in TV and movies, is bringing the action of the U.S. Marshal into full view in “Chase.” The tough, cowboy boot-wearing Marshal Annie Frost (Kelli Giddish) is on the hunt for dangerous fugitive Mason Boyle (Travis Fimmel) in the series’ pilot.
The members of Frost’s elite team who help her anticipate Boyle’s moves and track him down include true American cowboy Jimmy Godfrey (Cole Hauser), intelligence specialist Marco Martinez (Amaury Nolasco), weapons/tactical specialist Daisy Ogbaa (Rose Rollins) and the newest member of the team, Luke Watson (Jesse Metcalfe).
To prove it’s not all serious business on the NBC schedule, the comedy “Outsourced” is an intriguing choice, to say the least, for tickling the funny bone during this most depressing year of our worsening economy.
As the title implies, it’s all about a call center outsourced to a foreign land. When new manager Todd Dempsy (Ben Rappaport) returns to work after management training, he learns that Mid America Novelties call center has been outsourced to Mumbai, India.
In order to keep his job, Todd is left with no choice but to relocate to India, where he is to teach his employees to understand America.
Though the subject matter of outsourcing may be a sore point for many, the pilot episode has plenty of laughs. With Steve Carell leaving “The Office,” this may be the opportune time to launch a comedy about the dysfunctional workplace.
Last January, NBC was talking about reviving the 1970s private eye drama “The Rockford Files.” There was no mention of it this time around.
Maybe NBC decided to see how CBS will fare with its reboot of the “Hawaii Five-O” franchise before committing to the revival of a vintage series. However, I think a replacement for James Garner may be the biggest challenge.
But this will be the least of NBC’s concerns if the fall season does not mark an improvement in its fortunes.
Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.
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