J.J. Abrams and one of his "Lost" stalwarts, Jorge Garcia, will return with another eerily-themed series. Christina Applegate and Zooey Dechanel are getting new comedies. And that new "Wonder Woman" series on NBC might not happen.
Those are just a few of the things we learned Wednesday, as the first details began to emerge from next week's broadcast-network upfront presentations to advertisers.
And make no mistake, excitement is back this year -- with a record $9.5 billion in upfront advertising money set to roll into the Big Five networks this spring, and former Showtime executive Robert Greenblatt and ex-BBC official Paul Lee replacing polarizing predecessors at NBC and ABC, respectively.
“There’s a lot of curiosity as to how these new regimes are going to approach the new season,” said Jordan Levin, a former CEO of the WB Network, who is now CEO of Generate, a multi-platform studio and talent management firm.
Throw in the fact that the top programming draw for three of the major networks, NFL football, might not be around in the fall because of labor unrest, and this year’s schedule presentations get really interesting.
“They’re going to have to tell advertisers what Plan B is,” Levin said.
Here’s how the schedules are shaping up for the four biggest broadcasters, ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC. We’ll start first with Fox and NBC, since details have emerged about their upcoming schedules.
Also read: NBC's complete pilot slate
With NBC emerging from the decade-long rule of Jeff Zucker -- infamous for his “managing for margins” approach to programming -- the network’s 2011-12 schedule will be characterized by the word “noisy,” one executive told TheWrap earlier this week.
Well, we’re not exactly talking about “Wonder Woman” action-suit noisy -- it doesn’t look like David E. Kelley’s reboot is going forward at the Peacock after all, at least according to a Wednesday report in Variety.
But we’re not talking about “America’s Toughest Jobs,” either. (Fans of former NBCU CEO Zucker and ex entertainment chief Ben Silverman will recall NBC’s 2008 attempt to adapt one of reality-show maven Thom Beers' inexpensive cable formats for prime time -- the prototype for the "managing-for-margins" strategy until the ill-fated 10 o'clock Jay Leno show took it to a whole new level.)
On Sunday (NBC is announcing its fall schedule a day before it presents it to advertisers on Monday), the network is expected to announce the pick-ups of at least two new comedies, “Up All Night” starring Christina Applegate and Will Arnett, and an untitled half-hour show starring comedian Whitney Cummings.
There will also be at least two new hourlong dramas from the network that famously forsook hourlong dramas. “Smash,” which is based on a Steven Spielberg concept, stars “Will & Grace’s” Debra Messing, and revolves around the cast of a Broadway production.
