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I loved the upfronts back when they served as the big reveal for the fall television season. Sitting alongside thousands of ad buyers in such venues as Radio City Music Hall and Lincoln Center, I got an early glimpse of each of the new series.
Shows like “Two and Half Men” and “My Name Is Earl” generated immediate buzz from their previews at the upfronts. Other shows — too numerous, alas, to mention — fueled immediate speculation about how soon they would be canceled, or if they would even make it to the fall.
Today there’s never been more interest in the upfronts. Even casual fans can follow the action online. Inevitably, though, this has made attending the actual event less and less useful.
Not when DVD screeners of all the pilots wind up on my desk a couple of days after their New York previews. Not when I can watch all the galas via closed circuit at local affiliates here. Fox is webcasting its presentation to anyone in the press, so I don’t even have to haul my carcass the mile or so distance from home to Signal Hill.
Actually it wasn’t a sure thing we were even going to have May previews this year.
The networks are way behind in developing new series for the 2008-09 season, as a direct result of the 14-week-long writers’ strike that took a huge bite out of the 2007-08 season. That work stoppage, which never should have happened, was a double self-inflicted wound for the networks.
Not only did it put the TV season on hiatus and drive millions of viewers to cable, but the pilot season also was put on hold as well, meaning that the networks’ supply of new programs was cut off.
That’s good news if you’re a fan of “Moonlight” on CBS or “Life” on NBC or “Eli Stone” on ABC, or several other bubble shows that might usually be canceled for low ratings. Network executives simply don’t have a bench to call upon.
My friends at the Web site TVByTheNumbers.com have assembled a list of the most ratings-challenged shows of this season and their status as of press time (A+E prints early).
And here’s the other thing about the strike: Most seasons, a suit might say something like, “We loved that Emeril show, especially the episodes where his clothing caught on fire. We tried really hard to make it work, but the viewers just didn’t tune in.”
That’s a harder case to make this season, when shows weren’t on the air for months at a time while the networks made do with improvised schedules (“Big Brother” in February, anyone?).
In other words, ABC doesn’t really know if “Women’s Murder Club” has more upside, because the show’s new producers made only a few post-strike episodes. So that might (might) mean that “Club,” unlike its onetime Friday-night companion “Men in Trees,” comes back in the fall.
Likewise, CBS’ “Cane,” which was taken off the air last fall, might return this fall just so the network can give the Jimmy Smits salsa drama one last promotional push.
NBC announced its plans for the rest of 2008 earlier this spring.
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