V I D E O • A G E AP R I L 2 0 1 0 48 (Continued from Cover) Comedies, Cops and Copycats perform quickly, it can give them a leg up in communicating what the show is.” However, he added, “Ultimately, a good show is a good show.” Indeed, a show has to live up to expectations and then some in order to succeed in today’s competitive television landscape. While some producers turn to remakes of series from days gone by, others find themselves drawn to ratings hits from around the world. In past years, network television has found success with The Office, which was based on a beloved U.K. series, and Ugly Betty, a dramedy that first came to life as a Colombian telenovela. This year, Israel appears to be the country of choice, with a duo of Holy Land series being touted as America’s next big format hits. CBS is adapting The Quinn-Tuplets, a drama about five adult quintuplets that’s loosely based on Israeli series Reviat Ran, while Fox is reworking Traffic Light, a single camera comedy that centers on three men and their romances, for U.S. viewers. “There will always be interest in formats that have proven track records,” said Le Goy when asked about the foreign phenomenon. “A big key to their success is the ability to take what worked in the original version and make it accessible to a different audience with a different culture. This is something [SPT] knows first-hand from taking U.S. scripted formats like Married… with Children, The Nanny andEverybody Loves Raymond to other countries with great success.” He continued: “We live in an era of greater cultural global awareness so it’s great that U.S. networks are looking for ideas from around the world, and broadcasters outside the U.S. are interested in adaptations of U.S. series.” Although we won’t know which prospective series will see the light of day until the networks’ upfront presentations in May, one thing seems clear: Jay Leno will be kept as far away from primetime as possible. despite poor performances by recent reboots of such shows as Melrose Place andBionic Woman. The CW is offering up Nikita, a modernized La Femme Nikita. CBS has Hawaii Five-O, an update of the 1960s hit that centered on the Hawaii State Police. And NBC has Rockford Files, based on the ‘70s private eye series. “There’s a comfort in the past and in trying to restart a franchise,” said Twentieth Century Fox’s Edwards. “When the brands of yesteryear are looked at again, one might catch on and work.” Echoed Le Goy: “Remakes can be attractive because they have been successful in the past, of course, and there is less of a marketing hurdle because the shows are recognizable brands. When new shows have to marshals with ex-cons to catch bad guys; and Pleading Guilty, a legal series about a former police officer who’s now a partner at a top Chicago law firm. NBC boasts U.S. Marshals-centered Chase; Undercovers, in which a couple is yanked out of retirement to work for the CIA; David E. Kelley’s Kindreds, a drama focusing on an ex-patent lawyer and a rather bizarre law practice; and The Cape, about a onetime cop who wears a superhero uniform in order to clear his name. CBS has a still-untitled series about a family of police officers in New York; Defenders, about two Las Vegas attorneys; and I Witness, about a detective-turned-professor who solves crimes. ABC has 187 Detroit and True Blue, both of which focus on homicide detectives; The Whole Truth, a legal drama from Jerry Bruckheimer; and an untitled series about a detective team made up entirely of females. Even the CW is getting in on the action with Nomads, about a group of backpacking youths who moonlight for the CIA. “There is always a good amount of [police and legal shows], but this year, they are by far the majority,” said SPT’s Le Goy, who also pointed out that “there are fewer medical shows than usual due to a lot of development in that arena last year.” Regardless, the CW has a still-unnamed series focusing on first-year students at Harvard Medical School; CBS has a drama about a mobile medical team; and ABC has Off the Map, a show about three physicians who work at a tropical clinic. While medical shows are on the outs, remakes are hot commodities — and the CW, with an almost evenmatchup of 42 dramas and 39 comedies. “There is a big appetite for comedies this year,” said Keith Le Goy, president, International Distribution, Sony Pictures Television (SPT), noting that the still-unstable U.S. economy makes many people happy to leave their real lives behind for a half-hour laffer. “In times of uncertainty viewers typically turn to comedy.” But it isn’t just the economy drawing people to the funny side of television. The mammoth success of freshmen ABC sitcoms Cougar Town, The Middle and Modern Family has prompted the other networks to try and duplicate the Alphabet Net’s ratings success. “Networks may not emulate the exact [documentary-style] formula of Modern Family,” said Le Goy, “but they will definitely try and replicate the array of characters, the real-life situations, the moments that have heart.” ABC is in the lead with 12 comedies, including SPT’s own Mr. Sunshine, which stars Matthew Perry as the selfabsorbed manager of a sports arena; as well as Freshmen, a multi-camera series chronicling the lives of three first-year members of Congress; and It Takes a Village, a sitcom about two exes and their partners who team up to raise a 15-year-old boy. Fox has nine comedy pilots in the works, including multi-camera series Nirvana, about two Indian brothers and their romantic lives, and Strange Brew, which revolves around a family that owns a small brewery. NBC and CBS also have nine sitcoms each. The Peacock Net boasts Beach Lane, starring Matthew Broderick as a celebrity author hired to run a Hamptons newspaper, while the Eye Network is confident that it can strike comedy gold with Mike and Molly, a multi-camera laffer from producer Chuck Lorre (The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men) about a couple that overeats. While comedy appears to be king this time around, the international TV community has always had a preference for more serious fare. “[Dramas] translate better,” said Marion Edwards, president, International Television, Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution. She won’t be disappointed as an eclectic array of drama pilots are also on offer, including the customary deluge of police and legal shows. Fox has Ride Along, an ensemble about a veteran police officer and his rookie partner; Breakout Kings, a procedural that pairs Keith Le Goy, president, International Distribution, Sony Pictures Television Marion Edwards, president, International Television, Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution NBC’S The Office was based on a beloved U.K. series
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