V I D E O • A G E SE P T E M B E R/ OC T O B E R 2 0 1 2 50 (Continued from Cover) “Disaster” in Dramas, “Losers” in Comedies dramas and a comedy in Cannes. It is also clear that, this season, comedies are back for the U.S. broadcast networks, with the four largest U.S. networks picking up 16 comedies between them. “It’s all about comedy,” Marion Edwards, president, International TV at Twentieth Century Fox TV Distribution told VideoAge around the Upfronts in May. “Every network wants a whole night of comedy and then additional comedies dotted throughout other nights,” she said. A continuing trend in the TV industry is the large number of big marquee names, such as Dennis Quaid (Vegas), Kevin Bacon (The Following), Lucy Liu (Elementary), Lily Tomlin and Reba McEntire (Malibu Country) and Charlie Sheen (Anger Management). In the comedy sphere, the often riskier and experimental single-camera format is most popular (only a quarter of the sitcoms debuting this year are multi-camera). In an internal memo (shared with VideoAge), Luca Macciocca, one of 10 buyers from Italy’s RAI who attended the L.A. Screenings, characterized this new season as “the completion of an evolution. From last season, which was rather fragmented in the drama series, and thus rich in opportunities, only the fairytale genre remains. This year the recurrent theme in drama is ‘disaster,’ while in comedy, prevails the ‘loser’ as the hero. A permanent fixture is also a gay character in every new series, without neglecting the now traditional ‘dysfunctional family.’” In an article for the The New York Times, TV critic Alessandra Stanley argued that the new sitcoms are “vintage shows from the 1960s and ’70s.” To prove her point, she compared The Neighbors on ABC toMy Favorite Martian, NBC’s Go On to The Bob Newhart Show, and FOX’s The Mindy Project to Rhoda. In the same newspaper, Neil Genzlinger explained that this was due to the U.S. “television industry’s Random Show-Idea Generators,” which maintain that every possible show concept and character has been used up. One of this year’s sitcoms generating a lot of buzz is Twentieth Century Fox’s The New Normal, which follows a gay couple and their surrogate. Some of the attention the show has garnered is thanks to a bit of controversy. An NBC affiliate station in Utah has banned the program, and a group called One Million Moms has called for a boycott due to the same-sex family at its core. Regardless, it had a relatively strong premiere at 7 million viewers. Another comedy that’s gotten a lot of attention in the U.S. is NBC Universal’s The Mindy Project, created by and starring former The Office writer and co-star Mindy Kaling. Eyes are on her series about an OB-GYN who’s professionally successful but unlucky in love. For dramas, already well-established names and brands are all the rage (and the fact that they come with built-in audiences certainly helps their chance of full-season survival). The Carrie Diaries, from Warner Bros. for The CW is the early story of Sex and the City’s Carrie Bradshaw; Arrow, also from Warner Bros. for The CW, is based on classic comic book character Green Arrow and CBS Studios International’s Elementary for CBS is based on Sherlock Holmes, with a modern-day (female) Watson. J.J. Abrams, a producer best known for epic hit Lost, is behind Revolution (a Warner Bros. series for NBC), set in a post-apocalyptic future where there is no electricity. We’re betting that this big-budget drama could be an international hit if it does well in the U.S. Another well-known series creator, Dick Wolf (of Law & Order fame), is back with NBC Universal’s Chicago Fire, a drama that explores the lives of men and women in the Chicago Fire Department. There is also a lot of anticipation for Lionsgate’s Nashville for ABC. The drama series follows a country mega-star and the young ingénue who threatens to dethrone her. And last, New Yorkers seem to be pretty psyched for Warner Bros.’s 666 Park Avenue, about a swanky New York City building in which the residents have sold their souls to the devil. As of press time, only a few new Warner Bros. International TV Distribution’s 666 Park Avenue NBC Universal International TV Distribution’s Go On Twentieth Century Fox’s The New Normal CBS Studios International’s Elementary season shows had premiered. Two of them kicked off early, after Olympics broadcasts on NBC (taking advantage of the built-in audience). Go On, which marked the return of Matthew Perry to NBC, follows a sports radio show host who turns to a support group after his wife dies in an accident. The show certainly benefited from its Olympics tie-in, garnering 16.1 million viewers. Though sitcoms are a tough sell around the world, NBC Universal Television Distribution’s Go On could indeed do well on the international front thanks to Friends star Perry’s global celebrity. Another NBC Universal sitcom to premiere post-Olympics was Animal Practice, set in an animal hospital and revolving around a curmudgeonly veterinarian — which had a strong showing, bringing in 12.8 million viewers. While the show has gotten positive feedback, it seems as though the real star is Crystal the Monkey, formerly of The Hangover: Part II. Following NBC (which premiered Go On on August 8 and Animal Practice on August 12), FOX started its new season on September 12, ABC on September 14 and CBS on the 19. The last network to open the season was The CW, which premiered its new shows on October 2.
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