New Shows, 7: Brothers, The Cleveland Show, Trauma
October 2nd, 2009 | Jonathan Gray
Continuing with the reviews, with a bit more speed and brevity, after the fold …
Archive
Posts Tagged ‘pilots’
Why Was Beautiful Life Cancelled, and is Brothers Next?
September 30th, 2009 | Jonathan Gray
A brief pause from reviews to discuss the passing of Beautiful Life, and the low ratings of Brothers. Both cases illustrate how much the extratextuals matter. After the fold …
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New Shows, 6: Modern Family, Cougar Town
September 28th, 2009 | Jonathan Gray
More reviews, after the fold …
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Who Will Stay and Who Will Go? A Look at the Numbers
September 26th, 2009 | Jonathan Gray
A pause from the reviews now to look at the new show’s numbers, and to discuss what those numbers tell us about the past five days, the “first official week” of the Fall season. After the fold …
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New Shows, 5: Mercy, Eastwick, The Forgotten
September 26th, 2009 | Jonathan Gray
More reviews after the fold, with comments on gender in Mercy and Eastwick. I’m running out of ways to say things are mediocre to piddling, though …
New Shows, 4: Accidentally on Purpose, The Good Wife, NCIS: LA
September 25th, 2009 | Jonathan Gray
New Shows, 3: Community, The Beautiful Life, Flash Forward
September 19th, 2009 | Jonathan Gray
New Shows, 1: Melrose Place, Vampire Diaries, & Glee
September 15th, 2009 | Jonathan Gray
While living in New York City, I enjoyed attending the Paley Center’s new show sneak peaks each September. That’s not so possible now, in Madison, but instead I’ll be reviewing the new shows as I get around to watching them off my DVR.
Let’s start with The CW’s Melrose Place and The Vampire Diaries, and FOX’s Glee, after the fold…
90210, J. J, and Vern Tessio Return: Fall Previews 2008
September 5th, 2008 | Jonathan Gray
The Paley Center for Television and Radio in New York is once more doing its Fall Previews, showing pilots for new shows, and, because some networks don’t have many new shows, showing the premiere of some returning new-ish shows. I’m skipping The CW’s tonight, since all they had on offer were 90210, which I saw (and will comment upon below) and Privileged, which is on next week. But last night was FOX’s night, showing the premiere of this season’s Sarah Connor Chronicles, along with pilots for Do Not Disturb and the much-anticipated J. J. Abrams show, Fringe. I’ll discuss the new shows below the fold …
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Zucker Wants to Burn Things: Notes from the NATPE Exhibit Floor, Part 1
January 30th, 2008 | Jonathan Gray
For those wondering what that weird acronym stands for (National Association of Toilet Paper Enthusiasts? of Tyrannosaurus Pelvis Excavators? of Tent Pole Economics?), it’s the National Association of Television Production Executives. The NATPE Convention is one of the major American television industry conferences and buying festivals on the calendar. And no, I haven’t been drafted to the industry. I’m here because I got a NATPE Fellowship from their Educational Foundation, so am here on their dime. I’ll try to post more general reflections later, but for now, some reflections from the first morning.
It began with a bang. Jeff Zucker, President and CEO of NBC Universal gave the opening address. He’s quite an electrifying speaker – Hollywood Reporter’s Elizabeth Guilder (who did the Q&A after the speech) compared him to Obama, though he balked at the comparison (more of a Kucinich supporter himself?), as do I for other reasons (one of many being that I’m not sure MLK was dreaming of Zucker heading NBC). But he certainly didn’t disappoint, either in offering substance or in delivery. I saw shades of Ari Gold, Jeremy Pivens’s brilliant creation from Entourage, not in terms of sexist bravado, but in terms of complete confidence, energy, and a slice of imperial gravitas.
He began by joking that he came in boring times, but then threw down the gauntlet pretty quickly by stating that “traditional business models in Hollywood are under pressure, and their replacements are not yet ready for prime time,†a situation that “demands a re-engineering of our business, from top to bottom.†With CBS prominently deciding to sit this NATPE out in favor of a bigger presence at CEA (Consumer Electronics Association), and NBC’s head kicking things off this way, this would seem to be a clear indication that the old guard finally get that something’s up. More after the fold…
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