2004-05 TV season has Hawai'i all over the tube
Advertiser Staff and News Services
This week used to be among the most exciting all year in TV. The frantic few days are dubbed "the upfronts," because it's when TV networks get advertisers to commit billions of dollars to sponsor programs that won't appear until the fall.
The most highly touted of the fall hopefuls are spinoffs of the familiar hit shows "Friends," "CSI" and "Law & Order." ("The Practice" also will live on, slightly reworked, under a new title.) Combine the air of familiarity with the fact that networks no longer dominate viewership — cable now has more than 50 percent of the audience in prime time — and the fall season announcements aren't what they used to be.
Hawai'i observers, fresh from the excitements of "American Idol" and its Hawai'i focus, have a particular interest in the 2004-05 season: The Islands are going to be all over the tube. ABC's "Lost" and NBC's "Hawai'i" will be going head to head on Wednesdays at 7 p.m., if the schedules they announced this week hold, while The WB is adding John Stockwell's "Rocky Point" (which hasn't started filming yet) midseason. And "North Shore," from Fox, starts its run this summer.
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What the networks are planning
Here's a look at each network's projected moves:
ABC: Disney dismals
ABC, which lags in fourth place for viewership and ratings behind CBS, NBC and Fox, announced its lineup Tuesday. "Lost," an adventure series about 48 marooned survivors of a plane crash to be filmed in Hawai'i, is on the list.
The network's high-profile reality show is "The Benefactor," in which Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban will give away $1 million to one of 16 contestants.
Wobbly shows "8 Simple Rules" and "Less Than Perfect" will move to Fridays, but "Life With Bonnie" didn't make the cut. Also scheduled: family sitcom "Savages," from Mel Gibson, which Gibson loosely based on his own family. David E. Kelley's "Practice" spinoff, starring James Spader and William Shatner, is called "The Practice: Fleet Street."
The network also has a new "reality" series, "Wife Swap," and a drama, "Desperate Housewives," on the fall schedule. No comment.
CBS: Sitting pretty
CBS is setting up a battle between the two biggest franchises on TV next season by scheduling the newest "CSI" series against NBC's dominant "Law & Order." The network has scheduled "CSI: NY," for 9 p.m. Wednesdays.
"CSI: NY's" time slot is the only real eyebrow-raiser on CBS' schedule unveiled yesterday. It includes four other new series — comedies "Listen Up," starring Jason Alexander, and "Center of the Universe" and dramas "Clubhouse" and "dr. vegas."
The network can probably afford to take an if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it approach: CBS finishes this season in first place in total viewers and adults 25-54, its favored demographic. It's also a solid third in adults 18-49, currently only a tenth of a point behind Fox.
Former "West Wing" and "Lyon's Den" star Rob Lowe has the title role in "dr. vegas," which will air at 9 p.m. Fridays.
The only other night with significant changes is Saturday, where the sixth edition of "The Amazing Race" will air at 8 p.m., bookended by "48 Hours" and a rotation of crime-show repeats CBS is calling "Crime Time Saturday."
FOX: Idol worship
Fox really doesn't have a fall or winter schedule, until "American Idol" shows up in January.
Monday, Thursday and Friday are the network's "Swans." They require constant makeovers. Fox is hoping some of the trial balloons it floats this summer, with six new series starting in June, fly well enough to plug into the many holes left by the demise of "Skin," "Boston Public" and "Wonderfalls."
The opening hour of Tuesday, leading into "24," also is a sinkhole until the next "Idol." Still, no matter how Fox opens the season, the "American Idol" results show owns the second half of the season.
With "That '70s Show" and "The O.C." returning, Wednesday has two strong anchors. New June shows "The Simple Life 2," "Quintuplets," with Andy Richter as the father of 15-year-old quints, and "Method & Red," with rappers Method Man and Redman living in a gated community, are scheduled.
The obligatory Hawai'i series is "North Shore," about young workers at a luxury hotel in Hawai'i. "The Jury," from Barry Levinson and Tom Fontana, recreates a crime through jury deliberations.
Another Mark Burnett reality series, "Casino," about life in a Vegas hotel, rounds out the new schedule.
NBC: Ace is Trump
Thanks to Donald Trump, a fourth "Law & Order" series and the "Friends" spinoff "Joey," NBC comes into the new season with a head start.
The police show "Hawai'i," drawing comparisons to "Hawai'i 5-0," kicks off the Wednesday lineup.
Matt LeBlanc's "Joey" inherits the leadoff slot on Thursdays, with "Will & Grace" following. "The Apprentice" is next at 8 p.m., with "ER" staying pat behind that.
On Friday, the network keeps "Dateline" to go with "Third Watch," and adds "Medical Investigation," starring "Boomtown's" Neal McDonough and "The Practice's" Kelli Williams.
The renewal of "American Dreams" and return to potency of "Crossing Jordan" solidify Sunday.
Monday looks the same through the first two hours of "Fear Factor" and "Las Vegas." The 9 p.m. slot, a hangout for "Average Joes" this season, goes to airport drama "LAX" (formerly titled "HUB"), starring Heather Locklear and "L.A. Law's" Blair Underwood.
"Scrubs" anchors Tuesdays. A new boxing reality show, "The Contender," is set for Tuesdays. "Whoopi" is out.
WB: The four-day week
The WB is in good shape Sunday through Wednesday. Thursday and Friday demanded almost total remakes, with only "Reba" worth salvaging on Friday.
"Charmed" remains an anchor on Sunday, where it will be joined by "Jack and Bobby," from creators of "Everwood" and "West Wing" and the director of "Smallville," about the childhood of two brothers, one of whom will become president. (Viewers didn't go ape over "Tarzan" on Sunday.) "7th Heaven" and "Everwood" stay in place Mondays; Tuesday retains "Gilmore Girls" and "One Tree Hill."
"Smallville" holds down Wednesdays, followed by new comedy ensemble show "Blue Collar TV" and "Drew Carey's Green Screen Show," a kind of "Whose Line is it Anyway" plus animation.
There may be promise in "The Mountain" Thursday, starring Oliver Hudson ("Dawson Creek") and Barbara Hershey ("Beaches"). We won't make any promises for Friday's "Commando Nanny," created by reality show czar Mark Burnett and based on his experiences as an ex-commando turned baby sitter.
For midseason, The WB has the Hawai'i drama "Rocky Point" on tap.
Tom Jicha, Knight Ridder News Service, provided the analysis in this report.
