What's hot (and not)
of the new fall shows
Unlike last year, there's just not a lot of buzz
By Diego Vasquez
Sep 8, 2010
Last year media people were buzzing over "Modern Family" and "Glee," two shows that went on to become both critical and ratings hits. But this year there aren't any shows that stand out as potential breakouts, at least none that are gathering nearly the amount of buzz those two did. Though "Hawaii Five-0" has topped several preseason polls as the show people are looking forward to and TBS's "Conan" is seen as a potential hit come November, media people believe this crop of new shows is less innovative than last year, when "Family" helped revive the family comedy and "Glee" proved that people will tune in to shows that use a totally new approach to storytelling. Even "Bleep My Dad Says," while raising the ire of the Parents Television Council over its Twitter-inspired name, looks a lot blander than the name would suggest. Don Seaman, vice president and director of communications analysis at MPG, talks to Media Life about which shows are generating the strongest buzz for fall, which are looking like bombs, and why comedy never really died.
What three new shows are getting the biggest buzz heading into the new season?
I haven't found this to be a particularly "buzzy" year for new programs.
Last season, ABC tried to create buzz for "FlashForward" by bringing the episode around to agencies for a closed-door screening of the pilot. I think we all see how that worked. It's possible that their expectations are somewhat moderated this season.
The three I'd pick for having some moderate buzz this season would be "Hawaii Five-0," "Conan" and "The Event." "Bleep My Dad Says" has some also, but mostly for the name and its source material.
Do you think any of them have the breakout potential of a "Glee" or "Modern Family?"
Not likely.
Coming away from the upfronts last year, those were the two that really stuck out to most attendees, I think. Particularly "Modern Family." I thought "Glee" could go either way -- a big hit or a big miss, depending upon where they went with it creatively. They seemed to do okay.
But is anything going to be a moderate game-changer that other networks try to copy? I don't think so.
Which three shows look like they have the least potential?
The early look at "The Good Guys" was telling. I thought that one was DOA. So if you still hold that one to the "new show" standard, that's one.
"Bleep My Dad Says" didn't work for me. I wanted it to, but what translates from one medium doesn't necessarily make a good sitcom. ("Cavemen," I'm looking at you!) I understand they're recasting and reworking some things, so we'll see if the chemistry and tone is any better.
Right now, it just seems like the moderately benign non sequiturs of a cranky old man, and because it needs to be sanitized, it's lost the edginess that the Twitter wellspring delivered and what made it so successful. Somehow, I don't think the name controversy helps that one, either.
Same with "The Whole Truth." It came across very he said/she said instead of the both-sides "Law & Order" vibe they were probably going for. Maybe that will be helped with the Maura Tierney recasting, we'll see.
"Outlaw" and "Better With You" seemed like they were both trying too hard but relying on clichés. Sorry, I guess that's five.
How important is buzz to a new TV show? What shows arrived with little buzz and blossomed into big hits?
Buzz is critical, but more so for certain genres and networks.
CBS can manage quite well with minimal buzz. Fox and NBC need much more. But if you look at the shows that were successful with very little buzz, you'll notice that they have much more mainstream, mass appeal, usually delivering somewhat older audiences: "NCIS" might be the best example of all, "Undercover Boss," "The Good Wife," "Bones" (an unexpected steady performer for Fox), "Brothers & Sisters," and from a few years ago, even "Grey's Anatomy."
Overall, which Big Five network has the strongest crop of new shows?
CBS. NBC isn't too far off, though.
Which network has the weakest crop of new shows?
Fox.
Would you say the dramas or comedies are generally stronger?
Dramas.
Do you think the networks are fully invested now in the idea that comedy is making a comeback?
I never got the impression that they were ever "off" comedies. It's just easier--and cheaper--to keep going with reality shows that seemed to be working. As the saying goes, "Dying is easy. Comedy is hard."
Comedy is more than just a concept. It takes strong writing, characters, stories, etc. A successful reality show can work with just a "napkin idea" that is somewhat self-sustainable. So the networks weren't necessarily ditching comedies, I just don't think that they had anything for a while that knocked their socks off.
Viewers were never avoiding comedy. Good comedies were just hard to find and develop, so they just didn't make the schedule. Comedies just became somewhat formulaic. And reality shows were the something shiny that were being held up distracting everybody from producing quality comedy.
So yes, I'd think that the networks are going to actively seek comedies at a higher level than they had been, because it worked. But that has to do with the quality of the shows, particularly ABC's Wednesday shows, more so than them being in the comedy genre itself. Weak is weak, good is good. If they start throwing weak comedies up there, we'll be right back to answering questions about "is comedy dead?" again.
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