As expected, reality shows have taken center stage at the annual Television Critics Association Press Tour in Pasadena, Calif., where the network bosses have gathered to roll out their midseason series, brag about their triumphs and spin the heck out of everything else.
   The smaller networks have served as the hors d'oeuvres so far, with ABC, NBC and CBS scheduled to make their presentations to the press over the next week. 
   Leading off, UPN announced the midseason addition of reality show "Manhunt," which counts among its executive producers Vince McMahon, the WWF chief whose program "Smackdown!" may be the reason that UPN is still around for this press tour.
   The program, slated for six episodes, will pit a group of amateur adventurers against a crew of stylized "hunters" in the obligatory tropical setting. The last contestant standing will, of course, receive a hefty cash prize.
   "Chains of Love," the reality/game show recently dropped by NBC, will go into production for UPN at the end of January.
   The netlet has also ensnared some big names to develop programs for next season, most of which are aimed at young males, the network’s bread and butter demo.
   Wes Craven, director of "Scream" and "A Nightmare on Elm Street," is developing a show called "Ghost in the Machine." A series based on Stephen King’s book "The Dead Zone" is being developed by Michael Piller, co-creator of "Star Trek: Voyager."
   Network president Dean Valentine took the opportunity to assure assembled reporters that a deal is pending with former co-owner Chris Craft to keep the network in business for the foreseeable future.
   Valentine and entertainment president Tom Nunan also declared that the network would not, as originally intended, change its name to The Paramount Network.
   UPN also took time to highlight its season-to-date numbers.
   Its average 1.9 rating, 6 share among men 18-34, UPN’s target demo, represents the netlet’s best start ever. The network is up over last season in total viewers and all key young adult demos, and it is the number-one network among African Americans.
   The WB also came into the TCA press tour waving its numbers around.
   For the season, the WB is up 28 percent in adults 18-34. The network also reminded reporters that its median age is still the lowest of all the networks, at 28.8.
   But the network’s audience is starting to mature, and executives got a bit testy when it came to the network’s extra-young-adult image.
   "Whereas it was fair for you people to say ‘the teeny bopper network’ four years ago, it was a little less fair three years ago. Two years ago, it became a lot less fair. And now it’s not fair at all," said CEO Jamie Kellner.
   The WB will have aired a dozen comedy pilots by season’s end, two more than last year. Two reality show pilots are also in the works: "Kiss the Bride," which follows young, newlywed couples, and "The Cube," which basically throws 10 strangers together in a locked room for 24 hours.
   Network chiefs were somewhat slippery about which shows would be returning next season, though entertainment president Susanne Daniels seemed most optimistic about "Charmed," "7^th Heaven," "Dawson’s Creek" and "Felicity."
    Less clear is the future of the popular series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and its spin-off "Angel" after contracts expire this spring. Questions about "Buffy" prompted one of the more interesting and frank exchanges of the press tour.
   Kellner promised a "giant wheelbarrow" of money to "Buffy" producer 20^th Century Fox.
   "And if that's not enough, then take it to somebody else, and you've demonstrated that you're not the kind of partner we should be doing business with," Kellner said.
   Fox Television Entertainment Group chairman Sandy Grushow retorted the next day, remarking "They don't have wheelbarrows at the WB, they have Mercedes."
    "If, in fact, the WB is prepared to make a, quote-unquote, ‘fair’ proposal to 20th Century Fox Television, then there is no reason to believe that this show isn’t going to continue on the WB’s air for many years to come. I can tell you that up until this point, that has not remotely been the case," Grushow said.
    Much of Fox’s Sunday presentation had to do with upcoming reality series "Temptation Island," set to debut tonight at 9:00. The show mixes up four couples and 26 single people on a tropical island for six episodes of love, infidelity and, well, temptation.
    The show’s premise and provocative promos have many questioning the program’s taste, especially in light of Fox’s track record (read: "Who Wants to Marry a Multimillionaire?").
    Fox’s Grushow defended the project, and most accounts of the previews suggest that the show isn’t nearly as risqué as the buzz suggests. But the pre-debut controversy could very well be all part of the plan.
    Fox announced that, as expected, it has picked up the Sunday-night animated show "Futurama" for another season. The program, created by "Simpson’s" mastermind Matt Groening, is assured of eighteen more episodes.
    Fox also announced that it has secured rights to the television premier of "Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace," which will air on April 29. The Star Wars prequel was the second-highest grossing movie in box office history.

-Gabriel Spitzer is a staff writer for Media Life.

 Printer-Friendly Version |  Send to a Friend
Cover Page | Contact Us

© 2001 Media Life