Ain't It Cool has printed a list of the new shows for late 2007, and it's insane how many shows we're watching. Try 18 for now, with The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Lost, and Battlestar Galactica turning up later (as well as Big Love and Flight of the Conchords, though they're months away). It's just insane. How will we get through them all?
The interesting thing is that the UK buys TV shows from the US and hardly ever makes a big deal about it. Unless they become hits in the US, of course. When Heroes exploded the Beeb could hardly contain itself, bragging about their acquisition even though it took 9 months to get on BBC2, and that was after Sci-Fi milked it to death. I can understand the usual caution. For every Lost there's a Deadwood (a failure on Sky) or Boomtown (a failure in general). This year, however, Sandro Monetti of the Sunday Express (in their first interesting article ever) has revealed which show is going where. I'd link to the article, but it's the Express. Their website is, like, totally medieval. You'll have to make do with my interpretations and take my word for it.
C4 is getting Dirty Stupid Monkey (I swear to God, I made that stupid joke weeks ago and now I think it really is called that) and Back To You, the seemingly unwatchable archaic sitcom with Kelsey "Not Hank McCoy" Grammer and an actress I don't recognise. If DSM is even half as bad as is rumoured, that's not really a safe investment for C4, but I'll wager they're hoping it will be this year's Brothers and Sisters. As for Back To You, it shows a staggering lack of imagination on the part of the channel. It's blatantly obvious they're trying to chase the Frasier fans with another show that will feature jokes about high culture and wine as a veneer of sophistication while the majority of the comedy comes from laboured, smutty puns and hi-larious farcical misunderstandings, this time without the saving grace of David Hyde Pierce. Or Eddie the Dog. Cheers re-runs would be more welcome. ::grumble grumble::
The Beeb has splashed out for Damages, when it should have paid for Mad Men, which might be a tad overrated but still has a better shot at lasting more than one season. Five is buying the Duchovny sex-a-thon Californication, which seems shrewd, especially now Sky has pilfered Prison Break (at enormous expense; £500,000 an episode! For that shit?). Sky also has Journeyman, i.e. Quantum Leap with that junkie from Trainspotting, which sounds like this year's Standoff in terms of longevity. At least they didn't option the similarly named but actually completely different Traveler, which didn't actually go that far. ::pats self on back::
ITV1 has got Pushing Daisies, and would be well advised to make a huge deal about it. That's a brilliant move, landing a critical darling starring the fragrant Anna Friel, and will pay huge dividends. And oh, they've got Bionic Woman too, and have stuck that on ITV2. At first glance I thought that was a terrible mistake. It's not like ITV2 is the BBC2 to ITV1's BBC1 (oh God, what did I just write?). ITV2 is as much a ghetto channel as ITV3 or ITV4, which is where they shove good or great shows (ahem Friday Night Lights ahem) to die a terrible death, at least in the past. However, with the digital switchover right around the corner, and ITV2 being a free-to-air channel, it could work out. There's a chance it will bury the show, but it also might prove to be a stroke of genius. There must be millions of UK TV watchers who are fascinated to see how Michelle Ryan deals with the new show and her brand new cheekbones, so this could go well. It's rare that ITV do something smart, so kudos to them.
No information on when the shows will appear on our screens, but don't expect any of them in 2007. We can't have that now, can we? It's a particular bugbear of mine, and something I hope to find out more about in the near future. I'm sure there's a reason. I just doubt it will be a satisfying one.
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