THE UPFRONTS
NEW YORK — “My Name Is Earl†creator Greg Garcia is a writer because he has a way with words.
Asked Tuesday for his take on NBC’s unceremonious cancellation of his single-camera comedy, Garcia didn’t miss a beat: “It’s hard to be too upset about being thrown off the Titanic.â€
In case the reference isn’t obvious, NBC is in fourth place among networks, after a lackluster season in which it launched seven new shows -- of them, five are failing and the other two are posting mediocre numbers. Garcia’s comment came amid the annual spring upfronts where the major networks gather to pitch media buyers on their upcoming fall and midseason schedules.
Garcia learned the fate of his show during a phone conversation with Jeff Ingold, NBC’s executive vice president of comedy. The call came just 30 minutes before NBC released its schedule to the media.
“They woke me up at 7:30,†Garcia said. “I e-mailed Jeff Zucker [president and chief executive of NBC Universal] on Sunday and I never got a response. But this is show business. The writing was on the wall. When you go to bed the night before the schedule is out, and no one has spoken to you, you know what’s happening. You get somewhat frustrated with how it’s being handled, but that’s the business we work in.â€
Garcia then had to call his cast and crew. Ethan Suplee instantly took to Twitter to complain about how NBC handled the matter. Series star Jason Lee told Garcia that he would love to continue doing the show for another network. Garcia said that he and 20th Century Fox Television, which produces the show, would try to sell it to Fox or ABC. Both of those networks have expressed interest in it in the past.
“I think we’d do very well with some promotion,†Garcia said. “We certainly feel like we have more stories to tell. That’s why we left the show on Season 4 on a cliffhanger. And I know we’ve got at least another season in us and a lot of great ideas. So if another network wants to put us on, fantastic.â€
During a conference call with reporters Tuesday, Ben Silverman, co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios, said the network opted to cancel “Earl†because neither fans nor the advertisers had waged a campaign to save them in the same way they did for NBC bubble comedy “Chuck,†which was renewed.
“If that’s how they’re running their network, good luck to them,†Garcia said. “I don’t believe that for one second, but if that’s true, if that’s how they’re deciding what shows to pick up, wow.â€
NBC doesn’t want to repeat itself
Two weeks after announcing its new series, NBC officially unveiled its fall and midseason schedules Tuesday with a chief aim being to avoid repeat programming.
For the most part, the struggling network will be able to rely on mostly original programming by having its new and returning shows sharing time slots. In hopes of capitalizing on the Winter Olympics in February, NBC scheduled its programming in two parts -- before and after the global sporting event.
The “dual-season strategy†means that the network will order series episodes based on need and thus abandon the traditional 22-episode industry order. For example, “Heroes,†which will share its new 8 p.m. time slot with “Chuck,†has received a 19-episode order that will run without interruption. So far, 13 episodes of “Chuck,†-- saved by its fans, TV critics and Subway -- have been ordered.
“We have a unique opportunity with the Olympics to develop a dual-season strategy in which we’re tapping into the broad circulation of Olympics,†said Silverman.
In addition to “Chuck,†NBC renewed “Law & Order,†which turns 20 years old in the fall. It canceled “Medium,†which, like “My Name Is Earl,†might end up on a rival network.
But “Chuck†was the story of the day, as Silverman beamed about the broad campaign to save it. The network has entered into an exclusive sponsorship with Subway, the sandwich chain that fans used to protest the series’ bubble status.
Silverman also said that ABC’s 10 p.m. lineup made him feel “even more confident†in the new Jay Leno show, which will air on NBC five nights a week. ABC announced Tuesday that it would air two returning dramas, two new dramas and “20/20†against Leno.
Five episodes of “The Jay Leno Show†will cost NBC less than one hour of dramatic television, said Marc Graboff, co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios. “This is a marathon, not a sprint,†said Graboff. “So we’re going to be looking at Jay over 46 weeks a year in performance comparatively to the other 22-week shows on the other networks.â€
-- Maria Elena Fernandez
ABC wishes upon comedy stars
ABC has had a tough year in the ratings, but its programmers think they know the way back into viewers’ hearts: Comedies with such familiar stars as Kelsey Grammer, Patricia Heaton and Courteney Cox.
Disregarding the generally dismal environment for network comedies lately, the network, which made its presentation to media buyers Tuesday, will try in the fall to build a Wednesday comedy bloc made up of four new family sitcoms. Leading off the night will be “Hank,†with former “Frasier†star Grammer as a washed-up chief executive who reconnects with his brood. Heaton will follow with “The Middle,†about the foibles of a small-town mom.
The night will end with “Eastwick,†a one-hour series adaptation of the 1987 movie comedy “Witches of Eastwick,†which seems like nothing so much as an effort to duplicate the female-skewing success of ABC’s top-rated scripted show, “Desperate Housewives.â€
The hunt for laughs represents a major gamble for ABC, which has had trouble finding successors to aging shows such as “Housewives.†The new comedy bloc “is our biggest risk, but I think [it has] our biggest upside as well,†ABC entertainment chief Steve McPherson told reporters.
But viewers had better be ready for some sharp mood swings. Elsewhere on the new schedule, ABC is going darker -- much darker.
“The Forgotten,†booked for 10 p.m. Tuesdays after the “Dancing With the Stars†results show, is a bleak-looking forensics crime drama from producer Jerry Bruckheimer about a team of volunteer sleuths who try to solve murders of victims who are unidentified. Its competition will include Jay Leno’s new nightly talk show on NBC.
ABC will lead off its crucial Thursday lineup -- which includes its once-formidable hit “Grey’s Anatomy†-- with “Flash Forward,†a high-concept drama about what happens after millions of people black out simultaneously, allowing them to see their own futures. Judging from a brief clip shown to reporters, the show’s tone and premise recall those of “The Nine,†an ambitious serialized drama that tanked quickly a few seasons back.
McPherson conceded that it was risky to open the night with a high-profile but untested drama. “This is a big decision,†he said.
But ABC’s situation, battling with NBC to avoid a last-place finish among young adults, has left programmers with scarce assets and some hard choices. In the fall, new shows will kick off three midweek nights: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, yielding the least-buffered lineup of any major network. The 8 p.m. Tuesday entry will be “Shark Tank,†a new reality series about aspiring entrepreneurs from producer Mark Burnett.
To help make way for the new shows, ABC canceled “Samantha Who?,†the Christina Applegate comedy that never recovered from a disruption caused by the writers strike that ended in February 2008. “It launched very well and then it seemed to run out of steam,†McPherson said.
“According to Jim,†Jim Belushi’s long-running family sitcom, is likewise gone. But the network feels it can find bigger audiences for “Castle,†the crime drama slotted for 10 p.m. Mondays. And the low-rated comedy “Better Off Ted†will return on Tuesdays paired with “Scrubs,†once “Dancing With the Stars†wraps its run. Meanwhile, the ratings-challenged “Ugly Betty†will move to the low-traffic zone of 9 p.m. Fridays. “You have to make some bold moves sometimes,†McPherson explained.
Whether the bold Wednesday move will pay off remains to be seen. The failure rate for network comedies in particular has been extraordinarily high lately.
As it happens, Grammer and Heaton starred together in “Back to You,†a sitcom about TV newscasters that lasted briefly a couple seasons back on Fox.
The other Wednesday comedies are “Modern Family,†with former “Married With Children†star Ed O’Neill leading an ensemble shot documentary-style a la “The Office†(in a sign of network confidence, ABC was planning to show the entire pilot to advertisers in a live presentation today) and “Cougar Town,†with Cox as a single mom struggling to adapt to the realities of middle age.
ABC also picked up several dramas slated for midseason launch. These include “The Deep End,†a wry look about the lives of associates at a snooty law firm, “Happy Town,†about strange goings-on in a Minnesota town and “V,†an adaptation of NBC’s 1980s sci-fi franchise.
-- Scott Collins
maria.elena.fernandez @latimes.com
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