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TV Tidbits: All four of NBC's new fall shows are based on some old ideas
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Published: May 9, 2008
NBC's fall schedule will include only four new shows, and none of them are really new -- one is an American version of an overseas hit, one is a remake of an old show, and the other two are inspired by classic literature.
My Own Worst Enemy is a new take on the Jekyll-and-Hyde concept, with Christian Slater as a man with two identities -- Henry, a nerdy, middle-class efficiency expert, and Edward, a daring superspy. It will air at 10 p.m. Mondays.
Kath & Kim, based on an Australian comedy, follows a dysfunctional mother and daughter played by Molly Shannon and Selma Blair. It will run at 9:30 p.m. Tuesdays.
Knight Rider, a sequel to the 1980s classic about a hero with a talking car, will run at 8 p.m. Wednesdays.
Crusoe, based on Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, is described by NBC as "equal parts MacGyver, Castaway and Pirates of the Caribbean. It will air Fridays at 9 p.m.
NBC does have more shows in the works, including a spinoff of The Office. But the traditional "pilot season" was disrupted by the recent writers' strike. Those shows will turn up later in the 2008-09 season.
During the writers' strike, the networks hoped that they could keep viewers by airing repeats of cable shows. That strategy hasn't worked well, with lackluster ratings for such shows as CBS' Dexter (edited from the original, bloodier Showtime broadcasts) and NBC's Monk and Psych (which originally aired on NBC Universal's USA Network).
NBC announced this week that starting May 18 it will replace the Sunday-night broadcasts of Monk and Psych with repeats of other shows. On May 18 and 25, both shows will be replaced by four-episode marathons of The Office. A spokeswoman at CBS said Wednesday that the network has no plans to air the second season of Dexter.
ABC won't announce its fall schedule until Tuesday, but it said this week that it was canceling Men in Trees.
The series will return for three final episodes Wednesdays at 10 p.m. starting May 28. Producers shot two versions of the season finale, one in case the show got renewed and one in case it didn't.
For the past six years, Talk Sex with Sue Johanson has been one of the Oxygen network's most popular programs.
Oxygen announced Tuesday that Sunday's episode, which will be shown at midnight, will be the show's last.
Johanson, who is 77, decided that it was time to end the series.
"I'm going to miss it terribly," Johanson told The Associated Press. "It's been part of my life and I just love it. I'm going to miss writing scripts. I'm going to miss having to read books. I'm going to miss playing with sex toys."
And Oxygen is going to miss her. The show has consistently had strong ratings, and the current season was the show's best yet among women 18 to 49. Her advice will continue to be run on the Oxygen.com Web site, and Johanson said she will continue to tour on the lecture circuit and produce occasional TV specials.
The recent PBS special African American Lives 2 came to DVD this week, with host Henry Louis Gates Jr. using genealogical research and DNA testing to trace the family trees of prominent black Americans, including Maya Angelou.
Other people featured in the four-episode miniseries are Tom Joyner, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Tina Turner, Chris Rock, Don Cheadle, Linda Johnson Rice, Peter Gomes, Morgan Freeman, Kathleen Henderson and Bliss Broyard.
Also new on DVD this week are the first season of NBC's crime drama Crossing Jordan; a collection of episodes of the nature documentary Man Vs. Wild; the fourth and final season of sci-fi drama The 4400; and the sixth season of Bewitched, in which Dick Sargent replaced Dick York as hapless husband Darrin Stevens.
■ Tim Clodfelter can be reached at 727-7371 or at tclodfelter@wsjournal.com.
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