(A Belated) Fathers Day 2009 – Bring Your Kid To Work Edition

I got caught up in some other stuff yesterday (that seems to be happening a lot – blame it on the summer I suppose, not to mentin that getting these pictures together ain't easy) so this is a belated Father's Day tribute. Then again, aren't most tributes to fathers a little late and a little less interesting than tributes to mothers?

As you may have noticed, men are not women. In most cases this doesn't matter for acting – you know, besides the peeing sitting down bit, and the nudity thing – but one of those is the fact that when a man is in the process of becoming a father there are no obvious signs. A man can go through an entire pregnancy without anyone noticing. Unlike a woman of course, which after all was the subject of my Mother's Day post this year. But what about after the baby comes and becomes a full-fledged human being. Even then we really don't have to know anything. Nothing is obvious after all. No one has to know that dear old dad is a dear old dad in real life (or for that matter on a drama – since most are set in a workplace you don't need to know much about their personal lives while for women it's often a major plot point; but that's a subject for next year's Father's Day post). But what fathers can do is appear in a show with their off-spring. And some of those children grow up to be actors in their own right.

Desi Arnaz – Desi Arnaz Jr. and Lucie Arnaz(?): This is a bit of a stretch but inevitably I go back to I Love Lucy for a first. In the last episode of the half-hour I Love Lucy (the show went to an hour length as the The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour for the last two seasons of its existence) there were two small children at the dedication of a statue in Westport Connecticut – a statue which Lucy has accidentally destroyed of course. At the statue dedication there are a couple of kids, a little boy and a little girl. Vivian Vance, as Ethel Mertz asks the little boy if he can see. The little boy is none other than Desi Arnaz Jr. while the little girl has long been thought to be his sister Lucie. However in its notes on the episode TV.com claims that "It has been said that the Arnazes' daughter Lucie appears in the episode. She doesn't show up in the episode, although Desi Arnaz, Jr. and Lucie's childhood playmate do." Lucie and Desi would later co-star on their mother's third series Here's Lucy. Subsequently both children went off to their own careers. Lucie had some success in film, TV and Broadway, notably in the 1980 remake of The Jazz Singer opposite Neil Diamond, and the Broadway musical They're Playing Our Song. She even had her own series - The Lucie Arnaz Show – which ran for six episodes. Desi Arnaz Jr. has a much more extensive IMDB resume with a lot of guest starring work in the 1970s. Improbably he appeared in his own series, Automan. Even more improbably it lasted thirteen episodes – seven more than his sister's show (which in my not so humble opinion was infinitely superior). Perhaps his most interesting movie role was his small part in the movie The Mambo Kings: he played Desi Arnaz Sr. – his father.

Lloyd Bridges – Beau Bridges and Jeff Bridges: Lloyd Bridges's first entry into Television was probably one of the iconic syndicated series of the late 1950s, Seahunt. On the show Bridges played former Navy frogman turned freelance diver Mike Nelson. Nelson – so far as we could tell at least – was a single man without children. In real life Lloyd Bridges was married with four kids. The two oldest children Beau and Jeff both made appearances on Seahunt on several occasions – twice each for Beau and Jeff Bridges. Subsequently Lloyd Bridges starred in the Aaron Spelling produced anthology series The Lloyd Bridges Show which ran from 1962-63. Not only did Jeff and Beau Bridges appear in episodes of the series, but so did Lloyd's daughter Cindy Bridges. Years later, in the 1993 series Harts Of The West starred Beau Bridges in the lead role and his father Lloyd Bridges in a supporting role.

James Daly – Tyne Daly and Tim Daly: James Daly did a number of TV shows over the course of his career, including the Star Trek episode Requiem for Methuselah, but he is probably best known for playing Dr. Paul Lochner in the 1969 series Medical Center. Actually these days he's probably best known as the father of actress Tyne Daly and her brother Tim Daly. Tyne Daly appeared four times on Medical Center with her father, playing different roles in each episode. This must have been confusing for Dr. Lochner because one of the roles that she played (in the episode "Moment of Decision") was Jennifer Lochner, Dr. Lochner's daughter. But Medical Center wasn't the first time that father and daughter had worked together; they did an episode of Ironside called "The People Against Judge McIntyre" together in 1970. And Tyne wasn't the first of his children that James Daly worked with. In 1966 he did an adaptation of Ibsen's An Enemy Of The People for National Educational Television (NET) with his then 10 year-old son Tim. It was the only time they ever worked together.

Martin Sheen – Renee Estevez and Emilio Estevez: Everyone knows that Renee Estevez appeared on The West Wing, appearing as Nancy, one of President Bartlett's numerous secretaries. Her role on the show was never a big one; a few words here, a "Mr. President" there. It wasn't a big part but she was a member of the regular cast. Emilio Estevez also made an appearance on The West Wing, although he didn't appear with his father. In the episode "25" there are some home movies of a young Jed Bartlett with his youngest daughter as a small child. The younger version of Bartlett was played by Emilio Estevez. Martin Sheen also appeared with his son Charlie Sheen in Charlie's series Two And A Half Men playing the father of Rose, Charlie's neighbour/stalker.

Ozzie Nelson – David Nelson and Rickie Nelson: If ever there was a case of taking your kids to work it was Ozzie Nelson. When The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet made the transition from radio to TV in 1952 he decided that the ideal actors to play his two sons David and Ricky were... his two sons David and Ricky! It's not really surprising – they'd been playing themselves on radio since 1949 but sometimes radio actors didn't make the transition very well. Later when his sons married Ozzie brought their wives June Blair and Kristin Harmon on as their wives. Ricky of course went on to be the big star of the family. Between 1957 and 1962 he had 30 Top Forty hits and appeared in several movies. As for David, he never became a huge star but did do some acting and a certain amount of work as a producer and director. In fact he even directed episodes of The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet.

Get Those Celebrities Off My TV

I have something better than a review of I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here – pelicans.

I shot this photo at the weir in Saskatoon. And let's face it Pelicans have made a greater contribution to art than the producers of this show have simply by being the inspiration for Dixon Lanire Merrith's poem (misattributed to Ogden Nash):

A wonderful bird is a pelican,
His bill will hold more than his belican.
He can take in his beak
Food enough for a week;
But I'm damned if I see how the helican.

What have the producers of I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here given us? A location, described by one of the participants on the show as "absolute torture," that any cub scout let alone anyone who ever appeared on Survivor – including Elizabeth Hasselebeck – would call the lap of luxury by comparison to what they had to deal with. A bunch of challenges that substitute the gross-out factor for any need for actual physical ability. A group of people, most of whom most viewers have never heard of, who have so little to do in the day that the only thing they are left with is annoying the crap out of each other. And us. These people, who are living proof of the saying that "hell is other people," are frequently self-centred, self-important and suffering from overinflated egos, who take offence at the least little thing. I'm not even going to mention Heidi and Spencer from The Hills except to say this – watching them on the first episode of this show not only gave me a headache but I'm pretty sure contributed to the nauseous feeling that came over me after the show.

The simple fact is that there have been reality shows that not only weren't renewed (like Treasure Hunt) but were pulled off the air before they completed their run (Pirate Master) that were better than this steaming pile of crap. I was struggling with what to write about this show all week before I finally came up with this, and I'm more than slightly concerned that I've wasted more electrons with this than the show deserves.

But at least it gave me a chance to post a picture of pelicans.

Upfronts 2009 – Video Previews

Still busy trying to chase that dream I mentioned in my last post, with limited success – finished third the other day in the first round tournament but needed to finish second to do anything. Oh well. Between that, an assortment of real world chores, that brand new time waster Twitter (I'm BrentMcKee there and of course can always use followers), and of course the general summer ennui, I haven't been writing much, and haven't really found the urgency to get this posted. Still I have wanted to get the clips for the season's new show posted on the blog.

The US networks haven't made it easy for the Blogger who just wants to publicize their shows. CBS, FOX and The CW all have YouTube sites but in the case of CBS, the clips aren't accessible to Canadians. NBC abandoned YouTube several years ago, and ABC has followed suit over the past year. Still there are sources available if you're willing to look for them. In fact some of these sources (notably the German Serien Network) provide clips that are longer than what the networks themselves posted. Naturally enough these clips are presented for promotional purposes only, and are the property of the networks and the production companies that made them.

First up we have ABC. I have structured the clips on this playlist (and all of the others) with the shows debuting in the Fall first and in some reasonable approximation of the order in which they'll air. These are then followed by the midseason replacement shows. For ABC the order is The Forgotten, Hank, The Middle, Modern Family, Cougar Town, Eastwick, Flash Forward, Happy Town, and finally The Deep End. Complete running time for this group of clips is about a half hour.

Next we have the CBS shows: Three Rivers, NCIS: Los Angeles, The Good Wife, The Bridge, and Miami Trauma. I was unable to find a clip for the Monday comedy Accidentally On Purpose that I was able to view. Running time is just under 15 minutes.

The FOX playlist includes The Cleveland Show, Brothers, Sons of Tuscon, Past Life and The Human Target. Running time is about 16 minutes.

The NBC clips run at a little over 20 minutes. They are Trauma, Parenthood, Community, 100 Questions, and Mercy.

Finally The CW has two clips from Melrose Place, a clip from The Beautiful Life, three clips from The Vampire Diaries and an extended clip from Parental Discretion Advised. Running time is about 15 minutes.

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While it is impossible to determine the quality of a new series from this sort of brief clip – particularly when some of the roles have been recast (Julia Ormand is out at Three Rivers and Louise Lombard is gone from NCIS: Los Angeles), I would really like to comments in the realm of first impressions about the new shows. Do they look better than the shows that were dropped to make way for them? Worse? Which ones do you think you'd watch and which ones do you intend to tell your friends neighbours and perfect stranger to avoid like the plague? Where do you think there's potential and where do think that a show represents the total collapse of western civilization. Just remember, I don't control what networks do and don't put on the air. I wish I did – just like everyone who has ever written a review of a show either for a newspaper or a blog, and maybe things will be different come th eerevolution – but as it stands people who write in the comments section "...you are really considering dropping Without a Trace???" will get no satisfaction from me because I don't have the power to bring Without a Trace back.

The 2009-10 Season Night By Night

This post looks at the coming Fall season on a day by day basis. The aim is to try to handicap the season and pick the winners and losers. Needless to say this is an inexact "art" – because calling it a science is absurd. Several "rules" apply in looking at this stuff. For one thing, no show from The CW will win a time slot for a season. I won't say never ever – after all they used to say that about FOX back when they were airing shows like Werewolf and look where they are now. They just aren't going to do it this year or for a long long time. The other major "truth" is that in a battle between an established show and a new show, the established show has an advantage, particularly after the show has had a second season. The more established the show the greater the likelihood that it will knock out a new series. Of course the term "established" is a relative term, and it is possible – likely even – that there is a tipping point where an older show loses audience because people are becoming tired of it. Not unlike the old er bull elephant that used to run the herd but gets bounced by a younger stronger bull. Still TV is like a lot of elections, where the incumbent has an advantage over the fresh face.

Before looking at things on a night by night basis, it's only appropriate to recognise the "gorilla in the room" which this year is NBC's decision to effectively abandon the third hour of primetime by scheduling The Jay Leno Show five nights a week. NBC apparently thinks that while the Leno show won't win every night of the week but they say it will win some nights and be competitive on others. I say they're delusional. I mean I understand what they're doing; they wanted to keep Leno on NBC on the grounds that its better to find something for him to do with the network than having him bitter and on another network attacking the show that he had been forced out of. The thing is though that in their ham-fisted way they've screwed the proverbial pooch. There were other ways that NBC could have reacted to the possibility of losing Leno. When Steve Allen left the Tonight Show in 1956 the network kept him with the once a week Steve Allen Show. I wouldn't be surprised if NBC would have been able to keep Leno with a similar arrangement. But of course NBC – in the person of Jeff Zucker, who has spoken on this – is convinced that putting scripted programming on during the third hour of primetime is part of a broken programming model. Doing five hours a week of Leno is cheaper than five hours of scripted programming and Zucker has stated that advertisers will respect the network based not on ratings but on corporate profitability. But an advertiser is "buying eyeballs" – and more importantly the "right" eyeballs – and Leno is not going to deliver in that area. He is unlikely to win his time slot on most nights and possibly not any nights, but more importantly Leno is most likely going to finish third every night in the 18-49 demographic which everyone acknowledges is a key factor for advertisers. So NBC has committed itself to a model that is probably more broken than the one they are rejecting. Worse, it's a position that they can't gracefully retreat from if the ratings are as bad as a lot of people think they are going to be.

Times are Eastern, and new shows are in capitals (except NCIS and CSI).

Sunday

	ABC	CBS	Fox	NBC	The CW
7:00-7:30	America's Funniest Home Videos	60 Minutes	The O/T	Football Night In America	Local
7:30-8:00	America's Funniest Home Videos	60 Minutes	The O/T	Football Night In America	Local
8:00-8:30	Extreme Makeover Home Edition	The Amazing Race	The Simpsons	Football Night In America	Local
8:30-9:00	Extreme Makeover Home Edition	The Amazing Race	THE CLEVELAND SHOW	Sunday Night Football	Local
9:00-9:30	Desperate Housewives	THREE RIVERS	Family Guy	Sunday Night Football	Local
9:30-10:00	Desperate Housewives	THREE RIVERS	American Dad	Sunday Night Football	Local
10:00-11:00	Brothers & Sisters	Cold Case	Local	Sunday Night Football	Local

There are a couple of changes here of which the least is probably The CW's decision to turn the night back to the affiliates for first run syndication. The network has been floundering on Sunday nights since UPN and The WB merged and last year's debacle with the Media Rights Capital shows pretty much proved that the network can't find a successful formula for the night. The major changes are the two new shows – The Cleveland Show and Three Rivers – and the decision to move Cold Case to the third hour. The Cleveland Show seems to be a good fit between The Simpsons and Family Guy but how things will shake out later in the year when the show is supposed to move to the slot currently occupied by American Dad is anyone's guess. The big battle is going to be between Three Rivers and the established Desperate Housewives. NBC's Sunday Night Football siphons off a big chunk of the male audience which leads to the belief that the two scripted shows will be fighting over the female audience. In this Desperate Housewives might be presumed to have an advantage. However the relative success of Cold Case in the time slot would suggest that the audience for an alternative to football and Seth MacFarlane animation isn't as homogeneous as one might think. Couple that with somewhat flagging ratings for Desperate Housewives over the past season, the presence of Moonlight heart-throb Alex O'Laughlin in Three Rivers, and there would seem to be some play how well the newcomer will do in the time slot. I still think that Desperate Housewives will come second in the time slot – effectively a win amongst the shows that aren't Football – I wouldn't be surprised to see the show continue to weaken and Three Rivers pick up viewers. Whether Cold Case can survive the move to the third hour is a different question. In recent years ratings for CBS shows on Sunday nights have weakened as the night progressed. Cold Case is an established show but the question is whether it will carry its audience to the later time slot.

Monday

	ABC	CBS	Fox	NBC	The CW
8:00-8:30	Dancing with the Stars	How I Met Your Mother	House	Heroes	Gossip Girl
8:30-9:00	Dancing with the Stars	ACCIDENTALLY ON PURPOSE	House	Heroes	Gossip Girl
9:00-9:30	Dancing with the Stars	Two and a Half Men	Lie To Me	TRAUMA	One Tree Hill
9:30-10:00	Dancing with the Stars	The Big Bang Theory	Lie To Me	TRAUMA	One Tree Hill
10:00-11:00	Castle	CSI: Miami	Local	Jay Leno	Local

This is the first night when the "Leno Effect" will be felt. I don't see too much hope for the 13 week NBC series Trauma up against Dancing With The Stars, the highest rated CBS comedies (Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory) and even Lie To Me (though I worry about how well that show will do against the power house shows in that hour). I don't think CSI: Miami will have much trouble winning its time slot against Castle, but the latter shouldn't totally collapse and it should be strong enough to beat Leno. The one weak spot for CBS might be the new comedy Accidentally On Purpose. What I've seen of it doesn't really do anything for me.

Tuesday

	ABC	CBS	Fox	NBC	The CW
8:00-8:30	SHARK TANK	NCIS	So You Think You Can Dance	The Biggest Loser	90210
8:30-9:00	SHARK TANK	NCIS	So You Think You Can Dance	The Biggest Loser	90210
9:00-9:30	Dancing with the Stars Results	NCIS: LOS ANGELES	So You Think You Can Dance	The Biggest Loser	MELROSE PLACE
9:30-10:00	Dancing with the Stars Results	NCIS: LOS ANGELES	So You Think You Can Dance	The Biggest Loser	MELROSE PLACE
10:00-11:00	THE FORGOTTEN	THE GOOD WIFE	Local	Jay Leno	Local

I think this could be a huge day for CBS and to a much lesser extent The CW, simply because there are so many people who hate reality shows and when you look at the first two hours of Tuesday night the only networks that don't have reality shows on are CBS and The CW. I'm somewhat concerned with the idea of both NCIS shows being on the same night. Certainly it was something that CBS did with their CSI franchise. Maybe this would have been better on a Sunday. (And by the way, NCIS: Los Angeles? Hardly the most original name!) Melrose Place will probably benefit as well but to a lesser extent because of the nature of the show. As far as the reality shows, I'm afraid I foresee a rather quick demise for Shark Tank even though the series is an international favourite. It just doesn't strike me as a show that Americans will watch during the Fall season. It may also be a mistake to run So You Think You Can Dance in the Fall, particularly so soon after the completion of the summer cycle of the show. In the third hour, this might be one night when Leno is going to be strong. Based on descriptions I can't muster up too much enthusiasm for either The Forgotten or The Good Wife. I'll likely sample both (thanks to a late feed out of Washington state) but don't know which I'd choose.

Wednesday

	ABC	CBS	Fox	NBC	The CW
8:00-8:30	HANK	New Adventures of Old Christine	So You Think You Can Dance Results	PARENTHOOD	America's Next Top Model
8:30-9:00	THE MIDDLE	Gary Unmarried	So You Think You Can Dance Results	PARENTHOOD	America's Next Top Model
9:00-9:30	MODERN FAMILY	Criminal Minds	GLEE	Law & Order: SVU	THE BEAUTIFUL LIFE
9:30-10:00	COUGAR TOWN	Criminal Minds	GLEE	Law & Order: SVU	THE BEAUTIFUL LIFE
10:00-11:00	EASTWICK	CSI: NY	Local	Jay Leno	Local

How long has it been since we've seen two sets of sitcoms go up against each other in the same time slot? In the first hour I think the ABC sitcoms have an advantage. It's not just that they've got good casts – although Hank and The Middle do have great leads. The CBS series just seem a bit ... umm pedestrian ... I guess. People who don't like sitcoms do have a couple of reality shows and NBC's Parenthood which I'm sort of looking forward to since they seem to be taking the name rather than the theme from the original movie... and the earlier TV series. Modern Family and Cougar Town also have strong casts, but I don't see them prospering against Criminal Minds and Law & Order: SVU. I do think that Law & Order: SVU is a show that is going to suffer from being in the second hour of prime time where they aren't going to be able to do the edgiest material in the way they did in the third hour. I still haven't watched the pilot for Glee so I'm not really comfortable discussing it. I do think that it is going to face a lot of problems from the two procedurals. Even though I like Paul Gross, who will be starring in Eastwick, and think that Lindsay Price is gorgeous, It just won't beat CSI: New York.

Thursday

	ABC	CBS	Fox	NBC	The CW
8:00-8:30	FLASH FORWARD	Survivor	Bones	COMMUNITY	VAMPIRE DIARIES
8:30-9:00	FLASH FORWARD	Survivor	Bones	Parks and Recreation	VAMPIRE DIARIES
9:00-9:30	Grey's Anatomy	CSI	Fringe	The Office	Supernatural
9:30-10:00	Grey's Anatomy	CSI	Fringe	30 Rock	Supernatural
10:00-11:00	Private Practice	The Mentalist	Local	Jay Leno	Local

The night of big payouts in terms of advertising revenue and you can see the networks rolling up the artillery. Leno is going to be a disaster on this night. He won't attract the younger demographic and that has to be essential on a night where movie advertising is important. I think The Mentalist is going to be a good match for CSI and it will be in an interesting battle with Private Practice. I think that The Mentalist will win unless Private Practice pushes the Grey's Anatomy connection. This could be the year when we see a real weakening of CSI. There was a definite weakening in the 2008-09 season after William Petersen left the show – I don't get it myself unless since Laurence Fishburne is an excellent actor, although without Grissom there isn't a strong leader for the team, at least that we can see – and I think that FOX moved Fringe to Thursdays to exploit this. While I like the concept of The CW's Vampire Diaries I'm not convinced that it was appropriate to break up the "guys' night line-up of Smallville and Supernatural. Then again, I don't know how it would work as the anchor on Friday night which is only other good fit for the show. I like the concept for Flash Forward but think it's going to have problems against Survivor and Bones.

Friday

	ABC	CBS	Fox	NBC	The CW
8:00-8:30	Supernanny	Ghost Whisperer	BROTHERS	Law & Order	Smallville
8:30-9:00	Supernanny	Ghost Whisperer	'Til Death	Law & Order	Smallville
9:00-10:00	Ugly Betty	MEDIUM	Dollhouse	Southland	America's Next Top Model
10:00-11:00	20/20	Numb3rs	Local	Jay Leno	Local

Tentatively Friday is warming up as a night for scripted programming. Each of the five networks has at least one scripted show on the night. They're a mixed bag. The CBS line-up is pretty much a stand-pat effort; the only change is the addition of Medium but it is an established show even if it was established on a rival network. Ugly Betty is another established show but it's being moved to Friday night in what can best be described as an effort to save the show. I don't think that will work. FOX saved Dollhouse (which is good) but has decided to lead into it with what I tend to regard as a weak new sitcom (Brothers) and a show which should have been cancelled last year when it was pulled off the air ('Til Death). This doesn't look too good for Dollhouse if you ask me. Moving Smallville to Fridays is a bit of a gamble bit it can't do worse than the comedies that The CW had in the time slot. I just which that they had been brave enough to use the show's relative strength (you know, for a show on The CW) to lead into something new rather than an encore of a show that aired previously in the week. Law & Order is entering its 20^th season and should do well in the time slot, even though it is early for a crime drama. The real question is how will Southland perform? It wasn't a powerhouse on Thursday nights when it replaced ER so I suspect they're pairing it with Law & Order in the hope that it will retain audience well. I'm not convinced. There are lot of things that I like about the show, but there are a lot of things that could be improved or even scrapped. Both of these series would have been better situated if that third hour of prime time had been available for them.

So there you have it, the 2009 Fall TV line-up. In the next day or two I hope to post preview clips from all of the network shows... although for some of them that won't be easy.

The CW’s 2009 Upfronts

Here's what The CW is planning for the coming season.

Cancelled: 4 Real, Easy Money, In Harms Way, Valentine, Privileged, 13: Fear Is Real, Stylista, The Game, Everybody Hates Chris, Reaper.

Renewed: 90210, America's Next Top Model, Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, Supernatural.

Moved: Smallville

New Shows: Vampire Diaries, Melrose Place, Beautiful Life

Not Yet Scheduled: Parental Discretion Advised.

Complete Schedule

Monday
8:00-9:00 p.m. Gossip Girl
9:00-10:00 p.m. One Tree Hill

Tuesday
8:00-9:00 p.m. 90210
9:00-10:00 p.m. MELROSE PLACE

Wednesday
8:00-9:00 p.m. America's Next Top Model
9:00-10:00 p.m. THE BEAUTIFUL LIFE

Thursday
8:00-9:00 p.m. VAMPIRE DIARIES
9:00-10:00 p.m. Supernatural

Friday
8:00-9:00 p.m. Smallville
9:00-10:00 p.m. America's Next Top Model Encore

Melrose Place is, like the show preceding it, a remake of the classic Aaron Spelling night-time soap of the 1990s, with at least some people from the original series making a comeback. Well at least temporarily because a character from the original series (who was previously thought to be dead) is murdered in a plot thread that will reportedly carry through the entire season. Stars Laura Leighton and Thomas Calabro from the original series, and Shaun Sipos, Katie Cassidy, Colin Egglesfield, Stephanie Jacobsen, Michael Rady, Jessica Lucas, and Ashlee Simpson-Wentz.

The Beautiful Life is a typical CW show with a young cast and a vaguely soap opera-ish plot line. This time around the subject is the modelling industry. Raina Collins (Sara Paxton) and Chris Andrews (Benjamin Hollingsworth) are two young models just breaking into the industry, Raina at the top and Chris at the bottom. The cast includes Mischa Barton as Raina's friend and sometimes rival Sonja, Elle Macpherson as Claudia Foster who owns the agency that represents Chris. Other cast members include Dusan Dukic, Ashley Madekwe, Jordan Woolley, Corbin Bleu, and Nico Tortorella. Ashton Kutcher, Jason Goldberg, Karey Burke, Mike Kelley, and Carol Barbee are executive producers.

Like Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries is based on a series of young adult novels. Elena (Nona Dobrev) is a popular high school student who has recently suffered a personal tragedy. In the wake of this she becomes infatuated with Stefan (Paul Wesley), a mysterious new guy at school. Very soon she discovers that Stefan is in fact a vampire. Soon she encounters Damon (Ian Somerhalder) – Stefan's charming but evil older brother. The two brothers find themselves competing for Elena's soul and those of her friends.

In Parental Discretion Advised Britt Robertson plays Lux, a teenager who has spent her entire life bouncing from one foster family to another. Trying to become an "emancipated child" she is forced to track down her biological father "Baze" Bazile (Kristoffer Polaha), a guy in his thirties who owns a bar and has a couple of slacker roommates. He in turn leads her to her mother Cate Cassidy (Shiri Appleby), who hosts the local "Morning Madness" radio show with her off-air boyfriend Ryan (Kerr Smith). Cate is saddened that her daughter has been in the foster system since birth. When Lux's effort to be emancipated fails, the judge grants temporary custody to Baze and Cate who have to overcome their discomfort for the sake of their daughter.

Comments:

Despite the fact that The CW is only programming five nights a week as compared to six nights from the other networks, they will have as many hours of scripted programming in the Fall of 2009 as NBC will, thanks to that network's decision to air The Jay Leno Show each week night. While The CW's eight hours of scripted programs are likely to be far less popular in terms of pure viewership than those on NBC, it is likely that the network will be relatively pleased with the results. The CW is pursuing a different sort of programming model than any of the other four networks. In effect they are narrowcasting, focussing most of their programming at a specific audience – 13-34 year-old women. While it is true that there are a couple of shows that attract an audience outside of that group – Supernatural and Smallville – most of the network's focus is on this particular niche.

Perhaps the most interesting move made by The CW isn't a new show but rather the decision to move an established show; Smallville. Probably the most popular scripted show on the network, The CW reportedly spent a great deal of money to sign Tom Welling for a ninth season. So it would seem strange to move the series from its established timeslot on Thursday – a night that has some of the highest advertising revenues in the week thanks to movie advertising – to the supposed ratings ghetto of Fridays. However there is probably an argument to be made for the move. All of the networks are starting to make a tentative effort to program scripted material on Fridays. I suspect that The CW programmers believe that Smallville has a chance to thrive on Fridays, while at the same time establishing a theme for the network's Thursday night line-up other than "guys' night." The real weakness isn't running Smallville on Fridays but rather following it with an encore of America's Next Top Model rather than a scripted show which would make better use of the show's ratings strength. The problem is finding a show that would mesh with Smallville – the mid-season replacement Parental Discretion Advised really doens't work in that
way.

Themes do seem to be a major feature of The CW's programming. Putting Melrose Place on after 90210 seems to be a bit of simple logic – two Aaron Spelling shows which theoretically at least will not only appeal to the network's core audience but also to those with a nostalgic attachment to the original series. Similarly, the placement of The Beautiful Life, a series about the modelling industry, following the reality series America's Next Top Model is a very logical connection, creating a "fashion industry" block. The one area where this might fall down is with the placement of Vampire Diaries preceding Supernatural. While both series have an "otherworldly" theme (to avoid using the word which is also the title of one of the series), from what little I can discover from a synopsis and a few clips the handling of the theme in Vampire Diaries is hardly similar to the approach being taken on the older series. The other reasoning for placing this show in this time slot is obvious when you realise that the alternative was most likely to place the show on Friday nights without adequate support.

All in all, while no one would mistake The CW's fall line-up with that of CBS or even NBC, I'm inclined to think that it shows at least a bit of an understanding of the market they're trying to reach. There's nothing in the shows that's surprising or stands out glaringly, but the shows that The CW is putting on the air at least betrays an understanding of the audience they're hoping to reach, which is way more than can be said for some (well one) networks.