A rundown of what is/isn’t/might be popping up on the 2009-10 primetime schedule at ABC during this week’s Upfront presentation …

ABC (Upfront presentation: Tuesday, May 19)
Returning series: America’s Funniest Home Videos, The Bachelor, Better Off Ted, Brothers & Sisters, Castle, Dancing with the Stars, Desperate Housewives, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Grey’s Anatomy, Lost, Private Practice, Scrubs, Supernanny, True Beauty, Ugly Betty, Wife Swap
On the bubble series: Surviving Suburbia
New series:

– Cougar Town (Comedy)
Plot: The dating adventures of a newly-single mom and her teen son
It stars: Courteney Cox, Busy Philipps, Brian Van Holt, Christa Miller, Josh Hopkins and Ian Gomez, created by Scrubs creator Bill Lawrence
It’s like: Janice Dickinson‘s life

– The Deep End (Dramedy)
Plot: Newbie attorneys at a prestigious law firm
It stars: Billy Zane and Tina Majorino
It’s like: Scrubs or Grey’s Anatomy in a law firm

– Eastwick (Drama)
Plot: Three witches come into their powers when a mysterious fellow arrives in town
It stars: Rebecca Romijn, Lindsay Price, Matt Dallas and Sara Rue
It’s like: The John Updike novel and big-screen movie The Witches of Eastwick, on which it’s based

– Flash Forward (Drama)
Plot: Sci-fi-ish story about what happens when the world blacks out for two minutes and everyone has visions of the future
It stars: Joseph Fiennes, Sonya Walger, John Cho and Courtney Vance
It’s like: Every show that has employed the unfortunately ubiquitous time travel gimmick on TV recently (i.e. the network hopes it’ll catch on just as Lost unrolls its final season)

…Read more

• No Comments
• Filed in Comedy, Drama, Lost, TV News
• Tags: ABC, Alyssa Milano, Better Off Ted, Billy Zane, Castle, Cedric the Entertainer, Cougar Town, Courteney Cox, Eastwick, Ed O'Neill, Elizabeth Mitchell, Empire State, Fall TV season, Flash Forward, Geoff Stults, Hank, Happy Town, Inside the Box, Kelsey Grammer, Kim Raver, Lost, Matt Dallas, Modern Family, Morris Chestnut, Patricia Heaton, Rebecca Romijn, Reiko Aylesworth, Romantically Challenged, Scott Wolf, Scrubs, Shonda Rhimes, The Deep End, The Forgotten, The Law, The Middle, Twin Peaks, Upfront, V

A rundown of what is/isn’t/might be popping up on the 2009-10 primetime schedule at Fox during this week’s Upfront presentation …

Fox (Upfront presentation: Monday, May 18)
Returning series: 24, American Dad, American Idol, Bones, Dollhouse, Family Guy, Fringe, Hell’s Kitchen, House, Kitchen Nightmares, Lie to Me, The Simpsons, So You Think You Can Dance, ‘Til Death

New series:
– Brothers (Comedy)
Plot: A former NFL pro tries to reconnect with his family, including his wheelchair-bound older brother
It stars: Former NFL pro Michael Strahan and wheelchair-bound comedian Darryl Mitchell
It’s like: A potentially refreshing new concept, actually

– The Cleveland Show (Animated comedy)
Plot: The Family Guy spin-off features Peter Griffin pal Cleveland Brown, as he moves his family from Quahog to Virginia
It stars: Mike Henry as Cleveland and Sanaa Lathan as his wife Donna
It’s like: Family Guy

– Glee (Musical dramedy)
Plot: A teacher, and former glee club member himself, signs on as advisor to the students at his school’s glee club
It stars: Broadway stars Lea Michele and Matthew Morrison, Kyle XY‘s Cory Monteith and the always hilarious Jane Lynch, and was created by Nip/Tuck‘s Ryan Murphy
It’s like: Fame-meets-Election-meets-90210, with more heart and a better soundtrack (lots of Journey!)

– Human Target (Drama)
Plot: Christopher Chance (Keen Eddie and Fringe‘s Mark Valley) is a freelance security agent who assumes his clients’ identities, thus making himself the “human target”
It stars: Valley, Jackie Earle Haley and Chi McBride
It’s like: The DC Comics series of the same name

– Past Life (Drama)
Plot: A psychologist and former cop try to help people solve mysteries about their past lives
It stars: Richard Schiff (The West Wing) and comedian Ravi Patel
It’s like: A series you’d imagine Shirley MacLaine pitching

– Sons of Tucson (Comedy)
Plot: A charming grafter is hired by three brothers to act as their dad when their real father is in jail for a white collar crime
It stars: Reaper‘s Tyler Labine, while Malcolm in the Middle star Justin Berfield is an executive producer
It’s like: In the spirit of The Slums of Beverly Hills, according to buzz

Other potential new series:
– Maggie Hill (Drama)
Plot: A female surgeon has adult-onset schizophrenia but manages to thrive in her career anyway
It stars: Newcomer Christina Cole, Alfre Woodard and Luke Mably
It’s like: Enough to make you want to ask your doctor for a copy of his or her mental evaluation

• 1 Comment
• Filed in Comedy, Drama, TV News
• Tags: Brothers, Chi McBride, Cleveland Brown, Cleveland Show, Cory Monteith, Darryl Mitchell, Fall TV season, Family Guy, Fox, Glee, Human Target, Jackie Earle Haley, Jane Lynch, Justin Berfield, Lea Michele, Maggie Hill, Mark Valley, Matthew Morrison, Michael Strahan, Past Life, Reaper, Richard Schiff, Ryan Murphy, Sanaa Lathan, Sons of Tucson, spin-off, Tyler Labine, Upfront