Upfront 08

3:58 - Here at Fox presentation. There's folks on Segways and two trailers full of cows. It's either for a slaughterhouse-themed party afterwards or for J.J. Abrams' new show.

4:04 - We got the shutoff cells alert. Let's light this keg.

4:10 - The stars of Fox are on stage. We got Kiefer, John Walsh, some folks from all the new shows, Wayne Brady, folks from "House" minus Gregory House, Mark Walberg, the folks from "'Til Death" and "Bones." There's some other people in there, too.

4:14 - Jon Nesvig, president of sales, on stage. Sports: NFL the best in 12 years. Giants callout gets big round of applause.

4:15 - Major League Baseball up 25% year-to-year.

4:20 - Still throwing up stats. Fox is up over last year minus "Idol" and "Super Bowl."

4:22 - Slam on CBS. Fox won't help with billboards in South America.

4:23 - Peter Liguori on stage.

4:24 - Audience and the Fox roots are being stressed. Liguori wanted his staff to think about working as if Fox were fifth.

4:26 - "The audience always comes first."

4:27 - Slam on NBC. Jolt to NBC doesn't equal muscle guys in potato sack races.

4:28 - THE BIG NEWS: Two series are running as "Remote-Free TV." Less advertising overall (as in half the amount of ads).

4:29 - Kevin Reilly on stage.

4:30 - Remote-Free TV: "Fringe" is one of the series.

4:31 - Clips of "Fringe" showing. Seems like "The X-Files" meets "The Bourne Identity."

4:35 - "Dollhouse" is the other Remote-Free TV series.

4:36 - "Dollhouse" showing.

4:39 - Fox said it was better prepared to weather the writers strike storm.

4:40 - Pushed some pilots to next year to get a jump on 2010.

4:42 - Going through the sked.

4:43 - Notably missing from the "'Til Death" promo shot is the young couple in the show.

4:45 - "Do Not Disturb" showing. It's "Upstairs, Downstairs" meets "The Golden Palace" minus the whole old-people angle.

4:47 - Creator talking about midseason possibility "Lie to Me." Looks like "24" meets "Moment of Truth."

4:50 - "Courtroom K" being discussed. Looks like "Night Court" meets "Ally McBeal."

4:52 - Nov. 23 is the "24" prequel. Kiefer Sutherland on stage.

4:53 - Sutherland: Season seven is going to be the best season of "24."

4:55 - "24" is the first carbon-neutral TV series, says Kiefer.

4:56 - "24" clips. I've never seen the show, so I can't say what these clips mean. Two planes almost collide, and there's a mole. That's all I could tell.

4:58 - Liguori is back. Fox still hashing out what comedy will go after "Idol."

5:00 - Clips of "Outnumbered" showing. Broad single-camera family comedy. Blah-ish reaction.

5:02 - "Secret Millionaire" showing. Millionaires live like lower-class folks and giving some money to the folks they live with. Lots of people crying. "Oprah's Big Give" meets "Joe Millionaire."

5:06 - "Sit Down, Shut Up" clips. Live-action background with cel animation.

5:11 - "Family Guy" spinoff clips. A full tongue-in-cheek promo showing off some new characters and a potential theme song.

5:15: - "So You Think You Can Dance" folks are getting down on stage.

5:16 - Half of the balcony (where the press is sitting) has filed out during the dancing.

5:17 - All done. Off to the party.

--Andrew Krukowski

CBS earned points from media buyers for having full presentations of the five shows it plans to put on its fall schedule.

Following the Writers Guild of America’s strike, CBS managed to push its development process, shoot pilots and test its programs in time for its schedule announcement at Carnegie Hall on Wednesday.

“It shows their level of preparedness,” said Kris Magel, executive VP at Initiative. “That’s good.”

In a report Thursday morning, media buyer Magna Global noted that CBS was able to get its scripted shows back on the air quicker than the other broadcast networks after the strike.

“Additionally, it worked hard to get its development back up to speed, and had well-edited presentations for all of its new programs (not to mention completed pilots, a premium during this year’s upfront),” the report added.

Before getting to the programming presentation, buyers sat through presentations highlighting other CBS Corp. assets not usually mentioned in upfront week, including out-of-home, radio (with Adam Carolla) and syndication (with Rachael Ray). CBS also played up its digital assets, without letting on that it was on the brink of acquiring CNET, which was announced Thursday morning.

Buyers also managed to avoid reflexively heading to Tavern on the Green, where CBS has traditionally held its post-upfront party.

— Jon Lafayette

I'm listening to some sweet, sweet acoustic hold music as I wait for Fox to dole out heaping helpings of their 2008 schedule via a conference call. While we already have the schedule up here, why not join me in listening to Fox Entertainment Chairman Peter Liguori and Fox Entertainment President Kevin Reilly. You know, to humor them.

11:34 a.m.: Fox is going for that fashionably late approach.

11:36 a.m.: We're up.

11:37 a.m.: Fox is throwing out some ratings stats.

11:39 a.m.: Liguori: Fox brand- For the last 20 years, Fox has been the rebel and the innovator. It all starts with broadcast, and broadcast starts with viewers. Constantly creating new ways to keep viewers engaged. "Business as unusual."

11:40 a.m.: Reilly: Competitors are programming the second half of the season by default, we're doing it by strategy ("24," NFL Playoffs, etc.).

11:43 a.m.: Reilly: "Fringe" behind "House" is going to be a "hell of a night."

11:44 a.m.: With "Cleveland" and "Sit Down, Shut Up:" "We're going to see a lot of commitment to the animation business."

11:45 a.m.: Questions already?

11:46 a.m.: Reilly: "We're just looking for good, noisy shows."

11:48 a.m.: Fox not concerned about the relaunch of "24."

11:49 a.m.: Reilly on Abrams, Whedon: "These are guys that don't do standard issue entertainment."

11:51 a.m.: Fox has three more episodes past the season (series?) finale of "Back to You." Fox thought it would make a nice extra for the box set. Don't know if the three additional episodes will be aired over the summer. "Til Death" is also moving in a new direction, specifically it may move away from the young couple on the show.

11:56 a.m.: Will the writers strike affect animation next year? Preston Beckman: We won't really feel anything in the fall (on animation). They're will be a little bit of a delivery issue. It won't feel as if we are in repeats.

12:01 p.m.: Liguori: Satisfied with "Idol" creatively, but not with the performance. Will be working with the producers to increase the storytelling. We're not going to sit back and rest on our laurels. He just used the word "zeitgeisty."

12:02 p.m.: Fox is launching against the Democratic National Conventional. Fox wants to ride the wave of viewers coming out of the Summer Olympics. Also, all the big stuff that occurs at the DNC usually happens after 10 p.m., so not too concerned about running headlong against Obama and Clinton's potential floor fight.

12:06 p.m.: Paula Abdul confirmed as returning as a judge on "Idol." Defamer is breathing a sigh of relief, I assume.

12:09 p.m: Reilly: No O.D. on sci-fi for Fox. People from screenings are enjoying multiple aspects of the sci-fi shows announced for the schedule this year. "I don't think any of these are hard genre shows."

12:11 p.m.: "Dollhouse" has a 13 episode order.

12:14 p.m.: Fox is pleased with "House's" performance. YOU DON'T SAY?

And that's that. Fox presents their schedule to ad buyers later today, but that's your 2008 fall schedule for broadcast networks. Enjoy the nearly four months before you see the fruits of any of these presentations' labor.

—Andrew Krukowski

Turner Broadcasting brought star power to the stage as it invaded the broadcast networks’ upfront week.

Unlike ABC, which Tuesday night presented its programming and scheduling plans without having talent on hand (the funny Jimmy Kimmel being the exception), Turner had Kyra Sedgwick, Holly Hunter, Timothy Hutton, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Jane Kaczmarek, Gloria Reuben, Eric McCormack, Tom Cavanagh and others on stage to deliver the patter ad buyers are used to hearing from the broadcasters.

Steve Koonin, president of Turner Entertainment Network, said there was no longer a big gap between the programming on broadcast and the programming on cable.

For example, he pointed to one network’s shows that feature a man in a unitard hitting people with a baton and a talking car named Kitt. The other network’s shows feature an award-wining actress and another with a Golden Globe-winning actress in the lead.

Five years ago, the cable network would have been the one with the less expensive shows, Mr. Koonin said. Today, those shows are on NBC (“American Gladiators” and “Knight Rider”) and TNT (“Saving Grace” and “The Closer”), respectively.

“Top talent is coming to our brands,” Mr. Koonin said.

Chris Boothe, president for activation at media buyer Starcom, said Turner’s presentation fit in with the broadcast pitches this week.

“They had big stars and quality programming,” Mr. Boothe said. “I thought they did a good job.”

Turner ad sales execs talked about their efforts at building sponsorships, custom integrations and product placement into ad deals.

The also discussed their new initiative called TVinContext, which puts a sponsor’s ad next to relevant content.

David Levy, president of Turner ad sales, said the contextual ad program had already been discussed with some media-buying agencies and was proving to be a hot item.

Mr. Levy said he was ready to do business, even before the broadcast networks.

Asked if Turner would make its presentation during the broadcast upfront week again next year, he replied “Absolutely.”

At the upfront, Mr. Koonin reiterated that Turner’s plan was to go from having about 20% original programming on TNT today, to having 80% originals by 2010, including three nights of original dramas.

To get there, TNT said that in addition to scripted shows, it was turning to unscripted programs, and has ordered episodes of “Wedding Day” from DreamWorks and Mark Burnett. The show features one couple, nominated by friends and family, who get help transforming their big day into the wedding of their dreams.

Turner’s comedy network said it’s renewing its series “10 Items or Less” and was ordering 26 episodes of “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne” in addition to the original 100.

TBS also said it has three new scripted comedy series in development, including one with Russell Simmons as executive producer. The network also is working on late-night shows. Three are in development, including one from Bunim/Murray that takes middle-aged men back to their fraternity days, and a sketch show from Jamie Fox.

— Jon Lafayette

9 a.m. - We're starting.

9:01 - Moonves talks. One person applauds.

9:02 - Post strike, our ratings have been terrific, Moonves says.

9:03 - "Our upfront presentation is going to be fairly traditional."

9:04 - Nina and Kelly to present.

9:05 - Nina Tassler: Comedies are important.

9:06 - Nina: We want more women on the schedule and changes to our procedurals.

9:07 - Nina: We have the schedule.

9:08 - "Worst Week" will air at 9:30 p.m. on Mondays.

9:10 - More scheduling news ... On Tuesday - "The Mentalist" at 9, "Without a Trace" moves to 10. On Wednesday - "Old Christine" moves to 8 and "Project Gary" is at 8:30. Both are comedies, which is new for CBS. Thursday - "Survivor" is in Gabon, "Eleventh Hour" will play at 10. On Friday - "The Ex List" is at 9. For Sundays - "Amazing Race" plays at 8 ...

9:15 - Nina has a soft spot for "The Ex List." Girl is told she has one year to find her true love or she'll be single forever, but she's already met the guy at some point in her life

9:17 - "The Unit" has moved to 10 on Sunday. "How I Met Your Mother" is still on the sked where it is currently. "Moonlight" is goneski.

9:19 - Midseason: Nina says "Harper's Island" = "Ten Little Indians" meets "Scream." Also, "Rules of Engagement" is coming back.

9:20 - We will be producing pilots year-round. "Shark" is gone. Nina says she's excited about the show's loyal fan base but programs like "Moonlight" just didn't make the cut, and it was a tough decision to make. "I loved that vampire," she said.

9:24 - I just noticed that CBS spelled "Samantha Who" wrong on their sked. They spelled it "Samatha Who."

9:25 - Women drive network TV, says Nina. CBS wanted to build on that. During the development process, the network considered whether characters written as men could be written as women.

9:28 - Might see another writers cross-over like the recent "CSI"/"Two and a Half Men" show, says Nina.

9:30 - "The Amazing Race" will have two cycles this season.

9:30 - "Moonlight" probably not going to CW, says Nina.

9:32 - We're done.

--Andrew Krukowski

Advertisers and ad buyers got a very different show from ABC on Tuesday than they experienced with NBC the night before.

Although it dispensed with most of the usual glitz and celebrity, ABC primarily stuck to showing off its programming and explaining its scheduling strategy for the summer, fall and midseason.

“This was more of a traditional upfront,” said Chris Geraci, managing director of national broadcast investment at OMD, after the ABC presentation at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center. “They had a narrow focus on TV.”

ABC is adding just two new shows to its schedule.

“They’re not taking a lot of chances, but they don’t need to. It’s already a strong schedule,” Mr. Geraci said.

“You can’t compare the two,” said Donna Speciale, president of investment and activation at MediaVest USA. “It’s apples and oranges what they were trying to accomplish.”

She said ABC appears to have a stable schedule and it showed that off. NBC’s presentation was more about showing clients its size.

NBC announced its schedule in April and held what it called “in-front” meetings with smaller groups of advertisers and buyers.

“They stuck to the core of the information that’s necessary for us, not the glitz and the glamour,” said Mark Kaline, global media manager for Ford Motor Co., after the ABC presentation. “It’s nice to see stars, but we’re here to see the programming and the strategy.”

In recent years, ABC’s upfront presentations have featured giant song-and-dance production numbers, appearances by the stars of its shows and a lavish cocktail party.

During its presentation, ABC executives noted this year was different.

“The event is smaller,” said Anne Sweeney, president of the Disney-ABC Television Group. “But the ABC opportunity is bigger than ever.”

“ABC might be the worst date ever,” cracked the network’s late-night host Jimmy Kimmel. “They expect you to put out and they won’t even buy you a drink.”

Steve McPherson, president of ABC Entertainment, even invited buyers to attend The CW’s cocktail reception, held in the same tent in the same corner of Lincoln Center where ABC had poured cocktails the past few years.

But buyers were unlikely to be too upset about the lack of an ABC party.

“Many of us are going out to dinner with clients, so I don’t think we’re going to hold it against them,” Mr. Geraci said.

— Jon Lafayette

We're here in the ABC HQ watching the upfront presentation and giving updates as they occur.

4:04 pm EST: We're minutes away from the kickoff of this thing. "Rubberneckin'" by Elvis is jammin'.

4:07 pm: Video promo. We’ve got “Lost,” “Samantha Who,” the NBA Finals, “Dancing With the Stars,” “Pushing Daisies,” ABC News, “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and I think I saw “Supernanny.”

4:08 p.m.: Anne Sweeney taking the stage. “Creatively, it was our best season to date,” she said. Steve McPherson is to thank.

4:14 pm: “We’re leveraging the next big thing for tweens” on Disney Channel with “Camp Rock.” “Rock” is premiering across several networks this summer, including ABC and ABC Family. The Jonas Brothers are dreamy, apparently.

4:15 p.m.: “It all starts here” counter is currently at two.

4:16 p.m.: “Jimmy Kimmel Live” highlight reel. Sweeney said Mr. Kimmel has been on everything, including Ben Affleck, says Sweeney. We're getting a glimpse of the "F'ing Matt Damon" saga.

4:19 p.m.: Kimmel is sending up some one-liners. "Is this the WGA strike post-party or the SAG strike pre-party?" "People are sneaking food in here like their parents dropped them off at fat camp." "You know there’s a problem when I’m the most famous person in the room." NBC: "They're calling it the infronts because they're just in front of The CW."

4:23 p.m. On "Scrubs" moving to ABC: “It’s always a good idea to borrow shows from the network in last place.”

Kimmel brought three wheels to decide new reality shows on the channel. Each of the three wheels has phrases, and when spun, Mr. Kimmel came up with "The Amazing Fattest Fifth Grader."

4:25 p.m.: Mike Shaw on the scene. “Television is up again this year. It’s what your customers are doing. Television keeps getting better and better.”

4:27 p.m.: Shaw: “There are currently DVRs in 23% of all households.” Nearly 95% of all playback occurs within three days of a show's airing.

4:30 p.m. Shaw is talking about ABC’s Advertising Value Index. "ABC delivers the most valuable audience on television."

4:34 p.m.: Shaw is talking about investing in a VOD system on television with fast-forward disabled.

4:37 p.m. Steve McPherson up. “I’m a little more nervous because we’re not giving out the free booze.” It's BYOB. Zero laughs.

4:40 p.m.: McPherson: “We don’t have a single night that needs to be rebuilt from scratch.”

4:41 p.m. “Opportunity Knocks” clips. Family plays a game show on their street. Son gets to tear apart sister's room to find diary. Mom has to guess which neighborhood girl her son kissed on the lips. Seems like a mixture of “Family Double Dare,” “Moment of Truth” and “Family Feud.”

4:42 p.m.: Polite applause for "Eli Stone" clips.

4:45 p.m.: "Life on Mars" clips. Cop gets hit by car and goes BACK IN TIME! Trailer: "The rules are old-school." "In a world turned upside down, Sam Tyler is still a cop and he's back IN THE NICK OF TIME." I'm sad there was no record-scratch sound effect.

4:49 p.m.: McPherson on midseason: “We’ve ordered 20 pilots …17 of which are still in production.” "The pilot process is the smartest possible thing for success. It’s the R&D of television." He's showing clips of developing shows.

5 p.m.: The summer is up in the form of a clips package. “The Bachelorette” has the losing “Bachelor” contestant who was dumped on the finale as the star. “The Mole” viewers can guess the mole online. “I Survived a Japanese Game Show”: Contestants get attacked by a komodo dragon and fall down a lot. “High School Musical: Get in the Picture” is shown.

“Wipeout”: An American version of “Ninja Warrior” or “MXC.” There are even sarcastic announcers. It makes me wonder if the Japanese will take this show and dub over it for comedic effect.

5:11 p.m.: WHOOP WHOOP CLIP OF "LOST" FINALE.

5:16 p.m.: Semi-spoiler of the season finale of "Lost": The Oceanic Six are on a cargo plane. Jack says they’ll talk to the press. It’s Hurley, Jack, Sayid, Sun, Kate and whatever Claire’s kid is named. Doors open and the castaways see other people. Everyone is reuniting with their families, with sad music. Claire doesn’t have anyone to meet up with.

5:20 p.m.: And we're done. The CW is up next, across the street. Don't forget to tip your waitress.

—Andrew Krukowski Updated: Corrected Oceanic Six character name

A familiar face was in unfamiliar places during the first two days of the upfront.

Former Turner executive Mark Lazarus took in both the NBC Experience on Monday and the ESPN upfront on Tuesday. Mr. Lazarus resigned as president of the Turner Entertainment Group in January.

Mr. Lazarus said that for the past 20 years as a salesman and executive, he had attended only Turner’s upfront presentations and wanted to see how the other half lived. He said he “politely declined” invitations to go to Turner’s meeting Wednesday morning. Been there, done that.

As for his future, Mr. Lazarus said he had no immediate plans, other than traveling this summer with his family.


— Jon Lafayette

Many folks were slagging on NBC Universal’s upfront “Experience” because it sounded like a mixture between a carnival fun house and the King Kong ride at Universal.

Unfortunately, visitors were not treated to an animatronic David Sarnoff. We did get an animatronic Janice Dickinson, which was nice.

Before the event, NBC queued everyone up outside like a line waiting for a roller coaster. I was hoping for Top Thrill Dragster or at least the Gemini XL at the end of the line. But there wasn’t a funnel cake or large costumed mascot in sight.

Once inside, NBC had taken nearly every bulb GE had created within the last 15 months and jammed them into one single room and somehow managed to get them to flash independently from one another. My left side was temporarily numb during the first part of the tour, and I couldn’t aim my camera properly.

The Experience displayed different parts of the NBC Universal family, each at its own booth.

Here we had Telemundo

Dwight Schrute’s desk

And Chris Matthews hosting some form of “Hardball” from the event.

I’m being told that the animatronic Janice Dickinson I saw at the event was the real deal. I apologize for the error, but you can understand my confusion.

Finally, Conan O’Brien offered some words about his 2009 move to Jay Leno’s desk, and then turned the stage over to Jeff Zucker, to which…

...if you notice the clearing in front of me, a good chunk of the crowd headed back inside toward the bar.

—Andrew Krukowski

One of the few bits of actual news to emerge from ABC's schedule unveiling this morning was the fact that, as far as Steve McPherson is concerned, "Boston Legal" will wrap its run this fall.

The ABC Entertainment president told reporters Tuesday that "Legal's" next season would be its last. He also said the network had ordered only 13 episodes, rather than the usual 22-episode order given most returning series.

Mr. McPherson said "Legal" creator David E. Kelley would write "almost every episode" of "Legal's" final season, particularly since Kelley is no longer going to play an active role in ABC's new drama "Life on Mars."

ABC had been considering canceling "Legal" altogether, people familiar with the network's thinking said. But Mr. Kelley insisted on a "Legal" reprise as a condition of allowing "Mars" to continue without his services.

Meanwhile, Mr. McPherson said "Scrubs"—which will produce 18 episodes for ABC next season—might continue beyond next season. He said a new character being introduced by creator Bill Lawrence might provide enough storyline juice to keep the medical comedy going.

--Josef Adalian

The ABC schedule is out, and it's pretty much what industry buzz had anticipated.

Some details:

--New game show "Opportunity Knocks" will air Tuesdays at 8, with the "Dancing With the Stars" results show at 9. When "Dancing" ends, NBC import "Scrubs" will air Tuesdays at 9 and new comedy "The Goode Family" at 9:30.

--"Boston Legal" moves to 10 p.m. Monday, with "Eli Stone" replacing it Tuesday at 10.

--A new beauty pageant reality show from executive producers Tyra Banks and Ashton Kutcher will air Mondays at 8 in between seasons of "Dancing With the Stars."

--Josef Adalian

The William Morris Agency's annual upfront party is always one of the highlights of upfront week, in part because it attracts a wide spectrum of industry types from all aspects of the business.

This year's bash was no exception, particularly because it brought together some execs who aren't particularly lovey-dovey right now: Jeff Zucker and Harvey Weinstein.

NBC Universal recently sued the Weinstein Co. after Mr. Weinstein decided to move "Project Runway" from Zucker's Bravo to Lifetime. Harsh words have been exchanged by both camps in recent weeks.

Mr. Weinstein approached Mr. Zucker and NBC U executives Marc Graboff and Jeff Gaspin at various points during Monday's party. One person who heard a conversation between Mr. Weinstein and Mr. Gaspin said Mr. Weinstein was trying to declare a truce in the cold war between NBC Universal and the Weinstein Co. It didn't appear he had much luck, the observer said.

Mr. Zucker wouldn't discuss the details of his conversation with Mr. Weinstein, but did note that he and his wife have run into Mr. Weinstein at least four times since the "Runway" meltdown. "We never see him that often," Mr. Zucker said.

—Josef Adalian

Networks always like to put a positive spin on things during upfront week. But a display at the NBC Universal Experience" Monday took upbeat thinking to a new level.

In an attempt to show all the many places where NBC programming can be seen, the company shipped in a gas pump that features a screen on which customers can check out NBC shows and other information. The price on the pump: $2.65 per gallon for regular.

As the theme song to a classic show from another network put it, "Those were the days."

—Josef Adalian

As fearful as I am to connect hard work and preparation with good results (for fear of jinxing things), the picture below serves as evidence of a TVWeek first: Shooting live video of staff journalists interviewing an exec at a live event (with good results).

Yes, baby steps. But crucial ones. Joe Adalian and Andrew Krukowsi are pictured here taping an interview with NBCU's Marc Graboff at the company's 2008 upfront/"Experience"/"Insert Your Preferred Moniker Here."

Great job!

As an editor, it's inspiring to see a veteran pro like Joe and a skills-heavy, bright young journalist like Andrew combine talent to give our coverage a new dimension.

Where did we get the idea? Theft mostly... Everyone is doing this, putting their toes in the water, testing the possibilities of more engaging storytelling that the Web offers. I think I saw our respected opposites at B&C shooting video today as well. Excellent. The trades are way behind in this stuff...

But our experimentation at this year's upfront is another reminder that the path this media enterprise is taking mirrors in many ways the path of the entertainment companies we cover. We'll post the video in the morning, and I'd really like honest, brutal feedback on everything you like or don't like about it. At some point, we'll master this new form of storytelling. (Until the next one makes this one obsolete.)

So if you've had enough of trades sniping at your creative, take a shot at ours!

-Greg Baumann

One of the TV industry’s favorite games is trying to figure out the CBS fall schedule. The network is notorious for its “cone of silence” during upfront week, making it hard for reporters, agents and other executives to figure out where the network plans to put all of its puzzle pieces.

While venturing a guess about the CBS schedule has resulted in heartbreak for many folks over the years, that hasn’t stopped TV types from taking a chance. Indeed, one veteran industryite did just that during a recent lunch with a TelevisionWeek editor.

This person’s guess sounds as good as any, so we’re printing it here. We’ll rate the accuracy of the prediction later this week.

Here goes nothing:

MONDAY: “The Big Bang Theory,” “How I Met Your Mother,” “Two and a Half Men,” “Project Gary,” “CSI: Miami.”

TUESDAY: “NCIS,” “The Mentalist,” “Without a Trace”

WEDNESDAY: “The New Adventures of Old Christine,” “Rules of Engagement,” “Criminal Minds,” “CSI: New York”

THURSDAY: “Survivor,” “CSI,” “Eleventh Hour”

FRIDAY: “Ghost Whisperer,” “The Unit” or “Harper’s Island,” “Numbers”

SATURDAY: Repeats

SUNDAY: “60 Minutes,” “The Amazing Race,” “The Ex-List,” “Cold Case”

While the potential schedule seems solid, the lighter tone of “The Ex-List” might make it an interesting fit with comedies on Wednesday night.


—Josef Adalian

It appears the long-rumored notion of premiering “Gossip Girl” in the summer will come to pass. Two people familiar with The CW’s plans said the network will begin a four- or five-episode run of “GG” episodes in late July or early August. The episodes will be set in the Hamptons.

Meanwhile, The CW has greenlit “How to Teach Filthy Rich Girls” to series. Its very clever title is changing, however, to the less interesting “Surviving the Filthy Rich.” No word yet on whether The CW’s “Filthy Rich” will visit those ABC folks with “Dirty Sexy Money” or FX’s “The Riches.”

—Josef Adalian

No, sadly, we’re not prepared to report that Fox’s cult fave “Arrested Development” has been revived by the network. We can’t even offer any confirmation of the much speculated-about “AD” movie.

But fans of the show can take some solace in two of Fox’s just-ordered fall comedies.

“Arrested” creator Mitch Hurwitz has snagged a series order from the network for his new animated series “Sit Down, Shut Up” (which Daily Variety says will be called “Class Dismissed”). Meanwhile, “Arrested” star Jason Bateman (who supplies a voice for the Hurwitz show) directed the pilot for “The Inn,” a live-action half-hour that also got a greenlight over the weekend.

Other “Arrested” alum have been doing well lately as well.

Portia de Rossi, Bateman’s TV sister, just landed a role in an ABC pilot from writer Victor Fresco. Jessica Walter, the matriarch of the “Arrested” clan, is starring in The CW’s “Beverly Hills, 90210” spinoff. And Michael Cera, who played Bateman’s TV son on the show, is still basking in the glow from his performance in the summer feature hit “Superbad,” as well as Oscar nominee "Juno."

No word on any new roles for Justin Lee—better known to “Arrested” loyalists as the actor who played mysterious Asian relative Annyong.

—Josef Adalian

Much to the chagrin of die-hard fans of “How I Met Your Mother,” as of Sunday afternoon, CBS hadn’t officially renewed the half-hour sitcom. But while producer 20th Century Fox TV was still waiting for official word of a pickup, there was one sign that the “HIMYM” gang will be back in the fall.

Series co-star Neil Patrick Harris has prepared some schtick for Wednesday’s CBS upfront event at Carnegie Hall, an agent familiar with his plans said. He’s also scheduled to be in New York this week.

While inviting a performer to appear at an upfront isn’t the same thing as an official order, it’s unlikely CBS would go to the trouble of inviting Harris to hype “HIMYM” if it didn’t plan on renewing the show.

The fates of two other 20th-produced series are less certain. Both “Shark” and “The Unit” remained on the bubble Sunday.

While there’s been speculation that “Unit” is more likely to return, at least one top agent said Sunday that the current buzz was that both shows could be goners. CBS, of course, isn’t commenting.

In any case, all this tea-leaf reading soon will be moot. CBS is expected to quietly confirm its series orders as early as Monday.

—Josef Adalian

I’m going to editorialize on this, so it’s a bit of a spoiler, but I think some networks did better than others, in terms of getting it, regarding this year’s upfront.

I understand that not every network has new shows to parade. And I understand that cost is a factor when setting up big presentations and lavish parties. But to tone down upfront week seems to me to be a huge strategic error, whatever the tactical payoff.

Everyone needs to stop thinking of it as a sales event. It’s more. It’s a sales and marketing event. And that marketing isn’t to advertisers. It’s to the general public, and the bloggers who care about TV, and the superfans who start those water cooler conversations that decide whether shows live or die.

Big upfront events create press, which creates excitement about TV. TV needs that right now.

I’m not saying anything that hasn’t been remarked on before, but it takes on added importance when the cultural relevance arrow for the TV industry is headed in the wrong direction. TV executives should be worried. And they should persuade corporate to be poundwise, rather than penny foolish.

-Greg Baumann

There is one constituency that works harder preparing for the upfront than self-pitying journalists: Network executives and staff.

Consider this a tribute and an apologia: TVWeek has tweaked its guest lists for various events at least a couple times with each network. And we’re throwing in the extra wrinkle of arranging video shoots.

This compounds the headaches for the network folk. So yeah, you’re gonna be flooded with cranky reporters who eat and drink your food (and then turn around and write nasty things about your businesses). But in this moment of calm before the first press releases start to fly Sunday and Monday, accept our token of respect for the hard work you’re doing.

—Greg Baumann

What’s more exhausting than plowing through platters full of shrimp and satay at an upfront party while balancing a note pad, BlackBerry and a martini glass?

Preparing for it.

This is a shoutout to the TVWeek staff, which has burned the candle at both ends getting ready for the most ambitious coverage we’ve ever attempted at the upfront. Everyone has done something to push us forward, so thanks all. (I’d itemize, but the relentless positivity would curl my toes.)

The whole thing has been another reminder that as a journalistic enterprise, we’re experiencing the same painful transition to a digital business model that TV networks and studios are going through.

Only at 1/25th the pay and glamour. And the hours are kinda silly… Trade journalists feel free to pile on here.

—Greg Baumann

To paraphrase a quote that creates unfortunate comparisons for any editor, TVWeek is going to flood the zone at the upfront. (Apologies to Howell Raines.)

We’ll have TVWeek newcomer Joe Adalian, as well as Jon Lafayette, Michele Greppi and Andrew Krukowski running all over the city to cover the annual rite of spring. Administrative overhead including myself, Chuck Ross and Tom Gilbert also will be on the scene.

Yeah, we’ll be looking to break news the way we do every year. We’re also rolling out a bunch of cool new-media features. Check out our video, as well as the excellent interactive map that TVWeek’s Dani Lemus constructed. I’m particularly excited for a project Andrew will spearhead, which is live blogging from any presentation or press conference where he can get a signal. Yes, I know I just jinxed us.

See you there… and if there’s anything about our coverage that you think could be better, drop me an e-mail.

—Greg Baumann, editor