The Upfronts are here! We recorded this two-parter a tad earlier to get in on the analysis of the actual trailers for the shows but we discuss the concept and give our picks for our favorites. This is part one where we discuss NBC and FOX. Tune in!
Here is our episode outline:
Listener Questions
TV News
NBC
Cancellations - Constantine, State of Affairs, About a Boy, Marry Me, One Big HappyRenew - 'The Night Shift' - 3rd season, 'Undateable' - 3rd season will be all LIVE, 'The Mysteries of Laura'Pickups
[dramas]'The Player' - Wesley Snipes and Philip Winchester star in this drama about "a former military operative turned security expert who is drawn into a high-stakes game where an organization of wealthy individuals gamble on his ability to stop some of the biggest crimes imaginable from playing out."'Game of Silence' - David Lyons plays a successful Atlanta attorney whose life changes when long-long childhood friends reappear for the opportunity to right some wrongs from their youth. Michael Raymond-James also in it.
“Chicago Med” - The medical drama, starring Oliver Platt, Laurie Holden, centers around the city’s most explosive hospital and the doctors who will tackle new cases inspired by topical events, while forging fiery relationships in the pandemonium of the emergency room.
“Blindspot” comes from “The Flash” and “Arrow” creator Greg Berlanti. The thriller centers around a beautiful Jane Doe, played by Jaimie Alexander (“Thor”), whose discovery in the middle of Times Square launches a vast international plot. When found, she is completely covered in mysterious, intricate tattoos with no memory of who she is or how she got there, but the name of FBI agent Kurt Weller ( Sullivan Stapleton, “Strike Back”) is emblazoned across her back. “Jane,” Agent Weller and rest of the FBI quickly realize that each mark on her body indicates a crime to solve, leading them closer to the truth about her identity.
“Heartbreaker” - is the second med series for NBC’s new programming slate. Starring Melissa George (“The Slap”) and Dave Annable (“Red Band Society,” “Brothers & Sisters”), the medical soap is inspired by Dr. Kathy Magliato’s real life experiences, played throughout the character of Dr. Alex Panttiere (George), a fearless, outspoken world-renowned heart-transplant surgeon who is one of the few women in her field. Though accomplished in her career, she revels in a racy personal life, which is a full-time job in itself, and has to balance managing her skeptical faculty and dutiful interns, while pushing the boundaries of medical science to new heights.
“Shades of Blue” JenniferLopez, Ray Liotta, Drea de Matteo - the 13-episode series follows police officers who are effective at keeping the streets safe, but also corrupt when it comes to lining their pockets and protecting their own. Lopez will star as Det. Harlee McCord, a single mother recruited to work undercover for the FBI’s anti-corruption task force. When McCord is forced to become a federal informant, she must decide between her own family’s welfare and that of her police family.
“Emerald City” 10 eps - follows 20-year-old Dorothy Gale and her K9 police dog who, after a tornado, are transported to another world far away — a mystical land of competing kingdoms, lethal warriors, dark magic and a bloody battle for supremacy. The series is a darker spin on “Oz” where wicked witches don’t stay dead for long and a young girl becomes a headstrong warrior who holds the fate of kingdoms in her hands.
[comedies]
'The Carmichael Show' - The multicam scripted project from Jerrod Carmichael is inspired by the comedian’s real-life relationships with his say-anything, contrarian father, his therapist-in training girlfriend, his hustling brother and his mother who is always right with Jesus.
“Telenovela” a 13-episode order with Eva Longoria in the single-camera project, which goes behind the scenes of a telenovela and its star, whose off-camera life rivals the drama of her onscreen storylines.
“Strange Calls,” from “Cougar Town” exec producer Blake McCormick, follows an affable but unlucky police officer (Danny Pudi) who’s transferred to a rural town and soon realizes, with the help of a strange and elderly night watchman, that the bizarre town may be supernatural.
“Crowded” is a multicamera series about an empty-nester couple who are starting to reclaim their wild side when their two daughters unexpected move back in. Patrick Warbuton and Carrie Preston star
"Superstore” - America Ferrera and Ben Feldman topline the ensemble in the show that revolves around employees of a big-box chain store.
'People are Talking' - Mark Paul Gosselar. two diverse couples who are neighbors and best friends.
'Mr.Robinson' - Craig Robinson as a music teacher at a middle school.
'Coach' - Hayden Fox retired from coaching. He is called back home to become assistant coach to his grown son who is the new head coach at an Ivy League school in Pennsylvania that is just starting up a new team.
FOX
Cancellations - 'The Following', 'Backstrom', Mindy Project
Renewals - Bones,
Pickups
[dramas]'The Frankenstein Code' - Rob Kazinsky plays Jimmy Pritchard, a retired cop with problems. He's morally corrupt and he's also dead. When some intrepid scientists resurrect him, he has to choose between his old temptations and his new lease on life.
'Scream Queens' - Horror-comedy anthology television series created by Ryan Murphy starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Abigail Breslin, Emma Roberts, Lea Michelle centered around a college campus that is rocked by a series of murders.
'The X-Files' - 6 eps with cast and staff returning
'Lucifer' - stars Tom Ellis as the title character, described as being bored and unhappy as the Lord of Hell, a.k.a. Lucifer, causing him to leave his throne and abandon his kingdom for Los Angeles, where he helps the LAPD punish criminals.
'Minority Report' - Stark Sands and Meagan Good (pictured), along with Wilmer Valderrama - picks up 10 years after the end of pre-crime in DC when one of the three pre-cogs struggles to lead a normal human life, and remains haunted by visions of the future when he meets a detective who may help him find a purpose to his gift.
'Rosewood' - only medical drama at Fox. Morris Chestnut, who plays Dr. Beaumont Rosewood Jr., the top private pathologist in Miami who has a knack for finding secrets in bodies that others usually miss. Despite being constantly surrounded by death, he is obsessed with life and savors every moment, but his eternal optimism frustrates the cynical female detective (played by Jaina Lee Ortiz) with whom he works
[comedies]
'The Grinder' - stars Rob Lowe as Dean Sanderson, a TV lawyer who returns to his small hometown to take over his family’s law firm when his television show wraps. Fred Savage co-stars as his brother, Stewart.
'Grandfathered' - follows a longtime bachelor, Jimmy, played by John Stamos, whose life is flipped upside down when he learns he’s a father — and a grandfather. Josh Peck stars as his son, Gerald. “Community’s” Paget Brewster, Christina Milian, Kelly Jenrette and Ravi Patel round out the comedy cast.
'The Guide to Surviving Life' - celebrates the mistakes and misadventures everyone makes during the years after college but before settling down.
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