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July 12, 2004
NBC steps into the ring with fall reality programs
By Gary Levin
USA TODAY
LOS ANGELES — NBC is front-loading its fall schedule with a bigger dose of reality.
The network will extend Last Comic Standing, one of the summer's few successes, for a third edition starting Aug. 31 and will follow it with The Contender, producer Mark Burnett's unscripted boxing drama, on Nov. 9, two months earlier than planned. Both will air Tuesdays starting at 8 p.m. ET/PT, bumping Average Joe to next year. (Related story: Fall season shapes up)
The move is a response to Fox's similar fall series, The Next Great Champ, part of a trend in which reality copycats are rushed onto the air even before their originators. (Champ also is scheduled to air in November, and Fox will jump the gun on ABC's Wife Swap, due Sept. 24, with its own Trading Spouses, now set for July 20.)
NBC Universal Television Group president Jeff Zucker said the practice "raises some real ethical issues," but he declined to rule out doing it himself, saying only that he would "think long and hard" first. DreamWorks partner Jeffrey Katzenberg, who dreamed up the idea for The Contender, was more direct: "If imitation is the highest form of flattery, theft is the lowest form of creativity."
But Sylvester Stallone, who will serve as the Donald Trump of The Contender, offered his own version of Trump's signature line: "You're unconscious."
NBC spent the weekend touting its new lineup to TV critics at their semiannual gathering here. The network's programs will premiere earlier than usual to take advantage of the momentum of the Summer Olympics, which end Aug. 29. With many schools already back in session, "the Barcalounger will be in position" to kick off the season early, NBC Entertainment president Kevin Reilly says.
New drama Hawaii and animated Father of the Pride will premiere the week of Aug. 30, along with the returning Scrubs, Fear Factor and Last Comic. Medical Investigation, airport drama LAX and Friends spinoff Joey will start the week of Sept. 6, along with Las Vegas and The Apprentice, which will feature last season's winner, Bill Rancic, in two episodes.
The West Wing, which won't return until Oct. 20, faces changes: "It's not going to be business as usual," Reilly says. "The Bartlet administration is clearly coming to the end of its term, and that's going to foster some really interesting developments," including the possible end of the series, which hit a severe ratings slump last season, or star Martin Sheen's involvement in it.
For the other shows, NBC might need an early start: Although critics' opinions don't always mesh with the public's, many gathered here for the semiannual press tour had a lukewarm response to most of the network's five new shows, including pricey Pride, which screened an episode Saturday.
Posted by Jo at July 12, 2004 08:20 AM