Mid-Season TV Update
by Katy Rose Pool
Every year after television shows come back from their winter break, there is a major upheaval in the TV line-up. The minor changes are composed of things like changing time-slots to avoid competing with monster shows like American Idol. Other, more substantial changes come in the form of completely new series and the dreaded cancelled program. Here’s how the ’09 mid-season is shaping up.
New Shows Mid-season shows are often difficult to catch on with wide audiences, but sometimes the gamble of beginning in a series in the middle of a season pays off (one example is The Office, which began playing on NBC after Committed was cancelled). Some of the new mid-season shows certainly seem up to the task, as United States of Tara proved with its premier on January 18. The show, starring Toni Collette as a woman afflicted with Disassociative Identity Disorder (or Split Personalities), has become an integral part of the Showtime Network already.
FOX newcomers Dollhouse and Lie to Me have already kicked off, with February 13 and January 21 premiers, respectively. Dollhouse is the newest creation of mastermind Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly) and stars Eliza Dushku in this complicated plot that involves an agency that erases people’s personalities and imprints a new one onto them. Each episode has Dushku inhabiting a new persona, from butt-kicking to coquettish. Lie to Me stars Tim Roth (Pulp Fiction) as a human lie-detector who uses his skills to help the cops fight crime.
Amidst many changes on ABC, Castle and Cupid are being added to the line-up. Castle, which premiers March 9, stars Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog) as the titular character, a mystery novelist whose books have become the basis for real-life murders. Co-starring is Stana Katic as the agent in charge of the fiction-turned-reality murder cases. Cupid (March 14) is a re-make of the 1998 series of the same title, which starred Jeremy Piven. This time, it’s Bobby Cavanale (Will & Grace) who plays the role of the Roman god of love, intent on matching up likely pairs. It’s too bad his cute psychiatrist (Sarah Paulson) thinks he’s crazy.
NBC is adding a fairly risky new show to its already solid line-up. Kings, which premiers March 19, explores the fictional world of kings and princes set in the modern-day world. Kings involves a lot of political power play and what’s most likely to be more back-stabbing and blind-sides than Survivor. Comedy Central, the birthplace of many comic geniuses careers (Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Ed Helms) has added a new quasi sketch-show called Important Things With Demetri Martin. The show, which premiered February 11, features Demetri Martin telling jokes, singing songs and doing sketches about one topic each week. (‘Time,’ ‘Power,’ and ‘Brains’ are just a few examples. )
Ending Series
As exciting as the mid-season refurbishing can be, it can also bring great disappointment, and this year is no different. Some favorite shows such as Boston Legal, Battlestar Galactica, ER and The Shield have reached their hard-won endings. Others, such as Lipstick Jungle, Dirty Sexy Money are not returning for more sinister reasons. These are the left-behinds, the shows that have been ripped from their time-slots for better money makers.
Particularly distressing to some is ABC’s darling Pushing Daisies, which aired its final ABC syndicated episode on December 17, 2008. The remaining three episodes are being screened at the annual Paley Fest in West Hollywood, but after that The Pie-maker (Lee Pace) and his un-dead, untouchable girlfriend (Anna Friel) will never be heard from again. Pushing Daisies is relatively lucky, though. Some shows, like The Ex List, Do Not Disturb and My Own Worst Enemy didn’t even make it to ten episodes before getting the boot.
Katy Rose Pool is a TV fan and a student at Palisades Charter High School in Pacific Palisades, California, where she writes for the Pali Tideline newspaper.
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