Fall 2011 TV

.

Stay Tuned: Visualizing the next big thing

By Bill Green
Posted October 29, 2010 at 6:41 p.m.

Daytime TV fans have had mixed emotions about some of the new shows this season. “Swift Justice,” Nancy Grace’s new court offering, is showing growth in many TV markets over what existed in the time period last season. Folks have also taken a shine to “The Talk.”

However, the jury is still out on a couple of other new court offerings this season, as well as Oprah protégé [gorgeously cute] Nate Berkus.

While you’re busy casting your vote for this season’s offerings, syndicators are already prepping for next season. Today we’ll take a look into our crystal ball and see some of the things being planned.

Fall 2011 will, no surprise, offer even more talk shows. Warner Bros. will offer Anderson Cooper. Sony is betting on Dr. Oz’s wife Lisa. Tribune is sticking with tried and true, launching a show with Bill Cunningham, which is expected to be cut from the Jerry Springer/Maury Povich cloth.

Warner Bros. is hoping to position Cooper into some post-Oprah time slots. Many existing shows, including Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz, are also expecting to get some time slot upgrades, freeing up some other daytime hours, perhaps for shows like Debmar-Mercury’s Fran Drescher project or its U.S. version of ITV Studio’s British talk show with Jeremy Kyle.

Two other shows in the ilk of “The Doctors” are also in the pipeline: “The Chefs” and, as you might expect, “The Lawyers.”

CBS Television Distribution will get back into the dating game, with “Excused.”

Twentieth Television tested two talk shows over the summer: the half-hour “The Kilborn File” with Craig Kilborn and “The Huckabee Show” with past presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. Neither show racked up big ratings.

Warner Bros. has two other talk shows waiting in the wings should Anderson Cooper stumble: one with VH1 regular Dr. Drew Pinsky; the other featuring Steve Ward from “Tough Love.”

Perhaps the most out-there idea is from Mighty Oak Entertainment. “Psychic Court” will allow psychics to testify as expert witnesses. Larry Seidlin, the over-the-top judge from the Anna Nicole case, is attached to the show.

So what do you think of the new lineup? E-mail me at bgreen@naplesnews.com.