Monday, January 17, 2011

TCA, Part 7: The cable nets of NBCU

Here’s a brief synopsis of the cable presentations for NBC Universal’s cable networks:

SyFy

If you walked down State Street in Chicago’s loop in the last few weeks, then you have noticed ads on bus shelters for SyFy’s new show Being Human, which is a show about a ghost, vampire, and werewolf all living together – and are cute twentysomethings! This sounds like a dopey sitcom – but it’s not. SyFy also unveiled a reality competition series titled Face Off, which pits makeup and special effects artists against one another. With these two shows, it’s easy to see why the SyFy presentation at TCA was sparsely attended by critics.


Bravo

There were no Housewives of any city present, was there was Kara DioGuardi, the disposed American Idol judge, hawking her new series Platinum Hit, which is a songwriting competition (which has been tried before– and failed miserably – with the first-run syndicated You Write The Songs in 1986.)  DioGuardi declined to discuss why she left Idol, which drew a hostile response from the crowd at TCA. Meanwhile, don’t look for Platinum Hit to be a hit.

Oxygen

Oxygen’s unveiled more information on the new Glee reality show being launched in June, which the winner will receive a seven-episode stint on the Fox series next season. The show’s creation was part of Oxygen’s deal with Twentieth Television for off-network reruns of Glee.

Other

Oxygen also announced it was launching new reality series All About Aubrey, and Paris Hilton’s The World According To Paris this spring… Bravo has renewed Top Chef and Top Chef Masters, and announced the return of The Real Housewives of New York Feb.15; and the sixth season of The Real Housewives of Orange County bows on March 6…. USA network will air the indie film The Space Between on September 11, which commemorates the 10th anniversary of the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks.

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