New Projects Light Up TCA

By R.Thomas Umstead -- Multichannel News, 8/9/2010 12:01:00 AM

New original projects highlighted the early portion of cable networks touting their fare at the two-week Television Critics Association summer press tour in Los Angeles.

FX renewed freshman comedy series Louie for a second season. FX president and general manager John Landgraf said at TCA the network ordered 13 episodes of the series, which premiered five weeks ago. The series, which follows the travails of a New York single dad/comic, airs Tuesdays at 11 p.m. and is averaging 778,000 viewers, per Nielsen. It will likely return at about the same time next year.

FX’s current original programming strategy emphasizes comedy. The home of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia said at TCA its additions will include an outer spacebased comedy, USS Alabama, from the creators of Reno 911!.

“We haven’t reduced drama programming … but I see us with six or seven or eight comedies,” Landgraf said. “My suspicion is that a dozen [original series] will be the maximum that we will get to, but it will take a few more years for us to reach full size.”

Investigation Discovery’s slate of new series and specials will include the Sept. 12 premiere of ID Investigates: Why Is Bin Laden Alive? It’s an in-depth look at the hunt for Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who has evaded capture for nine years after orchestrating the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

For the Love of Money, a special about the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers, debuts Dec. 4.

New series on tap are Hardcover Mysteries, with several of America’s most popular mystery writers; and The Will: Family Secrets Revealed, about the impact the final wishes of the deceased have on family members left behind.

ID will also debut two independent films under the ID Films banner: Cropsey: The Urban Legend, about mysterious events surrounding the abandoned Willowbrook Mental Institution in Staten Island, N.Y.; and Final Judgment, about the death penalty.

IFC moves further into the scripted series arena with an original short-based comedy series, Portlandia. Saturday Night Live comedian Fred Armisen and vocalist Carrie Brownstein star as “progressive personalities” living in fictional city Portlandia — based on a “rendering” of Portland, Ore., where it will be shot on location. Lorne Michaels (Saturday Night Live) is the executive producer.

“This series truly personifies the sharp/cool/twisted filter of IFC’s programming,” Debbie DeMontreux, senior vice president of original programming for IFC, said. “Fred and Carrie are amazing artists and their distinct sense of humor makes this show uniquely IFC and sets it apart from anything else on television.”

Syfy will boost the reality quotient with the Nov. 4 debut of Hollywood Treasures, a weekly documentary-reality series about collecting showbiz and pop-culture memorabilia, and ordered another six episodes of newcomer Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files. Syfy last month launched a new Thursday-night reality block, centered on originals Fact or Faked and Mary Knows Best.

WE TV spinoff network Wedding Central will tap into America’s fascination with royal weddings with a Saturday block of royal-themed wedding shows debuting Aug. 21. The block will launch with the U.S. television premiere of Kate: The New Diana?, about the longtime relationship of Prince William and Kate Middleton and Kate as the potential next queen of England.

Showtime CEO Matt Blank touted the premium network’s subscr iber growth, which reached the 18 million subscriber mark last year, crediting its slate of original programming, comedy shows, sports series, documentaries and feature films. He also pointed to several new original series currently in development including the medieval drama The Borgias, starring Jeremy Irons, and Shameless, produced by John Wells and starring William H. Macy.