Cable Loses the Script

Scripted dramas and comedies may have dominated cable's original programming schedules last summer. But this time around, cable is getting real with a number of non-scripted series, competition shows and non-fiction programs.

One reason for the relative dearth of new scripted series is the ripple effect that the Writers Guild of America strike earlier this year has had on development and pilot schedules. Another is cost: Reality shows offer programmers cheaper alternatives to scripted originals.

E! Entertainment Television has long included reality as a staple of its programming schedule, as have such diverse networks as History, Discovery Channel, TV One, WE TV, HGTV, Food Network, Fine Living Network and D.I.Y. Network. But for others such as The N, which makes its first foray into nonscripted territory since 2005, and acquisition-heavy channels such as TV Land, reality is more than just a means of making originals on a budget.

“I do believe we are seeing more and more of them because the American viewing audience is becoming more accustomed to the format and they like them,” said Larry Jones, president of TV Land, which debuted the 35-plus modeling show, She's Got The Look on June 4.

In July, TV Land will add the docudrama Family Foreman, featuring former heavyweight boxer George Foreman, to its reality roster.

“Sure, there's something of an economic thing there [for the networks],” Jones said, “but they're successful in many cases.”

And yet, “there is sometimes a misconception with reality TV that the cameras are turned on and they're in the corner and whatever happens, happens,” said Sarah Tomassi Lindman, senior vice president and general manager at The N, which will add two reality contests to its lineup on July 11: Queen Bees at 9 p.m. and The N's Student Body at 10 p.m., for eight episodes.

“It's really important when you're casting to get people who you feel will deliver the kinds of stories that you're hoping to tell in the show,” Lindman said. “But sometimes you think something is going to become really great and it's not, but this other thing over here that you didn't think was going to be great really is. You have to be flexible in the process to follow stories where they happen to take you.”

For Lisa Berger, executive vice president of programming and development for E!, characters are key. “It's about finding and exploring incredibly layered characters — and if you think about it, most reality shows on any network, and especially ours, are these complex interesting people who are incredibly layered,” Berger said.

The network got a jump-start on the summer season on Memorial Day with two much-talked-about unscripted series: Denise Richards: It's Complicated and Living Lohan, which follows mother/manager Dina Lohan and her youngest daughter Ali as they look to jumpstart Ali's recording career.

“When we target reality shows, we also look at the world around them. So we might say, 'Oh my God this is a perfect person that we might want to do a reality show with.' Then it's who makes up that world. Keeping Up With The Kardashians is a perfect example, it wasn't just [tabloid princess] Kim Kardashian. They came in with Bruce Jenner, they came in with Kris, the mother, and the two sisters; and all of a sudden it was like, 'Oh my god, this is a crazy but fabulous family.'”

In August, E! will premiere the Pamela Anderson docuseries Pam: Girl on the Loose. The series boasts viewers will get to know the “real woman,” but Anderson's children will not be featured in the show.

Comedy Central is reintroducing the classic variety show The Gong Show with comedian Dave Attell as the host. The eight-week series, premiering at 10:30 p.m. July 17, will be partnered with new lead-in reality competition show, Reality Bites Back, where 10 comics go up against each other to parody the most popular TV reality series.

“Making fun of the genre is certainly not a brand new idea,” said Comedy Central senior vice president of programming David Bernath. “But there are a lot of reality shows out there and we got this idea of how to use comedians because, of course, they're a large part of the show, not just the spoofing. Each week there's a different reality show in this competition whereby the comedians are being eliminated and competing to win the overall contest, so we have our own competition series within the comedy concept, and I think the mix of the two elements make it a good bet.”

The shows make up Comedy Central's Thursday night “Power Hour” reality block that Bernath believes is a perfect fit for a summer launch.

“If you go back many years, summer was a big time for cable and we still view it the same way, but now it's a mix and blend of where a particular show best fits,” said Bernath, noting the successful February launch for the premiere of The Sarah Silverman Show.

June, July and August continue to be strong months for cable's original series launches. But broadcasters touting their plans to premiere shows on a 52-week a year schedule, some cable executives are also looking to make broader roll-outs across the calendar.

“There is a certain amount of posturing and perception versus reality going on,” said Bob DeBitetto, executive vice president and general manager of A&E Television Networks. “To my way of thinking, there are two very strategic windows for launching a lot of your premium original programming. Summer is still our best window, but a close second is becoming end of November through February.

“If somebody wants to launch original scripted programming in cable in September, October, I welcome them to it,” DeBitetto said, “but from an audience point-of-view we in cable are still in competition with the broadcast networks for eyeballs. So if you want to launch a program right when the broadcast networks are launching all of their new programming, and most importantly, marketing them very aggressively, I think there are risks for that.”

USA Network president Bonnie Hammer argued otherwise. “All of the rules are changing for cable and broadcast in terms of launching shows because so much has changed.” But, she added, “summer still allows us more leeway in getting our messages out there.”

Having had a booming summer season in 2007, USA is sticking with scripted fare again this summer, with its just-launched In Plain Sight, a one-hour dramedy starring The West Wing's Mary McCormack as a U.S. Marshal who juggles her work overseeing career criminals in a witness protection program and her own dysfunctional family.

“We were lucky In Plain Sight was already greenlit before the strike,” said Hammer. “But we were able to bring back so many successes from last year, so the strike impeded more in our efforts for experimentation.”

Like USA, five other networks — Cartoon Network, BET, A&E, TNT and Spike TV — are each premiering one new original scripted show this summer. Cartoon earlier this month debuted the animated comedy The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack about a boy raised by a whale.

BET is venturing beyond music and reality shows with the scripted comedy Somebodies, premiering July 15. The show, about a group of college friends, is based on the film of the same name by Sundance Film Festival darling, director Hadjii.

A&E is also getting into the scripted game after bailing on the genre seven years ago and turning to reality docudramas to bolster its on-air profile.

“Bringing quality scripted programming, particularly scripted drama series, back to the network is something that we've had in mind for several years now,” said DiBitetto who greenlit The Cleaner, starring Law & Order's Benjamin Bratt.

“We wanted to really rebuild the network with a portfolio of nonfiction, real-life franchises and those really began the reinvention of the network and introduced the network to a younger generation of viewers than had been watching the network in 2000, 2001, 2002,” said DiBitetto, noting the launch of popular “real life” series Dog the Bounty Hunter and Gene Simmons' Family Jewels on the network.

“After that we decided to target some pretty strategic acquisition with some pretty great shows, CSI: Miami, The Sopranos; and part three was then to, with some circumspection, introduce, we think, great scripted shows to the network,” he said.

The 13-episode, The Cleaner, premieres July 15 and is part of A&E's overall rebranding strategy to become the home of “Real Life. Drama.” The story is inspired by the true story of a man who helps people kick their addictions. “It is largely procedural storytelling,” said DiBitetto, “and I think that's very important to us in cable.”

But, “it depends on the procedural,” added Michael Wright, senior vice president in charge of content creation for TNT, TBS and TCM. (TCM is premiering a new interview series, Elvis Mitchell: Under The Influence, in July featuring the former New York Times film critic speaking to stars about films that have impacted their lives.)

Certainly law and order serials have been the bread and butter for TNT, which will close out the summer with the premiere of Steven Bochco's 10-episode courtroom drama, Raising the Bar, on Labor Day, September 1.

Spike TV is hoping to get into the scripted comedy business with its first original half-hour, Factory, a behind-the-scenes look at a group of small town factory workers who spend their time on the clock goofing off rather than working. The series is directed, produced and stars Strangers With Candy co-creator Mitch Rouse.

“We think the show has a very unique and specific voice,” said Bill McGoldrick, Spike TV's vice president of original programming, “and comedy actually seems to be what guys want more of and can't get enough of.

Premium movie channels, HBO, Starz and Showtime are making little noise in the new original series arena this summer. With the writer's strike having impacted the network's schedule, HBO is not releasing any new scripted shows until later this year when the network plans to launch the vampire series, True Blood from Six Feet Under creator Alan Ball.

However, with contract negotiations still unsettled with the Screen Actors Guild, another possible strike this summer could delay the Blood launch which is expected to begin production this fall.

In the meantime, the network will air Generation Kill in July. The seven-hour miniseries is an examination of the conflict in Iraq and is written and executive produced by David Simon and Ed Burns of HBO's critically lauded The Wire.

HBO also has a summer series of documentaries set for Monday nights, starting June 9 with Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired.

Starz pushed back the summer launch of its first scripted drama series Crash, citing scheduling and casting issues as a major factor for the delay. Lionsgate Entertainment, which is co-producing the series with Starz, had signed a separate deal with the writer's guild prior to the end of the 100-day work stoppage and was uninhibited by the strike.

Production on the 13-episode series, based on the 2005 best picture Oscar winner, began last week, with principal cast and producers still being confirmed at press time.

Showtime, which has on tap new episodes of its well-regarded series slate Weeds, Californication, Dexter and Brotherhood, will add the acquired comedy hit, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, to its lineup June 16 following the fourth-season premiere of Weeds.

Showtime will air eight episodes of the U.K. series based on the celebrated memoir about the double life of a high-end call girl with British actress Billie Piper (Dr. Who) starring. An additional eight episodes of the series are scheduled to roll out next year.

Showtime is also continuing to build on its series slate, with the pilot production recently completed for The United States of Tara and Possible Side Effects scheduled to shoot this summer.

Network executives see the value of theatricals decreasing. Interest in original movie production is also waning at the network. But Showtime chairman and CEO Matt Blank said, “We wouldn't rule out doing an original film here or there. But you spend a lot of time and money and promotion to play it on a Sunday night and then it's gone.”

Blank added that original movies on Showtime have had “no impact on building a brand or bringing in subscribers the way a Californication or Weeds or Dexter can. So we feel, right now, that we'd rather make those (budget) allocations on (series) that build the brand.”