As the fall TV season officially kicks off this week, one of the new series that jump-started with a summer debut has already made it into Nielsen Media Research’s top-20 list.
‘I’d say The O.C. is the big success for CTV this summer,’ comments Sherry O’Neil, managing director at Toronto-headquartered OMD Canada.
Meanwhile, at CBC, speculation that much of the heavily asterisked programming announced in June would never appear has turned out to be wrong. Spokesperson Ruth-Ellen Soles confirms that all of the network’s proposed shows ultimately received funding, albeit way late.
The only special that will be delayed is Trudeau II, which may have to be bumped to next season because its star, Colm Feore, is so heavily booked for other projects.
CBC’s only other switch was prompted by the Ontario election set for Oct. 2. Hence the film version of Timothy Findley’s hit play Elizabeth Rex will air elsewhere in Canada on schedule that evening, but run on Sept. 25 in Ontario.
Since the fall lineup announcement in June, most of the skeds have stayed relatively stable, although the untimely death of John Ritter, star of 8 Simple Rules, has raised many questions about the future of ABC’s linchpin sitcom (airing on CTV in Canada). The U.S. net immediately halted production with three episodes of the new season completed, and at press time most in the industry were predicting that it’s very unlikely that the new season will launch on Sept. 23 as scheduled.
There was also ABC’s abrupt cancellation of The Real Roseanne Show, which never even got out of the gate because of its star’s emergency hysterectomy. But then buyers weren’t exactly trampling each other to buy time on the offbeat series anyway.
Other changes include CH pulling The Stones from Wednesdays at 9:30 and replacing it with Becker, presumably because that known quantity stands a better chance against its competition, The West Wing and The Bachelor.
Global has confirmed that Train 48 will continue at 7 p.m. week nights, and CTV is currently considering whether to do likewise with e-TALK Daily, substituting it for the previously announced Wheel of Fortune. A decision is to be announced in about two weeks.
The 30-plus new shows media people did invest in for this season include 20 sitcoms, 17 dramas and absolutely no new reality shows.
Reality fans will just have to make do with another season of Survivor and the return of Joe Millionaire and The Bachelor. The latter show will encompass a four-hour mini-series depicting the upcoming wedding of Trista, of Bachelorette fame.
This week, nine non-reality newbies will premier on schedule: Two-and-a-Half Men, One Tree Hill, Navy NCIS, The Brotherhood of Poland, N.H., Hope & Faith, Joan of Arcadia, Luis, The Handler and Miss Match.
Next week’s premieres include: Punk’d, Las Vegas, I’m With Her, It’s All Relative, Karen Sisco and Married to the Kellys.
New series that won’t air until late October or early November include: The Ortegas, Arrested Development, Tru Calling, Skin, Tarzan and Jane and A Minute with Stan Hooper.
Finally, several new series arrived earlier this month: Whoopi, Happy Family, The Mullets, All of Us, 1-800-Missing, Jake 2.0, Run of the House, Eve, Rock Me Baby, Steve Harvey’s Big Time, Threat Matrix, Like Family, All About the Andersons and the graphic plastic surgery drama Nip/Tuck.
Nip/Tuck is far and away the most controversial new series among family-friendly advertisers, who are leery of the show’s graphic surgery scenes and even more explicit sexual shenanigans.
‘Everyone’s bashing on Nip/Tuck for its sheer sensationalism,’ says Caroline Gianias, VP/DR broadcast at Toronto’s Carat Canada.
Even so, the show’s premiere episode came within a whisker of being CTV’s top-rated show that night, drawing a 4.4 rating nationally in the 18-to-49 demographic and 1,061,000 viewers overall.
The new shows:
Buyers’ best & worst
Best
Las Vegas
Joan of Arcadia
Cold Case
The Lyon’s Den
The O.C.
Worst
Rock Me Baby
Threat Matrix
The Ortegas
The Mullets
A Minute With Stan Hooper
Top 20 Shows (18-49)
1. The Amazing Race CTV
2. CSI CTV
3. For Love or Money CTV
4. CSI Miami CTV
5. King of the Hill Global
6. The Simpsons Global
7. Canadian Idol (Monday) CTV
8. Law and Order: SVU CTV
9. Big Brother 4 CH
10. Malcolm in the Middle (slot 1) Global
11. Malcolm in the Middle (slot 2) Global
12. Without a Trace Global
13. Everybody Loves Raymond Global
14. Friends Global
15. Law & Order CTV
16. Paradise Hotel CH
17. The Restaurant Global
18. Canadian Idol (Tuesday) CTV
19. The O.C. CTV
20. Reel Movies NewNet
Week 51 (August 18-24, 2003)
Prime Time – Age 18-49 – Ontario
Source: Nielsen Media Research
