CYNTHIA TURNER’S
CYNOPSIS

05/20/04

Good morning. It’s Thursday, May 20, 2004, and this is your first early morning briefing.

CBS confirmed fall schedule:
Monday:
8PM Still Standing
830p Listen Up
9p Everybody Loves Raymond
930p Two and a Half Men
10p CSI Miami
Tuesday:
8pm NCIS
9pm Clubhouse
10p Judging Amy
Wednesday:
8pm 60 Minutes (no longer distinguished as “60 Minutes II”)
9pm King of Queens
930p Center of the Universe
10p CSI New York
Thursday:
8pm Survivor Vanuatu
9pm CSI
10pm Without a Trace
Friday:
8pm Joan of Arcadia
9pm JAG
10pm Dr. Vegas
Saturday:
8pm 48 Hours Mysteries
9pm THe Amazing Race
10pm Crime Time Saturday (repeats of any of the CBS crime series)
Sunday:
7pm 60 Minutes
8pm Cold Case
9pm CBS Sunday Night Movie

CBS’s New Series:

• Listen Up

stars Jason Alexander as a sports talk show host and columnist who works much better at his job than he fares with his family. Not that he doesn’t try. Malcolm Jamal Warner is his buddy and talk show co-host.  This show begins its flight on CBS in a fairly protected time period, which is a good thing – may take a little time to gel.  Warner Bros. Television/CBS Prods.

• Clubhouse

is about a 16 year old guy who gets his ultimate wish – a job as Bat Boy for the NY Empires (read Yankees, pinstripes and all).  This is a show for all demos – young girls who like Jeremy Sumpter (Bat Boy), older girls who like Dean Cain, and any viewer who likes Christopher Lloyd in everything he does and who’s looking for a well rounded, well presented, coming of age and ageless story. It may not surprise you this one is from Spelling Television.

• Center of the Universe

stars John Goodman and Jean Smart as a married couple with kids, mom who lives all too close (Olympia Dukakis), funny kid.  It has all the right stuff – its just a matter of waiting to find out if its assembled in the right order.  Warner Bros. Television/CBS Prods.

• CSI: New York

– if you weren’t among the 23 million who saw the back door pilot on Monday night, let me tell you – it’s CSI, and more than that, it’s CSI in New York, and more than that its CSI in New York with Gary Sinise and Melina Kanakaredes.  What else do you need?  Jerry Bruckheimer Television/CBS Prods/Alliance Atlantis Comm.

• Dr. Vegas:

Don’t you just want Rob Lowe to succeed? Or maybe that’s a girl thing.  In any case, of all CBS new shows, this was my favorite — humor, drama, broad characters, a little suspense and Joe Pantoliano on top. Based in Las Vegas, Lowe is a the hotel doctor at a major casino, while Joey Pants is the General Manager. This is a reason to watch on Friday nights. Warner Bros. Television/CBS Prods

• Crime Time Saturday

: Okay, not a new show at all.  In fact, shows you’ve already seen.  This hour on Saturday nights has been cleverly disguised by CBS as Crime Time Saturday, which in fact means, ‘we’re going to put reruns here every week, but we don’t know which ones yet – though since nearly everything we have is crime related, nearly anything will fit the time period name.”

Midseason Series: 

• Untitled Sitcom starring Jenna Elfman, from exec producer Chuck Lorre.

Univision confirmed fall schedule:
Monday-Friday 7-10p – all Novelas. The 7p will have a younger viewer/family appeal; the 8pm will be a general appeal; and the 10p will be an adult contemporary story.  With that said, no programming on Univision carries a TV-MA rating or more.  Univision will present a minimum of 20 new novelas in the upcoming season, never any repeats, all original all the time.

• Mujer de Madera (Woman of Wood) about a distraught woman left at the altar, trying to rebuild her life and love again.
• Amarte es mi Pecado (My Sin is Loving You) is about a beautiful woman betrayed by the man she loves.
• Rubi (Ruby) has all the right ingredients – love, passion, intrigue, envy and revenge.
• Corazones al Limite (Hearts without Limit) is a teen driven novela (slated for 7pm) set in a world of extreme sports, where they test their abilities in sports and their ability to deal with life in general as a teenager.

10-11pm Various:Monday: Cristina (returning for her 15th season)
Tuesday: Al Filo de la Ley
Wednesday: Don Francisco Presenta
Thursday:  Aqui y Ahora
Friday:  Reality shows – three currently being developed.  One is a docu-Soap, a la Nick & Jessica; another is called Dia de Perros (Dog Days) where celebs get duped for an entire day; and the third is a For Love or Money type with one 1 girl, 30 guys, an a cash prize.  After the reality shows all air, a new dramatic series will fill this hour as well, called Historias para Contar (Stories Worth Telling). It’s a combination docu-drama and talk show. Based on real life stories about what it’s like to be Hispanic and living in the United States, once the story is shown, the real life person on which the story was based is brought into the studio to chat with host Giselle Blondet.
Saturday:
7pm Artistas is a comedy with Fernando Arau as an unemployed actor who is only offered the job of receptionist at the local Arts Academy. Once there he is confused for a teacher, a confusion he fuels rather than checks.
8pm Sabado Gigante
Sunday:
7pm La Parodia
8pm Viva Vero is a new variety show with host Veronica Castro
10pm  Ver Para Creer (newsmagazine)

Univision has also expanded its youth block on Saturday mornings from 3 hours to five hours, targeting the 12-34 age group.  Coming on Mach 31, 2005 – a 10th anniversary memorial concert honoring Selena. And in the theatrical movies division, Univision has picked up the exclusive broadcast film rights to Frida, set to air in 2004-05.

Today’s Upfront Presentations are brought to you by UPN and Fox.

Anticipated UPN Schedule:
Monday: One on One, Half and Half, Girlfriends, Second Time Around
Tuesday: All of Us, Eve, Veronica Mars
Wednesday: America’s Next Top Model, Kevin Hill
Thursday: WWE Smackdown
Friday: America’s Next Top Model [r], Enterprise

Expected to show up on the Fox Schedule: 
Dramas – House (another medical mystery show), The Inside (undercover cop in high school), Johnny Zero (ex-con tries to go legit), Athens (spin off of The O.C.)
Sketch: The Kelsey Grammer Sketch Show (starring Kelsey Grammer!),
Comedy:  Related by Family, American Dad (animated), Arrested Development (renewed for year 2), Family Guy (returning Summer 2005)
Reality:  The Partner (think Apprentice) and The Next Great Champ, American Idol (returns January 2005)

Anticipated Fox Schedule:
Monday: North Shore (debuts this summer), The Casino (premieres 6/14 – and later on 24 will air in this time period)
Tuesday: Bernie Mac, Method & Red (starts 6/22 repeat eps – later American Idol in January), The Jury (debuts 6/8, and then later on newcomer House may be sked here)
Wednesday: That 70’s Show, Quintuplets (prem. 6/16 and then later on Related by Family), Idol (results show starting in January), Method & Red (debuts 6/16)
Thursday: The O.C., Tru Calling
Friday: Next Great Champ (starts in November), THe Jury (moves here after the summer). Beginning January: Johnny Zero, The Inside
Saturday: Cops, Cops, AMW
Sunday: King of the Hill (Kelsey Grammer Sketch Show in January), Malcolm in the Middle, Simpsons, Arrested Development, The Partner (begins this fall), American Dad (in January)

While all the bcst upfronts announcements are being made, Showtime made a few of its own.  According to Hollywood Reporter, Showtime has ordered to series a handful of new programs:  Pryor Offenses begins its premise with Richard Pryor’s own life as a 30-something stand up comic.  This show is co-exec prod by Pryor’s wife, Jennifer Lee Pryor.  The Cell is a drama about a black Muslim ex-con who is brought in by the FBI to go deep undercover into an Islamlic terrorist group.  Hate this  crime drama based in NYPD hate crime unit.  And finally, Southie – that is South Boston.  A drama about two brothers – a good one and a not as good one, both ambitious and both getting in each other’s way.

Sony to buy MGM? Their talking.  Just in the beginning stages of a three week exclusive negotiation / look & see period, nothing formal has been submitted as yet.

It’s come around again. Can you believe 4 years have passed since the last summer Olympics?  Well, here we go…USA Network will be the 2004, 2008, 2010 and 2012 cable TV home for the US Olympic Team and the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in conjunction with NBC Sports.  The Trials will start airing May 22 at 10 am (ET/PT) with the weightlifting tryouts.  USA Network will provide 24-hour Trials coverage for the next 11 weeks with NBC airing 18 hours (12 primetime hours).  The Olympic Games in Athens will take place August 13-29.

Timeless International acquired the distribution rights for First Business, the weekday half hour syndicated national early morning business show.  The show is being re-introduced with a new anchor, Tom Hudson, and a different format.  The show will be offered on 48 NBC, 16 CBS, 11 ABC and 6 Fox partners by Fall 2004.

ESPN , Inc. and the National Hockey League have extended their multi-media agreement for the 2004 – 2005 season by two more years, pending approval by NHL’s Board of Directors.  In this deal, ESPN will exclusively cover the Stanley Cup Finals Game 1 and 2, the All-Star Game and the All-Star Weekend events with extensive coverage of the Conference Semifinals and Finals.   ESPN2 will carry the NHL Draft and 40 regular season games.  The agreement also includes ESPN HD and ESPN Deportes telecasts and rights for ESPN Classic, ESPN Video-on-Demand, ESPN Broadband and ESPN Wireless.  ESPN and NHL will continue to work together on NHL.com’s marketing content and sharing and on Interactive TV.

Intermedia Advertising Group’s Top Ten Most Effective New Ads for new campaigns airing the weeks of April 26 to May 9, 2004. The list is ranked by viewer’s ability to recall the new ads and their associated products and brands. The Recall Score is the percentage of TV viewers who within 24 hours are able to remember the brand of the ad they saw during normal TV viewing. The scores are then indexed against the mean score for all ads during the time period to create the Recall Index; 100 is Average. For example, with a Recall Index of 218, the top-ranked Gatorade spot was recalled more than twice the average new ad during the period. Source Intermedia Advertising Group Inc.’s 2004 Ad Performance Data Series (www.iagr.net)
– 218   GATORADE: Jason Kidd, Vince Carter, Lisa Leslie play basketball in the street with Jimmy
– 198   ORE-IDA: Extra Crispy Fries–vs. the other fry, dipped in ketchup, stand and deliver    
– 194   APPLE: iPod + iTunes–man in brown blazer walks down street, posters start to dance
– 192   LISTERINE: PocketPaks–man on airplane falls asleep on woman’s shoulder                 
– 189   KFC: Americans wear tee-shirts with catchy chicken slogans              
– 180   TYLENOL: PM–woman couldn’t sleep so she would eat or watch TV          
– 177   GLAD: Press ‘n Seal–boy throws fries at other boy, wrap makes barrier          
– 162   BOUNTY: Towels–only one can be the market leader, two stacks drenched with red liquid
– 160   AFLAC: Duck with synchronized swimmers in red suits             
– 158   COPPERTONE: Kids–woman applies sunscreen to girl, woman had skin cancer                
        

The Sundance Channel has hit a new mark – 20 million subscribers. Thanks to a recent deal with Cablevision that has now added the premium channel to the system’s digital platform throughout the Northeast including Metro New York, Sundance is now the third such premium cable & satellite channel to meet this subscriber mark.  The only other two are HBO which made it to 20 million in 1995; and Encore which moved into this elite group in 2002.

Coming to Fine Living this fall is a new series in partnership with Dwell magazine – that is, to explore what it means to be at home in the modern world.’ The show is about celebrating optimism and creativity through fresh ways of thinking. The show will take viewers on an adventure of experiencing modern design and architecture.

Tuesday night was American Idol and once again it brought in the win for Fox with an overall 7.4/20 for the night among A18-49 according to Nielsen Media Research.  NBC was #2 for the night with a 4.9/13, followed by ABC 3.1/8, CBS 2.4/6, WB 2.1/6, UPN 0.8/2.  At 8pm Idol brought in a staggering 9.2/27 A18-49 and a 12.0/31 among W18-49.  Interestingly, all other networks delivered just a 7 share, with UPN being the one exception (3 share, though the finale of Gilmore Girls did pull a 2.0/7 among teens). At 9pm Fox again won the hour with 24 delivering a 5.5/14, a share point ahead of NBC’s L&O: SVU, and four share points ahead of ABC’s sitcom hour from 9-10p.  At 10pm the finale of Law & Order SVU delivered a 7.3/19, dusting the competition: Judging Amy 3.2/8, Super Millionaire 2.9/7.

Khaki Jones was upped to VP/Original Series for Cartoon Network.  She will oversee the creative aspect of 12+ newer Cartoon Network original animated series in addition to acting as the network liaison, offering creative assistance to existing original programs creators and representing each show to Cartoon Network’s web, internal marketing, PR and creative services units.  Her previous position was Senior Director/Original Animation. Khaki is based in Atlanta and reports to Bob Higgins, SVP/Programming and Development for Cartoon Network’s kids businesses.

Catherine Frymark was upped to VP/Communications for Discovery Networks, U.S..  She will oversee all industry trade and TV business PR for Discovery’s thirteen domestic networks including the areas of affiliate sales, ad sales, research, marketing and interactive media divisions, several division executives and The Science Channel. She will report to Annie Howell, SVP/Communications.

Tuesday, May 18, 2004. Fast Affiliate Household Ratings for all Networks. Fast affiliate numbers which reflect time period data, not program data, and can change slightly once the finals come in, particularly for LIVE programming (i.e. Football). Source Nielsen Media Research. Time Period Averages Only. [p] = Premiere; [o] = Original; [r] = Repeat

FOX             10.4/16 American Idol 13.7/22, 24 7.2/11

NBC             8.8/14  NBC Special: The Most Outrageous Game Show Moments 2 4.5/7, L&O SVU 9.7/15, L&O: SVU [finale] 12.2/20

CBS             6.7/11  Navy NCIS 6.9/11, 60 Minutes: Salute to Don Hewitt 5.1/8, Judging Amy 8.0/13

ABC             5.7/9   8 Simple Rules [finale, Part 1 & 2] 4.8/8, According to Jim 6.5/10, Less Than Perfect 5.7/9, Super Millionaire 6.1/10

WB              3.3/5   Gilmore Girls [season finale] 3.8/6, The WB’s Superstar USA 2.8/4

UPN             1.6/3   One on One 2.0/3, All of Us 2.0/3, Rock me Baby 1.3/2, Rock Me Baby 1.2/2

A18-49  FOX 7.4/20, NBC 4.9/13, ABC 3.1/8, CBS 2.4/6, WB 2.1/6, UPN 0.8/2

A MESSAGE FROM WARNER BROS. DOMESTIC CABLE DISTRIBUTION

Source: NTI Explorer, 5/14/04. TP: Fri 10-11pm.  Based on HH Rating.

The History Channel presents This Day in History:
1956 – The United States detonates an airborne hydrogen bomb over an island in the Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, dramatically raising the stakes in the nuclear arms race. In the 1990s the United States provided $90 million to decontaminate the area and repopulate the island over which the bomb exploded.

Answer to yesterday’s Trivia Question:   What do all of these movies have in common? So Help Me Aphrodite, How to be Very Very Popular, Boy’s Night Out, Hello Down There, Scavenger Hunt, My Little Pony: The Movie, The Man in the Brown Suit, Fatal Instinct, and Down with Love?  They all included TONY RANDALL.  Kudos to all who remember him so well.

A MESSAGE FROM WE: WOMEN’S ENTERTAINMENT

Real life.  Real singles.

We’ve checked out the dating scenes from Manhattan to Vegas, and this year we’re taking our hip reality series Single In … to new cities for even more dating adventures. It’s real. It’s relevant. And it’s exactly where you want to be.

SINGLE IN THE HAMPTONS  |  MONDAYS AT 10 PM (ET)
For more information, visit www.sales.we.tv.

Today’s Trivia Question:  What is the correct response to the greeting “Peace and long life”?  (click here to respond to the trivia question and please be sure to include with your answer your name, company, city and time zone. Only the second four correct responses from each time zone will be listed in tomorrow’s kudo list.)

Later — Cyn

Cynthia Turner’s Cynopsis
05/20/04  4:46am
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WHAT’S ON TONIGHT: THURSDAY, MAY 20, 2004

COURT TV:       The I-Zone, Forensic Files, Body of Evidence, The Investigators
ABC             Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Kingdom Hospital, Super Millionaire
CBS             CSI, CSI, Without a Trace
FOX             American Idol, American Idol
NBC             Friends [r], NBC Special: The Adventures of Seinfeld & Superman, Friends [r-series finale], L&O: CI
PAX             On the Cover, AFV, Early Edition, Diagnosis Murder
UPN             WWE Smackdown
WB              Movie: Never Been Kissed
TELE            Prisonera, El Alma Herida, Mujeres Apasionadas
UNIV            Mariana de la Noche, Bajo la Misma Piel, Noticias Univision Presenta (Especial)