Beverly Hills, Calif. – Every network wishes it had this problem: how to rein in the advance raves, put a sock in the positive word of mouth and calm adoring critics so that an upcoming show isn’t oversold to viewers?
UPN finds itself in the unfamiliar position of needing to turn down the buzz.
“Everybody Hates Chris,” the comedy narrated by Chris Rock about his impoverished Brooklyn childhood, is the most talked-about and eagerly anticipated on any network’s fall schedule. During the semi-annual TV critics’ press tour here, where the networks’ object is to inflate, hype and glorify even the worst examples of half- hearted programming, UPN spent its day downplaying the quality and importance of Rock’s show.
“We’re getting so much attention it’s hard to sneak up on people,” Rock said. “We’re trying to lower expectations.”
But critics are keenly aware that Rock’s clever family sitcom, reminiscent of “The Wonder Years” in execution, could boost UPN to a new level of public recognition and possibly reignite television’s lagging comedy form. It’s that good.
Mark the calendar: “Everybody Hates Chris” debuts Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. on KTVD-Channel 20.
The title is a typically mischievous nod to “Everybody Loves Raymond.” The premise is simple: It’s about a loving, tight-knit but impoverished family living in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in the 1980s (Rock was 13 in 1982), with the kids bused to a white school. As Rock looks back on his younger self, played by Tyler James Williams (“Sesame Street”), he talks of being the family’s “emergency adult.” The key is the grit and lack of typical sitcom phoniness.
“It’s (about) broke people. We’re not gonna make a speech about it,” said producer Ali LeRoi. It’s about people with not much money, living in a ghetto, trying to pay the bills and, at the same time, keep the kids away from crime. LeRoi and co-creator Rock aim to avoid the artifice of the too-familiar half-hours now playing in what LeRoi calls “sitcomland.”
Fox declined to make the series, fearing that Rock would lend his name to the project and then disappear.
“My name’s Rock, not Chappelle,” he told critics here. “What have I walked out on?”
One of Rock’s ambitions with the series was to give television a strong African-American father figure. “With the exception of Cosby, every black father you see on TV is not masculine. They’re, like, ‘theater.’ They’re not gay, not straight, just ‘theater.”‘ He hopes to recapture the nobility of the father played by John Amos on “Good Times.”
In a way, “Everybody Hates Chris” is the new millennium’s update on “Good Times,” with tougher talk.
Tough talk includes the use of the “N”-word in the pilot, which probably would not have flown on sister-network CBS. “We felt we dealt with it in a very responsible way,” said UPN president Dawn Ostroff.
Dissertations will be written on the propriety of using the epithet on television. The producers say they will need a strong reason to use it in future episodes.
Speaking of UPN’s corporate sibling, CBS and UPN have figured out how to maximize the audience for “Veronica Mars,” the best series on UPN last year and one of the best on any network, while also giving CBS viewers what will feel like new, first- run programming for summer. Starting July 29, they’ll put “Veronica Mars” on CBS for four episodes. CBS will air back-to-back episodes, with two more on Aug. 5 and 12.
Strategically, it makes sense for episodes of the ratings-challenged “Veronica Mars” to get double exposure on both UPN and CBS, but Ostroff said the network’s affiliates would object, preferring to keep the property unique to UPN.
Putting “Veronica” on CBS during the summer is smart. Making crossover appearances from “America’s Next Top Model” to “Veronica Mars” this fall is a tacky idea. UPN will try it, however, mingling the Wednesday night casts in an attempt to build ratings. A better idea is to leave the tone of “Veronica” alone, while launching this season’s new mystery.
TV critic Joanne Ostrow can be reached at 303-820-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com.
