May is a time for optimism as the networks set their slates for fall: so many potentially great new shows! So many appealing stars! It’s going to be fantastic, right?
Remember, TV pilots have a 70 percent failure rate.
Here’s a rundown of the most intriguing series announced by the TV networks this week.
Big names on screen: Consider that Portia de Rossi, Mindy Kaling, Connie Britton, Anne Heche, Kevin Bacon, John Barrowman, Martin Lawrence, Dennis Quaid, Matthew Perry and Reba McIntyre all have TV projects rolling out next season.
Some of the headliners are new to TV, like Cuba Gooding Jr., who will play a lawyer on Fox’s “Guilty.” Others have storied TV pasts, including Roseanne Barr and John Goodman, who will reunite in a comedy on NBC called “Downwardly Mobile,” and Andre Braugher, who will play a doomed submarine captain on ABC’s “Last Resort.”
Big names behind the scenes: Already-acclaimed creators will hope to extend their winning streaks: Ryan Murphy (“Glee,” “American Horror Story,” “Nip/Tuck”) will launch “The New Normal” on NBC, about a gay male pair who hire a surrogate to have their baby. J.J. Abrams (“Lost,” “Alias,” “Fringe”) will introduce “Revolution,” an apocalyptic drama, on NBC. Dick Wolf, master of the “Law & Order” franchise, will try to extend his brand yet again with “Chicago Fire” on NBC.
Soaps, superheroes, horror. A Western, a Sherlock Holmes update (Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu as Holmes and Watson, respectively, on CBS). And lots of comedies, including a throwback to ABC’s TGIF lineup.
Of prime interest to younger viewers are CW’s “Sex and the City” prequel, “The Carrie Diaries,” and “Arrow,” based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow. ABC’s “666 Park” with Terry O’Quinn (“Lost”) is a scarefest in the vein of “American Horror Story,” with some good advance buzz.
Country music fans may be lured by Reba McEntire in a drama about starting over after a bad split, “Malibu Country.” But the better country-flavored offering may be “Nashville” with Connie Britton.
Fans of “The Office” will find Kaling as a Bridget Jones-style doctor on Fox (with Ed Helms also in the cast), currently titled “The Mindy Project.”
Then there’s midseason. Some of the biggest names won’t show up until January or later, like Bacon in a serial-killer thriller for Fox called “The Following,” and Josh Gad (“The Book of Mormon”) in NBC’s dysfunctional White House family comedy, “1600 Penn.”
By then, half of the September starters will have fallen out of contention. But for now, optimism.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com
