Downsizing: the workload hasn't gotten any smaller, but now there are fewer people to handle the same number of tasks. And these pressures affect our lives in some unexpected ways. One area that's being hurt by budget cuts is the upcoming television line-up. Yes, with cutbacks, fewer TV programs with costly, big name stars must still do the job of many. So television executives have chosen to tackle the challenge in a brand new, innovative way. They've created a whole new idea for programming-- TV show consolidation.
And we, here at Of Cabbages and Kings, were lucky enough to get a sneak peek at some of the series consolidations in the works:
- Dead Like the Reaper. Two teams of grim reapers compete to see who can send the most souls back to hell. But when young reaper Georgia Lass meets Sam Oliver from the opposing team, will reaping go from grim to groovy?
- Dexter Morgan's Laboratory. In this Cartoon Network feature, serial killer Dexter Morgan and his sister Deb-Deb solve crimes, all while following the trail of fellow serial killer and Dexter's archnemesis, Mandark. By making this program a cartoon, it's cut the rubber corpse and fake blood budget significantly.
- The Ghost Dog Whisperer. Is your poltergeist pooch keeping you up nights? Is your deceased doggy getting ectoplasm all over the livingroom rug? This series helps pet parents get that restless Rover to play dead once and for all. When you want to teach a dead dog new tricks, who you gonna call? The ghost dog whisperer!
- Jon and Kate Plus 24. See how a dysfunctional couple with a large family balances child-rearing with preventing terrorism on American soil. Can Jon and Kate stop a nuclear holocaust in time for the PTA meeting? Find out in this edge-of-your-seat series.
- 30 Rock from the Sun. A group of aliens come to earth and run a successful TV comedy show, dealing with a difficult star, an obnoxious boss and snoopy feds who suspect they're aliens and would like to dissect them. Because many of the Hollywood writers behind this show are, in fact, extra terrestrials themselves, the studio is pleased to report this has been done on a shoestring budget.
These are just a few of the programs slated for the coming months. While the recession may affect our wallets and our lifestyle, today's TV execs have proven, it doesn't have to reduce our programming fun!
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24 comments:
Oooh, I can't wait until Kate Gosselin pulls an attitude with Jack Bauer. That will be worth the price of admission (free?) in and of itself.
Shawn- Ha, yes, you don't mess with Jack. He's tortured many, many times.
Although he might tolerate her, hard to say. His daughter from the first couple of seasons was pretty annoying. And he seemed to like her.
Very clever. Can I play?
TWO AND A HALF AX-MEN: Charlie and Alan take in a lumberjack who has suffered a horrific ax-ident.
Good stuff, Jenn!
Chris- AH! Excellent!! And you know, Alan might already have enough plaid shirts and jammies to fit in...
Well, wardrobe wise, that is. :) There's no hope for him socially.
I can't wait for Jon and Kate Plus 24. It seems at least one main character gets killed on 24 every season, please, TV gods, let it be Kate.
Da Old Man- So season two, the title becomes "Jon Plus 24" :) That should help cut down on the cost of one salary, too.
Great job and I really liked Dead Like Me!
How about Lost in CSI:Miami: Horatio pulls a gun to help Kate and Jack run from the other Others so they can get the Polar Bear back to the lab for analysis.
Reforming Geek- Ah, good one-- I was trying to figure out how to work "Lost" in, but I don't watch it and knew I wouldn't be able to fake anything funny.
Unfortunately I can see a couple of those being huge hits!
Oh, man, you are freaking killing me. What a brilliant post. HA! I love Jon and Kate Plus 24, especially. Seriously, you should shop some of these to the networks. Would not surprise me at ALL to see any of these in the fall lineup.
I'd like to see Ice Road Choppper. The porky Tuetul family ride their cumbersome custom bikes across icy lakes, with hilarious/catastrophic results.
Ha! I love the Jon and Kate Plus 24 idea. I think I would actually watch that.
Dexter morgans lab, sounds awesome. I love both shows!
CSI: Dharma Initiative
Can Grissom figure out who is killing everybody?
Thinking of You- Yep, it's looking like Jon and Kate Plus 24 might have a really good run of it. :)
JD- I understand they're taking off one of my favorite programs, "My Name is Earl." So clearly, they are capable of anything.
Tiggy- Once again reducing costs through living cast paycheck elimination. :)
John- And plus, it would give Jack Bauer a bit of a rest between scenes. So he could finally go pee and whatnot.
Derek- This actually came about when about a year ago a friend thought I meant I was enjoying Dexter's Lab when I said I'd rented Dexter.
In your updated version of CSI, do you still retain the inappropriate gory puns that help transition scenes? :)
How 'bout "Two and Half Mad Men"?
Can we have cartoon Dexter kill live-action Horatio?
Also, I'd like to have Jack Bauer kill Jon first. In a Hooters parking lot.
Ooh, I like the 30 Rock from the Sun one. Because that would a) make a lot of sense and b) would mean that Jane Curtin has a job again. And the Dead LIke Me one. Have only vaguely watched it.
How can you even ask that? I think having CSI in the title requires you by law to make puns at scene transition.
Skip-- Hmmm... the Studio was already leaning toward Two-and-a-half-Ax-Men, but now I think we could make it Two-and-a-Half-Mad-Ax-Men and consolidate THREE whole shows... Talk about cost-saving! Brilliant!
Kathcom- We've had votes to get rid of Kate as well as Jon... so is there anyone from Jon and Kate worth moving to a new program? Otherwise, we could just nix the franchise, since half the cast would be offed. :)
Babs- I haven't seen Jane Curtin in a long time! I'd be happy for her to have gainful employment in these tough times.
Derek- Apologies-- in consolidation we've been working hard here to retain the most popular elements of programs, so polling folks like yourself have been key to our decisions. :)
How about Survivor:CSI, it's all about how a group of people compete to survive in the real world. You could even incorporate the board game CLUE in that, having the game give hints on how to get away from the murderer/rapist/whatever, and who exactly that is amongst them to begin with.
Skye- Oh, wow, it looks like we're ending up with about as many CSIs as we have now-- only a lot more creative! :)
Ohh.. its brilliant post...
Ok then, what about "Hell's Kitchen of Desperate Housewives"
Or "The Mental Listener", in r/l Mental is a show about a Psychiatrist in the mental ward of a hospital who turns previous rules upside down when he get's put in charge. As for The Listener, it's about a guy who can hear peoples thoughts and can therefore help them if/when they need help. So, put these two helpers together and it would give for one nutzoid show!
Analog Designer- Thanks, glad you enjoyed.
Skye- Ah, Hell's Kitchen of Desperate Housewives... Gordon Ramsey meets his match as housewives seek to distract, beguile and get things cookin'. :)
I'd feel very sorry for the Mental Listener- hearing the thoughts of his patients-- he might be in for one very wild season. :)
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