 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Joey is still our FriendBy ERIC DEGGANS, Times Television Critic © St. Petersburg Times published July 25, 2003
LOS ANGELES - As a former journalist, Jeff Zucker had to know what was waiting for him. Facing the NBC entertainment chief Thursday for the final two days of the Television Critics Association's summer press tour, 200 TV writers had their questions ready: What's going to replace Friends after it ends this season? Why have you drowned viewers in mediocre reality series this summer? And if you're such a hotshot TV guy, how come one of your biggest hits is Fear Factor? Striding onstage to Pat Benatar's Hit Me With Your Best Shot, a tour tradition, Zucker made two announcements: Friends star Matt LeBlanc has agreed to lead a spinoff series featuring his Joey Tribbiani character, and the lame-o reality romance show For Love or Money is the summer's highest-rated show (among viewers ages 18 to 49, that is). Joey will be the first spinoff of an NBC comedy since Frasier followed Cheers 11 years ago (hoping to conjure good vibes, Zucker made repeated references to the "Frasier model"). The show will feature Tribbiani after a move to Los Angeles, with no other Friends in the regular cast joining LeBlanc, who notched his second Emmy Award nomination last week. The original series' creators aren't involved, though three executive producers working on Friends will oversee the new program. Still, with stars such as Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox in the cast, why LeBlanc? "You probably would never have predicted this when (Friends) began, but . . . Joey has emerged as the character America roots for and loves," said Zucker, who refused to say whether LeBlanc, set to earn roughly $18-million for Friends' final season, will take a pay cut on the new show (bet on it). Turns out, NBC executives have been talking with LeBlanc for at least 15 months, and the decision was cemented for the 2004-05 season when the Friends cast decided to call it quits with this season. Zucker also wouldn't say whether Joey would repeat Friends' often-criticized lack of ethnic diversity despite being set in one of America's most diverse cities. He did say that "(ethnic diversity is) clearly something that, in this day and age, would be important to any new show." Friends will air 18 new episodes this season, instead of the usual 24, and one will be a "supersize" episode the week of Sept. 22 (when most NBC shows will debut for the fall). The network will fill some of the extra Friends time with a countdown of viewers' favorite six episodes as determined by a vote on America Online. IN OTHER NEWS: Saving Jessica Lynch is one of only six made-for-TV movies the peacock network will attempt this season (because Lynch hasn't sold the right to her story, NBC nabbed the next best thing: the story rights of the Iraqi lawyer who tipped the U.S. military to her location). "We are relying on what is public information about this story," said Zucker, downplaying the ongoing controversy over whether the military exaggerated Lynch's peril, yet acknowledging that the network's script has been revised five times already. "Everybody knows a little bit about what happened and wants to know a lot more." In keeping with NBC's penchant for developing behind-the-scenes movies on ABC shows such as Three's Company and Roots, NBC will air a behind-the-scenes movie on Charlie's Angels. Why is ABC not remembering this stuff? NBC will present One Minute Movies, 60-second films that will air between commercials, featuring a 30-second cliffhanger and a 30-second resolution. This brazen attempt to make viewers watch more ads will feature stars such as Michael Richards, Tom Arnold and Carmen Electra. American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson will play Brenda Lee this season on American Dreams, the drama about the early days of American Bandstand (another ABC show, naturally) starring Tampa native Brittany Snow. Pop stars Monica and Alicia Keys will appear as Mary Wells and Fontella Bass; Hilary and Haylie Duff will play the Shangri-Las.  © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
In the news
From the wire |
