Cannes: Worldview Options Andrew Dominik’s Marilyn … 
UPFRONTS 2013: The Overachievers 
‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ On Track For $27M … 
‘Mike & Molly’ Creator Mark Roberts To … 
Carey Mulligan, Matthias Schoenaerts Set For … 
Hammond On Cannes: Weinstein Brings Out Stars For 2013 … 
Cannes: Fake Gunshots Interrupt Canal Plus Live Broadcast … 
‘The Great Gatsby’ Starts With $5.4M … 
Cannes: Music Box Acquires Competition’s … 
UPDATE: Amazon Studios Begins Pilot Pickups; … 
Bruce Rosenblum Bids Classy Goodbye 
RATINGS RAT RACE UPDATE: ‘American Idol’ Hits … 
UPDATE: ‘Iron Man 3′ Box Office Crosses $1B … 
Upfront Market: Will Auto Makers Subsidize TV … 
Cannes: Thief Makes Off With $1M+ In Chopard Jewelry Meant … 
‘Scandal’ Finale On Small Screen And Onstage At … 
‘Modern Family’ Gets Cable Makeover For Launch … 
Adam Sandler To Leno: “Maybe Go To Fox” 
Anyone Care Who Won ‘American Idol’? 
Syfy’s ‘Warehouse 13′ To End Run With … 
Specialty B.O. Preview: ‘The English Teacher’, … 
How many new comedy series with a female lead were picked up last May? Zero. How many have been picked up so far this season? Every single one. All four new comedy series ordered so far by Fox and NBC this season have female leads. That is how many the four broadcast networks combined have on the air this season: NBC’s 30 Rock starring Tina Fey and Parks and Recreation starring Amy Poehler, and ABC’s The Middle starring Patricia Heaton and Cougar Town starring Courteney Cox. Half of those were created by women. All four of the newly picked series come from female creators. While not at 100%, female-centered series are also dominant on the drama side. One of the two new Fox dramas, Alcatraz, has a female lead, Sarah Jones, and was co-written by a female writer, Liz Sarnoff. Of the two NBC drama pickups, one is the female-centered Prime Suspect starring Maria Bello and written by Alexandra Cunningham and the other the female-skewing Smash, which has two leads, one played by Debra Messing. And the two locks at ABC are all about ladies (though penned by male writers), Charlie’s Angels and Good Christian Bitches.
The four newly picked up half-hour series will probably be joined by 3-4 more for a complete domination of the freshman comedy class of 2011 the way ensemble relationship comedies were all the craze last year. What’s more, it looks like as many as three new comedy series are two-female lead shows. Here is the list: Fox picked up The New Girl, starring Zooey Deschanel and created by Liz Meriwether, and I Hate My Teenage Daughter, about two moms, played by Jamie Pressly and Katie Finneran, written by Ellen Kreamer and Sherry Bilsing-Graham. Then NBC today picked up Up All Night starring Christina Applegate and written by Emily Spivey, and Whitney, created by and starring Whitney Cummings. Also very likely at NBC is the Chelsea Handler comedy starring Laura Prepon and written by Dottie Zicklin and Julie Larson. And the comedy frontrunners at the other two networks, CBS and ABC, are also female-centered with two female leads each: CBS’ Two Broke Girls, starring Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs and co-written by Whitney Cummings, and Apt. 23, starring Krysten Ritter and Dreama Walker and written by Nahnatchka Khan. In contrast, there is only one comedy pilot with a male lead this season, ABC’s Tim Allen project, that appears to be a slam-dunk, with another one, David Hornsby’s male buddy comedy How To Be a Gentleman, also very likely at CBS. Another hot ABC pilot, Work It, also has two female leads, sort of, as it centers on two guys dressing as women to get pharmaceutical rep jobs, while the network’s Suburgatory centers on a girl and her father.
Fox, which had done little female-centered programming outside of American Idol until Glee came around,is reportedly considering turning Tuesday and Wednesday into female-driven nights and could use the new comedies there. And for the past two weeks, there has been talk that NBC is mulling opening a female-skewing comedy block midweek, with The Biggest Loser and Smash among possible companions.
RELATED: 2011 Much Better For Women Pilot Writers
TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.
Loading ...
Cant wait for Good Christian Bitches, Pan Am, Playboy, Awake, Smash
They’ll lead early cancellations too.
And CC, you make that prediction because you’ve seen the pilots and/or read the scripts and can evaluate their merits?
Word.
This article didn’t mention Wonder Woman… hmmm.
Why no mention of “Bad Mom”, starring Jenna Elfman?
Cause it hasn’t been officially announced as a pickup. ABC hasn’t handed out there prize winning ribbons yet. Derrr. Some of you commenters ask questions about stuff that the articles have nothing to do with. This article is about the 4 comedies that have been announced as receiving an order by their networks. Helloooooooo. They’ll mention Sharon Horgan, “Bad Mom” and Jenna Elfman if ABC decides to put it to series. Geez.
blah blah blah just another group of people holding the white man down
This sounds smart to me. Men are deserting network television in droves (with the exception of sports programming) for shows on cable and for video games, new media, etc. Targeting women may be a way for the big network channels to stem the bleeding for a little while.
I think men have largely abandoned broadcast network television as a source of entertainment BECAUSE of this trend. Remember Ed Bernero’s interview here last year? He nailed this phenomenon perfectly when he observed that network television is catering to women and gay men.
Whether or not the shows had female leads or female writers or creators the trend became evident years ago as the networks skewed the content in that direction. If you think about it, at one time there were some shows with strong appeal to men. Prior to their cancellation there was a noticeable change in the direction of the program content to appeal more to female audience.
The most blatant, and in my opinion tragic, example was the CBS series “The Unit”. What started off as a good action series with strong male appeal evolved into a soap opera (e.g. the implausible affair between the C.O. and the wife of a member of the unit) with more and more stories centered on the wives than the men. Then a female member of the team was introduced. Finally the show jumped the shark when the wives (not just a trained member of the team who happens to be female but the civilian wives) were involved in missions. Men abandoned the show and it wound up being canceled.
I would be hard pressed to name a dramatic series that does not have soap opera elements designed to increase female appeal, or that does not continue the trend to minimize men and elevate women. No wonder the straight male audience has walked away.
Because gay men and women have the same taste in television shows?
As my boy in Happy Endings would say, you’re being a gaycist.
I don’t disagree with this, but regardless of how it happened, men are leaving network TV en masse. So, even if the networks put themselves into this position, this is what they’ll have to do in order to get decent ratings of any sort. Hence it being smart in my opinion. In the long run it’s going to hurt them bigtime, but for now they should be OK.
Couldn’t agree more. It’s why I only watch cable now. ( exception: Modern Family)
Thank God for shows with real men AND incredible female leads that carry the show: Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire, Spartacus… and network cast-offs like Friday Night Lights.
I`m a women but I like shows targeting men more than those targetting women. Women-oriented shows always have a lame romance because shippers demand it. I was perfectly happy with Fringe without love triangle drama and while the show handled it better than most, I really don`t think much is gained either. Besides, I primarily watch because of the Bishop boys and sci fi stuff which is why majority of fans tunes in anyway.
Although pretty much everything you’ve just written came straight out of your ass, I still have to stop and ask you why the fuck this, if it is real, is a problem.
At any given time a person who is not a white male could write the comment you just left, in relation to pretty much every show on the networks. i.e. The networks’ lauded catering to one and only one perceived demographic — “the white male” — and absolutely no one else. (What this “white male” might be is, happily, a topic for another day’s discussion.)
So if the trend is skewing in a different direction for the time being, and you think everyone is being represented on television except you, welcome to the viewing life of a majority of Americans.
But take heart; I’m sure it is just a temporary break into sanity, that’ll reverse as soon as someone gets through to adversities that as long as “white men 18-35″ aren’t watching, product can’t be sold. I’m pretty sure you have nothing to worry about, you’ll have your weird, and I supposed comforting, TV world restored to you in no time.
FYI: “The Unit” was based on Eric Haney’s book Inside Delta Force, and according to him some of the wives of operators did indeed go on unofficial missions with them in kidnapping cases, etc. The problem with The Unit was that it was a poorly written show, not that it started wanting to make “straight white guys” uncomfortable. Get over yourself, fast.
Reel: Well said and nothing more to add. Well, maybe just a question or two: Will this trend persist, do you think? Or will enough of these new “female skewing” shows die on the fucking vine that programmers are going to start adding a few “testosterone heavy” shows back into the line up again?
Hope to hell it’s the second thing. I hate to think that Ed Bernero was right and that network TV is slowly but surely transforming itself into various versions of Lifetime.
But he probably was.
Lets not forget Fox canning Breaking In even though it was pulling solid numbers, just to make room for their new female-skewing 2011/2012 comedy slate. I wasn’t aware sexism was the theme of the new season.
Ha! Yes, you are so discriminated against, you poor, poor man. It’s a demographic strategy. FBC targeted a male demographic, which hasn’t turned up in recent years, so they’re making impressive strides with lady-leaning shows. That’s not sexism, it’s called good business, dummy.
And Breaking Bad’s numbers are CLEARLY obviously thanks to Idol. The second it moved, that demo would plummet to Wilde/Traffic Light numbers.
Its not series by women or with women. Its the same old series that either have badge toting two-dimentional bores or ditsy ‘professionals’ who are all freaked out about their love lives.
You nailed it. It`s the same crap different gift wrap. Instead of yelling out frustration with love life, ticking clocks,etc, Debra Messing and the likes are going to sing about it. At least on that particular show.
No, what is dominating is good ideas. Why does it have to be about men or women? Just talent. That’s how it should be.
Whether you want to believe it or not, there is a difference between shows by men and shows by women. Shows written by women usually cater to women the same way shows written by guys usually cater to guys. Ignore it at your peril.
And please, we’re talking about network TV. Good ideas almost NEVER win out, only popular ones. I highly doubt that there are a lot of good shows here by women, seeing as how every female-driven show on this list is being picked up. Looks more like the networks are buying the shows en masse and flinging them up against a wall to see what sticks and what doesn’t. Whether they are good or not won’t matter – only whether or not people watch. Take shows like American Idol, etc. – these are a perfect example. That’s not a good show; frankly it and all shows like it are pure dreck. BUT, people enjoy the hell out of it. So you see more of that on network TV.
HERE HERE!!! But at the same time, congrats to all these wonderful female writers. I hope the shows are successful and speak to both male and female demographics. I hate when the comedy is unrelatable for everyone watching. I think that if Chelsea Handler’s show doesn’t get picked up, its because the humor won’t expand a broad enough audience. It will only cater to her E! following and those who enjoyed her books.
Are you claiming good ideas are dominating what’s been picked up? I’ve read them all and screened some. Except for The New Girl, they’re all down-the-middle, forgettable dreck. Although it hasn’t been picked up yet, Don’t Trust The Bitch is balls-out hilarious but I’m not sure where ABC puts that on their schedule. It’s a great FOX show that FOX forgot to buy.
Dam! Now that’s funny stuff. Can I use that one?
Geezuz I’m crying over here! Good ideas… Got it.
I can’t wait to see the style on PLAYBOY and I think they will have interesting story lines due to the time. GO PLAYBOY!
Remember, it’s always about the money. Female-centric shows are traditionally more appealing to advertisers than male-centric.
Why no mention of Heather Locklear’s “The Assistants”?
And with decisions like this they wonder why nobody watches network TV anymore. As another commenter noted, network television is now targeted entirely to women and gay men…and the ratings continue to tank.
Here we go again!!! Yes, let’s make it a male vs. female issue. And then we can later decry that it’s not a level playing field. All the while pointing out how many more female-centric show there are. Sorry, but you can’t have it both ways.
Can’t wait for Dont trust the bitch in apt 23 and 2 broke girls.
this is exciting!! women rule the TV anyway.
but i tend to agree with the above comment. It should be about talent and nothing else. who cares if it’s male or female.
Just like delineating everything via ethnicity is racist, so is delineating everything by gender.
@Gettin’Reel I am not sure where all of these network shows are that you say are aimed at gay men. Please don’t refer to the ones that are aimed toward women. Not that I don’t watch some of them, but I love action and scifi shows as well. I think most shows are aimed toward heterosexual men and teenagers. To me the problem with network shows is they try to be everything to everybody. Instead they end up being bad to everyone.
“Work It, also has two female leads, sort of, as it centers on two guys dressing as women to get pharmaceutical rep jobs.”
Does this sound like the exact plot to “Bosom Buddies” to anyone else?”
What about men? On behalf of all Buffy and Angel fanboys (or in my case, men) out there:
GRIMM!!! Give it a chance, Greenblatt. It’s the only show you greenlit (besides Precint, which I heard was a mess) that involves visual effects and fantasy and gruesome fairy tales … Once Upon a Time ain’t gonna go at ABC, so how about greenlighting a show by writers who have proven themselves to be consistently inventive. Buffy? Angel? Profit? X-Files? And now it’s on the bubble?
By the way, there are several online polls regarding favorite NBC drama pilots, and GRIMM is coming in FIRST, followed by Playboy, then Smash.
Umm.. Where is the Krista Vernoff Carrie Ann Inaba love?
This is actually a return to the norm of the last ten years — “High powered female executive tries to juggle career and family.”
Good Christian Bitches pilot was filmed in Dallas.
The cast and crew were delightful and seemed genuinely excited to be a part of the project. I wish them all a great run!
Do my eyes deceive me? Is it true that a CROSS-DRESSING show was picked up by ABC? What percentage of people of faith (christian, catholic, muslim, hindu etc) will watch in 2011? I know that Will & Grace was very highly rated, but that show began in 1998. Times have changed. Christianity is increasing, and that is a wonderful thing.
Why not have a **politically incorrect drama** focusing on controversial issues like abortion, homosexuality (gay agenda – judicial activism a la Prop 8 overturned; nurture vs nature), feminazation/emasculation of males, second amendment, illegal aliens, sexual issues (adultery; addiction), demonization of Christianity etc. A show covering the aforementioned issues (and with some raw and edgy conspiracy topics) would be highly rated with the right cast and crew. Get crew from past critically acclaimed shows like Everwood, Alias, Freaks & Geeks, Felicity, Boomtown, Pasadena, Veronica Mars, Oz, and The Unit.
What’s so difficult about having some balance on network TV? It may have seemed at one time to some viewers that there were too many shows marketed strictly at men (when?), but the solution to that is not to make all new shows marketed strictly at women. Most of us need a little balance in our viewing.
I like a little action, a little family drama, a little workplace comedy, and a little relationship comedy. Some of my favorite shows are marketed to men (action, gunfights, etc.), others to women (relationships, relationships, etc.). The best shows don’t fall to heavily on either side of the spectrum. Please, networks, don’t go overboard with the girl power. You tend to to very bad at depicting women anyway, since you never cast any of them who aren’t botoxed, Hollywood attractive.