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UPFRONTS 2013: TV Spinoffs’ Almost Perfect Year

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday May 20, 2013 @ 11:36am PDTTags: Chicago PD, Once Upon a Time, The Originals
Nellie Andreeva

As movie sequels dominate the box office with more than 30 slated this year alone, including Iron Man 3, Star Trek 2 and Hangover 3, television too is increasingly relying on expanding TV franchises. In a symbolic move, as the last CSI spinoff, CSI: NY, bowed out this season, a record three new spinoff series are joining the broadcast schedule for next season: The Once Upon A Time spinoff Once Upon A Time In Wonderland, The Vampire Diaries offshoot The Originals on the CW, and Chicago Fire‘s Chicago PD on NBC. They will join returning spinoffs NCIS: LA and Law & Order: SVU. Of the four spinoff projects that were in consideration for next season, only one, CBS’ NCIS: Red, didn’t get a series pickup. “Sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t,” CBS entertainment president Nina Tassler said last week about the decision. “Protecting (the NCIS franchise) was really important.” She indicated that the network is open to trying the spinoff again. Indeed, I hear there is talk about revisiting NCIS: Red with a new cast.

Once a staple in comedy with All In The Family, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Cosby Show, Cheers and Family Guy among the slew of hit series to launch spinoffs, offshoots are primarily limited to drama these days. NBC tried to break the trend with The Office this season, but the proposed spinoff didn’t take off. And, eager to capitalize on their successful series, the networks tend to spin them off earlier then ever. Chicago Fire had been on the air less than a season when NBC plotted the Chicago PD spinoff. Once Upon A Time is launching a spinoff only two seasons into its run. In the past, the networks normally waited at least four seasons for a series to establish itself before launching an offshoot. The major exception was the CSI franchise whose expansion was done methodically, adding a new series every two years.

Spinoffs are not as prevalent on cable where they’re mostly used as an attempt to extend the life of a hit series after it ends, like Battlestar Galactica‘s offshoot Caprica on Syfy, The Closer‘s Major Crimes on TNT and the Breaking Bad spinoff in the works at AMC.

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ABC To Air Some Dramas In Two Batches Of 12 Episodes Next Season

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday May 14, 2013 @ 9:32am PDTTags: ABC, Grey's Anatomy, Once Upon a Time, Paul Lee, Revenge, Scandal
Nellie Andreeva

ABC is changing things up in scheduling some of its serialized dramas. Taking a page from the cable model, the network will air what ABC president Paul Lee called “a selected group” of dramas in two uninterrupted runs, one in the fall and one in the spring, bridged by limited series. The series that will follow the new scheduling pattern include Once Upon A Time, Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and likely Revenge, with others TBD. So far, the network only has set up a bridge series for Once, new adventure reality series The Quest. Lee said such bridge series won’t necessarily be all unscripted. Two cycles of 12 episodes would bring the total orders for the shows to 24, which is hard on a complex, serialized drama, but Lee indicated that number has not been set in stone. He said that the network is looking to further shake up the traditional broadcast scheduling model with “quality launches” throughout the season. Lee also said that new fall drama Betrayal is designed as a limited series, airing 12-13 episodes a season. The same applies to midseason drama Resurrection, which will replace it in the Sunday 10 PM slot in midseason.

Related: ABC 2013-14 Schedule Read More »

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PILOT SEASON: The Rise Of Limited Series

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday May 7, 2013 @ 12:47pm PDTTags: ABC, Big Deals TV, History, Once Upon a Time, Primetime Pilots
Nellie Andreeva

Days after last year’s upfront in New York, History‘s Hatfields & McCoys burst onto the scene, shattering ratings records and reviving the limited-event series form. Over the last 12 months, event series have continued to gain momentum, with History launching another blockbuster in The Bible, and Fox, FX and Spike announcing big pushes in the arena. The genre also has been factoring into the network’s ongoing pilot discussions and may have presence at the upfronts next week. “It seems to be the du jour concept these days,” one industry insider said. “If you call a drama a limited event series, you maintain series options on the actors while at the same time maintain the project’s international value. And if you market them well, they bring in audience.”

One of the highest-profile drama prospects for next season, ABC’s Once Upon A Time spinoff, has been developed as a limited series to air 13-episode arcs every season in the vein of FX’s American Horror Story. Such a potential scenario also has been mentioned for a number of other serialized/high-concept drama pilots should they get a series order: ABC’s Gothica and Big Thunder, Fox’s Sleepy Hollow and CBS’ Hostages. CBS already is branching into the genre this coming summer with Under The Dome, originally developed as a regular series. The CW, whose president Mark Pedowitz last season was among the first to embrace the concept, did midseason entry Cult as a limited-type series and is looking to do more next season, with The Selection among those considered for a limited run. Fox’s The Following and ABC’s Red Widow too had been conceived with cable-style shorter seasons in mind. Read More »

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ABC’s ‘Once Upon A Time’ Spinoff Casts Alice, Gets Title

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday March 28, 2013 @ 5:45pm PDTTags: ABC, Once Upon a Time, Sophie Lowe
Nellie Andreeva

English-born Australian actress Sophie Lowe has landed the lead in ABC‘s Once Upon A Time spinoff project, which now has a title, Once: Wonderland. Also cast in the presentation, from Once Upon A Time creators … Read More »

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Michael Socha Cast In ‘Once Upon A Time’ Spinoff

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday March 28, 2013 @ 1:00pm PDTTags: ABC, Michael Socha, Once Upon a Time
Nellie Andreeva

Michael SochaBritish actor Michael Socha has landed one of the three leads in ABC‘s Once Upon A Time spinoff presentation. The project, from Once Upon A Time creators Eddy Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, takes place in pre-curse Wonderland. The story is told through the point of view of Alice, who is surrounded by two major characters, The Knave of Hearts (Socha), a sardonic adventurer, a man of action, a loner and a heart-breaker; and Amahl, described as exotic, soulful and optimistic. Kitsis and Horowitz are writing the 15-20-page, four-scene presentation with input from Zack Estrin and Jane Espenson. Production is slated to begin April 7 in Vancouver, immediately following the season wrap of Once there. Read More »

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Eddy Kitsis & Adam Horowitz’s ‘Once Upon A Time’ Spinoff Set In Wonderland Takes Shape, Zack Estrin & Jane Espenson Join

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday March 19, 2013 @ 6:00pm PDTTags: ABC Studios, Once Upon a Time
Nellie Andreeva

Once Upon A Time creators Eddy Kitsis and Adam Horowitz are bringing in top-notch writer-producers to help them mount a proposed Once spinoff for … Read More »

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Ratings Rat Race: ‘Red Widow’ & ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ Soft In Debut, ‘Once’ Hits Low

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday March 4, 2013 @ 9:26am PSTTags: ABC, Once Upon a Time, Red Widow, The Celebrity Apprentice
Nellie Andreeva

Red WidowABC‘s Red Widow arguably had the biggest marketing campaign of any midseason series, including plum spots during the network’s Oscar broadcast last Sunday. For all that promotional blitz, the two-hour premiere of the mob drama fell short, extending the underwhelming track record of this year’s crop of broadcast midseason replacements. Red Widow drew a 1.4/4 among adults 18-49 from 9-11 PM and 6.9 million viewers. That was down 36% from last midseason’s debut of GCB and this fall’s opener for 666 Park Avenue. Both Sunday 10 PM ABC dramas had hourlong premieres and both have been cancelled. On the bright side, Red Widow saw very little audience erosion throughout its two-hour debut, indicating a possible future cult following. Leading into Red Widow was Once Upon a Time (2.1/6), which didn’t benefit from the Oscar exposure either, down 13% from its last original two weeks ago to a series low. Read More »

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‘Once Upon A Time’ Teases Peter Pan Season Finale At PaleyFest

By JEN YAMATO | Sunday March 3, 2013 @ 4:10pm PSTTags: Once Upon a Time, PaleyFest, PaleyFest 2013

Paleyfest 2013 Once Upon A TimeOnce Upon A Time may be wrapping up its sophomore season in Neverland. Ahead of tonight’s new episode, the cast and showrunners of ABC‘s fairy tale drama revealed that the first episode in their season-ending two-parter will be titled “Second Star To The Right” followed by the finale “And Straight On Til Morning”. A new character will be teased but not revealed until the third season, which show creators Eddie Kitsis and Adam Horowitz also promised would include the backstory of fan favorite Captain Hook (Season 2 regular Colin O’Donoghue).
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ABC’s ‘Once Upon A Time’ Recasts Mad Hatter Role With An Eye Toward Spinoff

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday February 22, 2013 @ 5:20pm PSTTags: Once Upon a Time
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE UPDATED: The Mad Hatter may get his own series. I’ve learned that ABC brass are mulling spinning the character from fairytale drama Once Upon A Time into his own series. I hear ABC’s original plan was … Read More »

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More Disney-Lucasfilm ‘Star Wars’ Synergy — This Time On ABC’s ‘Once Upon A Time’

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Sunday January 20, 2013 @ 10:52pm PSTTags: ABC, Disney, Lucasfilm, Once Upon a Time, Star Wars
Nellie Andreeva

When volunteers dressed as Darth Vader and his Storm Troopers helped build a house on an Extreme Makeover: Home Edition special a month after Disney‘s acquisition of Lucasfilm was announced, the Mouse House dismissed the corporate synergy as a coincidence as the ABC special had been filmed a year prior. But that cannot be said about tonight’s episode of ABC’s fairytale drama Once Upon A Time, which featured the Star Wars music theme. Incorporating Star Wars into the show is tricky as it takes place almost exlusively in fairytale world — past and present. But the first chance the producers had to introduce Star Wars since the Lucasfilm acquisition — when a guy from Pennsylvania drives into fairytale Storybrooke — they took it: When the stranger’s cell phone rang, its ringtone was the Star Wars theme. The homage shouldn’t come as a surprise, as Once Upon A Time creators Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis are self-professed “massive Star Wars fans.” Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Biggest Loser’ Debut Rises, NFL Dominates As Fox Wins Night

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Monday January 7, 2013 @ 9:21am PSTTags: NFL, Once Upon a Time, The Biggest Loser, The Mentalist, TV Ratings

There were original shows across the board on the networks last night with football, winter returns and premieres. Trainer Jillian Michaels rejoined The Biggest Loser (2.9/7) as the weight-loss series returned to TV with its Season 14 premiere. Centering on child obesity, this season’s two-hour debut Sunday was up a solid 21% from the 2.4/6 rating of last season’s January 3, 2012 premiere. NBC began the night at 7 PM with a two-hour Sunday season debut of Dateline NBC (1.5/4); the newsmagazine was up 20% from its January 8 airing.

Fast nationals for Fox’s Sunday primetime are approximate due to live football. The NFL playoff opener between Washington and Seattle and postgame show pushed the network’s animation block back to 8:03 PM, causing the rest of the night to slide. The game (12.1/32) pulled in an audience of 33.94 million, while the overrun and postgame show (7.6/19) garnered 19.29 million viewers in the 7:30 PM slot. After that, The Simpsons (4.4/11) was back with its first new show in three weeks as was Bob’s Burgers (3.1/8). (Three weeks ago, both saw pre-emptions due to the Sandy Hook school shooting memorial service in Newtown, which led to 1.9/5 and 1.2/3 ratings, respectively.) Compared with the last uninterrupted airings December 9, last night’s The Simpsons was up 29% and Bob’s Burgers was up 48%, the latter’s highest rating since it debut two years ago. Family Guy (3.5/8) was up 40% from its last original show two weeks ago as was American Dad (2.8/7). With an average audience of 13.676 million, Fox won the night in total viewers and adults 18-49.
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Rose McGowan Cast In ‘Once Upon A Time’ Origin Episode As Young Cora

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday December 19, 2012 @ 5:42pm PSTTags: Once Upon a Time
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: ABC’s Once Upon A Time regularly goes back in time to Storybrook residents’ former lives in fairytale land. Now the show will jump even further back in the … Read More »

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PaleyFest 2013 Set For March 1-15

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday December 5, 2012 @ 9:39am PSTTags: Once Upon a Time, PaleyFest, Revolution, The Newsroom

HBO’s The Newsroom, NBC’s Revolution and ABC’s Once Upon A Time are the first announced participants for the 30th edition of The Paley Center For Media’s TV confab, which will run March 1-15, 2013 at the Saban … Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Revenge’ & ’666 Park Avenue’ Up In Winter Finales, NFL Wins Sunday For NBC

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Monday December 3, 2012 @ 9:07am PSTTags: Once Upon a Time, Revenge, Sunday Night Football, TV Ratings

Sunday night was full of football and winter finales. ABC’s Once Upon A Time (3.1/7), Revenge (2.4/5) and the now-cancelled 666 Park Ave (1.4/3) all had their ends until next year. The fantasy drama was flat with last week, but Revenge was up 9% from last week’s Season 2 low and 666 Park Ave was up 17% from its November 25 show. Airing earlier in the evening before the finales, America’s Funniest Home Videos (1.6/4) was flat with last week.

The Dallas Cowboys beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-33 last night and thanks to Sunday Night Football (13.5/21) in time-zone-adjusted metered markets, NBC won the night in overall viewers and the adults 18-49 demographic. Those numbers will likely change when the final figures come in later. Last night’s game was down 1% from the fast nationals of last week’s Packers-Giants game. Regional NFL football ran into CBS’ schedule, with primetime not starting until 7:41 PM and pushing everything back. All fast national ratings for the network this morning are approximate. Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Once Upon A Time’ Rebounds, ‘Revenge’ Hits Low

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday November 26, 2012 @ 9:39am PSTTags: Once Upon a Time, Revenge, Sunday Night Football, TV Ratings
Nellie Andreeva

Good news for ABC’s Once Upon A Time. After hitting a season low two weeks ago following a three-week streak of ratings gains, the fairytale drama (3.0/7 in adults 18-49) rebounded last night, up 11%. (ABC’s Sunday lineup was pre-empted for the American Music Awards last week.) But Once‘s lead-out, soap Revenge (2.2/5), didn’t follow suit, dropping 12% from its season low two weeks ago to a new low mark. ABC’s Sunday bookmark series, America’s Funniest Home Videos (1.6/4) and cancelled 666 Park Avenue (1.2/3), both held steady.

Related: Lifetime’s ‘Liz & Dick’ Pulls In 3.5 Million Viewers

Fox continued to ride a ratings roller-coaster on Sunday as the network alternates with CBS in carrying NFL double-headers. It was Fox’s turn to air a late game yesterday, giving a boost to the animated comedy block. As usual, The Simpsons (3.3/8, up 38% from last week), was the biggest beneficiary as it followed immediately the network’s football coverage at 8 PM. Bob’s Burgers (2.0/5) was up 11%, Family Guy (2.8/6) up 8% and The Cleveland Show (1.9/4), airing at 9:30 PM, was up 19% from last week’s 7:30 PM telecast. Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Once Upon A Time’, ‘Revenge’ & ‘The Amazing Race’ Hit Lows

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday November 12, 2012 @ 10:01am PSTTags: 666 Park Ave, Family Guy, Once Upon a Time, Ratings, Sunday Night Football
Nellie Andreeva

Once Upon A Time‘s impressive three-week streak of ratings increases came to a screeching halt last night as the ABC fairytale drama (2.7/7) dropped 23% from last Sunday to a series low. Football had a bigger effect on broadcast networks’ lineups last night as a Fox overrun bled deeper into primetime than usual, pushing the start of the net’s regular programming to 8:20 PM and providing an atypical competition for the others. Still, Once Upon A Time was steady from its first half-hour (2.7 in 18-49), which faced the football overrun, to the second (2.8), which didn’t, meaning that whatever regular viewers the series lost to football did not come back when the game was over. ABC’s America’s Funniest Home Videos (1.4/4), which took on the brunt of the football overrun from 7-8 PM, was down 18%.

ABC’s Revenge had already been on a ratings downswing even when its lead-in Once Upon A Time was climbing in the ratings over the past three weeks. Now with Once down, Revenge (2.4/5) dropped 11% to a season low. This is not good news for the sophomore soap, which has been a soft performer in its new high-profile Sunday 9 PM slot this fall. A little better news for newcomer 666 Park Ave (1.3/3), which may have finally found the bottom, even with last Sunday’s series low. As ABC is nearing back order decision on its freshman series, the question is whether a 1.3 demo rating would be enough to warrant an order for the supernatural drama, whose chances of continuing had diminished over the last few weeks. Read More »

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Ratings Rat Race: Fox Comedy Block Down In Return, ’666′ & ‘Wife’ Hit Lows, ‘Once’ Up

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday November 5, 2012 @ 10:18am PSTTags: Once Upon a Time, Ratings, Sunday Night Football, The Cleveland Show
Nellie Andreeva

This is what a long hiatus could do to a network’s lineup. Fox’s Sunday comedy block posted across-the-board double-digit ratings declines last night in its return from a month-long break for baseball coverage. The comedies dropped despite following an NFL overrun last night vs. a Simpsons rerun in their last outing four weeks ago. For The Cleveland Show (1.9/5 in adults 18-49), the hiatus came right after its Oct. 7 season premiere. In its second airing for the season, the animated comedy last night was down 14% from its opener. The Simpsons (2.6/6) was down 16% from four weeks ago, Bob’s Burgers (1.8/4) down 22%, Family Guy (2.5/6) down 26% and American Dad (1.9/4) down 27%.

ABC’s Once Upon A Time (3.5/8) climbed another tenth in 18-49 from last Sunday to post its third straight week of ratings gains and finish again as the highest-rated drama of the week in Live+Same Day. ABC also got good news at 7 PM where veteran America’s Funniest Home Videos (1.7/4) was solid, up a tenth (31%) for a second consecutive week-to-week ratings increase and a season high. But Revenge (2.6/6) shed another tenth as it continued its slide. And freshman 666 Park Avenue (1.4/4), whose fate is about to be decided shortly as it doesn’t have a back episodic order, didn’t help its cause, down 13% from last week to a series low. With one exception, the spooky drama has declined every week since its debut to tie 23-year-old AFHV that airs in the low-rent 7 PM hour last night. Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Sunday Night Football’ Tops World Series, ‘Once’ Gains

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday October 29, 2012 @ 9:47am PDTTags: Once Upon a Time, Ratings, Sunday Night Football, World Series
Nellie Andreeva

Fox did not catch a break with the World series this year. First, none of the big TV audience draws, The Yankees or the Red Sox, made it to the final, sending ratings down double-digits for the opening games. Then the Giants swept the series in four games. The NLCS championship series at least went to seven games, but Fox could’ve used three more nights of World Series ratings instead of reruns in a fall season it’s been struggling, down double-digits from last year. To make things worse, the deciding Game 4 went against football on NBC, which won the face-off. In the time-adjusted metered market households, Sunday Night Football drew a 11.4 rating/17 share vs. 10.6/16 for the World Series. The Broncos-Saints SNF game was virtually even with last week’s 11.7 rating against Game 6 of the NLCS series. Fox still won the night in 18-49 with help from an NFL overrun. Read More »

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Ratings Rat Race: ’666 Park Ave’ Starts Low; ‘Once’ & ‘Revenge’ Return On Par; CBS, Fox Shows Down; ‘SNF’ Logs Best Week 4 Game

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday October 1, 2012 @ 10:07am PDTTags: 666 Park Avenue, Once Upon a Time, Ratings, Revenge, Sunday Night Football
Nellie Andreeva

ABC’s fairytale drama Once Upon A Time made a solid return last night with a 3.8/10 in adults 18-49, a tenth below the fast national for its big series debut last fall. It was the highest-rated scripted series of the night despite Fox’s lineup getting an NFL boost. Soap Revenge posted a 3.2/7 in its second-season premiere in the new Sunday 9 PM slot. It was a respectable showing — a tenth below its series premiere last fall in the Wednesday 10 PM slot with a huge Modern Family lead-in and up 7% from the final season opener of Desperate Housewives in the Sunday 9 PM berth last September. It also dominated CBS’ The Good Wife (1.8/4) in the time period. But ABC’s new spooky drama 666 Park Avenue (2.2/5) was off to a slow start at 10 PM, down 29% from last fall’s debut of the now-defunct Pan Am.  Read More »

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