Upfronts 2011: Three Shows you cannot afford to miss

Upfront presentations are integral to the way that American television works. The practice developed as networks had to entice advertisers with previews of the next season's shows, and they soon became industry events with journalists invited too. The upfronts have now turned into an event where the hype machine goes into overdrive, teasing fans with upcoming shows.

 

Shows given the axe this year included the long-running ABC family drama, Brothers and Sisters, the reimagined sci-fi drama V, and one of last year's hotly tipped breakout hits that underwhelmed instead, The Event. Fans of shows cancelled this season were also be left broken-hearted, as many of the show's production teams were not told until after production of their current seasons had wrapped.

 

The upfronts allowed all of the major American television networks the opportunity to showcase what shows they would be launching later on this year, as well as fuelling celebrity gossip by revealing that Ashton Kutcher would be replacing the beleaguered Hollywood star, Charlie Sheen, in the hit sitcom Two and a Half Men.

 

Pan-Am - ABC

When Mad Men launched four years ago, it left the big four networks shaking in their boots after the drama proved to be one of the highest-rated shows airing on basic cable. Pan-Am seeks to recreate the glitz and glory of the ‘60s for a more mainstream audience, focusing on the lives on board and off the era defining airline.

 

Starring Christina Ricci and former Neighbours actress Margot Robbie, the show has certainly picked up a lot of buzz. Set to broadcast in late September on ABC, celebrity news sources have yet to report which UK broadcaster has picked it up.

 

Awake - NBC

Starring British actor Jason Issacs, the show's producers have billed Awake as an Inception-style mind-bending thriller. After detective Michael Britten (Issacs) and his family suffer a fatal car accident, Britten awakes to find that his mind is living between two realities: one where his wife dies during the crash, another where his son has died instead. Unable to determine which reality is real, the detective leads a double life by flitting between the two.

 

Awake looks set to satisfy all those fans who loved the edge-of-the-seat drama Christopher Nolan brought to the cinema last summer, together with a strong and gripping lead portrayed by Isaacs.

 

Alcatraz – Fox

From the brain of the master of modern sci-fi television drama, JJ Abrams, Alcatraz follows a San Franciscan police officer drawn into investigating how a ruthless prisoner managed to escape from the impenetrable prison on Alcatraz Island when it was closed in 1969. Hired by a shady government officer, and assisted by a self-confessed Alcatraz geek, the officer must find out how and why the prisoner managed to travel across time from 1969 and stop him from wreaking havoc in modern-day San Francisco.

 

Hotly tipped to fill the Lost-shaped void, the programme is unfortunately being held back until the midseason period in early 2012.

 

Whether or not you're looking forward to these shows, you've got to hand it to the American networks. This year's roster of shows definitely will appeal to audiences, however old or conservative they are. Whether or not they can live up to expectation is another matter altogether. 

About the Author