Be ready for more reboots, superheroes and soldiers
You never know exactly what you’re going to witness at the Television Critics Association summer press tour, a 16- day marathon that concluded last week.
So was that really Snoop Dogg riding an insanely tricked- out bike across the stage to hype his new gig as host of an updated version of “The Joker’s Wild”? Yes, that happened. The press tour can be a little zany at times, but it also offers an opportunity to get a good read on where the industry is headed as it prepares to unleash a mind- boggling barrage of new fall shows.
With that in mind, here are six things we learned from our long stay in Southern California:
REBOOTS, REVIVALS AND REGURGITATION » Welcome back to the era of VHS. In an ongoing trend, everything old is new again.
NBC is bringing back “Will & Grace,” and ABC is dusting off “Roseanne,” both of which will return with their original main casts intact. Also, brace yourself for updated remakes of “Dynasty” ( The CW) and “S.W. A.T.” (CBS) that offer up fresh faces and “contemporary” story lines.
And, of course, there will be many more to come down the road. We may soon see remakes of “King of the Hill,” “Lost in Space,” “Charmed,” and “The L Word” — just to name a few. THE END ISN’T ALWAYS THE END » Forget how the orig--
inal runs of “Will & Grace” and “Roseanne” went out. Apparently, it’s OK for producers to rewrite history.
When “Will & Grace” returns, the show will blatantly ignore the 2006 finale that jumped ahead 20 years and had the title characters growing apart as they started new families with Vince ( Bobby Cannavale) and Leo (Harry Connick Jr.).
“That was more or less a fantasy,” co- creator David Kohan said. “It was a projection into the future.”
Meanwhile, producers of “Roseanne” will actually raise the dead, reviving John Goodman’s Dan Conner, who had suffered a fatal heart attack. IT’S SILICON VALLEY VS. THE ESTABLISHMENT » Even before Los Gatos-based Netflix poached prolific producer Shonda Rhimes from ABC, FX Networks chief John Landgraf was bashing Silicon Valley’s “winner take all” mentality and warned that traditional broadcast and cable networks face a “titanic struggle” in the war for top-tier talent.
Landgraf claimed that Internet giants such as Netflix, Amazon and increasingly, Apple, contribute to a “glut of oversupply” that is hurting the medium. The online companies, he added, produce an extraordinary amount of programming at enormous costs — often absorbing significant losses — while valuing algorithms, platforms and scale over a more personal approach.
“We can’t do what they do,” Landgraf said. “( But) I’m not interested in making the world’s largest allyou- can- eat buffet.” A MARVEL- OUS WORLD? » There may come a day when viewers suffer from superhero fatigue, but don’t tell that to Jeph Loeb. The Marvel TV boss was on hand to tout three new shows from his studio, including “Inhumans” (ABC), “The Gifted” ( Fox) and “Runaways” (Hulu).
They join a robust stable of other Marvel productions, including six — yes, six — on Netflix.
How much is too much? All of the new shows, in some way, deal with real people who possess extraordinary powers. It’s not like we haven’t seen a lot of that already.
“Inhumans,” in particular, has drawn scorn from critics, who found an early version of the pilot to be less than thrilling.
Loeb’s response? It’s a work in progress. SUPPORTING THE TROOPS » Break out the camouflage. Tales of military heroism loom large this fall as three broadcast dramas will focus on American men and women in uniform.
“Valor” ( The CW) tells the story of an elite unit of helicopter pilots on international and domestic missions. “Seal Team,” starring David Boreanaz, follows a group of Navy SEALs as it juggles risky missions and personal lives. And “The Brave” ( NBC) is pegged to a Special Ops squad of highly trained undercover soldiers.
On cable, the National Geographic Channel has “The Long Road Home,” a true- life drama series based on Martha Raddatz’s book about an American platoon that was ambushed near Baghdad in a 2004 attack that came to be known as “Black Sunday.” SHOUT- OUTS TO THE BAY AREA » Two broadcast dramas will be set in Bay Area cities this fall and — surprise — San Francisco won’t be hogging the spotlight.
ABC’s “The Good Doctor,” a medical drama about a highly skilled surgeon ( Freddie Highmore) with autism, is set in San Jose. “Wisdom of the Crowd,” a CBS drama about a tech titan (Jeremy Piven) who creates a crowdsourcing app to solve his daughter’s murder, will call Oakland home.
Meanwhi le , “T he Mayor,” an ABC comedy being executive produced by “Hamilton” star and Oakland native Daveed Diggs, is set in a “fictional Bay Area city” that Diggs said will have an Oakland vibe to it. The show follows a young rapper who makes an improbable jump to local politics.
Contact Chuck Barney at cbarney@bayareanewsgroup.com. Follow him at Twitter.com/chuckbarney and Facebook.com/ bayareanewsgroup. chuckbarney.