upfronts, day 4: you know the score

UPN and Fox released their fall schedules today, and all I have to say is ... ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT IS BACK FOR A THIRD SEASON!

Let's start with Fox. So I'm guessing it didn't come as any surprise that Jonny Zero, Life on a Stick, North Shore, Point Pleasant, Quintuplets and Tru Calling were canceled, right? Especially since Tru was canceled at the beginning of this past season, only to be brought back from the dead (oh, the irony) just so Fox could say they didn't waste any money. I think it's more of a surprise that Fox hasn't canceled the Pamela Lee-staring Stacked. I guess big boobs beat big ratings, after all.

Sadly, or ironically, so far Fox is the only network to offer shows that I may check out. First, there's Reunion, which is supposed to follow six high school friends over the course of 20 years, with each episode representing one year. And there's a murder plot. This is pretty original, but it really depends on whether the writers will be able to pull it off. Then there's Prison Break, which Fox is already promoting. The basic jist of this show is that a brother commits a crime so he can get into prison and break out his death-row brother, whom he believes is innocent. It could offer some good stories, but again, only if the writers can pull it off. The Gate also seems OK. The show follows two detectives in San Francisco's Deviant Crime Unit. But it is a cop show. So it might take off, or it might blow. The SF background might help it out. Again, writers will really have to work to distinguish this show from all the other CSI: Special Victims Miami Watching With No Trace shows.

For the shows that don't seem like they'll work, there's Kitchen Confidential, which is supposed to follow a rock star chef who boozes and uses women. Wasn't this already done with the reality show The Restaurant? Bones, although it stars David Boreanaz (Angel), just sounds a little stupid. A forensic anthropologist finding clues in bones? Sorry, sounds a little like the Profiler meets Millenium. As for sitcoms, there's The War at Home, which just sounds horrible. So I won't talk about it. If you wanna read about it, go to Zap2It. It stars Michael Rappaport as a parent. Woot?

Then there's UPN.

Nothing really stands out here, except for the new Shannon Doherty show titled Love, Inc., and that's purely just for the bitch factor that is Shannon Doherty. The ground is pretty well worn, especially since the exact same show was on last season and called Miss Match and staring Alicia Silverstone. I'll still probably check it out, but again, solely for Shannon. Everything else is too horrible to mention.

Again, if you want to read about any of the shows I haven't mentioned because I think they aren't worth mentioning, visit Zap2It. They tend to be pretty neutral. Tend is the magic word.

Well, that's all for the upfronts. This sad excuse for a new season will mostly start in the fall, with a few getting late summer starts. I'll bitch about them more then.