Turner Nets Showcase Upcoming Highlights

NEW YORK: Turner Broadcasting executives highlighted the success of the original programming strategy at TNT, TBS and truTV at the company’s Upfront in New York, unveiling a host of upcoming titles and development projects from the likes of Steven Spielberg and Steven Bochco, among others.

"Our networks are continuing to grow as rivals to broadcasters, with original programming that reaches a wide spectrum of viewers," said Steve Koonin, the president of Turner Entertainment Networks. "With TNT, we are delivering on our promise to air original programming three nights a week. TBS is offering shows that attract young viewers and a diverse audience, while truTV continues to expand its lineup of exciting original series."

"More people are watching television than ever before, driven by ad-supported cable networks, and the medium remains a great place for advertisers and the best way to reach a mass audience," added David Levy, the president of ad sales, distribution and sports at Turner Broadcasting System. "With reach that rivals broadcast and our continued investment in original programming, our portfolio of entertainment networks provides tremendous value for our advertising partners’ media budgets. Our clients are demanding more and know they can turn to Turner Entertainment Networks and utilize the power of our brands, our programming and our strategic marketing partnerships to help drive attention to their brands."

TNT will bringing back four original series this summer: The Closer, for its fifth season, Saving Grace, back for a third run, and Raising the Bar, from Steven Bochco, and Leverage, from Dean Devlin, both back for a second season. Three news shows are also rolling out this summer: Hawthorne, a medical drama with Jada Pinkett Smith, Dark Blue, a police drama from producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and Wedding Day, new series from DreamWorks Television and Mark Burnett that gives deserving couples the wedding of their dreams. 

At the end of the year, TNT will present a new show, Men of a Certain Age, a character-based drama from Everybody Loves Raymond‘s Ray Romano and Mike Royce. Romano will star in the project, which will take a wry look at what it means to be a guy approaching mid-life, with Andre Braugher and Scott Bakula.

Projects in development at TNT include an untitled alien invasion project from Spielberg at DreamWorks Television. Ordered to pilot, it is set six months after a worldwide alien invasion, when a group of everyday heroes must rise up to fight for their survival. From Bochco comes Class Action, which follows a down-on-his-luck attorney as he fights for the disenfranchised. The Closer star Kyra Sedgwick and her husband Kevin Bacon co-conceived and will executive produce Zapata, Texas, the story of a small Texas border town and its newly elected sheriff. Roseanne’s creator Matt Williams is developing a drama about middle-American family that is keeping it together at a time when everything is trying to pull them apart. Other titles in the works include one set in 1954 Los Angeles, from Daniel Pyne; Pastor Jazz with Charles S. Dutton; Macalister, about a washed-up-novelist-turned-professor; and Proof, with an eccentric neuroscientist who uses his unique outlook to help the federal government solve complex cases. TNT s also developing two unscripted series: The Mayo Clinic and Trip of a Lifetime.

Upcoming highlights on TBS include, for next year, the animated series Neighbors From Hell, about a typical suburban family that happens to hail from the underworld. It comes to TBS from Fox TV Animation, DreamWorks Animation and Jeffrey Katzenberg. Development projects include The Game of Life, a sitcom executive-produced by Kevin Games about a group of friends reuniting in their early 30s; the animated Big Tow and the sketch comedy Wee Hours from Second City TV.

At truTV, new additions to the schedule include NFL Full Contact, providing exclusive access to what really goes on behind the scenes in professional football; Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura, U.S. Special Ops: Declassified and the four-part Full Throttle. "We looked at what has been most successful in building our audience and found that young guys really respond to competition, to situations with consequences, to great characters and to a little comic relief," said Marc Juris, the executive VP and general manager for truT. "We are using these insights as the cornerstones of our new programming for truTV."