Upfronts 2011--NBC and FOX

Upfronts 2011 began yesterday with a Bob Greenblatt conference call, in which he announced the fall schedule for the 2011-2012 NBC TV year. Since I'm independent blogger with zero press credentials, I learned everything from hitfix.com's two TV critics. I mostly ignore the boasts from the various network execs during upfronts because they all believe they developed the best TV shows. If the same network executives felt 2010-2011 was their best development year then I certainly won't trust anything they say about this development year. In case you missed it in Saturday's blog post, zero new TV shows I reviewed this past TV year received a second season. ZERO. So far, the upfronts haven't made me excited for September because two shows I look forward to have been relegated to mid-season launches. The other show earned the Friday night death timeslot.

-FOX and NBC are complete opposites. FOX is a successful network with a number of veteran TV shows that earn money while NBC's desperate to find new hits. FOX cancelled every bubble show because they could while NBC kept Chuck because it's numbers were good enough, and they had nothing else to replace it with the last few years. NBC ordered more new series but FOX ordered some. Zoey Deschanel's half-hour comedy received a pick-up. Bones' spin-off, The Finder, will air during Bones' mid-season hiatus. On NBC, Party Down show runner, John Enbom, has a new series in the fall. The majority of their new shows, though, seem boring.

-You won't find schedule breakdowns in The Foot. The professionals can worry about whether or not the FOX 9PM Monday time-slot's as valuable as it's been in years past, or whether The Voice threatens The X Factor's potential as a breakout. I care about the stories, the characters and the writers responsible for said stories and characters. Yes, television's a business. I'm overlooking it. I doubt that anyone reading a blog titled TV With The Foot really expects ground-breaking television business coverage and analysis though.

-Two of my most anticipated new series received mid-season launches. Kyle Killen's Awake and JJ Abrams' Alcatraz won't premiere until January. Alcatraz will debut once Terra Nova leaves the airwaves. Awake, meanwhile, is simply a mid-season launch--no other information exists.

-NBC decided to air Grimm on Friday nights, opposite supernatural and genre staples Fringe and Supernatural. I watched a 1 minute scene from Grimm, and the monster reminded me of the first season of ANGEL. I'm going to review the series because David Greenwalt created it. I doubt the series lasts 22 episodes though because of its Friday night timeslot but maybe the Chuck audience will help Grimm out.

-Beyond those three shows, nothing else interests me from FOX or NBC. Terra Nova's received enormous buzz. I only know that series suffered numerous pitfalls in the last year of production. Steven Spielberg's a producer. Terra Nova will air at 8PM on FOX this Fall. I'll watch the pilot.

-For the rest of NBC and FOX upfront news, check out hitfix.com or deadline.com or thefutoncritic.com.