Girls in white T-shirts tethered to huge balloons emblazoned with the names of various Fox shows threatened to be carried off by the giant orbs they were holding as they lined the streets that lead up to the Beacon Theater Monday afternoon indicating the Spectacular! Spectacular! spectacle that was to come at the Fox 2010-2011 upfront.
After a video montage of Fox shows set to Ke$ha's "Tik Tok" (Seriously, why won't that song die?), Fox trotted out the casts of every hit show on stage for a quick wave — the cast of Glee (God bless you Sue Sylvester, and your trusty bullhorn), Bones, Lie to Me, a smug seeming Kara and Randy of AI, Fringe (Hi, Pacey), Human Target (Awkward much, recently divorced Fox stars Anna Torv and Mark Valley?), Seth "I own Sunday nights" MacFarlane, kiddie-finder John Walsh, the casts of new shows hoping to score the next hit, and finally the amiable Hugh Laurie of House, who introduced the suits that did the hard-sell for the next hour: The Internet didn't kill TV, 80 percent of TV viewing is live, there is now more than one television set per person per household, blah, blah, blah.
But on to those new comedies and dramas slated to premiere next season:
Lonestar
The Dallas meets The Riches oil/conman soap seems to be a big-ticket item with newbie James Wolk doing his best (and much younger) Kyle Chandler impression.
Running Wilde
The comedy already has Arrested Development fans salivating, featuring a pedigree with AD creator Mitch Hurwitz and star Will Arnett, along with she-of-the-legendary mane, Keri Russell, and a really, really tiny horse (take that, Einstein).
The Good Guys
The buddy cop show that audiences will get a taste of during May sweeps before launching full-time in the fall, boasts both a heavily-mustached Bradley Whitford and the straight-laced Colin Hanks.
Terra Nova
The as-yet uncast, high-concept drama from Steven Spielberg is a seemingly expensive gamble where a family from the future is sent back to prehistoric earth (read: dinosaurs). No clips yet.
Raising Hope
Meanwhile, seemingly the best thing about this family sitcom from Greg Garcia of My Name is Earl fame, seems to be the return of Martha Plimpton playing — wait for it — a grandmother (Yes, apparently you are that old).
Ride-Along
This midseason series is yet another cop drama, but this time it's set in Chicago. So far, it looks like a cross between a watered down version of The Wire and The Shield, with a struggling police force and corrupt city politics. Hi, Jennifer Beals!
Bob's Burgers
This new animated series is about — you guessed it, a man, his fam, and his burger shop. Not feeling this one yet.
Mixed Signals
Finally, this comedy looks like a misfire about three male friends and their various degrees of relationships. It was nice to see The Office's Roy (David Denman) again for a minute, anyway.
