From an article previewing CBS's fall TV schedule:
-----------------------------------------------------
Most years, a Joel Silver-produced drama about a private eye who also happens to be a vampire would easily qualify as the Eye's "out there" pilot. But this spring, "Twilight" is just one of several shows that might make Tassler's traditional-leaning boss Leslie Moonves go "hmmmmm" when he screens them.
On the fantasy/sci-fi side, "Babylon Fields" is an hour Tassler describes as " 'Ordinary People' meets 'Day of the Living Dead.' " In other words, yes, there are zombies -- but the show's also about personal relationships, and what happens when the ex-wife you thought was dead suddenly is back in your life.
Then there's "Demons," the Joe Roth-produced drama from "Joan of Arcadia" creator Barbara Hall. It's about a priest waging war with Satan on more than one front.
More grounded (well, sort of) contenders include "Swingtown," a drama set in the 1970s that explores what happens to families when couples swap partners.
There's also "Viva Laughlin," a new take on a Blighty series about a Nevada casino owner who's flying by the seat of his pants. The upshot: Every once in a while, the characters break out in song.
As far-out as some of the drama concepts might seem, Tassler cautions that there's not as much difference as there might seem between these new ideas and, say, "CSI."
"Within even our more outrageous choices, there is at the core a relatability," she says. "That's a significant part of all our shows. They need to have characters that are flawed, that are identifiable. Audiences have to be able to look at a character or circumstances and say, 'That could be me, or that is someone I know.' "
-----------------------------------------------------
http://www.variety.com/article/VR111...goryid=14&cs=1
The article refers to the new lineup as "sexy", and frames it as CBS launching a battle to win Fox's younger viewers.
Discuss.
