Cable's Summer Of Buzz

Cable World,  June 30, 2003  

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And, lest we forget, the big returning series: USA's The Dead Zone (this Sunday) and Showtime's Street Time (Aug. 6).

There will be a blizzard of made-fors during the hot months, most courtesy of TNT. Caesar aired last week, but coming in October is Wilder Days. This one stars Peter Falk as a granddad who relates stories to his grandson about the circus boat he once worked on; it's another Johnson & Johnson Spotlight presentation. J&J also produced Door to Door, maybe TNT's most distinguished made-for ever. Prince Charming airs in late July, but for my money, the most interesting TNT movies air this fall, including Bad Apple, with Chris Noth as an FBI agent, and the remake of Neil Simon's The Goodbye Girl. TBS's Red Water, with Lou Diamond Phillips (Aug. 17), about a couple terrorized by sharks, looks good too.

A&E's Hornblower and the Hotspur airs in December. The Mayor of Casterbridge, based on the Thomas Hardy novel, airs Aug. 17.

But herewith the movie that will get endless press, endless accolades: And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself, with Antonio Banderas, about D.W. Griffith's filming of a battle fought by the famed Mexican revolutionary. HBO hasn't announced an airdate, but mid-September's a good bet.

And, Angels in America, the Mike Nichols-directed six-hour epic play about gay life in America. No airdate, but this will definitely air over two nights in December. The HBO original Undefeated, with John Leguizamo, airs July 26.

Next, we've got reality, and cable is introducing any number of unusual wrinkles on the (by now) well-established form. Let's start with the new top 100 craze. Both E! and VH1 have cornered this new format. VH1 has 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders: Viewers' Choice (Sept.1) and the five-hour special 100 Greatest Sexy Moments in Pop Culture (week of Dec. 15), while both E! and VH1 have jumped on the shocking moments in celebritydom format: VH1's 100 Shocking Moments in Pop Culture (Nov. 11), and E!'s 101 Shocking Moments (no airdate yet).

E! is going crazy on (what else?) celebs. We've got behind-the-scenes shows on Hollywood wives, entertainment editors and celebrity feuds. But E! will also exploit the other hot new trend in reality: makeovers. The one of note is Star Struck, about ordinary people who become stars. Bravo's got Queer Eye for the Straight Guy (July 15), in which gay guys make over straight guys (to help them get straight girls...go figure). Lifetime's makeover take is Head 2 Toe (July 26), while Style has a home makeover show (Clean House, July), and TLC has Date Patrol (Sept. 20), a date makeover show.

There's more. ABC Family is remaking Dance Fever (July 13) and following Melissa Joan Hart (Tying the Knot) during a six-week reality mini devoted to her wedding, part of a subgenre within a subgenre: the celeb wedding reality series. On MTV's Newlyweds: Nick & Jessica (Aug. 4), viewers will be treated to the spectacle of Nick Lachey (98 Degrees) and Jessica Simpson enjoying connubial bliss.