Mateas Media Consulting

Mateas Media Consulting

Write to:

Lisa at mateas.com

More areas of interest:

TV History

Mateas Family

Mateas Media Consulting 

Fall 2003-2004 UPN TV Network Programming Schedule

 Descriptions and Analysis

New Series in blue.

Click on underlined titles for information.

Here's the link to the UPN Fall Schedule Website.  

New Series

All of Us: Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith are among the executive producers of this new family comedy about the special challenges and rewards facing divorced parents starting new families.   In fact, the Smiths' own experiences as a couple served as inspiration for the premise, and of course doesn't UPN wish they'd star in the show themselves, we'll bet.  However, they've assembled a nice cast, including Duane Martin (The Groomsmen), Tony Rock (Chris' brother), LisaRaye (The Player's Club) and Elise Neal (The Hughleys, Brian's Song) that should help this show get off the ground.  As with many new shows this year, All of Us is up against huge competition -- five new shows in the same Tuesday night time period -- and although UPN obviously doesn't expect miracles, it would be nice for Will Smith's cachet to help sampling for the show, and he and his wife's announced guest appearances will be an asset.  Premiere Date:  9/16/03.  Update 10/15/03:  Picked up by UPN for a full season.  Update 3/23/04:  AoU will get an extra play on Friday nights, where UPN is trying out a comedy block beginning 3/26.

Jake 2.0: It's about time TV embraced nanotechnology, and the creators of Jake 2.0 have taken the plunge.  When computer whiz Jake gets a dose of errant nanites -- teeny eeny weeny little machines that fix whatever's not working at optimum efficiency -- into his body, he's suddenly transformed into a superhuman dynamo with powers far beyond those of humans without nanites coursing through their bodies.  Why, it's enough to make the National Security Agency up and form a new Special Ops team with their new wonder boy at its center, and here the fun begins.  Starring Christopher Gorham (Felicity, Odyssey 5) as Jake, along with Marina Black (Six Feet Under), Matt Czuchry (Eight Legged Freaks, Young Americans), Philip Anthony-Rodriguez, Judith Scott (CSI, L.A. Doctors) and Keegan Connor Tracy (Final Destination 2), Jake 2.0 might finally be the show that will be able to convince Enterprise viewers to stick around UPN for another hour.  It's not for lack of trying that UPN hasn't been able to fashion something to hold the Trek fans, and at least one really terrific show -- Special Unit 2 -- fell victim to the timeslot the season before last.  Now that The West Wing is drooping maybe drama viewers will check out Jake 2.0 instead, but then again, they might opt for Angel in its new time period.  Where are those pesky nanites when you need them, eh, UPN?  I wonder what they'd do to your fall schedule....  Premiere Date:  9/10/03, following the early season preem for Enterprise.  Review 9/25/03:  It's the Geek from U.N.C.L.E., the awkward brainy boy version of Jennifer Garner's sexy, slit-skirt spy antics in Alias.  The equally brainy girl scientist who's Jake's nanite wrangler is played a tad too ditzy, but what's a gal genius to do?  Jake's got a stern black lady handler who brooks no nonsense, but that doesn't stop Christopher Gorham's nearly maniacal but endearing smile from breaking out now and again.  Thankfully so far this show is refreshingly devoid (mostly) of the angst that seems to infect most dramas with young stars, and I'm hoping the nanites can keep Jake on his crazy course for the rest of the season. Update 10/2:  UPN gave Jake 2.0 and The Mullets an extra let's-try-for-some-sampling run on Friday 9/26, and predictably, they were buried by the formidable competition on what's become an amazing night of TV.  I've got that I've-fallen-in-love-with-a-doomed-series -- make that a couple of doomed series -- feeling right now....   Update 10/15/03:  UPN has announced that Jake 2.0 (and Enterprise) will now be available in HDTV.  Update 11/7/03:  UPN has given Jake 2.0 its full season order.  Hallelujah!  Update 1/28/04:  Jake's been on unofficial hiatus since encores of America's Top Model have been in its time period, and now UPN has announced a further Wednesday shake-up effective March 10th -- new animated series Game Over and a return of The Mullets will take over the 8pm Enterprise slot, which then moves to 9pm.  Where's Jake??     

The Mullets: Hey, either you get what's great about mullets, or you don't.  The producers of this show obviously do, because they've concocted a one of the few genuinely absurd-sounding series of this whole season around them, and that in itself deserves a hand.  Michael Weaver (Super Troopers) and David Hornsby (Six Feet Under) are the distinctive-haircut-wearing brothers Dwayne and Denny Mullet, roofers by trade but dreamers by nature.  Their mother Mandi is played by the still va-va-va-voomatic Loni Anderson (who looks as though she had some extensive plastic surgery work done, which is too bad), and her new and slightly-horrified husband Roger should be done to an officious and amusing turn by the droll John O' Hurley (J. Peterman on Seinfeld).  It will be interesting to see if there's some kind of a media backlash against the lower middle-class characters and concept of this show.  People are already calling The Mullets stupid and mocking the show's very existence, but it sounds like the craziest show this season.  Will it make any difference that that creative team behind the show also worked on The Simpsons and Futurama?  We'll see.  Go Mullets Go!  Update:  UPN will give The Mullets a sneak preview after a truncated Smackdown on 9/11/03, with the official premiere date on 9/16/03.  Review 9/25/03:  Hey, it's not Shakespeare, but there's an overarching sense of goofus goodwill infusing this show that makes you smile in spite of yourself.  It's a one-note joke tune to be sure, but the Mullet brothers are such cockeyed optimists and their mother Mandi so much a bosomy and beautiful enthusiasm machine that you just might end up wanting a little bit of what they're having, which is probably a nice cool beer.  Although Television doesn't believe, deep down, that it's okay to be poor, The Mullets at least gives a high-five to the so-called white trash lifestyle, and that's better than a kick in the teeth.  Update 10/2:  After several weeks and an extra Friday play, the future of The Mullets doesn't look good, though it's one of the most true-to-its-intent and genuine shows on this season.  I'm afraid this unusually heartfelt comic vision is going to be gone soon, so watch while you can.  Update 10/21/03:  Like duh, The Mullets has been taken off the schedule beginning tonight, with seven of its 13 episodes unseen.  While not dismissing the possibility that the show could return at some point, UPN is filling the slot with repeats of their Monday comedies and probably the new America's Top Model sometime soon.  A show this different didn't have a chance, see above.  Update 1/28/04:  Wow!  Newly announced Wednesday shake-up is good news for The Mullets; it'll be back at 8:30p following debut animated series Game Over.  Enterprise moves to 9pm.  Changes take place beginning Wednesday March 10th.  Update 3/24/04:  So much for returning from the dead.  The Mullets are now out after two weeks, and don't count on this one showing up again.  Somebody at UPN obviously liked the show well enough to keep plugging away with it, but to no avail.  

Eve (nee The Opposite Sex): An extremely attractive, multi-ethnic cast -- Grammy-winning singer Eve (Barbershop, XXX) Bumper Robinson (Sabrina, the Teenage Witch),  Ali Landry (Miss USA 1996, Felicity, Pensacola: Wings of Gold), Natalie Desselle (For Your Love, B*A*P*S*), Eddie McClintock (A*U*S*A*), Brian Hooks (Chatroom, Malibooty) -- stars in this sexy comedy which is probably closer in spirit to NBC's new Coupling than anything else, but isn't getting any of the naughty spin of that show.  It's a take on contemporary male/female relationships and could be especially sassy with rapper Eve leading the pack.  Yes, of course this is aimed primarily at a black audience and probably won't get much cross-over viewing, but UPN has a clear vision on Monday nights and that's just what you need when you're up against CBS' comedy block. Update 6/03:  Show title officially changed to Eve to capitalize on the star's popularity and name recognition.  Premiere Date:  9/15/03.  Update 10/15/03:  Picked up for a full season by UPN.

Rock Me Baby: This one's got a premise that almost seems new.  Dan Cortese (Veronica's Closet) plays radio shock jock Jimmy whose real-life domestic bliss with his wife Beth, played by Bianca Kajlich (Dawson's Creek, Boston Public), and their cute new baby threatens to compromise his wild man on-air image.  Carl Anthony Payne (Martin) plays Jimmy's radio partner and Joey Slotnick (Alias, Boston Public) is his boss.  This is one for guys who think they've retained their cool and their senses of humor after fatherhood (and how many times does that not happen), and for the women watching...well, they get to see a baby, which is often enough.  Tough, tough competition will probably keep most viewers from even sampling this new show, but it sure doesn't sound that much worse than anything else out there, and that's saying something.  Premiere Date:  9/16/03.  Review 9/25/03:  Well, this show will be hilarious to couples with babies, and not so much for those of us without those diapered encumbrances.  Beth and Jimmy's marital milieu appropriately veers between pussywhipping and cuddling, and they already have the (this season at least) requisite gay quotient taken care of courtesy of their new friends, the 2-man neighbor couple with their own little baby.  The banter between Jimmy and his radio partner is lame and unfunny -- hey, just like real radio DJs!  Rock Me Baby isn't particularly terrible, it's just totally predictable even with a premise that hasn't been explicitly done before.  Recommended for parents of young infants only.  Update 11/13/03:  UPN has picked up Rock Me Baby for an additional 9 episodes, filling up a full season order, citing time period and young men growth numbers.  Update 11/20/03:  Rock Me Baby will go on hiatus for 10 weeks beginning January 13th while America's Next Top Model airs.

Midseason Series

Game Over:  Slated to premiere on UPN's re-jiggered Wednesday night, Game Over tells the animated story of what videogame characters do when the console or computer is off.  Blessed with the voices of the always entertaining Patrick Warburton (The Tick) with Lucy Liu as his wife, Game Over could be a crazy hit with a much-desired young demographic.  I'm somebody who loves videogames, and from what I've read the producers of this show do also; if so, they'll hopefully capture the giddy thrills and humor every gameplayer cherishes and would love to see brought to TV .  The trailer spoofs The Sims and the Tom Clancy-type mission games; check it out on the show's official website. You've got to give UPN big ups for trying something different and trying hard to get some gas into their Wednesday night.  Premiere Date:  3/10/04.  Update 3/24/04:  Yipes!  Dead in the water on Wednesdays, even with an extra exposure play on a Friday, Game Over has been moved to Fridays at 8pm for an hour, followed by two UPN comedies.  Review 3/24/03:  If you are a fan of family sitcoms, this is really for you.  Liking or loving videogames isn't a requirement, but you better love the oh-so-familiar give-and-take of family situation comedies, because, no matter how much CGI you throw at the screen, that's what this is.  Cute in its genre, it looks great but seems not to have the edge that it wishes it had, and needs to have, if it's going to succeed in such a strange new niche -- computer-animated comedies.  Sci Fi Channel made a stink about UPN's claims of being first in the form, what with their Tripping The Rift making it to air just a week or so before Game Over.  However, it's probably the substance, not the form, that might be keeping Game Over from being a breakout hit.  We'll see what happens now that it's relegated to Friday nights, but this looks like it's going to be a short game indeed, and no respawning, either.  (Gamers know what I'm talking about there).  Updated 4/6/04:  Game Over's over, looks like, with UPN putting it on immediate hiatus, and filling their Friday with movies for the time being.