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Fall 2004-2005 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 2004 Fall Schedule Website.  

Midseason:  The Bad Girl's Guide

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.  Update 5/19/04:  All of Us gets a bump up to 8pm in its 2nd season.

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.  Update 5/19/04:  Eve moves over from Mondays to Tuesday for its second season.  

Kevin Hill:   The talented (and righteously gorgeous) Taye Diggs (West Wing, Basic) stars as a  hotshot single lawyer who suddenly inherits his deceased cousin's baby daughter.  Will Diggs' charismatic presence make this fairly cliched premise --  "One Man and a Baby" -- work?  Certainly he's got the requisite hunk qualifications to win over the gal viewers who flock to KH's lead-in America's Top Model, and you can bet that Mel Gibson's production company (which has a total of three series on the networks this year) is hoping that this one hits big.  With the TV-requisite gay nanny, a new job at a women-centric law firm, and the sage advice of his good buddy played by Jon Seda (Homicide, Third Watch, Oz),  Kevin Hill sounds he's got what it takes to push the buttons of America's female audience.  Will they let co-star Kate Levering hoof a little, in homage to her Broadway success in the revival of 42nd Street?  Couldn't hurt!  The pre-season buzz on Kevin Hill is high; let's just see if enough viewers will seek it out on UPN. 

Second Time Around:  The oh-so-attractive real-life romantic couple Boris Kodjoe (Boston Public, Soul Food) and Nicole (Ari) Parker (Soul Food, Boogie Nights) star in this boy meets girl, boy marries girl, boy divorces girl, boy meets girl (again), and boy marries girl (again!) story.  UPN has a lock on sassy, sexy relationship comedies for urban audiences, and let's hope that fans of the genre who aren't regular viewers of the network check out this one.  Here's to a long a happy relationship, both for Boris and Nicole, and UPN and Second Time Around.  

Veronica Mars:  The titular Ms. Mars used to run with the high school rich kid crowd in her California town of Neptune, but things have changed a little.  Her pocketbook is running on empty these days, and she's working nights helping her estranged ex-sheriff dad get his private eye business off the ground.  Things probably can't get much bleaker than that for a beautiful teen girl, but we'll wait for the ratings to see if that's really true.  Alternately described as a private eye drama or a nighttime soap ala The OC -- or perhaps a delightful combination of both -- Veronica Mars is clearly designed to hang onto the young female viewers from its All of Us/Eve lead-in. One of the show's team of producers is Stu Seagall who helmed the successful and sexy Silk Stalkings series in the early '90s, Sci Fi's entertaining The Chronicle a couple of years back, and the Hunter reunion pics.  He gets my vote of confidence, just for the first two of those alone.  It's probably all going to come down to the charisma of the players, so let's hope they click with the viewers.  Veronica is played by Kristen Bell, (currently appearing in HBO's Deadwood), and Dad is veteran actor Enrico Colantoni (Galaxy Quest, Just Shoot Me).  This one could be fun, with the action/adventure aspects of the detective plot adding a nice twist to the sudsy antics.  Update 8/24/04:  Actress Sydney Poitier (Joan of Arcadia) has been added as a regular, playing the title character's journalism teacher/mentor.           

Midseason Series

The Bad Girl's Guide:  The funny and sexy Jenny McCarthy (Jenny, Singled Out, Playboy) stars in this girls-just-wanna-have-sex saucy sitcom about three single gals looking for love.  This is UPN's first pick-up of the season so far.  

The Missy Elliot Project (title tba): Grammy winner and Hip-hop diva Missy Elliot tries to create America's next top hip-hop songstress, as she ferries a group of would-be, could-be singers around the country in a big bus and into competition with each other for her approval.  (Cat fights hoped for but not guaranteed, of course.)  Designed to slip into the gap between cycles of America's Top Model, this ten-episode series will attempt to duplicate the incredible -- at least by UPN's standards -- success of its mentor show.  How much "I wanna be a star" can America take?  Time will tell!