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Fall 2005-2006 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 2005 Fall Schedule Website.  

Midseason: 

New Series

Everybody Hates Chris:  Though nobody can quite believe that this is on UPN instead of sister network CBS (and it was originally developed by Fox), everybody loves Everybody Hates Chris, based on comedian Chris Rock's 1980s childhood in Brooklyn, New York.  Though Rock won't be onscreen, he's the creator and exec-producer, and is slated to supply narration for each episode, which certainly counts for something.  Tyler James Williams (Sesame Street) plays young Rock,  Tequan Richmond (Ray) and newcomer Imani Hakim are his brother and sister, with Tichina Arnold (One on One, Martin) and Terry Crews (The Longest Yard, White Chicks) and Chris' mom and dad.  EHC is a feather in the cap for UPN and could give them some nice sampling from new viewers for whom Joey isn't sating their comedy appetite.  Premieres September 22nd.  Update 10/12:  Not surprisingly, performance so far has been good, especially by UPN standards, and so Everybody Hates Chris has been given the green light for a full season.  

Love, Inc.:  This is UPN's dating service comedy, starring an attractive multiracial cast, including Busy Phillipps (Freaks and Geeks, Dawson's Creek, White Chicks), Holly Robinson Peete (One on One, Like Family),  Ion Overman (General Hospital, Port Charles, The L Word, Strong Medicine), Reagan Gomez-Preston (Beauty Shop), and Vince Vieluf (Clay Pigeons, ER, Rat Race).  Whether or not they have collective charisma is the true test, especially so in their trying time period where just getting sampled would be a victory.  Premieres September 22nd.

Sex, Love & Secrets:  UPN tries the glam soap opera-with-a-geographical-center (ala The O.C.) route with this sexy series set in the real-life hip Hollywood neighborhood of Silver Lake, where lots of residents are in the biz and ambitions -- not to mention libidos -- run hot.  The of-course beautiful cast features the memorably lovely Denise Richards (Starship Troopers, The World is Not Enough, Undercover Brother, Melrose Place, Spin City, Two and a Half Men -- because she's the ex-Mrs. Charlie Sheen), new acting discovery James Stevenson, Eric Balfour (The O.C., 24, Six Feet Under), Lauren German (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), Tamara Taylor (Party of Five, City of Angels, Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Serenity), Omar Benson Miller (8 Mile) and Lucas Bryant (Queer as Folk).  The biggest obstacle this fetching ensemble faces is unbelievable competition from a cadre shows on every network, meaning that the chance for audience sampling is probably nil, especially with one of its competitors, WB's really good Supernatural, targeting the same young demographic.  If S,L&S looks good to you, catch it while you can.  A teeny bit in its favor, thank goodness, is the fact that it's on UPN, where expectations are realistically diminished; they may let it hang in there and develop a following.  Premieres September 27th.  Update 10/25:  Well, they didn't let it hang in there, after all.  Sex, Love & Secrets has been cancelled; permanent replacement show to be announced.

Returning 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.  Update 5/05:  Renewed for a third 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.  Update 5/05:  Renewed for a second season.  

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.  Update 7/05:  Renewed for a second season.           

Midseason Series