http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/entert ... 16067.html
Promising pilots waiting in wings for prime-time moment
The 2008-09 season isn't quite finished, but the TV industry's focus is already firmly on 2009-10.
The announcements of the U.S. networks' new prime-time lineups are less than two weeks away, so speculation is at a fever pitch regarding which of the dozens of new comedy and drama pilots will be includes in the annual fall-launch frenzy.
With that in mind, here's a quick look at a few hopefuls whose concepts and casts make them better-than-even bets to make the cut for 2009-20:
Let It Go (ABC) -- Gilmore Girls alumna Lauren Graham returns to TV in the role of a self-help guru who's forced to reconsider her methods and motivations after getting dumped by her boyfriend turns her into an emotional wreck.
Cougartown (ABC) -- A comedy that brings former Friends star Courteney Cox back to prime time, this time starring as a 40-ish single mom who's re-entering the dating world.
Accidentally On Purpose (CBS) -- Another long-absent sitcom star, Jenna Elfman (Dharma and Greg), returns to the tube, in a comedy about a movie critic who finds herself if the family way after a brief fling with a younger man.
Beautiful Life (CW) -- A drama set inside the world of high-fashion modelling, with Mischa Barton (The O.C.) as a veteran star on the catwalks and Elle MacPherson as the head of an agency.
Pryors (ABC) -- Kelsey Grammer (Cheers, Frasier) takes another shot at becoming a triple-crown sitcom winner, this time playing a Wall Street big shot who gets crushed by the financial crisis and is forced to move back to his midwestern hometown.
Happiness Isn't Everything (CBS) -- A dysfunctional-family comedy starring Jason Biggs, Richard Dreyfuss, Mary Steenburgen and Ben Schwartz as parents and kids who are far too involved in each other's lives.
Three Rivers (CBS) -- Alex O'Loughlin, who gained quite a fan following during his short run in the vampire drama Moonlight, leads the cast of this drama about the doctors, patients and donors at a Pittsburgh-based transplant centre.
Canned (ABC) -- An ensemble comedy with a Friends-sized and -aged cast, except this time out they're a bunch of recession-era pals who all get fired from their jobs at the same time.
NBC jumped the gun somewhat on the traditional late-May schedule announcements, revealing earlier this week the names of six new shows that will be in its fall-launch lineup, including four dramas -- the family-focused movie spinoff Parenthood, two medical dramas, Trauma and Mercy, and the post-apocalyptic thriller Day One -- and two comedies -- the dating-obsessed 100 Questions and a college-silliness-inclined sitcom Community.
These are some of the odds-on favourites to make the grade for this fall's lineup; there are at least two dozen more titles that have an outside chance of being picked up. All will be revealed by the third week of May when the U.S. networks (including NBC, which unveils its full detailed lineup May 19) announce their schedules.
Stay tuned.
brad.oswald@freepress.mb.ca
I just served myself too Sister G! *clink*
ching ching!
There are just a few too many shows currently on CBS's schedule that are waaaaaayyyy too long in the tooth. It's time to get some new blood on the air.....dangit! 
