The Television Critics Association press tour, currently under way in Los Angeles, is the event of the year for networks to show off upcoming programs to tipsy journalists in the hopes of getting some early hype.
While next week begins the panels for the major networks, this week marks the time for smaller cable companies. A&E announced four new series and two renewals, and Discovery--as well as its suite of sister networks--also revealed a slew of new projects.
A&E is welcoming William Shatner, with Shatner's Raw Nerve, a celebrity talk show where guests will discuss hot-button topics. Among the famous people lined up to join the Star Trek and Boston Legal star are Jon Voight, Jenna Jameson, Leonard Nimoy, Jimmy Kimmel, and Kelsey Grammer, says Variety.
Sticking with the "famous guy with talk shows" theme, A&E will also roll out The Chris Isaak Hour. The program will see the actor-musician interviewing mainstream music acts.
Also coming from A&E will be Female Forces, about female cops in Chicago, and Why I Ran, which talks to people who survived high-speed chases with police. The network also announced new seasons of I Survived and Biography.
Discovery Channel announced Into the Unknown with Josh Bernstein, which sees the host traveling to unusual places, and Discovery Project Earth, which follows scientists examining the climate crisis.
Animal Planet will debut The Grizzly Man Diaries, examining the life of bear-loving Timothy Treadwell (made famous in Werner Herzog's Grizzly Man), Mr. and Mrs. Wolf, about a British wolf expert, Jockeys, about the sport of kings, and Creature, which looks at unusual animals.
Finally, over at TLC the home improvement genre will continue with Hope for Your Home and Over Designed.
Comments (8)
First of all, Shatner HATES talking about Star Trek. He'll do almost anything for money (IMHO), but he WON'T talk about ST. His whole "Get a life!" thing that he "pretends" to say to ST fans (and famously started on an SNL sketch) - no dude, that's real. He won't talk about it, he CERTAINLY won't do any "fan cons" of any type, and he will NEVER play the character again, even if they offered him "enough to retire on" (his words).
Oh, and the A&E thing I posted about in my last comment here - the other new season they're advertising about is "Dog: The Bounty Hunter". But none of the shows talked about in this article.
-ak
If only it was a Denny Crane talk show and not the real Shatner... I was booted from an auditorium as a teen. I was booing Shatner because he kept talking about horses and not Star Trek... Come on, who cares about his horses?!
Maybe Canadian A&E is different from the American station, but here they've been advertising a new Benjamin Bratt show called "Cleaner", another new show (I think), plus new seasons of Criss Angel: Mindfreak, Intervention, and possibly one or two more. But no ads about any of these shows. Weird.
-ak
"William Shatner...talk show..."Sold!
Too bad it's a talk show - Jenna always has something interesting to say.
Shatner is proving to be quite the Energizer Bunny. I'm not the biggest fan a talk shows but I'll tune in at least once.
MMMM... talk shows, I think not
Love the Shatman! :D