[Upfronts] – MyNetworkTV's Fall Line-up In Detail

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A new network with a new twist. MyNetworkTV, tied to Fox studios, will try to fill the gap (if there actually is one) left by the merger of The WB and UPN into The CW. Many of the television markets that were served by both The WB and UPN have an opening with the merger of The CW. Many of those local channels abandoned by the new company have joined up with MyNetworkTV for primetime TV programming.

MyNetwork will present 2 English-language “telenovelas” that will appear six nights a week. Monday to Friday will be new shows, with Saturday being a weekly recap episode. The telenovela concept has been popular in Latin American audiences in the past and will probably be compared to soap operas, which I am tempted to do. I’m not sure whether this concept will take hold or not, but there is a ready-made market of Hispanic-Americans who are already familiar with it.

MyNetworkTV has introduced two franchises for Fall 2006, ‘Desire,’ which will take the 8 p.m slot, and ‘Secret Obsessions,’ which goes at 9 p.m. Each series will run 13 weeks for a total of 65 episodes. There will be four versions of each franchise taking up all 52 weeks.

Desire

Table for Three starts things off and features two relative newcomers, Nate Haden and Zack Silva, as brothers looking to hide out from the New Jersey mob. On the road they both fall for the same woman. Art of Betrayal picks up in the first quarter of 2007. The experienced actress Sean Young, ‘Blade Runner’, plays the ex-wife of a heartless businessman. She devises a scheme to destroy his career by having her two sons seduce his daughters, marry them and take their money. Rule of Deception takes over from there. Two completely different best friends find their friendship shattered when they both are seduced by the same man. Things are starting to sound a bit repetitive. Friends & Enemies is fourth in line. It follows a woman pretending to be a psychiatrist. She falls in love with one of her patients but his family find out her secret.

Secret Obsessions

Fashion House stars Bo Derek of ’10’ fame. Derek plays a fashion icon who sets her sights on destroying the woman who is romancing her son. Watch Over Me stars a former Ms. Universe, Dayannara Torres as Julia. Julia is all set to marry Sebastian but love triangle develops when a bodyguard named Jack enters their lives. A Dangerous Love takes on the ‘Romeo & Juliet’ concept of feuding families. The Olivere and Mazzoni clans have has a bitter feud for decades. To Love & Die looks at what happens after a plane crash. A wealthy heiress falls in love with the pilot despite her family being against it.

Needless to say not many of these shows appeal to me, heck even typing out the description makes my stomach turn. But the appeal of a primetime soap could be huge, especially with the ever-growing Latino market in the U.S.

Monday to Friday Saturday
8 PM DESIRE Desire Weekly Recap
9 PM SECRET OBSESSIONS Secret Obsessions Weekly Recap