jerrybruckheimer

TNT is furthering its investment in original drama by adding two new shows to its programming, increasing the number of original hour-long dramas they offer to seven. The first new show is The Line, a cop drama produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and starring Dylan McDermott. The second is a medical drama called Time Heals starring Jada Pinkett Smith.

This seems to me an example of a trickle-down effect. Due to the Internet and video-on-demand, reruns simply don't work anymore in keeping a network in business. Original drama worked so well for premium networks such as HBO and Showtime that standard cable stations such as AMC, TNT and several others took it upon themselves to do the same.

I guess Leverage is such a winner for the network that it can afford to add to its line-up. At this rate, there is going to be too much original television offered weekly for a human being to possibly keep up (if there isn't already), which is why video-on-demand was invented in the first place.

Today's news that CBS ordered five more episodes of Eleventh Hour is not a big surprise. A big surprise would have been if the network didn't give the freshman drama a re-order. The Jerry Bruckheimer production has been in the most-favored nation position at CBS -- meaning whatever Jerry wants, he usually gets.

The network enjoys a very fruitful/profitable relationship with the TV/filmmaker. Together, CBS and Jerry share Cold Case, CSI, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, Without A Trace and The Amazing Race. They're thinking of changing the initials CBS to Columbia Bruckheimer System. (Kidding!)

TNT knows drama. That's their logo, their mantra, their promise to viewers, and with The Closer, for instance, they've delivered. Now they're prepping another new drama, this one with some major experience in front of the camera and behind it.

It sort of reads like a dream team. Dylan McDermott starring in a Jerry Bruckheimer drama called The Line for TNT. Only it's not a dream. It's a pilot for 2009.

Instead of sharing this one with CBS where his shows dominate the line up -- CSI, CSI: New York, CSI: Miami, Eleventh Hour, Cold Case, Without A Trace, The Amazing Race -- Jerry Bruckheimer has decided to share the wealth a bit. He's moved this one over to TNT. However, he's bringing in CSI vets Jonathan Littman (six-time Emmy winner) and Danny Cannon to produce and direct, respectively.

CBS announced its plans for the 2008-2009 season today. For the most part, things are staying the same, but there are two new sitcoms and four hour dramas planned. Here are the highlights:

Returning: The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Two and a Half Men, The New Adventures of Old Christine, Rules of Engagement, The Unit, Cold Case, Numb3rs, Criminal Minds, The Ghost Whisperer, CSI, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, NCIS, 60 Minutes, Without A Trace, Survivor, The Amazing Race

Out: Shark, Moonlight, Cane, Kid Nation, Power of 10, Secret Talents of the Stars, Viva Laughlin, Welcome to the Captain

New: The Worst Week, Project Gary, The Ex List, Eleventh Hour, The Mentalist

Mid-season: Harper's Island, Rules of Engagement

Schedule and detailed descriptions of the new shows coming soon, after the jump.

Hi-Yo Silver, Away! One more time, that masked man will ride again. Disney and producer Jerry Bruckheimer have enlisted writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio for a big screen remake of The Lone Ranger. A live action, hoot-hollering, hero on a horseback western epic, if Bruckheimer follows his pattern of doing things big and bold.

Ted and Terry are the same writers that helped bring Pirates of the Caribbean to the movie theaters in three box office bonanzas. And with Pirates, there was a lot less source material. Pirates of the Caribbean was just a ride at Disneyland (and Disney World). The Lone Ranger could be called the Long Ranger with its rich history in radio, TV and written word.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist, let alone a forensic specialist, to detect that the CSI franchise is hot. CBS currently boasts three shows with CSI in the title -- CSI, CSI: Miami, CSI: New York -- four if you include the non-Jerry Bruckheimer produced military procedural NCIS. So, then, it shouldn't come as a surprise that CSI is expanding. No, there's not a new CSI TV show happening, but there is an amusement park variation on CSI coming to life at Magic Mountain, the Valencia, California tourist attraction. (By the way, isn't it nice that Valencia didn't get nuked for real like it did on 24 last season?)

Nobody would ever confuse Rufus Sewell for Patrick Stewart (Star Trek: The Next Generation), right? Well, super-producer Jerry Bruckheimer has chosen Sewell for the lead in the $4 million pilot of the British drama series Eleventh Hour. Presumably, Rufus will be playing the same role Patrick played, that is Professor Ian Hood, Special Advisor to the government's Joint Sciences Committee, enlisted to tackle all kinds of dangerous threats stemming from science gone awry.