USA net expands
More originals, renewed 'Nikita' at cabler
These announcements highlighted the USA Networks' upfront presentation to the Los Angeles media community at Spago Thursday. USA's sibling Sci-Fi Channel also unveiled a number of programming initiatives, including the commitment to a two-hour pilot for an hourlong series version of "The Invisible Man."
"People watch programs, not networks," said Steve Brenner, president of operations for USA Networks. "Our goal is to put on compelling programs."
Producing inhouse
Although USA spends more money on original scripted series than any other cable network, Brenner said USA and Sci-Fi are cutting costs by producing most of their series inhouse: "Why should we pick up the overhead of someone else's production company?"
Brenner declined to discuss the networks' overall programming costs. But various sources say USA spent close to $350 million in 1998 and could lay out another $425 million in 1999. The Sci-Fi Channel spent $60 million on its programming in 1998 and expects to spend $90 million in 1999, according to Paul Kagan Associates.
'Nikita' nights
As for "La Femme Nikita," USA says the show will continue in its Sunday at 10 timeslot, joining the returning "Pacific Blue" and the new "GvsE" ("Good vs. Evil") as the net's most successful night of original programming.
USA's variety show "Happy Hour," which premiered April 3, will soon be joined by a companion hour to form the network's second night of original shows. By the first quarter of 2000, USA plans to schedule at least two hours of original series every Tuesday night, the most prominent of which will be an untitled dramatic hour written and exec produced by Shaun Cassidy ("American Gothic").
The series, which will eventually appear on Tuesday and Saturday, will be chosen from among the following shows in development at USA:
- "Hank & Nick at War," a half-hour comedy from Spencer Green ("Mad TV"), about two ex-friends who work at jobs and raise families while spending most of their spare time plotting schemes to murder each other.
- "Road Hogs," a half-hour animated comedy featuring a pair of animatronic-puppet junkyard owners who do daily battle with land owners because the two refuse to sell their property to a development corporation. Executive producers are Kevin Yeager and Alec Gillic ("Tales From the Crypt").
- "Thunder Roads," a dramatic hour from David Veloz ("Permanent Midnight") about five delinquent teens on the Mexican border who "become reluctant arms of the law."
- "Soul on Ice," a comedy-action hour focusing on a black detective accidentally frozen in 1969 who thaws out 30 years later and solves crimes with his ex-partner's son. Writer is Takashi Buford ("Booty Call").
- "Maternal Instinct" (previously announced), a tongue-in-cheek thriller about a beautiful woman who extracts revenge every week on men who--literally and figuratively--rub her the wrong way. Writer-exec producer is Steve Barancik, who wrote "The Last Seduction."
- "Anderson Cooper" (previously announced), a single-topic news docu that will try to be different. Cooper is host and one of the producers.
In addition to the "Attila the Hun" miniseries from Hallmark and Robert Halmi Sr., USA's original movies include a biopic about Hugh Hefner; a thriller, "Cabin by the Lake," from the producers of "I Know What You Did Last Summer"; Ken Olin in a contempo drama called "Toys of Glass"; and "The Expendables," about a group of female convicts who make a deal to get out of jail by working on a covert operation.
Sci-Fi turns 'Invisible'
For Sci-Fi, Matt Greenberg, who wrote the movie "Halloween: H2O," will write the "Invisible Man" pilot as a lighthearted adventure. The network is also developing "Stormfront," a half-hour comedy series written by Steven de Sousa ("48 Hrs.," "Die Hard") and Kevin Rubio, featuring two deadpan-serious cops fighting crime in Los Angeles in 2025.
As original movies, Sci-Fi is developing two books: Ray Bradbury's "Frost & Fire" and Whitley Strieber's "Beyond Communion." The channel has bought the first TV window to the theatrical movie "Cube" from Trimark Pictures, and has also bought firstrun rights to two made-for-video movies, "Laserhawk," with Mark Hamill, and "Escape Velocity," with Patrick Bergin.
