You just can't get enough of Tyra Banks and WWE.

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imagine, there's been no talk on this thread since may 20!!! well, i'm about to change that . . .

i think "the road to stardom with missy elliott" will be an excellent sub for America's Next Top Model at midseason. it's got to be a hit.

i also look forward to sampling "kevin hill", "veronica mars" and checking out "half & half" with firefly supporting castmate alec mapa.

you know everyone on this forum love the wb but shine off upn, honestly upn is the better net. monday, tuesday & thursdays are consistent wednesdays model/kevin hill looks like upn's biggest night next fall, that leaves fridays for enterprise (which should do better than what they had b4) the wb has stronger shows but these shows are getting a bit long in years (7th heaven/gilmore girls) heaven actually gets double what everything else gets but with this their last year the wb better start praying for a miricle.

my prediction next fall is that upn will win vs the wb.

i particularly agree with you for this past season, and there's quite a bit of hope for this being true next season. upn is really trying hard, and i wish them the best in taking over the wb!!!!!

what upn should do next year is diversify their schedule...its very ethnic and needs to be better balanced. i think they should import (not copy but buy) some british shows....i would love to see ab fab and coupling both of which i would not consider to racey for american tv

maybe in your dreams (i think patsy and eddie are in the old folks home now ) . . . actually, diversity is one of the keys to upn's success . . . and stretching diversity to other nights of the week as upn plans to do in the fall (horrors ) will make upn a model that the other nets might consider following. and we all know what we mean by our code words *ethnic* and *diversity* . . . what is this world coming to???

it just seems like upn is the "black network", i think they should just add some shows that have more of a mix. i guess im just use to seeing a bunch of white folk in front of the screen but when theres almost none i feel that i cant relate.

now im latin not white but to me if the show is funny and well written i'll watch (as i did with the parkers and moesha) but this is a little over kill for me. although i guess les moonves knows what hes doing since this net is more stable than either the wb and fox

I think UPN has a good chance of over taking the WB. They are being smart with their use of America's Next Top Model. Veronica Mars is getting a preview night airing behind America's Next Top Model for one night than moving to its new timeslot and Kevin Hill will take the slot. Both shows are heavily buzzed and if the quality is there I think UPN will grow big. The new comedy should fit right in with the others from what I hear. The only new show in danger for next season I think is Veronica Mars but even that has a chance(knock on wood). Abc and UPN are the ones to watch this season(I never thought I would say that)

UPN has a habit of getting big buzz and not capitalizing on it to the point that the next time they have a big PR move, everyone forgets there was ever a first one.
They premiered -huge- with 'Star Trek: Voyager,' and they will never again get the kind of ratings they had in their first few months. The WB was pathetic in comparison. But, despite a few decent, ill-fated dramas ('Nowhere Man,' 'The Beat,' perhaps '7 Days' and that rap underworld show last season I forget the title of), they have never been able to use the Star Trek shows to seed other sci-fi or dramatic shows. That leaves the wrestling audience they acquired in '98, and we all know how useless they are beyond Thursdays ('Shasta McNasty' anyone?), and the small urban audience they've courted since their second season on the air which has always been dependable, but less high-profile than Star Trek, wrestling, 'Love Boat: The Next Wave,' 'Dilbert,' 'Buffy' (all highly hyped acquisitions with big debuts), 'The Twilight Zone...' anything new that UPN tried to create was a bigger priority than the niche market that tuned into 'Moesha' and 'Malcolm and Eddie' but would rarely, if ever, watch 'Enterprise.' Now that even that show isn't as popular as 'Eve' or 'Girlfriends,' UPN has finally decided to capitalize beyond one or two nights of programming aimed at African-Americans. It makes sense, and 'Kevin Hill' and 'Veronica Mars' will probably work. Sci-fi audiences and WWE fans are still incompatible obstacles, but jettisoning Star Trek or wrestling would be foolish, as Thursdays and Fridays would be very hard to develop with totally new lineups.
UPN's priorities should be to promote the heck out of its critically-lauded shows, both new ('Kevin Hill,' 'Veronica Mars') and old ('Girlfriends,' 'Enterprise,' 'America's Next Top Model) and look towards expanding its lineup ('Enterprise' still has life in it and needs a better companion series to follow it, Sundays would be a good launchpad for more programming in line with its new Monday-Wednesday schedule).

I saw a cast picture of Veronica Mars. Looked "white" to me. That leaves Kevin Hill as a drama to appeal to the ethnic minority.

It appeals to me, and I'm not an ethnic minority. Taye Diggs has a fair bit of crossover appeal.

very much enjoyed reading your assessment, keep it coming!!!

I think it's interesting how itchy UPN's trigger finger tends to be. They have limited resources and a proportionally limited development pipeline, and limited ability to promote their shows. Big networks have a hard enough time as it is to get audiences to embrace critically-lauded fare (Emmys may have saved 'The Amazing Race' and may yet save 'Arrested Development,' but for every success there is an 'EZ Streets' or 'Cupid' ready to spectacularly fail). It's no small wonder that UPN can't get anyone to watch their new shows, even when the critics like them, and, contrary to all the bandwagon hoppers who feign shock that UPN and ABC have the best new shows, 'Nowhere Man,' 'Voyager,' 'The Beat,' 'Jake 2.0,' 'Haunted,' 'Platinum,' 'Dilbert' and even 'Enterprise' all came into life with strong reviews, but a bad network. The lack of cohesion in the audience UPN has been courting hasn't helped, but though they are fairly mutually exclusive, if there's one thing urban, wrestling and sci-fi audiences have in common, it's loyalty to the programming they do turn into. I'm not surprised that UPN finally caved and made more of its programming urban-audience friendly, but it's a fact that they won't want to cater to that audience exclusively, and certainly not forever - the more diverse kinds of households that watch 'Top Model' and 'Enterprise' are more coveted by advertisers.
But it's still interesting how quickly UPN tends to can its shows. Despite trying, they never found a suitable mate for Star Trek or Buffy, and both franchises were/are expensive to maintain, and thus can be seen as a bit of a wasted investment. But instead of trying to explore innovative ways to create a groundswell of support for shows like 'Jake 2.0' that had potential and extra-loyal viewers, they got canned and replaced with CBS burnoffs and bad reality shows that will always be cheaper, but rarely worthy of a second season. Networks just don't have much time to let shows accumulate word of mouth like 'Seinfeld' or 'The Practice' did at their starts, and UPN, in the red for so long, has an even shorter leash and no more room for experimentation.
What'll be interesting to analyze now is how it prioritizes its lineup now; its premiere week has thus far been something of a disappointment. The urban sitcoms are down across the board, 'Top Model' is no better a performer than 'Enterprise,' and 'Veronica Mars' landed with a thud. I still expect 'Kevin Hill' to stick, but UPN had better be prepared to give it more time than it usually does, and more time than I expect it will give to 'Mars.'

I have to agree with everything you say. Last year UPN in its infinite stupidity insisted on running "Enterprise"/"Jake 2.0" against "Smallville"/"Angel" combo. This is no way to counter program if your ratings are smaller than competitor's(WB).

It's also incredibly stupid to counterprogram with shows that target the exact same audience. At least 'Top Model' doesn't go for all the same viewer demographics as the shows it competes against. Moving 'Enterprise' to Fridays may well save the show and build up a night where UPN has never been competitive. In fact, if 'Top Model' isn't as strong this season and 'Veronica Mars' tanks and the urban sitcoms continue to do worse than last season, 'Star Trek' will suddenly be important again if it merely holds steady in the ratings (though that's no small task, Fridays are becoming something of a renewed haven for sci-fi viewers).

I am really liking Veronica Mars and Kevin Hill. Having never watched a UPN program before, I am impressed with the quality of the writing and acting. Am looking forward to more of the same, and maybe I'll give some other shows a try.

That's great!!