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Wednesday
Night 2002/2003
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Net
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8:00pm
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8:30pm
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9:00pm
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9:30pm
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10:00pm
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ABC
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My Wife and Kids
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George
Lopez
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The Bachelor
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CBS
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60
Minutes II
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The Amazing Race
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FOX
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Bernie
Mac
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<Local>
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NBC
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Ed
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The West Wing
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Law and Order
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UPN
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Enterprise
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<Local>
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WB
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Dawson's Creek
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<Local>
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ABC:
Wednesday at 10:00pm (Hour Drama)
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Premise
Two renegade doctors operate by their own
rules at an HMO-driven hospital in San Francisco.
Complicating matters is their new boss, an
executive with no medical experience who previously
ran an amusement park
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The
people first/regulations later antics of the
doctors of M*A*S*H come to the states
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Familiar
Faces
William Fichtner (Armageddon), John
Hannah (The Mummy), Edward Hermann
(Gilmore Girls)
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Our
Take
Both the ABC and CBS 10pm medical dramas will
face tough competition from the still-growing
Law & Order. Between the two San Francisco
doctor shows, MDs is probably more
entertaining while Presidio Med may
be too dramatic/serious for some viewers
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Expect
to Hear
"The
era of the cowboy surgeon is over. You are
a clog in the healthcare machine. You are
a replaceable part."
-
Chester E. Dongey
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CBS:
Wednesday at 10:00pm (Hour Drama)
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Premise
Wednesday’s other new 10pm medical drama
is also about doctors who put their patients
first. However, this drama, from the original
ER producing/writing team, takes
place in a private San Francisco practice
and not a hospital
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The
short-lived medical drama L.A. Doctors
meets Chicago Hope meets St. Elsewhere
meets...
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Familiar
Faces
Movie Actress Blythe Danner, Dana Delany
(China Beach), Anna Deavere Smith
(The West Wing), Oded Fehr (The
Mummy)
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Our
Take
As noted earlier, Law & Order will
easily win this time slot. Whether there
will be any viewers left for either of these
two medical shows, as well as how the two
shows will cannibalize each other, remains
the key question
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Expect
to Hear
"Adversity
doesn’t build character - it reveals it."
-
Dr. Harriet Lanning
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Cedric
the Entertainer Presents
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FOX:
Wednesday at 8:30pm (Half Hour Variety)
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Premise
Cedric the Entertainer hosts a variety series
that has been promoted as taking its “cue
from the variety shows of the 1950s”. In
reality, the show comes off more as a toned-down
version of In Living Color with the
benefit of Cedric’s arsenal of different
characters (The Love Doctor, Mrs. Cafeteria
Lady, etc.)
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In
Living Color meets The Flip Wilson
Show
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Familiar
Faces
Cedric the Entertainer (The Original
Kings of Comedy)
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Our
Take
Cedric should fit in nicely behind
Bernie Mac. Let us also not forget
that In Living Color did well for
a number of years
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Expect
to Hear
"Love
is and was and never more shall be. You
can’t stop love because what it is just
is and it’s everything."
-
Cedric the Entertainer as the Love Doctor
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FOX:
Wednesday at 9:00pm (Hour Drama)
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Premise
Van Ray and Deaqon Hayes are undercover
cops posing as criminals to catch their
criminals. They operate out of a warehouse
known as the Candy Store, which is filled
with confiscated cars and other valuables
that help the two cops assume their roles
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The
Fast and the Furious races to the small
screen
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Familiar
Faces
Movie Actor Peter Fancinelli, Bill Bellamy
(MTV), Tiffani Thiessen (Beverly Hills
90210/Saved By the Bell)
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Our
Take
9pm Wednesday is a challenging time slot
between The West Wing and (to a lesser
extent) The Bachelor and The Amazing
Race. Additionally, there seems to be
general agreement that Tiffani (“Don’t
Call Me ‘Amber’”) Thiessen is miscast
for her role
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Expect
to Hear
"Try
to be a hero - you’re dead. Try to be a
vigilante - you’ll wish you were."
-
Billie Chambers
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UPN:
Wednesday at 9:00pm (Hour Drama)
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Premise
Rod Serling’s 1959-1965 classic returns
(once again) to Network Television with
all new self-contained one-hour episodes
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You
are once again about to enter The Twilight
Zone
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Familiar
Faces
Movie Actor Forest Whitaker
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Our
Take
On the plus side is a compatible sci-fi
lead-in in the form of Enterprise.
However, we cannot forget the competition
at 9pm as well as the fact that past Twilight
Zone renewals (not to mention similar
anthologies from the likes of Steven Spielberg)
have not worked outside of pay cable
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Expect
to Hear
"A
summer rain can sometimes bring a flood."
-
Narrator/Host Forest Whitaker
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WB:
Wednesday at 9:00pm (Hour Drama)
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Premise
After Barbara Gordon (a.k.a. Batgirl) is crippled
by the Joker, she becomes the guardian of
Helena, the illegitimate daughter of Batman
and Catwoman. Years later, Helena fights crime
as the Huntress, thanks to technical assistance
from Barbara Gordon (now known as Oracle).
Joining their crime fighting team is Dinah
Lance (The Black Canary), a young woman with
psychic abilities
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Charlie's
Angels meets Batman
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Familiar
Faces
Dina Meyer (Starship Troopers)
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Our
Take
Birds of Prey has a strong pedigree
coming from the people behind Smallville.
Also, thanks to Spider-man, X-Men and
the aforementioned Smallville, super heroes
are popular. The challenge will be that
Birds lacks the “charm” of Smallville
and is in a tough time slot
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Expect
to Hear
"Myths
are just the truth a few generations later."
-
Detective James Reese
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