Another Beachwood Special Report
“Salem is the first step in a strategy by the Tribune Company, owner of WGN America, to transform the superstation into a full-fledged cable network, creating yet another competitor in the increasingly crowded field of purveyors of distinctive television drama,” the New York Times reports.
“Tribune now wants WGNA to become a destination for viewers interested in distinctive drama, as networks like AMC and FX have done. All it takes is one show to put a network on the map: The Shield did that for FX, and Mad Men for AMC.”
The Beachwood, as it is wont to do, has obtained WGN America’s closely held unannounced programming guide. To wit:
* Madder Men. This fictional agency has a tobacco agency from the get-go, never hires a black person and keeps all women in the secretarial pool. It is set in the ’80s.
* The Shielding. A big-city police department covers up a death in an entertainment district because the mayor’s nephew is involved.
* Deadwood. A desperate media company offloads stifling debt onto its newspaper division.
* Game of Drones. Soldiers in suburban Virginia play deadly video games for a living.
* The Altos. Mob life as told through the unromantic tales of its victims.
* Bossy. A docuseries about Rahm Emanuel co-produced by CNN.
* Here Comes Boo Boo. A reality series starring Crane Kenney and Tom Ricketts.
* Real Time With Bill Kurtis. Four unlikely guests join Bill every week to talk about Bill.
* Orange Is The New Jack. Tracking America’s favorite baby names.
* Bruce Rauner Approves This Message. A nightly ad block that pays for the rest of the network’s programming.
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Comments welcome.
Posted on July 3, 2014