It’s New If You Haven’t Seen It: Shows You Missed

On Tuesday, May 23rd, TV-philes across the country will rejoice with the launch of BrilliantButCancelled.com, a new broadband service from Bravo that celebrates the small screen's best-loved but short-lived series. The details of the initiative were announced today by Lauren Zalaznick, President, Bravo.

BrilliantButCancelled.com will be anchored by a critically-acclaimed line-up of some of television's most daring programs, described by Bravo as "too smart, too edgy or too hip for TV" when they hit the airwaves. Devotees of series including "the cancelled-before-it-ever-aired" "The Jake Effect" (starring Jason Bateman in a role that foreshadowed his character on "Arrested Development"), "EZ Streets" (starring Ken Olin in Paul Haggis' hard-hitting series about as an honest detective battling to save his job and reputation (see image, above left) and "Johnny Staccato" (featuring John Cassavetes as a jazz musician moonlighting as a private detective) will be able to see their "hard-to-find" favorites as streaming on demand options on the website.

Other series available on BrilliantButCancelled.com include: "Delvecchio," the predecessor to Steven Bochco's "Hill Street Blues" starring Judd Hirsch; "Gideon Oliver," starring Lou Gossett, Jr. as a Columbia professor obsessed with crime; "Touching Evil," the story of a detective who returns to work after a bullet passes through his head. Additional video content will include "Face to Face" interviews with television celebrities and creators from the Bravo, Trio, and NBC archives; "Celebrity Autobiography," where A-listers read from the autobiographies of their fellow celebrities.

"We have curated some of television's most extraordinary shows for this site," noted Zalaznick. "These are programs that pushed the TV envelope, so to speak, but never got the chance they deserved to prove their worth. The joy of this process is uncovering those little gems that failed to find their audience on TV and giving them back to viewers on demand."

Jason Klarman, SVP, Marketing and Brand Strategy, added: "What distinguishes this site from anything else on the Web is our brilliant but cancelled spin - we don't take ourselves too seriously and we think that fans of the brilliant but cancelled phenomenon will appreciate our combination of self-deprecating humor and shows that deserve a second chance."


On-Air

In an unusual twist of promotional support, the broadband premiere of "The Jake Effect" on Tuesday, May 23rd will be followed by an exclusive Thursday, May 25th airing of series episodes on Bravo's analog channel from 8:00 -11:00 pm ET/PT to help drive viewers to the new website. This reversal of television's traditional pattern of web supporting on-air launches is expected to generate added awareness of the site's launch.

And, in a further push toward a 360? promotional strategy, NBC Universal Cable mystery channel, Sleuth, will also drive to the site with a four episode marathon of "EZ Streets" on Sunday, May 28 from 4:00-8:00 pm ET/PT and 10:00 pm-2:00 am ET/PT.

In addition to streaming these innovative series, BrilliantButCancelled.com also plans exclusive editorial content that tracks the trends and trivia impacting the TV landscape including Critical Mass, a round-up of critical commentary about the previous night's TV shows; Back From the Dead, a look at stars of ill-fated shows who lived to see life on another series; The Anonymous Critic, a place where industry insiders can rant and rave about the fate and content of TV without fear of reprisal; Pop Autopsy, an exploration of shows that died and what went wrong; and Astro Cast, a place where real astrologers predict the future of TV personalities. In addition, BrilliantButCancelled.com provides visitors with an outlet to share their passion as well as their frustration about the world of television - from Insider/Outsider, a blog dedicated to presenting an all-TV focus as to what's hot and what's not, to Just Make it Stop, a blog that gives visitors a chance to play programming executive and put in their bid for what should be killed off and why.

iTUNES
And, beginning May 23rd, the following episodes featured on the BrilliantButCancelled.com site will be available to download via iTunes:

The Jake Effect (pilot episode)
Johnny Staccato: "Tempted"
Delvecchio: "Licensed to Kill"
Gideon Oliver: "Sleep Well, Professor Oliver"
Touching Evil: "K"
EZ Streets: "Every Dog Has Its Day"
EZ Streets: "One Acquainted With the Night"

DVD
In conjunction with the broadband launch, Universal Studios Home Entertainment will release two DVD collections based on the "Brilliant But Cancelled" initiative. Brilliant But Cancelled: EZ Streets revisits an edgy, innovative series from Academy Award-winning writer-director Paul Haggis (Crash, Million Dollar Baby) that delighted critics with its unique style of storytelling. Featuring the original two-hour pilot plus two episodes of the show critics deemed "simply too good for TV," Brilliant But Cancelled: EZ Streets stars Ken Olin ("thirtysomething"), Joe Pantoliano ("The Sopranos," The Matrix) and Jason Gedrick ("Boomtown") in a tale of greed and treachery told from three widely differing points of view. Brilliant But Cancelled: Crime Dramas features a compilation of some of TV's smartest detective shows that span 40 years of TV history: "Johnny Staccato," "Delvecchio," "Gideon Oliver" and "Touching Evil". Officer and a Gentleman, "Stargate SG-1"). Each DVD is priced at $19.98 SRP.

BrilliantButCancelled.com - Series Descriptions

"The Jake Effect" (NBC, 2003) This Jason Bateman and Greg Grunberg sitcom never made it to air. Bateman stars as a former attorney who begins a teaching career. Executive producer Jonathan Groff was former head writer for Conan and went on to work on the series "Ed." Two years after this stillborn precursor to "Arrested Development," Bateman went on to win a Golden Globe plus Emmy and SAG nominations for that critically acclaimed Brilliant But Cancelled show.

"EZ Streets" (CBS, 1996) Ken Olin, Jason Gedrick, Rod Steiger and Joe Pantoliano star in this critics' favorite that won the 1997 Television Critics Association Award for Program of the Year. After losing his partner and money in a drug bust, an honest detective joins a special Mafia task force to save his job and reputation. In 2005, writer Paul Haggis went on to win two Academy Awards - one for Best Film and one for Best Writer for "Crash."

"Johnny Staccato" (NBC,1959) Stars John Cassavetes. Set in NYC, this Brilliant But Cancelled series centered on jazz pianist Johnny Staccato, who supplemented his meager income as a jazz pianist by moonlighting as a private investigator. Striking noir score by renowned composer Elmer Bernstein (Emmy, Oscar, Golden Globe winner); Cassavetes went on to Oscar noms for his acclaimed indie films.

"Delvecchio" (CBS, 1977) Judd Hirsch starred in this Steven Bochco-produced, pre-"Taxi," pre-"Hill Street Blues" cop series. Both went on to win multiple Emmys.

"Gideon Oliver" (ABC, 1989) Louis Gossett Jr. stars as an anthropology professor at Columbia University who uses his knowledge of other cultures to solve crimes, aided by his daughter/assistant Zina. Gossett has won an Emmy, Oscar and Golden Globe. Features pre-"ER" performance by Eriq LaSalle. Based on Aaron Elkins' award-winning series of novels. Shot in exotic locales including the Caribbean, Central America, etc.

"Touching Evil" (USA, 2004) Stars Jeffrey Donovan and Vera Farmiga. Produced by Albert Hughes, of Hughes brothers fame ("Dead Presidents"); based on the acclaimed UK series of same name. Detective returns to work changed after surviving a nearly fatal gunshot wound to the head.