Fox announced the decision Monday as the broadcast networks head into their busiest deal-making week of the year. The network upfront presentations to advertisers start in seven days. Most of the decisions whether to renew and cancel bubble shows, as well as which pilots are getting series orders, will be made this week. Gotham stars Ben McKenzie (Southland) as a young detective James Gordon who battles an assortment of emerging villains in Gotham City. We’re told Fox’s order is for “at least” 13 episodes.
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Oh, Fox is starting with their pick-ups early! I approve. And yes to having Ben McKenzie back on my TV!
ReplyDeleteGreat news!
ReplyDeleteFOX is the network with the least amount of pilots (among the big 4). They already have a dozen or so new shows ordered.
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping it's only 13. It seems like a show that would benefit from a concentrated arc.
ReplyDeleteIsn't that because they are skipping pilot season?
ReplyDeleteYay! Really excited to see this series.
ReplyDeleteI still don't quite understand how they are doing/not doing pilot season to be honest haha.
ReplyDeleteI guess the same way Netflix does it; they look at the actors, the potential, the plots etc. and make a decision based on that? Pilots are an almost cowardly way to start a TV show these days. The audience is there, it's all a matter of having confidence in a series. I'm happy with the new format, especially if they continue with this 13-episode season they have been doing recently with Sleepy Hollow and now maybe Gotham, as most cable shows seem to have that format and do remarkably these days! But maybe that's just wishful thinking, they are still a broadcast network after all :P
ReplyDeleteNo surprise here.
ReplyDeleteI seriously don't see how this is going to work. But we shall see. I'll watch the Pilot.
ReplyDeleteApparently there will be a trailer for it during 24 tonight....Guess I'll be watching.
ReplyDeleteExtreme first world problem: Piracy is too good, they cut out commercials. Hopefully it will be released region-free on YouTube, 'cause I'm excited for this series!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info! So they don't do focus groups or any of that stuff? To be honest I think I prefer 13 episode seasons as well. I know it's probably definitely not ideal business-wise, but story wise I think it clears up a lot of filler and the dragging on of storylines.
ReplyDeleteI´m excited to see it. Hope it´ll be good :)
ReplyDeleteSuperheros are now taking over TV. When will fatigue kill this genere? I say 15-20 years.
ReplyDeleteI definitely don't see it doing 22 eps a season especially if it's high budget, maybe 15 to 16 at most?
ReplyDeleteI'm more agreeable to seeing more Donal Logue on TV, to be honest. But hey, a little Ryan Atwood wouldn't hurt either.
ReplyDeleteHa, I face the same problem.
ReplyDeleteI'm not entirely sure, because it's quite a new format for FOX, but based on Netflix's way of doing it, no, they don't have focus groups. They gather data about viewing habits (plenty of that out there with the gazillions of shows that have existed over the last few decades) as well as data on actors in order to build up confidence on a show idea. If they are confident enough, they order it to series (skipping pilot stage). It makes for better episodes, as the people working on shows don't have to "prove" their worth with a pilot and can progress the series naturally. I'm extremely thankful one of the networks had the guts to do it. I'm getting really tired of pilots that suck because they're forced to cram lots of stuff into 20-40 minute episodes to convince the networks. It will only get more and more exciting! :D
ReplyDeleteI temporarily forgot Donal is also on this show. Love him too! He's been on my TV a lot lately and I appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteEveryone knows the name Commissioner Gordon. He is one of the crime world's greatest foes, a man whose reputation is synonymous with law and order. But what is known of Gordon's story and his rise from rookie detective to Police Commissioner? What did it take to navigate the multiple layers of corruption that secretly ruled Gotham City, the spawning ground of the world's most iconic villains? And what circumstances created them – the larger-than-life personas who would become Catwoman, The Penguin, The Riddler, Two-Face and The Joker?
ReplyDeleteGOTHAM is an origin story of the great DC Comics super villains and vigilantes, revealing an entirely new chapter that has never been told. From executive producer/writer Bruno Heller (“The Mentalist,” “Rome”), GOTHAM follows one cop's rise through a dangerously corrupt city teetering on the edge of evil and chronicles the birth of one of the most popular super heroes of our time.
Growing up in Gotham City's surrounding suburbs, JAMES GORDON (Ben McKenzie, “Southland,” “The O.C.”) romanticized the city as a glamorous and exciting metropolis where his late father once served as a successful district attorney. Now, two weeks into his new job as a Gotham City detective and engaged to his beloved fiancée, BARBARA KEAN (Erin Richards, “Open Grave,” “Breaking In”), Gordon is living his dream – even as he hopes to restore the city back to the pure version he remembers it was as a kid.
Brave, honest and ready to prove himself, the newly-minted detective is partnered with the brash, but shrewd police legend HARVEY BULLOCK (Donal Logue, “Sons of Anarchy,” “Terriers,” “Vikings,” “Copper”), as the two stumble upon the city's highest-profile case ever: the murder of local billionaires Thomas and Martha Wayne. At the scene of the crime, Gordon meets the sole survivor: the Waynes' hauntingly intense 12-year-old son, BRUCE (David Mazouz, “Touch”), toward whom the young detective feels an inexplicable kinship. Moved by the boy's profound loss, Gordon vows to catch the killer.
As he navigates the often-underhanded politics of Gotham's criminal justice system, Gordon will confront imposing gang boss FISH MOONEY (Jada Pinkett Smith, “The Matrix” films, “HawthoRNe,” “Collateral”), and many of the characters who will become some of fiction's most renowned, enduring villains, including a teenaged SELINA KYLE/the future CATWOMAN (acting newcomer Camren Bicondova) and OSWALD COBBLEPOT/THE PENGUIN (Robin Lord Taylor, “The Walking Dead,” “Another Earth”).
Although the crime drama will follow Gordon's turbulent and singular rise through the Gotham City police department, led by Police Captain SARAH ESSEN (Zabryna Guevara, “Burn Notice”), it also will focus on the unlikely friendship Gordon forms with the young heir to the Wayne fortune, who is being raised by his unflappable butler, ALFRED (Sean Pertwee, “Camelot,” “Elementary”). It is a friendship that will last them all of their lives, playing a crucial role in helping the young boy eventually become the crusader he's destined to be.
GOTHAM is based upon characters published by DC Comics and is produced by Warner Bros. Television. Executive producer Bruno Heller (“The Mentalist”) wrote the pilot, which will be directed and executive-produced by Emmy Award nominee Danny Cannon (the “CSI” series, “Nikita”).
You've officially sold me on the new way of doing pilots! haha.
ReplyDeleteHahaha, I'm glad! :) It's gonna be great, I'm very hopeful about this new format! :D
ReplyDeleteOh, and by the way, neither Under the Dome nor 24: Live Another Day had pilots ordered. Even more so, they both air in the summer, which would've been unthinkable years ago. They both went directly to series, and we've seen how well that have gone for UTD and I'm confident Live Another Day will do great as well! We're literally witnessing a massive change in the TV landscape :D
ReplyDeleteI would mind 12 episodes instead of 13.
ReplyDeleteI am shocked.
ReplyDeleteFox is also having the creators of the show go beyond the pilot script and having them write additional scripts, and/or setting up a small writers room to develop a road map for the show before they order the show to series.
ReplyDeleteEven better! I'm starting to really like the FOX network! Can't wait for the next few years to see how they develop, but I'm already now very excited for what they're gonna bring us in the latter part of this year :D
ReplyDeletedosent even matter.. fox disapoint me every single time.. the cancel shows upon shows. one season and it's done! dosent even matter how much rating it got or not. every single show has has better uputunity to survive without signing up with fox.
ReplyDeleteYay! Can't wait to see the show!
ReplyDeleteI gotta say, I think 13-episode seasons would be great for Gotham.
ReplyDeleteI'm also really excited for the show to premiere, and better yet, a trailer is premiering with 24: Live Another Day, usually we would have to wait a while for a trailer, so much awesomeness in one day!
ReplyDeleteWoohoo! I have been very interested in this show since FOX announced it back in September.
ReplyDeletehttp://insidetv.ew.com/2014/05/05/gotham-trailer/
ReplyDeleteThanks! I ended up not watching 24, so I'm glad you linked it! this looks good! What do you think? I'm really intrigued.
ReplyDeleteFantastic and after seeing the trailer I hope we get man more eps as well, looks fantastic
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I really hope its for 13 episodes and not 22. I'm tired of useless fillers, i want a tighter, more cohesive series and if its 13 episodes per season it won't really run the chance of overstaying its welcome in the near future. I love that FOX is trying new strategies in the way they bring their content.
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