FOX PICKS UP KEEN EDDIE FOR MID-SEASON
Copyright 2002 www.zap2it.com

[ June 4th 2002 ]

Acting on signs the ad market is improving, FOX has become the first network to pick up an additional midseason series. The network has ordered 12 new episodes of the drama Keen Eddie for midseason, bringing the total order to 13, including the pilot. Eddie is the first show to be picked up following the networks' upfront ad markets, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Keen Eddie stars Mark Valley (Pasadena) as an American police officer whose career is in ruins. He travels to England in an effort to solve the case that caused his downfall. Tomb Raider director Simon West, Warren Littlefield and creator J.H. Wyman are the executive producers. FOX is also considering a pickup for Wanda at Large, a comedy starring Wanda Sykes (The Chris Rock Show) as a streetwise TV reporter. The network may retool the show if it does place an order.

The six broadcast networks announced relatively few midseason pickups at their upfront presentations last month - a fact attributed to uncertainty about whether the ad market would rebound from its sluggish performance last season. With upfront rates significantly up, however, more midseason orders could be on the horizon.

Shows said to be in the running for midseason include ABC's Capital City, a drama about a young Capitol Hill staffer; CBS' Life of the Party, a comedy starring Nathan Lane as a congressman; FOX's Time Tunnel, an update of the 1960s sci-fi series about time-traveling scientists; NBC's A.U.S.A. a comedy about young lawyers in New York; and The WB's Black Sash, an action drama about a Hong Kong cop pursuing justice in the United States.