BETWEEN BROTHERS - ANOTHER THUMBS DOWN FOR UPN - Jan 14

From Hollywood Reporter
Reviewed by Barry Garron

There is a strong, almost overpowering temptation to review Between Brothers in four words: You must be kidding. Or three: Are you serious? Or two: Oy vey. Or one: Feh.

That's because this comedy, rejected by Fox in 1997 after a few months on the air, is not only poorly executed, it seems to go against the programming strategy enunciated by UPN executives from CEO Dean Valentine on down.

Valentine said more than a year ago that UPN programs would abandon their former narrowcast ethnic urban target in favor of broad appeal. "UPN for UPS" was the battle cry, a reminder that series on the network ought to appeal to the everyday worker at that everyday package delivery service. Between Brothers suggests a new motto: "UPN for the creatively handicapped."

The sitcom is about two brothers and their two friends. The brothers, Charles and James, are played by Kadeem Hardison (A Different World) and Dondre T. Whitfield (All My Children), respectively. Charles is a sports writer with no apparent understanding of journalism and James is a brash real estate salesman who appears decades away from making the $25,000 Round Table. The friends are played by Tommy Davidson (In Living Color) and Kelly Perine.

If you liked What's Happening, and years of therapy since then haven't helped, you might also enjoy Between Brothers. The humor is of the "say-it-loud-and-gesture" variety, about as subtle as a jackknifed semi.

In the premiere, Charles is unsure about what to do after he discovers that the football player who is the subject of his story is not at all like the role model he thought he was. Then there is some incredible silliness and over-the-top acting when May (guest star Sandy Brown), the sister of Charles and James, moves to town and goes job hunting.

Throw in uninspired directing and spartan sets and the result is, well, feh.

To UPN's credit, the network is only on the hook for six episodes -- five never before broadcast and one previously aired. That should be long enough for UPN to realize that, even as a companion piece to Moesha, it's impossible to justify running this turkey.

BETWEEN BROTHERS - begins on UPN on Tuesday January 19 at 9.30pm

NEW SEASON PILOTS - Jan 14

From Hollywood Reporter
By Lynette Rice

Docs, G-men pilots prep for landing at networks

A medical drama from ER scribe Neal Baer and a FBI show set in the '60s represent the latest round of drama pickups by the broadcast networks.

Orders for sitcom pilots also have begun to trickle in -- from ABC's Talk to Me, which focuses on a radio host, to CBS' Thanks, which centers on pilgrims.

The WB has reached out to its fellow Time Warner-owned Warner Bros. TV for Outreach, a drama pilot from Baer that focuses on a medical clinic in Venice, Calif. The order comes amid an ongoing public dialogue about the relationship between Warner Bros. TV and its fledging sister network.

Warner Bros. TV president Tony Jonas admitted Wednesday that some of the studio's past difficulty with the WB has resulted from not "knowing what it wants."

Yet Outreach will attempt to cater to the WB's target audience of adults 18-34, insiders said, since it will focus on a teen and family medical clinic in Venice Beach.

The WB's other drama pilots in development for fall include Angel from Joss Whedon -- a 20th Century Fox TV spinoff of Buffy the Vampire Slayer -- as well as DC from Dick Wolf and Studios USA.

ABC has tapped Paramount Network TV for 68, an ensemble drama that focuses on the FBI in the turbulent 1960s. Executive producers are Dan Pyne (Doc Hollywood), John Mankiewicz (Hill Street Blues) and director-producer Aaron Lipstadt (Miami Vice).

In other developments on its drama pilots, ABC has cast Bill Campbell (The Rocketeer) to play opposite Sela Ward in Once Again, a Walt Disney TV show from Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz that focuses on newly single parents.

Other previously announced drama pilots ordered by ABC include Snoops from David E. Kelley and the backdoor pilot Mulholland Drive from Imagine TV/Touchstone TV.

For comedies, ABC has picked up the Walt Disney TV pilot Talk to Me from Suzanne Martin (Ellen), on top of previously announced True Love starring Adam Goldberg and Julie Delpy, and The Guide starring Christine Taylor. The latter two comedies are from Studios USA and the Greenblatt-Janollari Studio, respectively.

Fox Broadcasting has turned to Columbia TriStar TV for Gross Players, a racy comedy pilot executive produced by Joel Silver (Lethal Weapon 4) and Chris Thompson (The Larry Sanders Show). Set in the world of motion picture production, the action centers on a larger-than-life character who is talented but also an obnoxious lout.

Fox already has a 13-episode commitment to Time of Your Life, the Columbia TriStar TV drama that will star Jennifer Love Hewitt.

NBC recently ordered two comedies from its in-house production unit, NBC Studios. MYOB from Don Roos (Single White Female) is a single-camera, first-person sitcom about a 16-year-old who tracks down her biological mother, while The Expendables from Carlos Coto (The Pretender) centers on robots in a research lab that only watch TV.

For dramas, the peacock already has a 13-episode on-air commitment with John Wells and Warner Bros. TV for an untitled project. In addition, Wells and the studio have been tapped by the peacock for the drama pilot West Wing, a White House-centered story written by Aaron Sorkin and directed by Thomas Schlamme.

CBS has ordered a drama pilot from Columbia TriStar TV called The Expert that would star Steven Weber. The detective show is executive produced by Jack Bernstein (Ace Ventura, Pet Detective). For comedies, the eye also has picked up the pilgrim sitcom Thanks from Walt Disney TV and Grapevine from CBS Prods. The latter is a romantic anthology from David Frankel (Miami Rhapsody).

Over at UPN, the new drama from Tom Fontana and Barry Levinson has cast up-and-coming actor Mark Ruffulo (The Last Big Thing) to play one of the leads. Tentatively called The True Story, the drama comes with a six-episode commitment and focuses on a cop brother and his surgical intern sister.

Other UPN drama pilots include The Strip from Spelling Entertainment, which has been described as a younger version of Hotel. For comedy pilots, Jon Favreau (Swingers) has been tapped to create a single-camera sitcom that's been described as a male version of HBO's Sex in the City.

SENTINEL ARTICLE ON TV GEN - Jan 14

From TV Gen Sci-Fi News
By John Walsh - jwalsh@newscorp.com

Sentinel Star a Living Doll?

Talk about your action figures. "I wanted to put out a Sentinel doll that was life-size," Richard Burgi told reporters at the Television Critics Association's annual press tour in Pasadena, CA. "It would know your feelings and hug you a lot."

Failing that, the Sentinel star said, "I want to establish my own web site so I could interact with the fans on that level." Unfortunately, he said, "I'm computer-illiterate. My wife is the one who's online."

When UPN pulled the action-buddy series from its lineup last fall, "fans tortured the network" with calls, letter and faxes, executive producer Danny Bilson laughed. The show returns Mon., Jan. 18, at 9 pm/ET.

"The fans absolutely affected me creatively this year," Bilson continued. "We were getting all this input about what they like and what they don't like, and it had an effect on the choices I made in these last eight episodes."

Wait: Is that last as in "most recent," or last as in "final"? Without giving away too much, Bilson said the finale "wraps up the first 65 episodes in a lot of ways. We felt that for the fans and for ourselves, if we're not going to go beyond these eight episodes, we wanted to have something that would work as a series finale."

Burgi hinted that the final episode "opens the door for the show to go in a completely different direction," but admitted he had mixed feelings about it. "Any time you're looking at that finite quality, it brings up a lot of stuff," he said.

"But I'm so grateful the fans responded the way they have," Burgi said. "All I can do is talk from my heart and give them my sense of gratitude." 

(Thanks Beth and Jean)

ANOTHER SENTINEL REPORT - Jan 14

From Cinescape's News and Rumors section

New Direction For Sentinel?

The Sentinel executive producer Danny Bilson talked up the impact fans of the series had on the revival as well as giving insight into the series future during the Television Critics Association press tour.

According to TV Gen, Bilson revealed that "The fans absolutely affected me creatively this year. We were getting all this input about what they like and what they don't like, and it had an effect on the choices I made in these last eight episodes."

Bilson also revealed that the last episode of the new batch of eight "wraps up the first 65 episodes in a lot of ways. We felt that for the fans and for ourselves, if we're not going to go beyond these eight episodes, we wanted to have something that would work as a series finale."

So, what of The Sentinel after that? Bilson further revealed that the season's final episode "opens the door for the show to go in a completely different direction. Any time you're looking at that finite quality, it brings up a lot of stuff." 

(Thanks Jean)

FAMILY/PRISON/MEDICAL/COP DRAMA ON HOLD TILL FALL - Jan 13

Report from the local press:

About to go into production for this fall at another network, UPN, is a pilot from Barry Levinson and Tom Fontana, the executive producers of Homicide: Life on the Street.

The working title for the series, which had originally been announced as debuting this spring, is The True Story, according to Tom Nunan, the entertainment president at UPN.

"Instead of airing six episodes now at mid-season, which was our original plan, what we want to do is consider just putting it on in the fall with a full 13-episode order," Nunan said.

The series "is about a gruff, young uniform cop in New York City and his relationship with his sister, a young medical intern," Nunan said. "So it will be mixing the doctor and cop francises in one series."

The series will be set and filmed in New York, Nunan said. 

(Thanks Deana)

RICHARD BURGI SLATED FOR TV GEN/YAHOO ONLINE CHAT - Jan 13

Richard Burgi will also be participating in the Yahoo/TV Gen online Sentinel chat series. He'll be online on Monday, February 1st, 8-9 EST (5-6 PST).

The Sentinel chats commence Monday January 18 with Danny Bilson and Paul DeMeo, followed on January 25 with Garett Maggart all at 8-9 EST (5-6 PST).

For more details visit Yahoo Chats.

(Thanks to the Official Richard Burgi Fan Club)

SEASON FOUR AND SOS COVERAGE NOW AT OFFICIAL PARAMOUNT SITE - Jan 13

Not only have Paramount reinstated The Sentinel to their front page, but it links off to a HUGE new show write-up, that itself links off to separate page about the Support Our Sentinel campaign and an interview with our own founding member Merry.

Here's a sample:

Mondays at 9:00 PM (ET/PT) on UPN

Intriguing storylines, one-of-a-kind cop partners, witty dialog, and movie-sized action pieces have combined to make THE SENTINEL a favorite among fans of all ages. In fact, it was due in no small part to those loyal fans that THE SENTINEL returns for the 1998-1999 season. The hour-long action spectacular, a Pet Fly Production in association with Paramount Network Television for UPN, blasts back onto the airwaves on Monday, January 18 at 9:00 PM (ET/PT) with an encore airing of the pilot episode. This will be followed on Monday, January 25 with the airing of the '97-98 cliffhanger and on Monday, February 1 with an all-new episode resolving the cliffhanger.

Entering its fourth season, THE SENTINEL is, by far, the biggest action show on television. Combining amazing stunts with jaw-dropping special effects, viewers are treated to a movie-sized episode each week. Producers Danny Bilson and Paul DeMeo have succeeded in their dream of bringing big screen filmmaking to the small screen.

This large scale approach to television paid huge dividends this past Spring when THE SENTINEL's dedicated fans launched a national campaign to ensure that their favorite show would return for a fourth season. The fans mobilized their efforts which included: flooding UPN with letters, campaigning on the Internet and purchasing advertisements in USA Today and Daily Variety to make sure their voices were heard. The campaign to save the show proved effective, and those loyal fans will be rewarded with another season of exceptional action and excitement. 

READ THE COMPLETE TEXT

The above page then links off to a page about the fan campaign:

Watch THE SENTINEL Mondays at 9:00 PM (ET/PT) on UPN

FANS CAMPAIGN TO "SUPPORT OUR SENTINEL" AND UPN RESPONDS

As THE SENTINEL's loyal fans watched last season's final episode, their excitement at the season's thrilling conclusion was tempered by the fear that their beloved show may not return for a fourth season. Internet rumors had circulated that UPN did not plan to renew the show and its legion of loyal fans would be left in the lurch. But as the cliffhanger episode concluded, and viewers saw the words: "To Be Continued," flash across the screen, the fans breathed a collective sigh of relief, thinking that their show would definitely return the following season. Unfortunately, it was less than 24 hours later that they realized that relief was short-lived as UPN announced that THE SENTINEL had not been pick up for another season.

Disappointed, but undaunted, Sentinel fans quickly organized and began what would become a seven-month campaign to save the show. A select international committee of the show's fans was created to provide leadership and organize a campaign to save the show. This committee, S.O.S. (Support Our Sentinel), quickly spread the word of UPN's announcement and began to mobilize the show's concerned fans. A Web site was developed, online mailgroups were created all across the Internet and an overall game plan began to develop. 

(Thanks Karen Spencer)

NEWS REPORTS ON UPN FROM PASADENA WINTER PRESS TOUR - Updated Jan 13

MORE COVERAGE IN CINESCAPE MAGAZINE - Jan 13

Ruth Calkins reports:

When I opened the Jan./Feb. issue of Cinescape (purchased for the article on The Sentinel - See News report of Dec 30 1998), I noticed a Sentinel photo was also included on the "Letters" page. I immediately searched the page for the letter it must have been included with. Imagine my surprise when I started reading the letter and realized that the letter was from me!

The text of my letter and Cinescape's (humorous) response follows:

"I am writing to ask for your support in the fight to get UPN's show The Sentinel back on the air. As you may or may be aware, UPN pulled The Sentinel from its schedule. They report that they are holding it for mid-season. In order for the show to come back, I believe a push will need to be made to prove that The Sentinel does have an audience out there.

"The Sentinel is my favorite show in TV. I love the sci-fi aspect, the stories, and the acting, and I have many friends who agree.

"A mention of support from your publication would be a big help.

"Ruth Calkins, Allendale, NJ"

 

---

"We at CINESCAPE can confirm that there are some very devoted Sentinel fans out there. We've been getting letters from them for months. We've finally given in to their demands by running a feature on their favorite show in this issue. Turn to page 60 to read more about the fight to get The Sentinel back on the air. But a word of warning to fans of Homeboys From Outer Space. Don't get the wrong idea. No matter how many letters you send us, we won't cover that show.--Ed."

(Thanks Ruth)

UPN ON AIR ADVERTISING FOR THE SENTINEL - Jan 12

As well as the numerous magazine and newspaper articles reported below, there have been a number of Sentinel commercials on UPN leading up to the series' return on January 18 (encore screening of the pilot).

The first is a general promo for The Sentinel's return, heralding "The Sentinel is Back", set to a rock sound track and featuring scenes from seasons one, two and three. This commercial can be viewed in Read Video format at the Ultimate TV Promo Lounge (downloads quickly but is low resolution, or a wonderful clear copy can be found at Vidiot's site in hi-res AVI (2.8MB) and QuickTime (3.5MB) movie formats.

A variation on this on-air promotion focuses on the rerun of the pilot episode, featuring more clips from Switchman and announcing, "see the episode that started it all..."

Most unique of all is a commercial designed as a companion piece for Dilbert, which will air Monday nights, before The Sentinel at 8pm/7c. It features an animated Jim Ellison in an action sequence, which eventually segues into the real Jim. It says: "What's the perfect companion to UPN's animated series, Dilbert?"  [enter animated Jim, wearing a black, form-fitting full-body armor suit (a-la Batman), running down the street with gun in hand]  "The Sentinel -- that's what." [more animated Jim, kickboxing and punching the air -- he finally kicks a window pane and shards fly across the screen.]  "Okay, so he's not a cartoon..." [flashing close-up of animated Jim alternates with real screen pic of Jim]  Jim: [from Neighborhood Watch] "Oops, cat's out of the bag, Chief."  "But in his own way, he *is* highly animated."  Followed by a collage of explosions, punch-ups, garbage truck scene, etc. from previous eps including Switchman, Vow of Silence, Vendetta, Secret, etc.  It ends with: "The Sentinel returns Monday on UPN." In other on-air news, the UPN Press Conference for the Television Critics Association on January 8 was covered on CNN in a special segment of their Headline News. The report featured coverage of the event at the Ritz, an interview with Dean Valentine and coverage of The Sentinel's return. The segment ran at half hour intervals. (Thanks Cathryn, Tricia, Jean, Noon and especially Becky and Robyn for the grabs of the Sentinel cartoon and the write-up )

NEWS REPORTS ON UPN FROM PASADENA WINTER PRESS TOUR - Updated Jan 12

THE SENTINEL STRIKES BACK - Jan 13

Sci-Fi Teen #5 (March 1999)
by Steve Newton

Not even cancellation could stop TV's hero with super-senses

[Caption: The Sentinel stars Bruce A. Young, Richard Burgi and Garett Maggart are happier now that the show has been given a new lease on life.]

TV series get cancelled all the time: it's par for the course in the entertainment biz. But it isn't often that a show gets canned and then brought back. That's what happened with The Sentinel, UPN's popular series about a police detective, Jim Ellison, who discovers he has developed a keen range of hyperalert senses. Like the mythical "sentinel" of precivilized cultures, he possesses radically enhanced sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. Ellison teams up with grad student Blair Sandburg, who taps into his encyclopedic knowledge of the "sentinel" legend to aid Ellison in dedicating his newfound abilities to the war on crime.

The Sentinel -- which has been resurrected after three seasons for at least eight more episodes, to begin airing this winter on UPN -- was created by Danny Bilson and Paul DeMeo. The two wrote and produced such cult sci-fi films as Trancers, Arena and Zone Troopers -- which Bilson also directed -- before going mainstream in '91 with Disney's The Rocketeer. The duo's other TV credits include The Flash and The Human Target.

Bilson -- whose Pet Fly Productions also delivers the nationally syndicated series Viper -- feels quite close to The Sentinel after three years, and was understandably bitter when the show was initially given the heave-ho. He is very thankful to the outpouring of support from hordes of Sentinel fans seeking to rescue the show from oblivion. "We have a huge fan base that was writing letters and jamming their phone lines," he says. "I had no idea that they had that much at stake emotionally, but I was surprised and delighted by how passionate they were." 

[Caption: In a series full of action, it's the relationship between Sandburg and Ellison that stands out for the fans.]

Bilson thinks he has a pretty good idea what the main attraction is the people who put so much time and effort into keeping the show going: the relationship between Ellison and Sandburg. "I get a lot of feedback from the fans," he says, "and that's what I base things on. We even adjust things based on the fan input. And they absolutely love the friendship between the two guys; that's kind of the core of the show. The production value, the action and the adventure are all secondary to their friendship."

The Sentinel is unique as far as TV cope series go, and Bilson traces its success to its rare blend of elements. "We take a high-energy, over-the-top action/cop show and then add this science- fiction aspect -- the heightened senses. That was always the concept we hooked onto, and that's what we think is really fun."

[Caption: Having survived cancellation, situations like this should be a breeze for The Sentinel's cast.]

Richard Burgi plays the tough but vulnerable Ellison, the sole survivor of a doomed reconnaissance mission that forced upon him 18 months in the jungles of Peru. It was here that he was instilled by the Peruvian tribesmen with the extraordinary sensory gifts that allow him to hear a ticking bomb entranched in the deep recesses of a large building, or to discern the emotional state of an adversary. While growing up in Montclair, New Jersey, Burgi was surrounded by the performing arts -- his parents were involved in theater and his brother is an accomplished musician.

Before taking on the role of Ellison, Burgi spent many years in TV soap operas, including Another World, As the World Turns, One Life to Live and Days of Our Lives. But he says that acting in soaps isn't really all that different from performing in The Sentinel. "You know, it's all the same," he offers. "I mean, when it's presented in its purest distillation, soaps are just actors living in a moment -- hopefully responding seriously to a given stimuli. And it's fun; I enjoy soaps."

Burgi also enjoys the camaraderie involved in filming The Sentinel in Vancouver, Canada. "The people I work with up here are just delightful," he says, "and I have a lot of fun with the actors on the show. It's kind of like going on a madcap caper week after week. It's the people that make it fun, and that's what excites me about it." His other passions include surfing, traveling and playing music; he's the proud owner of the legendary Buddy Miles' vintage drum set.

One person who has already tried out those prized drums is Garett Maggart, who portrays Sandburg, the grad student dedicated to keeping his thesis subject (Ellison) in one piece. Maggart claims he's a "hack" on drums -- and on guitar -- but admits that musical inclinations run in his family. His father is actor and former opera singer Brandon Maggart, and his sister is none other than pop vocalist Fiona Apple. 

[Caption: Grad student Sandburg (Maggart) would never see this much action hanging around a library.]

Maggart says that the biggest challenge of his Sentinel role is just sustaining Sandburg's character. "It's different than doing a guest bit where you just go and you pop it and leave," he says. "The longevity of the show is the challenge -- to keep the excitement and the thrill and the energy of it up -- because sometimes you can get sort of complacent and lackadaisical with it."

The actor was most impressed by how the fans of The Sentinel reacted in its defense when word of the cancellation first got out. Their charged response also made him realize the power of the Internet. "I think that our fan base are all on chat lines," he says. "They all have Sentinel web pages and things, and they just inundated UPN with E-mails, jammed up the phone lines, stuff like that. It's amazing what the Internet can do. It's scary, too."

The third star of The Sentinel is Bruce A. Young, who plays Captain Banks, Ellison's tough but fair superior officer, who has no recourse but to accept the detective's erratic behavior once his hyper-vigilant senses surface. No office-bound bureaucrat, Banks is considerably more likely to thrust himself into an investigation alongside Ellison than to toil at his desk pushing paper.

The classically trained Young has guest-starred on such series as The X Files, Highlander, and Quantum Leap; his most recent movie role was opposite John Travolta in the hit Phenomenon. Like The Sentinel's other principals, he was taken aback by the fan support, and hopes the show will continue to win reprieves from cancellation. "It is a different and offbeat type of show," he says, "not your usual crime drama, so we do have a lot of fun with it. It would be nice to keep it going."

Young has actually met many of The Sentinel's enthusiastic fans in person during conventions and such, and reports that they majority of them are female. "We have a very large female audience that is very loyal," he says, "and they're the ones who are the most vocal. I imagine there must be some guys, but they don't' come to the conventions. The girls are willing to fly and come meet people; I think the guys just stay home and watch TV." 

Contact details: (if you want to write and thank them for the coverage or just follow up the article)

Starlog Presents Sci-Fi Teen
published bi-monthly by Starlog Group, Inc.
475 Park Ave. S.
New York, NY 10016

To obtain additional copies of the magazine, send $3.99 plus $2.50 to cover shipping to the address above. [Note: There is no indication if that $2.50 covers international postage.]

(Thanks Juli and Sherry)

SENTINEL REPORT ON PASADENA PRESS TOUR - Jan 10

From the Cop TV website

Back in Saddle Again
The Sentinel Returns ...

Regardless of what happens with the 1998-99 television season, the story of how The Sentinel made it back to UPN's schedule will go down as one of the first cases of a show brought back by Internet fans (along with CBS' Magnificent Seven.)

However, now that it's back, what can fans expect?

Television critics got a glimpse of the season's eight shows (yep, that's it for this season) when series stars Richard Burgi and Bruce A Young met critics last week, along with Executive Producer Danny Bilson and Paul DeMeo, during the Television Critic's Association Winter Press Tour.

While several hundred fans who came to Pasadena to visit the cast and producers were treated to lunch, a look at a new episode and a visit from the actors, critics had a chance to ask questions about the upcoming shows and the series' lucky return from the brink of annihilation.

(Thanks to Maria for the photo (above) of Richard and Bruce signing autographs for fans at the Rally. Visit Maria's Rally Website (site does no longer exist) for her Rally report and more photos from the weekend.)

Also worth noting were just how much De Meo and Bilson credit the fans for helping the show and how instrumental viewers are to its direction.

"I like to credit the fans," Bilson said, when discussing the show's return. "There's a huge fan element that is very loud and has put a lot of pressure on everybody."

When asked exactly how the fans brought the show back, Bilson was blunt.

"I think they tortured the network. I really do."

"It's pretty extraordinary." De Meo agrees. "We had -- just in my office alone -- we had a notebook about that thick (holds fingers apart) with literally thousands of email."

"I think the Internet definitely is a tool that's become incredibly important." De Meo continued. "It certainly revolutionizes this sort of fan-based support for any show. And, in particular, our show."

However, Bilson also pointed out that the fans have helped the show's current development.

"The most interesting effect of the fans to me was that they absolutely affected the show creatively this year. Because we were getting all this input of what they like and what they don't like, and it had an absolute effect on choices that I made creatively of what we did in these eight episodes."

And what were some of those changes? Bilson focused on the mythology of the Sentinel and the friendship between Ellison (Richard Burgi) and Sandburg (Garett Maggart).

While the discussion with critics was fairly quick, covering barely half-an-hour, Bilson said he hoped the season wouldn't be over so quickly.

"The best thing that could happen to this show is an order for 22 (episodes) next fall."

However, in case UPN decides again not to pick up the show, and viewers are unable to save it again, Bilson and De Meo have no cliffhanger planned for this season.

"We did -- and I directed it -- a finale, the eight episode of the eight -- that allows the show to continue but wraps up the first 65 episodes in a lot of ways, both emotionally, and some of the situations that were set up in the pilot three years ago. We felt that for the fans and for ourselves, if we're not going to go on beyond the eight, we wanted to have something that would work as a series finale."

But, De Meo promises, "there is definitely an opening at the conclusion of that episode" to continue if the show is picked up.

The Sentinel returns to the UPN schedule on January 18 with the series premiere, followed on the 25th by last season's cliffhanger. The new season premieres on February 1. 

UPN SEEKS MORE TESTOSTERONE ... THEY THINK - Jan 11

From TVGEN's Daily Dish
By Michael Peck

PASADENA, CA: Don't expect anymore Desmond Pfeiffers from UPN. President and CEO Dean Valentine made that abundantly clear at the TV Critics Press Tour on Friday, delivering a contrite, Lincoln-esque address in a stovepipe hat. "We were wrong and you guys were right," Valentine admitted, adding his network has gotten its "butt kicked."

UPN's plans to remedy the situation remain fuzzy. On one hand, Valentine says the network want to bring in more young men. Shows like the for-now renewed Sentinel and its he-man action seem to fit. But nothing else shown here really does.

The network is hyping Dilbert, an animated comedy based on a comic strip that's popular, but not necessarily a draw for the young dudes. Family Rules (premiering March 9, 8:30 pm/ET), which stars Greg Evigan as a single dad dealing with four adolescent daughters, probably isn't, either. Maybe the animated Home Movies (premiering April 26, 8:30 pm/ET), from the creators of Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist, will do the trick through sheer humor; clips shown were edgy and well received.

The struggling Clueless and DiResta will go on hiatus to make way for the new kids, and UPN does have deals with some top-notch talent in the pipeline. But Valentine knows he has his work cut out for him. An upcoming show from producers Tom Fontana and Barry Levinson (Homicide: Life on the Street, Oz) is being pushed back to the fall to give it some more development time, for example, and Valentine admits strategy means nothing if the audience doesn't show up.

For now, though, the network brass are simply staying humble and trying to put out good shows. "I think a certain amount of modesty is appropriate for where we are right now," Valentine says.

(Thanks Jean)

MORE SENTINEL PUBLICITY - Jan 9

Spoilers below:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Mick reports:

TV GUIDE - For the Optimum TV Customer (Cable)
January 9-15 "Winter Preview" issue

The Sentinel
Mondays, debuts January 25 - 9 P.M./ET, UPN

BIG NEWS: Intense fan support helped bring back this fantasy-action hour.

LOVE CONNECTION: Stacey Haiduk plays a former lover of Ellison's (Richard Burgi) who's now married to his onetime best friend.

TWISTS AND TURNS: Ellison head to Mexico to track down nemesis Alex Barnes (guest star Jeri Ryan). The NBA's Clyde Drexler, Muggsy Bogues, Kurt Rambis and Malik Sealy appear in an episode in which a sports arena is held hostage.

Juli reports:

Sci-Fi Teen magazine
Issue 5, March 1999 has a Sentinel article -- with a headline on the cover.

The article is three pages long, has five color pictures, and some quotes from Richard Burgi, Garett Maggart, Bruce A Young and Mr. Bilson. Featuring pictures from the new episodes.

The article makes it clear that everyone at The Sentinel is very aware and appreciative of their fans. Bilson is quoted as saying: "I get a lot of feedback from fans, and that's what I base things on. We even adjust things based on the fan input."

The magazine also features a Sentinel pin-up! Seems there are advantages to being covered in a teen magazine after all!
 
 

(Thanks Mick and Juli)

SENTINEL ONLINE CHATS - Jan 9

Yahoo Chats will be hosting a series of 'chat' sessions featuring The Sentinel. To participate in the chats you will need to visit the Chat page and sign up.

The chat schedules can be found at: Yahoo Chat Calender. The Sentinel chat schedules are below.

SENTINEL STARS, PRODUCERS AND FANS AT UPN PRESS DAY - Jan 9

As part of the Annual Winter Press Tour, UPN presented its shows and stars to television writers and critics from all over the US at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Pasadena, California on Friday, January 8.

The actors and producers from The Sentinel were featured in special Q & A and interview sessions. Media Relations at UPN have offered SOS a transcript of these events so stay tuned for more details.

In a demonstration of support unprecedented at this type of press tour, hundreds of Sentinel fans turned up at the Ritz with banners and balloons to draw attention to the campaign for more episodes of The Sentinel.

Fans were ushered into the ballroom and treated to a special preview screening of one of the new episodes to be aired in February. Following the screening, fans had the opportunity to meet the stars and producers of the show, talk with reporters and even speak with UPN CEO Dean Valentine who made a brief appearance at the gathering.

Read more news reports about UPN's day in front of the media here.

UPN APOLOGIZES FOR LINCOLN COMEDY - Jan 9

From: Journal Sentinel
By Joanne Weintraub TV critic

Pasadena, Calif. -- Placing a stovepipe hat on his head and borrowing from the Gettysburg address, UPN's entertainment chief reminded critics Friday that "fourscore and 15 days ago," the network launched a series "dedicated to the proposition that a show about the Lincoln White House could be funny."

Dean Valentine then removed the hat and said: "We were wrong."

The reference was to UPN's quickly canceled Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer, a comedy about Lincoln's fictional African-English butler that was universally panned by critics, came in close to the bottom of the ratings and was protested vigorously by a few African-American groups.

Even the protests didn't attract viewer attention, Valentine said ruefully. "We may have finally managed to find a show that people weren't even curious about."

The sixth-ranked network has found more than its share of those since September, having lost substantial numbers of viewers since last season and consistently coming in behind its fellow upstart, the WB network.

"I think a certain amount of modesty is (in order) for where we are now," Valentine said.

The network is putting a big promotional push behind Dilbert, an animated series based on the cartoon strip, which is scheduled to debut at 7 p.m. Jan. 25 on WCGV-TV (Channel 24) in Milwaukee. Ushers at UPN's daylong presentation to TV critics here even wore gag neckties wired to flip upward in an anxious curl a la Dilbert.

UPN also is counting on the small but loyal fan base of The Sentinel, a fantasy drama that became the subject of an e-mail blizzard when it was canceled at the end of last season. The network will return it to the air at 8 p.m. Jan. 18.

Other UPN news:

Family Rules, a comedy starring Greg Evigan as the widowed father of four teen girls, will debut March 9.

Home Movies, an animated series featuring the voice of Paula Poundstone, will debut April 26.

Guest appearances this spring will include Jason Alexander in his first post-Seinfeld TV role as an evil alien on Star Trek: Voyager, LeAnn Rimes on Moesha and Billy Ray Cyrus on Love Boat: The Next Wave.

Actresses Meg Ryan and Heather Thomas will produce Quints, an animated series described as "a female South Park."
 

(Thanks Noon)

[ SOSindex ] [ SOS - Actual News ] [ Latest Updates to SOS Website ] [ How You Can Help ] [ Who Do I Write? ] [ Where to see the Series? ] [ What is 'The Sentinel'? ] [ About the Actors ] [ About SOS ] [ SOS News Archive ] [ Join an online discussion Group ] [ SOS Banner Exchange Program ] [ Merchandise for The Sentinel ] [ Related Links ] [ Search SOS Site ]