"Brotherhood," "Project Runway" get CBS, NBC exposure

from zap2it

'Runway,' 'Brotherhood' Make Network Leap
Cable shows will get more exposure on broadcast brethren

CBS and NBC will let some of their cable siblings' programming cross
over to the broadcast airwaves in the coming days, continuing the
summer's burgeoning cross-pollination trend.

On Saturday, CBS will air the premiere episode of Showtime's new drama
"Brotherhood," in hopes of giving the show some added exposure. NBC
will do something similar on each of the next two Mondays, airing the
first two episodes of Bravo's "Project Runway."

The repurposing of 'Brotherhood' "is just one example of how content
divisions in our company can work together to complement and support
each other's efforts," says Les Moonves, president and CEO of CBS
Corp., which also owns Showtime.

The show, about two brothers -- one a politician (Jason Clarke,
"Rabbit-Proof Fence") and one a gangster (Jason Isaacs of the "Harry
Potter" films) -- vying for control of their Providence, R.I.,
neighborhood, will air at 10 p.m. ET, with some edits made to conform
to broadcast standards. CBS also promises to limit the number of ads

patty1...

Yeah, I'll bet there will be. I saw a review of it that said it's
gorier than "The Sopranos." I imagine the language is similar, too.

Alan Pollock...

If it's to be the runaway hit the Sopranos was, they'll need to inject some
subtlety and humor, qualities I didn't see in the premier.

I found the ep to be oh so serious, which is fine for an ep or two but lethal
over time. I'm not talking about the LA Law type of in your face humor either
(or of the kind that eventually cheapened Huff), I mean clever stuff that's
NOT in your face. Brotherhood had none of it.

Not that the ep was bad, it just lacked multi-level contrast; something
Sopranos exuded in gallons those first few seasons. Time will tell; one ep is
nothing. Nex

jayembee...

One can stream the pilot from Showtime's website. That version is
bleeped, though a few "bad words" were audible. At least in the
first few minutes. I didn't have the time to watch more than the
first 10 minutes, but I liked what I saw enough to *ahem* the
episode in its unaltered form. Haven't watched it yet, though.

in the broadcast.

"Project Runway," meanwhile, will air at 8 p.m. on July 17 and 24. The
fashion-design competition kicks off its third season on Bravo
Wednesday.

Cable shows have been almost a regular feature on the broadcast
networks this summer. In addition to the "Project Runway" and
"Brotherhood" crossovers, episodes of ABC Family's "Kyle XY" have been
airing Friday nights on ABC (the first two averaged about 5 million
viewers), and FOX ran "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" for three
weeks prior to the show's season premiere on FX.