Hey folks,

So I'm watching one of the few shows I watch, and I saw a commercial on CBS for a new series with Chris Lloyd and Dean Cain that's coming out in the Fall, just in case anyone's interested. I found a summary online.

CLUBHOUSE is a drama about a 16-year-old boy who becomes a man in a world of overgrown boys when he takes a job as a batboy for a professional baseball team. For the first time, Pete Young (Jeremy Sumpter) takes a risk--perhaps the only risk of his young life--when he applies for and lands his dream job as a batboy for the New York Empires. The problem is his single mom, Lynne (Mare Winningham), has no idea what he's up to. Until now, he's been the golden boy while his rebellious older sister, Betsy (Kirsten Storms), has always been in the doghouse. On the job, Pete becomes a part of a new family that includes Conrad Dean (Dean Cain), the team's captain and star third baseman and one of the boy's all-time idols who takes on the role of an older brother. Also in the clubhouse is his boss, Lou Russo (Christopher Lloyd), a gruff but fair equipment manager who becomes a much-needed father figure; Rich (Marc Donato), a fellow batboy who just happens to be the general manager's nephew; Carlos Tavares (John Ortiz), a rookie who believes that Pete is his good luck charm, and Jose Marquez (J.D. Pardo), the Empire's territorial head batboy. Pete is over the moon at being a member of his favorite team, but he must still balance life at home and life in the big leagues as he faces the moral dilemmas and curve balls that life throws his way.

Interesting. I'm a TV addict, so I'll probably give it a try.

JD

Hmmm, the premise itself doesn't sound terribly interesting...but hey, I'll give it a try anyway. Any chance we know when it's starting?

Sara

Well... it's better than movies about giant killer snakes Thanks for the heads-up!

PJ

I don't wish Dean any bad luck, but the concept seems very weak. I don't believe it will last the season. It sounds like a candidate for mid-season replacement to me.

Tank (who says as loyal as Dean's folc fans may be there just ain't enough of them to save this show)

The show also has a lot of other fanbases that should be attracted to it. Christopher Lloyd will no doubt attract some of the still-strongly-kicking Back to the Future fanbase, Kirsten Storms has been a recurring Disney Channel staple for years (not quite as big as Hilary Whatsherface, but that might get some teen interest), and Jeremy Sumpter is well-loved among the young teen girl crowd... CBS oughta love that.

CBS is currently one of the 2 strongest broadcast networks. It recently canceled The District, Hack, and quite a few other decent shows to make just a couple of openings on its fall schedule. Clubhouse made its way in, which means it has to have SOME quality going for it. CBS isn't desperate like certain other networks, it won't pick up just anything right now.

Who knows what'll happen come Fall, but I know I'll be watching this show.

LNCRoxMySox is right! There are a lot of fan bases it should attract. She forgot baseball nuts and tv addicts .

I saw a promo clip when I was at BW3 (a local wings place/bar) and I thought, oh how cool! I had no idea Dean Cain was in it (actually, he would be a deterrent for me ), but since I am such a baseball nut, I think I will give it a try. (I've played for going on 19 years, I watch every Cleveland Indians game, and my favorite movies are A League of their Own and Major League 1 and 2 . . . so this has ever indication of possibly being my favirite TV show if history repeats itself .)

But if it really is on at 9pm Tuesday, that does conflct with my watching stupid ABC comedies. Oh well, I guess my dad will have to tape it for me .

I, for one, am definitely intrigued by the show and will be watching .

- Laura

I'm actually a lot more excited about Teri's new show "Desperate Housewives." It won't air until September, but I managed to get my hands on The Pilot, and I was positively surprised. Not only *didn't* I get the impression that "Lois Lane is divorced and left alone with a daughter", but that this was Susan Mayer with a failed marriage and is now starting to think how nice it would be to have a man in her life again, even one who would make fun of her cooking.

Teri was pleasantly funny and entertaining, and the chemistry between her and the daughter, Julie, is perfect.

Can't wait till the show finally starts. I'll be glued to the screen.

Pelican

Oh, that sounds nifty! I haven't seen or heard anything about Desperate Housewives yet.

JD

If you're handy with either the newsgroups or bittorrent, both pilots have been posted recently.

I've given them both a watching and I like them, but I am kind of biased <g>

The Seattle Times TV columnist wrote the following from LA where she is viewing the new fall shows. The headline says: Desperate Networks ABC, UPN Crank Up Quality.

"ABC, downtroddnen stepchild of Disney and favorite bus stop for downwardly mobile moguls, has the makings of 2004-2005's most promising show: the wickedly funny drama, 'Desperate Housewives'.Set in Anywhere, USA, 'Desperate Housewives' may be the best skewering of suburban life since 'Soap'.And it's a very soaplike format, filled with the desperate yearnings and secrets of four women played by a terrific ensemble cast that includes Felicity Huffman and Teri Hatcher."

An accompanying picture was of Felicity Huffman.

At the end of the column was:

"CBS has one series that offers possibilities beyond its premise. 'Clubhouse' is another coming-of-age drama about a teen-ager who becomes a batboy for for the fictitious New York Empires. The life lessons learned en route are saved by a surprising emotional pungency; still it could prove formulaic."

Hmmm. Wickedly funny; emotional pungency. Sounds good to me.



Jude

gosh darn it, I might actually have to watch network TV again... but I've got to at least give both these a try Especially Desperate Housewives -- after L&C, my next favorite show was SportsNight starring... Felicity Huffman!

Thanks to everyone for tipping me off; otherwise I'd never have known they were there <g>

PJ

Both shows sound like they have some possibilities to me. I'm definitely going to give them a look.

Laura, I do have one question. Why would Dean being in the cast of "Clubhouse" be a deterrent to your watching it? Why don't you like him?

Schoolmarm

I am not sure if this is going to make any sense, but I am going to try to explain myself.

Why would Dean Cain be a deterrent? Because he's not playing Clark Kent. It's that simple. (nothing even to what I think of him as a person)

I have long proclaimed that I am a fan of characters rather than actors. And if the actor is in a show where they are playing someone not the person I think they should be, it is a big let down. I don't even like actors being themselves -- on talk shows or whatever. It ruins my image of the character. I don't usually watch subsequent shows/movies actors from my favorite shows/movies are in because it ruins my image of them as the character I love. For example, I would never watch Megan Follows in anything because to me, she is Anne of Green Gables. I would never watch the cast of Friends in anything else (except maybe the new show Joey) because they will forever be Chandler, Joey, Ross, Phoebe, Rachel and Monica to me. I love Clark Kent, but I don't love Dean Cain. I don't even know Dean Cain.

I'm weird I guess. But who didn't know that already . The only reason I might watch Clubhouse (even though it is opposite According to Jim) is that it is a story centering on baseball, and I am a sucker for a good baseball story. I am the girl who dreams of marrying Indians' utility infielder John McDonald .

Actually, I won't watch the other show at all because Teri Hatcher is in it. She annoys me. Her voice. Those gosh darn Radio Shack commercials. The fact that she is so thin, she looks annorexic. The fact it looks like her eyes are popping out of her head. She just annoys me. I do greatly admire Lois Lane, but I really can't stand Teri Hatcher.

These are also the reasons I have not watched an episode of Lois and Clark in forever -- I think since last summer at the beach, and I hadn't watched before since I threw my tapes away.

- Laura

LOL. Not at all, Laura. There are plenty of FoLCs around who are more interested in the characters than the actors who play them. So you're not alone there. It's not a requirement to do both! Clark Kent and Dean Cain are two entirely different people after all.

In the past, I've tried really hard to watch the actors in my favourite shows in other projects, movies, guest appearances, but before very long I always give up. I had tapes of the actors in The Young Riders (my great love before LNC) and DC/TH for a while, but I did tend to find that watching them portray other characters actually got in the way of my enjoying them in my favourite shows. Bits of the other characters would intrude.

Having tried it once with TYR and not liked it and then given it a second go with LNC and not liked it I finally decided not to even try it third time around. I'm not at all interested in watching anything starring the cast of Stargate other than...well, Stargate.

LabRat

Laura, Thanks for the explanation. I don't know that I'd say you're weird. Different from me, obviously, because I will give almost any show or movie a try if I think the actor that I liked elsewhere might do a good job with the new character. Kind of like the way I'll read other books from the same author of a book I like. Of course, I think that is the mark of a good actor -- we can watch him/her in something else and not keep seeing Character #1. (Denzel Washington, for instance, is tops at this. I never see Denzel Washington -- I see the character.)

Schoolmarm

They are filming some scenes a few cities away from where I live...

So... I AM SIGNED UP TO BE IN THEM! As an extra! I'll probably never be seen in the crowd...but...who knows.

I am so excited. It's this Thursday night.

-Breanna

I just got a call from the reservation ppl verifying all the information (regarding my being there to be an extra). They said that Clubhouse is going to be a made for TV movie...NOT a new series.

EDIT: Ok...she didn't know what she was talking about. :-p

As per nancy on Zoom's boards: