Fall Preview

Suburgatory 2011

DAD: George Altman (Jeremy Sisto) / Divorced

DAD'S JOB: Unknown

KIDS: Tessa (Jane Levy) (15)

WHERE'S MOM?: "Pulled a Kramer vs. Kramer before Tessa was potty trained."

STAND-IN "MOM": Dallas Royce (Cheryl Hines) Next-door neighbor

Alert Viewers will recognize the tell-tale signs of TV Single Dad Plot Formula #1: "Dad, mourning the loss of recently departed Mom, tosses the kid(s) in a pickup truck /airplane / boat and moves to a completely different locale, usually with an exotic climate." This time around, Dad and Daughter are city folks, and the exotic land is Suburbia. Think Who's The Boss?, only no Judith Light family.

I know ABC/Disney has a robust publicity staff, but do they have to use a 1978 cultural reference such as "Kramer vs. Kramer" to explain the series?

ABC describes the situation thus: "Single father George only wants the best for his sixteen-year-old daughter Tessa. So when he finds a box of condoms on her nightstand, he moves them out of their apartment in New York City to a house in the suburbs. But all Tessa sees is the horror of over-manicured lawns and plastic Franken-moms. Being in the 'burbs can be hell, but it also may just bring Tessa and George closer than they've ever been."

"Tessa (Jane Levy) and George (Jeremy Sisto) have been on their own ever since Tessa's Mom pulled a Kramer vs. Kramer before Tessa was potty trained. So far, George has done a pretty good job of raising Tessa without a maternal figure in their lives, but suddenly he's feeling a little out of his league. So it's goodbye New York City and hello suburbs. At first Tessa is horrified by the big-haired, fake-boobed mothers and their sugar-free Red Bull-chugging kids, but little by little, she and her dad begin finding a way to survive on the clean streets of the 'burbs. Sure, the neighbors might smother you with love while their kids stare daggers at your back, but underneath all that plastic and caffeine they're really not half bad. "

Allen Gregory 2011

DAD: Richard Gregory (French Stewart) / in a relationship

DAD'S JOB: Unknown

KIDS: Allen Gregory (Jonah Hill) (7) Julie (Joy Osmanski) adopted sister (5)

WHERE'S MOM?:Unknown

STAND-IN "MOM": Jeremy (Nat Faxon) Richard's life partner

Somewhere at a pitch meeting at FOX Television, a network bigwig named Peter Chermin leaned forward and said, "Hey - why don't we make a Family Guy spinoff with Stewie? Wouldn't that be an absolute riot?" It was almost a great idea, until someone pointed out they'd have to pay Seth MacFarlane even *more* royalty money. So, they went with Plan B: Chemin would act as Executive Producer, and they'd use a similar idea from a pitch session with actor Jonah Hill as the new Stewie character. Stewie became "Allen Gregory," the erudite, precocious 7-year-old son of a gay TV Single Dad who is forced to attend (gasp!) public school.

This is how FOX is promoting the series: ALLEN GREGORY is a new animated comedy series that tells the story of one of the most pretentious 7-year-olds of our time. When he looks in the mirror, ALLEN GREGORY DE LONGPRE (Jonah Hill, "Superbad," "Get Him to the Greek") doesn't see a child. He sees a young man who is intelligent, sophisticated, worldly, artistic and romantic - characteristics he inherited from his doting father, RICHARD (French Stewart, "Private Practice," "3rd Rock from the Sun"). The pair share an extraordinary father-son bond - a bond that is sometimes annoyingly interrupted by Richard's life partner, JEREMY (Nat Faxon, THE CLEVELAND SHOW, "Reno 911!"), for whom Allen Gregory has minimal respect, if any at all. They live together in a stunning architectural loft, along with JULIE (Joy Osmanski, "Grey's Anatomy"), Allen Gregory's adopted Cambodian sister.

Although Allen Gregory has allegedly composed operas, written novels and dated Chloe Sevigny, he's about to embark on his greatest challenge yet: leaving the safety of his father's homeschooling and attending elementary school with children his own age. His journey will be a struggle, not only with the other kids at school, but with the faculty as well. Whether it's the all-out rivalry with GINA WINTHROP (guest voice Leslie Mann, "Funny People"), his by-the-book second grade teacher; his unique relationship with JUDITH GOTTLIEB (guest voice Renée Taylor, "How I Met Your Mother"), his 68-year-old principal; or his desperate desire to be best friends with JOEL ZADAK (guest voice Jake Johnson, "Get Him to the Greek"), the school's popular stud, Allen Gregory has his work cut out for him. With the help of his trusty friend and assistant, PATRICK VANDERWEEL (Cristina Pucelli, "Finley the Fire Engine"); and the support of SUPERINTENDENT STEWART ROSSMYRE (Will Forte, "Saturday Night Live"), who believes the De Longpres are a tremendous asset to the school, Allen Gregory won't have to get his hands too dirty. ALLEN GREGORY is about an outsider. And while he may put on a tough exterior, deep down, all Allen Gregory wants is to fit in. Well, that, and for Julie to run away and never be seen or heard from again. And Jeremy too.

Secret Circle 2011

DAD: Charles Meade (Gale Harold) / Single?

DAD'S JOB: Warlock

KIDS: Diana Meade (Shelly Hennig) (15)

WHERE'S MOM?: Unknown

STAND-IN "MOM": Unknown

Do you really need anything more than "It's TWILIGHT, except it's with witches instead of vampires" as an explanation?

The CW press release goes like this: "Cassie Blake was a happy, normal teenage girl - until her mother Amelia dies in what appears to be a tragic accidental fire. Orphaned and deeply saddened, Cassie moves in with her warm and loving grandmother Jane in the beautiful small town of Chance Harbor, Washington - the town her mother left so many years before - where the residents seem to know more about Cassie than she does about herself. As Cassie gets to know her high school classmates, including sweet-natured Diana and her handsome boyfriend Adam, brooding loner Nick, mean-girl Faye and her sidekick Melissa, strange and frightening things begin to happen. When her new friends explain that they are all descended from powerful witches, and they've been waiting for Cassie to join them and complete a new generation of the Secret Circle, Cassie refuses to believe them - until Adam shows her how to unlock her incredible magical powers. But it's not until Cassie discovers a message from her mother in an old leather-bound book of spells hidden in her mother's childhood bedroom, that she understands her true and dangerous destiny. What Cassie and the others don't yet know is that darker powers are at play, powers that might be linked to the adults in the town, including Diana's father and Faye's mother - and that Cassie's mother's death might not have been an accident."