Upfronts from Discovery and GMC TV

Here are the upfronts from Discovery Communications and GMC/UP Entertainment.  What are your thoughts? Which ones are you most likely to watch? Let me know in the comments section!

 

Discovery Channel:
Klondike, Discovery's first ever scripted mini-series, will star Tim Roth. New series include Big Brain Theory: Pure Genius with Kal Penn and Cutter Oil (working title) about a family-run oil company. Nik Wallenda, known as "The King of the High Wire", will traverse the Grand Canyon without using a harness on the special Wallenda Live. Naked and Afraid is a new series in which a new pair of strangers each episode will find themselves stranded in some of the world's harshest environments with no food, no water, no tools... and no clothes. Returning series include: Deadliest Catch, Gold Rush, Amish Mafia, Bering Sea Gold, and Moonshiners.

Animal Planet:
New Series include (these are all Working Titles): Alaska Bush Family, Catch and Release, Clipped (extreme dog grooming), My Tiny Terror, and Polar Bear Crossing and Top Hooker (it's about fishermen!). Special Puppy Bowl X will return next Super Bowl Sunday, thank goodness. Returning series include America's Cutest Cat (and Dog), Finding Bigfoot, Gator Boys, and Pit Bulls and Parolees.

TLC:
New series include: Alaskan Women Looking for Love, Best Funeral Ever, and My Teen is Pregnant and So Am I. Returning series include Long Island Medium and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. Also, Breaking Amish: Brave New World in which the cast reunites to make a fresh start in Florida, but instead find more culture shock, unexpected challenges and surprises along the way. You may also want to keep an eye out for Husband Hunters (working title) in which women have the dress, the venue and the cake... but there's no groom.

Science Channel:
The channel's first scripted dramatic feature will air in November 2013: 73 Seconds: The Challenger Investigation, starring Academy Award-winning actor William Hurt, a BBC co-production with Science Channel. The end of 2013 also brings the series This Changes Everything, featuring James Woods, who explores the emerging technologies of today that could change the way humankind lives tomorrow. Returning series include How it's Made and How do They Do It?, along with quirky hit franchise Oddities. Morgan Freeman also returns to take viewers to the world of the unknown in Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman. The channel's extraterrestrial programming event Are We Alone? returns in March of 2014.

Velocity Channel:
New series Americarna chronicles how American culture and car culture go hand-in-hand, hosted by NASCAR crew chief Ray Evernham. It will premiere in January 2014. Returning series include Wheeler Dealers, Overhaulin' and Chasing Classic Cars.

Military Channel:
New series Against the Odds explores "mission impossible" stories of heroism and strength. CIA: Declassified tells the real tales of the CIA's covert operations, based on the declassification of documents in the last twenty years.

Other series include: Gunslingers, Die Hard History and Apocalypse World War 1.

Destination America:
New summer series King of Thrones, which honors the #1 room in the house:  the bathroom. Buying Hawaii focuses on the most popular island paradise destinations. Last Call Food Brawl is a competition series hosted by chef Adam Gertler that showcases the best in comfort food. Returning series include BBQ Pitmasters, Epic, Buying Alaska and Hillbilly Blood.

Investigation Discovery:
Jerry Springer is hosting its new series Tabloid. The weekly show will probe the most bizarre larger-than-life stories imaginable. With an initial run of 10, one-hour episodes, Tabloid will premiere on ID in first quarter 2014.

OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network:
The one-hour ensemble drama The Haves and the Have Nots (produced for OWN by Tyler Perry Studios) is set to premiere Tuesday, May 28 at 9p, and the sitcom Love Thy Neighbor (produced for OWN by Tyler Perry Studios) will premiere Wednesday, May 29 at 9 p. On Sunday, May 26 at 9p, Winfrey will interview Perry on a special Oprah's Next Chapter. In addition, the network has two new unscripted series joining its slate of original programming: Millionaire Mama's Boy (executive produced by Pete Tartaglia and Amy Palmer Robertson and distributed by Sony Pictures Television), about the relationship between WNBA star Pamela McGee and her NBA star son JaVale, and Houston Beauty (produced by Park Slope Productions) about a Texas beauty school.

GMC TV has also unveiled its Upfront slate, which includes 66 originals, among them movies, series and stage plays. In addition, the network announced it will accelerate its name change to UP to June 1 instead of September 1.

GMC's originals for 2013 include:

Movies:
Finding Normal (May 2013). Dr. Lisa Leland is a surgeon sentenced after a traffic accident to do community service  as a doctor in a town called Normal, population 332. Living with no wi-fi, no lattes and no credit cards, Lisa begins to find herself and discovers what a meaningful life is all about. Stars Candace Cameron Bure, Lou Beatty Jr., Trevor Marshall St. John, Andrew Bongiomo and Mark Irvingsen.

The Perfect Summer (June 2013). A somewhat nerdy high school senior who spends all his time on his computer decides to learn to surf to capture the attention of a gorgeous surfer girl who moves next door.

Jimmy (June 2013). Young Jimmy Mitchell is asked to testify as a defense witness in a criminal trial when he accidentally hears a shocking confession and ultimately finds himself in a dangerous situation from which there is no escape. Based on the book by Robert Whitlow.

In The Meantime (July 2013). A GMC Faith and Family Screenplay Competition winner at the American Black Film Festival (ABFF), this is the story of a woman at a crossroads in her life. At her sister's suggestion she starts working at a local community center and joins the fight to save the center and finds real love along the way. Stars: Kali Hawk, Darrin Dewitt Henson, Terri J. Vaughn, Thomas Mikal Ford, David Mann, Tamela Mann, Demetria McKinney Rodney Perry and Musiq Soulchild. Directed and executive produced by Roger M. Bobb Screenplay by Nzinga Kadalie Kemp.

Teachers (August 2013). Manny Cortez is uprooting his family so that they can go to Westbrook High where his beloved late father was the football coach. No sooner does the Cortez family move into the Westbrook school zone than it is announced that Westbrook will close due to budget issues. The staff, students and parents decide to fight back.

Guess Who's Coming to Christmas (November 2013). A jaded rock star, in order to repair his tarnished image, publicly agrees to fulfill a kid's Dear Santa Christmas wish. To his dismay, he ends up agreeing to spend the holidays in small town America and performing in the local holiday Christmas concert. Stars: Drew Lachey, Mackenzie Porter.

Silver Bells (December 2013). Bruce Dalt is an ambitious television sportscaster who approaches the holidays as he does life - competitively. This philosophy has put a strain on his family, and when Bruce gets into a physical scuffle with a ref at his son's basketball game, the holidays take a turn for the worse. Stars: Bruce Boxleitner, Antonio Fargas, Kenton Duty, Bridgett Newton, Laura Spencer and Kevin Downes.

GMC Series:
Heartland - Season 4 (June 2013 premiere; 16 new one-hour episodes). The beloved family series continues with new episodes.

Family Addiction with Leigh Anne Tuohy: (Premieres June 2013; six, one-hour episodes). This series will follow the lives of families who have been fostering children and are on the verge of adopting one or more of their foster children. Leigh Anne Tuohy is best known for being the real life inspiration behind the blockbuster film, The Blind Side. Leigh Anne is joined by her daughter, Collins Tuohy, a noted inspirational speaker and Special Educator "Miss Sue" Mitchell (the character played by Kathy Bates in The Blind Side).

Bulloch Family Ranch (Premieres July 2013; seven, one-hour episodes). Julie and Rusty Bulloch are the proud parents of 25 kids; however, only two are biological. The rest are teens who have been dealt a difficult hand in life, from being homeless to gang life. Julie and Rusty welcomed each of them into their central Florida ranch for a LAST SECOND chance at getting on the right track.

Miracle Hunters From the producers of "Hatfield and McCoy's", "R&B Divas" and Gene Simons' "Family Jewels", this hour long GMC World Premiere Special investigative show will give hope that miracles exist while also debunking those that don't make the cut. The "Miracle Hunters'"team will travel around the country, capturing the world of the impossible and the endlessly fascinating.

GMC Stage Plays:
What Would You Do For Love (May 2013). Reggie Brooks is just an average guy working as a fitness trainer in a neighborhood gym. After being notified that he has come into a lump sum of money years after his parents perished in 9/11, Reggie decides that it's best to keep his new multi-millionaire status under wraps. Reggie's friends challenge him to go on a dating blitz in an attempt to find a wife in 30 days or less.

Love Will Find A Way (June 2013). Reggie Brooks travels to Paris with Troy, his wife Piper and her sister Paula who starts to have feelings for Reggie. But when they return from Paris, Reggie decides to give a relationship with Lucky a try after she changed her mind about wanting to have kids. But Paula becomes suspicious when she starts finding out the truth about Lucky... is she hiding something?