One good thing about being at the bottom — there is nowhere to go but up.
   But the fourth-rated underdog ABC has risen to the challenge, with the coming TV season's most impressive slate of new shows. Credit an all-new team of development executives headed up by Stephen McPherson, who made an appearance here at the annual critics' fall-season preview by satellite from Paris, where he is honeymooning.
   "The creative process is all about getting in business with the right people," he allowed. "It is about finding writers, directors, producers who you believe in, whether it's their vision, their writing, their acting, an idea, a piece of material ... it's about finding people who have vision and can execute."
   A quick look at some of the highlights of ABC's 2004-05 season — and the creative visionaries behind them:
   Lost: Another new ABC hour creating considerable buzz here is this airplane disaster epic, in which 48 survivors of a horrific crash awake on an uncharted jungle island to discover that their problems are just beginning.
   The massive cast of the Hawaii-shot series includes Lord Of The Rings hobbit Dominic Monaghan, veteran heavy Terry O'Quinn (The Stepfather), Naveen Andrews (The English Patient), Party Of Five's Matthew Fox, Harold Perrineau from Oz, Alberta-born former model Evangeline Lilly and a host of diverse and intriguing new faces.
   But again, the Lost name to be reckoned with is the one behind the scenes — co-creator/producer J.J. Abrams, the mind behind Alias.
   "We think J.J. brings an enormous vision and exciting kind of look to what otherwise could be just an `island show,'" enthuses McPherson.
   "What I like to do," explains Abrams, "is to take a premise that's maybe a `B' premise — castaways, spy stuff — and ask, `How do we do this?' And inevitably, it's all about getting into the characters."
   SOURCE: Toronto Star Permanent Link | 10:27 AM