Fox
Series Premiere: Tuesday, 22 May 2007 9pm ET / 8pm PT

As far as television networks go, FOX is the best at sending out materials to the press so we can learn all about their new shows. For the highly-anticipated “On the Lot,” however, they’re keeping that mostly to themselves. Along with some popcorn and movie snacks, they sent a little DVD canister with a paltry five-minute teaser for the new show. Mark Burnett and Steven Spielberg (as you all surely know by know) are executive producers on the show. Carrie Fisher, Brett Ratner, Garry Marshall and Jon Avnet will be the judges for the series. There are 50 hopeful filmmakers that begin on the Universal backlot’s tram tour. The top prize is a $1 million development deal with DreamWorks, and once our judges have whittled it down to the top 18, that’s when the public gets to weigh in. The filmmakers represent all sorts of brackets and come from around the world. It will certainly be a juicy competition once it heats up, but from the teasers, it’s hard to tell how it will all shake out. For now, we have some clips from the judges to gather some insight as to this new batch of talent coming forth. The format is not all that new: Artists with a dream go on reality show and are voted off by judges and cry on the shoulder of a nice hostess. What will be most interesting to see, is how an hour-long show with commercials will be able to show us the complicated inner-workings of film production for this many contenders. Stand by.