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Broadcast Nets Push Genre Shows

Genre series like HBO's "True Blood" are all the rage on cable. Broadcast is new to the game. Two drama pilots ordered so far by Fox are both in the genre category: "Locke & Key" is based on Joe Hill's comic, and "Alcatraz" features missing Alcatraz prisoners who reappear in present day. Genre projects have also attracted some of the biggest writer-producers in town: Lost's J.J. Abrams is behind Fox's series "Fringe" and "Alcatraz."

David E. Kelley, who dabbled in sci-fi with "Life on Mars," is developing a series adaptation of comic book icon "Wonder Woman," while David Eick is involved in a series adaptation of "The Hulk" for ABC and Marvel. But can genre movies' box-office success be replicated on mainstream TV? For the most part, the answer seems to be no. The closest to a genre hit on the big broadcast networks these days is CBS' hit comedy "The Big Bang Theory," which has geek overtones but is broad enough to attract wide audiences. But CBS' vampire drama "Moonlight" and horror drama "Harper's Island" lasted a season each.

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