By USA Network is reportedly planning a revival of its ‘blue sky’ era following the recent blockbuster success of “Suits” on Netflix and awards talk about the just premiered “Monk” reunion movie on Peacock.
Both shows along with the likes of “Burn Notice,” “White Collar,” “Covert Affairs,” “Psych,” “In Plain Sight,” “Graceland” and “Royal Pains” made up the network’s blue sky line-up.
These were light, breezy, escapist and smart character-based procedurals with quirky humor and largely shot outdoors in sunny locales like Miami, Santa Barbara and the Hamptons.
The ad-supported cable network is reportedly planning a return to original scripted programming in the mold of that lineup and has reportedly already identified a handful of ideas they are considering for development but no deals are in place.
The hope is to roll out the first new series in 2025. With cord-cutting and the linear viewing decline, budgets for said series are being capped at $2-3 million an episode.
Though launching on USA, it’s expected much of the viewership for the shows will come from streaming on Peacock.
Whilst USA had success with sci-fi dramas in the early 2000s with “The Dead Zone,” “The 4400” and “Touching Evil,” the blue sky era was such a success it helped USA Network become the #1 cable entertainment network for a record 14 years.
The network opted for darker fare by the mid-2010s with “Mr. Robot,” “The Sinner” and “Queen of the South,” and more recently have largely gotten out of the original programming arena.
Source: Deadline
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