When CBS announced its fall schedule and there was a show about a vampire/private investigator on it, the comparisons to "Angel" were immediate and inevitable.
Those comparisons have become even more inevitable-er.
CBS describes "Moonlight" as the story of "a captivating undead private investigator (Alex O'Loughlin) who uses his acute vampire senses to help the living ... instead of feeding on them." And that would have been an accurate description of the 1999-2004 series "Angel," which was about a vampire/private investigator (David Boreanaz) who used his vampiric powers to help humans as he battled various demons.
CBS hasn't shown critics or advertisers a complete "Moonlight" pilot because, well, network executives weren't happy with it and are demanding an overhaul. (Networks tend to do this sort of thing. It sounds a little crazy ... but that's a subject for a whole 'nother column.)
Anyway, in addition to recasting some of the lead roles and doing some other, um, revamping, CBS has brought on a veteran producer/writer to run this new show. And it's none other than David Greenwalt, the co-creator and executive producer of — you guessed it! — "Angel."
This is not a bad thing. Greenwalt is a great writer, and "Angel" was a great show.
But the coincidence — if you can call it that — is a bit much.
SPEAKING OF "ANGEL," Joss Whedon — who co-created the show with Greenwalt — has announced that he will continue the story in comic-book form.
Which will be nice for "Angel" fans, who were left hanging when the show ended without really ending. The final episode was a cliffhanger to set up the sixth season, which never materialized when The WB canceled the show.
No word on when the "Angel" comics will be published, but it probably won't be before this fall at the earliest.
TYLER PERRY'S HOUSE OF PAYNE (7 and 7:30 p.m., TBS) is a television oddity before it even goes on the air. While many shows go on the air with orders for 13 (or fewer) episodes, creator TBS has ordered 100 episodes from creator/executive producer Tyler Perry.
Perry, the man behind "Diary of a Mad Black Woman," has come up with a show that is, in a lot of ways, a very traditional, sit-around-the-living-room sitcom about loud-mouth, intolerant fireman Curtis Payne (LaVan Davis). He's surrounded by family and "friends" who annoy him.
But it's also very 21st-century as it tackles everything from religion to drugs to HIV to predators on the Internet.
Perry, who directed the pilot, also appears in drag as Madea. It's got some laugh-out-loud comedy, but it's not for everyone.
E-mail: pierce@desnews.com