Love Bites (TV series)

Love Bites
Genre
Created byCindy Chupack
Written byCindy Chupack
Starring
Theme music composerChrissie Hynde
Opening theme"Message of Love", performed by Emily Zuzik and Art Hays
ComposerDanny Lux
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes8 + original pilot
Production
Executive producersCindy Chupack
Marc Buckland
Eric Fellner
Tim Bevan
Shelley McCrory
Jon Kinnally
Tracy Poust
Running time60 minutes
Production companiesLoud Blouse Productions
Working Title Television
Universal Media Studios
Open 4 Business Productions
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseJune 2 (2011-06-02) –
July 21, 2011 (2011-07-21)

Love Bites is an American anthology comedy-drama television series originally planned for the 2010–11 television season on the NBC network that eventually aired as a summer replacement series.[1] It premiered in its regular Thursday night time slot at 10:00 pm Eastern/9:00 pm Central, on June 2, 2011. On July 11, 2011, NBC canceled the show and the series finale aired on July 21, 2011.[2]

Plot

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Love Bites was originally set to focus on Annie (Becki Newton) and Frannie (Jordana Spiro), two single women exploring the ups and downs of dating, love, and sex, while dealing with the fact that all their other friends have married.

Off-camera complications, including Spiro's commitment to another show and Newton's pregnancy, delayed production, and the show was eventually retooled as an anthology series, focusing on three short vignettes per episode similar to Love, American Style. Each story was often intertwined by a common theme or character, and was related to the three main protagonists: Annie (Becki Newton), Judd (Greg Grunberg), and Colleen (Constance Zimmer/Pamela Adlon in the pilot).

Cast and characters

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Main

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Guest

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Episodes

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No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateU.S. viewers
(millions)
0"Pilot"Marc BucklandCindy ChupackUnairedN/A
Annie and Frannie are the last two single girls standing after all of their friends get married.
1"Firsts"Marc BucklandCindy ChupackJune 2, 2011 (2011-06-02)2.64[3]
Annie's friend Cassie lies that she is a virgin to attract a guy. Judd and his friend are on a flight with Jennifer Love Hewitt. After being fired from his job, Carter returns to his home only to find that his fiance is having fun with a vibrator.
2"How To..."Wendey Stanzler ("Banana Bread", "Decent Proposal")
Marc Buckland ("Eyegasms")
Colleen McGuinness ("Banana Bread", "Decent Proposal")
Danielle Sanchez-Witzel & Larry Wilmore ("Eyegasms")
June 9, 2011 (2011-06-09)2.37[4]
When Annie's friend Jodie bakes a banana bread for her new flame Charlie, he feels threatened and tells her they should just be friends. Ed and Faye Strathmore visit their son Kyle and his boyfriend in Venice. Judd and Colleen admit who they fantasize about.
3"Keep on Truckin'"John Scott ("Goodbye Boob", "Cutlets")
Marc Buckland ("Ninja Vanish")
Tracy Poust & Jon Kinnally & David Feeney ("Goodbye Boob", "Cutlets")
Larry Wilmore & Danielle Sanchez-Witzel ("Ninja Vanish")
June 16, 2011 (2011-06-16)2.34[5]
Judd and a friend drop in on a party and discover a surprise about its host. Annie's sister Chloe sets up a blind date for her. Ricky shows his tricks in vanishing from one-night stands.
4"Sky High"Timothy BusfieldJoe LawsonJune 23, 2011 (2011-06-23)2.03[6]
When Annie's niece, Christy asks a shy teenager to go with her to the prom, everybody tries to advise him. Judd and Colleen are trying marijuana when they realize that they have to attend a Christening.
5"Stand and Deliver"John David ColesDavid McHugh & Matt FlanaganJune 30, 2011 (2011-06-30)1.87[7]
Judd and Colleen are looking to buy a new house. Sam learns that his ex girlfriend is dating a baseball star. Julia must decide between her career and her personal life.
6"TMI"John ScottColleen McGuinnessJuly 7, 2011 (2011-07-07)1.98[8]
Bridget reveals her uniform fetish. Judd takes his niece to the STD clinic. Kristen dates a socially inept man.
7"Boys to Men"Jamie BabbitDanielle Sanchez-Witzel & Joe LawsonJuly 14, 2011 (2011-07-14)2.00[9]
Dale works out his baby jitters with a hot French receptionist, and a cougar mends the heart of Colleen's young nephew.
8"Modern Plagues"Anton CropperCindy ChupackJuly 21, 2011 (2011-07-21)1.80[10]
Bedbugs infest Jodie and Charlie, and a musical flash mob proposal reveals Matt's true romantic feelings for Annie.

Development and production

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In January 2010, NBC announced Love Bites as one of many pilots on its early development slate.[11] Becki Newton was cast in late February,[12] followed quickly by Jordana Spiro.[13] Marc Buckland was confirmed to be directing the pilot in early March.[14] In May 2010, NBC announced it had green-lit the series.[1] The series was scheduled to air on Thursday nights in the 10–11 pm slot starting in the fall of 2010.[15] On May 17, 2010, Greg Grunberg announced via Twitter that he will be joining the cast.[16]

A number of changes eventually prevented the series from going into production as planned. On June 24, 2010, Jordana Spiro left the series due to her role on My Boys, for which she had a contract that bound her to continue on that program. Krysten Ritter guest starred in the pilot episode as Cassie, replacing Spiro. The premise of the show had to change when Becki Newton announced her pregnancy; her character was a virgin. Before changes could be made, showrunner Cindy Chupack departed for personal reasons. NBC was forced to move Love Bites to midseason 2010–11, and The Apprentice up to fall 2010 to take the timeslot.[17][18] Pamela Adlon was originally cast as Colleen in the unaired pilot episode. She was replaced by Constance Zimmer in the subsequent aired episodes. It was announced in July 2010 that Tracy Poust and Jon Kinnally would serve as showrunners for the series.[19]

On December 9, 2010, Deadline Hollywood reported that NBC had cut back the episode order from 13 to 9 episodes.[20] This would be followed by Spiro, Newton and Grunberg landing pilots elsewhere.[21][22][23]

After numerous delays, NBC announced that the 9 completed episodes were to premiere on June 2, 2011.[24]

References

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  1. ^ a b "NBC Picks Up Three New Series for the 2010-11 Season with "The Event", "Outsourced", and "Love Bites"". The Futon Critic. May 7, 2010. Retrieved May 13, 2010.
  2. ^ "Breaking News - Exclusive: NBC to Wrap "Love Bites" on July 21, Leaving One Episode Shelved". TheFutonCritic.com. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
  3. ^ Gorman, Bill (June 3, 2011). "Thursday Final Ratings: 'So You Think You Can Dance' Adjusted Up; NBA Finals Game 2 Ratings Even With Game 1 & Last Year". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
  4. ^ Gorman, Bill (June 10, 2011). "Thursday Final Ratings: NBA Finals Game 5 Draws 18.3 Million, 'So You Think You Can Dance,' 'Love Bites' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on June 13, 2011. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
  5. ^ Gorman, Bill (June 17, 2011). "Thursday Final Ratings: 'So You Think You Can Dance,' 'Love Bites' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on June 19, 2011. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
  6. ^ Seidman, Robert (June 24, 2011). "Thursday Final Ratings: 'Wipeout,' 'Expedition Impossible,' 'So You Think You Can Dance' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on June 27, 2011. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
  7. ^ Seidman, Robert (July 1, 2011). "Thursday Final Ratings: 'Wipeout' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on July 5, 2011. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
  8. ^ Seidman, Robert (July 8, 2011). "Thursday Final Ratings: 'Big Brother' Even Bigger, 'So You Think You Can Dance' Adjusted Up". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on July 11, 2011. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
  9. ^ Seidman, Robert (July 22, 2011). "Thursday Final Ratings". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on July 25, 2011. Retrieved July 22, 2011.
  10. ^ "Thursday Final Ratings: 'Wipeout,' 'Rookie Blue' and 'Big Brother' Adjusted Up - Ratings | TVbytheNumbers". Tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com. July 22, 2011. Archived from the original on July 25, 2011. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
  11. ^ "NBC Announces Some of its Early Development Slate for 2010-11". The Futon Critic. January 10, 2010. Retrieved May 13, 2010.
  12. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (February 21, 2010). "Becki Newton commits to NBC's 'Love Bites'". the Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 13, 2010.
  13. ^ "Development Update: Saturday, February 27". The Futon Critic. February 27, 2010. Retrieved May 13, 2010.
  14. ^ "Development Update: Friday, March 5". The Futon Critic. March 5, 2010. Retrieved May 13, 2010.
  15. ^ "NBC To Offer 13 New Shows In 2010-11". TV News Check. May 16, 2010. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
  16. ^ "Greg Grunberg "It's official!!!...."". Twitter. May 17, 2010.
  17. ^ "BREAKING: 'Love Bites' replaced by 'The Apprentice'" Archived 2012-03-18 at the Wayback Machine from Variety (July 1, 2010)
  18. ^ "'Love Bites' Replaced By 'The Apprentice'" from TV By The Numbers (July 1, 2010)
  19. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (July 19, 2010). "Tracy Poust and Jon Kinnally Ink UMS Deal, Join 'Love Bites' As Writing Showrunners". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 29, 2012.
  20. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (December 9, 2010). "NBC Cuts Back Order For 'Love Bites'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 9, 2010.
  21. ^ "Jordana Spiro To Star In ABC Comedy Pilot 'Lost And Found'" from Deadline (March 10, 2011)
  22. ^ "Becki Newton To Star In CBS Comedy Pilot" from Deadline (March 11, 2011)
  23. ^ "Greg Grunberg To Topline A&E's 'Big Mike' Pilot, Camille Guaty Joins USA's 'Eden'" from Deadline (January 28, 2011)
  24. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (April 29, 2011). "NBC's 'Love Bites' To Premiere In June". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 27, 2020.
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