As Economy Falls, Recession TV Revs Up

March 11, 2009 — -- Recession television is kicking into full gear.

The economic crisis continues to find its way into storylines, as on a recent episode of ABC's "Desperate Housewives," in which pizza shop owner Lynette Scavo (Felicity Huffman) explains her downturn in business to a neighbor thusly: "When times get tough, people do without things like pizza."

But they don't do without TV, so the networks have responded with new shows that deal directly with the ailing economy. Several have shows in development to mirror the lives of viewers watching them.

ABC recently approved two series centered on the recession. The first, "Canned," follows what happens when several 20-something friends get fired from an investment bank and discover that maybe finance wasn't the right field for them after all.

The second, as-yet unnamed series, stars "Frasier" alum Kelsey Grammer as a Wall Street exec who leaves the world of finance to play "manny" to the family he hardly knows.

At Fox, actor-writer Mike Binder ("The Upside of Anger") is developing "Two-Dollar Beer," a comedy set in blue-collar Detroit, in which he'll also star.

Shawn Ryan, the man behind gritty dramas "The Shield" and "The Unit," is shopping a comedy called "The Millionaires Club" about a group of average Joes who pool their cash for various get-rich-quick schemes.

CBS is reportedly developing "Waiting to Die," a sitcom about two guys who are content with their lives though they have little going for them.

Then there's the networks' own cost-cutting measures that will result in programming shifts. When Jay Leno moves to 10 p.m. on NBC, the network will likely save millions of dollars by replacing dramas at $3 million an episode with his show, each of which is expected to cost less than $2 million.

Leno himself is reaching out to recession-effected viewers. He announced Monday that he'll host a free show April 7 at Michigan's Palace of Auburn Hills, in the suburbs of Detroit. Aimed at "anybody out of work in Detroit," attendees only have to say they are unemployed to get tickets to the event.