MUMBAI: Anthony E. Zuiker, the creator of the ?CSI? franchise, begins production on his first primetime reality series ?Whodunnit?? on US broadcaster ABC.

Cris Abrego partners with Zuiker for the new nine-episode summer alternative series, which is produced by Zuiker?s Dare to Pass and 51 Minds. The series puts 13 contestants? investigative skills to the test in a new mystery reality competition which airs this summer.

Each week players will use a variety of crime scene investigation techniques to meticulously uncover evidence that will ultimately reveal who among them is the killer. The interactive series will pit 13 amateur sleuths against each other in a quest to solve a series of puzzling murders. Some will form alliances and others will choose to go at it alone just to get them closer to the grand prize. The contestants will reside on a glamorous estate where each week they must solve a new crime in order to advance in The Game. Failure to solve the crime will lead to each player?s demise until only three are left. In the final episode, one player will unmask the killer and take home the $250,000 prize.

Zuiker said, "I?ve built a career telling crime stories, and if there?s one thing that I?ve learned, especially from ?CSI,? it?s that the audience loves to solve the mystery. ?Whodunnit?? allows everyday fans to be in the show themselves and get the chance every week to do what they love best, which is ultimately solve the case."

Abrego said, "?Whodunnit?? takes the best elements from the timelessly entertaining narrative form, the murder mystery, and infuses it with all the contemporary energy of a competition based reality show. The mystery fans who suddenly find themselves in the middle of an unfolding murder mystery won?t actually be playing for their lives, of course, but they?ll certainly feel like they are, and it promises to be just as engaging and suspenseful for the viewers at home."

MUMBAI: This is the week where the US networks are making upfront presentations to advertisers. ABC has announced several new series.

One of the big shows is Marvel?s first TV series, ?Marvel?s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.? The presentation of this show closed out ABC?s upfront. This show is crucial to ABC?s plans as it not just leads Tuesdays but will also be a launching pad for three new series. ?Dancing with the Stars? meanwhile has been trimmed and will air only once a week on Mondays from 8.00 pm - 10.00 pm.

Each episode will have the performance show and results show. On the comedy front new shows include ?Back in the Game? which is about an all-star softball player. ?The Goldbergs? is set in a high-end New York City bar. ?Trophy Wife? is about a reformed party girl who finally gets married.

Shows that did well enough for them to be renewed include ?Castle?, ?Grey?s Anatomy? and ?Revenge?. ABC Entertainment president Paul Lee spoke about Happy Endings being cancelled saying, "What we found was that it was just too narrow. It was a very hard decision, because as you know, I love that show and I found it hard to make the decision.

"By the same token, I think new series ?Mixology?, and ?Super Fun Night? are much broader shows and able to bring in wider audiences."

An emotional moment was talk show legend Barbara Walters getting a standing ovation and tearing up as Anne Sweeney acknowledged her time at the broadcaster and the fact that she recently announced her retirement.

MUMBAI: Australia?s Flame Distribution is launching a raft of documentaries at the television trade event MipTV next month.

?First Footprints? is a ZDF/Arte/ABC Australia production that tells the previously untold story of the original pioneers of all humankind, a history that began in Australia 50,000 years before modern humans reached America and Europe.

?The Story of Australia? is a Bearcage Production for CCTV 9 China that captures the stunning Australian landscape and people of contemporary Australia. Each aspect of Australian life will be seen through the lives of people like the wildlife ranger in Kakadu, the rodeo rider in NSW and the marine biologist on the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland.

Bearcage has also produced ?Dinosaurs of the Outback? which uses live action and 3D animation to create reconstructions that tell the story of the grand creatures who used to roam the Australian Outback.

?Nothing on Earth?, Jerrycan Film?s follow-up to ?Salt?, follows artist Murray Fredericks on an adventure of extremes in one of the most breathtaking environments on earth - atop a melting glacier on the Greenland Icecap under the solar storms of the Aurora Borealis.

The company?s sales, acquisitions director Fiona Gilroy said, "We have been working closely with these producers over the past few years on all these projects and we are incredibly proud to be bringing them to the international marketplace. To have content of this calibre in our catalogue is a real coup for us."

In addition to these Australian productions, Flame is also distributing content from UK independents. Highlights include BBC?s ?The Farm Fixer? which Flame has already sold to SBS Australia, Choice TV New Zealand and TV2 Denmark.