I Heart TV
It's the most wonderful time of the year: the network upfronts!
Sunday
ABCCBSNBCFoxThe CW
7PMAmerica's Funniest Home Videos60 MinutesFootball Night in America (August-December)
Dateline NBC (January)
Football overrun/Comedy repeats (Fall)
Animated repeats / King of the Hill (January)
Everybody Hates Chris / All Of Us
8PMExtreme Makeover: Home EditionThe Amazing Race 10Sunday Night Football (August-December)
America's Got Talent (January)
The Simpsons / American DadGirlfriends / The Game
9PMDesperate HousewivesCold CaseSunday Night Football (August-December)
The Apprentice (January)
Family Guy / The War at HomeAmerica's Next Top Model repeats
10PMBrothers & SistersWithout A TraceSunday Night Football (August-December)
Raines (January)
Monday
ABCCBSNBCFoxThe CW
8PMWife SwapHow I Met Your Mother / The Class
The Class / How I Met Your Mother
Deal or No DealPrison Break (Fall)
Standoff (January)
7th Heaven
9PMThe Bachelor: Rome (Fall)
Supernanny (Winter)
Two and a Half Men / The New Adventures of Old ChristineHeroesVanished (Fall)
24 (January)
Runaway
10PMWhat About BrianCSI: MiamiMedium
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Tuesday
ABCCBSNBCFoxThe CW
8PMDancing With the Stars (Fall & Spring)
Set For the Rest of Your Life (Winter)
NCISFriday Night LightsHouse (August-October)
Standoff (November-January)
American Idol (January)
Gilmore Girls
9PMThe Knights of Prosperity / Help Me Help YouThe UnitKidnapped
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Standoff (August-October)
House (November)
Veronica Mars
10PMBoston LegalSmithLaw & Order: Special Victims Unit
Wednesday
ABCCBSNBCFoxThe CW
8PMDancing With the Stars: Results Show (Fall & Spring)
The George Lopez Show / According to Jim (Winter)
JerichoThe Biggest Loser
20 Good Years / 30 Rock
Bones (Fall)
Justice (January)
America's Next Top Model (Fall & Spring)
Beauty and the Geek (Winter)
9PMLost (October-November & February-May)
Day Break (November-February)
Criminal Minds20 Good Years / 30 Rock
The Biggest Loser
Justice (Fall)
American Idol / The Loop (January)
One Tree Hill
10PMThe NineCSI: New YorkLaw & Order
Kidnapped
Thursday
ABCCBSNBCFoxThe CW
8PMBig Day / Notes From the Underbelly
Ugly Betty
SurvivorMy Name is Earl / The OfficeTil Death / Happy HourSmallville
9PMGrey's AnatomyCSIStudio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Deal or No Deal
Celebrity Duets (August-October)
The O.C. (November)
Supernatural
10PMSix DegreesSharkER (September-December & March-May)
The Black Donnellys (January-March)
Friday
ABCCBSNBCFoxThe CW
8PMUgly BettyGhost WhispererDeal or No Deal
Crossing Jordan
Nanny 911 (Fall)
Bones (January)
WWE Friday Night Smackdown!
9PMMen in TreesClose to HomeLas VegasTrading Spouses (Fall)
The Wedding Album (January)
WWE Friday Night Smackdown!
10PM20/20Numb3rsLaw & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order
Saturday
ABCCBSNBCFoxThe CW
8PMABC Saturday Night College FootballCrimetime SaturdayDateline SaturdayCops
9PMABC Saturday Night College FootballCrimetime SaturdayDrama Series EncoresAmerica's Most Wanted
10PMABC Saturday Night College Football48 Hours MysteryDrama Series Encores
ABC's midseason shows: American Inventor (Reality), Big Day (Sitcom), Greg Behrendt's Wakeup Call (Reality), Just For Laughs (Reality), In Case of Emergency (Sitcom), Masters of Science Fiction (Drama), Notes From the Underbelly (Sitcom), Traveler (Drama)
CBS's midseason shows: Creature Comforts (Animated), The King of Queens (Sitcom), Rules of Engagement (Sitcom), 3 Lbs. (Drama), Waterfront (Drama)
NBC's midseason shows: America's Got Talent (Reality), Andy Barker, PI (Sitcom), The Apprentice (Reality), Medium (Drama), Scrubs (Sitcom), The Singles Table (Sitcom)
Fox's midseason shows: On the Lot (Reality), The Winner (Sitcom)
The CW's midseason shows: Hidden Palms (Drama), Reba (Sitcom)
My Commentary
ABC: You'd think that ABC was the fourth-place network this season based on how radically different the lineup looks compared to last year. (By the way, NBC is the fourth-place network.) We've got a gusty move with Grey's Anatomy to Thursdays, when gossip had the drama pegged for a Monday berth, with the added pressure of launching an entire night of new programming. Offering college football on Saturday nights is a smart, cheap way to have original content on a largely abandoned night. Dancing With the Stars has the heavy lifting of reviving Tuesday nights, a night that ABC used to be competitive on. The TGIF idea has been scrapped completely yet again in an effort to capitalize the telenovela concept that will build the house of MyNetwork TV. And for the most part I think the Alphabet grow again next season. There may be some programming notes that negate each other (Grey's could shrink while Lost's less-rerun model could gain), but if these shows can issue a halo effect we may not have another meltdown by this time next year. However, what about Monday nights? Why stay mired in fourth place on the night with the marginal reality shows and What About Brian? And whereart thou Secrets of a Small Town?
CBS: CBS tends to be the last network to abandon a programming idea that ABC and NBC did years ago. So it's no surprise that after both networks stopped programming made-for-TV movies several season ago bcause of low ratings, the Tiffany network also took the hint and ditched its biggest black hole with (surprise surprise) procedural crime dramas. On the bright side, it meant that Cold Case was able to move and make room for my favorite reality show, The Amazing Race, a move that I hope will re-energize the show after the abhored Family Edition. But CBS better hope that there's no crime drama backlash this year; much like NBCs overemphasis on sitcoms in the late 90s led to a bottoming out of the genre on that network, if viewers tire of the procedural crime show this year, more than the 18-49 demo will drop in 2006-2007. And over the summer, CBS should also hope for some buzz. Only The Class, which NBC and CBS bitterly fought for during the development season, carries any kind of positive buzz while 3 Lbs. carries negative karma with its constantly retooled premise and cast since 2004.
NBC: Well, the Peacock's on the right track. Finally. (Did you notice how pointedly I said, "finally"?) Withholding the wilting Apprentice is a smart move in the same vein as ABC & The Bachelor this year as well withholding Medium with its deflating first full-season ratings ; Crossing Jordan has proved that even a 10 month hiatus (between seasons 2 and 3) can make the heart grow fonder, so its benched status is all right with me. Scrubs' no-show, on the other hand, is a disappointment. And the network has a lot of buzzworthy projects, including Studio 60 on The Sunset Strip, though it could get slightly tainted with the inevitable comparison of 30 Rock and which will be more successful. But the biggest mistake is putting Friday Night Lights on Tuesdays when it should be on Mondays (making promotion on Sunday Night Football more effective) or Fridays (for easy overall promotion). And don't get too attached to some of the new midseason shows: its midseason comedy Thick & Thin never saw the light of day this year and America's Got Talent will have to be successful in its summer berth in order to get a second season in January.
Fox: I'm surprised that they didn't jump in there and shift American Idol to a Wednesday/Thursday schedule; the highest-rated show on TV would command even more money if just two-thirds of its audience also made the move. Then again, the formerly-fourth-place network may have decided to keep things the same in case it has to dig itself out of the ratings black hole that can be Major League Baseball in October, the perennial chaotic element that forces the network to ostensibly create two schedules. At least the youngest of the Big Four found something funny; it has the most half-hour laughers on its schedule, including Brad Garrett's Til Death and the surprise renewal of The Loop. Still, what has to be kept in mind is how the Fox suits love to tinker with their schedule after the Upfronts. January is a long way away, and coming from the network that for years ordered series only to never air them (see Hollyweird and Manchester Prep), this idea of stability that they are attempting to project is really a facade hung on the nails of American Idol, House, and 24. Looking at their puny list of shows waiting in the wings for a slot means either they have confidence in their new shows, their development season wasn't as deep as the other networks, or both. So, really, Fox is on pins and needles that everything takes off because otherwise they will be in trouble.
The CW: What's really going to burn the mash-up network this upcoming season is how mashed-up it is. The consequence of a crappy development season means that it has fewer shows that won't, on the surface, have a WB or UPN label pre-attached and have an opportunity to create a singular identity. As a result, the network's going to be UPN-like in its sporadic nature and lack of cohesive flow. Only two shows, Runaway and Girlfriends spin-off The Game, are new, and even counting midseason entry Hidden Palms, all of them came from UPN. Clearly, the network is high on piggy-backing viewers from The WB or UPN and thinking that every show's audience will double. Boy will they be disappointed in September. Still, these shows, the most popular from their respective networks, will enjoy nice bumps in the ratings and give The CW one more development season to get new shows in order before the bottom hollows out.
Sunday
ABCCBSNBCFoxThe CW
7PMAmerica's Funniest Home Videos60 MinutesFootball Night in America (August-December)
Dateline NBC (January)
Football overrun/Comedy repeats (Fall)
Animated repeats / King of the Hill (January)
Everybody Hates Chris / All Of Us
8PMExtreme Makeover: Home EditionThe Amazing Race 10Sunday Night Football (August-December)
America's Got Talent (January)
The Simpsons / American DadGirlfriends / The Game
9PMDesperate HousewivesCold CaseSunday Night Football (August-December)
The Apprentice (January)
Family Guy / The War at HomeAmerica's Next Top Model repeats
10PMBrothers & SistersWithout A TraceSunday Night Football (August-December)
Raines (January)
Monday
ABCCBSNBCFoxThe CW
8PMWife SwapHow I Met Your Mother / The Class
The Class / How I Met Your Mother
Deal or No DealPrison Break (Fall)
Standoff (January)
7th Heaven
9PMThe Bachelor: Rome (Fall)
Supernanny (Winter)
Two and a Half Men / The New Adventures of Old ChristineHeroesVanished (Fall)
24 (January)
Runaway
10PMWhat About BrianCSI: MiamiMedium
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Tuesday
ABCCBSNBCFoxThe CW
8PMDancing With the Stars (Fall & Spring)
Set For the Rest of Your Life (Winter)
NCISFriday Night LightsHouse (August-October)
Standoff (November-January)
American Idol (January)
Gilmore Girls
9PMThe Knights of Prosperity / Help Me Help YouThe UnitKidnapped
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Standoff (August-October)
House (November)
Veronica Mars
10PMBoston LegalSmithLaw & Order: Special Victims Unit
Wednesday
ABCCBSNBCFoxThe CW
8PMDancing With the Stars: Results Show (Fall & Spring)
The George Lopez Show / According to Jim (Winter)
JerichoThe Biggest Loser
20 Good Years / 30 Rock
Bones (Fall)
Justice (January)
America's Next Top Model (Fall & Spring)
Beauty and the Geek (Winter)
9PMLost (October-November & February-May)
Day Break (November-February)
Criminal Minds20 Good Years / 30 Rock
The Biggest Loser
Justice (Fall)
American Idol / The Loop (January)
One Tree Hill
10PMThe NineCSI: New YorkLaw & Order
Kidnapped
Thursday
ABCCBSNBCFoxThe CW
8PMBig Day / Notes From the Underbelly
Ugly Betty
SurvivorMy Name is Earl / The OfficeTil Death / Happy HourSmallville
9PMGrey's AnatomyCSIStudio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Deal or No Deal
Celebrity Duets (August-October)
The O.C. (November)
Supernatural
10PMSix DegreesSharkER (September-December & March-May)
The Black Donnellys (January-March)
Friday
ABCCBSNBCFoxThe CW
8PMUgly BettyGhost WhispererDeal or No Deal
Crossing Jordan
Nanny 911 (Fall)
Bones (January)
WWE Friday Night Smackdown!
9PMMen in TreesClose to HomeLas VegasTrading Spouses (Fall)
The Wedding Album (January)
WWE Friday Night Smackdown!
10PM20/20Numb3rsLaw & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order
Saturday
ABCCBSNBCFoxThe CW
8PMABC Saturday Night College FootballCrimetime SaturdayDateline SaturdayCops
9PMABC Saturday Night College FootballCrimetime SaturdayDrama Series EncoresAmerica's Most Wanted
10PMABC Saturday Night College Football48 Hours MysteryDrama Series Encores
ABC's midseason shows: American Inventor (Reality), Big Day (Sitcom), Greg Behrendt's Wakeup Call (Reality), Just For Laughs (Reality), In Case of Emergency (Sitcom), Masters of Science Fiction (Drama), Notes From the Underbelly (Sitcom), Traveler (Drama)
CBS's midseason shows: Creature Comforts (Animated), The King of Queens (Sitcom), Rules of Engagement (Sitcom), 3 Lbs. (Drama), Waterfront (Drama)
NBC's midseason shows: America's Got Talent (Reality), Andy Barker, PI (Sitcom), The Apprentice (Reality), Medium (Drama), Scrubs (Sitcom), The Singles Table (Sitcom)
Fox's midseason shows: On the Lot (Reality), The Winner (Sitcom)
The CW's midseason shows: Hidden Palms (Drama), Reba (Sitcom)
My Commentary
ABC: You'd think that ABC was the fourth-place network this season based on how radically different the lineup looks compared to last year. (By the way, NBC is the fourth-place network.) We've got a gusty move with Grey's Anatomy to Thursdays, when gossip had the drama pegged for a Monday berth, with the added pressure of launching an entire night of new programming. Offering college football on Saturday nights is a smart, cheap way to have original content on a largely abandoned night. Dancing With the Stars has the heavy lifting of reviving Tuesday nights, a night that ABC used to be competitive on. The TGIF idea has been scrapped completely yet again in an effort to capitalize the telenovela concept that will build the house of MyNetwork TV. And for the most part I think the Alphabet grow again next season. There may be some programming notes that negate each other (Grey's could shrink while Lost's less-rerun model could gain), but if these shows can issue a halo effect we may not have another meltdown by this time next year. However, what about Monday nights? Why stay mired in fourth place on the night with the marginal reality shows and What About Brian? And whereart thou Secrets of a Small Town?
CBS: CBS tends to be the last network to abandon a programming idea that ABC and NBC did years ago. So it's no surprise that after both networks stopped programming made-for-TV movies several season ago bcause of low ratings, the Tiffany network also took the hint and ditched its biggest black hole with (surprise surprise) procedural crime dramas. On the bright side, it meant that Cold Case was able to move and make room for my favorite reality show, The Amazing Race, a move that I hope will re-energize the show after the abhored Family Edition. But CBS better hope that there's no crime drama backlash this year; much like NBCs overemphasis on sitcoms in the late 90s led to a bottoming out of the genre on that network, if viewers tire of the procedural crime show this year, more than the 18-49 demo will drop in 2006-2007. And over the summer, CBS should also hope for some buzz. Only The Class, which NBC and CBS bitterly fought for during the development season, carries any kind of positive buzz while 3 Lbs. carries negative karma with its constantly retooled premise and cast since 2004.
NBC: Well, the Peacock's on the right track. Finally. (Did you notice how pointedly I said, "finally"?) Withholding the wilting Apprentice is a smart move in the same vein as ABC & The Bachelor this year as well withholding Medium with its deflating first full-season ratings ; Crossing Jordan has proved that even a 10 month hiatus (between seasons 2 and 3) can make the heart grow fonder, so its benched status is all right with me. Scrubs' no-show, on the other hand, is a disappointment. And the network has a lot of buzzworthy projects, including Studio 60 on The Sunset Strip, though it could get slightly tainted with the inevitable comparison of 30 Rock and which will be more successful. But the biggest mistake is putting Friday Night Lights on Tuesdays when it should be on Mondays (making promotion on Sunday Night Football more effective) or Fridays (for easy overall promotion). And don't get too attached to some of the new midseason shows: its midseason comedy Thick & Thin never saw the light of day this year and America's Got Talent will have to be successful in its summer berth in order to get a second season in January.
Fox: I'm surprised that they didn't jump in there and shift American Idol to a Wednesday/Thursday schedule; the highest-rated show on TV would command even more money if just two-thirds of its audience also made the move. Then again, the formerly-fourth-place network may have decided to keep things the same in case it has to dig itself out of the ratings black hole that can be Major League Baseball in October, the perennial chaotic element that forces the network to ostensibly create two schedules. At least the youngest of the Big Four found something funny; it has the most half-hour laughers on its schedule, including Brad Garrett's Til Death and the surprise renewal of The Loop. Still, what has to be kept in mind is how the Fox suits love to tinker with their schedule after the Upfronts. January is a long way away, and coming from the network that for years ordered series only to never air them (see Hollyweird and Manchester Prep), this idea of stability that they are attempting to project is really a facade hung on the nails of American Idol, House, and 24. Looking at their puny list of shows waiting in the wings for a slot means either they have confidence in their new shows, their development season wasn't as deep as the other networks, or both. So, really, Fox is on pins and needles that everything takes off because otherwise they will be in trouble.
The CW: What's really going to burn the mash-up network this upcoming season is how mashed-up it is. The consequence of a crappy development season means that it has fewer shows that won't, on the surface, have a WB or UPN label pre-attached and have an opportunity to create a singular identity. As a result, the network's going to be UPN-like in its sporadic nature and lack of cohesive flow. Only two shows, Runaway and Girlfriends spin-off The Game, are new, and even counting midseason entry Hidden Palms, all of them came from UPN. Clearly, the network is high on piggy-backing viewers from The WB or UPN and thinking that every show's audience will double. Boy will they be disappointed in September. Still, these shows, the most popular from their respective networks, will enjoy nice bumps in the ratings and give The CW one more development season to get new shows in order before the bottom hollows out.