MONDAY
8:00-8:30 PM How I Met Your Mother
8:30-9:00 PM 2 BROKE GIRLS (N)
9:00-9:30 PM Two and a Half Men
9:30-10:00 PM MIKE & Molly
10:00-11:00 PM Hawaii Five-0
CBS's Monday comedy line-up looks strong as always.
TUESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM NCIS
9:00-10:00 PM NCIS: LOS ANGELES
10:00-11:00 PM UNFORGETTABLE (N)
The Good Wife is moved out of 10pm slot in favor for... another crime show! Seems like a no-brainer.
WEDNESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM SURVIVOR: SOUTH PACIFIC
9:00-10:00 PM Criminal Minds
10:00-11:00 PM CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION (NT)
CSI moving to the time slot after Criminal Minds seems like a good choice.
THURSDAY
8:00-8:30 PM The Big Bang Theory
8:30-9:00 PM HOW TO BE A GENTLEMAN (N)
9:00-10:00 PM PERSON OF INTEREST (N)
10:00-11:00 PM The Mentalist
CBS is trying to launch another comedy after TBBT after $#*! My Dad says was canceled and launching a new crime drama before The Mentalist.
FRIDAY
8:00-9:00 PM A GIFTED MAN (N)
9:00-10:00 PM CSI: NY
10:00-11:00 PM Blue Bloods
CBS is trying to go back to the supernatural vibe with A Gifted Man while keeping CSI: NY and Blue Bloods.
SATURDAY
8:00-8:30 PM Rules of Engagement (NT)
8:30-9:00 PM COMEDYTIME SATURDAY
9:00-10:00 PM CRIMETIME SATURDAY
10:00-11:00 PM 48 Hours Mystery
Looks like CBS will just burn off Rules of Engagement on Saturday until it reaches syndication.
SUNDAY
7:00-8:00 PM 60 Minutes
8:00-9:00 PM THE Amazing Race
9:00-10:00 PM The Good Wife (NT)
10:00-11:00 PM CSI: MIAMI
After struggling this year, The Good Wife is moved to Sunday nights. Will it work?
Showing posts with label CBS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CBS. Show all posts
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Recapping last week's cancellation bloodbath
Mid-May is an important time for television executives, producers, and viewers alike. Upfronts are coming up and some shows just have to go. With natural expectations that a show should continue until a proper, definitive ending, most television fanatics end up disappointed. This year in particular was very bloody and almost assuredly left many irate fans. But among the shows left on the side of the road, there were glimmers of hope.
NBC
The network in the deepest hole the past few years has been NBC. There was the Leno debacle and many failed shows or shows that declined greatly over time. Most notable, NBC did not have a new scripted show that was a hit. Even its comedy lineup, while critically acclaimed, did not have a legitimate hit other than The Office, which is in its seventh season. NBC again tried to make its scripted lineup, ordering several shows which could have succeeded. But alas things did not work out again. Chase was initially given extra episodes but was shuffled off to Saturday, The Cape flopped quickly, Outsourced started strong but faltered, and Perfect Couples was DOA. NBC’s big thrust, though, was The Event.
The Event was this year’s FlashForward. It was supposed to be the next Lost, NBC pouring in advertising money and giving it a big budget; instead, it flopped. People attributed the demise to a number of things—the wonky flashbacks, among others. In my opinion, it was simply because the writers couldn’t sustain the energy of the better episodes and didn’t develop the characters enough to make us care when the plot was not going full-speed ahead. But that’s just conjecture. One factor that assuredly did not cause the demise of The Event, however, was the long hiatus. It’s easy for fans to blame networks for a show not working (“Fox only cancels good shows!” “You moved it to Monday!”), but the facts are facts—The Event was doing badly before the hiatus. The last episode before the hiatus, airing on November 11, was already down to 1.9 in the demo, a far-cry from the 3.6 which began the series. Sometimes shows just don’t work.
Law & Order: LA was one of those shows that had disaster written all over it. It was picked up for a 13-episode season even before the pilot was done. All the series had was the Law & Order tag and Los Angeles name. Unlike other L&O iterations—Special Victims Unit, Criminal Intent, and Trial by Jury—this one was pretty vague. The show was retooled, returning on April 11, but the ratings was even lower than where they were. Despite Dick Wolf’s best efforts, another Law & Order was unable to flourish, and with the original cancelled, Criminal Intent in its final season, and SVU on its last legs, the franchise may well be becoming to an end soon.
The notable renewal was Chuck, which renewed for a fifth and final 13-episode season to my delight. It’s not that I particularly like Chuck or was too surprised by the renewal, but its run has been nothing short of amazing. Chuck was renewed for a third season after a vigorous fan campaign—which may or may not have been a big contribution to the renewal, though NBC executives claimed it was. The ratings for the season started decently, but begun to drop. But NBC, as a whole, was doing terribly. What would be low ratings on another network was the norm on NBC, and Chuck was doing fine.
Now in its third season, Chuck’s ratings are again down—to the low 1s, quite a bit lower than the previous season—but lo and behold, NBC’s primetime ratings are even lower. Suddenly, Chuck looks pretty good compared to the likes of The Event and LOLA. In each renewal, Chuck was only given a 13-episode season—accounting for the numerous potential series finale episodes. However, NBC, in its misery, actually gave Chuck additional episodes in both instances. We don’t know the specifics of this new deal—how low WB offered to get Chuck to syndication, whether there are budget cuts—but the saga of Chuck continues for at least one more season.
Looking ahead, NBC remains in trouble, but we shouldn’t count it out just yet. Its Thursday comedy lineup remains fairly robust, especially for NBC standards, the cancellation of Outsourced and 30 Rock returning at midseason allows for the new blood of Whitney to be injected in there. Parenthood, which hung in there against such competition as The Good Wife and Body of Proof, was renewed and should remain stable given its adverse situation this season. Harry’s Law proved to be a surprise, hanging in against Castle and Hawaii Five-0, and was given a renewal even though it skews quite old. NBC’s biggest new show, The Voice, was not only a hit compared to the network’s other paltry shows, but also a hit in general. Debuting with an astounding 5.1 (my reaction: “People choosing to watch NBC?!?), it represents the perfect opportunity for NBC to launch new shows next season.
Fox
Fox has been having troubles lately as well. Outside of perennial stalwarts American Idol, the Sunday animated comedy lineup, Bones, and newcomer Glee, the network hasn’t had much success. Comedies failed and new scripted content during the summer just didn’t work. However, the network renewed several dramas last year—Fringe, Human Target, Lie to Me—beyond their first season (in the case of Human Target) and even into their third (Fringe and Lie to Me). After a retooling of Human Target and Shawn Ryan’s departure from Lie to Me, the two did not meet ratings expectations and were canceled earlier this week. And of the new comedies—Raising Hope, Traffic Light, Breaking In, and Running Wilde—only Raising Hope survived.
The Chicago Code was one of those shows, like Lone Star, which critics liked but television viewers didn’t necessarily gravitate to. The ratings started decently and appeared to stabilize in the low 2 range, before dropping off into the 1s. The reason for the failure of The Chicago Code is hard to pinpoint. Its creator, Shawn Ryan, is undeniably a master when it comes to popularity and quality, as he helmed The Shield to unprecedented heights. But that was on cable, where the standards of behavior were more lax. The Chicago Code was not about tough, head-bashing cop/vigilante work but the police department tackling city corruption. I guess viewers didn’t see the appeal.
Out of the canceled dramas came one survivor, Fringe, which was renewed several weeks ago. Moved to Friday nights, Fringe was in a tough spot and many people predicted it would not survive. Along those same lines, lots of people blamed Fox for putting it in the time slot, going back to the same complaints we’ve heard through the decade about Firefly, Wonderfalls, Dollhouse, and Dark Angel. It’s hard to have too much animosity against Fox, though. Fringe was given great chances at the beginning—plum post-Idol slots and post-House slots, but the ratings kept falling. As the show became more serialized, viewers dropped off. Still, Fox renewed the show for a fourth season and everyone should be grateful for that.
Fox may not have as many problems as NBC, with several strong shows and only two hours of primetime to fill per night, but its inability to get a comedy block and launch new dramas is certainly troubling. Fox has not released its 2011-2012 schedule yet, so I won’t be able to comment too much on future prospects yet.
ABC
In the current television climate, ABC is doing reasonably well compared to the other networks. It launched the hit Modern Family last season, which led to great stability in ABC’s Wednesday comedy block with The Middle and Cougar Town reaping the benefits, not to mention the usual rocks—Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, Dancing With the Stars, Castle, and Desperate Housewives. Despite this, ABC has its own share of growing pains, My Generations and The Whole Truth getting cancelled almost instantly. In terms of total cancellations, the numbers alone look ugly. Off The Map, Better With You, No Ordinary Family, V, Mr. Sunshine, Detroit 1-8-7, and Brothers & Sisters (without a proper conclusion)—all gone.
Of these, No Ordinary Family stands out. I remember watching the pilot at Comic-Con and the loud reception it got. I wasn’t entirely sure why people liked it (I think it was the jokes I found clichéd), but clearly people liked it. The ratings started quite strong and waned over time. For those who watched the show, it seemed like the writing was the biggest problem, with the plot going in every which direction and the sheer weight of teenage clichés that weighed everything down. By the end of the season, the show was all but forgotten.
Between these cancellations, only two shows have survived—Body of Proof and Happy Endings, the latter of which was somewhat of a surprise. ABC has not released next season’s schedule, but I have a couple things on my mind. (1) Could Castle be moved off Monday so a new show can reap DWTS’s lead-in? Castle has been steady 3.0s in the past few months while other shows in the same timeslot have declined. Surely ABC wants Castle to succeed, but maybe the show can survive on its own while a new show is bolstered by DWTS into ratings success. (2) Could the The Middle get the slot after Modern Family? Anyone who’s looked at Wednesday ratings would notice how small Cougar Town’s ratings look compared to Modern Family while The Middle does just fine by itself. I don’t want to be a stringent retentionista (as TVBTN coins it), but that’s something to consider.
CBS
CBS is currently the most stable network, and for good reason. It has the CSI franchise, the JAG/NCIS franchise, the burgeoning Criminal Minds franchise, a solid comedy lineup on Monday, and The Big Bang Theory to anchor Thursday. But like the other networks, it has had its share of problems this year. Although CBS has not released too much information about cancellations or renewals, here’s what we definitely know: Mad Love, $#*! My Dad Says, and The Defenders are cancelled. Those should not be a surprise to anyone and the writing has been on the wall for a while. The definite renewals that have not been announced yet are The Mentalist, CSI, Criminal Minds, Mike & Molly, NCIS: Los Angeles, Rules of Engagement, CSI: Miami, Hawaii Five-0, and Two and a Half Men.
The fate of a number of shows remain up in the air, however, and it is hard to say what CBS will do. In the forefront of my mind is The Good Wife. It has been doing poorly, garnering ratings in the low 2s, far from the 3s of its lead-in, NCIS: LA. Still, The Good Wife is the only drama on the network that gets any attention from the award shows and the critics love the show. Does this publicity make up for a lack of ratings? A pair of spin-offs, CSI: New York and Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, are also in trouble. They each have a saving grace, with CSI: NY not performing horribly and CBS’s desire to turn Criminal Minds into another big franchise. While almost every major TV site says that Blue Bloods is a lock for renewal, I have to question that. The ratings are decent for Fridays, but an absolute lock?
At the end of the day, CBS will remain in good shape even if it cancels all the aforementioned shows (which it probably won’t). The network remains as strong as ever and NCIS, in its eight season, was actually growing at the beginning of the season. There are warning signs on the horizon, however, as CSI dropped perilously low in recent weeks while the Monday comedy block as a whole has been hitting lows.
To wrap up, this season of television has been horrible for new shows. We can literally count the number of new shows that survived the season on our hands while our hands and feet wouldn’t even cover all the canceled shows. With the networks gearing up a new development slate, we’ll be seeing a lot of new shows in the next week, and yes, most will be canceled by this time next year.
NBC
The network in the deepest hole the past few years has been NBC. There was the Leno debacle and many failed shows or shows that declined greatly over time. Most notable, NBC did not have a new scripted show that was a hit. Even its comedy lineup, while critically acclaimed, did not have a legitimate hit other than The Office, which is in its seventh season. NBC again tried to make its scripted lineup, ordering several shows which could have succeeded. But alas things did not work out again. Chase was initially given extra episodes but was shuffled off to Saturday, The Cape flopped quickly, Outsourced started strong but faltered, and Perfect Couples was DOA. NBC’s big thrust, though, was The Event.
The Event was this year’s FlashForward. It was supposed to be the next Lost, NBC pouring in advertising money and giving it a big budget; instead, it flopped. People attributed the demise to a number of things—the wonky flashbacks, among others. In my opinion, it was simply because the writers couldn’t sustain the energy of the better episodes and didn’t develop the characters enough to make us care when the plot was not going full-speed ahead. But that’s just conjecture. One factor that assuredly did not cause the demise of The Event, however, was the long hiatus. It’s easy for fans to blame networks for a show not working (“Fox only cancels good shows!” “You moved it to Monday!”), but the facts are facts—The Event was doing badly before the hiatus. The last episode before the hiatus, airing on November 11, was already down to 1.9 in the demo, a far-cry from the 3.6 which began the series. Sometimes shows just don’t work.
Law & Order: LA was one of those shows that had disaster written all over it. It was picked up for a 13-episode season even before the pilot was done. All the series had was the Law & Order tag and Los Angeles name. Unlike other L&O iterations—Special Victims Unit, Criminal Intent, and Trial by Jury—this one was pretty vague. The show was retooled, returning on April 11, but the ratings was even lower than where they were. Despite Dick Wolf’s best efforts, another Law & Order was unable to flourish, and with the original cancelled, Criminal Intent in its final season, and SVU on its last legs, the franchise may well be becoming to an end soon.
The notable renewal was Chuck, which renewed for a fifth and final 13-episode season to my delight. It’s not that I particularly like Chuck or was too surprised by the renewal, but its run has been nothing short of amazing. Chuck was renewed for a third season after a vigorous fan campaign—which may or may not have been a big contribution to the renewal, though NBC executives claimed it was. The ratings for the season started decently, but begun to drop. But NBC, as a whole, was doing terribly. What would be low ratings on another network was the norm on NBC, and Chuck was doing fine.
Now in its third season, Chuck’s ratings are again down—to the low 1s, quite a bit lower than the previous season—but lo and behold, NBC’s primetime ratings are even lower. Suddenly, Chuck looks pretty good compared to the likes of The Event and LOLA. In each renewal, Chuck was only given a 13-episode season—accounting for the numerous potential series finale episodes. However, NBC, in its misery, actually gave Chuck additional episodes in both instances. We don’t know the specifics of this new deal—how low WB offered to get Chuck to syndication, whether there are budget cuts—but the saga of Chuck continues for at least one more season.
Looking ahead, NBC remains in trouble, but we shouldn’t count it out just yet. Its Thursday comedy lineup remains fairly robust, especially for NBC standards, the cancellation of Outsourced and 30 Rock returning at midseason allows for the new blood of Whitney to be injected in there. Parenthood, which hung in there against such competition as The Good Wife and Body of Proof, was renewed and should remain stable given its adverse situation this season. Harry’s Law proved to be a surprise, hanging in against Castle and Hawaii Five-0, and was given a renewal even though it skews quite old. NBC’s biggest new show, The Voice, was not only a hit compared to the network’s other paltry shows, but also a hit in general. Debuting with an astounding 5.1 (my reaction: “People choosing to watch NBC?!?), it represents the perfect opportunity for NBC to launch new shows next season.
Fox
Fox has been having troubles lately as well. Outside of perennial stalwarts American Idol, the Sunday animated comedy lineup, Bones, and newcomer Glee, the network hasn’t had much success. Comedies failed and new scripted content during the summer just didn’t work. However, the network renewed several dramas last year—Fringe, Human Target, Lie to Me—beyond their first season (in the case of Human Target) and even into their third (Fringe and Lie to Me). After a retooling of Human Target and Shawn Ryan’s departure from Lie to Me, the two did not meet ratings expectations and were canceled earlier this week. And of the new comedies—Raising Hope, Traffic Light, Breaking In, and Running Wilde—only Raising Hope survived.
The Chicago Code was one of those shows, like Lone Star, which critics liked but television viewers didn’t necessarily gravitate to. The ratings started decently and appeared to stabilize in the low 2 range, before dropping off into the 1s. The reason for the failure of The Chicago Code is hard to pinpoint. Its creator, Shawn Ryan, is undeniably a master when it comes to popularity and quality, as he helmed The Shield to unprecedented heights. But that was on cable, where the standards of behavior were more lax. The Chicago Code was not about tough, head-bashing cop/vigilante work but the police department tackling city corruption. I guess viewers didn’t see the appeal.
Out of the canceled dramas came one survivor, Fringe, which was renewed several weeks ago. Moved to Friday nights, Fringe was in a tough spot and many people predicted it would not survive. Along those same lines, lots of people blamed Fox for putting it in the time slot, going back to the same complaints we’ve heard through the decade about Firefly, Wonderfalls, Dollhouse, and Dark Angel. It’s hard to have too much animosity against Fox, though. Fringe was given great chances at the beginning—plum post-Idol slots and post-House slots, but the ratings kept falling. As the show became more serialized, viewers dropped off. Still, Fox renewed the show for a fourth season and everyone should be grateful for that.
Fox may not have as many problems as NBC, with several strong shows and only two hours of primetime to fill per night, but its inability to get a comedy block and launch new dramas is certainly troubling. Fox has not released its 2011-2012 schedule yet, so I won’t be able to comment too much on future prospects yet.
ABC
In the current television climate, ABC is doing reasonably well compared to the other networks. It launched the hit Modern Family last season, which led to great stability in ABC’s Wednesday comedy block with The Middle and Cougar Town reaping the benefits, not to mention the usual rocks—Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, Dancing With the Stars, Castle, and Desperate Housewives. Despite this, ABC has its own share of growing pains, My Generations and The Whole Truth getting cancelled almost instantly. In terms of total cancellations, the numbers alone look ugly. Off The Map, Better With You, No Ordinary Family, V, Mr. Sunshine, Detroit 1-8-7, and Brothers & Sisters (without a proper conclusion)—all gone.
Of these, No Ordinary Family stands out. I remember watching the pilot at Comic-Con and the loud reception it got. I wasn’t entirely sure why people liked it (I think it was the jokes I found clichéd), but clearly people liked it. The ratings started quite strong and waned over time. For those who watched the show, it seemed like the writing was the biggest problem, with the plot going in every which direction and the sheer weight of teenage clichés that weighed everything down. By the end of the season, the show was all but forgotten.
Between these cancellations, only two shows have survived—Body of Proof and Happy Endings, the latter of which was somewhat of a surprise. ABC has not released next season’s schedule, but I have a couple things on my mind. (1) Could Castle be moved off Monday so a new show can reap DWTS’s lead-in? Castle has been steady 3.0s in the past few months while other shows in the same timeslot have declined. Surely ABC wants Castle to succeed, but maybe the show can survive on its own while a new show is bolstered by DWTS into ratings success. (2) Could the The Middle get the slot after Modern Family? Anyone who’s looked at Wednesday ratings would notice how small Cougar Town’s ratings look compared to Modern Family while The Middle does just fine by itself. I don’t want to be a stringent retentionista (as TVBTN coins it), but that’s something to consider.
CBS
CBS is currently the most stable network, and for good reason. It has the CSI franchise, the JAG/NCIS franchise, the burgeoning Criminal Minds franchise, a solid comedy lineup on Monday, and The Big Bang Theory to anchor Thursday. But like the other networks, it has had its share of problems this year. Although CBS has not released too much information about cancellations or renewals, here’s what we definitely know: Mad Love, $#*! My Dad Says, and The Defenders are cancelled. Those should not be a surprise to anyone and the writing has been on the wall for a while. The definite renewals that have not been announced yet are The Mentalist, CSI, Criminal Minds, Mike & Molly, NCIS: Los Angeles, Rules of Engagement, CSI: Miami, Hawaii Five-0, and Two and a Half Men.
The fate of a number of shows remain up in the air, however, and it is hard to say what CBS will do. In the forefront of my mind is The Good Wife. It has been doing poorly, garnering ratings in the low 2s, far from the 3s of its lead-in, NCIS: LA. Still, The Good Wife is the only drama on the network that gets any attention from the award shows and the critics love the show. Does this publicity make up for a lack of ratings? A pair of spin-offs, CSI: New York and Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, are also in trouble. They each have a saving grace, with CSI: NY not performing horribly and CBS’s desire to turn Criminal Minds into another big franchise. While almost every major TV site says that Blue Bloods is a lock for renewal, I have to question that. The ratings are decent for Fridays, but an absolute lock?
At the end of the day, CBS will remain in good shape even if it cancels all the aforementioned shows (which it probably won’t). The network remains as strong as ever and NCIS, in its eight season, was actually growing at the beginning of the season. There are warning signs on the horizon, however, as CSI dropped perilously low in recent weeks while the Monday comedy block as a whole has been hitting lows.
To wrap up, this season of television has been horrible for new shows. We can literally count the number of new shows that survived the season on our hands while our hands and feet wouldn’t even cover all the canceled shows. With the networks gearing up a new development slate, we’ll be seeing a lot of new shows in the next week, and yes, most will be canceled by this time next year.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
CBS 2010-2011 Schedule and Thoughts
MONDAY
8:00-8:30 PM HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
8:30-9:00 PM RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
9:00-9:30 PM TWO AND A HALF MEN
9:30-10:00 PM MIKE & MOLLY (N)
10:00-11:00 PM HAWAII FIVE-0 (N)
Mike & Molly replaces TBBT and the Hawaii Five-O remake takes the successful slot previously held by CSI: Miami.
TUESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM NCIS
9:00-10:00 PM NCIS: LOS ANGELES
10:00-11:00 PM THE GOOD WIFE
Surprisingly, CBS kept Tuesday intact even thought The Good Wife ratings have suffered from Parenthood.
WEDNESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM SURVIVOR (NT)
9:00-10:00 PM CRIMINAL MINDS
10:00-11:00 PM THE DEFENDERS (N)
Again, I find it interesting that Survivor, which thrived on Thursday, the day for high ad prices, was moved to Wednesday. The Thursday line-up gives a clearer picture. The Defenders is a new comedy-drama. Will it work with Criminal Minds?
THURSDAY
8:00-8:30 PM THE BIG BANG THEORY (NT)
8:30-9:00 PM $#*! MY DAD SAYS (N)
9:00-10:00 PM CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION
10:00-11:00 PM THE MENTALIST
CBS is going for NBC's throat by targeting Community and 30 Rock with The Big Bang Theory and William Shatner's new comedy Shit My Dad Says.
FRIDAY
8:00-9:00 PM MEDIUM (NT)
9:00-10:00 PM CSI: NY (NT)
10:00-11:00 PM BLUE BLOODS (N)
After some low ratings, CSI: NY was moved to Friday. Blue Blood is another cop drama, starring Tom Sellec.
SATURDAY
8:00-9:00 PM CRIMETIME SATURDAY
9:00-10:00 PM CRIMETIME SATURDAY
10:00-11:00 PM 48 HOURS MYSTERY
SUNDAY
7:00-8:00 PM 60 MINUTES
8:00-9:00 PM THE AMAZING RACE
9:00-10:00 PM UNDERCOVER BOSS
10:00-11:00 PM CSI: MIAMI (NT)
CSI: Miami, which has been the strongest CSI, will get the Sunday slot which hasn't fared well for Cold Case.
8:00-8:30 PM HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
8:30-9:00 PM RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
9:00-9:30 PM TWO AND A HALF MEN
9:30-10:00 PM MIKE & MOLLY (N)
10:00-11:00 PM HAWAII FIVE-0 (N)
Mike & Molly replaces TBBT and the Hawaii Five-O remake takes the successful slot previously held by CSI: Miami.
TUESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM NCIS
9:00-10:00 PM NCIS: LOS ANGELES
10:00-11:00 PM THE GOOD WIFE
Surprisingly, CBS kept Tuesday intact even thought The Good Wife ratings have suffered from Parenthood.
WEDNESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM SURVIVOR (NT)
9:00-10:00 PM CRIMINAL MINDS
10:00-11:00 PM THE DEFENDERS (N)
Again, I find it interesting that Survivor, which thrived on Thursday, the day for high ad prices, was moved to Wednesday. The Thursday line-up gives a clearer picture. The Defenders is a new comedy-drama. Will it work with Criminal Minds?
THURSDAY
8:00-8:30 PM THE BIG BANG THEORY (NT)
8:30-9:00 PM $#*! MY DAD SAYS (N)
9:00-10:00 PM CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION
10:00-11:00 PM THE MENTALIST
CBS is going for NBC's throat by targeting Community and 30 Rock with The Big Bang Theory and William Shatner's new comedy Shit My Dad Says.
FRIDAY
8:00-9:00 PM MEDIUM (NT)
9:00-10:00 PM CSI: NY (NT)
10:00-11:00 PM BLUE BLOODS (N)
After some low ratings, CSI: NY was moved to Friday. Blue Blood is another cop drama, starring Tom Sellec.
SATURDAY
8:00-9:00 PM CRIMETIME SATURDAY
9:00-10:00 PM CRIMETIME SATURDAY
10:00-11:00 PM 48 HOURS MYSTERY
SUNDAY
7:00-8:00 PM 60 MINUTES
8:00-9:00 PM THE AMAZING RACE
9:00-10:00 PM UNDERCOVER BOSS
10:00-11:00 PM CSI: MIAMI (NT)
CSI: Miami, which has been the strongest CSI, will get the Sunday slot which hasn't fared well for Cold Case.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Why CBS should renew Moonlight (2 years later)
You've read it all already "CBS sucks," "Moonlight rocks," "Alex O'Loughlin is amazing," " I love the show because ____." You've also read the bile and illogical rambling of certain fans. Case in point: a suggestion of whining turns into three pages of long-winded rants.
I'm not a Moonlight fan. I thought the show started off pretty bad and got better as it went on, so it's not like I really want the show to come back. I saw Alex O'Loughlin in a Super Bowl ad for The Back-Up Plan (which looks terrible by the way), and posed a question on Twitter asking if Alex O'Loughlin fans still wanted CBS to renew Moonlight, and got an overwhelmingly positive response. That got me thinking. There are several good reasons why CBS should at least consider bringing Moonlight back or another vampire show with Alex O'Loughlin.
CBS will never bring it back, and in the cold world of television, there are few success stories, so don't get your hopes up. There is reason in why CBS bringing it back wouldn't be the worst idea in the world, so I wanted to point them out.
1) Vampires
Have you seen the ratings for The Vampire Diaries and True Blood? The craze sparked by Twilight has created a legion of rabid followers that will watch anything vampire related. Put that on top of the already rabid Moonlight fanbase and the ratings should be fine.
2) Brand image
Fox has a solid bevy of shows, NBC has the Thursday comedy lineup, ABC has Lost and Grey's Anatomy. CBS is the network of crime procedurals and traditional sitcoms. It may bring in the ratings, but it doesn't look good for hardcore TV watchers. For the 2010-2011 season, CBS is continuing down the road with a Criminal Minds spin-off and Hawaii Five-O remake. This season CBS had success with NCIS: Los Angeles and The Good Wife riding on the coattails of NCIS while Three Rivers completely bombed. They gambled with medical dramas this year, but Miami Medical looks like it'll suffer the same fate as Three Rivers (and the probable fate of Mercy and Trauma). With each successive failure, CBS is reverting to what it knows best. It's a scary thought--one that seems imminently possible--that their lineup will be filled with not only crime procedurals, but also more crime procedurals spin-offs than originals. Two CSI spin-offs, one NCIS spin-off, and one Criminal Minds spin-off later, the outlook looks bleak.
Moonlight would add another much needed facet to the monolithic image as the network for old people. CBS renewed Jericho for a second season, but quickly canceled it after that. And there's the countless other genre shows CBS canceled after a few episodes. Moonlight has a decent chance to succeed and it work inject a different
3) Alex O'Loughlin
CBS is trying to bank on his seeming popularity by putting him in more of their shows. First he was cast on Three Rivers and now they're trying to get him for the Hawaii Five-O remake. I think O'Loughlin is better fit for Hawaii Five-O, but the role is still not optimal for him. What they have to realize is that he has to be in Moonlight or a similar show.
I'm not a Moonlight fan. I thought the show started off pretty bad and got better as it went on, so it's not like I really want the show to come back. I saw Alex O'Loughlin in a Super Bowl ad for The Back-Up Plan (which looks terrible by the way), and posed a question on Twitter asking if Alex O'Loughlin fans still wanted CBS to renew Moonlight, and got an overwhelmingly positive response. That got me thinking. There are several good reasons why CBS should at least consider bringing Moonlight back or another vampire show with Alex O'Loughlin.
CBS will never bring it back, and in the cold world of television, there are few success stories, so don't get your hopes up. There is reason in why CBS bringing it back wouldn't be the worst idea in the world, so I wanted to point them out.
1) Vampires
Have you seen the ratings for The Vampire Diaries and True Blood? The craze sparked by Twilight has created a legion of rabid followers that will watch anything vampire related. Put that on top of the already rabid Moonlight fanbase and the ratings should be fine.
2) Brand image
Fox has a solid bevy of shows, NBC has the Thursday comedy lineup, ABC has Lost and Grey's Anatomy. CBS is the network of crime procedurals and traditional sitcoms. It may bring in the ratings, but it doesn't look good for hardcore TV watchers. For the 2010-2011 season, CBS is continuing down the road with a Criminal Minds spin-off and Hawaii Five-O remake. This season CBS had success with NCIS: Los Angeles and The Good Wife riding on the coattails of NCIS while Three Rivers completely bombed. They gambled with medical dramas this year, but Miami Medical looks like it'll suffer the same fate as Three Rivers (and the probable fate of Mercy and Trauma). With each successive failure, CBS is reverting to what it knows best. It's a scary thought--one that seems imminently possible--that their lineup will be filled with not only crime procedurals, but also more crime procedurals spin-offs than originals. Two CSI spin-offs, one NCIS spin-off, and one Criminal Minds spin-off later, the outlook looks bleak.
Moonlight would add another much needed facet to the monolithic image as the network for old people. CBS renewed Jericho for a second season, but quickly canceled it after that. And there's the countless other genre shows CBS canceled after a few episodes. Moonlight has a decent chance to succeed and it work inject a different
3) Alex O'Loughlin
CBS is trying to bank on his seeming popularity by putting him in more of their shows. First he was cast on Three Rivers and now they're trying to get him for the Hawaii Five-O remake. I think O'Loughlin is better fit for Hawaii Five-O, but the role is still not optimal for him. What they have to realize is that he has to be in Moonlight or a similar show.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Predictions For New Fall 2009-2010 TV Shows, part 4 (CBS)
CBS has a solid lineup all around, but they canceled a few shows so they need to fill in those slots. They deviated from their usual crime shows so they are taking a slightly larger risk this year.
NCIS: Los Angeles
This spin-off of the immensely popular crime procedural attempts to capture the same audience that brought the original to ratings success. Based on the 2 episodes of NCIS that featured the cast of the new show, I doubt it can come anywhere near the original, but with a few crossover characters, it will do just fine. I'm sure hardcore fans of NCIS like me will be a little disappointed, but I expect this to be a ratings success. It comes on right after NCIS, and the audience will have to be enticed by another NCIS, so almost all will stay and watch.
The Good Wife
Starring Julianna Margulies as a wife of a disgraced Congressman, I see huge potential for the show. It's a legal drama set with a large backdrop of a family drama. From the trailer, I really liked what I saw and I'll definitely be watching the first few episodes. It has the 10 PM slot after NCIS: LA so it should have a big lead-in. I don't expect this to bring NCIS like numbers, but I still expect respectable numbers that can bring a renewal. The thing to be the most worried about is CBS itself. Last season, it totally jumped the gun by canceling Eleventh Hour, a great show all around, just because it didn't have the right retention from CSI.
Three Rivers
We get it, everyone loves Alex O’Loughlin and Moonlight shouldn't have been canceled. That doesn't mean CBS can throw him onto the screen and expect the show to work. Organ donations? After the story about organ harvesting in New Jersey, it feels so macabre. I don't know how they will cajole people into giving up organs to save another without offending someone. Not every story will involve a dead person with viable organs, some organs will come from a dying person. I'm sure it can touch on ethical questions, but we don't see a show based on euthanasia. To make matters worse, CBS put it on Sunday; I'm sure The Unit fans will be pissed to see this. I expect a short life for this show.
Accidentally on Purpose
Jenna Elfman? Ok... The trailers I've seen don't look too great, but there's not much to say about the show. CBS has some pretty mediocre comedies do well in the ratings while ABC comedies that were much funnier like Scrubs and Better Off Ted did horrible. CBS is looking to expand their total dominance and another comedy can only contribute to it. My prediction: Not that funny, good ratings.
Predictions For New Fall 2009-2010 TV Shows, part 5 (ABC)
Predictions For New Fall 2009-2010 TV Shows, part 4 (CBS)
Predictions For New Fall 2009-2010 TV Shows, part 3 (NBC)
Predictions For New Fall 2009-2010 TV Shows, part 2 (Fox)
Predictions For New Fall 2009-2010 TV Shows, part 1 (CW)
