New timeslots in bold, new shows in ALL CAPS.
| Net | MONDAY | |
| 8:00 | 8:30 | |
| ABC | Dancing with the Stars | |
| CBS | How I Met Your Mother | PARTNERS |
| NBC | The Voice | |
| Fox | Bones | |
| CW | 90210 | |
If CBS insists on having just one slot for a new comedy, that one new comedy has a lot of pressure. The other big question: was the music competition logjam a one-time ratings reducer and now they'll stabilize, or will the mutual destruction continue?
| Net | MONDAY | |
| 9:00 | 9:30 | |
| ABC | Dancing with the Stars | |
| CBS | 2 Broke Girls | Mike and Molly |
| NBC | The Voice | |
| Fox | THE MOB DOCTOR | |
| CW | Gossip Girl | |
Everyone thinks The Mob Doctor looks like one of the least promising new dramas. I'll admit I'm biased because I used to love Jordana Spiro's My Boys on TBS, but I'm hoping it finds a way to work. There's a ton of competition but no real drama competition. The other note is that it's pretty amazing CBS held at three hours yet still found a way to create some comedy risk. Is 2BG ready for 9:00? I actually think so, but there is at least a small risk.
| Net | MONDAY | |
| 10:00 | 10:30 | |
| ABC | Castle | |
| CBS | Hawaii Five-0 | |
| NBC | REVOLUTION | |
I question Revolution here on a couple levels: 1) is it even compatible with The Voice? and 2) this is the one kind of scripted show with which NBC should still be able to grab attention as a self-starter (see The Event), so why use a big lead-in on it? The positive is that it's good counter-programming, but then I said that about The Playboy Club too.
| Net | TUESDAY | |
| 8:00 | 8:30 | |
| ABC | Dancing with the Stars | |
| CBS | NCIS | |
| NBC | The Voice | |
| Fox | Raising Hope | BEN AND KATE |
| CW | Hart of Dixie | |
With ABC out of the comedy game at 8/7c, can Fox get any new interest for Raising Hope? I'm pretty sure somebody should be putting comedy here, but Fox's hour seems a little underwhelming.
| Net | TUESDAY | |
| 9:00 | 9:30 | |
| ABC | Happy Endings | Apartment 23 |
| CBS | NCIS: Los Angeles | |
| NBC | GO ON | THE NEW NORMAL |
| Fox | New Girl | THE MINDY PROJECT |
| CW | EMILY OWENS, M.D. | |
Then there's this hour, both the heaviest on comedy and the heaviest on new shows. Will anyone blink and get away from this? I think the network that should make a move is ABC, simply because I believe The Voice has more potential value as a lead-in to NBC's new comedies than old-skewing Dancing does for young-skewing returning comedies. Plus, ABC's been airing their results show at 9/8c for a million years, for whatever that's worth.
| Net | TUESDAY | |
| 10:00 | 10:30 | |
| ABC | Private Practice | |
| CBS | VEGAS | |
| NBC | Parenthood | |
There appears to be an opportunity here for CBS, but then that's been the case pretty much ever since SVU went to Wednesday several years ago. Is Vegas the show to buck the trend? I'd still prefer the new drama at 9/8c with a bigger lead-in, bigger viewing levels and zero big four drama competitors.
| Net | WEDNESDAY | |
| 8:00 | 8:30 | |
| ABC | The Middle | Suburgatory |
| CBS | Survivor | |
| NBC | ANIMAL PRACTICE | GUYS WITH KIDS |
| Fox | The X Factor | |
| CW | ARROW | |
Tough hour for NBC's comedies, but they're hoping that monkey can be a draw. After watching trailers on both, I think it actually looks like a more compatible family hour than expected. The problem is ABC already has a pretty compatible family hour. I thought the CW should go after Tuesday, but when you look at the matchups in this hour, I really do think this is as good an hour as any for the CW to try to break out with a drama. Good luck to Arrow.
| Net | WEDNESDAY | |
| 9:00 | 9:30 | |
| ABC | Modern Family | THE NEIGHBORS |
| CBS | Criminal Minds | |
| NBC | Law and Order: SVU | |
| Fox | The X Factor | |
| CW | Supernatural | |
Safest prediction of the fall: when SVU struggles at 9/8c, we're gonna hear about how it's "a 10:00 show."
| Net | WEDNESDAY | |
| 10:00 | 10:30 | |
| ABC | NASHVILLE | |
| CBS | CSI | |
| NBC | CHICAGO FIRE | |
There are two new shows here, both of which seem fairly high on their networks' drama priority lists. They'll also have fairly uncertain lead-ins. Sometimes a new comedy into a new drama works. Sometimes you get Mike and Molly and Hawaii Five-0. Then again, sometimes you get Whitney and Prime Suspect.
| Net | THURSDAY | |
| 8:00 | 8:30 | |
| ABC | LAST RESORT | |
| CBS | The Big Bang Theory | Two and a Half Men |
| NBC | 30 Rock | Up All Night |
| Fox | The X Factor | |
| CW | The Vampire Diaries | |
This is another spot where it seems like the drama should have breakout potential based on the type of competition. Then again, tell that to all the other ABC dramas that have aired here. ABC needs to put a ton of promotional energy toward Last Resort if they truly believe it has the goods. There's upside, but there's also big DOA potential with two networks so strong.
| Net | THURSDAY | |
| 9:00 | 9:30 | |
| ABC | Grey's Anatomy | |
| CBS | Person of Interest | |
| NBC | The Office | Parks and Recreation |
| Fox | Glee | |
| CW | BEAUTY AND THE BEAST | |
CBS sacrificed an idea with huge potential, but they can shut me up by taking Person of Interest into the stratosphere. The other question: should somebody adjust now that CBS didn't go 4x comedy? Perhaps NBC could shuffle their Wednesday/Thursday comedy hours and create a better situation for Animal Practice and Guys with Kids. I was against Fox putting comedy here when I thought CBS was, but are they now better off using The X Factor to lead into Ben and Kate? Hmm.
| Net | THURSDAY | |
| 10:00 | 10:30 | |
| ABC | Scandal | |
| CBS | ELEMENTARY | |
| NBC | Rock Center | |
CBS decided to tease those of us who strongly believed in a CBS four-comedy night by suggesting it could happen at midseason. I'm not holding my breath. What that would take is a severe underperformance by Person of Interest and basically a flop job by Elementary. CBS is historically not exactly in the business of flopping with their #1 drama pilot, and the competition is about as easy as it could possibly be.
| Net | FRIDAY | |
| 8:00 | 8:30 | |
| ABC | Last Man Standing | MALIBU COUNTRY |
| CBS | CSI: NY | |
| NBC | Whitney | Community |
| Fox | Touch | |
| CW | America's Next Top Model | |
This is TV's only hour with zero timeslot incumbents. If TGIF is gonna work, it might as well be here and with these two shows.
| Net | FRIDAY | |
| 9:00 | 9:30 | |
| ABC | Shark Tank | |
| CBS | MADE IN JERSEY | |
| NBC | Grimm | |
| Fox | Fringe | |
| CW | Nikita | |
I thought when Body of Proof got renewed that it might head to Friday 9/8c. It didn't happen, which seems like a decent break for Made In Jersey. But I'm still proclaiming Shark Tank the 18-49er favorite in the hour till CBS proves me wrong.
| Net | FRIDAY | |
| 10:00 | 10:30 | |
| ABC | 20/20 | |
| CBS | Blue Bloods | |
| NBC | Dateline | |
Last season, this was the only hour on TV to return exactly as it was in the previous season. This season, this is the only hour on TV to return exactly as it was in the previous season. There's no real reason to believe right now that this hour couldn't stay this way for another few years.
| Net | SUNDAY | |
| 8:00 | 8:30 | |
| ABC | Once Upon a Time | |
| CBS | The Amazing Race | |
| NBC | Sunday Night Football | |
| Fox | The Simpsons | Bob's Burgers |
Even though I'm not a viewer, I'm happy Fox is finally giving a fall run to Bob's Burgers. Fox animation is one of the lineups that always drops the most from fall to spring, so it'll be good to see it get a chance in a much better situation.
| Net | SUNDAY | |
| 9:00 | 9:30 | |
| ABC | Revenge | |
| CBS | The Good Wife | |
| NBC | Sunday Night Football | |
| Fox | Family Guy | American Dad! |
As I said on ABC's post, there's no real reason based on the competition to believe Revenge can't have its big breakout season next year. The timeslot should deliver; will the show?
| Net | SUNDAY | |
| 10:00 | 10:30 | |
| ABC | 666 PARK AVENUE | |
| CBS | The Mentalist | |
| NBC | Sunday Night Football | |
After watching the trailer, I think this looks like a night that flows pretty well for ABC. Meanwhile, the phasing out of The Mentalist begins. I'd guess it (like CSI: Miami) has enough in the tank for two seasons here.
4 comments:
I can see ABC's thinking in putting Happy Endings and Apartment 23 at 9pm: they are racier shows that aren't able to self-start yet, the later time has higher HUT levels, and a Dancing with the Stars lead-in is, other than Modern Family, the best one you can ask for. But I agree: the whiplash that'll occur between ABC's oldest-skewing and youngest-skewing shows will be severe.
What are the odds that the monkey shows up at summer press tour?
Monday: Voice and Dancing are going to grind each other to death. CBS had better hope Partners hits, because they have two falls and two midseasons before they go from four anchors to maybe two, and that doesn't count whether Big Bang's leads will want to do something else. Revolution is a good choice against two procedurals, but what kind of numbers mean safety? Low 3s?
Tuesday: I'm a little disappointed that CBS wasn't more adventurous on this day. Like you, I've been waiting for them to split the NCISs up since the spinoff debuted. They need that low-to-mid 3 more on Sunday than here, and I'd rather Elementary benefit from the lead-in. I don't think anyone will get away from the six single-cam pile-up. FOX has had some success there with New Girl and NBC has no other promising slots, but I still think ABC should have put HE and Apt. 23 at 10:00 on Wednesday.
Wednesday: X Factor is going to be the key here. Will it grow from last year's frankly disappointing start? Will Idol stop the bleeding? Regardless, it's a mistake not to launch a new drama Wednesday at 9. Will all these easy wins be worth it two years from now? The Neighbors looks a bit out of place with its weird premise. Feels more like a TGIF show. I don't think Nashville will make it to November sweeps with that lead-in. I think it's a mistake for CBS to just let this day age. Who cares if CSI: beats two rookies?
Thursday: To me, the pressure's on Person of Interest. It's going to have high-4s and 5s as a lead-in in the fall, and high-3s and 4s in the spring. I fully expect it to get the post-Super Bowl treatment. Grey's and Glee aren't getting any younger. The Office and Parks are non-entities. It shouldn't fall below 3.0 this year. That means Elementary shouldn't fall below around 2.5, which is troublesome, because the reaction to Lucy Liu's Watson has been overwhelmingly negative. It feels that everyone that's not CBS has either punted (NBC, FOX) or chosen to play defense (ABC, CW). Vampire Diaries should have moved to Tuesday to feed into either Arrow or Carrie Diaries.
Friday: ABC did Friday TGIF right, while NBC swung and missed. Everything else is either a retread (CSI: NY), a marginal show that doesn't do well enough elsewhere (Grimm, Blue Bloods, Shark Tank) or a cheap unscripted stalwart (Dateline, 20/20).
Sunday: Revenge is going to put a hurtin' on Good Wife. In fact, I believe that ABC will have a solid second place in the fall, and will roll once NBC goes to their weak reality offerings. How did Fashion Star get a second season, anyways?
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