The Question, Tuesday 6/30/15: Will Viewers Visit the Zoo?

Tonight, CBS premieres the new drama Zoo, based on a James Patterson novel about animal attacks on humans. Like previous CBS efforts Under the Dome and Extant (and unlike many scripted efforts on other networks), this show was explicitly intended for the summer. Certainly, CBS is hoping more for a breakout like Under the Dome (premiered at 3.3) rather than a ratings disappointment like Extant (premiered at 1.6 but still renewed). Will viewers visit the Zoo? That's The Question for Tuesday, June 30, 2015.

The Question, Monday 6/1/15: Will The Whispers Make Any Ratings Noise?

ABC opens its scripted summer with tonight's premiere of the drama The Whispers. The promos go out of their way not to shed too much light on what the series is really about, but one thing's for certain: it doesn't seem like a good fit with its lead-in, the heavily female-skewing The Bachelorette. The network could've given this slot to something much soapier like Astronaut Wives' Club, but maybe The Whispers simply gets the preferential treatment because of its bigger budget? It was originally slated for the regular season, after all.

The Question, Thursday 5/28/15: Is This the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius?

NBC begins the scripted portion of its summer season with tonight's two-hour premiere of Aquarius, a David Duchovny drama about the Charles Manson saga in the 1960s. The show has gotten some industry attention because of NBC's decision to mimic the streaming service model by releasing the entire season online. But this won't happen until after tonight's premiere, so it shouldn't be a negative for tonight. The whole thing was probably just a play for attention, but one that the casual viewer is unlikely to notice.

The Question, Thursday 5/14/15: Are Viewers Pining For Wayward Pines?

Fox rolls out the first of the summer's new dramas tonight, the 10-episode mystery series Wayward Pines. Perhaps the most interesting thing about this show from an industry perspective is that it stars Terrence Howard, the lead of Fox's recent mega-smash Empire. Wayward Pines was filmed in late 2013 and early 2014, before Howard had even committed to Empire, much less filmed a pilot. But the Wayward Pines promo after the Empire finale still amusingly referred to Pines as Howard's newest project.

I don't think Howard will move the needle to a huge degree, but he can't hurt. And the concept seems at least somewhat more appealing than Fox's summer Thursday drama effort last year, the gritty Gang Related which only opened at 0.9. However, Fox has left this show on the shelf for a long time, and nothing on the network has cracked even a 2.0 since the Empire finale. Its lead-in Bones will barely break 1.0, and this premiere date means the show has to face multiple drama season finales, including Scandal and The Blacklist. I think it can build on its Bones lead-in, but only by a bit. Are viewers pining for Wayward Pines? That's The Question for Thursday, May 14, 2015.

The Question, Sunday 4/5/15: Will A.D. Be a Hit of Biblical Proportions?

Two years ago, History miniseries The Bible was an absolute smash by basic cable standards, premiering at a 3.3 with over 13 million total viewers in March 2013. And it was seemingly pretty well-received by this huge audience, getting back to a 3.0 for the finale against The Walking Dead's finale a month later and averaging a 2.85 overall. That success led to a lot of interest in the continuation A.D. The Bible Continues, won by NBC and kicking off tonight with no competition from The Walking Dead (ended last week) or Game of Thrones (premieres next week).

Despite airing on a network with higher household coverage, it's two years later and chronicles somewhat less familiar events, so it may not be as big a deal as the first series. But tonight's premiere should cover better-known territory (the death and resurrection of Christ), and it may be able to ride the Easter holiday and tap into a large chunk of the crowd that showed up for the first series. Will A.D. be a hit of biblical proportions? That's The Question for Sunday, April 5, 2015.

The Question, Wednesday 3/18/15: Will Empire End on Another High Note?

Tonight brings a temporary end to the most phenomenal broadcast TV ratings story in at least a decade. Only about one new show per season starts as high on a historical-adjusted basis as Empire, and only about one new show per season grows in week two. Empire did both, and it only continued to escalate from there. Its last two 5.8's were the two biggest broadcast entertainment series episodes of the season, even topping The Big Bang Theory's high from premiere week, and they were also more than 50% ahead of that premiere from ten weeks ago. Will Empire end on another high note? That's The Question for Wednesday, March 18, 2015.

The Question II, Tuesday 3/17/15: Will Viewers of The Flash Dine on iZombie?

ALERT: It's a double-Question day! See also the Undateable/One Big Happy Question!

The CW's The Flash is the biggest success in the network's near-decade of existence. Tonight, the network will take its first stab at a new series after that Flash lead-in, and it's another entry from the DC Comics conglomerate that has seemingly taken over television this season. But iZombie doesn't have the name recognition of Arrow or The Flash. Will viewers of The Flash dine on iZombie? That's The Question for Tuesday, March 17, 2015.

The Question, Tuesday 3/17/15: Will An Undateable-Led Comedy Block Be Unwatchable?

ALERT: For the first time in a couple years, it's a double Question day! Another one is going live momentarily, so stay tuned!

Last summer, the premiere of NBC comedy Undateable seemed like such a burn-off that I didn't even bother doing a Question for it. Nearly ten months later, here we are with the show improbably getting a run of episodes after NBC's biggest lead-in. Undateable didn't exactly light up the Nielsens en route to this treatment; its 1.3 premiere on the opening Thursday of the summer was a relatively pleasant surprise, but it quickly shed a lot of that audience when the NBA Finals showed up. Now, it joins new comedy One Big Happy and will try to benefit more from The Voice lead-in than fellow summer rookie The Night Shift has. Will an Undateable-led comedy block be unwatchable? That's The Question for Tuesday, March 17, 2015.

The Question, Thursday 3/5/15: Will American Crime Arrest the TGIT Audience?

Thanks to a short first season for Thursday home run How to Get Away with Murder, the post-Scandal timeslot has come open over two months before the end of the season. Tonight, ABC will use that opportunity on the new drama American Crime. The marketing campaign wants you to believe the show is Very Important, and the critical reviews have mostly lived up to that billing. But it's still unknown whether the extremely grim tone will connect with an audience that is accustomed to much soapier ABC Thursday dramas. Will American Crime arrest the TGIT audience? That's The Question for Thursday, March 5, 2015.

The Question, Wednesday 3/4/15: Will Viewers Log In to CSI: Cyber?

Tonight, CBS launches the fourth CSI series CSI: Cyber after Criminal Minds. Cyber may end up with the interesting distinction of premiering after the entire rest of the CSI empire has finished airing (though we don't yet know CSI's fate). Though CSI wasn't much of a viewership draw on Sunday this season, it's still an iconic brand on CBS, and the network also hopes that Medium alum Patricia Arquette and her recent Academy Award win can bring in some interest. Will viewers log in to CSI: Cyber? That's The Question for Wednesday, March 4, 2015.

The Question, Monday 3/2/15: Will The Following's Ratings Get Scarier in Season Three?

In 2013, Fox's Kevin Bacon drama The Following became the highest-rated new show of the 2012-13 season, kicking off the year of the so-called "limited series." In 2014, the show got major exposure from an airing after the NFC Championship game but still disappointed when it returned to Monday, kicking off the year of the limited series sophomore slump. And tonight, it becomes the first example of what happens when a limited series drops huge in season two but still gets renewed anyway. Will The Following's ratings get scarier in season three? That's The Question for Monday, March 2, 2015.

The Question, Sunday 3/1/15: Will the New Sunday Series Be Well-Kept Secrets?

It's the first Sunday after the Oscars, which means it's time for the broadcast networks to start programming original series on Sunday again. It's often a multiple-premiere night, and on this evening there are three: the two-hour premiere of ABC mystery drama Secrets and Lies, CBS comedic procedural Battle Creek and Fox post-apocalyptic comedy The Last Man On Earth.

This was a big night a year ago, as ABC got a huge 3.8 opening from new drama Resurrection and Fox was very much on the map with the documentary series Cosmos. But I'm far more down on this batch of series than I even was on last year's crop before they happened. Two of them will have to self-start; Battle Creek and Last Man will both probably have lead-ins that are (perhaps significantly) smaller than the required number. Only Secrets and Lies follows a series (Once Upon a Time) that is likely to go over, and I'm not sold ABC can get the Once audience interested or make this child murder concept work where others have failed. But it only takes one strong showing for "Over" to cash. Will the new Sunday series be well-kept Secrets? That's The Question for Sunday, March 1, 2015.

The Question, Monday 2/23/15: Can The Night Shift Handle a Regular Season Shift?

Faced with one of the most disastrous new series classes for a network in recent memory, NBC is trying something unconventional with its spring season of The Voice: using it to lead into sophomore series that first aired in the summer. It starts tonight with The Voice's premiere followed by the medical drama The Night Shift. TNS had a good lead-in from America's Got Talent last summer, and it proved a reasonable improvement on some other stuff that aired post-Talent in recent seasons. It's still hard to label the season one performance as anything more than modest, but it now gets to try on an even bigger stage. Can The Night Shift handle a regular season shift? That's The Question for Monday, February 23, 2015.

The Question, Thursday 2/19/15: Will The Odd Couple Be a Ratings Oddity?

Tonight, CBS unveils its latest attempt to pair a new comedy with The Big Bang Theory as Matthew Perry's The Odd Couple comes to town. Though Perry's many post-Friends attempts to break back into TV have all fizzled out, they've also tended to start off well. The Odd Couple marks the revival of a classic TV brand, but you've got to be at the very upper crust of the 18-49 demo to remember seeing the early-'70s version of The Odd Couple in originals. Perhaps the biggest factor here will be the hammock effect; the show has not just a TBBT lead-in but also a lead-out from what should be a solid-rated series finale of Two and a Half Men. Will The Odd Couple be a ratings oddity? That's The Question for Tuesday, February 19, 2015.

The Question, Tuesday 2/10/15: Will Fresh Off the Boat's Ratings Stay Fresh on Tuesday?

Last week, ABC's new comedy Fresh Off the Boat opened with a pretty impressive 2.5 demo at 8:30 and a 2.3 at 9:30. The first episode was a considerable improvement on its The Middle (2.2) lead-in, while the second dropped from Modern Family (3.4). Tonight comes a move to the much more difficult lead-off hour on Tuesday. This change will surely cause a sizable drop from the preview numbers, but we'll see if it attracted enough viewers to remain in contention, at least for now, and improve on the opening Selfie / Manhattan Love Story numbers (1.4/1.3) in the same hour. Will Fresh Off the Boat's ratings stay fresh on Tuesday? That's The Question for Tuesday, February 10, 2015.

The Question, Thursday 2/5/15: How Many Viewers Pledge Allegiance to NBC Thursday?

Last week, I was uncertain whether to make a Question for this night about just NBC or about the showdown between Scandal and The Blacklist. I decided to leave it up to what The Blacklist's ratings were after the Super Bowl; if it did decently or better, then Scandal vs. The Blacklist could be hugely intriguing. Unfortunately, The Blacklist was a post-Super Bowl disappointment, posting the worst ratings for a lead-out starting before 11:00 (8.4) in recent memory. To me, that has made this night much more about NBC just doing well by its own standards than about NBC actually aspiring to knock off ABC. Maybe The Blacklist can still be a world-beater, but the network would probably take something less than that if offered right now. How many viewers pledge Allegiance to NBC Thursday? That's The Question for Thursday, February 5, 2015.

The Question, Wednesday 2/4/15: Will Viewers Get On Board with Fresh Off the Boat?

ABC continues its midseason rollout tonight with a Wednesday preview for family comedy Fresh Off the Boat. It's getting the "Grover Cleveland" treatment, airing two non-consecutive episodes after usual anchors The Middle and Modern Family, before heading to Tuesday to fend for itself next week. The show is getting some pretty decent critical acclaim, but it would do well to attract some long-term viewers tonight because self-starting on Tuesday will not be easy. Will viewers get on board with Fresh Off the Boat? That's The Question for Wednesday, February 4, 2015.

The Question, Thursday 1/29/15: Will ABC Be Thankful for TGIT's Return Ratings?

To borrow a joke from last year, ABC sure is glad to get the bad Taste out of its mouth. Tonight, the three-hour lineup of Shonda Rhimes-produced dramas known as "TGIT" is back on the air, and unlike last year (when they were held due to the Olympics) ABC gets to count the block in its February sweeps ratings. Since TGIT ended before Thanksgiving in 2014, though, the length of the hiatus was similar - just a week less than in the 2013-14 season. And these shows lost their "story of the season" status without even airing thanks to a Fox drama called Empire. Will ABC be thankful for TGIT's return ratings? That's The Question for Thursday, January 29, 2015.

The Question, Thursday 1/22/15: Will Backstrom Detect an Audience?

Fox's smashing success with Empire is the biggest ratings story of 2015 to date. And tonight, the network looks to go two for two with American Idol lead-outs as they launch new crime drama Backstrom, the latest attempt to rekindle the House magic. It comes from Hart Hanson, a creator who has had great success on Fox with Bones, and stars recognizable TV face Rainn Wilson as what the promos call a "brilliant detective, total jerk." Starting off well tonight is essential as TGIT and then The Blacklist will liven up the Thursday landscape in the coming weeks. Will Backstrom detect an audience? That's The Question for Thursday, January 22, 2015.

The Question, Wednesday 1/7/15: Will Fox Begin Rebuilding its Empire?

American Idol premiere night was once the beginning of a four-month run of overwhelming ratings domination for the Fox network. Now, the network just crosses its fingers for slowed year-to-year bleeding and an Idol big enough to keep it somewhat competitive. But there's added pressure on the former Death Star's premiere this year because it will lead into a new drama, the hip hop musical Empire. Musical dramas have run the gamut from huge (Glee) to consistently modest (Nashville) to megabomb (Viva Laughlin), and Fox could really use something toward the positive end of that spectrum. Will Fox begin rebuilding its Empire? That's The Question for Wednesday, January 7, 2015.