Monday, May 14, 2007

Idol Thoughts on NBC's Schedule

After this week is over, and all of the networks have presented their fall schedules, I will be giving my thoughts on all the new shows announced by the networks. But, for now, here are some initial thoughts on NBC's schedule (which you can view by clicking here):

-Of course, I am thrilled that Friday Night Lights will be returning (it was far and away my favorite new show of the year). Even though Friday has become a little bit of a wasteland for network shows, I actually think it is a wise move for the show to air on the day of the week featured in it's title (NBC's marketing department must be happy!) and it may actually benefit from the low expectations that come from airing on Friday night. I would have preferred the 9PM slot instead of the 10PM slot, but, hey, the show's coming back, so no complaints here.

-How sad is it that from 12 comedy pilots, NBC could only pick up one, and for midseason no less? They certainly weren't lying when they said the sitcom is dying. Having said that, the Earl/30 Rock/Office/Scrubs is a high quality combo -- if only more people would watch!

-I'm glad to see Law and Order back on the schedule (albeit at midseason), and I'm glad Law and Order: CI (my least favorite of the Law and Order family) is the show moved off-network (to USA). Supposedly the cast of the original L&O will be returning, intact.

-I can't say I'm thrilled (on paper, at least) with the new shows NBC will have in the fall. Bionic Woman sounds like the surest thing, and I'm looking forward to Lipstick Jungle (which will premiere midseason), but the supernatural slant in Journeyman and Chuck seems a bit off-putting to me. Haven't the NBC suits noticed that the ratings for Heroes (unquestionably one of this season's few success stories) have severely declined over the course of the season? These kind of shows are inherently designed for a cult audience, and if NBC is trying to put themselves back on the map, I'm not sure either of these programs will help much.

Life, on the other hand, features a strong cast (Chicago Hope's Adam Arkin, Sleeper Cell's Melissa Sagemiller, The L Word's Sarah Shahi) and an interesting spin on police procedurals.

More on these new shows later in the week...

What do you think of NBC's schedule?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

sked could be good...gotta agree with you...none of the new shows from the premises alone sound particularly appealing...but they'll debut and we'll see...i've always been a sucker for any show featuring time travel so already i'm there for journeyman...quantum leap rip-off or no! (God how i loved that show growing up!) and Chuck is from one of the main writers for another old favorite of mine (Northern Exposure) so again i'll definitely try it out...but i fear Criminal Intent will be back in that spot in no time flat...i'm sort of surprised that CI wasn't kept in the Tues at 9 spot...budget or not, it really more then held its own ratings wise against some really stiff comepetition (House, Dancing With The Stars, even The Unit which i quite like a lot these days) and really NBC hasn't had any kind of presence at all in that slot since Frasier vacated in may of '04.
aside from that was anyone really surprised Crossing Jordan was axed? once it moved to wed nights against idol..you knew it was toast. too bad though cause I've liked it all these years and would like to see an actual finale tomorrow night when it airs...who knows if it'll happen..but the show did have a fairly good run in the end. kinda like the run 3rd Watch had...six solid years...it even turned all dark and brooding in its last season too!

All in all its all right enough.... i guess...i'm happy with the shows they're keeping the thurs night line-up...
(I love scrubs and am glad to see it play out for one last year.) I'm even happy about Las Vegas returning...and with Magnum PI no less...(it helps that there was absolutely nothing on of interest to myself in that timeslot this past year! and yes i mean close to home which is about as generic a courtroom show as you can possibly get!)

there are some things i wished were coming back....i wish they would have let Raines come back for one more shot...i don't know where, but i was really hoping they'd give ol' jeff another shot, they could have even held it off till mideason again and try it out on sundays with medium and law and order... speaking of which


the one reaaaaal flaw i think is keeping Medium off the fall lineup once again....its one thing when they yanked it lastr year and then put it on the Wed at 10 slot that was fine...but why couldn't they just leave it be there???? they've tried launching two or three new shows in that slot since moving law and order off of it a year and a half ago..and all 3 bombed quickly...does anyone think its wise to go with another new one so soon? besides maybe Medium would have been helped by the new bionic woman. Medium's such a solid show--id hate to see it become the new Scrubs in that it keeps getting bounced around.

we'll see.