Monday, September 8, 2008

Fall TV Preview

Here is the fall schedule for the networks.

(New shows in caps; excluding those acronym shows)

=SUNDAY=

8:00/7:00
ABC - Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
CBS - The Amazing Race
NBC - Football Night in America
FOX - The Simpsons / King of the Hill
The CW - VALENTINE

9:00/8:00
ABC - Desperate Housewives
CBS - Cold Case
NBC - Sunday Night Football (3 hrs)
FOX - Family Guy / American Dad
The CW - EASY MONEY

10:00/9:00
ABC - Brothers & Sisters
CBS - The Unit

My DVR Plans: Amazing Race*, Simpsons, American Dad

New Shows:
Valentine - a show about Greek gods living in L.A. Dexter's Jaime Murray plays Aphrodite, for one. The premise is enough to make me watch one episode and see how it goes.

Easy Money - It's about a quirky family who runs a payday loan business. Vice Versa's Judge Reinhold and Roseanne's Laurie Metcalf are amongst its cast members. Ehh.

=MONDAY=

8:00/7:00
ABC - Dancing with the Stars (90 mins)
CBS - The Big Bang Theory / How I Met Your Mother
NBC - Chuck
FOX - Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles
The CW - Gossip Girl

9:00/8:00
ABC - Samantha Who? (9:30)
CBS - Two and a Half Men / WORST WEEK
NBC - Heroes
FOX - Prison Break
The CW - One Tree Hill

10:00/9:00
ABC - Boston Legal
CBS - CSI: Miami
NBC - MY OWN WORST ENEMY

My DVR Plans: Dancing with the Stars*, Chuck, Terminator*, Heroes, Prison Break, My Own Worst Enemy

New Shows:
Worst Week - TV Guide called it the best comedy of the fall, and hailed its star Kyle Bornheimer as a promising talent (I know I've seen him on commercials). It's about a nice guy who keeps having things screw up on him.

My Own Worst Enemy - This feels like the natural follow-show after Heroes. Christian Slater plays a man with two alter-egos, neither of whom are aware of the other, and one of those is a secret agent with deadly enemies. I'm intrigued.

=TUESDAY=

8:00/7:00
ABC - OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS
CBS - NCIS
NBC - The Biggest Loser (2 hrs)
FOX - House
The CW - 90210

9:00/8:00
ABC - Dancing with the Stars results
CBS - THE MENTALIST
FOX - FRINGE
The CW - PRIVILEGED

10:00/9:00
ABC - Eli Stone
CBS - Without a Trace
NBC - Law & Order: SVU

My DVR Plans: The Mentalist*, Fringe

New Shows:
Opportunity Knocks - A game show where they build a studio in your front yard, and the neighbors are the audience. J.D. Roth (Endurance) hosts.

90210 - The next generation. A sibling set from Kansas moves to Beverly Hills. Shannen Doherty and Jennie Garth reprise their roles, but they're now in their 30's.

The Mentalist - Simon Baker (The Guardian) plays a detective who's really good at observation, to the point that people think he's psychic. CBS has had trouble with Tuesdays for a decade, outside of JAG/NCIS. Maybe this conventional crime procedural can be an anchor.

Fringe - TV Guide called it the most promising drama of the fall. JJ Abrams (Alias, Lost) is the creator. It's about a father-son genius team (Joshua Jackson, John Noble) who are recruited to examine paranormal activity. Call it a cross between The X-Files and Alias.

Privileged - A Yale grad gets fired from her NY magazine job, so she heads to Palm Beach to be a tutor for two spoiled girls while she works off student loans. It's compared to the Gilmore Girls teaching the Gossip Girls.

=WEDNESDAY=

8:00/7:00
ABC - Pushing Daisies
CBS - Old Christine / GARY UNMARRIED
NBC - KNIGHT RIDER
FOX - Bones
The CW - America's Next Top Model

9:00/8:00
ABC - Private Practice
CBS - Criminal Minds
NBC - Deal or No Deal
FOX - Til Death / DO NOT DISTURB
The CW - STYLISTA

10:00/9:00
ABC - Dirty Sexy Money
CBS - CSI: New York
NBC - Lipstick Jungle

My DVR Plans: Pushing Daisies, America's Next Top Model *, Dirty Sexy Money

New Shows:

Knight Rider - There was a TV movie a few months ago that got good ratings, so the actual show is coming. I saw the movie and found it boring enough to not see how it ended.

Gary Unmarried - Another sitcom starring an SNL alum as a newly divorced parent. So nice that it follows The New Adventures of Old Christine.

Do Not Disturb - Hijinks at a hotel. Now that Jerry O'Connell's with Rebecca Romijn, he's taken over for John Stamos as king of the quickly-cancelled sitcoms.

Stylista - More than one reviewer has called it The Devil Wears Prada: The Reality Show. It's an Apprentice-style reality show where the contestants are competing for a cush job at Elle magazine.

=THURSDAY=

8:00/7:00
ABC - Ugly Betty
CBS - Survivor: Gabon
NBC - My Name Is Earl / KATH & KIM
FOX - HOLE IN THE WALL
The CW - Smallville

9:00/8:00
ABC - Grey's Anatomy
CBS - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
NBC - The Office / 30 Rock
FOX - Kitchen Nightmares
The CW - Supernatural

10:00/9:00
ABC - LIFE ON MARS
CBS - ELEVENTH HOUR
NBC - ER

My DVR Plans: Survivor*, My Name Is Earl, Kath & Kim, The Office, 30 Rock, Life on Mars

New Shows:

Kath & Kim - Based on a hit Australia sitcom, it's about a boozy mom who thinks she has the house to herself until her daughter moves back in after she ends her two-month marriage. Molly Shannon and Selma Blair star.

Hole in the Wall - Another Japanese-style game show creation.

Life on Mars - Based on the BCC show about a cop who wakes up in 1973. Jason O'Mara, Harvey Kietel, Michael Imperioli and Gretchen Mol star. With ER's fading ratings, Without a Trace moved to a new night, and a lead-in like Grey's Anatomy, it's poised to be a hit.

Eleventh Hour - Rufus Sewell plays an expert brought in at "the elventh hour" to help solve tough crimes.

=FRIDAY=

8:00/7:00
ABC - Wife Swap
CBS - Ghost Whisperer
NBC - AMERICA'S TOUGHEST JOBS
FOX - Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?
The CW - Everybody Hates Chris / The Game

9:00/8:00
ABC - Supernanny
CBS - THE EX LIST
NBC - CRUSOE
FOX - Don't Forget the Lyrics!
The CW - Top Model encore

10:00/9:00
ABC - 20/20
CBS - Numb3rs
NBC - Life

My DVR Plans: Crusoe

New Plans:
America's Toughest Jobs - Reality show where contestants take part in some of the toughest jobs around.

The Ex-List - Elizabeth Reaser (Grey's Anatomy) plays a woman is told by a psychic she's already met the man of her dreams, so she starts looking up all the men she's ever dated to see which one was her soulmate that she let get away.

Crusoe - Robinson Crusoe: the TV show.


=SATURDAY=s are a wash.

*wife shows.

So how will the new crop do? My predictions:

ABC has only two new shows this fall, so I'm guessing Life on Mars will succeed and Opportunity Knocks will fail.

CBS has five new shows. I'm guessing Worst Week will succeed and Gary Unmarried will fail.

FOX has three new shows. I'm guessing Fringe will succeed and Do Not Disturb will fail.

NBC has five new shows. I'm guessing My Own Worst Enemy will succeed and Knight Rider will fail.

The CW has seven new shows. I'm guessing 90210 will succeed and Easy Money will fail.

----

ONE YEAR AGO:

28 new shows, ten made it.

ABC - Eight new shows, four are returning (Samantha Who?, Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money, Private Practice). Cavemen is not.

CBS - Five new shows, one returning (The Big Bang Theory). Viva Laughlin is not.

FOX - Five new shows, one returning (Kitchen Nightmares). Nashville is not.

NBC - Four new shows, two returning (Chuck, Life). Journeyman is not.

The CW - Six news shows, two returning (Gossip Girl, Reaper(mid-season)). Online Nation is not.

----

FIVE YEARS AGO:

ABC didn't have a single hit, but it tried with titles like Karen Sisco (with Carla Gugino) and Married to the Kellys.

CBS scored with Two and a Half Men, NCIS, Cold Case and Joan of Arcadia. It also fell on its face with The Brotherhood of Poland NH.

FOX came out with Arrested Development, a critical hit that stayed on life support for three years. Everything else flopped. Remember a show called Skin?

NBC's sole success was Las Vegas. It crashed and burned with Whoopi and The Lyon's Den (with Rob Lowe).

UPN and WB were still separate networks, but that was the year One Tree Hill debuted. So did The Mullets.

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