The Sked: Sunday

May, 14, 2011 1:36 pm | Comments On #Network, pilots, schedule, Television, Upfronts

 

We don't expect a lot of changes on Sundays, where each network tends to program to a chosen demographic.

During the fall, CBS and FOX take very different approaches to their alternating football overruns from late afternoon games. CBS welcomes late start times for its shows, which makes for a domino effect throughout the evening; it more or less locks in viewers for the night unless they want to join other networks in progress, but doesn't exactly encourage new visitors. To replace UNDERCOVER BOSS, their new companion piece to CSI MIAMI should be the cumbersomely titled THE REMEMBERER, which stars CBS favorite Poppy Montgomery as a cop whose secret weapon in...

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The Sked: Saturday

May, 14, 2011 1:35 pm | Comments On #Television

 

Do you care? Seriously? Are you the one watching network television on Saturdays? There'll be college football on ABC for a while, COPS and AMERICA'S MOST WANTED aren't going anywhere, and the other networks have reruns.

Read a book. Nothing to see here...

Next: Sunday.

The rest of the week: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday...

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The Sked: Thursday

May, 14, 2011 1:34 pm | Comments On #Network, pilots, schedule, Television, Upfronts

CBS looks to be the busiest network with Thursday changes. They were unable to capitalize on their smash BIG BANG THEORY lead-in to propel $%*! MY DAD SAYS, so they'll try again with a younger odd couple buddy comedy, HOW TO BE A GENTLEMAN, starring and written by David Hornsby. At 9 p.m., CSI is not just long in the tooth, but it seems unlikely to ever recover from the loss of William L Petersen, so we see THE MENTALIST finally ascending into that slot, providing a launching pad for THE 2-2, a show about rookie NY cops that has a good pedigree (pilot written by novelist Richard Price, Executive Producer Robert DeNiro) and a familiar premise... but "familiar" has never been a dirty...

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The Sked: Friday

May, 14, 2011 1:34 pm | Comments On #Networks, pilots, schedule, Television, Upfronts

 

Friday, with its dwindling, aging audiences, isn't the place for networks to launch ambitious new shows. (Although thanks, FOX, for renewing FRINGE.)

It is, however, a good night to relocate shows on the decline. UNDERCOVER BOSS started off very strong on Sundays, but it's been steadily heading lower, and it's time for the show to find a more comfortable resting place on Fridays. Similarly, we see the big event of the night as being CBS's relocation of the original CSI from Thursday to Friday. It's still a solid show, but its ratings have been going in the wrong direction since William L. Petersen left, and that's unlikely to reverse itself. On...

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The Sked: Wednesday

May, 14, 2011 1:33 pm | Comments On #Networks, pilots, schedule, Television, Upfronts

 

The network making its big move on Wednesday will be FOX. We think they'll use the night to launch both of their highest-profile new shows. The night will begin with X-FACTOR, which they hope will extend their TV victory lap all season long, from fall till AMERICAN IDOL picks up in early 2012. As with IDOL, the show will probably air twice per week on Wednesday and Thursday. With THE VOICE proving that America's appetite for musical competitions is nowhere near satisfied, and with IDOL's Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul in the judge's seats, there's no reason to think this strategy won't work. FOX can follow FACTOR with their biggest scripted gamble, the...

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The Sked: Tuesday

May, 14, 2011 1:32 pm | Comments On #Networks, Television, Upfronts

We expect NBC to be very aggressive on Tuesdays. As on Monday, they should have their new hit THE VOICE to start off the night. We think they'll follow it with the show that seems to be their  No. 1 priority for Fall, SMASH. This is the story of the making of a Broadway musical, with Debra Messing as the composer of the show-within-the-show. It will feature original songs by the real composer, HAIRSPRAY's Marc Shaiman; the pilot has also reportedly received the hands-on attention of executive producer Steven Spielberg. With all that, and despite the huge success of GLEE, this is a risky project, and we're dubious that a musical without the relatable setting of high school can...

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Upfronts Special: Former NBC Scheduling Chief Forecasts the Fall Season

May, 14, 2011 1:31 pm | Comments On #Networks, pilots, schedule, Television, Upfronts

As executive vice president of program planning and scheduling at NBC Entertainment, Mitch Metcalf was responsible for overseeing long-range program planning and scheduling for the NBC Television Network. This is his prediction, republished courtesy of Showbuzz Daily, as to what to expect in the fall season, and his analysis of what will really be going on behind the numbers. The numbers are his projected Adults 18-49 ratings for each show; the capitalized titles are the new shows; and italics are for shows...

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Mitch Metcalf was named Executive Vice President, Program Planning & Scheduling, NBC Entertainment, in September 2005. He was responsible for overseeing long-range program planning and scheduling for the NBC Television Network. In addition, his duties include coordinating closely on the network's cross-platform opportunities throughout NBC Universal. Mitch joined NBC following a nine-year career at ABC, where he most recently served as Senior Vice President, Research, ABC Television Network. While at ABC, he was responsible for providing senior management with attitudinal research analysis of new series pilots, current series, newsmagazines and longform programming. 

This blog was created in conjunction with ShowBuzzDaily.

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