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Upfront Thoughts: NBC
Here's my quick take on the Fall 2007 primetime schedule that NBC announced earlier today....
MONDAY
8 pm Deal or No Deal
9 pm Heroes
10 pm Journeyman
Monday has the potential to be NBC's biggest night. DOND is a game show juggernaut. Heroes will have a make or break sophomore season and Heroes: Origins better not be too gimmicky. Journeyman will try to carry the futuristic vibe of Heroes, but will fare about as well as Studio 60 did.
TUESDAY
8 pm The Biggest Loser
9 pm Chuck
10 pm Law & Order: SVU
Historically, this is the night where NBC shows go to die. The Biggest Loser has a small but loyal following. Chuck will be this season's failed attempt at government geek gone good. SVU just rolls on.
WEDNESDAY
8 pm Deal or No Deal
9 pm The Bionic Woman
10 pm Life
Hey, it's another non-scripted show at 8 o'clock for NBC! DOND on Mondays and Wednesdays will wear thin. The Battlestar Galactica team is involved with The Bionic Woman, so I'll give Jamie Sommers the benefit of the doubt. Life is this season's wrongfully accused cop drama that will endure the same fate as Kidnapped.
THURSDAY
8 pm My Name Is Earl
8:30 pm 30 Rock
9 pm The Office
9:30 pm Scrubs
10 pm ER
Comedy night, done right — unless you're looking for viewers! Earl ended strongly this season, and 30 Rock still has potential in spite of its lousy finale and the Alec Baldwin mess. The Office will be critically acclaimed but hardly watched, and Scrubs takes its final lap as Zach Braff keeps trying to be a movie star. Does anybody recognize anyone on ER anymore? Who are these doctors?
FRIDAY
8 pm 1 vs. 100/The Singing Bee
9 pm Las Vegas
10 pm Friday Night Lights
At 8 pm, it'll be Bob Saget or a karaoke reality show — you decide. Vegas returns with Magnum stepping in for Sonny Corleone. FNL fans get another season, but they'll have to tune in late on Fridays to save their show once again.
SATURDAY
8 pm Dateline
9 pm Drama repeats
10 pm Drama repeats
Kudos to NBC for airing a new show on Saturdays! OK, it's Dateline and we'll be catching predators, but we'll take it!
SUNDAY (Football)
7 pm Football Night in America
8 pm Sunday Night Football
You can't go wrong with the NFL on Sunday nights.
SUNDAY (Non-Football)
7 pm Dateline
8 pm Law & Order
9 pm Medium
10 pm Lipstick Jungle
Dateline will try to compete with 60 Minutes. Dick Wolf holds on for one more year on a tight budget with L&O. Medium follows with its 18th different night and time slot. Lipstick Jungle will battle for the 10 pm soap audience with Brothers & Sisters.
CONCLUSION
Not a bold move in sight for NBC other than the Donald finding himself off the schedule.
This is a cost-cutting lineup that will keep NBC firmly entrenched in fourth place.
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May 14, 2007 8:05 PM
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-Since DOND is such a ratings machine and Heroes rules the demos shouldn't NBC take advantage of that Monday 9 p.m. slot. CBS does the same thing with the Monday 8:30 slot, anything in that slot is guarenteed ratings.
-Journeyman seems like the most interesting new show in this lineup.
-Lipstick Jungle is unlike anything NBC has aired in the last few seasons, so it'll be interesting. If it takes off I think this show along with Heroes will become the cornerstone for NBC's inevitable regime change; trust me its coming.
-I have doubts about Bionic woman but I'm hoping its different enough to enjoy.
-Friday Night Lights on Friday, I think it was the only option NBC had. There was just nowhere else to put it but being paired with Las Vegas, umm can you say polar opposites! I'd follow FNLs anywhere.
-I know networks don't actually want to kill off shows but Medium versus Housewives? All the ppl I kno that watch Medium are also DH fans, I'll be surprised if Medium survives.
-All in all NBC is trying to work with what they have/can afford. With Heroes, the best comedy block on TV, the number 1 underdog in America (FNL), and new shows that are not usually found on NBC it at least seems as though they're trying.
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May 14, 2007 9:03 PM
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I watch DH, but if it's between that show and Medium, Joe and Allison will win every week. I've actually missed the last several episodes of DH and can't say that I feel too bad about it. I'll catch up online, or over the summer, or maybe not at all. As for FNL, wherever it goes, I will follow. I do think that reversing Las Vegas and FNL would be a better idea--LV is often too raunchy for the time period. I wish that Raines had gotten a pickup. I loved the quirkiness and off-beat humor; I loved the same thing about Andy Barker, P.I. (which I've said several times at TVGuide.com, in hopes that someone from NBC would see it and listen. LOL) NBC stuck with Heroes and FNL, and I was hoping that they'd do the same with those two shows.
For my own tastes, I like the fact that all of the networks seem to be putting forth sci-fi/fantasy shows (I suppose in hopes of finding the next Heroes) but I also worry that they'll air too much, without regard to quality, and it'll backfire.
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May 14, 2007 11:03 PM
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Well, I wish 'Chuck' good luck....I'll be over at USA watching Criminal Intent!
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May 15, 2007 12:27 AM
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Chuck is a Jake 2.0 ripoff. Very little originality in this lineup.
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May 15, 2007 12:52 AM
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I agree--Bionic Woman does seem like their best offering so far.
I'll follow FNL anywhere, this is true, but I won't be watching it live at 10pm on Friday nights. I suppose they were trying to cater to the ridiculous idea that people won't watch the show unless it's on Friday nights. And this way, the kids out playing football on Fridays might get home in time to watch it? How late do high school football games run anyway?
I would have been happier seeing FNL on Monday nights, even at 10pm. It would have given NBC a good chance of actually winning a night. Journeyman just reminds me of a cross between Quantum Leap and Early Edition, which makes me want to watch Kyle Chandler in FNL even more.
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May 15, 2007 9:46 AM
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monkey65 - I agree about flip-flopping Las Vegas and Friday Night Lights being a better plan. I think FNL is more of a family-friendly show, although deals with adult themes as well, while LV is pretty much an adult show. I do, however, disagree with your characterization of LV being "raunchy." If to you "raunchy" is low-cut tops on the females, then okay, it is. But the plotlines aren't as "raunchy" as many of the shows out there (Grey's Anatomy, Two and a Half Men, etc.).
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May 15, 2007 11:31 AM
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I watched the preview of Journeyman. It did arouse my interest despite my low expectation for the show. I like Kevin McKidd in Rome and I think he looks believable on the show.
The concept remind me of the Time Traveller's Wife which I enjoy very much. I will give it a try.
Chuck! it gives me an impression of a goofball comedy with scifi mixing with it. I don't know if it will stick. Maybe better for Scifi!
Bionic woman, OMG, I love starbuck or Kate Sackoff. She is hot and fierce as the villain. I'll watch BW just because of her!
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May 15, 2007 1:16 PM
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I would have liked to seen a Heroes and Bionic Woman pairing. Maybe that would have been SciFi overkill, but Journeyman is SciFi too. Heroes is so much of a thrill ride at times. By the time it's over, my energy is pumping. Having the energy flow into another action thriller seems like it would be a logical move. (And that kind of formula works for Cop Procedurals, why not for Action Adventures?)
Pairing Journeyman with one of the cop shows seems like it would be a better fit too. The themes of those shows are more complimentary.
I don't know, something about this schedule just seems so scattered. No show flows into the next smoothly. Except for the comedies on Thursday nights. At least they didn't mess with those.
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May 15, 2007 2:26 PM
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NBC should know by now that Heroes is one of those shows that just can't be built around. Or did they not learn their lessson with Studio 60, Black Donnellys, and Wedding Crashers?
I have a feeling that Medium, L&O, and CI will be brought back sooner than expected.
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May 15, 2007 4:51 PM
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Chuck - sounds more like upchuck.
Lipstick Jungle - how many takeoffs of Sex/City can there be? Soaps should be on the daytime schedule and not allowed to wander off.
Journeyman - Quantum Leap repackaged.
Bionic Woman - won't be the same without Lindsay.
Life - out on parole in 6 weeks.
Singing Bees - Idol wannabe. Who cares.
Can't NBC take a hint? Heroes - original idea takes off, clones aren't viable, they just die early.
Being in last place means you have to take a chance and be bold, not play it safe and hope for the best and getting the worse.
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May 15, 2007 6:49 PM
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"Does anybody recognize anyone on ER anymore?"
Umm...well, just a guess, but how about the fans who watch the show smart one.
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May 15, 2007 7:53 PM
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OMG, I just went to NBC.com and they have longer previews of all the new show (than I have been getting on the media websites/youtube)
OMG, Journeyman looks really really good,I can see why so many are swooning over the lead, wowza.
Bionic Woman..looks really good too, you can tell that it and BSG have the same "creator".
Haven't watched the rest yet...
Oh, and I abandoned, along with many, Desperate H. long ago (what was I EVER thinking watching that crud?), so I will happily watch Medium opposite it on Sundays!!
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May 16, 2007 3:30 AM
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Have to comment on my favorite show. Just because The Office doesn't pull in 20 million viewers per episode doesn't mean no one is watching. It's a popular show, and it's watched elsewhere besides on Thursdays on NBC. People DO watch this show, and I for one am glad NBC is keeping shows that ARE good and acclaimed, like 30 Rock, Office and Earl, Scrubs, Heroes and Medium, than keeping shows that are awfully bad just for the ratings (like finally canning the Donald). Not to mention it's almost all original programming and barely any reality shows (thanking the tv gods for that). I can't say that much for other networks. As for tuning into NBC next season, I'm going to give Chuck and Bionic Woman a chance. I already watch NBC on Thursdays-all except for ER, and Heroes on Mondays, and Vegas on Fridays so 3 of my nights will be all NBC. The only other network I watch is ABC and that's less than NBC and is usually DVR'ed because I'm watching something else.
Also I for one am glad they are going with NEW shows over the Law and Order shows. Does anyone under 35 even watch Law and Order?? I'm sorry but since I watch the news, I don't need to see actors portraying news stories every week. Those stories just get old and depressing after awhile IMO. I would take Chuck over Law and Order ANYDAY.
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May 16, 2007 9:40 AM
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