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« Roush Dispatch
Fox: Follow the Bouncing Bones
David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel in Bones by Art Streiber/Fox
In recent years the Fox network has ended each season on such a high (thanks to hot franchises like American Idol, 24 and House) that we almost forget how badly Fox struggles to get traction in the fall.
Perhaps sensing another fall disaster in the making, with two dark new dramas threatening to drag down its Monday and Tuesday lineups, Fox has rejiggered its fall lineup by postponing the murky New Amsterdam (about an immortal detective), originally intended for Tuesdays at 8 pm/ET, until midseason. In its place goes Bones, shifting from a tough Wednesday slot (9/8c) where this appealing procedural would have faced CBS' Criminal Minds, ABC's high-profile Grey's Anatomy spin-off Private Practice, NBC's Bionic Woman and CW’s Gossip Girl.
This makes Tuesday a pretty powerful night for Fox, with the often underappreciated Bones leading into the mega-hit House. Given the level of angst I tend to hear from Bones fans who can't help themselves from expecting the worst, having been burned in the past by Fox's treatment of their favorite shows, I hope this settles their worries. This is good news. Fox really is looking out for Bones' best interests. (And don’t worry that Fox year after year threatens to move this show to Fridays at midseason. I'll believe it when I see it.)
On the other hand, unless you're a fan of Fox's brand of reality TV, the network more or less goes dark from Wednesday at 9 pm/ET until Sunday, when the animated comedies kick in. Filling the Bones slot on Wednesdays, in the hour after Fox's Back to You/Til Death sitcom combo, is Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares. Thursdays belong to Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? and Don't Forget the Lyrics! (the second surprise-hit karaoke game of the summer to make the fall schedule, along with NBC’s The Singing Bee). Fridays will eventually be the home of the docu-soap Nashville and the American Band music contest. Saturday, as always, is crime time, with Cops and America's Most Wanted: America Fights Back.
Is Fox taking the cheap and easy way out? Probably. But it's hard to blame them for going the cheesy game-show route on Thursday, after years of fruitlessly throwing expensive scripted series up against the other networks' big hits. Fridays have for years been a notorious graveyard for Fox, so these music-themed reality projects make about as much low-impact sense as anything (and if either one pops at all, it will be a step up).
And where New Amsterdam is concerned, this moody high-concept drama is probably a risk whenever or wherever it airs, but it may stand a better shot at getting sampled if it's launched in the winter or spring, where it can be promoted and possibly positioned alongside shows like 24, Idol and the eagerly awaited Sarah Connor Chronicles.
But if all of this jockeying merely results in Bones getting a cushier berth this fall, and the viewer getting a better two-hour block of Tuesday TV in the bargain, who am I to complain?
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Aug 3, 2007 1:09 PM
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Great news for the Squints!
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Aug 3, 2007 1:44 PM
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Ouch.
BONES and NCIS opposite each other? Now I have to set both VCRs on Tuesday at 8 (on don't sit down to watch tv until 9).
Hope BONES thrives, but these are two shows with similar appeals - lighter toned procedurals.
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Aug 3, 2007 2:41 PM
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I had hoped that I'd finally get to watch NCIS regularly this season, but hey, Bones takes priority for me. Last year I had to tape two shows and watch a third every week, so that situation should be improved for me.
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Aug 3, 2007 3:34 PM
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Fantastic-- Bones and House together! Oh, what a night! XD Oh, and now Bones isn't going to compete with Bionic Woman, which I'm excited about.
I was really looking forward to New Amsterdam-- it had one of the most promising ideas, and I'm kind of mad they pushed it to midseason. Argh. Already they're messing with shows I like.
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Aug 3, 2007 5:10 PM
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I like the way you support BONES! Thanks for giving us fans positive input! I wish you worked for FOX!!
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Aug 3, 2007 5:15 PM
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oops double post
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Edited by hockeymom19 at 08/03/2007 2:16 PM
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Aug 3, 2007 5:15 PM
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I'm excited! Tuesday night was looking pretty dismal for me with only SVU left. Now I'll have something else to look forward to!
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Aug 4, 2007 6:29 AM
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Given its ratings strength, they could have switched the time periods and used House to boost the ratings of Bones.
As for the increase in reality for the fall, they tried this strategy a few years ago and failed miserably. The only difference is that this time they're using reality shows/personalities that have succeeded in the past (Gordon,Lyrics), so they might have a better chance of succeeding.
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Aug 4, 2007 6:54 AM
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NCIS is as good as dead and probably be in it's final season come this fall. The two best things about that show was Sasha Alexander and the guy who created the show Donald Bellisario are they are both gone. What is left of the JAG spin-off? I dropped this show during the 3rd season and never looked back. Glad I did because it is the same show every single week like most of CBS shows. No drama or continuation to keep people like me interested.
It is interesting that Tuesday will be a intergalactic battlefield comes this fall. May the best shows win. I have to say Bionic Woman and Gossip Girl got my interest. I have never got into Bones so no losses there for me. The only show I watched last fall on Tuesday was Boston Legal and that came on at 10 pm. Good to have a digital recorder and the new fall line-up to keep me watching tv before 10pm on Tuesday.
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Aug 4, 2007 6:56 AM
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Thanks, Matt! I wasn't quite sure what to make of this change, although it seemed like a pretty good thing to me (other than resulting in another season of me not getting to watch NCIS!). Thanks for explaining it to all of us.
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Aug 4, 2007 11:48 AM
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Now Fox has made an even dumber move -- put my 2 favorite shows against each other. It's a tough call but I think NCIS will continue to win out 8pm Tuesddays in my house.
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Aug 4, 2007 4:25 PM
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I'm having alot of trouble with the few choices of good programs out there
on tv. The New adventures of old Christine is a keeper. I used to watch Nip/Tuck. But it is getting stupid, Rescue Me was already stupid last season.Although I love Project Runway!
Reality tv has taken a good thing and ran too far with it. Please, no more Paricia Heaton on tv! Life with Jim? how do these shows continue for so long? Til death? A good show? NOT! Life with Jim didn't get cancelled, right? Kelsey Grammer has been off the air for 3 or 4 years? Can't he stay away a little longer? Cheers and Frasier gave him almost 20 years with the same character! And as for his "new" show, its been done before, many times before. Sunday night on Fox is great! Saturday night stinks all around. Too many changes with the nights [and casts] of all the 'Law and Order' shows. Is one of them off channel 4? Tooooo many csi's! Crossing Jordan is gone, THANK YOU! Damages beats Saving Grace anyday! Burn Notice Rules! Why do get one good thing, re: Law and Order, CSI, Cooking shows, and go crazy with it, till we are sick of it? Army wives? No thank you! Side Order of life-ok. Where have all the good shows gone?
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Aug 4, 2007 9:14 PM
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I'm also wincing as 2 of my favorite series - Bones and NCIS - will face off against one another for the first time since Bones' premier. Drat! Now I have to get another VCR or invest in a DVR. Thank goodness for DVDs!
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Aug 5, 2007 12:10 AM
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And no offense to Scorned1, but NCIS is in no danger of being canceled anytime soon. It remains in the top 10 rated shows, even in reruns, and has often cracked the top 5. I loved Sasha Alexander - "part" of a great team and not "THE" best thing about the show - but am loving Cote de Pablo just as well. The team dynamic has changed, but not for the worse!
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Aug 5, 2007 12:13 AM
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