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« Roush Dispatch
NBC at Mid-season: Fridays Now on Wednesdays
At long last (about two weeks later than expected), a network has finally firmed up its January mid-season schedule. Makes sense that it happens to be a network with plenty of adjustments to make: in this case, NBC, which had probably the best lineup of new series this fall, but, without any hits to help launch them, has continued to struggle in the ratings (though its numbers are up from a year ago).
The biggest surprise (to me) was the decision to keep Aaron Sorkin's increasingly uneven backstage-TV comedy-drama Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip on Mondays, where it regularly bleeds away huge chunks of the rapt audience for Heroes, NBC's biggest scripted breakthrough hit in ages. This seems like a wasted opportunity for NBC to shore up a night that otherwise works tremendously. Sorkin had better regard this as a gift, and work to develop the show's characters so they live up to the promise of the cast he has assembled and the lavish production that he has built up around them.
Critics' darling (and special pet cause of mine) Friday Night Lights relocates from Tuesdays to Wednesdays at 8 pm/ET, starting Jan. 10. This moves it away from the live performance show of juggernaut American Idol (which returns Jan. 16), though it will still take a hit from Idol on certain weeks (including in the early audition phase, when Idol airs in longer chunks on Wednesdays). There's no safe haven for this deeply moving but impossible to pigeonhole drama about a Texas town and its high-school football team. But I had hoped NBC could have protected it by hammocking it between other shows, not asking it once again to kick off a night. (Given that its youth appeal makes it somewhat more compatible with Heroes than Studio 60, I'd hoped NBC might have given this show another chance on Mondays, though 10 pm/ET is probably too late for this to air. As I said, no easy answers here.) At least NBC is sticking with this for a full freshman season. It could have been worse.
My fingers are crossed that NBC's new Thursday comedy block (which kicks off in earnest this week with the return of Scrubs) isn't a total disaster. It deserves a chance to build a following, though the competition from ABC and CBS is ferocious.
The biggest question mark surrounding NBC's January plans involved what the network would do when football season ended. Now we know. The return of Dateline at 7 pm/ET, followed by two reality shows (including a talent search for a Broadway revival of Grease, and a Southern California-set season of The Apprentice) and, starting Jan. 21, the long-delayed premiere of Crossing Jordan's sixth season. (Now maybe its anxious fans can quit bugging me.) With football overruns no longer plaguing CBS come January, it will be interesting to see Jordan battle it out against another crime procedural, CBS' popular Without a Trace. (Personally, I'll be sticking with ABC's Brothers & Sisters, which just keeps getting better.) Sundays on NBC looks as if it will be very easy for me to ignore, which is almost a relief.
Still missing in action, to be scheduled later in the spring mid-season, are drama series The Black Donnellys and Raines.
Here, in case you missed it, is the new NBC lineup, night by night (all times ET):
Mondays: Deal or No Deal, 8 pm/ET; Heroes, 9 pm/ET; Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, 10 pm/ET.
Tuesdays: Dateline NBC (starting Dec. 26), 8 pm/ET; Law & Order: Criminal Intent, 9 pm/ET; Law & Order, Special Victims Unit, 10 pm/ET.
Wednesdays: Friday Night Lights (Jan. 10), 8 pm/ET; Deal or No Deal (Jan. 3), 9 pm/ET; Medium, 10 pm/ET.
Thursdays: My Name Is Earl, 8 pm/ET; The Office, 8:30 pm/ET; Scrubs, 9 pm/ET; 30 Rock, 9:30 pm/ET, ER, 10 pm/ET.
Fridays: 1 vs 100, 8 pm/ET; Las Vegas, 9 pm/ET; Law & Order, 10 pm/ET.
Saturdays: Drama Repeats
Sundays: Dateline NBC (Feb. 11), 7 pm/ET; Grease: You’re the One That I Want (Jan. 7), 8 pm/ET; The Apprentice (Jan. 7), 9 pm/ET; Crossing Jordan (Jan. 21), 10 pm/ET. (Note: The reality shows will air 90-minute episodes the first two weeks.)
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Nov 29, 2006 5:07 PM
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This is great news! It will be an improvement over Tuesdays (and thank God it won't go up against TAR on Sundays as many rumors have said).
I too would've liked a lead-in, maybe DOND at 8 instead of 9, but then FNL would have to face Idol.
I guess Wed at 8 was really the only possible timeslot for it.
I am still upset though that The Black Donnellys is nowhere on the schedule. Honestly, I think it is one of the strongest pilots I have ever seen and deserves a good timeslot (Mondays at 10PM is perfect).
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Nov 29, 2006 5:45 PM
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why won't they give FNL a chance on sundays??? Wednesdays are no good. Bones is better than FNL.
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Nov 30, 2006 10:29 AM
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I'm excited about FNL moving to Wednesday's at 8pm. I watch nothing at that time because that time slot stinks and the 2 episodes I saw of that show were really good. I guess they have a new viewer. This is for you Matt, I'm gonna give your special project a chance, because you made me tune into and fall in love with Farscape.
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Nov 30, 2006 10:36 AM
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I'm sorry, did someone just say that Bones is better than FNL?
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Nov 30, 2006 11:43 AM
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The Grease reality show is proof that the bottom of the reality show barrel is now being scraped. Studio 60 should be moved to Sundays at 8 PM (currently the safest slot on the schedule) and FNL moved to Monday night (I don't watch, but it seems more like a 8 or 9 o'clock show, though).
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Nov 30, 2006 11:45 AM
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yes, i did! I like some laughs mixed in with all seriousness and bones gives me that. bones is a great show and fnl is too, but I've been watching bones longer, so i'm gonna choose it over fnl.
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Nov 30, 2006 11:55 AM
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I'll follow Friday Night Lights to any night of the week... it is definitely one of the best shows on primetime. I'm so relieved that NBC gave it a full season order.
Matt... thanks for being such a champion of this show. It truly deserves it.
Bummer that we have to wait until March to see The Black Donnellys. I'm really looking forward to seeing that show. The pilot screener was awesome.
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Nov 30, 2006 12:21 PM
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While I understand the need to adjust, NBC and seems to have ADD when it comes to scheduling decisions. FNL will get hammered by Idol, Jericho, and DWTS. Raines looks interesting.
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Nov 30, 2006 10:34 PM
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FNL is one of the top TV series chosen by AFI this year!
Go FNL!!!
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Dec 11, 2006 3:14 PM
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