Jimmy James
05-15-2006, 01:21 PM
You guys are getting in on my May tradition: writing about the network upfront presentations that go on for a week where the networks announce their new shows.
As usual, NBC went first this year. This is their 2006-2007 schedule:
Monday
8:00 p.m. Deal or No Deal
9:00 p.m. Heroes (NEW SERIES)
10:00 p.m. Medium
Tuesday
8:00 p.m. Friday Night Lights (NEW SERIES)
9:00 p.m. Kidnapped (NEW SERIES)
10:00 p.m. Law & Order: SVU
Wednesday
8:00 p.m. The Biggest Loser
9:00 p.m. 20 Good Years (NEW SERIES)
9:30 p.m. 30 Rock (NEW SERIES)
10:00 p.m. Law & Order
Thursday
8:00 p.m. My Name Is Earl (new time)
8:30 p.m. The Office (new time)
9:00 p.m. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (NEW SERIES)
10:00 p.m. ER
Friday
8:00 p.m. Deal or No Deal
9:00 p.m. Las Vegas
10:00 p.m. Law & Order: Criminal Intent (new day and time)
Saturday
8:00 p.m. Dateline
9:00 p.m. Drama series encores.
10:00 p.m. Drama series encores.
Sunday (football season)
7:00 p.m. Football Night In America
8:00 p.m. Sunday Night Football
Sunday (after football season)
7:00 p.m. Dateline
8:00 p.m. America's Got Talent
9:00 p.m. The Apprentice 6
10:00 p.m. Raines (NEW SERIES)
Before talking about the new shows, let's talk about what won't be back:
The Apprentice: Martha Stewart
Celebrity Cooking Showdown
The Book of Daniel
Conviction
The E-Ring
Four Kings
Fear Factor
Inconceivable
Joey
Heist
Most Outrageous Moments
Surface
Teachers
Three Wishes
The West Wing
Will & Grace
I really thought Conviction was entertaining, but that may be because of the field I want to go into. Heist was really dumb, but it was also fun. I can't really get worked up about the loss of any of these shows, though.
There are also two shows not listed that will return but not until midseason: Crossing Jordan and Scrubs. Both of them have been held for midseason in the past with excellent results. Personally, I think both shows play better when they air without long breaks. Nice move, NBC.
In addition to those midseason shows, NBC has ordered only two other shows for midseason that isn't scheduled. They are comedies called The Singles Table and Andy Barker, PI.
With all of that said, let's get into the new shows:
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip: This is my pick for best of the shows. It is one of TWO pilots NBC picked up about the backstage workings of a show like Saturday Night Live. Aaron Sorkin created this one. He is the guy who gave us not only The West Wing but a fall down funny show called Sports Night, a show about the backstage workings of a show like Sportscenter. The cast includes Matthew Perry (from Friends), Steven Weber (from Wings), Bradley Whitford (from The West Wing), and Amanda Peet (from lots of movies). The buzz on the show is incredible, and it will air right out of The Office on Thursday.
Heroes: I also have high hope for this show. Tim King, creator of Crossing Jordan, is behind this one. It is about people who discover they have super powers. The cast includes Greg Grunberg (from Felicity), Milo Ventimiglia (from Gilmore Girls), and Ali Larter (from lots of movies). NBC must think a lot of this show because it is getting a protected timeslot between Deal or No Deal and Medium on Mondays.
30 Rock: This is the *other* show about the backstage workings of a show like SNL. I'm not sure what to think about it. Unlike the Sorkin version, this is a 30 minute sitcom take on the idea. Tina Fey created this one and will star in the show. She has a pretty darn good cast coming aboard. It includes Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan (from SNL), and Rachel Dratch (from SNL). The show is going to have to earn its viewers in its Wednesday at 9:30 time slot, which you have to expect means it will be airing against LOST.
Friday Night Lights: I imagine if you have seen the movie, you have seen the show. The producers of the movie bring us this show. I haven't heard of any of the people cast, but one of them is going to be appearing in that Sam Jackson classic SNAKES ON A PLANE. The Tuesday at 8 PM slot isn't particularly terrible, and you have to imagine they will be promoting the heck out of this on Sunday Night Football.
Kidnapped: Kidnapped sounds a lot to me like NBC's attempt to find a show like Prison Break. It sounds like it will be a season long chase of criminals who kidnap a wealthy family's son. David Greenwalt is a producer for this show, which likely means both that it will have at least some redeeming value and that it is likely to get canned because for some reason the mainstream rejects most of his shows. Delroy Lindo and Dana Delaney (from China Beach) are the biggest stars in the cast. Its Tuesday at 9 time slot is pretty competitive.
20 Good Years: This sounds pretty bad, but you never know with comedies. It's about two guys (John Lithgow and Jeffrey Tambor) who realize that they only have 20 Good Years left in their life so they want to make the most of them. This will lead out of The Biggest Loser and into 30 Rock on Wednsdays.
The Singles Table: This is a new midseason comedy. It is about a bunch of people who meet and bond at the singles table at a wedding. I smell an effort to cash in on Wedding Crashers. John Cho (Harold and Kumar go to White Castle) is the name in the cast.
Andy Barker, PI: This is the other midseason comedy. It's about Andy Richter as a bad CPA who is confused for a PI, so he starts doing PI work. Aside from Richter, it stars Tony Hale from Arrested Development.
The Black Donnellys: This is a mob show set in Hell's Kitchen from Paul Haggis (the guy behind the movie Crash). This show is set for a midseason run replacing ER on Thursdays.
Raines: This show is about a detective who talks to dead people. I'd call it a male Medium for that reason. It stars Jeff Goldblum and features Nicole Sullivan (Mad TV), Luis Guzman (PTA movies), and Linda Park (Enterprise). The show is from Graham Yost, the creator of the critically acclaimed but failed show Boomtown.
The other Sunday night show is a reality talent competition that will start over the summer and come back after football. I hate reality TV.
Overall, this looks to be a strong schedule for NBC. They are still recovering from cultivating too few good shows when they were on top a few years ago, but things look much better than they did a year ago.
As usual, NBC went first this year. This is their 2006-2007 schedule:
Monday
8:00 p.m. Deal or No Deal
9:00 p.m. Heroes (NEW SERIES)
10:00 p.m. Medium
Tuesday
8:00 p.m. Friday Night Lights (NEW SERIES)
9:00 p.m. Kidnapped (NEW SERIES)
10:00 p.m. Law & Order: SVU
Wednesday
8:00 p.m. The Biggest Loser
9:00 p.m. 20 Good Years (NEW SERIES)
9:30 p.m. 30 Rock (NEW SERIES)
10:00 p.m. Law & Order
Thursday
8:00 p.m. My Name Is Earl (new time)
8:30 p.m. The Office (new time)
9:00 p.m. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (NEW SERIES)
10:00 p.m. ER
Friday
8:00 p.m. Deal or No Deal
9:00 p.m. Las Vegas
10:00 p.m. Law & Order: Criminal Intent (new day and time)
Saturday
8:00 p.m. Dateline
9:00 p.m. Drama series encores.
10:00 p.m. Drama series encores.
Sunday (football season)
7:00 p.m. Football Night In America
8:00 p.m. Sunday Night Football
Sunday (after football season)
7:00 p.m. Dateline
8:00 p.m. America's Got Talent
9:00 p.m. The Apprentice 6
10:00 p.m. Raines (NEW SERIES)
Before talking about the new shows, let's talk about what won't be back:
The Apprentice: Martha Stewart
Celebrity Cooking Showdown
The Book of Daniel
Conviction
The E-Ring
Four Kings
Fear Factor
Inconceivable
Joey
Heist
Most Outrageous Moments
Surface
Teachers
Three Wishes
The West Wing
Will & Grace
I really thought Conviction was entertaining, but that may be because of the field I want to go into. Heist was really dumb, but it was also fun. I can't really get worked up about the loss of any of these shows, though.
There are also two shows not listed that will return but not until midseason: Crossing Jordan and Scrubs. Both of them have been held for midseason in the past with excellent results. Personally, I think both shows play better when they air without long breaks. Nice move, NBC.
In addition to those midseason shows, NBC has ordered only two other shows for midseason that isn't scheduled. They are comedies called The Singles Table and Andy Barker, PI.
With all of that said, let's get into the new shows:
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip: This is my pick for best of the shows. It is one of TWO pilots NBC picked up about the backstage workings of a show like Saturday Night Live. Aaron Sorkin created this one. He is the guy who gave us not only The West Wing but a fall down funny show called Sports Night, a show about the backstage workings of a show like Sportscenter. The cast includes Matthew Perry (from Friends), Steven Weber (from Wings), Bradley Whitford (from The West Wing), and Amanda Peet (from lots of movies). The buzz on the show is incredible, and it will air right out of The Office on Thursday.
Heroes: I also have high hope for this show. Tim King, creator of Crossing Jordan, is behind this one. It is about people who discover they have super powers. The cast includes Greg Grunberg (from Felicity), Milo Ventimiglia (from Gilmore Girls), and Ali Larter (from lots of movies). NBC must think a lot of this show because it is getting a protected timeslot between Deal or No Deal and Medium on Mondays.
30 Rock: This is the *other* show about the backstage workings of a show like SNL. I'm not sure what to think about it. Unlike the Sorkin version, this is a 30 minute sitcom take on the idea. Tina Fey created this one and will star in the show. She has a pretty darn good cast coming aboard. It includes Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan (from SNL), and Rachel Dratch (from SNL). The show is going to have to earn its viewers in its Wednesday at 9:30 time slot, which you have to expect means it will be airing against LOST.
Friday Night Lights: I imagine if you have seen the movie, you have seen the show. The producers of the movie bring us this show. I haven't heard of any of the people cast, but one of them is going to be appearing in that Sam Jackson classic SNAKES ON A PLANE. The Tuesday at 8 PM slot isn't particularly terrible, and you have to imagine they will be promoting the heck out of this on Sunday Night Football.
Kidnapped: Kidnapped sounds a lot to me like NBC's attempt to find a show like Prison Break. It sounds like it will be a season long chase of criminals who kidnap a wealthy family's son. David Greenwalt is a producer for this show, which likely means both that it will have at least some redeeming value and that it is likely to get canned because for some reason the mainstream rejects most of his shows. Delroy Lindo and Dana Delaney (from China Beach) are the biggest stars in the cast. Its Tuesday at 9 time slot is pretty competitive.
20 Good Years: This sounds pretty bad, but you never know with comedies. It's about two guys (John Lithgow and Jeffrey Tambor) who realize that they only have 20 Good Years left in their life so they want to make the most of them. This will lead out of The Biggest Loser and into 30 Rock on Wednsdays.
The Singles Table: This is a new midseason comedy. It is about a bunch of people who meet and bond at the singles table at a wedding. I smell an effort to cash in on Wedding Crashers. John Cho (Harold and Kumar go to White Castle) is the name in the cast.
Andy Barker, PI: This is the other midseason comedy. It's about Andy Richter as a bad CPA who is confused for a PI, so he starts doing PI work. Aside from Richter, it stars Tony Hale from Arrested Development.
The Black Donnellys: This is a mob show set in Hell's Kitchen from Paul Haggis (the guy behind the movie Crash). This show is set for a midseason run replacing ER on Thursdays.
Raines: This show is about a detective who talks to dead people. I'd call it a male Medium for that reason. It stars Jeff Goldblum and features Nicole Sullivan (Mad TV), Luis Guzman (PTA movies), and Linda Park (Enterprise). The show is from Graham Yost, the creator of the critically acclaimed but failed show Boomtown.
The other Sunday night show is a reality talent competition that will start over the summer and come back after football. I hate reality TV.
Overall, this looks to be a strong schedule for NBC. They are still recovering from cultivating too few good shows when they were on top a few years ago, but things look much better than they did a year ago.