bicker

Essentially, as far as I'm concerned, there are only two networks that operate at 10:00 pm. Fox and CW turn that hour over to their local affiliates, while NBC has decided to cede that hour to Jay Leno, which we have no interest in. So three-way conflicts are impossible, in our home, at 10:00 pm. Given that, and that we have a dual tuner DVR, it is almost pointless for us to think about the 10:00 pm timeslot as a timeslot that we need to think about in the context of what we will watch and what we'll have to perhaps miss.

None of these shows were broadcast in this timeslot last fall. Private Practice moved here in December, after Life on Mars faltered, and the Mentalist was one of the two best new shows of the year, last year, in its Tuesday 9:00 pm timeslot. The Mentalist's move from Tuesday 9:00 pm to Thursday 10:00 pm is considered, in the industry, a promotion (Thursday being the most lucrative night of television). Of course, with my wife and I often asleep by 10:00 pm, we don't necessarily see things that way, but the DVR kind-of obsures the 10:00 pm aspect from our view anyway.

We will record both The Mentalist and Private Practice, but with very different motivations in mind for each. There are about 30 television series that we're going to be recording on the DVR this fall: The Mentalist is at the top of that list while Private Practice is a program that we're recording just to store, and perhaps use to fill in the gap that typically opens up between Thanksgiving and the Superbowl, when networks put regular series into reruns, and so there are no new episodes of the series we really like.

I am a little worried for The Mentalist, though. Will its fans follow it to Thursday? Will they stay up later to watch it? I sure hope so.

Aaron62

Why do the networks fiddle with scheduling and swapping days so much. It should be pretty simple in general, if a time slot opens up, fill it. I used to hate that before I got a DVR.

Jay

Season premiere of Monk at 9 p.m. tonight on USA channel

bicker

I think it is important to think of broadcasting (really, all business) as a strategic military operation. If you have your best troops (let's say, the Green Berets) holding Hill 241, but you see an opportunity to gain a better strategic foothold by now capturing an enemy command and control center, it is utterly expected to bring in a regular US Army battalion to hold the hill, and send the Green Berets on to their next assignment. (Gosh, I miss The Unit. )

bicker

ABC replaces the singularly unique and wonderful Pushing Daisies with a couple of new sitcoms. Seems like an unfair bargain to me. And a bit of a strange choice, to me, because it seems to me that the networks have been deliberately working not to put each others' sitcoms up against each other. Last year, Fox had Sunday night; CBS had Monday night and Wednesday night 8PM-9PM, while Fox had Wednesday 9PM-10PM; NBC, of course, had their "Must-See" Thursday night; and ABC basically just had Samantha Who. Now, for the first time since Fox's ill-fated attempt to go up against NBC in 2006, we see sitcoms going up against sitcoms between the Big 4 networks. My guess is that CBS is going to win. ABC has, as alluded to above, very few sitcoms recently, and none really successful. Hank and The Middle don't seem like winners to my wife and I. Of course, we're not really sitcom people, anymore.

We're also not reality show people anymore, which means that CW and Fox are basically lost to us as well, in this timeslot.

Leaving only Mercy, which was rushed into production early, due to the illness of Parenthood star Maura Tierney, and the subsequent swap of Parenthood to the winter and Mercy to the fall. It is really an unfortunately situation for all concerned. For Tierney, of course -- that's obvious. For Parenthood, in general, though assuming Tierney recovers quickly and they get their act together for the winter, the show, at least, could end up being least adversely affected. The winter is not necessarily a bad time to premiere.

But Mercy faces two risks: First, of course, the fact that they were rushed into production unexpectedly. The other is that NBC seemed to have deliberately split up their new medically-oriented dramas, Mercy and Trauma, ordering just 13 episodes of each, planning Trauma for the fall and Mercy for the winter. Now both medical shows will be presented this fall. (The irony of this being due to the illness of the the second-to-last lead actor of the long-running medical drama ER isn't lost on me, either.)

We'll surely record Mercy. I mean, no sense in leaving the DVR completely idle during the timeslot, eh? Mercy has mostly female leads, and so will pull in a highly desirable demographic, I suspect. I happen to not like James LeGros... I don't know why, but I've hated everything he's ever been in, even episodes of my favorite shows where he was just a featured guest star. :shrug: The only other regular I've seen a lot of is Michelle Trachtenberg, who played Buffy the Vampire Slayer's sister. As I mentioned elsewhere, I'll have a little trouble seeing her as anything else, but I suppose I can get over that more readily than my dislike of LeGros.

Just from watching the commercials, I get the feeling that I'd like Mercy better if they pulled back from the ensemble approach, with the three female leads and the various other men and women they have to work with, and focus instead on the character that seemed to be most likely to be put up front, Taylor Schilling as Veronica Flanagan. I've never seen her before (no big surprise -- this is only her second equity role!!! the other role being a very minor role in an independent film), but heck from the three or four seconds I have seen, I think she could be very good as the anchor of the show.

All-in-all, I think this timeslot isn't going to be a major contributor to our viewing enjoyment, this fall.

bicker

Whatever happened to Wednesday 9:00 pm? I seem to remember that this timeslot and Tuesday 9:00 used to be the most conflict-prone for me. As recently as last year, we faced a conflict between Private Practice, Criminal Minds, and Life. Now, it has been realized that Private Practice cannot hold its own without following the powerhouse it was spun-off from; Criminal Minds simply isn't as good with Mandy Patinkin gone; and Life didn't last.

ABC fills in this gap with new comedies, and to me it seems like the best two new comedies they've come up with in many years (except for Samantha Who). However, that's not saying much. ABC and comedy just don't see to go together in my book. Modern Family stars Ed O'Neill and Julie Bowen; Cougar Town stars Courtney Cox. I could see either doing well, and who knows? maybe they're feed off each other and help ABC win this timeslot sometimes.

It could happen.

Fox has had trouble filling this timeslot with something worthwhile. Kitchen Nightmares did okay here, and perhaps they'll put it back here when it returns. However, they're staking their fortunes on Glee. They did something rather strange with Glee: They presented the pilot in May. Networks used to present pilots on air, many years ago, but now most save the pilots to serve as the series premiere in the fall. I'm not sure if Fox will get any mileage out of showing one episode followed by a three month break before showing more episodes. I wasn't impressed with the pilot, but it wasn't aimed at me.

CW also has struggled in this timeslot. This time, they're putting in what seems to me to be yet-another One Tree Hill or Gossip Girl or 90210 clone. They even have put forward their preferred way for TXTers to abbreviate the show (TBL), as if acknowledging their intention to try to capitalize on the teenage social networking infrastructure to foster this show. I don't begrudge CW its very consistent focus on this one segment of the audience. If you give them a home so consistently serving their needs, they are indeed less likely to stray to other networks to try out their offerings aimed at this sector, and perhaps even by being so consistent in appealing to this audience, you might even be able to get them to watch more than they would have otherwise. However, I cannot help but remember a few shows (Veronica Mars, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) that bridged the gap and appealed both to teens and adults at the same time.

And besides, CW faces competition for their audience in this timeslot like no other, going up against Glee on Fox. I almost think they would have been better off trying to fight fire with fire, moving Smallville to this timeslot. Of course, that would leave them will inadequate firepower to get people to start watching CW on Friday night (but I think that's a useless gesture anyway, given that they're only offering one hour of original programming).

That leaves the two veterans, L&O:SVU and Criminal Minds. As I mentioned elsewhere, we simply don't watch any L&O or CSI programs (not on principle; just as it turned out), and Criminal Minds has lost our interest.

We'll be recording the ABC comedies, maybe we'll watch them, too.

bicker

As mentioned elsewhere, Shark Tank has been moved up, and is starting tonight. It therefore will end in October, and "V" will occupy the Tuesday 8:00 pm timeslot on ABC from that point forward.

O-O

No CSI? Half the time I watch it just for the music and David Caruso's coolness. Speaking of that, have you ever seen Jim Carey's impression of Caruso?

+ YouTube Video

bicker

I don't remember where I mentioned this, but in the back of my mind I'm figuring that I'm saving up all the L&O and all the CSI series for when I'm a crotchety old man. They should keep me occupied for a year or two, all by themselves.

bicker

These 10:00 pm timeslots are pretty pointless to comment about. Fox and CW don't even operate, and NBC isn't worth mentioning. So ABC and CBS go head to head, mano a mano, each night, for the hearts and minds -- and eyes -- of the American drama viewer.

ABC puts Eastwick into the ill-fated Lipstick Jungle/Dirty Sexy Money/The Nine/Invasion timeslot. Yeah, ABC has pretty-much failed with everything they've tried in this timeslot since 20/20. Without NBC, perhaps they have a chance now. I don't think that Eastwick is going to be the turning point, though. It's based on a movie that it cannot help but pale by comparison to. The actor playing Van Horne would need to have been someone much more substantial, and in the end, is way too young for the role.

I'm not sure why we're even recording this, much less why we're planning on watching it. I think I need to revisit this, pushing Eastwick to the bottom of our Season Pass list.

Is there any doubt that CSI:NY will win the timeslot? None here.