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Y'know, I think we are actually adding fewer broadcast shows this year than in years past. The only new show that we're really looking forward to is Flash Forward. We're also going to watch NCIS: Los Angeles, V, and Stargate Universe for sure. However, beyond those four shows (one of which is actually on cable), everything else is going to be, very deliberately, "record and watch later if there is nothing else to watch". I dunno if it is just not having slept last night making me especially crabby, or perhaps there really is a dearth of new shows this fall.

HTNut

Funny. My folks rave about all of the CSIs. I shouldn't comment, I watch em too.

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This was a pretty competitive timeslot last year, with House going up against NCIS. House is on Monday now, so it doesn't have to move in January to make room for American Idol perhaps. So NCIS has a bit less competition, at least for its core audience. And paired with its spin-off, with a lot of planned cross-over, it should be a pretty solid night for CBS, at least in terms of dramas.

Some strange things going on in this timeslot, though, on both ABC and Fox: Both shows listed (Shark Tank and Hell's Kitchen) started over the summer, and end in October. So something else will slide into this timeslot in the middle of the fall. In the case of ABC, it is the reboot of the sci-fi series "V". (That seems to not be a great move: It introduces a holiday hiatus into a heavily serialized drama, something which networks have learned the hard way is not a good idea. I have no idea why ABC didn't wait, like they originally planned to, to introduced "V" in January.) In the case of Fox, So You Think You Can Dance, which begins the season at 9:00 pm, expands to two hours once Hell's Kitchen is over, starting in this timeslot.

As it is, lots of reality in this timeslot, with Shark Tank, Hell's Kitchen/So You Think You Can Dance, and The Biggest Loser. I know that different people have different interests, but I've got to believe that there are some people who simply like reality shows, and other people who don't, so putting a lot of reality shows up against each other is only going to help the drama, and hurt the reality shows, overall, eh?

CW offers the second season of 90210. Not much to say there. As I alluded to earlier, CW has targeted a specific audiences and is goign to capitalize on their focus. Best of luck to them.

We'll be recording and watching NCIS, and later, "V".

O-O

Anyone ever watch the old "V" series? Liked the premise, but, I was pretty young when it came out. Something from that show always stuck with me, was how the aliens would eat bugs or something like that. The "V" Wiki shows the new "V" starting differently,

Guess someone needs to update that entry.

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I did see the old "V" series. I think this is actually a better cast.

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Like Wednesday 9:00 pm, this was once a storied timeslot in my experience, which is no longer as competitive. Audiences are actually higher on Tuesday than Thursday, if I remember correctly, but commercials broadcast on Tuesday tend to be more of the "think well of us" commercials, rather than the "come buy something over the weekend" commercials, and so aren't as valuable. We can clearly see how the networks have shifted their better programming to the end of the week. (The main exception, American Idol, has remained on Tuesday/Wednesday, despite a lot of shaking heads in the industry: Fox would make a lot more money if the results show was on Thursday.)

So the main competition here, just like at 8:00 pm, is between reality shows. Dancing with the Stars had competition from America's Got Talent last year, but it didn't seem to hurt them. And The Biggest Loser is a different kind of reality show from the other two.

For us (mature) drama fans, there is only one choice: NCIS: Los Angeles. I still don't understand how Chris O'Donnell is supposed to still be alive, after the events of the back-door pilot broadcast in the spring. Regardless, given the similar production team, and given the cross-overs promised, it is practically assured that NCIS fans will like NCIS: Los Angeles.

CW follows their successful 90210 at 8:00 pm with another teen-oriented remake, Melrose Place.

We'll be recording and watching NCIS: Los Angeles.

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Wow, this should be an interesting timeslot to watch: Three new shows up against each other. For those keeping track, this timeslot started last year with Eli Stone (gone), Without a Trace (gone), and L&O:SVU (moved to Wednesday 9:00 pm).

I've described the new dramas above. It is really hard to know what's going to happen here. They're both decent shows on paper -- at least they were both decent shows on paper. Then they recast the two leads in The Forgotten, so that worries me. It is now led by Christian Slater, while The Good Wife is led by Julianna Margulies. And The Good Wife comes from Scott Free (the folks who make Numb3rs), so I think it really has a very firm foundation.

We'll record both, but watch The Good Wife before The Forgotten.

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While House was not in this timeslot at the beginning of last fall, House was moved to Monday last winter. News is leaking from the producers that, after two years of fans complaining about the misuse of Chase and Cameron, they'll probably be returning to their previous roles in the show, this fall. I'd love to see that happen.

Heroes is sharing this timeslot with last year's incumbent, Chuck, which takes over in March. I'm not sure about this slot-sharing arrangement. It does allow each of the two shows, Heroes and Chuck, to develop a more focused season. Fewer episodes means that writers don't have to try to fill more episodes than a limited set of ideas would permit. While that really makes a lot of sense for Heroes, it doesn't really help Chuck very much.

It will also be very interesting to see how Subway impresses its sponsorship on Chuck. This could be another bit of movement on the product placement; I wonder if we'll see Sarah working for Subway.

And finally, Accidentally On Purpose slips into the 8:30 pm slot, while How I Met Your Mother takes The Big Bang Theory slot, with The Big Bang Theory moving to 9:30 pm.

We'll be recording, and watching, House and Heroes. We'll also record How I Met Your Mother on our old SD DVR (until October 20 when our cable service may no longer work with our SD DVR) and/or the OTA tuner on my laptop (I have an HDMI port on my computer, which I can probably use to feed my HDTV, assuming we don't have occasion to just watch the show on the laptop, while traveling.

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I'm thinking this is going to be one of those timeslots that really shows what condition NBC is in. The 10:00 pm slot, with Jay Leno Monday through Friday, isn't going to be definitive: They can get 1/3 the ratings of other show and still win the timeslot from a business perspective (which is all that really matters). In most other timeslots, their dramas are either already hits, or already weak, or only up against comedies and reality shows. But here in this timslot we have a new drama, going up a teen drama (One Tree Hill) and a sophomore drama (Lie To Me) that is considered to be pretty weak -- so much so that a lot of us fans of the show were pretty surprised it was renewed. If Trauma cannot beat Lie To Me, then that really doesn't bode well for NBC's credibility as an outlet for dramas. (Not that they necessarily need to be, of course.) And quite frankly, I've seen two other series in the last four years that were along the same lines as Trauma, that excited me with their premise more than Trauma does.

Regarding the CBS comedies: I am wondering what moving The Big Bang Theory to 9:30 pm means. Is that a vote of confidence? Or an expression of concern? Do they think it needs a stronger lead-in (Two and a Half Men)? or are they thinking that it will serve as a strong lead-in for CSI: Miami?

We'll be recording Lie To Me and Trauma, and watching Lie To Me.

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I had to put the ION program in there... so at least one 10:00 pm timeslot had a chance of having a three-way conflict among dramas. Durham County actually does look like a decent show, but I think Durham County will be the kind of show you have to work to appreciate. (Note that I didn't say "enjoy" -- it doesn't seem like the kind of show you watch to "enjoy".)

Castle take Boston Legal's old timeslot. I'm a bit shocked that this show, which my wife and I did enjoy somewhat last season, was actually renewed. It didn't really do that well, and I didn't really see much promise for it getting better, ratings-wise. Up against a CSI program, I cannot see it surviving very long.

We'll be recording Castle, and probably watching it, but it is currently our "returning show on the bubble", meaning that if one of the new shows that we're planning on recording and storing for later seems especially good, we'll start watching the new show and put Castle into storage.