So it’s time again for networks to convince you to buy into their new shows. This year on a whole, TV ratings on the broadcast end were down from last year, but cable was up. This keeps happening, and shows no sign of stopping. Broadcast TV isn’t the best anymore, they just have the most hours to fill. It’s a sad reality, but the quicker you realize that, the quicker you’ll be able to sift through the Big Four (plus CW) and determine what FEW shows are worth watching in between the hours of programming you have DVRed on HBO, AMC, FX, and Showtime. Lets kick things off shall we?
NBC
NBC is poised to end the year #1 in the 18-49 demo. Do not ask me how. Ok ask me how. They’ve won this year on a steady diet of The Voice, The Blacklist, and generally not cratering as badly as the other networks. So yes, even without the Winter Olympics being factored in, they’re #1. I think it’s less a sign of things changing for the better, and more of a one-year outlier. They still have huge problems on basically any night that doesn’t have The Voice, and their big hit from last year, Revolution, disappeared into nothing. On a similar note, the once hallowed “Must See TV” Thursday nights is dead.
Canceled Shows: Believe, Crisis, Community, Dracula, Growing Up Fisher, Ironside, The Michael J. Fox Show, Revolution, Sean Saves The World, Welcome to the Family
New Shows: A to Z, Bad Judge, Marry Me, Mission Control, Mr. Robinson, One Big Happy, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, A.D., Allegiance, Aquarius, Constantine, Emerald City, Heroes Reborn, The Mysteries of Laura, Odyssey, State of Affairs.
NBC is #1, but their hit to miss ratio for last year was 3 to 10. The comedies look fairly broad, which has been NBC’s mantra as of late, and many of the dramas look “cable-lite.” If you look at The Mysteries of Laura, it marks Debra Messing’s return to TV, but it looks like a USA show. State of Affairs looks like it wants to marry Scandal with Homeland. Odyssey is another Homeland rip, and Aquarius and Constantine both have a very cable feel to them. The flaw in this strategy is cable doesn’t need the ratings like broadcast, but the silver lining is that I could see my mom watching half of these shows. That said, I think State of Affairs will have the highest ceiling as a result of its Blacklist pedigree and post-Voice slotting. Constantine may also get to a second season due to it’s post-Grimm slot, and A.D. will be a huge miniseries event. Mr. Robinson and One Big Happy seem promising as well.
The misses, I think will follow a similar pattern to this past year. Bad Judge, A to Z, Marry Me, Allegiance (The Americans-lite), Mission Control, Emerald City, Heroes Reborn, and Odyssey will not make it. What I don’t get is how anyone could have greenlit A to Z AND Marry Me. Two weekly romantic comedies starring people that are largely unknown? If you are going to rom-com series, you need to follow the HIMYM pattern of casting people that are familiar to the average jane. Also, Allegiance doesn’t even sound like it’s trying to be anything other than The Americans. It’s fine ripping off what works, but this is The Americans with another name. Lastly, Heroes Reborn? You had your shot. 24 can come back because people enjoyed 6 of 8 seasons. Find me someone who liked more than the first season of Heroes and I’ll show you a liar.
All things considered, I think NBC is smart to get rid of the Thursday comedy block. If no show is a hit, you can’t really base two hours of programming around it. Moving stalwart Biggest Loser, testing some comedies, and putting The Blacklist on Thursdays, will make it so that NBC isn’t just winning the war on Mondays and Tuesdays. Their dramas are on the upswing, but the comedies need work. However, NBC can thank their lucky stars that they have the Super Bowl this year, so The Blacklist will be taking the post-bowl slot to buoy its transition from Monday to Thursday night.
FOX
This is the second year in a row that Fox is going to end up in second place. Similar to NBC, their placement sounds good, but the reality of it, is not pretty. The X Factor experiment is officially a failure, which stinks because it means that more than ever Fox will have to rely on original spripted programming. American Idol, has cratered even further to being a distant second, and occasional third place finisher. The mystery of New Girl and Glee’s erosion has continued, and The Following has also fallen down the ratings rabbit hole. Rake also was a non-starter. The bright spots? Sleepy Hollow was a legitimate, albeit, inexplicable hit, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, despite not lighting up the ratings, has become an awards and critical darling. Also, the 24 reboot is working so far. Fox is looking to shift to year-round original programming, so limited series will be all over their schedule.
Canceled Shows: Almost Human, Dads, Enlisted, Raising Hope, Rake, Surviving Jack, and The X Factor.
New Shows: Backstrom, Bordertown, Empire, Gotham, Gracepoint, Hieroglyph, The Last Man on Earth, Mulaney, Red Band Society, Utopia, Wayward Pines, Weird Loners.
Right off the top, I have to say I like this mix. I think Fox in the past few years has become what NBC used to be in regards to comedies, so if they can re-establish live-action comedy on Sunday nights in the Fall (RIP Animation Domination), they will be able to change their fortunes. BK99 and Mulaney airing after The Simpsons and Family Guy is a stroke of scheduling genius. That said, Mulaney has a strong shot at being a multicamera success. Gotham has the fortune of everyone liking anything having to do with Batman, and also fitting the tv landscape as somewhat of a procedural. Monday nights will suit it just fine and serve as a great companion for Sleepy Hollow. Red Band Society, starring Octavia Spencer, I also think has a solid shot of being a ratings winner. Lastly, Utopia seems like it might be just crazy enough to work as a twice weekly reality event.
Backstrom looks like it might be Fox’ Rake of this year, Bordertown sounds like a worse American Dad, and Weird Loners’ name just doesn’t stick out as something anyone will sample. Hieroglyph, I can’t see being successful, but I also expected nothing from Sleepy Hollow, so what the hell do I know.
Overall, I think Fox is making some smart moves. They are breaking up the Tuesday comedy block. The male-skewing shows will move to Sunday after football, killing the all-cartoon block, and the femme shows will stay on Tuesday with Utopia (a probable hit) as a lead in. That should get New Girl and Mindy back on track. Collapsing American Idol from 60 hours to 37 will ensure there will be less filler. That at the very least, should keep Idol from shedding viewers any further. Glee also does not have a spot in the fall, allowing for Fox to make an event out of the last season of Glee at midseason. I also think Fox has a solid mix of high concept and familiar shows. The best thing I think they have going for them, is that they are not going to be as beholden to traditional episode orders. Sleepy Hollow and Gotham will both have trimmed down orders to maintain quality. This is the direction I’d like to see more networks take. We wont have the British model of TV overnight, but we can get there one day. Shorter episode orders and more event series will push us in that direction.
About Russ Stevens
Russ Stevens is an editor and writer at Rookerville and a guidance counselor at Nyack HS. He mostly writes about either loving or hating things. In his spare time, he performs Improv comedy with his troupe Priest and The Beekeeper and is a co-producer of their monthly variety show Pig Pile. He loves all the New York sports teams that are historically bad, and he hates lateness more than anything in the world.