My goodness, the joy, the happiness, the wonder - NBC has released its schedule for the 2007-2008 television season! That’s right, the upfronts have begun, NBC is trying to figure out a way to stop the bleeding, something that they said last year would happen with this past fall lineup (Studio 60, anyone?). Needless to say, those plans didn’t quite work out and despite airing professional football in primetime, the network still saw its ratings drop. At least they’ve gone back to arguing that their shows are quality, and they say that quality is what they wanted all along in their press release.
Well, until they start scrambling and changing things around before September even gets here, this is what NBC unveiled as their lineup, with new shows in bold (Sunday is the schedule for once NFL football ends in January):
|
| Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| 7:00 | Dateline NBC | ||||||
| 7:30 | |||||||
| 8:00 | Law & Order | Deal or No Deal | The Biggest Loser | Deal or No Deal | My Name is Earl | 1 vs. 100 / The Singing Bee | Dateline NBC |
| 8:30 | 30 Rock | ||||||
| 9:00 | Medium | Heroes | Chuck | Bionic Woman | The Office | Las Vegas | Drama Repeats |
| 9:30 | Scrubs | ||||||
| 10:00 | Lipstick Jungle | Journeyman | Law & Order: SVU | Life| ER | Friday Night | Lights | |
| 10:30 |
Of course, one of the most interesting things to note isn’t in that grid: NBC-Universal will have USA Network air new episodes of Law & Order: Criminal Intent before they air on NBC (CI is not currently on the network schedule, but it will appear… eventually). This won’t help the ratings on the broadcast network, but may help USA (ah, the brave new world of massive, behemoth, ridiculously huge media corporations).
Happily, Scrubs is back for, allegedly, the final season. Friday Night Lights is too (they’re not saying it’s the final season, the ratings are). Maybe NBC is trying to be a niche network, not a broadcast one, after all, they’re airing 30 new half-hours of The Office, which I like but just doesn’t do all that well in the ratings (again, they argue they’re going for quality shows, but that’s out as they are still airing Deal or No Deal and 1 vs. 100).
NBC announced several new shows today, including: Bionic Woman, Chuck, Journeyman, The IT Crowd, Lipstick Jungle, and Life. I will reserving judgment on the shows until I see them (cause that’s the right thing to do), but what follows is a brief taste on what these things are actually about.
Article comments
1 - Tan The Man
For those of you who haven't seen it yet, do yourself a favor and watch the IT Crowd -- British style.
2 - Chris Beaumont
FNL Friday at 10? Sure they're bringing it back only to give it a quick death.... Probably won't last the season.
30 Office half hours? I thought it was 28, 24 with 4 1hours.
Nice to see Scrubs back even if it isn't a full order. Also nice to see it on at the start of the season and not used as a replacment like the past couple of years.
3 - TV and Film Guy
All the above info is from NBC's press release, so it is, as of this morning, accurate. I'm sure it'll change though, they tend to.
4 - sean Paul Mahoney
As a seventies child and after watching a preview for it, I'm kinda excited for Bionic Woman. Also, you gotta applaud NBC for doing something different by going mostly Sci-Fi and not cramming a million bad sitcoms down our throats.
5 - Brent
They may not be cramming a million bad sitcoms down peoples' throats, but that has a lot to do with the way last season's bad sitcoms on all of the networks died swift, and in most cases well deserved deaths. Instead NBC is cramming non-scripted programming down out throats in the first our of primetime, because they say that people don`t want scripted shows in the first hour. All last season proved is that people didn`t want the scripted shows that NBC was putting out in the first hour.
6 - Dynamo of Eternia
Damn it. Why the hell are they putting 30 Rock between My Name is Earl and The Office?
I really wanted to like that show (30 Rock), but I've watched it a few times, and sans the occasional laugh here or there, I really just don't care that much for it.
I like Earl, I like the Office, and I like Scrubs. It was nice when they were in that order with 30 Rock on after them all (so I could just go do something else after the first three were all done).
Oh well, at least they are still in the same basic time slot range. Those three shows and Heroes are all must watch shows for me.
I will occasionally watch Deal or No Deal, but usually only if I have nothing better to do/watch. I found the show intersting for a while, but now it's rather repetative.
I do like Law and Order SVU, but it's the kind of thing where if I miss it, it's no big deal.
Sadly, of the 'big three' networks, NBC is the one I watch the most (and I don't really watch it that much when you add it all up). There's pretty much nothing on CBS or ABC that I watch anymore (I was watching Knights of Prosperity on ABC while it was running and liked it a lot, but it's pretty much canceled, I believe).
Other than that, I watch Smallville on the CW (which hasn't been as good as it used to be... I keep watching hoping it will get better, all the while knowing that it probably won't). And I often watch the Fox Sunday line up, but mainly for Family Guy, when it is new. I watch the Simpsons every now and then, but it's not as good as it used to be. I'll watch Kind of the Hill and American Dad if I've got nothing else going on, but I wouldn't care if they took those off the air either. I actually liked that "The War at Home" sitcom (more so than American Dad or King of the Hill), but they've been moving it around lately and I have a feeling that it's not doing very well, so it could end anytime soon.
Other than that, I watch South Park on Comedy Central when it is new. That's pretty much it as far as TV that I go out of my way to watch.
TV just isn't what it used to be anymore.
7 - Chris Beaumont
I watch way too much:
Simspons, Family Guy, American Dad, Heroes, Prison Break, 24, Everybody Hates Chris, House, Veronica Mars, Friday Night Lights, Bones, Jericho, Lost, Smallville, Supernatural, CSI, Earl, Office, Scrubs, 30 Rock, ER, Shark, Las Vegas, Battlestar Galactica, Stargate SG1, Stargate Atlantis, Dr. Who......