NBC schedule shakeup: "Life" gets paroled

NBC is the first network to shake up its fall lineup, rebranding Wednesdays as a crime night.

A new midweek drama block will consist of "Knight Rider" and "Life," as well as the return of midseason replacement "Law & Order" to its traditional time period. The new Wednesday lineup debuts Nov. 5 and will mark the 19th season premiere for "L&O."

"Lipstick Jungle," which has been under-performing on Wednesdays at 10 p.m., is shifting to Friday nights starting Oct. 31 -- effectively swapping places with "Life."

Also, NBC is moving the premiere of Ryan Seacrest's reality series "Momma's Boys." The program will premiere after the finale of "Biggest Loser" on Dec. 16, then will move to Mondays at 9 p.m., taking over the "Heroes" time period during the action drama's winter hiatus.

The shakeup represents a real second-chance (third chance?) for "Life." It's rare for a drama to get banished to airless Friday nights, then climb back out to midweek.

As previously noted, NBC plugging a leak with "Life" makes sense as CBS crime procedurals are among the few genres holding their water during this difficult season. Also as previously noted, the Wednesdays at 9 p.m. slot is weak, and "there's room for a new drama here to rule the mob." "Life" was earning about a 2.7 rating after "Heroes," then fell sharply when moved to Fridays at 10 p.m.

Though "Life" will have a tough time against CBS' "Criminal Minds," the show now has hope once again for a pickup should it perform competitively (and the bar for what's "competitive" has been lowering faster than a limbo stick this season).

From the release:

"These moves will play to the shows' mutual strengths and will help us to reinforce our lineup," said NBC co-chairs Ben Silverman and Marc Graboff. "A Wednesday night with wall-to-wall satisfying mysteries and great dramas -- paced by the return of the original 'Law & Order' to its home on Wednesdays – will provide creative continuity that night. Fridays will feature escapist drama with 'Lipstick Jungle' joining 'Crusoe.' Additionally, this strategy for 'Momma's Boys' offers the show a more favorable launch platform."


I think that had NBC kept Las Vegas, Fridays nights might have stood a chance. Vegas viewers may have watched Lipstick Jungle.

With My Own Worst Enemy doing so badly, I am holding out hope that NBC will FINALLY put Medium on after Heroes.

As for Chuck maybe swap it out for Deal or No Deal on Mondays in an attempt to resuscitate Heroes.

NBC made a good move here as Wednesdays should show some improvement but they should do even more. Here's an idea:
Mondays:
DOND
Heroes (Momma's Boy in Dec/Jan)
Medium

Tuesdays:
Biggest Loser (90 minutes)
My Name is Earl (it did best here)
SVU

Wednesdays:
Knight Rider
Life
Law and Order

Thursdays: starting in December
Chuck
The Office
30 Rock
ER

Fridays:
Dateline/ Most Outrageous Moments when Crusoe is finished
Crusoe/Dateline when Crusoe is finished
My Own Worst Enemy

Saturdays:
Dateline
Kath and Kim (back to back burnoff)
Lipstick Jungle (burnoff)
(Apprentice and new Sunday drama encores in January from 9 to 11)

Sundays: post football in February- specials fill during football playoffs in January like Golden Globes, etc.
Dateline
Friday Night Lights- NBC episode premieres starting the week after the Superbowl
The Apprentice- week after the Superbowl
Their best new midseason drama which would preview after the Superbowl

Criminal Intent episode premieres on NBC can fill repeats of Heroes too or repeats of other programs. I know USA is airing it on Fridays but should Monk/Psych come back in January that night will have to change and so NBC could then air encores on Fridays if they needed too. Sundays at 10 or Wednesdays should Life flop are other options. They would also have another new drama or two to premiere if/when they needed them. I know there's another new comedy called Zip available too. Perhaps that on Tuesdays with Earl once the Biggest Loser gives away in the spring to something else.

I agree that moving Life on Wednesdays and pairing it with Law and Order is a good move. It provides some cohesiveness on the night. Life has held steady on Wednesdays and should build on it on Wednesday. Law and Order will be a lot better than Lipstick Jungle in that spot.

I also think that Lipstick Jungle on Fridays is a waste. The show is already struggling to get above 4 million in viwership. On a lower watched night, those numbers are going to be terrible. Could it dip below 3 million? Dateline would have been a better choice.

I think mushu_jj's NBC schedule is brilliant. Criminal Intent filling in for Heroes is a smart idea. Slimming down Biggest Loser and adding Earl and then another comedy too. I think that Chuck might have some mild trouble competing with Smallville, but it's failing on Mondays, so it can only go up. Maybe because I like Lipstick Jungle, but I don't think a Saturday night burial is the right place for it or Friday nights for My Own Worst Enemy. The Scifi channel, owned by General Motors NBC-Universal, shows it's programming block then. The audience it's small (and shrinking) audience is already has enough difficult tunning in.

NBC also owns Bravo, so why not:

Fridays
8 - Kath and Kim (back to back burnoff) / Earl & 30 Rock encores (afterwards)
9- BRAVO Network encores of Top Chef: New York
10 - Lipstick Jungle

Saturdays can just be their various encores of Law & Order SVU. In the odd event that Life flops maybe plop My Own Worst enemy there. Since it has ties to cars, maybe Knight Rider viewers will watch.

Thanks Ginger. I was actually trying to get people to watch programs on Fridays though. Lipstick Jungle and Kath and Kim are utter disasters ratings wise. Time to just burn them off. At least a Crusoe-MOWE pairing on Friday would have some similar unrealistic themes to go by. Then Dateline would just take over to 2 hours along with Most Outrageous Moments when they're done/canceled. And NBC has proven before that BRAVO show encores do badly on the mother network and its long past the time to end the unnecessary encores of Law and Order:SVU and the main L&O because its simply allowing viewers to not have to tune in during the week. All those encores have really hurt the Law and Order franchise. Its also time for them to start limiting the repeats a bit on USA and pull them off the local affiliates during the week and on the weekends. 3 eps should be the max amount USA can air of CI and SVU per day. Ditto for House, which is airing marathons every other day now.

quote:

Originally posted by mushu_jj:
Thanks Ginger. I was actually trying to get people to watch programs on Fridays though. Lipstick Jungle and Kath and Kim are utter disasters ratings wise. Time to just burn them off.

As I mentioned before, I might be clouded by my own enjoyment of Lipstick Jungle, but the fact Ghost Whisperer is a hit (by Friday standards) means that there's a female audience out there on Fridays. Las Vegas did fairly well until NBC bumped it order to put the viewer kryptonite of Friday Night Lights on. I'm hoping that maybe they'd find Lipstick Jungle.

quote:

Originally posted by Ginger:

quote:

Originally posted by mushu_jj:
Thanks Ginger. I was actually trying to get people to watch programs on Fridays though. Lipstick Jungle and Kath and Kim are utter disasters ratings wise. Time to just burn them off.

As I mentioned before, I might be clouded by my own enjoyment of Lipstick Jungle, but the fact Ghost Whisperer is a hit (by Friday standards) means that there's a female audience out there on Fridays. Las Vegas did fairly well until NBC bumped it order to put the viewer kryptonite of Friday Night Lights on. I'm hoping that maybe they'd find Lipstick Jungle.

You're right in females being around on Fridays but Lipstick Jungle will likely suffer the same fate as Miss/Match did: its too younger skewing to survive there. I always thought post-Biggest Loser this fall was the place for that show to be (Tue. at 9) as the Biggest Loser is NBC's only real female skewing series in the 8pm hour. Kath and Kim is so horrid that it won't work no matter where its placed. Dateline has proven its worked before and I think the sci fi shows still deserve a chance to grow on a Friday. It probably won't happen, but since they've stuck with lower rated stuff before, those two at least deserve some time and a real pairing together. MOWE is completely screwed post-Heroes and Crusoe doesn't seem to fit all that well with Lipstick Jungle. Who knows.

They appeal to two completely different audiences. I don't see them blending well at all. In addition, The Starter Wife is on USA the same time as LJ. It will take away a chunk of the intended audience for LJ.

NBC Fridays have become a mixture of odd shows and burnoffs again this year. They really need to create a lineup that flows.

quote:

Originally posted by mushu_jj:
Crusoe doesn't seem to fit all that well with Lipstick Jungle. Who knows.

quote:

Originally posted by WlcmLAPD:
NBC Fridays have become a mixture of odd shows and burnoffs again this year. They really need to create a lineup that flows.

To do that, they need to order and pick up good shows first.

My Midseason Suggestions:

Mondays
8:00 Chuck
9:00 Heroes
10:00 Medium

Tuesdays
8:00 The Biggest Loser
9:30 My Name is Earl
10:00 L & O SVU

Wednesday
8:00 Knight Rider
9:00 Deal or No Deal
10:00 Law & Order

Thursday
8:00 Man of Your Dreams
8:30 30 Rock
9:00 The Office
9:30 The Office Spin-Off
10:00 ER / The Philanthropist

Fridays
8:00 Dateline NBC
9:00 Merlin
10:00 Friday Night Lights

Sundays
8:00 Law & Order CI reruns from USA
9:00 The Celebrity Apprentice 2
10:00 Kings

This message has been edited. Last edited by: thetvguy,

quote:

Originally posted by Ginger:

quote:

Originally posted by WlcmLAPD:
NBC Fridays have become a mixture of odd shows and burnoffs again this year. They really need to create a lineup that flows.

To do that, they need to order and pick up good shows first.

I'd argue that nothing on NBC has been worth watching for about 5 years now and I wasn't a big Friends or Frasier person. Some shows were okay, but nothing was all that special. Stuff like Las Vegas, Crossing Jordan, Medium, SVU, and ER all taken for granted if you ask me.