While the CBS Sunday Night Movie was usually enjoyable in the past, especially during the holiday season, I think CBS is in a position where dumping movies on Sundays (something that likely wouldn't make much money either) is a bad decision at this point. CBS has incredible comedy resources right now. Use them and give comedy lovers who aren't hot on cartoons a lineup to watch. Plus, the comedy could eliminate the overrun program with football and they could move one of their CSI spinoffs to 10pm where it would face easy competition aside from football (which in Miami's case it already does). The Wednesday comedies main problem in my mind is that neither is a lead off show, the hour is weak itself, and CBS hasn't had success in that hour in years. The NCIS spinoff is my vote for Wed. 8pm next year and Sunday should become 60 Minutes, 2 hours of comedies, and CSI: Miami with the strong Monday block being used to launch a new non-crime drama on Mondays at 10. Leave Tuesdays, Wed. 9 to 11, Thur. 8 to 10 (new drama at 11), and GW and Numb3rs alone and place Cold Case on Fridays at 9. If they feel that's too much comedy, place Amazing Race on Sundays at 9 and go with just one laugher in the fall on Sundays with another joining it at midseason. TAR could also go Thursdays at 8 in place of Survivor from Dec.-late Feb. and again air in the summer on Thursday nights.
quote:
Originally posted by WlcmLAPD: Sundays in general is having a hard time competiting with football. I think it would be smart for CBS to air a movie and concern themselves with other days and timeslots.
quote:
Originally posted by Bruce: Since all nights are in a way related, anyone share my view that CBS is ready to end their 3 year experiment with a drama heavy Sunday and return to the movie?
The first year they had a fairly strong CC and WAT, but then needed the latter for thursday again.
Last year, I felt SHARK was a dump at 10pm, and we know THE UNIT was a dump at 10 this year.
This coupled with the further aging of CC and what many agree would be a smart move to bring it to friday, coupled with ABC's likely continuing strength and the NFL to me points to a nite where it has become difficult for CBS to make money.
Just reading the plot summary for the show you understand why FOX dumped it on fridays, i mean my instant question was "what on Earth is this show about"? I guess i was not the only one
It's a shame how much Fridays have deteriorated. But, there's not much else to blame it on except the networks giving up. The only network that really hasn't given up the night is CBS, and of course that shows.
Dollhouse will probably run through. But SCC - I really can't see it lasting any longer. My suggestion would be to bring back Prison Break maybe the week after next: heavily promote its final episodes Fridays at 8pm the next 2 weeks, finish it out with a finale in late April/early May, and bring back the 5th Grader/Lyrics duo for the summer.
American Idol and Don't Forget the Lyrics were really a good duo together last year. Lyrics got a great demo after it. Too bad both that and 5th Grader lost a lot of steam this year on Fridays.
Mushu, the networks are having so much trouble getting good numbers for their comedies. I agree CBS is doing much better in this department, but the chances of 4 new sitcoms getting good numbers on Sundays are close to 0%. Cause i doubt Christine or GU would do better than they're doing now
Very good question. Law & Order: Trail By Jury never skewed lower than 3.1 in the demo, and never below 10 million viewers. Ever since it was canceled, NBC has yet to find another show that can do that well in the Friday 10pm slot (or on the whole network for that matter...)
I would guess NBC canceled it because they were afraid of Law & Order overkill, but clearly that is not that case considering Law & Order is on almost everyday on NBC, and is on at least 10 hours a day from all the cable nets.
I watched a few eps of TBJ. It was better than the original L&O after Orbach left and was better than CI at the time (although I will say some of the USA new CI eps have been fantastic that I saw last year- especially the episode with D'Onfrio in the mental hospital). NBC was afraid of overkill but mainly they were just being NBC (canceling successful stuff for new lower rated fare).
Oh I'm one of those that thinks CBS needs to incorporate a little socialist theory and spread the wealth. Move HIMYM to Sundays at 9 after Gary Unmarried and air Rules on Sundays at 9:30. I think there's a lot of overreaction to the belief that BBT and HIMYM are solely compatible. Their demo differences tell me another story each week. Rules and HIMYM actually have as much in common if you ask me. Christine pops up at 8 on Sundays come midseason when football is over. Would they be older skewing than the Amazing Race? Yes. Would CBS finally have a show that is in between the older than old 60 Minutes crowd and a young comedy? Yes.
You're right though in that it will never happen which is why I advocate for Rules to go Sundays at 8:30 after 60 Minutes with Gary returning at midseason to fill out the hour. Christine could replace repeats on Mondays or Sundays for her final 13 episodes or so (or WBTV could move the show to another network). Amazing Race into CSI:Miami from 9 to 11.
Big Brother could warm up 9pm this summer with the 2 comedies at 8 and Miami airing double runs on Monday and Tuesday or a new drama (that Canadian show they have) airing Monday at 10 this summer. The Monday trio and Christine repeats fill Mondays 8 to 10 for the summer months. Big Brother would also air Wed. and Thur. at 8 so the Tuesday dramas could all repeat together in older skewing harmony. On Thursdays, once Harpers is done, move CSI to 10pm for a few weeks to launch a new reality project. New reality shows and game shows could air Sun. at 9 and Wed.-Thur. at 8 early in the summer before BB takes over in July.
Problems resolved.
quote:
Originally posted by robert: Mushu, the networks are having so much trouble getting good numbers for their comedies. I agree CBS is doing much better in this department, but the chances of 4 new sitcoms getting good numbers on Sundays are close to 0%. Cause i doubt Christine or GU would do better than they're doing now
Originally posted by robert: Just reading the plot summary for the show you understand why FOX dumped it on fridays, i mean my instant question was "what on Earth is this show about"? I guess i was not the only one
Originally posted by mushu_jj: Oh I'm one of those that thinks CBS needs to incorporate a little socialist theory and spread the wealth.
[/QUOTE]
In TV world i'm against the idea. Tell you why in this case: CBS could ruin the 2 hour block that brings great demo numbers for the network, Mother and ROE might actually do worse on sundays against shows that usually get good demo numbers, as i just aid GU and Chrsitine are rather weak, don't see them as good lead-ins for the more established comedies. I think it's just to risky for CBS just to even think about it.
One thing i agree with is that CBS needs to fix its Sundays. But in order to do it, it needs to move there one of its best shows. They'll never do it but i would move back CSI.
Originally posted by pknig: Dollhouse obviously is not the breakout hit some people hoped it would be. However, given the fact the lead-in sucks
Yeah i say the same thing FIOX should be a shamed about themself. I have no idea how they can look Josh Whedon and Eliza Dushku in the eye. They disgust me litteraly for treating a cultfavorit creator like that
Maybe the cultfavorit creator should create a good show next time. FOX saw the disaster that Dollhouse was and took the best decision possible. Of course they've made a mist ake: greenlighting this trainwreck
Oh give me a brake just because you don't like it. it doesn't mean it shouldn't be given a fair chance to survive like other shows. To stick it after a leadin that gets worse viewership is really low of FOX. I really think it would do good after Bones or Fringe. It is a sci-fi show and crime show it would fit like a foot in a shoe
Let me start off by saying that I'm starting to hear all of this panic over Flashpoint's numbers out of a really high-rated Ghost Whisperer last night. One bad night retention wise for FP and people already want to pull the plug. WTF? The Tiffany Network has a really cheap procedural in FP that they can put anywhere on the schedule and make a profit off of it. Any other network out there wished they had a cheap scripted program like FP where they really don't have to worry about demos. Plus CTV is helping paying for most of FP budget. Let's not get retarded on here. I'll tell you why it may seem like FP isn't holding onto GW's audience that well in the next paragraph.
America's Most Watched Network CBS since 1998 started out on a roll tonight with one of their highest rated episodes of Jennifers the Love Hewitt's Ghost Whisperer. GW is the only real successful fantasy drama on TV right now. GW has remained a good replacement for Amber Tamblyn's Joan of Arcadia who warmed that timeslot up for two years for GW to take a successful residence there. Truth is GW knows how to draw the young single women out there like no other show can. Shows like Cashmere Mafia, Lipstick Jungle, Gossip Girl, and countless other were trying to do that but GW was the only one that really knew how and that has a lot to do with their lead as I mentioned before Jennifer Love Hewitt who still has an obvious following from FOX's Party of Five back in the 90s. Anytime you post up 12 million viewers with a healthy demo close to 3 on a Friday Night at the 8pm timeslot in the year 2009 then you know you're doing something right. GW can also thank the Tiffany Network for being the #1 network on television all decade long.
This is where things get a little dicey and that's my hometown drama Flashpoint. First off I live in Canada so I know exactly what's going on with this show even saw them shooting about two episodes over the course of time. FP is one of the most watched programs in Canada and CTV loves it. It averages 1.2 million viewers which is a high number in Canada considering American Idol and CSI: get about 2-3 million viewers up here. Flashpoint is also regularly the top watched show in Canada on Friday Nights. A third season is already in the bag for the show, its just a matter how CBS will fit the show on the schedule next year. Let's get to the bottom line why it struggling more than it has in January. First off its been brought back too soon. A lot of the episodes were not ready so CBS went to a lot of reruns which will confuse viewers to coming back when there is a new episode on. I think CBS should've just waited until March to bring it back that way it could've had new episodes week in and week out. FP is a strong repeat player so maybe it bodes well for the show to only get 9 million viewers then another 8 million viewers for the rerun. The #1 reason why retention has fallen off is that the timeslot is a drag. Flashpoint is a fuckin' 10pm show. 9pm is way too early for a show like this. I think NUMB3RS would've been a better occupant at 9pm since its a younger procedural type show than Flashpoint is. I said this a long time ago that FP was eventually going to see some wear and tear on its numbers since they keep airing a repeat then a new episode every other week then the timeslot is weak. There have been a lot of people that watched FP during the summer that haven't even seen it live yet. The timeslots this show should hold are Thursdays at 10pm after CSI:, Fridays at 10pm, maybe a Saturday slot, or Sundays at 10pm out of Cold Case. CBS should definitely do some swamping before its too late. I don't really look at the demos for FP anymore b/c the show is cheaper to make than Survivor anyways and CBS is a 25-54 demo network not a 18-49 demo network.
NUMB3RS pretty good growth but it needs to move to 9pm so it can get that GW lead-in. I think NUMB3RS which has been on Fridays all of its life should move next season to a higher hut-level night for a year or two just for extra exposure. NUMB3RS has proven its worth already as the highest-rated Friday program consistently excluding specials on TV this decade.
Next up is America's Second Most Watched Network FOX since 2006 except on Friday Nights. LOL! Well I like T:SCC as its a guilty pleasure but this show is a goner and it finally needs to rest. The good thing about T:SCC is that it has some cast members who will be gold mines on other shows like Lena Hedley whose proven she can lead a show acting wise and could be the next Terri Hatcher who finds a second life in her acting career like on Desperate Housewives for Terri, the gold mine sci-fi vixen Summer Glau who can be the next Angelina Jolie as I think her future is with movie roles, Thomas Dekker who can lead also, Richard T. Jones who I always liked from his days on Judging Amy, Brian Austin Green has some personal issues right now (coughs) Megan Fox (coughs) but he can probably find something on TV as he'll be great in one of these new traditional sitcoms as a lead, and Shirley Manson of the music band Garbage she's not that bright but she can act a little bit and has something to build on with the change of career choice. T:SCC will no doubt abandon lots of fans after FOX cancels but there are some characters on this show with bright futures.
Dollhouse numbers are stabilizing around that 4 million viewer range and maybe FOX should give it a decent lead-in as I think it can perform 5-6 million viewers if it had a show like 5th Grader as a lead-in. If FOX is serious about keeping Dollhouse then I think they should pair it with Fringe next season and see how it does out of Fringe but I'm not sure if FOX is ready for Fringe to be on its own just yet. I didn't see last night's episode but episode 2 was one of the best episodes I saw for any show all season long. Let's see what happens in the coming weeks folks!
NBC is stabilizing with Howie Do It! but that show is not the answer NBC needs on Fridays. I think NBC should give Knight Rider a tryout next season on Fridays or Saturdays and see how it does there. Let's go back to 2005 folks shall we. 2004-05 was a crucial season towards NBC future. Zucker dropped the bomb when he decided to cancel Friday Night staples Third Watch and L&O: Trial By Jury. Ever since he canceled those shows its like a jinx has been put on NBC where they only succeed with Sunday Night Football, Law & Order, and Saturday Night Live but nothing else. Did you guys see Trial by Jury's numbers. Why in the blu hell was that canceled folks? 14 million viewers on a Friday Night. NBC is paying back the piper with all of their bad ratings right now and until they completely learn their lesson things aren't going to change much.
As for Leno, those numbers that Dateline got were solid but you're show needs to do way better than that. Like I said before NBC around this time of year next year will see more blues.
NBC a little advice please promote Bonnie Hammer from USA Network/Sci-Fi Channel why you still have the chance.
ABC is not worth talking about on Fridays. Its like their not even trying to program on this night. Why Wife Swap gets renewed every season is beyond me. Hopefully 3-4 years from now we'll see TGIF back after ABC brings all of their multi-cam comedies back. I still say let Disney Channel program this night like ESPN does on Saturdays during the fall with College Football.
The CW still exists?
The Game might be getting canceled but I bet BET which just picked up its rerun rights might not want it to be. One network that I look at as being a new possible destination for these comedies will be TBS. I think TBS should program that whole Wednesday Night block and build off the success that Tyler Perry's House of Payne and Meet the Browns has had so far. TBS should pickup The Game to finish its run and I bet its ratings improve by 2 million viewers. Its just that the Can't Watch Network can't do anything right over there. I wonder if Flavor Flav's Under One Roof would do better on TBS too. Who knows?
Although I hate talking about The CW, I want to talk about their Friday Nights next season a little bit here. They'll probably add that new Twilight vampire show there next year along with Reaper. If they do that then they should move Everybody Hates and make the 2009-10 campaign its last season and program a whole new comedy block full of traditional sitcoms right behind it on Tuesday Nights and move 90210 and Melrose Place to Sundays. They can also just wait for The WB to produce them when they come back after next year. If they can't do that then this network has no future past next season.
Again The CW still exists? Welcome back The WB in 2010-11.
Oh give me a brake just because you don't like it. it doesn't mean it shouldn't be given a fair chance to survive like other shows. To stick it after a leadin that gets worse viewership is really low of FOX. I really think it would do good after Bones or Fringe. It is a sci-fi show and crime show it would fit like a foot in a shoe
Yeah right, TSCC got a 50 million lead-in for the premiere and look where it is now. And crime show-sci-fi is among the worst fits i can think of.
How interesting, so she's only going to be in the 2 hour finale? Well, NBC is certainly pumping ER's finale's with a lot of star power.
I think its interesting that people think George Clooney's return will be on March 12 but in an interview with Larry King, he said it would be the finale.
Move HIMYM to Sundays at 9 after Gary Unmarried and air Rules on Sundays at 9:30. I think there's a lot of overreaction to the belief that BBT and HIMYM are solely compatible. Their demo differences tell me another story each week. Rules and HIMYM actually have as much in common if you ask me. Christine pops up at 8 on Sundays come midseason when football is over. Would they be older skewing than the Amazing Race? Yes. Would CBS finally have a show that is in between the older than old 60 Minutes crowd and a young comedy? Yes. 
