The New Season – Night By Night

To wind up our examination of the Upfronts, I thought I'd look at the final Fall Schedule on a night by night basis, giving my own thoughts on what's going to work and what's not. Bear in mind that these are only my personal opinions. (Times are Eastern)

Sunday

	ABC	CBS	FOX	NBC	The CW
7:00-8:00	America`s Funniest Home Videos	60 Minutes	The OT (NFL Post-Game)	Football Night in America	TBD
8:00-8:30	Extreme Makeover: Home Edition	Amazing Race	The Simpsons	Sunday Night Football	TBD
8:30-9:00	Extreme Makeover: Home Edition	Amazing Race	King Of The Hill	Sunday Night Football	TBD
9:00-9:30	Desperate Housewives	Cold Case	Family Guy	Sunday Night Football	TBD
9:30-10:00	Desperate Housewives	Cold Case	American Dad	Sunday Night Football	TBD
10:00-11:00	Brothers & Sisters	The Unit		Sunday Night Football	TBD

It's pretty much the status quo here before the end of the Football season. The only real changes are that CBS has moved The Unit into the Sunday 10-11 slot, and of course the as yet undisclosed plans of The CW's partner on Sundays MRC. Things will change a lot after the end of the Football season when NBC reveals its Sunday line-up. If last year's ratings for Shark are any indication I do not expect smooth sailing for The Unit. I would expect the male demographic to move towards Football. ABC should remain dominant on the night once Football ends and most of their shows will be in second place during the season. (Worth noting is that The Amazing Race tends on the whole to perform extremely well in terms of ratings when CBS has a late Football game that runs long; not sure why this is the case, but it certainly doesn't extend beyond The Amazing Race to CBS shows later in the night.)

Monday

	ABC	CBS	FOX	NBC	The CW
8:00-8:30	Dancing With The Stars	How I Met Your Mother	Terminator: The Sarah Connor...	Chuck	Gossip Girl
8:30-9:00	Dancing With The Stars	The Big Bang Theory	Terminator: The Sarah Connor...	Chuck	Gossip Girl
9:00-9:30	Dancing With The Stars	Two And A Half Men	Prison Break	Heroes	One Tree Hill
9:30-10:00	Samantha Who?	THE WORST WEEK	Prison Break	Heroes	One Tree Hill
10:00-11:00	Boston Legal	CSI Miami		MY OWN WORST ENEMY

The big changes on the night comes in the third hour, with ABC and NBC yet again trying to challenge the CBS hold on the hour – or at the very least score a viable second place. I'll give an edge in that area to ABC and Boston Legal which is a show with an existing cult following. That makes it different from October Road or What About Brian? NBC has to hope that the fans of Heroes will stick around for My Own Worst Enemy in numbers that look better to NBC; it could be a big – and quick – loser. Looking earlier in the night, the monster in the room is Dancing With The Stars which why it is more than a little surprising that ABC is planning only one series of the show in the 2008-09 season and being replaced with an untested Ashton Kutcher/Tyra Banks property. The CBS comedy block is a powerful one that is most likely to take second place against "Dancing" and beating the Kutcher property. CBS has the enviable luxury of "hammocking" a freshman comedy between the highest rated sitcom on TV (Two And A Half Men) and "the most popular show in the world" (CSI: Miami). The final big question is whether Chuck and Heroes will be competitive after the long, strike induced, hiatus. If there's some rejection of that FOX might be competitive for third place. The CW is doomed to fifth, but fifth with a very nice niche market for the night.

Tuesday

	ABC	CBS	FOX	NBC	The CW
8:00-8:30	OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS	NCIS	House	Biggest Loser	90210
8:30-9:00	OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS	NCIS	House	Biggest Loser	90210
9:00-9:30	Dancing With The Stars	THE MENTALIST	FRINGE	Biggest Loser	SURVIVING THE FILTHY RICH
9:30-10:00	Dancing With The Stars	THE MENTALIST	FRINGE	KATH & KIM	SURVIVING THE FILTHY RICH
10:00-11:00	Eli Stone	Without A Trace		Law & Order: SVU

A night of newbies. Six new shows, four of which are up against each other. I'm convinced that the big loser on the night, besides the winner Biggest Loser will be Opportunity Knocks. This show sounds awful and based on the clips shown that I've seen from YouTube it looks awful too. The other show that doesn't really fit is Kath & Kim. I really don't see the flow from Biggest Loser to Kath & Kim to Law & Order: SVU even if it is a good show. The battle for survival on the night will be between Fringe and The Mentalist. FOX seems very certain about Fringe to the point where they're reducing the number of minutes of network commercials in each episode and will be charging a premium to advertisers. The show looks good and initially at least it follows one of FOX's top shows. On the other hand there's a rather nice flow between NCIS, through The Mentalist, to Without A Trace. And speaking of Without A Trace, CBS may have finally gotten wise about how to deal with the 10-11 timeslot; an established show rather than a new series. That may give them an advantage over ABC Eli Stone.

Wednesday

	ABC	CBS	FOX	NBC	The CW
8:00-8:30	Pushing Daisies	New Adventures of Old Christine	Bones	KNIGHT RIDER	America's Next Top Model
8:30-9:00	Pushing Daisies	PROJECT GARY	Bones	KNIGHT RIDER	America's Next Top Model
9:00-9:30	Private Practice	Criminal Minds	`Til Death	Deal Or No Deal	STYLISTA
9:30-10:00	Private Practice	Criminal Minds	DO NOT DISTURB	Deal Or No Deal	STYLISTA
10:00-11:00	Dirty Sexy Money	CSI New York		Lipstick Jungle

The big experiment here comes from CBS in trying to start a second comedy night...again. New Adventures Of Old Christine might be the right anchor for this, but Project Gary sounds like a poor property for the second half of the hour. Actually it looks like the weaker of the two new CBS comedies this season. But I have to confess that I hope it – or something – will take Knight Rider out to the wood shed and beat it. I wouldn't mind if they were bringing some new perspective to the concept but it's quite clear that "only the names have changed" and that just doesn't cut it with me. As for the other new shows on the night, the only thing that looks worse than Do Not Disturb, a concept that had the potential to be so much more, is the Apprentice clone Stylista. Hopefully both will die a swift and well deserved death, but that's just my opinion.

Thursday

	ABC	CBS	FOX	NBC	The CW
8:00-8:30	Ugly Betty	Survivor	Moment Of Truth	My Name Is Earl	Smallville
8:30-9:00	Ugly Betty	Survivor	Moment Of Truth	30 Rock	Smallville
9:00-9:30	Grey`s Anatomy	CSI	Kitchen Nightmares	The Office	Supernatural
9:30-10:00	Grey`s Anatomy	CSI	Kitchen Nightmares	SNL THURSDAY NIGHT LIVE	Supernatural
10:00-11:00	LIFE ON MARS	ELEVENTH HOUR		ER

Thursday is the most competitive night of the week, with all five networks throwing up what they consider to be their big guns. At the same time it is also one of the most stable nights this year with the only major changes in the first two hours – besides the SNL Thursday Night Live show (which is actually a series of three pre-election comedy specials; the normal placeholder for this time will be Office repeats until the debut of the spinoff of The Office) is FOX's decision to move Moment Of Truth and Kitchen Nightmares to the night to replace Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? and Don't Forget The Lyrics. Apparently a FOX executive has stated "Look, it's eroding. It's an older show. It's eventually going to give up and were trying to accelerate that." He may in fact be right in so far as Survivor isn't the ratings juggernaut that it once was. However it does still win the time slot rather handily, and I for one can't believe that the excremental (which means exactly what you think it means) Moment Of Truth will take ratings points from Survivor. In fact – and I'm going to be bold in this prediction – I don't think the show will perform as well as Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader. If any of these two show is going to drop in the ratings it will be Moment Of Truth. The big battle on Thursday night will be in the 10-11 slot. ER won't lose audience) although that is a show that really has eroded over the years) but it will be ending its run at the end of February. At that point it will be replaced by a new season of Celebrity Apprentice, and with due respect to Donald Trump (and in my opinion not much respect is due) his show is no ER. As a result the real battle in the time slot will begin when ER ends. I have no real idea who will win, but if I were to pick right now, based on the clips that I've seen and the way that the shows "flow" into each other, I'd have to give an edge to CBS's Eleventh Hour which matches with CSI in a way that Life On Mars really doesn't match with Grey's Anatomy. But I'm also going to make this prediction – barring an absolute ratings melt down, both shows are going to be around to take on Celebrity Apprentice.

Friday

	ABC	CBS	FOX	NBC	The CW
8:00-8:30	Wife Swap	Ghost Whisperer	Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?	CRUSOE	Everybody Hates Chris
8:30-9:00	Wife Swap	Ghost Whisperer	Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?	CRUSOE	The Game
9:00-10:00	Supernanny	THE EX-LIST	Don't Forget The Lyrics	Deal Or No Deal	America's Next Top Model (Encore)
10:00-11:00	20/20	Numb3rs		Life

Friday night is now TV's new wasteland – Saturday having been pretty much abandoned by the networks – and it shows in the programs their offering. BAC has reality shows and a news magazine while FOX has two game shows. I actually like The CW's decision to move its comedies to Friday night – it recalls The WB's Friday night comedy line-up which was one of its stronger programming periods (even if the critics and supposedly sophisticated people hated the lynchpin of that line-up Reba – that show was still the highest rated CW comedy when it was cancelled). What I'm less than pleased with is that the network has given its second hour over to a repeat of America's Next Top Model. If you're going to build a night of comedy, build a night of comedy. The big news on the night has to be CBS's decision to replace Midnight with The Ex-List, a decision that apparently had more to do with business decisions on the part of CBS and a rivalry with Warner Brothers than it did with the actual show. Even on a night as weak as this I can't see this decision turning out well. The Ex-List clip that was released looks as bad as the concept sounds. As for the other new show on the night, Crusoe, no one knows much about it except that it's an adaptation of Robinson Crusoe. Whether it's a modernized version or done in period, I can't imagine anything like good ratings coming from this.

So there is the Fall 2008 schedule. There will be changes in the winter, particularly from FOX and NBC, and inevitably there will be changes happening a lot sooner than January. For the most part – as in just about every case – the new series fall into the "nothing at all" category – as in "if you can't say anything nice, say nothing at all." Can it really be two years ago that we had shows debuting like Studio 60, 30 Rock, Kidnapped, Vanished, Friday Night Lights, Brothers & Sisters, and Men In Trees. Even the failures from that list of shows were better, in my opinion, than most of what the networks will offering us as new shows in this coming season. This is not going to be one of TV's great seasons.

Video Links For The New Shows

Last year was a great time to blog about the new TV season and include clips from the new shows. NBC had its own YouTube Channel and CBS even provided a "bloggers kit" that provided links from their InnerTube video service. The other networks at least had clips on a page even if you couldn't embed them. This year it's not so easy to provide links. This season it's not so easy. NBC gave up on YouTube and put all their eggs in their Hulu basket, not that it matters much since they didn't do pilots this season. Similarly InnerTube seems to be gone, but CBS does have its own YouTube channel (with the series previews on their own playlist), as do The CW and FOX. But ABC provide you with...a PDF file. At least that's what they do officially. If you hunt around you can find clips at YouTube and other video sites such as Brightcove and DailyMotion...if they haven't been taken down yet. Under these circumstances, rather than provide hints on where to find clips it might be better just to show some. To help things along I've set up some playlists of my own with clips from the various networks.

We start off with CBS, and the first video in this group of five generated the most comment from the people who watched it on YouTube...mostly negative. It's for The Ex List, and the negative comments were because it is the show replacing Moonlight on Friday nights. And two more different show you're unlikely to see. Based on this clip I'm not likely to be watching. Following that are clips for The Mentalist and Eleventh Hour. Both show's look more than a little intriguing. Finally come clips for the two new sitcoms on the CBS line-up, Project Gary and The Worst Week. Neither one looks like something I'd be interested in watching, but bear in mind that it takes a lot to get me interested in sitcoms.

Next up we have clips from two of the three new CW shows. First are two clips from Surviving The Filthy Rich featuring Joanna Garcia with Lucy Kate Hale in the first, and with Micheal Cassidy in the second. Then there's a clip from the reality show Stylista that basically introduces Anne Slowey as she clumps (about the best way I can describe her walk in those heels). Nothing from 90210 yet, but a lot of the parts in that series have yet to be cast, and I don't think they've done a pilot.

Next up we have ABC's two new shows, neither from "official" sources. First up is a trailer for Life On Mars clearly taken from an Entertainment Tonight broadcast. It was another clip that got a lot of reaction most of it extremely negative. Of course, to be fair, a lot of those comments were coming either from people in Britain or from Americans who are fans of the original BBC series. The other clip is from the new Ashton Kutcher game/reality show Opportunity Knocks. Based on this, it looks awesomely awful and I would hope that it dies a quick and well deserved death.

Finally we have some clips from the new FOX shows, starting with Fringe. You can certainly pick up the X-Files vibe in this clip. Next we have the new comedy Do Not Disturb, which I fear is going to fall right into the trap of being a workplace comedy rather than something like the British Hotel Babylon. It looks pretty bad. Next we have two clips from Secret Millionaire, including the start and the reveal of one episode. I'm afraid it looks worse than I originally expected, but I still have no doubt that it will find an audience. Then there are a couple of clips from the two animated series, The Cleveland Show and Sit Down, Shut Up. I can't tell much about The Cleveland Show from this, but the clip from Sit Down, Shut Up features that very interesting cast of voice actors. Finally there's a clip from Dollhouse (which oddly enough is subtitled in Spanish) which gives a better sense of what the series is about than the other – non-subtitled – clip I've been able to find on YouTube.

Based on these clips I have a suspicion that I'm going to be watching a lot of shows on CBS with FOX coming in a close second. Mentalist and Eleventh Hour look very intriguing to me, as do Fringe and Dollhouse. Since I haven't seen the BBC original I don't know whether the criticisms of the American Life On Mars are justified but I'm not sure it will work. Surviving The Filthy Rich might work in a Gilmore Girls sort of way but it's probably not for me. The reality and game show clips are singularly unappealing to me – I'll stick to Survivor, Dancing With The Stars, and The Amazing Race thank you very much. As for the sitcoms, the two on CBS might work but the one on FOX looks far worse than the show it's replacing (Back To You). The bottom line on the new shows is this: they look to be adequate but hardly earth shaking or groundbreaking. And maybe that's the way that broadcast TV has to be. Sadly.

FOX's Fall 2008

Here's what FOX is doing with their schedule this year. As usual with FOX the line-up changes somewhat at January. Shows that are debuting or moving in January will be marked with a (J), although by the time these changes are supposed to go into effect who knows what the FOX line-up will really look like.

Cancelled:Back To You, Canterbury's Law, K-Ville, Nashville, New Amsterdam, Next Great American Band, Return of Jezebel James, Unhitched

Renewed:The Moment of Truth, So You Think You Can Dance, The Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad, American Idol, America's Most Wanted, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, Bones, Cops, Don't Forget the Lyrics!, Hell's Kitchen, House, King of the Hill, Kitchen Nightmares, MADtv, The Moment of Truth, Prison Break, Talkshow with Spike Feresten, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, 'Til Death, 24 (J)

New:Sit Down, Shut Up (J); The Cleveland Show (J); Dollhouse (J); Fringe; Do Not Disturb; Secret Millionaire (J)

Complete Schedule: (Changes in January as noted)

Monday
8:00-9:00 p.m. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, DOLLHOUSE (J)
9:00-10:00 p.m. Prison Break, 24 (J)

Tuesday
8:00-9:00 p.m. House, American Idol (J)
9:00-10:00 p.m. FRINGE

Wednesday
8:00-9:00 p.m. Bones, House (J)
9:00-9:30 p.m. 'Til Death, American Idol Results Show (J)
9:30-10:00 p.m. DO NOT DISTURB, "FOX Comedy TBD" (J)

Thursday
8:00-9:00 p.m. The Moment of Truth, Hell's Kitchen (J)
9:00-10:00 p.m. Kitchen Nightmares, SECRET MILLIONAIRE (J)

Friday
8:00-9:00 p.m. Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?, Bones (J)
9:00-10:00 p.m. Don't Forget the Lyrics, 'Til Death (9:00-9:30) and DO NOT DISTURB (9:30-10:00)

Saturday
8:00-8:30 p.m. Cops
8:30-9:00 p.m. Cops
9:00-10:00 p.m. America's Most Wanted: America Fights Back
11:00-12:00 p.m. MadTV
12:00-1:00 a.m. Talkshow with Spike Feresten

Sunday
7:00-8:00 p.m. The OT (NFL post-game), FOX Comedy Encores (J)
8:00-8:30 p.m. The Simpsons
8:30-9:00 p.m. King of the Hill, SIT DOWN, SHUT UP (J)
9:00-9:30 p.m. Family Guy
9:30-10:00 p.m. American Dad, THE CLEVELAND SHOW (J)

Fringe is a new series from J.J. Abrams, Roberto Orci, and Alex Kurtzman. Two FBI agents (Mark Valley and Anna Torv) investigate the mystery of the deaths of every passenger on an international flight that landed at Boston's Logan Airport. During their investigation they encounter "the son of this generation's Einstein" played by Joshua Jackson (Dawson's Creek). Their investigation into the deaths on the aircraft leads them to a much bigger truth that is revealed over time.

Do Not Disturb is a comedy about the goings on at what is described as one of the "hottest and hippest hotels" in New York. There is an "Upstairs, Downstairs" element to it although the focus seems to be primarily on "Downstairs" with the majority of the cast playing members of the hotel staff. The cast includes Jerry O'Connell (Crossing Jordan, Carpoolers) as the egocentric general manager, and Niecy Nash (Reno 911!), Molly Stanton (Twins), Brando Eaton (Zoey 101), Jolene Purdy (Donnie Darko), and Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Robert Wagner is a (presumably) recurring guest star as the hotel's owner.

Dollhouse is produced by Joss Whedon and features Eliza Dushku (Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Tru Calling) as Echo, one of a group of "Actives" who are imprinted with new memories and identities to carry out missions for an underground organization. Once their mission is completed their memories are again erased until they're needed for a new mission. But what happens when one of the Actives starts to get her memories back? Also stars Enver Gjokaj, Fran Kranz (Welcome to the Captain), Olivia Williams, and Tahmoh Penikett (Battlestar Galactica).

Secret Millionaire is a new reality series in which several millionaires go "undercover" in some of the most impoverished areas of the United States. Working side by side with members of the community and getting by on minimum wage – if they're lucky – they get to know the people of the community. When their time there ends they reveal their identities and award up to $100,000 of their own money to the person they think is most deserving of it.

Sit Down, Shut Up is an animated series but one with a twist in that it uses live action backdrops for the animated characters. The story centers around the faculty of a high school in a fishing town and features the voices of actors including Kenan Thompson (Saturday Night Live), Will Forte (Saturday Night Live), Jason Bateman (Arrested Development), Maria Bramford, Henry Winkler (Arrested Development, Happy Days), Cheri Oteri (Saturday Night Live), Nick Kroll (Cavemen), Will Arnett (Arrested Development) and Tom Kenny.

The Cleveland Show is a spin-off of Family Guy and features Peter's drinking buddy Cleveland Brown as he leaves Quahog and moves to Stoolbend Virginia to fulfill a promise to his high school sweetheart.

Comments:
Did you happen to notice the list of cancelled shows at the start of this post? That's right, every new show that FOX debuted last season with the exception of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles was canned last season. To be fair, few of them did generate much buzz with the audience, but even in the strike season few of them were given that much of a chance. In fact the order for New Amsterdam was reduced and the show shifted from a Fall debut to a midseason debut within weeks of the original FOX schedule being announced. The only reason why the show for as long as it did was probably the strike. And even that didn't save Return of Jezebel James from being cancelled after three episodes. By comparison Canterbury's Law, which ran for six episodes was lucky only to be moved to Friday nights.

If anyone should know the hazards of working for FOX it should be Joss Whedon – Firefly was effectively destroyed by the way the network ran it out of order, and what can be said about Drive except that it was cancelled before it had a chance to get started, practically before it debuted in fact. Still he keeps coming back to FOX. One can hope that Dollhouse will get a chance to build an audience and who knows, with Kevin Reilly as head of Entertainment at FOX it just might. It certainly sounds intriguing, the question is will there be an audience for a concept like this.

The other pseudo-science fiction series that FOX has is Fringe. From the description of the show it sounds vaguely like a cross between The X-Files and the series Vanished from a couple of years ago. I make this comparison because of the ongoing nature of the mystery/conspiracy that is being investigated by the two FBI agents, and the involvement of "the son of this generation's Einstein." I'm somewhat dubious about its chances of success because of the lack of patience that audiences (and network executives) seem to have for both science fiction series and series with long continuity arcs.

Do Not Disturb somehow reminds me of the British series Hotel Babylon which isn't a bad thing if they can bring that sort of "naughty" vibe of a hotel where the rich and famous go to be catered to for their every desire that the British series has to an American audience. What worries me – well worry might not be the right word – is that the show won't take that direction but instead will go down the road of standard workplace comedy. The presence of Jerry O'Connell is not a good sign in that respect.

I don't think I can say much about the two animated series. Such shows on FOX seem to be bulletproof (well except for Futurama). Certainly the list of voice actors for Sit Down, Shut Up is quite impressive.

I don't know what to think about Secret Millionaire. It seems as though FOX has taken a look at Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and Oprah's Big Give and decided that philanthropy sells. I'm sure that the PTC will find this show "heartwarming" but somehow (having seen only the description of course) I find the whole thing vaguely smarmy and off-putting, almost a case of slumming.

A couple of other notes. I am pleased to see that Prison Break has been moved out of the first hour of primetime. No doubt the PTC will be pleased as well – well, as pleased as they can be by that show which isn't very, and I'm not sure that its replacement with Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles will please them either. The truth is though that one of the few things that I agree with the PTC over is that Prison Break is not really suitable for the first hour. I also have no doubt that the PTC won't be pleased that Moment Of Truth is back. I've never seen the show but I personally find the concept distasteful. If you have the Studio 60 DVD set, you might want to check out Jordan McDeere's comments on a reality show called Search And Destroy that she refused to bid on. That's how I feel about Moment Of Truth. Finally it's good to see that someone at FOX has realised the charismatic qualities that Gordon Ramsay brings to TV. Not only has Kitchen Nightmares (the inferior clone of Ramsay's British series) been renewed, but the next season of Hell's Kitchen has been rescued from the summer viewing ghetto and established in January when people are actually watching TV.

The CW’s Fall 2008

I'm late with the CW's Upfront announcement primarily because I thought they were announcing on Wednesday afternoon rather than Tuesday afternoon, and then I had another commitment on Wednesday morning. The biggest announcement from The CW is that the network won't be programming Sunday night after their frankly disastrous efforts last season. Instead they are partnering with a company called Media Rights Capital a leading independent producer which will provide all the programs for Sunday night. MRC has not announced what shows they will be presenting yet.

Cancelled: Aliens in America, Life Is Wild, Girlfriends. Crowned, Pussycat Dolls Presents: The Search for the Next Doll, Beauty and the Geek (although there is a suggestion that in the case of Beauty and the Geek the network is giving it time to rest).

Renewed: America's Next Top Model, Smallville, Supernatural.

Moved: Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, Everybody Hates Chris, The Game.

New: 90210, Surviving the Filthy Rich, Stylista

Also, Reaper will return for thirteen episodes during the midseason, currently scheduled to replace Smallville.

Complete Schedule (all times Eastern):

Monday
8:00-9:00 p.m. Gossip Girl
9:00-10:00 p.m. One Tree Hill

Tuesday
8:00-9:00 p.m. 90210
9:00-10:00 p.m. SURVIVING THE FILTHY RICH

Wednesday
8:00-9:00 p.m. America's Next Top Model
9:00-10:00 p.m. STYLISTA

Thursday
8:00-9:00 p.m. Smallville
9:00-10:00 p.m. Supernatural

Friday
8:00-8:30 p.m. Everybody Hates Chris
8:30-9:00 p.m. The Game
9:00-10:00 p.m. America's Next Top Model (encore presentation)

90210 is sort of a "next generation" version of the legendary FOX series Beverly Hills 90210 right down to a number of the cast members. When Annie Mills (Shenae Grimes, Degrassi: The Next Generation) and her adopted brother Dixon (Tristan Wilds, The Wire) move with their family to Beverly Hills they find adjusting to their new situation. Things are complicated by the fact that the new principal at West Beverly Hills High is their father, who moved the family back to Beverly Hills to care for his mother, a former TV star who is described as "a charter member of the Betty Ford Clinic" (Jessica Walter, Arrested Development). Of course most of the conflict will come with dealing with the students and staff at their new school, one of whom is Kelly Taylor (Jennie Garth reprising her original role from Beverly Hills 90210).

In Surviving The Filthy Rich, JoAnna Garcia (Reba and more recently Welcome To The Captain) plays Yale educated Megan Smith who, after losing her job at a tabloid suddenly finds herself hired as the private tutor for the two daughters of cosmetics mogul Lucy Limoges. The daughters, Rose (Lucy Kate Hale, Bionic Woman) and Sage (Ashley Newbrough) aren't exactly thrilled to have a tutor, but Megan is determined to carry on and not just because her new lifestyle includes a private suite, gorgeous convertible, and live in chef. Of course, there is also a romantic tangle to deal with. Megan catches the eye Will, who lives on the estate next door, and just happens to be dating Megan's estranged sister Lilly, while Megan's best friend Charlie (Michael Cassidy, Smallville, The O.C.) is secretly in love with her. Based on the book How To Teach Filthy Rich Girls by Zoey Dean, and produced by Rina Mimoun (Gilmore Girls, Everwood), Bob Levy (Gossip Girl) and Leslie Morgenstein (Gossip Girl).

Stylista is a reality show in which eleven contestants vie for an editorial job at Elle magazine by working as assistants to the magazine's demanding but well respected Fashion News Director, Anne Slowey. Each week the contestants will carry out assistant tasks and a fashion editorial assignment before Slowey and Elle's Creative Director, Joe Zee, decide on who will be fired that week.

Comments:
Of course the biggest news in this Upfront is that they've made the Media Rights Capital announcement, which had been discussed a bit beforehand official. It does make for a very interesting partnership, although the big question is what we'll see coming out of the partnership. The based on their IMDB page the company seems to have limited experience both working in TV and in producing their own material. It will be interesting to see what they'll come up with (they haven't announced any of their shows yet). I'd say they couldn't do worse than last season's CW Sunday line-up but that might just be seen as a challenge to the TV gods.

The other big news story is that MRC chose not to include Moonlight as part of their package of shows for The CW. And yet there are still persistent rumours that the show might still show up on the CW at the mid-season. There are a lot of reasons why this might make sense – the show is produced by Warner Brothers, one of the partners in the CW (and from some things I've seen reported an increasingly unhappy partner), and the show's audience when it was on CBS would dwarf that of even the most popular CW series. In fact if even half the Moonlight audience from CBS came over to the CW to watch it, it would still be one of the most popular CW shows.

Turning to the CW's actual line-up it looks solid – for them – if rather safe. The decision to move their two remaining sitcoms to Friday night is a reasonable one when you consider that The WB had considerable success with their Friday night comedy line-up, anchored by Reba (I know people say they hated that show but the fact remains that it was the highest rated comedy and the second highest rated show on The WB during the period when it aired). I am less than happy with what I consider to be a wrongheaded in airing a repeat – sorry "an encore presentation" – of America's Next Top Model rather than doing one or two more comedies (one if they had decided to save Aliens In America). I think a full Friday comedy block might have been a lucrative choice opposite reality shows on ABC, and game shows on NBC and FOX. Then again, what do I know.

As to the new shows, the less said about Stylista the better. It's The Apprentice in the fashion industry with a second rate Donald Trump. The only person who has had the personality to carry off a show like that successfully has been Gordon Ramsay with Hell's Kitchen and let's face it, we watch that show as much to see Ramsay explode at the wannabes as for the format. 90210 seems to me to be a fairly safe and pedestrian effort at reviving a classic series. Hardly original but done right it should be a solid performer by CW standards. Actually, the show that vaguely intrigues me is Surviving The Filthy Rich. This is mainly because of the presence of Joanna Garcia who was about the third funniest person on Reba (behind Steve Howey and Melissa Peterman) and the only reason I could come up with to watch Welcome To The Captain. I can certainly see this working more as a light hearted "dramedy" along the lines of a show like The Gilmore Girls. I'm just wondering how well it matches with 90210 – I mean besides the wealthy teenage angst thing.

CBS's Fall 2008

Here's what CBS has done with its schedule. Of all the networks this is likely the one with the least need to be adjused short of some slight tinkering.

Cancelled: Shark, Moonlight, Cane, Kid Nation, Power of 10, Secret Talents of the Stars, Viva Laughlin, Welcome to the Captain

Renewed: Survivor, 48 Hours Mystery, 60 Minutes, CSI, CSI Miami, CSI New York, Criminal Minds, Ghost Whisperer, How I Met Your Mother, NCIS, Numb3rs, Two and a Half Men, Cold Case, Big Bang Theory, The Amazing Race.

Moved: The Unit, New Adventures of Old Christine, Without A Trace,

New: The Worst Week, The Mentalist, Project Gary, Eleventh Hour

In addition Rules Of Engagement and new series Harper's Island will be held for the midseason.

Complete Schedule: (New shows in Capitals, except NCIS)
Monday
8:00-8:30 p.m. The Big Bang Theory
8:30-9:00 p.m. How I Met Your Mother
9:00-9:30 p.m. Two And A Half Men
9:30-10:00 p.m. THE WORST WEEK
10:00-11:00 p.m. CSI: Miami

Tuesday
8:00-9:00 p.m. NCIS
9:00-10:00 p.m. THE MENTALIST
10:00-11:00 p.m. Without A Trace (Moved)

Wednesday
8:00-8:30 p.m. New Adventures of Old Christine
8:30-9:00 p.m. PROJECT GARY
9:00-10:00 p.m. Criminal Minds
10:00-11:00 p.m. CSI: New York

Thursday
8:00-9:00 p.m. Survivor
9:00-10:00 p.m. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
10:00-11:00 p.m. ELEVENTH HOUR

Friday
8:00-9:00 p.m. Ghost Whisperer
9:00-10:00 p.m. THE EX-LIST
10:00-11:00 p.m. Numb3rs

Saturday
8:00-9:00 p.m. Crimetime Saturday
9:00-10:00 p.m. Crimetime Saturday
10:00-11:00 p.m. 48 Hours: Mystery

Sunday
7:00-8:00 p.m. 60 Minutes
8:00-9:00 p.m. The Amazing Race
9:00-10:00 p.m. Cold Case
10:00-11:00 p.m. The Unit (Moved)

Based on a British series, The Worst Week is a comedy about a young man, Sam (Kyle Bornheimer) who is meeting the parents of his fiancé Mel (Erinn Hayes, Kitchen Confidential) for the first time. Sam not only has to deal with Mel's conservative parents (Kurtwood Smith, That '70s Show, and Nancy Lenehan, My Name is Earl) and informing them that not only is there a wedding being planned, but the bride is expecting. Matt Tarses (Scrubs) and Jimmy Mulville (Whose Line Is It Anyway?) are the Executive Producers.

In Project Gary, Jay Mohr stars as Gary Barnes, a recently divorced painting contractor. Gary not only has to deal with his relationship with his ex-wife Allison (Paula Marshall Nip/Tuck) and their kids, played by Laura Marano and Ryan Malgarini, but also his own re-entry into the dating stream after he connects with a Vanessa (Jaime King, The Class) a single mom whose condo he was hired to paint.

The Mentalist stars Simon Baker (The Guardian) as Patrick Jane, a detective who is also a private contractor for the California Bureau of Investigations. At one time Patrick used his highly developed observation skills to gain celebrity status as a psychic medium, something he now admits was faked. This doesn't exactly endear him to the people he works with at the CBI, particularly Senior Agent Teresa Lisbon (Robin Tunney, Prison Break).

Eleventh Hour is yet another American version of a British series, this time brought to us by CBS's favourite producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Rufus Sewell (Alexander Hamilton in the recent HBO mini-series John Adams) plays Jacob Hood, a special scientific advisor to the government who investigates scientific crises and oddities. His authority is absolute, and he is dogged in his pursuit of those who would use and misuse scientific discoveries for their own gain and with nefarious motives.

The Ex-List is about Bella (Elizabeth Reaser, Grey's Anatomy) a thirty-something woman who is single and successful. She is surprised when a psychic at her sister's bachelorette party tells her that she has already met and dated her future husband, but that if she doesn't find him within the next year she'll end up never marrying. The result is that Bella is forced to re-examine her various relationships over the years together with her circle of friends; Augie (Adam Rothenberg), Vivian (Alex Breckenridge, Dirt), and Cyrus (Amir Talai). Diane Ruggiero (Veronica Mars) and Jonathan Levin (Charmed) are executive producers.

Harper's Island is a drama about a group of friends and family attending a "destination wedding" at a secluded island of the coast of Seattle, an island infamous for a rampage by a homicidal maniac several years ago.

Comments:
There are a couple of rather interesting things to talk about before we look at the new shows. First up, you might notice the absence of any new reality shows. Oh sure, CBS still has two reality shows on the list but they're both veteran series, and in the case of The Amazing Race, the gold standard of the format (in my opinion). The second thing is that after a number of years CBS is trying to create a sitcom beachhead on a second night, something which none of the other networks has tried recently. I also think it's interesting that CBS is trying to resolve their huge problem in the third hour of Tuesday night not by throwing up another sacrificial lamb (like Cane in 2007-08, or Smith in 2006-07) but rather by throwing a successful veteran against Law & Order: SVU. Will it work?

Of the cancellations, the loss of Cane is sadly not a surprise based on the pre-strike ratings and of course the time slot it was in. Similarly the loss of Shark isn't a huge surprise. The show thrived in its first season when it was opposite ER (and following CSI) on Thursday nights, but it withered on Sundays after Without A Trace was restored to the Thursday timeslot. For me the biggest disappointment in the cancellations was Moonlight. Even though I gave the show a negative review at the start of the season, I have to say that the concept grew on me, particularly the difficult relationship between Mick and Beth. By the end of the season I was left wanting more and now I won't be getting it, and I don't think The Ex-List is an adequate substitute.

Turning – as we must – to the actual schedule, I'm not sure how I feel about it. The pairing of New Adventures Of Old Christine with Project Gary seems like a natural pairing, and depending on how the show is presented it could be more than the sort of standard, run of the mill family sitcom. On the other hand the other new sitcom on the CBS line-up sounds like an absolute disaster – and that disaster was called Big Day and aired on ABC. The Worst Week Of My Life, the British series that The Worst Week is based on, ran just six episodes which would seem to fit the finite nature of the show's premise. I mean can you really do twenty or twenty-four half-hours that details a week in this couple's life? And what do you do for a second season?

Of the dramas the one I expect to be the big loser is The Ex-List which vaguely reminds me of a serious version of <