Upfronts 2010 – Video Previews

I want to publicize the new network shows. Really I do, even though there are some that I don't think will make it – and I've expressed my opinion on those in an earlier post – and there are some that I don't want to make it, and I like to think that I've tried very hard not to express that, though it may have slipped out. At this point I'm willing to keep my critical barbs in check on the grounds that I really can't judge a book by the blurb on the dust jacket, which is about what we have right now. But like I say, I want to publicize the new shows which is why some of the actions by some of the networks irritates me. Considerably. As I have reminded you repeatedly (ad infinitum, ad nauseum) I'm a citizen of that mass that separates Wasilla Alaska from the Oval Office, and no I don't mean the intelligence of more than half of the American electorate I mean Canada. And some of the networks – by which I mean ABC and CBS – have decided that my being Canadian somehow makes me a risk. They've cut me off from even seeing the previews for new shows for copyright reasons. CBS told me (on their website at least) that the previews were "not available for your geographic region," although their YouTube site clearly states on every video that I want to see that "This video contains content from CBS, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds." ABC is pretty much the same thing. Setting aside the fact that I don't think you use "who" when referring to a corporate entity like CBS or ABC, I'd like to know how come it is a copyright violation to show these clips to someone in Canada? FOX and The CW don't have any problem with me seeing their trailers. Neither does NBC which has their trailers on their website rather than YouTube. Fortunately there are other avenues to explore, but as you can imagine it is an irritant, particularly when you realize that those other avenues are through a European source which has posted the video clips I'm looking for. Why is it that Europeans can post these trailers "in the clear" so that I can see them and put them into playlists but I can't get them from the source? It is ... puzzling. Rant over.

I did manage to find trailer for most of the new shows at YouTube, thanks to that "other source" that I mentioned. I'll start off with the ABC trailers. Which unfortunately happen to have the most technical difficulties of all of them in terms of video problems. I've decided to arrange the clips by the day on which they appear with mid-season replacements after the current season of shows air. For ABC this means the running order is: No Ordinary Family, Detroit 1-8-7, Better Together, The Whole Truth, My Generation, Body of Proof, Off The Map, Mr Sunshine, Happy Endings. Here are a few first impressions based on what I've seen – remember when I wrote up my opinions of the shows earlier I deliberately hadn't seen the teasers that I was able to see. No Ordinary Family looks like about what I was expecting, family oriented and essentially the Fantastic Four origin with fluorescent water instead of Gamma Rays and different powers as a result. It could do okay. Detroit 1-8-7 looks like it could be okay. Not sure what to think about The Whole Truth. I like the leads but I'm dubious that the split focus will work long term. My Generation isn't going to work, and I don't think Off The Map will either. The show in the mid season that I'm looking forward to? Mr. Sunshine just because of the great cast.

Next up is CBS. The running order is Monday's Mike & Molly and Hawaii Five-0, Wednesday's The Defenders, Thursday's $#!* My Dad Says, and Friday's Blue Bloods. For fun I've also included the theme for the new version of Hawaii Five-0 – and Ivan you're right, it burns. Based on the clips Mike & Molly seems like a rather innocuous comedy although not one that's likely to set the world on fire. If you ignore the title, $#!* My Dad Says really doesn't seem that ground breaking either. The Defenders is probably going to be the weakest of the Wednesday night court shows, and I really don't see it as a good fit out of Criminal Minds. Still it's a different look for Jim Belushi from his time on According To Jim. The two really big shows are Hawaii Five-0 and Blue Bloods. I give the nod to Blue Bloods as the better show. Based on what the network has chosen to reveal from Hawaii Five-0 and what I've seen of the NBC series Chase (not to mention the only returning show in the time slot, ABC's Castle) I'm not entirely convinced that it will win the time slot. I have to wonder if network would have been better to schedule Blue Bloods on Monday, Hawaii Five-0 on Wednesday and The Defenders on Friday.

FOX has Lonestar on Monday, comedies Raising Hope and Running Wilde on Tuesday, with drama Ride Along and comedy Mixed Signals along with animated comedy Bob's Burgers coming in the mid-season. While trailers for most of the FOX shows are available the trailer for Bob's Burgers has been pulled by the network. FOX's new shows seems pretty dismal to me. The cast on Lonestar is about the only thing recommending it. I just can't see the public warming to this show about a conman who is thinking about doing the right thing. I see no hope in Raising Hope, and while Running Wilde has a dark comedy feeling to it, where the protagonist is rather unlikable, I'm not sure that this is going to be popular with the public. Ride Along looks like it could do well. It's scheduled to replace Lonestar and I think that will happen sooner rather than later. Mixed Signals breaks no new ground but I'm not sure that's necessarily a bad thing under the circumstances.

NBC has the largest number of new shows for the 2010-11 season. There was no trailer online – either on YouTube or on the NBC website – for Law & Order: Los Angeles. For once it may also be the line-up that I anticipate the most. On Monday they have The Event and Chase, on Wednesday Undercovers and Law & Order: Los Angeles, On Thursday Outsourced and Love Bites and on Friday School Pride and Outlaw. At the mid-season they have Perfect Couples, Friends With Benefits, The Paul Reiser Show, The Cape, and Harry's Law. While The Event looks good (and by "looks" I mean the physical appearance and casting) I have my doubt about how well it will do. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I don't know how much patience the public has for these ongoing serialized thriller type shows. Chase doesn't have that problem. It looks to be self-contained in every episode, and if the public actually give it a look it could give Hawaii Five-0 and Castle a real run for the top spot on the night. As I expected Undercovers looks like it could be real fun. Think of it as what happened to Harry and Helen after True Lies, with more than a little Hart To Hart added for flavour. I haven't managed to watch the clip of Outsourced through to the end, but it has a lot of qualities that are reminiscent of The Office. It could work, but it isn't my sort of show. I think that Love Bites and School Pride are due for a quick exit from the line-up and deservedly so. While I like Jimmy Smits I am unimpressed with the concept behind Outlaw. Of the mid-season dramas, The Cape looks like it could quickly turn into a cult favourite that I'll probably be watching. It seems like a suitably dark and yet enjoyable story but whether it will take off with a mainstream audience is the question. I'm sadly inclined to think they won't. I really don't care too much for Harry's Law either. I like Kathy Bates but the show looks too much like a quest for redemption and a purpose. Of course it is a David E. Kelly series and that has always carried with it a certain amount of "quirky." Of the comedies, we all know that if Friends With Benefits gets a series finale, the two leads will decide that the people they've been searching for all this time is each other, and the less said about Perfect Couples the better; it seems formulaic to me. The one comedy that I'm really looking forward to from the NBC list is The Paul Reiser Show. It may not be a winner but it brings together elements that we normally see on cable shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm. I'm looking forward to it and that's not something I generally say about comedies.

The CW has only two new shows at the beginning of the season, and only two trailers available. Actually they are more like clips than trailers. The Hellcats trailer doesn't tell us much about the show beyond the fact that it is about cheerleading. For the life of me I don't even know if we've seen the lead character in this clip. Obviously not aimed at me, but I think it may find an audience with the young women who watch America's Next Top Model. Hey, cheerleaders are probably more relatable than the models, from last year's failure The Beautiful Life. However I think the show that is going to be the biggest success for The CW is going to be Nikita. It's appeal should cut across gender lines because of Maggie Q and the "kick-ass" quality of the lead character.

I've given you all my opinion of these shows based on the clips that I've seen. I cold most assuredly be wrong, because right now all I can judge on is these little three minute clips. I've read a commenter on another site describe the completed versions of The Paul Reiser Show as "godawful." But, base on these clips maybe you, my readers would be willing to give me your opinions – based on what you see here – of the coming new shows in Comments..

2010-11 Season Night By Night

It's time now to take a look at the Fall 2010-11 TV schedule on a day to day basis. What I'm trying to do her is to handicap each night's programming and to attempt – sight unseen, not even a trailer (maybe a couple of commercials but that's all) – to pick the winners and losers from each night. It's an inexact science that verges on Voodoo, and I'm not much of a practitioner. My predictions last year were sufficiently imprecise that I can claim victory (following the rule for all prophets to keep your predictions sufficiently vague so that you can spin them however you like after the fact). And that's the policy I intend to follow this time around as well: keep them vague unless I really feel committed about something...and don't feel committed about anything. As I stated last year, there are two rules to keep in mind: nothing on The CW will win its time slot; and in competition between a new show and an established series, the established series will usually win – particularly if the established series has completed its second season – unless the show has started to lose viewers in previous seasons (or its on The CW). With these concepts in hand, let's look at the new schedule. (All times are Eastern.)

Sunday

	ABC	CBS	Fox	NBC	The CW
7:00-7:30	America's Funniest Home Videos	60 Minutes	The O/T	Football Night In America	Local
7:30-8:00	America's Funniest Home Videos	60 Minutes	The O/T	Football Night In America	Local
8:00-8:30	Extreme Makeover Home Edition	The Amazing Race	The Simpsons	Football Night In America	Local
8:30-9:00	Extreme Makeover Home Edition	The Amazing Race	The Cleveland Show	Sunday Night Football	Local
9:00-9:30	Desperate Housewives	Undercover Boss	Family Guy	Sunday Night Football	Local
9:30-10:00	Desperate Housewives	Undercover Boss	American Dad	Sunday Night Football	Local
10:00-11:00	Brothers & Sisters	CSI: Miami	Local	Sunday Night Football	Local

This is NBC's big night, about the only night they're going to win and that dominance will end with the Football season. Of the rest CBS should win the first two hours (60 Minutes, The Amazing Race). The battle between Desperate Housewives and Undercover Boss looks like it will be intense. Ratings for Desperate Housewives have been slipping in the past year but the question is whether Undercover Boss can stay as popular as it was in the inaugural half season. Since the show debuted following the Super Bowl – meaning that it was running against Celebrity Apprentice and the predominantly male Football audience was up for picking – we have no idea how much of its audience was people who would normally be watching the NFL game. I'd say that Desperate Housewives will probably edge out Undercover Boss but the show's ratings will continue to slip. The third hour is the time slot with the greatest questions. Taking Football out of the equation, the question becomes whether the relocates CSI: Miami, which had been showing some significant slippage in its Monday night slot last season will be able to deliver its audience to Sunday nights. I'm prepared to suggest that Brothers & Sisters will have a fairly easy time against CBS, at least until the end of the Football season.

Monday

	ABC	CBS	Fox	NBC	The CW
8:00-8:30	Dancing with the Stars	How I Met Your Mother	House	Chuck	90210
8:30-9:00	Dancing with the Stars	Rules Of Engagement	House	Chuck	90210
9:00-9:30	Dancing with the Stars	Two and a Half Men	LONESTAR	THE EVENT	Gossip Girl
9:30-10:00	Dancing with the Stars	MIKE & MOLLY	LONESTAR	THE EVENT	Gossip Girl
10:00-11:00	Castle	HAWAII FIVE-0	Local	CHASE	Local

Dancing With The Stars will continue to dominate the night along. The first hour will be a three-way battle – sorry friends of Chuck but your show has sadly been labelled a "cult favourite" and won't be growing an audience. I'm less than impressed with Rules Of Engagement but like an old-time Timex watch it keeps just ticking and ticking and ticking, so I suppose I'm missing something. The second hour narrows down to a two way battle because I just don't see Lonestar doing much. People who watch broadcast TV don't seem to like shows about criminals – remember Smith a few years ago or that CW (by way of MRC) show a couple of seasons ago? Both shows died fast deaths. Lonestar may look good but I don't see it overcoming viewer resistance. The same principle holds true with The Event; we've seen that viewers also don't really want these extended conspiracy theory series, no matter how well they're done. I'm slightly unsure of is how well the new CBS comedy Mike & Molly will perform. The show's pedigree is certainly strong as a Chuck Lorre comedy, and the two main characters are played by actors who are familiar to viewers. In the beginning at least the third hour presents the biggest questions. Castle is the only incumbent in the time slot, which is usually a good thing, but CBS is certainly trying to assert supremacy in the time-slot by moving the high profile newcomer Hawaii Five-0 into the spot vacated by CSI: Miami. The wildcard here is Chase. If people turn into Hawaii Five-0 to see what the fuss is about and then decide that like several other recent remakes it isn't worth the trouble, then this show might benefit. Right now, I don't really see it happening.

Tuesday

	ABC	CBS	Fox	NBC	The CW
8:00-9:00	NO ORDINARY FAMILY	NCIS	Glee	The Biggest Loser	One Tree Hill
9:00-9:30	Dancing with the Stars Results	NCIS: Los Angeles	RAISING HOPE	The Biggest Loser	Life Unexpected
9:30-10:00	Dancing with the Stars Results	NCIS: Los Angeles	RUNNING WILDE	The Biggest Loser	Life Unexpected
10:00-11:00	DETROIT 1-8-7	The Good Wife	Local	Parenthood	Local

Here's a surprising fact about Tuesday nights. In the second half of the 2009-10 season, three shows in the first hour of Tuesdays were generating over 10 million viewers each. On a weekly basis. Based on the changes that the other networks have made and what CBS hasn't changed,I feel confident in saying that CBS will win the night overall. The problem is with the other networks. One of the big Tuesday battles is going to be between ABC and Fox in the first Hour, and it's going to be a battle for second place behind NCIS. I love the idea behind No Ordinary Family and I've been a fan of Michael Chiklis since his first series The Commish. Played right and against the right competition this show could find a following. Glee isn't that competition. First it's an established show even if it isn't established in this time slot. Secondly Glee is the more realistic show and I really think that it will work better than a show that seems to be trying to be a live action version of The Incredibles. Turning to the second hour, I have no hope that the Fox comedies will have any success. First, they're Fox comedies and second they're on opposite the Dancing With The Stars Results show – in truth the only variety show left on TV, with singing, dancing and (allegedly) comedy – and NCIS: Los Angeles which was the highest rated new show of the 2009-10 season. Regardless of the merit of the two comedies (and I don't have much hope for them in that respect) that's pretty heady opposition to buck. And that doesn't even figure in the second hour of Biggest Loser. The final hour of the night features The Good Wife, the first CBS show in some time which actually managed to run the entire season and be renewed for a second season. In most weeks it won the time slot. Whether that will happen again depends on how well Detroit 1-8-7 does with the public. Parenthood is a good show, but to my mind it is in the wrong time slot and isn't a contender to win the third hour either in overall ratings or in the demographic. Thus it comes down to whether Detroit 1-8-7 can draw an audience. The show sounds like it could be worth seeing but whether the documentary format works as well with a drama as it does with a comedy is a major question.

Wednesday

	ABC	CBS	Fox	NBC	The CW
8:00-8:30	The Middle	Survivor	Lie To Me	UNDERCOVERS	America's Next Top Model
8:30-9:00	BETTER TOGETHER	Survivor	Lie To Me	UNDERCOVERS	America's Next Top Model
9:00-9:30	Modern Family	Criminal Minds	Hell's Kitchen	Law & Order: SVU	HELLCATS
9:30-10:00	Cougar Town	Criminal Minds	Hell's Kitchen	Law & Order: SVU	HELLCATS
10:00-11:00	THE WHOLE TRUTH	THE DEFENDERS	Local	LAW & ORDER: LOS ANGELES	Local

Lots of questions here. This could be NBC best night outside of Sunday night when they have Football. Survivor should win the first hour overall, and probably in the demographic, so the question becomes which of the other four shows (I'm not counting the CW in this) will come in second and survive. I'm not sure that Lie To Me can really anchor the night. It worked fine after House and might have worked against the sort of shows that CBS had there previously, but will be in big trouble against Survivor. The Middle isn't the strongest of the returning ABC comedies but I don't think they could have run the best of the ABC comedies at this hour and still have Modern Family be as good as it currently is. I'm really interested in seeing Undercovers, and if this is done properly it it could be the show that finishes second to Survivor. The second hour belongs to Criminal Minds and Law & Order SVU. I'm not entirely happy about the decision to run L&O: SVU here – I'd much prefer to see in the third hour of Tueseday nights while Parenthood moved down to an earlier hour. A fall season of Hell's Kitchen – if indeed this is what Fox intends to do after the Baseball playoffs – is basically a placeholder until American Idol comes back or they're first to move things about. The ABC comedies will do well if not spectacularly. This brings us to the third hour, or the "Court Hour" as I'm beginning to call it. I'm going to offer a theory about The Defenders, a show that seems totally out of place not just in the time-slot but in the whole CBS line-up. My theory is that this is a placeholder and that the Untitled Criminal Minds spinoff will be slotted into this time when the show is "ready" and this show fails. I'm pretty certain that the show will fail based on the actors, the premise and the competition. I'm pretty certain that what will work here is what has gone before even if it is in a different skin. I'm talking of course about Law & Order: Los Angeles. I may think that the differences between Los Angeles and New York aren't sufficiently huge to justify a new show (now if they'd imported the British version of Law & Order they might have something different enough to be intriguing) but I'm convinced it's going to work better than either of the other two shows in the time-slot.

Thursday

	ABC	CBS	Fox	NBC	The CW
8:00-8:30	MY GENERATION	The Big Bang Theory	Bones	Community	Vampire Diaries
8:30-9:00	MY GENERATION	$#!* MY DAD SAYS	Bones	The Office	Vampire Diaries
9:00-9:30	Grey's Anatomy	CSI	Fringe	30 Rock	NIKITA
9:30-10:00	Grey's Anatomy	CSI	Fringe	OUTSOURCED	NIKITA
10:00-11:00	Private Practice	The Mentalist	Local	LOVE BITES	Local

The last time that CBS aired two half hour comedies at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (currently the first hour of primetime) was in the 1965-66 season when the network had the combination of Gilligan's Island and My Three Sons. Of course back then the networks were programming from 7:30 p.m. on so the 8 p.m. time period wasn't as big as it is today (for the record, the 7:30 p.m. timeslot on CBS featured a little show called The Munsters). The changes on the night are relatively small in terms of changing shows around but I think that the philosophy involved is very significant. In the first hour let's dismiss My Generation – if it lasts 13 weeks I'll be very surprised – and the always reliable Bones and turn to the confrontation of the night, the CBS comedies versus the NBC comedies. Community has never been a huge ratings draw – really none of the NBC comedies other than The Office have been – while The Big Bang Theory has been a breakout hit on Monday nights. The question is whether it can anchor a time slot effectively since there is a school of thought that suggests that the show's success is predicated on its Monday lead-in, Two And A Half Men. I don't agree with that assessment. While I don't think that The Big Bang Theory will draw the same sort of numbers that it drew on Mondays, I am confident that it will win the overall and probably the demographic in its time slot. And I predict that $#!* My Dad Says will be competitive with The Office in its time. I expect the status quo for the rest of the night. Outsourced might work well enough for the network to give it a full season and maybe more, but Love Bites is probably DOA.

Friday

	ABC	CBS	Fox	NBC	The CW
8:00-8:30	Secret Millionaire	Medium	Human Target	Who Do You Think You Are?/SCHOOL PRIDE	Smallville
9:00-10:00	BODY OF PROOF	CSI: NY	THE GOOD GUYS	Dateline NBC	Supernatural
10:00-11:00	20/20	BLUE BLOODS	Local	OUTLAW	Local

Wow! All of a sudden Friday is a hot night for the networks. Previously an under-programmed wasteland for reality shows we suddenly have nine scripted programs on the evening. As a result I believe that networks that program reality shows and news programs will suffer. While I don't think those shows will be cancelled – on the whole they're cheap to produce – they're going to hurt the networks that program them. This definitely plays into the hands of CBS and to lesser extents FOX and The CW. My expectation is that having Secret Millionaire as a lead will hurt ABC's Body Of Proof while Outlaw will suffer with School Pride and Dateline NBC preceding it. FOX has a potential problem developing with The Good Guys. Assuming that the show does not do well during its Summer run it is likely that the network will pull the plug on the show before September. Since FOX has tentatively placed Kitchen Nightmares in the time slot for the mid-season, their programming strategy is at risk. In terms of viewership, my assumption is that Medium, Human Target and Smallville will all draw from different audiences. They probably don't have too many problems facing them. In the second hour it shapes up to being a battle between Body Of Proof and CSI: New York. Even though the show has been losing audience in the Wednesday time slot, if they can retain most of their audience they should do quite well. This doesn't necessarily mean that Body of Proof won't draw enough of an audience to stay on the air but I'm not sure it will win its time. The network is going to have to be patient with it. As for the battle between Blue Bloods and Outlaw, I expect Blue Bloods to be dominant. While I like Jimmy Smits, I find the premise of Outlaw (an appointee to the Supreme Court resigning and re-entering private practice as a lawyer?...working for the little guy??) to be somewhere outside of the realm of believability. Give the third hour – and the night – to CBS but with credit to the others for not giving up on the night.

Life kept interrupting me while I was trying to get this post done. One other thing; I like to post video clips from the new shows in a separate post but the US networks are definitely not making it easy for me; I can't find FOX or ABC and most CBS clips tell me that they "are not available in your region." It may take a while to find what I need.

The CW’s 2010-11 Schedule

The CW has made some minimal changes in the shows they are airing but like CBS has made significant shifts in the days that shows air.

Cancelled:
The Beautiful Life, Blonde Charity Mafia (announced, never aired), Fly Girls, High Society, Hitched Or Ditched, Melrose Place.

Retained:
America's Next Top Model, Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries

Moved:
90210, Life Unexpected, One Tree Hill

New:
Hellcats, Nikita

For midseason the network is holding reality series Shedding For The Wedding.

Complete Schedule: (New shows in Capitals)
Monday
8:00-9:00 p.m.: 90210 (new day)
9:00-10:00 p.m.: Gossip Girl

Tuesday
8:00-9:00 p.m.: One Tree Hill (new day)
9:00-10:00 p.m.: Life Unexpected (new day)

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

Thursday
8:00-9:00 p.m.: Vampire Diaries
9:00-10:00 p.m.: NIKITA

Friday
8:00-9:00 p.m.: Smallville
9:00-10:00 p.m.: Supernatural (new day)

Smallville star Tom Welling is one of the executive producers of Hellcats, the CW's new comedy-drama about the cutthroat world of college cheerleading. Aly Michalka plays Marti Perkins, a pre-law student at Lancer University. After her mother (played by Gail O'Grady) forgets to send in her scholarship application the highly intelligent Marti is forced to return to cheerleading as the only way she can stay in school. The decision to join the cheerleading team brings Marti a new roommate in team captain Savannah Moore (Ashley Tisdale) who initially clashes with Marti but warms to her when it becomes apparent that they need her to win the championship. Not everyone does. Also starring are Robbie Jones, Matt Barr, Jeremy Wong, Heather Hemmens, Elena Esovolova, Sharon Leel and Ben Browder.

Nikita, based on the French movie Nikita and several subsequent versions including the syndicated TV series starring Peta Wilson. Maggie Q plays the woman known as Nikita. As a teenager she was rescued from Death Row by a mysterious government agency known as The Division and given a new chance to serve her country. What she didn't know is that she would be serving her country as a spy and assassin. Betrayed by the only people she thought she could trust she has remained in hiding for three years. Now she's back and determined to expose The Division and seek retribution on those who betrayed her. Meanwhile The Division continues to seek out an train young people to become assassins. On of them, a young woman named Alex (Lyndsy Fonseca) is beginning to understand why the legendary Nikita chose to run. Also stars Shane West, Aaron Stanford, Ashton Holmes, Tiffany Hines, Melinda Clark and Xander Berkeley.

Shedding For The Wedding combines two of the most stressful things in life – planning a wedding and losing weight. Over a three month period ten overweight engaged couples will compete for the various elements of their dream wedding. Each week the couples will face a major physical challenge that will allow them to win an element such as invitations. They also have to eat right and exercise, helped by leading nutritionists and trainers. At the end of each episode the couples will step on the scales and the couple which has lost the least weight over the week will be eliminated. The last couple standing will win their dream wedding – on TV.

Comments:

The CW appears to have taken a leaf out of the book of their corporate "half-parent" CBS with a schedule that revitalises itself by moving shows around rather than inserting a raft of new shows. Of course in The CW's case it's probably less a case of having an embarrassment of riches in terms of programming than it is a question of cost. There seems to be a pattern in the way that the network has placed its shows: Monday is schools, Tuesday is family drama, Wednesday is "beautiful people" Thursday adventure, and Friday is boys night. I think both of the new shows have an excellent chance of succeeding and not just because the network can't afford to replace them. Hellcats has elements of the movie Bring It On combined with Glee and if played right has the potential to be a fun romp. Nikita on the other hand should work with both female and male audiences as an adventure tale which just happens to feature an attractive but empowered woman. Certainly it would seem to be as good a fit out of Vampire Diaries as Supernatural, and Supernatural work better with Smallville (officially in its final season) than a rerun of America's Next Top Model ever did. The big misfire in this whole schedule is undoubtedly Shedding For The Wedding. On any other network – including many of the cable networks – I wouldn't expect this to get picked up except as a summer series and if it did I would be amazed if it ran the full three months that The CW has announced that it will run. I honestly can't imagine people watching this... but then again I couldn't have imagined that people would willingly watch Biggest Loser either.

Coming soon – a night by night analysis of the new schedule.

CBS's 2010-11 Schedule

While CBS has probably the most stability in terms of new shows they also have what are probably the most changes of any of the networks.

Cancelled: Cold Case, Ghost Whisperer, Numb3rs, Miami Medical, Accidentally On Purpose, New Adventures Of Old Christine.

Renewed: How I Met Your Mother, Rules Of Engagement, Two And A Half Men, NCIS, NCIS Los Angeles, The Good Wife, Criminal Minds, CSI, The Mentalist, Medium, The Amazing Race, Undercover Boss

Moved: Big Bang Theory, CSI: Miami, CSI: New York, Survivor

New: Mike & Molly, Hawaii Five-O, The Defenders, $#*! My Dad Says, Blue Bloods

For the mid-season CBS has an as yet untitled spin-off from Criminal Minds.

Complete Schedule: (New shows in Capitals, except CSI, and NCIS)

Monday
8:00-8:30 p.m.: How I Met Your Mother
8:30-9:00 p.m.: Rules Of Engagement
9:00-9:30 p.m.: Two And A Half Men
9:30-10:00 p.m.: MIKE & MOLLY
10:00-11:00 p.m.: HAWAII FIVE-0

Tuesday
8:00-9:00 p.m.: NCIS
9:00-10:00 p.m.: NCIS: Los Angeles
10:00-11:00 p.m.: The Good Wife

Wednesday
8:00-9:00 p.m.: Survivor (new day and time)
9:00-10:00 p.m.: Criminal Minds
10:00-11:00 p.m.: THE DEFENDERS

Thursday
8:00-8:30 p.m.: Big Bang Theory (new day & time)
8:30-9:00 p.m.: $#!* MY DAD SAYS
9:00-10:00 p.m.: CSI
10:00-11:00 p.m.: The Mentalist

Friday
8:00-9:00 p.m.: Medium
9:00-10:00 p.m.: CSI: New York (new day & time)
10:00-11:00 p.m.: BLUE BLOODS

Saturday
8:00-10:00 p.m.: Crimetime Saturday (reruns)
10:00-11:00 p.m.: 48 Hours Mysteries

Sunday
7:00-8:00 p.m.: 60 Minutes
8:00--9:00 p.m.: The Amazing Race
9:00-10:00 p.m.: Undercover Boss
10:00-11:00 p.m.: CSI: Miami (new day & time)

Mike & Molly, the latest comedy from Chuck Lorre, is a love story about a couple of people who don't exactly fit into society's vision of attactive. Chicago cop Mike Biggs (Billy Gardell) and fourth grade teacher Molly Flynn (Melissa McCarthy) meet at an Overeaters Anonymous meeting. While Mike and Molly want to lose weight they do face obstacles bigger than a mutual fondness for pie and a mutual desire to resist temptation. Reno Wilson co-stars as Mike's partner Carl, while Swoozie Kurtz plays Molly's mother Joyce and Katy Mixon plays Molly's sexy sister Victoria. Rounding out the cast is Nyambi Nyambi as Samuel, the waiter at the diner where Mike and Carl eat, who finds the concept of eating less entire incomprehensible.

Hawaii Five-0 is the revival of the classic series from the 1970s. Starring Alex O'Laughlin as Steve McGarrett, a cop and former naval officer who returned to Hawaii to track down his father's murderer. He decides to stay after the Governor (Jean Smart) asks him to head-up a new state police unit. Making up his team are Danny "Danno" Williams (Scott Caan), a former New Jersey cop who has relocated to Hawaii with his 8 year-old daughter, Chin Ho Kelly (Daniel Dae Kim) an ex-Honolulu detective wrongly accused of corruption who was also McGarrett's father's protégé, and Chin Ho's cousin Kono (Grace Park) who is fresh out of the police academy.

The Defenders is nothing like the classic 1960s series of the same name. This version is a comedy drama about a pair of hotshot Las Vegas attorneys who go all out to represent their clients. Pete Kascmarek (Jerry O'Connell) has a passion for the law as well as for expensive clothes, fast cars and beautiful women. His partner Nick Morelli (James Belushi) is a an earnest hard charging lawyer who is trying to his marriage to his estranged wife (Gillian Vigman) and remain a presence in his son's life. Their new associate Lisa Tyler (Jurnee Smollett) is enthusiastic and determined to put her past as an exotic dancer behind her. Tanya Fischer also appears as their eager to please assistant Sophie.

$#!* (pronounced "Bleep") My Dad Says is undoubtedly the first TV series based on a Twitter feed. The feed in this case is called Shit My Dad Says but we all know how that would fly as a title for a TV series. William Shatner (must resist the desire to pun on this) stars as Ed, the titular Dad. Ed is prone to rants on just about any subject he can think of and political correctness is the last thing on his mind. Ed has two sons, Vince (Will Sasso) the meek half of a husband and wife real estate team dominated by his wife Kathleen (Nicole Sullivan), and Henry, a struggling writer and unpaid blogger (a type I'm eminently familiar with). When Henry (currently uncast) is unable to pay his part of the rent to his roommate Sam (Stephanie Lemelin) Ed suggests that Henry move in with him. The pilot at least was directed by sitcom veteran James Burrows. Oh, and late breaking news (like this is a huge surprise; The Parents Television Council has denounced CBS for the show: "CBS intentionally chose to insert an expletive into the actual name of a show, and, despite its claim that the word will be bleeped, it is just CBS' latest demonstration of its contempt for families and the public. There are an infinite number of alternatives that CBS could have chosen but its desire to shock and offend is crystal clear in this decision." Whatever?!)

Blue Bloods is a police drama following three generations of the Reagan family. Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck) is the family patriarch and New York's Chief of Police, just as his father Henry (Len Cariou) had been. Frank has three children; Danny (Donnie Wahlburg) a veteran detective, family man, and Iraq war veteran whose tactics on the job can be a bit dubious; daughter Erin (Bridget Moynahan), a New York ADA and a new single parent; and Jamie, a Harvard Law graduate who gives up a lucrative career as a lawyer to enter the "family business." After graduating from the Police Academy his life takes an unexpected turn when he's asked to become involved in an undercover investigation that even his father knows nothing about and which could have an impact on the family legacy.

The as yet unnamed Criminal Minds spinoff stars Oscar winner Forrest Whitaker as Sam Cooper, the head of an elite team from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit. Sam's team is an unusual one, not drawn from the usual run of Quantico trained agents. They include Mick Rawson (Matt Ryan), a former member of Britain's Special Forces who is an ace marksman and "an undiluted eye for rooting out evil"; John "Prophet" Sims (Michael Kelly), an ex-con with a street smart edge and a zen-like calm; and Gina LaSalle (Beau Garrett), a tough and attractive agent with a cunning sense of perception.

Comments:

CBS network boss Les Moonves described this line-up as an example of "aggressive stability." It's an apt description. The moves that Moonves announced were aggressive, attacking moves but also moves that recognised that some CBS shows, while retaining value as properties aren't what they used to be. Moving the two CSI shows not only recognises that their audiences are slipping but also acknowledges that the network has some weak points where established shows can be effective. Over the past few years CBS has had problems with the second hour of Fridays and the third hour of Sundays. The latter time slot in particular has been a show killer for CBS, so moving what was once the most popular show in the world there has to be seen as an effort to take back the hour. As for moving The Big Bang Theory to lead for $#!* My Dad Says, I think this will be a real threat to the NBC sitcoms that it will be going up against. This is actually a comedy bloc that I'm looking forward to, which something I don't often say. As for the other comedy, I'm sure that Mike & Molly will do just fine in its Monday night slot but I confess it just doesn't fire me up.

Turning to the other new shows, the one that I feel least comfortable with is The Defenders. Quirky lawyers can work but given the two lead cast members it just seems like it will be more comedy than drama. Further, I guess I have a tendency to just dislike both O'Connell and Belushi. I have higher hopes for Hawaii Five-0. I think that it is both familiar enough for people to turn in and far enough in the past that people who aren't old farts like me won't be nit picking about it. A lot will depend on the producers, writers and directors on the project making us buy Alex O'Loughlin as Steve McGarrett. Jack Lord had a certain quality that O'Loughlin in his recent series has yet to show me. (And in the spirit of nit-pickery, I would like to mention that not only does the show not have any native Hawaiians/Polynesian actors, but not one of the principal cast members was born in Hawaii.) The CBS show that I think might have the most potential to hold me is Blue Bloods. I'm a fan of Tom Selleck of course, but have been a fan of Donnie Wahlburg's acting since seeing him in Boomtown. I think that the multi-generational and family aspects of this take it beyond the realm of the "ordinary" procedural and have the potential to make it into something special.

Later today, The CW.