QUICK HITS: Monday, October 13

Here are some quick hits!

New Shows I Have Given Up On Already: Scorpion, Forever, NCIS: New Orleans, Selfie, Manhattan Love Story, Bad Judge, A to Z, Gracepoint, Mulaney

New Shows That Could Join That List: The Mysteries of Laura, Stalker, Cristela

New Shows I Am Loving or at Least Enjoying: Red Band Society, Madam Secretary, Gotham, Black-ish, How to Get Away with Murder

So Basically... This is the first season where things are playing out pretty much how I expected. The shows I'm enjoying are the ones I was looking forward to. The ones I have given up on were not ones I was excited about. There's no "surprise" series for me that I really enjoy like Chicago Fire or Made in Jersey in years past. The only semi-surprises are that I've stuck with The Mysteries of Laura so far and gave up on Gracepoint sooner than I thought I would.

Some Quick Ideas About Midseason:

ABC - Not a ton to think about with some shows already scheduled during hiatuses (Galavant, Marvel's Agent Carter) and a decent fall with new shows. Despite the deserved full season for Black-ish, ABC really needs to give Fresh Off the Boat a chance to succeed on its Wednesday lineup. It's not going to stand a chance anywhere else. Therefore, I would air less repeats and end Black-ish in March to give Fresh Off the Boat the Wednesday glow for a few weeks. If it succeeds, ABC will actually have five strong comedies and could maybe start a Tuesday block with existing hits instead of new comedies that fail so quickly. They already have to do that on Thurs anyway with How to Get Away with Murder only having 15 episode seasons. I would put American Crime or The Astronaut Wives' Club or both on Sundays. An unscripted option like 500 Questions might be good for Tuesday 8pm if/when the comedy lineup fails. Nashville could be a problem too but it has 22 episodes so there's not much they can do there.

CBS - CBS also does not have a ton of open spots at first glance, but they don't have as much on the bench as ABC. I know they're planning CSI: Cyber for Sundays, but I also think it could work on Mondays at 10pm as it could be a good pair with the geeky Scorpion. Something isn't going to work comedy-wise on Mondays or Thursdays so there's probably room for Mike & Molly or The Odd Couple or both. Battle Creek could be a Wednesday option if Stalker doesn't pan out. I would leave Tuesdays alone unless things get really bad for Person of Interest.

NBC - NBC has a ton waiting on the bench and not as many spots as they usually have available. Right now I see only a few holes on the schedule, though they have about two months without The Voice to fill. I think some of their mini "event" series like A.D. and Aquarius should go to Sundays (I think A.D. is already planned for that night). NBC has several comedies on deck including Parks and Recreation and four newbies. Maybe create a two hour comedy block on Mondays or Tuesdays while The Voice is gone? It would be a tough sell but I don't see anywhere else except maybe 8pm Thursday. Wednesdays are OK for now and NBC has plans for 9-11pm on Thursdays after the Super Bowl. It will be a puzzle but NBC may be emboldened to keep shows for summer after they ended up renewing The Night Shift and Undateable this summer.

FOX - Oh boy. FOX. So much to do and not even a lot on the bench that inspires confidence. With Gotham at a full season, I could see them bringing The Following back to Mondays at 9pm once Sleepy Hollow's season ends, just like last year. The other scripted options seem like as much of instant bombs as FOX already has. And then there's American Idol. They wanted to cut it back some, but they might be forced to keep the two hour Weds/one hour Thurs format just because they have so many problems on their schedule. I don't really know what FOX should do. They need a game-changer like NBC had with The Voice a couple years ago. And they're just not there yet.