Welcome to another season of Upfronts! This week, I will give my suggestions for each network. Next week will bring my schedule predictions and the following week will have the official schedules! I will make my usual caveat that I have not read or seen any pilots so my suggestions are based on the limited information I have on them and what I've been reading about buzz for them.
In general, I tend to favor launching and picking up more pilots. I think it raises the chances for success and if things do work, well then some of the shows on the bench could be saved for summer. NBC's continued success with The Voice, This is Us, and the Chicago shows not to mention football masks the fact that they struggled to launch anything new this year with Good Girls probably the most solid and that's shaky at best. If you count Will & Grace as a new show, that would have been their biggest success but even that dropped from a 3.0 demo premiere to below a 1.0 demo by the end of the season. They need to keep launching new shows and maybe they'll find something that hits like This is Us did in a big way two years ago.
Past NBC suggestions: 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011
For a list of NBC pilots, click here
MONDAYS
8:00 The Voice
10:00 THE ENEMY WITHIN
I thought The Brave was a great choice for a post-Voice slot last year, but that obviously didn't work out so maybe it needs to go back to the thriller genre that worked for The Blacklist in this slot as well as Blindspot to a lesser degree. The Enemy Within sounds a little like The Blacklist and if it gets a ton of promotion in the summer, seems like it could get some interest.
TUESDAYS
8:00 The Voice
9:00 This is Us
10:00 THE VILLAGE
NBC used their huge This is Us lead-in this year on an ill-advised true crime show (Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders) and a third year show (Chicago Med). It's time to try their biggest scripted lead-in on a compatible show. The Village seems to fit in that category the best.
WEDNESDAYS
8:00 MANIFEST
9:00 Chicago PD
10:00 Law & Order: SVU
OK, so Manifest sounds an awful lot like Lost. So why not take a flier and let it have the timeslot that Lost started off in for ABC back in 2004. If they can market it the right way, they might be able to draw people in. It could have a revival effect without actually being a revival. I think it's worth a shot. I would also swap Chicago PD and Law & Order: SVU. SVU is not going to last many more years (though I know that's been said forever). Let it run one more year on Wednesday and then move it to Friday or something like that but it's time to start letting Chicago PD be the anchor of the night.
THURSDAYS
8:00 Superstore
8:30 ABBY'S
9:00 Will & Grace
9:30 The Good Place
10:00 Chicago Fire
NBC did wrong by Chicago Fire this year with lead-ins from Great News and Champions. Yet it did very well given the circumstances. So I would not put another unproven show at 9:30pm. I would take their most promising comedy pilot - Abby's - and sandwich it between Superstore and Will & Grace. NBC doesn't have a great slot for comedies anywhere, but this is their best bet.
FRIDAYS
8:00 NEW AMSTERDAM
9:00 The Blacklist
10:00 Dateline NBC
I certainly hope NBC will be aggressive this year on Fridays and why not try a medical drama that could have an old skew and perhaps tap into the CBS Friday audience. The Blacklist did enough on Wednesday to get renewed in my opinion, but I think it's time to be a Friday show and maybe have it be its final season.
SATURDAYS
8:00 Encores
SUNDAYS
7:00 Football Night in America
8:30 Sunday Night Football
Of course. Midseason needs to revamp in a big way for Sundays. I would try something like Ellen's Game of Games at 8pm, LA's Finest at 9pm, and The Gilded Age at 10pm (though Gilded could be held for summer).
MIDSEASON: FRIENDS-IN-LAW, THE GILDED AGE, GUESS WHO DIED, LA'S FINEST, NO WAY BACK, SO CLOSE, Better Late Than Never, Chicago Med, Ellen's Game of Games, Good Girls, Little Big Shots, Rise, The Wall
I already mentioned what I would do for Sundays. I would make Chicago Med the first show off the bench again wherever there's a need. It could work in pretty much any of the new drama slots I listed above. For The Voice hiatus, they will have a little bit more time without the Olympics so I would do some unscripted stuff and also short orders (8 episodes or so) for some fliers on current midseason shows, even Rise, which has been low but steady. If The Enemy Within works, I'd hold it and let it come back with The Voice So I would do something like: Mon: The Wall/Better Late Than Never/Good Girls, Tues: Little Big Shots/This is Us/The Village or Rise. The new comedies can be used for when Will & Grace and The Good Place end or if Abby's fails.
CANCELLED/ENDED: A.P. Bio, Blindspot, The Brave, Champions, Genius Junior, Great News, Law & Order: True Crime, Taken, Timeless
In general, I tend to favor launching and picking up more pilots. I think it raises the chances for success and if things do work, well then some of the shows on the bench could be saved for summer. NBC's continued success with The Voice, This is Us, and the Chicago shows not to mention football masks the fact that they struggled to launch anything new this year with Good Girls probably the most solid and that's shaky at best. If you count Will & Grace as a new show, that would have been their biggest success but even that dropped from a 3.0 demo premiere to below a 1.0 demo by the end of the season. They need to keep launching new shows and maybe they'll find something that hits like This is Us did in a big way two years ago.
Past NBC suggestions: 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011
For a list of NBC pilots, click here
MONDAYS
8:00 The Voice
10:00 THE ENEMY WITHIN
I thought The Brave was a great choice for a post-Voice slot last year, but that obviously didn't work out so maybe it needs to go back to the thriller genre that worked for The Blacklist in this slot as well as Blindspot to a lesser degree. The Enemy Within sounds a little like The Blacklist and if it gets a ton of promotion in the summer, seems like it could get some interest.
TUESDAYS
8:00 The Voice
9:00 This is Us
10:00 THE VILLAGE
NBC used their huge This is Us lead-in this year on an ill-advised true crime show (Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders) and a third year show (Chicago Med). It's time to try their biggest scripted lead-in on a compatible show. The Village seems to fit in that category the best.
WEDNESDAYS
8:00 MANIFEST
9:00 Chicago PD
10:00 Law & Order: SVU
OK, so Manifest sounds an awful lot like Lost. So why not take a flier and let it have the timeslot that Lost started off in for ABC back in 2004. If they can market it the right way, they might be able to draw people in. It could have a revival effect without actually being a revival. I think it's worth a shot. I would also swap Chicago PD and Law & Order: SVU. SVU is not going to last many more years (though I know that's been said forever). Let it run one more year on Wednesday and then move it to Friday or something like that but it's time to start letting Chicago PD be the anchor of the night.
THURSDAYS
8:00 Superstore
8:30 ABBY'S
9:00 Will & Grace
9:30 The Good Place
10:00 Chicago Fire
NBC did wrong by Chicago Fire this year with lead-ins from Great News and Champions. Yet it did very well given the circumstances. So I would not put another unproven show at 9:30pm. I would take their most promising comedy pilot - Abby's - and sandwich it between Superstore and Will & Grace. NBC doesn't have a great slot for comedies anywhere, but this is their best bet.
FRIDAYS
8:00 NEW AMSTERDAM
9:00 The Blacklist
10:00 Dateline NBC
I certainly hope NBC will be aggressive this year on Fridays and why not try a medical drama that could have an old skew and perhaps tap into the CBS Friday audience. The Blacklist did enough on Wednesday to get renewed in my opinion, but I think it's time to be a Friday show and maybe have it be its final season.
SATURDAYS
8:00 Encores
SUNDAYS
7:00 Football Night in America
8:30 Sunday Night Football
Of course. Midseason needs to revamp in a big way for Sundays. I would try something like Ellen's Game of Games at 8pm, LA's Finest at 9pm, and The Gilded Age at 10pm (though Gilded could be held for summer).
MIDSEASON: FRIENDS-IN-LAW, THE GILDED AGE, GUESS WHO DIED, LA'S FINEST, NO WAY BACK, SO CLOSE, Better Late Than Never, Chicago Med, Ellen's Game of Games, Good Girls, Little Big Shots, Rise, The Wall
I already mentioned what I would do for Sundays. I would make Chicago Med the first show off the bench again wherever there's a need. It could work in pretty much any of the new drama slots I listed above. For The Voice hiatus, they will have a little bit more time without the Olympics so I would do some unscripted stuff and also short orders (8 episodes or so) for some fliers on current midseason shows, even Rise, which has been low but steady. If The Enemy Within works, I'd hold it and let it come back with The Voice So I would do something like: Mon: The Wall/Better Late Than Never/Good Girls, Tues: Little Big Shots/This is Us/The Village or Rise. The new comedies can be used for when Will & Grace and The Good Place end or if Abby's fails.
CANCELLED/ENDED: A.P. Bio, Blindspot, The Brave, Champions, Genius Junior, Great News, Law & Order: True Crime, Taken, Timeless
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