THE WEEK AHEAD: September 30-October 6, 2019

Here's a look at Week #2 of the 2019-20 season!

ABC
ABC heads into week two in a similar situation as all the networks: declining veterans and unimpressive newbies. The Conners seemed disappointing on Tuesday but as the week went on, its performance looked better comparatively. ABC does have one new series premiering this week with the reboot of Kids Say the Darndest Things on Sunday night, which seems like it might be a good fit out of America's Funniest Home Videos.

MONDAY
8:00 Dancing with the Stars
10:00 The Good Doctor

TUESDAY
8:00 The Conners
8:30 Bless This Mess
9:00 Mixed-ish
9:30 Black-ish
10:00 Emergence

WEDNESDAY
8:00 The Goldbergs
8:30 Schooled
9:00 Modern Family
9:30 Single Parents
10:00 Emergence

THURSDAY
8:00 Grey's Anatomy
9:00 A Million Little Things
10:00 How to Get Away with Murder

FRIDAY
8:00 American Housewife
8:30 Fresh Off the Boat
9:00 20/20

SATURDAY
8:00 College Football

SUNDAY
7:00 America's Funniest Home Videos
8:00 Kids Say the Darndest Things (SERIES PREMIERE)
9:00 Shark Tank
10:00 The Rookie

CBS
I think it's safe to say that CBS had the worst week for the networks with a staggering decline for Young Sheldon with no lead-in from The Big Bang Theory, and trouble for all five newbies that premiered. This week brings their full Wednesday lineup with the season premieres of SEAL Team and S.W.A.T. on its new night. Some steady performances, even if low, would be a welcome sight for CBS.

MONDAY
8:00 The Neighborhood
8:30 Bob Hearts Abishola
9:00 All Rise
10:00 Bull

TUESDAY
8:00 NCIS
9:00 FBI
10:00 NCIS: New Orleans

WEDNESDAY
8:00 Survivor
9:00 SEAL Team (Season Premiere)
10:00 S.W.A.T. (Season Premiere)

THURSDAY
8:00 Young Sheldon
8:30 The Unicorn
9:00 Mom
9:30 Carol's Second Act
10:00 Evil

FRIDAY
8:00 Hawaii Five-0
9:00 Magnum P.I.
10:00 Blue Bloods

SATURDAY
8:00 FBI (Repeat)
9:00 Bull (Repeat)
10:00 48 Hours

SUNDAY
7:00 60 Minutes
8:00 God Friended Me
9:00 NCIS: Los Angeles
10:00 Madam Secretary

NBC
NBC had a pretty decent week from its returning shows, but their three new shows were pretty DOA last week. If those new shows decline significantly this week, they may get close to "pull immediately" territory, which rarely happens anymore. That's how bad it was. But The Voice and One Chicago looked healthy so there's that. This week has the season premiere of The Blacklist on Friday night.

MONDAY
8:00 The Voice
10:00 Bluff City Law

TUESDAY
8:00 The Voice
9:00 This is Us
10:00 New Amsterdam

WEDNESDAY
8:00 Chicago Med
9:00 Chicago Fire
10:00 Chicago PD

THURSDAY
8:00 Superstore
8:30 Perfect Harmony
9:00 The Good Place
9:30 Sunnyside
10:00 Law & Order: SVU

FRIDAY
8:00 The Blacklist (Season Premiere)
9:00 Dateline NBC

SATURDAY
8:00 The Voice (Repeat)
9:00 Dateline NBC
10:00 Saturday Night Live (Repeat)

SUNDAY
7:00 Football Night in America
8:30 Sunday Night Football: Indianapolis at Kansas City

FOX
FOX was home of TV's top show this week, The Masked Singer as well as arguably the most impressive performance of the whole week in 9-1-1. They've only had one new show's ratings come out (Bless the Harts will see its results in a couple hours) and Prodigal Son, while not that impressive, was the only show to break a rounded 1.0 in the demo. This week, they will premiere the new Almost Family following week two of Masked. If Masked has another big week, it could become the second 1.0+ demo premiere for FOX though I suspect Prodigal will dip well below that for week two.

MONDAY
8:00 9-1-1
9:00 Prodigal Son

TUESDAY
8:00 The Resident
9:00 Empire

WEDNESDAY
8:00 The Masked Singer
9:00 Almost Family (SERIES PREMIERE)

THURSDAY
8:00 Thursday Night Football: LA Rams at Seattle

FRIDAY
8:00 Friday Night SmackDown

SATURDAY
8:00 College Football

SUNDAY
7:00 NFL Overrun/The OT
8:00 The Simpsons
8:30 Bless the Harts
9:00 Bob's Burgers
9:30 Family Guy

CW
The CW is in summer mode for one more week until Sunday night when their season finally kicks off with the series premiere of Batwoman and season premiere of Supergirl. Batwoman is certainly their best hope so it's a little risky to kick off their fall season with it when basically no one has been watching the CW this summer, but we'll see.

MONDAY
8:00 Penn & Teller: Fool Us (Season Finale)
9:00 Whose Line is it Anyway? (Repeat)
9:30 Whose Line is it Anyway? (Repeat)

TUESDAY
8:00 Pandora
9:00 Pandora (Season Finale)

WEDNESDAY
8:00 iHeartRadio Music Festival Night 1 (Special)

THURSDAY
8:00 iHeartRadio Music Festival Night 2 (Special)

FRIDAY
8:00 Masters of Illusion (Repeat)
8:30 The Big Stage (Repeat)
9:00 Peaking
9:30 Peaking

SUNDAY
8:00 Batwoman (SERIES PREMIERE)
9:00 Supergirl (Season Premiere)

PILOT REVIEW: Bless the Harts

BLESS THE HARTS

Starring: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Jillian Bell, Ike Barinholtz

Created by Emily Spivey
Written by Erin Wagoner, Directed by Pete Michels

I haven't had to review many cartoons in my near decade of doing this blog and I'll give a full disclosure - I'm not a fan of animated shows in general. I haven't really liked one since Doug. I've never seen a full episode of The Simpsons or Family Guy. So, I will fully admit that I had a bad attitude going into FOX's newest entry in the Animation Domination lineup, Bless the Harts.

Bless the Harts seems to be trying to exist in the same type of world where shows like Parks and Recreation have thrived: small town USA. Filled with eccentric personalities and some oddball local politics, I can see what they're going for here. The problem is, it is not executed well. Instead, we have a bunch of cheap laughs and some recurring jokes that land incredibly flat (don't even get me started on the Colin Powell jokes. What is this, 2004?) It says something when a gimmicky thing like Jesus as a character wasn't the worst part of the show.

One of the major premises of the episode was that Jenny (Kristen Wiig) kept trying to sell her mother, Betty's (Maya Rudolph) collection of Hug n' Bugs and Betty kept buying them back. That's all well and good except that joke and major plot point doesn't actually work. Where exactly was Jenny mailing these things to if she knows where the storage unit and Betty lives with them? Things like that bug me on sitcoms because they sacrifice credibility just to make a joke. There were other ways they could have made that joke work and they took a lazy way out.

Whenever there's a genre that I'm not really into, I am always curious to hear what people who liked the genre think of a new show. I'm biased against Bless the Harts partly because this is just not the type of show I'd be into even if it was done well. But when my wife was watching alongside me and I commented that I had never seen an episode of The Simpsons or Family Guy, she said that this show was "not as good as those."

WILL I WATCH IT AGAIN?
Nope. But I've still seen more episodes of Bless the Harts than some of FOX's iconic animated shows.

PILOT REVIEW: Evil

EVIL

Starring: Katja Herbers, Mike Colter, Aasif Mandvi, Kurt Fuller, Marti Matulis, Brooklyn Shuck, Skyler Grey, Maddy Crocco, Dalya Kanpp, with Christine Lahti and Michael Emerson

Created by Robert King and Michelle King
Written by Robert King & Michelle King, Directed by Robert King

In spring, I finally started to watch The Good Wife, which had been on my list for years. I knew I would probably like it and am loving it (I'm currently in season four). So I had a level of excitement about Evil, because I like scary shows and I now know that I like Robert and Michelle King, creator of The Good Wife and Evil. This was a real slow burn though and I wanted it to get going much sooner than it did.

I read that Robert and Michelle King were inspired to do this show partly because Robert is spiritual and a believer, but Michelle is a skeptic. Although I like scary things, I'm not always a fan of supernatural or horror shows, so this isn't really the type of show I would like. This is not a CBS type of show and maybe that's why I liked it more than something like FOX's recent horror show The Exorcist. The CBS-ified-ness, however slight, made the show a little more accessible for someone like me.

Evil has a great cast. I really liked Katja Herbers and Mike Colter and the dynamic between them. I loved Michael Emerson in Person of Interest and others did in Lost. He does a magnificent job of playing creepy or off-kilter roles and this may be his most mysterious yet. The fact that he didn't appear until close to the end of the episode was a smart move. I found myself anticipating his appearance and it kept me more interested wondering when it would come.

I felt like the show didn't totally payoff at the end of the pilot and it makes me wonder about it long term. While The Good Wife expertly blended weekly cases with overarching stories, I'm not convinced that Evil is the type of show that can make that work on a regular basis. Can it convincingly find new cases about supernatural occurrences in a way that won't seem contrived? And as much as I like Michael Emerson, how long can he continue to be just a creep? The previews for next week's episode look like more of the same with him. Maybe this just will end up not being the show for me and I'll dive back into season four of The Good Wife. But I'm not done being intrigued by it yet.

WILL I WATCH IT AGAIN?
Yes. This is teetering on the edge of being my type of show, but my love for The Good Wife has bought the Kings a couple episodes from me.

PILOT REVIEW: Sunnyside

SUNNYSIDE

Starring: Kal Penn, Kiran Deol, Moses Storm, Diana Maria Riva, Samba Schutte, Poppy Liu, Joel Kim Booster

Created by Matt Murray and Kal Penn
Written by Michael Murray & Kal Penn, Directed by Oz Rodriguez

Sunnyside is a new sitcom that comes from the Michael Schur world. He didn't create it, but is a pretty involved executive producer. Yes, this is the same Michael Schur who is well known for The Office, Parks and Recreation and The Good Place. But I guess everyone is allowed a miss sometimes and this is certainly a miss for Schur. Though, again, he didn't write it himself so maybe that's the problem.

It's too bad because I think Sunnyside has a great premise, centered on a disgraced ex-congressman (Kal Penn) who is trying some get rich quick schemes, but ends up finding a worthy cause by helping a group of immigrants become citizens. It's a very timely premise for the world we live in and it's something that hasn't really been done on TV before, especially as a sitcom. Unfortunately, the execution is far, far weaker than the premise and the biggest sin committed by this show is, it just isn't funny. There hasn't been a comedy pilot this fall that has knocked it out of the park (The Unicorn came closest) but there were at least things to smile or laugh at in each one. Not here.

I think it starts with Kal Penn. Maybe he should stick to politics because I have learned through a couple different shows that I just don't find him to be that good an actor, and I certainly don't find him funny. He came across too earnest and self-righteous in Designated Survivor and he wasn't believable as a drunk or the self-centered person he's supposed to be at the beginning of this show. The group of immigrants could be a delightful ensemble, but nothing really works with them here. From a lame Hamilton joke (which already feels just a bit dated) to the very obnoxious brother and sister characters played by Joel Kim Booster and Poppy Liu, none of the characters made much of an impression and certainly didn't seem like they were capable of gelling together as an ensemble.

By not being able to watch this until after the ratings came out, I know Sunnyside flopped and isn't likely to be long for this world. But if it had turned into a multi-year run, what would that look like? Obviously they can't drag out the immigration process for years. I don't usually think comedies have to deal with running out of plot but this one might have, unless the plan was/is for it to just eventually be a comedy about a group of friends. Oh well, I guess that's a moot point now.

WILL I WATCH IT AGAIN?
I almost always watch at least two episodes of a new comedy. But this one really has me questioning that.

PILOT REVIEW: Perfect Harmony

PERFECT HARMONY

Starring: Bradley Whitford, Anna Camp, Rizwan Manji, Tymberlee Hill, Will Greenberg, Geno Segers, Spencer Allport

Created by Lesley Wake Webster
Written by Lesley Wake Webster, Directed by Jason Winer

The first TV sitcom ever about a church choir, Perfect Harmony, is an interesting entry into the sitcom world. I will admit I'm taking this from a podcast I listened to recently but I think it's a very apt description. There was a season's worth of plot in the pilot episode. It almost felt like a movie (specifically, the movie Pitch Perfect. Hi Anna Camp!)

Bradley Whitford makes his return to NBC as Arthur Cochran, a former music professor and now a widower about to commit suicide when he hears a terrible church choir and needs to go fix them before he can end his life. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that Cochran obviously doesn't kill himself and you can probably imagine if he ends up enjoying becoming a part of this new community or not. The episode ends with a church choir competition that certainly seems like it could have waited until episode four or five but inexplicably happens in the pilot.

I like Bradley Whitford a lot of the time in general and I like him a lot of the time in this episode, but every once in awhile, he just has a delivery that seems a little tired so many years after he perfected it as Josh Lyman in The West Wing. I see a little bit of that here and there, but I still think it's a good role for him as long as they keep him likable. This is a good vehicle for Anna Camp too, who can be quite funny when in the right situation. The rest of the cast is filled with quirky characters that right now seem a little bit too much about their quirks than actual people but hopefully the show can flush that out if they don't try to do so much plot in future episodes.

One thing that needs to stop immediately is the recurring joke of Rizwan Manji's Jax not knowing titles to famous movies and TV shows. That's an example of something that is funny in the writer's room if you're just bouncing things around, but absolutely does not work when spoken by a character on a show. It was embarrassingly bad and makes this season's other bad recurring joke (Bob's sock business in Bob Hearts Abishola) seem like comedic genius. That needs to stop now. It might seem like a little thing but if that's indicative of the writing here, then I'm more pessimistic about the show than I was about the rest of the episode.

WILL I WATCH IT AGAIN?
Yes. But there best not be any of those dumb jokes I just mentioned.

PILOT REVIEW: Carol's Second Act

CAROL'S SECOND ACT

Starring: Patricia Heaton, Igo Aghayere, Lucas Neff, Jean-Luc Bilodeau, Sabrina Jalees, with Ashley Tisdale and Kyle MacLachlan

Created by Emily Halpern and Sarah Haskins
Written by Emily Halpern & Sarah Haskins, Directed by Pamela Fryman

Patricia Heaton has had quite a career over more than two decades. She went from an Emmy winning role as Debra on Everybody Loves Raymond for nine years to frazzled mom Frankie Heck for another nine years. In between, she even starred in a short-lived sitcom that certainly had its supporters, Back to You with Kelsey Grammar. Now she's back again in another network sitcom and there's something comforting and appealing about a beloved star in the medium they do best in.

Heaton stars as Carol Kenney, a woman beginning a second career as a doctor in her 50s. She is grouped up with a bunch of millennial interns (Lucas Neff, Jean-Luc Bilodeau, Sabrina Jalees) at Loyola Memorial Hospital in Southern California under the direction of their tough boss, Chief Resident Dr. Maya Jacobs (Igo Aghayere). Oh, and there's an older attending physician, Dr. Stephen Frost (Kyle MacLachlan) who takes an immediate liking to Carol and Carol's beautiful daughter, Jenny (Ashley Tisdale). Does all of that sound like a pretty stock sitcom set up? Can't you tell that Carol is going to seem old and out of touch while her millennial peers sneer at her? But of course, Carol is going to prove to be more able than it appeared and she could teach a thing or two to those young whipper snappers.

The very predictable plotlines came to pass in the pilot and were coupled with a couple really cringey jokes and moments. But Carol's Second Act worked to an extent. To the extent that it worked was due to Heaton. She is a veteran and it's easy to tell. She had an easy charm and rhythm to things that come from being in the sitcom world for many years (even if her most recent run was on a single-cam). This show is no Everybody Loves Raymond or The Middle and Carol Kenney is no Frankie Heck (though she might be on par with Debra Barone). But I do trust Heaton to be very game and to give it her all even if I was rolling my eyes at the number of millennial stereotypes that were already presented (though the "he/him" joke did give me a chuckle).

If you wanted to know why Heaton is so important to this show, look no further than how terrible the subplot involving Lucas Neff and Sabrina Jalees' characters was. If the whole show was like that, I would have turned it off and never watched again. But, as I said before, I trust Heaton. She seems like she will play well off of Igo Aghayere and while Kyle MacLachlan was use sparingly in the pilot, he's also a pretty game veteran actor. So maybe Carol's Second Act is a little more true to life than I even thought. Maybe these old vets can teach the younger actors a thing or two about how to be on a sitcom.

WILL I WATCH IT AGAIN?
Yes. I don't know if Heaton will be enough to draw me back all season but I'll give it a couple weeks to find its footing.

PILOT REVIEW: The Unicorn

THE UNICORN

Starring: Walton Goggins, Rob Corddry, Omar Miller, Mara Lynne Robinson, Ruby Jay, Makenzie Moss, Devin Bright and Michaela Watkins

Created by Bill Martin, Mike Schiff & Grady Cooper
Teleplay by Bill Martin & Mike Schiff, Story by Bill Martin, Mike Schiff & Grady Cooper, Directed by John Hamburg

I will be honest, when this show was announced I wasn't super interested in it because I didn't know what a unicorn was (aside from the mythical animal). Is it really that common of a term? Enough to title a show after it? I'm not so sure.

However, I'm happy to report that its title is the worst thing about an otherwise very charming sitcom with a super strong ensemble filling out the cast. Centered around widower Wade (Walton Goggins) and his attempts to re-enter the dating world more than a year after his wife's death, this show benefits tremendously from every member of the ensemble pulling their weight. Wade's daughters, Grace and Natalie (Ruby Jay and Makenzie Moss) are both strong in their own ways with Jay able to deliver some deadpan lines to good effect and Moss reveling in the more sarcastic and goofy role. Michaela Watkins is a hoot in her return to a network sitcom after some great moments in the one season wonder Trophy Wife, and Rob Corddry has some funny moments as well, especially when playing off of Watkins. Omar Miller and Mara Lynne Robinson also have good chemistry (Robinson's line about an intervention with her on screen sun (Devin Bright) was a highlight).

But, it's also worth mentioning that this great ensemble would not gel in the way it does if it didn't have someone capable at the center and Walton Goggins, an Emmy nominee for Justified, is delightful as the center character. He is a loving dad, a grieving widower, and an entirely befuddled dater. Goggins glides between these three distinct character traits and has already built a strong chemistry with his on-screen friends and especially his on-screen daughters. While his scene on the date was probably the weakest part of the pilot thanks to a so-so guest star and some weaker writing, Goggins still made it work and had a couple funny moments.

A sitcom does not need to re-invent the wheel to be good. When I watch a sitcom pilot, I don't actually care too much about what the plot is. That's a more important issue when we're talking about dramas. But in a sitcom pilot, I look to see a couple things: is there good writing and is there good chemistry? The first answer is a cautious yes and the second answer is an enthusiastic yes. Who knows if this show will find enough stories to tell but with good characters and good relationships, it certainly has the pieces in place.

WILL I WATCH IT AGAIN?
Yes. I could see this becoming my favorite new comedy of the year.

PILOT REVIEW: Stumptown

STUMPTOWN

Starring: Cobie Smulders, Jake Johnson, Tantoo Cardinal, Cole Sibus, Adrian Martinez, with Camryn Manheim and Michael Ealy

Based on Graphic Novels by Greg Rucka, Matthew Southworth & Justin Greenwood
Created for Television by Jason Richman
Written by Jason Richman, Directed by James Griffiths

For the first time this past spring, I had the opportunity to read some of the pilot scripts. I had a grand plan to read all of them and I started with ABC but I only ever made it through the ABC scripts (it was a lot to read!) There were some scripts I liked and I was excited to see what ABC ended up picking up. That excitement turned to sadness when they ended up picking up very few shows and one they did pick up, Stumptown, was my least favorite drama pilot I read.

In practice, I would say it is only slightly better. The story of Portland private investigator, Dex Parios (Cobie Smulders) only worked to some extent thanks to a strong performance by Cobie Smulders, who did her best with mediocre material. She is giving it her all and was a healthy mix of hard-edged and cool under pressure. I'm just so tired of the "woman who is a hard-liver with a mess of a persoanl life still manages to be a killer law enforcer" trope, but that doesn't mean that Smulders wasn't doing it with gusto.

She is helped by a strong cast including a decent performance by another sitcom alum, Jake Johnson as bar owner and friend Grey McConnell. TV veterans Camryn Manheim and Michael Ealy are in the cast as well, but I didn't feel like they were used enough in the pilot. I would like to give a shout out to Cole Sibus as one of the few actors with Down Syndrome to ever be on a network drama as a regular. It's great to see representation like that! The case of the week, centered on a casino owner trying to find her granddaughter, was not that interesting and that's a death knell for me when it comes to procedural dramas. If they can't even find a compelling case for a series premiere, then what makes me think I can trust them with future episodes?

Finally, this show seems to have one of the same problems as Bluff City Law. It is set in a unique city. Of course there's Portlandia, but otherwise there's not a ton of shows set in Portland. So, why was there very little that felt unique to Portland? I think about how integral some settings have been to other dramas (the Chicago shows, Hawaii Five-0, the short-lived and wonderful Detroit 1-8-7). If you're going to make a show about Portland and name the freakin' thing Stumptown, a nickname of the city, then you better make the show really feel like it's a part of that city and not just with establishing shots at a few points in the episode. I think that is one of the biggest disappointments I have with both this and Bluff City. Maybe I wouldn't like them either way, but I'd be more apt to give them a longer leash.

WILL I WATCH IT AGAIN?
No. ABC is 0 for 2 with new dramas this year for me.

PILOT REVIEW: Emergence

EMERGENCE

Starring: Allison Tolman, Alexa Swinton, Owain Yeoman, Ashley Aufderheide, Robert Bailey Jr., Zabryna Guevara, with Donald Faison and Clancy Brown

Created by Michele Fazekas and Tara Butters
Written by Michele Fazekas & Tara Butters, Directed by Paul McGuigan

A few weeks ago, ABC released the first nine minutes of Emergence. I chose not to watch it at the time and to instead just wait until I could watch the whole pilot. After watching the entire pilot, I have to say I wish I had only watched the first nine minutes. Those nine minutes were at least a little bit intriguing. The rest of the pilot was a bore.

Emergence is the latest attempt to recreate the magic of Lost with a high concept show that is part sci-fi, part conspiracy thriller, part emotional drama. Most recently seen with Manifest, the TV landscape is littered with shows like this since the 2004 launch of Lost: Invasion, The Event, The Nine, The River. Just to name a few. A few of them had big premieres that fell quickly. Very few of those shows ever saw a second season (Manifest actually beat the odds in that respect). I never watched Lost, but I know a good amount about it, enough to know that Emergence is just another show not capable of getting lightning to strike the same bottle.

It's a shame because this show is a waste of the talent that is Allison Tolman. Delightful in the first season of Fargo and the quirky sitcom Downward Dog, Tolman, playing police chief Jo Evans here, just seems to be an actor in search of the right vehicle because she has a likable, down to earth personality and comes across well on screen. Her scene with the little girl's (Alexa Swinton) fake parents was pretty strong. But, this is not her breakout show. It's also a waste of Donald Faison, playing Jo's ex-husband Alex, in his first regular network show since Scrubs.

I watched the entire pilot and while I admit, my attention was fading as it went on, I felt like it just never went anywhere after its opening. Ok, we get it, there's something off with that little girl (Alexa Swinton) and that some mysterious people are trying to get her back. One thing that these types of shows usually do well is end the pilot with an interesting twist that will keep the audience coming back after its high concept pilot. That's usually enough for me to come back and then I end up being disappointed and drop the show a few weeks later (I think the ONLY show like this I've ever watched all the way through was the one season of The Event). But, the end of Emergence did nothing for me. So I might even go so far as to say this is one of the worst Lost knockoffs yet.

WILL I WATCH IT AGAIN?
Nope. As I mentioned, it was one of the few that couldn't pull me back in with its pilot ending so I have no interest in a second episode.

PILOT REVIEW: Mixed-ish

MIXED-ISH

Starring: Tika Sumpter, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Christina Anthony, Arica Himmel, Ethan William Childress, Myka-Michelle, Tracee Ellis Ross and Gary Cole

Created by Kenya Barris, Peter Saji & Tracee Ellis Ross
Teleplay by Kenya Barris & Peter Saji, Story by Kenya Barris, Peter Saji & Tracee Ellis Ross, Directed by Anton L. Cropper

There are only a couple sitcoms in history that can boast that they have had multiple spinoffs. The ones that come to mind are The Andy Griffith Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Cheers, All in the Family and Happy Days. That's a pretty iconic list of shows and not a list that I am convinced Black-ish deserves to be a part of. But here we are and Black-ish has spun-off a second show. This time, it's a prequel set in the 1980s and starring Young Bow (Arica Himmel).

The episode started with a longer than necessary scene featuring the characters from Black-ish. I know it's purpose was to connect the two shows and set up the plot to Mixed-ish but I would have made it about half as long. It felt like I was settling in to watch an episode of Black-ish instead of a new show that really is quite different. It actually has much more of a similar feel to The Goldbergs, not just with its 80s setting but also with its sentimentality. With that much Black-ish (there was also a short scene at the end), I felt like Mixed-ish got short changed in an episode that already only runs about 21 minutes.

I really do have a soft spot for ABC family sitcoms. They have given me many happy hours of TV watching over the last decade. But I sometimes feel as if they're all just incredibly similar. There are things I love about Mixed-ish and I'll get to that in a moment, but I also am starting to feel like these are as formulaic as a crime procedural. That makes me a little sad but maybe it's a sign that I need to start cutting a few of them out of my lineup. Anyway, enough soul searching and back to Mixed-ish. I really like the idea of where Bow came from being a story because I think the idea of mixed race kids from a commune is pretty clever. I hope we get to see more of a glimpse into the commune in future episodes because I think there's a lot of comedy to be mined from that.

There are some strong performances. Arica Himmel seems to be well-cast as Young Bow even if her siblings (Mykal-Michelle Harris and Ethan William Childress) are a little bit obnoxious, though Harris got a couple funny lines. Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Tika Sumpter are strong as Bow's parents. I think Gosselaar is a good actor who has been saddled with a lot of flops recently so I hope this one works out for him. Gary Cole seems like a potential scene stealer as Bow's rich grandfather. All the elements are there for Mixed-ish, but what will make it stand out among the ABC family comedies?

WILL I WATCH IT AGAIN?
Yes. Maybe something's gotta give with my ABC family comedies, but this definitely deserves more than one episode.

PILOT REVIEW: Bluff City Law

BLUFF CITY LAW











Starring: Jimmy Smits, Caitlin McGee, Barry Sloane, Michael Luwoye, MaameYaa Boafo, Stony Blyden with Jayne Atkinson and Scott Shepherd

Created by Michael Aguilar & Dean Georgaris
Teleplay by Dean Georgaris, Story by Michael Aguilar & Dean Georgaris, Directed by Jessica Yu

Did you know Memphis was called Bluff City? I did not. In fact, I realized as I started to watch this pilot that I know almost nothing about Memphis (aside from the one great This is Us episode set there). It's fun to have a drama set in a city like that instead of usual New York, Chicago or LA. Off the top of my head, I can't think of any TV show ever set permanently in Memphis before this one. Unfortunately, the setting for Bluff City Law is the most interesting part of it and they don't even do enough with that fun element. Aside from a few mood-setting shots at the beginning, there's nothing that really sets this show in Memphis and that's really a missed opportunity.

Of course, one of the biggest elements of promotion for this show was Jimmy Smits as veteran lawyer Elijah Strait. Although he is an acclaimed actor, most notably for his turns on LA Law and NYPD Blue, he is not the draw he once was and seems a little tired here. I'll admit that I have not watched Smits in his prime (the most recent time I watched him was for the pilot of the short-lived Outlaw, the very first show I reviewed for this blog back in 2010) but he can't rest on his laurels and turn in a sleepy performance. There is no real strong dynamic, good or bad, between him and his on-screen daughter, Sydney (Caitlin McGee). The promos seemed to play up their time in jail, but that was a pretty small part of the plot and episode.

The rest of the cast turns in pretty forgettable performances too. Jayne Atkinson was delightful at times in House of Cards and could be the strong southern woman she claims to be in the pilot, but she's not. The rest of the characters seem to come from the legal drama assembly line at the procedural broadcast show factory. It almost makes me regret calling the All Rise characters generic because they've got nothing on these guys and gals.

Toward the end of the episode, Jake Reilly (Barry Sloane) tells Sydney about her courtroom speech "that was some inspiring stuff." Sloane delivers it with such a blank expression that it seems disingenuous and it's how I felt about the entire episode. The show was trying to be moralistic, was trying to have something to say, was trying to be bold and it failed on all those accounts and more. I didn't love All Rise, but it at least gave me hope that it could become something. This one seems factory-made with absolutely no heart or character.

WILL I WATCH IT AGAIN?
I doubt it.

PILOT REVIEW: All Rise

ALL RISE

Starring: Simone Missick, Wilson Bethel, Jessica Camacho, J. Alex Brinson, Ruthie Ann Miles, Lindsay Mendez and Marg Helgenberger

Developed by Greg Spottiswood
Written for Television by Greg Spottiswood, Directed by Michael M. Robin

I read an article about ER recently (celebrating its 25th anniversary). It talked abut how revolutionary it was for a show to just throw the audience down in the middle of a busy hospital with a diverse group of patients and doctors. It's amazing how something that can seem so revolutionary in 1994 can seem old-hat now. All Rise, CBS's newest legal drama, has a very intense start and a diverse cast, but there's nothing at all that feels groundbreaking.

That's not to say that there's nothing to like in All Rise, a drama about the judges, prosecutors and public defenders in a Los Angeles County courthouse. There is a pretty strong cast here and it starts with Simone Missick. She seems very capable of carrying a drama like this and had a couple great moments (passing the tissues to Ruthie Ann Miles' Sherri Kansky was very funny). I am wondering if/when they will delve into her personal life because that surprisingly didn't happen at all in the pilot. It seems as though they wanted to establish her position in the workplace. I will say it was a relief to not have the typical "she's tough in the courtroom, but her personal life is a mess" trope.

The rest of the cast had some highlights, particularly Jessica Camacho and J. Alex Brinson. It seems like anytime a show wants a powerful and veteran female authority role, they're going to turn to Marg Helgenberger or Dana Delany. It's Marg's turn here and she is solid, but doesn't really bring anything different to the role. I was not particularly impressed with Wilson Bethel. He seemed like pretty much any other prosecutor in any legal drama.

Which, I guess, is really at the heart of why All Rise is fine and that's about it. After nearly a decade doing this blog, I have seen my fair share of cop/legal/medical dramas. Some of them I like and some of them I don't. I have long argued that a show doesn't need to be groundbreaking to be entertaining and certainly some of my favorites on TV right (the Chicago shows come to mind) are not breaking any new ground. But what those shows do have are good characters. It's hard to tell if that will happen for All Rise. Right now, even a good performance by someone like Missick or Camacho or Brinson doesn't mean there are good characters. They are stock characters through and through, some of them are played to a higher level than others. If All Rise is going to become a show I watch more than when the logline for the episode sounds good, I need to get more invested in these characters and soon.

WILL I WATCH IT AGAIN?
Probably at some point. Will I watch it next week? We'll see.

PILOT REVIEW: Prodigal Son

PRODIGAL SON

Starring: Tom Payne, Lou Diamond Phillips, Halston Sage, Aurora Perrineau, Frank Harts, Keiko Agena, with Bellamy Young and Michael Sheen

Created by Chris Fedak and Sam Sklaver
Written by Chris Fedak & Sam Sklaver, Directed by Lee Toland Krieger

There's a mostly forgotten movie I like called Mr. Brooks starring Kevin Costner, Demi Moore and (!) Dane Cook. It is about a well to do and respected business man who is a serial killer by night. FOX's new Prodigal Son reminds me a lot of that movie in a bit of a spiritual successor way. It is centered on the son, Malcolm Bright (Tom Payne) of a notorious serial killer, "The Surgeon" Dr. Martin Whitly (Michael Sheen). Whitly was caught when Malcolm was just a boy and even as he's entered the world of crime-solving, he has a lot of psychological issues from growing up with a serial killer who's a father - and one who insists they're "the same person" at that.

There are times where this show is a by-the-books crime procedural and other times where it seems to aim higher to try to be something more. The show is also a little bit of a jarring tonal shift where it veers from being a super moody and dark drama to a more lighthearted dramedy. I often am critical of shows that do that, but surprisingly it worked pretty well here. Even with the gloomy feel to the pilot episode, the one-liners and jokes here and there (particularly in the coroner's office) actually landed.

If I take a step back and look at this show, it all seems rather preposterous. An incarcerated dad and his odd son solving crimes together with one of them behind bars? It sounds a little laughable to put into words. But, for whatever reason, it worked on screen. Maybe it was precisely because it was a show that deals with a very serious subject matter but doesn't actually take itself too seriously. I am curious to see where this show goes in the future. I have a feeling its going to be a "case of the week" type show but it's hard to imagine a case having as much gravitas as the pilot case, which was directly related to Malcolm and Martin.

As a veteran detective, Lou Diamond Phillips is enjoyable while Bellamy Young seems entirely too young to be playing Malcolm's mother (I looked it up and she's only 12 years older than Tom Payne - and it actually seems like less). But make no mistake, this is Payne and Sheen's show. The dynamics between father and son will drive this show forward and could be what makes it a more interesting psychological show rather than just a typical crime drama. Also, I'm interested in the fact that the pilot made specific mention of Malcolm's sister, Ainsley (Halston Sage) lying to him but then never followed up on that detail. I can't imagine that was there for no reason. Maybe she will turn out to have her father's murderous traits? Or is that taking things one step too far down the preposterous trail?

WILL I WATCH IT AGAIN?
Yes. I'm curious to see what the next couple episodes of a show like this look like.

PILOT REVIEW: Bob Hearts Abishola

BOB HEARTS ABISHOLA

Starring: Billy Gardell, Folake Olowofoyeku, Christine Ebersole, Matt Jones, Maribeth Monroe, Shola Adewusi, Barry Shabaka Henley, Travis Wolfe Jr., Vernee Watson

Created by Chuck Lorre, Al Higgins, Gina Yashere & Eddie Gorodetsky
Written by Chuck Lorre, Al Higgins, Gina Yashere & Eddie Gorodetsky, Directed by Beth McCarthy-Miller

One of the very first shows I ever reviewed on this blog was Mike & Molly almost exactly nine years ago. I didn't know who Billy Gardell was then and to be honest, I don't know that much more about him now because I only watched one season of Mike & Molly. Well, he's back and this time he's living out a little bit of a middle-age white guy fantasy where he falls in love with his nurse, Abishola (newcomer Folake Olowofoyeku).

To enjoy Bob Hearts Abishola, you kind of have to look past the creepiness of it all (especially when Bob goes to find Abishola at her apartment and when you consider that Bob is 50 and Abishola seems like she's maybe in her mid 30s). Truthfully, I don't know if I can get past that so let's get that out of the way now before I continue on with the rest of the review. Oh and also, there was a fart joke in the first 30 seconds of the show so I wondered immediately if this is going to be closer to Two and a Half Men than Mom on the Chuck Lorre continuum.

The best part of the show is Abishola's family. We haven't really seen many characters on sitcoms with direct African heritage so those family scenes feel a little bit different and fresh. Olowofoyeku may be a newcomer, but she showed a lot of potential here, and Abishola's aunt and uncle (Shola Adewusi & Bob Shabaka Henley) got off a couple funny moments. I actually would have preferred a sitcom about a family of African immigrants than one about a middle aged white guy falling in love with one of them.

While Abishola's family has potential, Bob's family did not come off well in the pilot. Christine Ebersole has done great things in her career, but I get the feeling that she is going to overact in this setting (and she also doesn't seem like she would have a 50 year old son). Matt Jones seems to be playing a very similar (though not as funny) role as he did on Mom. I guess the best thing you can say about Billy Gardell in this is he's not as obnoxious as his on-screen family members even if he's playing pretty much the same character he played on Mike & Molly. The pilot tries to get a lot of mileage out of Bob working in the sock business but that joke is stuck in neutral and doesn't work at any point in the pilot. My best hope for this show is Bob Hearts Abishola becomes an outdated title quickly and the show moves in a more ensemble-driven direction. I mean, it happened with Mom, so maybe Chuck Lorre can move this in a better direction.

WILL I WATCH IT AGAIN?
Eh. I may check in on it but I don't see myself watching this regularly.

THE WEEK AHEAD: September 23-29, 2019

Welcome to Premiere Week! Here's a look at this week on TV, a week where the big four are premiering almost everything. It's less staggered than it is some other years, we'll see how that works out for them.

ABC
ABC's lineup is fully premiering this week except for Sunday 8pm where the season finale of Celebrity Family Feud will air ahead of next week's premiere of Kids Say the Darndest Things. Most interesting to watch ill be how the two new dramas, Emergence and Stumptown, do in difficult slots as well as how things go for the return of A Million Little Things, which had a little momentum but ended its first season way back in February.

MONDAY
8:00 Dancing with the Stars
10:00 The Good Doctor (Season Premiere)

TUESDAY
8:00 The Conners (Season Premiere)
8:30 Bless This Mess (Season Premiere)
9:00 Mixed-ish (SERIES PREMIERE)
9:30 Black-ish (Season Premiere)
10:00 Emergence (SERIES PREMIERE)

WEDNESDAY
8:00 The Goldbergs (Season Premiere)
8:30 Schooled (Season Premiere)
9:00 Modern Family (Season Premiere)
9:30 Single Parents (Season Premiere)
10:00 Stumptown (SERIES PREMIERE)

THURSDAY
8:00 Grey's Anatomy (Season Premiere)
9:00 A Million Little Things (Season Premiere)
10:00 How to Get Away with Murder (Season Premiere)

FRIDAY
8:00 American Housewife (Season Premiere)
8:30 Fresh Off the Boat (Season Premiere)
9:00 20/20

SATURDAY
8:00 College Football

SUNDAY
7:00 America's Funniest Home Videos (Season Premiere)
8:00 Celebrity Family Feud (Season Finale)
9:00 Shark Tank (Season Premiere)
10:00 The Rookie (Season Premiere)

CBS
CBS is also filled with premieres. The only nights not completely unveiling all their shows are Wednesday and Sunday. On Wednesday, CBS will go with its usual Survivor premiere/Big Brother finale combo and wait a week on their Wednesday dramas. On Sunday, with the lineup pushed back at least half an hour due to football, they will wait on premiering the final season of Madam Secretary.

MONDAY
8:00 The Neighborhood (Season Premiere)
8:30 Bob Hearts Abishola (SERIES PREMIERE)
9:00 All Rise (SERIES PREMIERE)
10:00 Bull (Season Premiere)

TUESDAY
8:00 NCIS (Season Premiere)
9:00 FBI (Season Premiere)
10:00 NCIS: New Orleans (Season Premiere)

WEDNESDAY
8:00 Survivor (Edition Premiere)
9:30 Big Brother (Season Finale)

THURSDAY
8:00 Young Sheldon (Season Premiere)
8:30 The Unicorn (SERIES PREMIERE)
9:00 Mom (Season Premiere)
9:30 Carol's Second Act (SERIES PREMIERE)
10:00 Evil (SERIES PREMIERE)

FRIDAY
8:00 Hawaii Five-0 (Season Premiere)
9:00 Magnum P.I. (Season Premiere)
10:00 Blue Bloods (Season Premiere)

SATURDAY
8:00 TBA
10:00 48 Hours

SUNDAY
7:00 NFL Overrun
7:30 60 Minutes
8:30 God Friended Me (Season Premiere)
9:30 NCIS: Los Angeles (Season Premiere)
10:30 TBA

NBC
Just like the other networks, NBC's lineup is almost all here for Premiere Week except for The Blacklist, which will wait so a repeat of Bluff City Law can air. The three new shows ratings will be interesting to watch and it will also be interesting to see how This is Us can do to start off season four. Will it still be a big hit or will we start to see declines?

MONDAY
8:00 The Voice (Edition Premiere)
10:00 Bluff City Law (SERIES PREMIERE)

TUESDAY
8:00 The Voice
9:00 This is Us (Season Premiere)
10:00 New Amsterdam (Season Premiere)

WEDNESDAY
8:00 Chicago Med (Season Premiere)
9:00 Chicago Fire (Season Premiere)
10:00 Chicago PD (Season Premiere)

THURSDAY
8:00 Superstore (Season Premiere)
8:30 Perfect Harmony (SERIES PREMIERE)
9:00 The Good Place (Season Premiere)
9:30 Sunnyside (SERIES PREMIERE)
10:00 Law & Order: SVU (Season Premiere)

FRIDAY
8:00 Bluff City Law (Repeat)
9:00 Dateline NBC

SATURDAY
8:00 The Voice (Repeat)
9:00 Dateline NBC
10:00 Saturday Night Live (Repeat)

SUNDAY
7:00 Football Night in America
8:30 Sunday Night Football: Dallas at New Orleans

FOX
FOX's new lineup is almost in tact. Do I sound like a broken record? This week will have a two hour premiere of The Masked Singer, pushing off the series premiere of Almost Family for a week. The only two new shows are Prodigal Son and Bless the Harts. Harts has to air without FOX having the late NFL window, I'm a little surprised FOX didn't wait on that.

MONDAY
8:00 9-1-1 (Season Premiere)
9:00 Prodigal Son (SERIES PREMIERE)

TUESDAY
8:00 The Resident (Season Premiere)
9:00 Empire (Season Premiere)

WEDNESDAY
8:00 The Masked Singer (Season Premiere)

THURSDAY
8:00 Thursday Night Football: Philadelphia at Green Bay

FRIDAY
8:00 WWE Smackdown's Greatest Hits (Special)
9:00 Prodigal Son (Repeat)

SATURDAY
8:00 MLB Baseball

SUNDAY
7:00 The Simpsons (Repeat)
7:30 Bob's Burgers (Repeat)
8:00 The Simpsons (Season Premiere)
8:30 Bless the Harts (SERIES PREMIERE)
9:00 Bob's Burgers (Season Premiere)
9:30 Family Guy (Season Premiere)

CW
The CW is still in summer mode for a couple weeks so none of their fall shows are starting yet.

MONDAY
8:00 Penn & Teller: Fool Us
9:00 Whose Line is it Anyway?
9:30 Whose Line is it Anyway? (Repeat)

TUESDAY
8:00 Pandora
9:00 Mysteries Decoded

WEDNESDAY
8:00 Penn & Teller: Fool Us (Repeat)
9:00 Hypnotize Me

THURSDAY
8:00 The Outpost
9:00 The Outpost (Season Finale)

FRIDAY
8:00 Masters of Illusion (Season Finale)
8:30 The Big Stage (Season Finale)
9:00 Peaking
9:30 Peaking

SUNDAY
8:00 iHeartRadio Music Festival Greatest Moments (Special)
9:00 Mysteries Decoded

FALL PREVIEW 2019: In Summary

Here is my summary of the Fall Preview! Check back all week for pilot reviews of the many shows premiering this week!

First up, my predictions. Last year, I correctly predicted The Conners, The Rookie, Single Parents, A Million Little Things, The Neighborhood, Magnum P.I., F.B.I., Manifest, All American and Charmed would survive. I wrongly believed that The Kids are Alright and Murphy Brown would join the list. I correctly predicted cancellations for Dancing with the Stars Junior, The Alec Baldwin Show, Happy Together, I Feel Bad, The Cool Kids, and Rel but wrongly thought God Friended Me, New Amsterdam, and Legacies would get the boot. A pretty good year of guessing overall! Here's this year's predictions.

Shows I Think Will Make it to Season 2
Mixed-ish (ABC)
Stumptown (ABC)
Kids Say the Darndest Things (ABC)
Bob Hearts Abishola (CBS)
The Unicorn (CBS)
Carol's Second Act (CBS)
Evil (CBS)
Perfect Harmony (NBC)
Almost Family (FOX)
Bless the Harts (FOX)
Batwoman (CW)

Shows I Think Will Be One and Done
Emergence (ABC)
All Rise (CBS)
Bluff City Law (NBC)
Sunnyside (NBC)
Prodigal Son (FOX)
Nancy Drew (CW)

Finally, the Top 5 Broadcast Fall Shows I'm excited about:

Close Calls: Almost Family (FOX), Perfect Harmony (NBC), All Rise (CBS)

5) Batwoman (CW) - I am not a superhero show fan but the Batman Universe has always been the exception to the rule (I even watched a season and a half of Gotham). So I am optimistic that this show will intrigue me, at least at first.

4) Prodigal Son (FOX) - I think this looks like an interesting and creepy thriller. I tend to be a fan of serial killer shows, I don't know why, so this one has my attention.

3) Mixed-ish (ABC) - I wasn't too sure about the idea of another Black-ish spinoff but this one seems like it has a lot of heart and has the Goldbergs/Wonder Years vibe that has always appealed to me.

2) The Unicorn (CBS) - I had no interest in this at first, but the general consensus among critics is that this is the best new fall sitcom. As someone who finds himself agreeing more and more with critics, this one has climbed up my list of anticipated new shows.

1) Evil (CBS) - Everything I'm reading about this show talks about how creepy it is, which is interesting to me. Add in the fact that it's from The Good Wife creators and I have been (finally) watching that great show all summer and I'm very hopeful about this one.

At midseason, I'm excited about The Baker and the Beauty (ABC), Council of Dads (NBC), Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (NBC), and 9-1-1: Lone Star (FOX)

On streaming, I'm excited about The Politician (Netflix), Modern Love (Amazon), The Morning Show (Apple TV Plus), Unbelievable (Netflix), and Looking for Alaska (Hulu)

FALL PREVIEW 2019: Sunday

Here is my Fall Preview for Sunday. Check back later for my summary of the Fall Preview and all this week for pilot reviews of the new shows!

ABC
7:00 America's Funniest Home Videos (30th season)
8:00 KIDS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS
9:00 Shark Tank (11th season)
10:00 The Rookie (2nd season)

ABC is going mostly unscripted on Sunday night again but they seem to have a better plan. The ageless America's Funniest Home Videos continues to hold down the 7pm hour and it's followed by something that seems more compatible than last year's Dancing with the Stars Junior,. A reboot of Kids Say the Darndest Things hosted by Tiffany Haddish seems like a good fit on paper and Kids Say has had a couple successful versions over the years. Shark Tank returns to 9pm after spending the spring at 10pm while The Rookie takes over the Sunday 10pm slot. The Rookie is in an exceedingly difficult position as a weak scripted drama airing after a bunch of unscripted shows in a very difficult slot.

CBS
7:00 60 Minutes (52nd season)
8:00 God Friended Me (2nd season)
9:00 NCIS: Los Angeles (11th season)
10:00 Madam Secretary (6th season)

CBS is keeping the status quo on Sunday nights and will of course start at least half an hour later on nights when CBS has a doubleheader. 60 Minutes always gets a big football boost and will once again lead into God Friended Me, a dramedy that did pretty well when there was a football lead-in and not so well at other times. NCIS: Los Angeles returns to 9pm after a tough end to its season having to air at 10pm after bomb The Red Line. Madam Secretary returns at 10pm for its sixth and final season, which will only be 10 episodes which means we'll see something else in this very difficult slot come January.

NBC
7:00 Football Night in America (14th season)
8:30 Sunday Night Football
As always, NBC has Sunday Night Football and the early ratings results look like a promising ratings season for the NFL.

FOX
7:00 NFL Overrun/The OT/Animated Encores
8:00 The Simpsons (31st season)
8:30 BLESS THE HARTS
9:00 Bob's Burgers (10th season)
9:30 Family Guy (18th season)

FOX is going fully back to animated shows on Sunday night as they surround three very old shows with a new cartoon. The 7pm hour will again be football and The OT on doubleheader Sundays and repeats on other Sundays. The Simpsons returns to 8pm, where it has aired for decades, and always gets a football boost. The new cartoon is Bless the Harts, which is aiming for a little bit of a King of the Hill vibe. FOX is giving it a chance to succeed by putting it at 8:30pm instead of sticking it at 9:30pm. Family Guy vacates the 9pm slot for the first time in well over a decade and will slide back to 9:30pm. Taking over the 9pm slot is Bob's Burgers, which has been a loyal foot soldier for FOX for years and is finally getting a chance to be an anchor.

CW
8:00 BATWOMAN
9:00 Supergirl (5th season)

The CW is leaning into girl power superhero shows on Sunday night with the combo of Batwoman and Supergirl. Batwoman is the CW's newest entry in the DC Universe and stands a chance of getting a pretty decent premiere rating (by CW standards) if they can promote it well. It is followed by Supergirl, which made a successful transition to Sunday nights last fall. It will now have to air an hour later and lose the precious CW local lead-in that always helps shows. But it's become one of the CW's stronger shows relatively speaking and I think it can survive the move, especially if it proves compatible with Batwoman.

New Sunday Show Survival Chances
Kids Say the Darndest Things (ABC) - Fair. I think this is a more compatible show with America's Funniest Home Videos and could become a utility player for ABC.

Bless the Harts (FOX) - Good. FOX's cartoons are getting really old and I like this one's chances to get enough post-football attention to become their first renewed cartoon since Bob's Burgers.

Batwoman (CW) - Very Good. I don't see any scenario where the CW cancels this after just one season considering what they did this past season.

FALL PREVIEW 2019: Friday

Here is my Fall Preview for Friday, a night with absolutely no new shows.

ABC
8:00 American Housewife (4th season)
8:30 Fresh Off the Boat (6th season)
9:00 20/20 (43rd season)

ABC is sticking with a comedy hour at 8pm but it will be tweaked from last year. American Housewife moves on to the night and it's already on its third night and fifth timeslot since it debuted in 2016. It has clearly become ABC's utility player and now will try to do acceptable enough ratings for a Friday night. It is followed by Fresh Off the Boat, which slides back half an hour and could be in its final season (most certainly it will be a final season for disgruntled star Constance Wu assuming her contract is up after a typical six years). Instead of trying a show at 9pm, ABC is opting to go with two hours of 20/20, which will go head to head with two hours of Dateline NBC.

CBS
8:00 Hawaii Five-0 (10th season)
9:00 Magnum P.I. (2nd season)
10:00 Blue Bloods (10th season)

CBS continues to go with a veteran drama trio on Friday night, but there is a change. Stalwarts Hawaii Five-0 and Blue Bloods return to the night but Hawaii moves up an hour to 8pm to be followed by fellow Hawaii-set drama Magnum P.I. Magnum was a bust on Monday nights last fall but this seems like a better fit for the show. It is airing after a very similar show (and a crossover is coming) and it is followed by a show starring the original Magnum (Tom Selleck). Hawaii and Blue Bloods are entering their tenth seasons and Hawaii is closing in on matching the twelve year run of the original. Magnum P.I. seems like a fit on this night but if turns out not to be, MacGyver is sitting on the bench.

NBC
8:00 The Blacklist (7th season)
9:00 Dateline NBC (29th season)

NBC is playing it safe on Friday nights with The Blacklist sliding up an hour to air at 8pm. The veteran drama could be in its final season but nothing has been announced. It's kept the lights on for NBC on Friday nights. It is followed by two hours of Dateline NBC, which I don't fully understand given how much NBC is keeping on the bench. It seems like they could have at least brought Blindspot back to the night in the fall to open up more options for midseason.

FOX
8:00 WWE Smackdown
"New FOX" has turned over its Friday nights to the WWE so that's another night that will not have any scripted programming and unlike football, this is year-round.

CW
8:00 Charmed (2nd season)
9:00 Dynasty (3rd season)

The CW's Friday nights are pretty sad, usually with the lowest of the lows. Dynasty, which spent most of last season at a 0.1 demo, is returning to the night an hour later and its lead in will be Charmed, which is already getting a major downgrade after its high profile debut last fall. Charmed lost a lot of ground over the year and now it is essentially punished by going to a night where CW shows just wither away. Even if they run for a couple years on Fridays, they seem to be mostly forgotten and now Charmed joins that list.

Check back Sunday for my Sunday preview and a recap!

FALL PREVIEW 2019: Thursday

Here is my Fall Preview for Thursday, a night with big chances on NBC and CBS and no changes on the other three networks. There are also three shows with announced final seasons.

ABC
8:00 Grey's Anatomy (16th season)
9:00 A Million Little Things (2nd season)
10:00 How to Get Away with Murder (6th season)

ABC still is airing juicy dramas on Thursday nights but the TGIT moniker is gone. What's not gone is Grey's Anatomy as the ever-popular medical drama remains one of ABC's top shows heading into Season 16. Its run has been so impressive and it's not done yet. A Million Little Things returns at 9pm for season two. It moved to this slot in January and saw growth from its low rated Wednesday airings in the fall. We'll see if it can keep the momentum up after being off the air since February. At 10pm is How to Get Away with Murder entering its sixth and final season. Once a buzzy water cooler show, it has become one of ABC's lowest rated dramas so the final season announcement was a good idea, but it will probably suffer through its last year with minuscule ratings.

CBS
8:00 Young Sheldon (3rd season)
8:30 THE UNICORN
9:00 Mom (7th season)
9:30 CAROL'S SECOND ACT
10:00 EVIL

CBS had to say goodbye to The Big Bang Theory after 12 seasons, nine of them on Thursday nights. It leaves a void in the CBS schedule that will be filled by Big Bang spinoff Young Sheldon. Sheldon did well following Big Bang the last two seasons but how it does on its own is a major question mark. It is followed by new comedy The Unicorn, which has gotten some of the best buzz of the fall. Even with the good reviews, its fate is probably somewhat tied to how Young Sheldon does as an anchor. At 9pm is Mom which continues to be a reliable anchor. Mom is followed by the new Patricia Heaton comedy Carol's Second Act. Heaton had impressive runs in Everybody Loves Raymond and The Middle totaling 18 years. We'll see if luck can strike a third time for Heaton. At 10pm is the new spooky drama Evil. From The Good Wife creators, it has also gotten some buzz, but it's in a real tough slot. CBS seems excited about this show so I'm surprised they didn't give it a better spot on their schedule.

NBC
8:00 Superstore (5th season)
8:30 PERFECT HARMONY
9:00 The Good Place (4th season)
9:30 SUNNYSIDE
10:00 Law & Order: SVU (21st season)

NBC is introducing some new blood on the night too. They are anchoring the night with their three strongest shows from a troubled night. Superstore continues to hold its own as an 8pm anchor and has turned into one of NBC's cornerstone shows. The final season of The Good Place takes over the 9pm slot. This has always defied expectations, but it doesn't seem like a show meant to be in an anchor slot especially when we know it won't continue beyond this season. New comedies take the :30 slots. Bradley Whitford's church choir comedy Perfect Harmony and Kal Penn's immigration comedy Sunnyside both seem like NBC sitcoms, which unfortunately means niche audiences. I don't think either of these shows, whether good or bad in quality, stand a chance of being a breakout hit. At 10pm is the Law & Order: SVU entering its record-breaking 21st season. Once the season begins, it will have run for more seasons than any other drama in TV history and that's quite an accomplishment. It is not announced as a final season, but it very well could be.

FOX
8:00 Thursday Night Football
Of course FOX will continue to air football on Thursday nights. As of now, the midseason plan is the return of Last Man Standing with new comedy Outmatched and new drama Filthy Rich.

CW
8:00 Supernatural (15th season)
9:00 Legacies (2nd season)

The CW is returning its lineup from last fall. At 8pm is the 15th and final season of Supernatural, a show that is older than the network it is airing on. Supernatural has been an iconic show for the CW and will likely go down in history as the most successful show to ever air on the network. It has started to slip though so the announced final season makes sense. At 9pm is Legacies, which proved to be a decent companion to Supernatural last year but certainly doesn't seem capable of taking over as an anchor.

New Thursday Show Survival Chances
The Unicorn (CBS) - Fair. I didn't feel great about this show's chances when it was announced but the positive reviews have made me start to think it might be able to find an audience.

Carol's Second Act (CBS) - Good. I think Patricia Heaton is enough of a draw and this is enough of a compatible show with Mom that it will be able to get a second season.

Evil (CBS) - Good. I think this stands a serious chance at renewal just based on its auspices. Unless it completely falls flat on its face (which could happen I suppose), I think it has a decent chance.

Perfect Harmony (NBC) - Fair. I'm not high on NBC Thursdays in general but nestled after Superstore, this seems to have the better chance of the two new comedies.

Sunnyside (NBC) - Poor. I think this may be the next I Feel Bad or Abby's and that is certainly not a good thing.

Check back tomorrow for Friday!