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!