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.