Here's a look at the Top 5 TV news stories of the week. This week was Upfronts. Here's my analysis on the schedules for NBC, ABC, CBS and CW (FOX did an Upfront but has not released a schedule yet). This week, my Friday Five will mostly focus on takeaways from the Upfronts.
It wasn't long ago that we had well over 20 new scripted shows premiering in the fall. Even in the last normal, pre-COVID fall of 2019, there were 16 new scripted shows on the fall schedule and that felt super low at the time. Well, now we are down to nine (plus perhaps 1-2 more from FOX depending on what they put on in the fall). The combination of COVID shifting things to a year-round development cycle and the general trend of broadcast networks means there's not going to be much to talk about in terms of a netowrk Fall Preview. Another hallmark used to be timeslot changes. Big changes were always the talk of the fall - how would Survivor do when it moved to Wednesday? How would The Big Bang Theory hold up in its Thursday move? What a bold move to put Revenge on Sunday nights after its breakout season. Considering timeslots don't matter much anymore, there is very little that is changing with a few new shows taking the place of a few departing shows and that's it. And not just is the scheduling that is safe, so are the shows, but I'll have more on that below in #3. The colonization of the nights is a huge thing because the networks know what works for them or at least what they think does: broad, safe dramas that appeal to older audiences. That's why we have two NCIS shows on Monday, three FBI shows on Tuesday, three Chicago shows on Wednesday and three Law & Order shows on Thursday. We'll probably get two 9-1-1 shows on Monday at some point too. ABC is not airing The Rookie shows together but the CW is even getting in the action with their Walker night on Thursday. The networks may be right that this is their best way to get viewers but it feels very, very uninspired.
Of all the shows picked up by the networks, comedies are in very short supply. ABC has one, CBS has zero, NBC has two and FOX has two, both animated. The CW has none as usual. Although dramas (like the colonized ones mentioned above) tend to be better performers in the ratings but it was the comedies that actually got into the conversation this year. No one was talking about NCIS: Hawaii but the little bit that networks got in terms of buzz came from freshmen comedies Abbott Elementary on ABC and Ghosts on CBS. On top of that, NBC launched the promising (and just renewed) American Auto and Grand Crew while ABC also had early buzz for The Wonder Years (though it fizzled some as the season went on). Abbott Elementary seems likely to get in the Emmy conversation and both it and Ghosts were the subject of lots of critical and media attention. No broadcast drama can boast that besides the about-to-end This is Us. Development is sometimes a little bit behind so maybe comedy will still have a rebound but it seems surprising the networks weren't willing to try more comedies considering they can still do those quite well.
For ten years, this blog pretty much only focused on broadcast networks. I knew that they weren't always the greatest new shows but I was always excited for some of them. I can think of years where there were 10-20 broadcast shows over the course of the season that I was genuinely excited about. There were always generic procedurals and dumb comedies but there were also some ambitious options. Even last year, many of those comedies I talked about in #2 made me excited. Well this year's is without a doubt the most uninspired crop of freshmen (and they are a tiny crop at that) I have seen in my time paying attention to the industry. Pretty much all of the new shows seem like they could have been plucked from any year and been one of the safer options. The show I am most excited for is a reboot - Quantum Leap - and I'm not even sold on that one. So Help Me Todd looks like it could be okay based on the cast. Everything else is so safe that I hardly even feel inclined to check it out. I have migrated much more to streaming in recent years but a crop like these freshmen might accelerate things for me.
#4 - OTHER NEWS FROM THE WEEK
Most of the news focused on Upfronts but there were some other news items in the TV universe this week. Here's a quick rundown: The legendary team of Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren have joined the next Yellowstone prequel, 1932. Speaking of Yellowstone, 1883 will return in a way as an offshoot called 1883: The Bass Reeves Story and another sequel, 6666, will move to the Paramount Network with the mothership instead of Paramount+. HBO's acclaimed Barry was renewed for a fourth season. Edie Falco joined Pete Davidson's Peacock comedy Bupkis and Next Level Chef will get the post-Super Bowl slot this year. Finally, Hulu's Nine Perfect Strangers may return for a second season after it was moved from Limited Series to Drama for Emmy consideration.
#5 - SCRIPTED PREMIERES THIS WEEK
Here's a look at this week's scripted premieres, it's a very quiet week as we near the end of the Emmy eligibility period and the end of the network broadcast season. So there's many more finales than premieres.
Today: Amazon premieres Night Sky, a sci-fi drama about a couple (played by Sissy Spacek and J.K. Simmons) that has a portal to a deserted planet open in their backyard. Apple TV+ premieres Now and Then, a bilingual crime drama set in Miami and starring Rosie Perez and Marina de Tavira. The show seems to have hints of Yellowjackets and The Afterparty in its premise.
That's it for this week, I don't really have a pick for the week because neither one sounds like my type of show though I might check them out if they get good buzz.
Check back next week for a new week of blog posts!
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