NBC is the first network to release their schedule for the 2011-2012 TV season. I shared my 'fantasy schedule" for NBC yesterday and well I barely got anything correct haha. Here's NBC schedule with my thoughts too:
MONDAY
8-10 p.m. – “The Sing-Off”
10-11 p.m. – “THE PLAYBOY CLUB”
Good move of having "The Sing Off" here. This singing competition for choral groups did good numbers when it was a holiday programming for NBC last December. It would likely get 2.1-2.5 which will be a win for NBC Monday. Playboy Club & The Sing Off is a mismatch but then again Playboy do have at least a good lead in. The Biggest Loser is the only other available good lead in it could have but NBC chose to play it safe on that night. Honestly, Playboy will be a tough sell
TUESDAY
8-10 p.m. – “The Biggest Loser”
10-11 p.m. – “Parenthood”
I would have preferred NBC trimming The Biggest Loser to just an hour or moving "Parenthood" to another night but I can’t blame them for playing it safe since with major changes on the other nights they need to have one stable day and this is it.
WEDNESDAY
8-8:30 p.m. – “UP ALL NIGHT”
8:30-9 p.m. – “FREE AGENTS”
9-10 p.m. — “Harry’s Law”
10-11 p.m. — “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”
While I do love The Middle I don’t think it will hurt NBC’s comedies that much however I would have picked the two multicamera sitcoms they picked up ("Whitney" and "Are You There Vodka? It's me Chelsea) paired up here than "Up All Night" and "Free Agents" because they are compatible and a good counter programming as well. But I guess NBC will rely on the star presence of Christina Applegate for "Up All Night" and Hank Azaria for "Free Agents" to lure viewers but honestly this will be another tough sell for NBC. Harry’s Law at 9 will be in a tough position, if it had a stronger lead in then maybe it could have decent ratings but I really don’t think it will have a fighting chance but let’s see, it could surprise us. Sticking with SVU at 10pm is the best move, NBC already tried SVU at 9pm and it didn’t do that well so they better have a guaranteed ratings performer at 10pm especially with the fate of 8 and 9pm shows uncertain
THURSDAY
8-8:30 p.m. – “Community”
8:30-9 p.m. — “Parks and Recreation”
9-9:30 p.m. – “The Office”
9:30-10 p.m. – “WHITNEY”
10-11 p.m. – “PRIME SUSPECT
Maybe NBC is counting on Community going back to its acceptable ratings in the fall last year when it didn't face American Idol. Community's ratings performance will also affect Parks and Recreation. I was also surprised with "Whitney" getting the cushy post-Office slot, I was expecting either "Up All Night" or "Free Agents" or even Chelsey Handlers’s sitcom to get it but then again "Whitney" must be something NBC really loves, it was one of the first sitcom pilots to get a pick up after all, so the testing might have been high. Prime Suspect’s performance will depend if Whitney will do fine.
FRIDAY
8-9 p.m. – “Chuck”
9-10 p.m. – “GRIMM”
10-11 p.m. – “Dateline NBC”
Yes for Chuck! Fans should stop complaining, it will get a proper final season despite its low ratings, what more can you ask for? Just be grateful you’re going to have proper closure and you don’t have to worry with the ratings that much anymore. Five seasons is good for a show that could have been cancelled after season 2. The fact is the ratings for Chuck are just too low even with NBC's lowered standards and with the low expectations on Friday, Chuck will do fine plus it's the last season anyway. Now I’m disappointed that "Grimm" got this difficult slot, I was thinking it could be an 8pm show somewhere else (Wednesdays at 8pm perhaps?)
SATURDAY
Encore programming
SUNDAY
7- 8:15 p.m. — “Football Night in America”
8:15-11:30 p.m. — “NBC Sunday Night Football”
NBC 2012 MID-SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
*New programs in UPPER CASE; all times ET)
SUNDAY
7-8 p.m. – “Dateline NBC”
8-10 p.m. – “The Celebrity Apprentice”
10-11 p.m. – “THE FIRM”
"The Firm" is a TV adaptation of John Grisham's best selling novel that will go straight to series with 22 episodes and will run uninterrupted next year and from what I gathered it will be a mini series only (but I will not surprised if things could change if this becomes a smash hit). "The Firm" will do fine given the established brand and it has Celebrity Apprentice as lead in so I couldn’t see it failing.
MONDAY
8-10 p.m. – “The Voice”
10-11 p.m. – “SMASH”
Good move to have broadway drama "Smash" on midseason with the second season of "The Voice" as lead in, it's the best launch pad NBC could ever have for this much touted new series. I imagine 'The Voice" will come back with strong ratings on its second season given the outstanding reception it had for its inaugural season, it could only get bigger I assume.
***
I’m also glad they slotted "Awake" for midseason although there's no time slot yet. Given the serialized nature of the series, it should have an uninterrupted run for best chance of success.
"30 Rock" is slated for midseason presumably because of Tina Fey's pregnancy which affected the show's production (Fey is the writer, producer, and star of the show). There are three more new sitcoms on the bench: "BFFs" and "Bent" feels like it will suffer the same fates of "Paul Reiser Show", "Perfect Couples" (shows premeired in midseason and tanked) or even worse "Friends with Benefits" (sitcom which was suppose to air this season but never got the timeslot and will now be a summer burnoff). "Are You There Vodka, It's Me Chelsea" sitting out for the meantime surprised me given how high profile this project is, maybe NBC thinks 'Whitney" could be big and once they see its performance they could pair "Chelsea" and "Whitney" together on a new night by midseason.
You could see previews of the new shows here
All in all. NBC have a stable schedule that makes sense although Wednesday will be a tough road for them. Let's see :)
MONDAY
8-10 p.m. – “The Sing-Off”
10-11 p.m. – “THE PLAYBOY CLUB”
Good move of having "The Sing Off" here. This singing competition for choral groups did good numbers when it was a holiday programming for NBC last December. It would likely get 2.1-2.5 which will be a win for NBC Monday. Playboy Club & The Sing Off is a mismatch but then again Playboy do have at least a good lead in. The Biggest Loser is the only other available good lead in it could have but NBC chose to play it safe on that night. Honestly, Playboy will be a tough sell
TUESDAY
8-10 p.m. – “The Biggest Loser”
10-11 p.m. – “Parenthood”
I would have preferred NBC trimming The Biggest Loser to just an hour or moving "Parenthood" to another night but I can’t blame them for playing it safe since with major changes on the other nights they need to have one stable day and this is it.
WEDNESDAY
8-8:30 p.m. – “UP ALL NIGHT”
8:30-9 p.m. – “FREE AGENTS”
9-10 p.m. — “Harry’s Law”
10-11 p.m. — “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”
While I do love The Middle I don’t think it will hurt NBC’s comedies that much however I would have picked the two multicamera sitcoms they picked up ("Whitney" and "Are You There Vodka? It's me Chelsea) paired up here than "Up All Night" and "Free Agents" because they are compatible and a good counter programming as well. But I guess NBC will rely on the star presence of Christina Applegate for "Up All Night" and Hank Azaria for "Free Agents" to lure viewers but honestly this will be another tough sell for NBC. Harry’s Law at 9 will be in a tough position, if it had a stronger lead in then maybe it could have decent ratings but I really don’t think it will have a fighting chance but let’s see, it could surprise us. Sticking with SVU at 10pm is the best move, NBC already tried SVU at 9pm and it didn’t do that well so they better have a guaranteed ratings performer at 10pm especially with the fate of 8 and 9pm shows uncertain
THURSDAY
8-8:30 p.m. – “Community”
8:30-9 p.m. — “Parks and Recreation”
9-9:30 p.m. – “The Office”
9:30-10 p.m. – “WHITNEY”
10-11 p.m. – “PRIME SUSPECT
Maybe NBC is counting on Community going back to its acceptable ratings in the fall last year when it didn't face American Idol. Community's ratings performance will also affect Parks and Recreation. I was also surprised with "Whitney" getting the cushy post-Office slot, I was expecting either "Up All Night" or "Free Agents" or even Chelsey Handlers’s sitcom to get it but then again "Whitney" must be something NBC really loves, it was one of the first sitcom pilots to get a pick up after all, so the testing might have been high. Prime Suspect’s performance will depend if Whitney will do fine.
FRIDAY
8-9 p.m. – “Chuck”
9-10 p.m. – “GRIMM”
10-11 p.m. – “Dateline NBC”
Yes for Chuck! Fans should stop complaining, it will get a proper final season despite its low ratings, what more can you ask for? Just be grateful you’re going to have proper closure and you don’t have to worry with the ratings that much anymore. Five seasons is good for a show that could have been cancelled after season 2. The fact is the ratings for Chuck are just too low even with NBC's lowered standards and with the low expectations on Friday, Chuck will do fine plus it's the last season anyway. Now I’m disappointed that "Grimm" got this difficult slot, I was thinking it could be an 8pm show somewhere else (Wednesdays at 8pm perhaps?)
SATURDAY
Encore programming
SUNDAY
7- 8:15 p.m. — “Football Night in America”
8:15-11:30 p.m. — “NBC Sunday Night Football”
NBC 2012 MID-SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
*New programs in UPPER CASE; all times ET)
SUNDAY
7-8 p.m. – “Dateline NBC”
8-10 p.m. – “The Celebrity Apprentice”
10-11 p.m. – “THE FIRM”
"The Firm" is a TV adaptation of John Grisham's best selling novel that will go straight to series with 22 episodes and will run uninterrupted next year and from what I gathered it will be a mini series only (but I will not surprised if things could change if this becomes a smash hit). "The Firm" will do fine given the established brand and it has Celebrity Apprentice as lead in so I couldn’t see it failing.
MONDAY
8-10 p.m. – “The Voice”
10-11 p.m. – “SMASH”
Good move to have broadway drama "Smash" on midseason with the second season of "The Voice" as lead in, it's the best launch pad NBC could ever have for this much touted new series. I imagine 'The Voice" will come back with strong ratings on its second season given the outstanding reception it had for its inaugural season, it could only get bigger I assume.
***
I’m also glad they slotted "Awake" for midseason although there's no time slot yet. Given the serialized nature of the series, it should have an uninterrupted run for best chance of success.
"30 Rock" is slated for midseason presumably because of Tina Fey's pregnancy which affected the show's production (Fey is the writer, producer, and star of the show). There are three more new sitcoms on the bench: "BFFs" and "Bent" feels like it will suffer the same fates of "Paul Reiser Show", "Perfect Couples" (shows premeired in midseason and tanked) or even worse "Friends with Benefits" (sitcom which was suppose to air this season but never got the timeslot and will now be a summer burnoff). "Are You There Vodka, It's Me Chelsea" sitting out for the meantime surprised me given how high profile this project is, maybe NBC thinks 'Whitney" could be big and once they see its performance they could pair "Chelsea" and "Whitney" together on a new night by midseason.
You could see previews of the new shows here
All in all. NBC have a stable schedule that makes sense although Wednesday will be a tough road for them. Let's see :)
1 comment:
Well, you got The Office at 9pm Thursday right.
NBC is done.
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