2008 Fall Schedule (1 Viewer)

[Malcolm R]

Well, they do sort of do that, as they all release their big event film in either May/June or Nov/Dec. Not the same day, but they're all still bunched together in a very short time period.

 

[Ken Chan]

One difference is that (nowadays) if you blow opening weekend, that's it. With TV, you can move a show to save it. But both have that aspect of playing Chicken, to see who blinks and moves their shows. Also, there are only so many hours of primetime, and the difference between 8pm and 10pm, hits to lead in to new shows, etc.; so there are a limited number of combinations. Maybe that was the best schedule they could come up with, at the time.

 

[Jason Seaver]

In an ideal world, I'm sure the networks would love to have less overlap between their offerings and those of their competitors at a specific time. It's a balance between choosing the best intrinsic slot for their show (family-oriented shows at 8pm, the reasons for Monday night runs I mentioned above, stability for existing shows, using a hit to launch a new one, etc.) and the reality of competition. Monday at 8pm is a weird case because the three shows you mention all staked their claims there this year, so none is a juggernaut that the others should run from and the networks don't necessarily have better spots.

 

[Jason Seaver]

So... What are we looking at?

Sunday

Stuff I'll watch: The Amazing Race, Cold Case

Maybe: The Unit

Sunday used to be a packed night for me; now I'm looking at probably just two shows. And hoping that the Patriots get a lot of 1pm games, because then WBZ doesn't bump their schedule. I remember liking The Unit during it's initial run, but not enough to follow it when it would have taken an effort, no matter how much I like the cast & crew. Maybe I'll rent/buy the second season and catch up.

Monday

Stuff I'll watch: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Chuck, Prison Break, Heroes

Maybe: Samantha Who?

Sampling: My Own Worst Enemy

The first two hours will make the DVR work overtime a bit; I'll have to see what MOWE is like. I sort of fear NBC's no-pilot deal; they're showing extremely generic promos for it and who knows if this will film well at all? I like Samantha Who? whenever I see it, which isn't often.

Tuesday

Stuff I'll watch: House, Without a Trace, Law Order: SVU

Sampling: The Mentalist, Fringe

I won't say CBS is mental for moving Without a Trace here, since I'm not a hypocrite. Besides, it's worked well for them before, challenging Law & Order with CSI:NY. Given the carnage CBS has seen from Tuesday at 10pm, moving an established hit here seems to be the thing to do.

I don't hold out a lot of hope for The Mentalist - it looks like Psych, only serious. Fringe is an X-Files wannabe with a nice pedigree, although a far from infallible one, at least in terms of entertaining me.

Wednesday

Stuff I'll watch: Pushing Daisies, Bones, Private Practice, Dirty Sexy Money

Sampling: Do Not Disturb

Sue me, I like Jerry O'Connell. Not enough to subject myself to Carpoolers, but this could be fun.

I worry that the ABC stuff might not be stuff that can sustain a second year. On the other hand, maybe the strike kept the writers from burning out early.

Thursday

Stuff I'll watch: Smallville, Grey's Anatomy, Supernatural

Sampling: Life on Mars, Eleventh Hour

Smallville is looking like a glorious disaster - original writers gone, cast half-gone, replacements looking lame. But, hey, there are a bunch of comics I'm buying out of inertia, so why not?

I saw a couple of the Eleventh Hour TV-movies on BBC America and liked them a bunch, and I like Rufus Sewell and Marley Shelton. Mars, I don't know about; I hope the new showrunners don't drop Colm Meaney.

Friday

Stuff I'll watch: Life

Sampling: Crusoe, The Ex List

Crusoe could be a nifty take on the material. The Ex List is run by Rob Thomas's second-in-command on Veronica Mars. I'm curious to see what Life revolves around in its second year. And I'm sure Sci-Fi will have some decent stuff here

Saturday

Sampling: Knight Rider reruns

Why work harder on Wednesday's logjam than necessary?

The Bench

What I'll watch: Dollhouse, Reaper, 24, Law & Order

Sampling: Harper's Island, Sit Down, Shut Up

Yeah, I'm pretty much committing to Dollhouse sight-unseen. I can be a mark for Whedon. I hope Harper's Island is working on something self-contained - IIRC, it's in the 24/Day Break/Reunion hyper-serial mold. Sit Down, Shut Up might also get me in the habit of watching The Simpsons again, as they're paired together.

 

[Rocky F]

Here's what I'll be watching or DVRing (especially if I can get my hands on one of the new Echostar TR50 HD-DVRs that are supposed to be out in Aug/Sept.)

SUNDAY:
Simpsons, King of the Hill and American Dad on Fox. My wife enjoys Desperate Housewives. I will sample Sit Down, Shut Up, Cleveland, Merlin and Kings at midseason. I will believe Medium ends up on Sunday night when I see it (this is the third season in a row they've scheduled it there, but it hasn't actually aired there yet.)

MONDAY:
Chuck, Terminator, Heroes, Samantha Who?, CSI: Miami (maybe, it's just about to shark jumping territory for us) and will definitely sample My Own Worst Enemy (my wife went crazy when we saw the teaser on Medium the other night, she likes her some Christian Slater.) I am also looking forward to Dollhouse at midseason.

TUESDAY:
NCIS, House, maybe sample 90210, will sample The Mentalist (I agree, it looks like Psych, just not funny), definitely looking forward to Fringe, (JJ Abrams hasn't let me down yet) and Eli Stone.

WEDNESDAY:
Pushing Daisies, I'll give Knight Rider another shot, maybe Gary Scott Thompson can improve on the movie, CSI:NY, wife watched the first season of Lipstick Jungle, but I don't know if she liked it enough to continue.

THURSDAY:
Smallville's final season, Reaper after that, 30 Rock, CSI, the wife likes Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy. I want to sample both 11th Hour and Life on Mars.

FRIDAY:
Maybe Crusoe, wife likes Ghost Whisperer and Numbers, so she'll probably enjoy The Ex List.

 

[Josh Dial]

I certainly don't envy the American forum members, and some of the choices they have to make regarding TV shows. Here in Canada, at least in Calgary, we get 2 feeds of each channel (an east and a west coast feed) PLUS 1-2 local Canadian affiliates who also broadcast American network shows.

The end result is even on a "fright-night" like Monday, where I too watch Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, Heroes, Chuck, and Terminator - I can do so without having to juggle timeslots in anyway. Even if I weren't using my DVR (and I always do so, recording 2 at once to save time), I could go from 6 to 11 straight-through. It's really quite nice!

 

[Brian^K]

We're also looking at the TR-50 to supplement our TiVo S3. That would give us 4 tuners instead of 2, so the three-way conflicts won't be a problem.

Sunday - Merlin*, The Simpsons; Desperate Housewives, Medium*; Brothers and Sisters, The Unit, Kings*~

Monday - Sarah Connor Chronicles**, Dollhouse*, Chuck, How I Met Your Mother~; 24*, Heroes, Samantha Who~; My Own Worst Enemy, The Philanthropist*

Tuesday - NCIS, House**, American Idol*; The Mentalist, Fringe; Eli Stone

Wednesday - Pushing Daisies, Bones**, House*; Private Practice, Criminal Minds; Dirty Sexy Money, Lipstick Jungle

Thursday - Survivor (maybe); Grey's Anatomy; Life on Mars, Eleventh Hour, ER~

Friday - Bones*, Crusoe**; The Ex List; Numb3rs, Life

* Starting in January
** Ends in December
~ Third Program in time-slot; will be recorded on my TiVo S2 in SD, and transferred via TiVo MRV to the TiVo S3.

Knight Rider didn't make the list.

 

[Brad Porter]

Sunday

08:00 CBS - The Amazing Race
10:00 CBS - The Unit

08:00 NBC - Sunday Night Football

08:00 FOX - The Simpsons
08:30 FOX - King of the Hill
09:00 FOX - Family Guy
09:30 FOX - American Dad

Will The Amazing Race move to high def this season like Survivor did? I'm glad that The Unit is back, but I'd like them to bury some of the infidelity plotlines this season and just focus on kicking ass.

Monday

08:00 CBS - The Big Bang Theory
08:30 CBS - How I Met Your Mother
09:30 CBS - Worst Week (Sample)

08:00 NBC - Chuck
09:00 NBC - Heroes
10:00 NBC - My Own Worst Enemy (Sample)

08:00 FOX - Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
09:00 FOX - Prison Break

I would rather have Journeyman back instead of My Own Worst Enemy, but I'll give it a look. Monday night is pretty brutal. I didn't expect Terminator or Chuck to be back, so now they are going head to head. Looks like I'll have to save my "Screw you, Fox." for later in the season.

Tuesday

09:00 CBS - The Mentalist (sample)

09:00 FOX - Fringe (sample)

So is The Mentalist just a not funny version of Psych? I'll sample it because I like Robin Tunney.

Wednesday

08:00 ABC - Pushing Daisies
10:00 ABC - Dirty Sexy Money

08:00 CBS - The New Adventures of Old Christine
08:30 CBS - Project Gary

08:00 NBC - Knight Rider (sample)

Paula Marshall still has the fresh blood of Shark on her hands and now she can turn her series killing talents to Project Gary. I really liked her on Californication, though.

Thursday

08:00 CBS - Survivor
09:00 CBS - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

08:00 CW - Smallville

08:00 NBC - My Name is Earl
08:30 NBC - 30 Rock
09:00 NBC - The Office
09:30 NBC - The Office/SNL Specials

10:00 ABC - Life on Mars (sample)

10:00 CBS - Eleventh Hour

I hope that Eleventh Hour can provide real science based plotlines and maintain an audience rather than rolling out more pseudoscience and paranormal jibber jabber. And Smallville needs to get to a conclusion pretty soon. I barely pay attention to it now.

Friday

08:00 NBC - Crusoe (sample)
10:00 NBC - Life

10:00 CBS - Numbers

Saturday

Nothing

The Bench

ABC - Lost
ABC - Scrubs

CW - Reaper

FOX - The Cleveland Show (Sunday 9:30pm)
FOX - Dollhouse (Monday 8pm)
FOX - Sit Down, Shut Up (Sunday 8:30pm)
FOX - 24 (Monday 9pm)

NBC - Kings (Sunday 10pm)
NBC - Law & Order (Wednesday 10pm)
NBC - The Office Spinoff (Thursday 9:30pm)
NBC - The Philantropist (Monday 10pm)

I'm liking the bench more than any of the scheduled shows. Kings didn't appeal to me at all, but I'd watch Ian McShane do anything.

Brad

 

[Jason Seaver]

Here's a welcome bit of news from the upfront presentations - Fox is planning to cut the number of commercials in half for Fringe and Dollhouse - fewer and shorter breaks means we'll likely get 50-minute episodes out of them. Of course, the advertisers who do buy time on those shows will be paying through the nose, and I wouldn't be surprised if Fox ups the product placement, but, still - this is a trend worth encouraging.

 

[Malcolm R]

What I'm interested in/will watch:

Sunday
07:00 NBC - Football Night in America
09:00 FOX - Family Guy

Monday
08:00 CBS - The Big Bang Theory

Tuesday
Zip.

Wednesday
08:00 ABC - Pushing Daisies
09:00 CBS - Criminal Minds

Thursday
09:00 CW - Supernatural

Friday
08:00 CBS - Ghost Whisperer

Saturday
08:00 ABC - College Football

The Bench
CW - Reaper
FOX - American Idol (Tuesday 8pm, Wednesday 9pm)
FOX - The Cleveland Show (Sunday 9:30pm)
FOX - Dollhouse (Monday 8pm)

Pretty slim pickings. Looks like lots of time for cable and DVDs.

 

[TravisR]

Sunday: The Simpsons
Monday: Heroes, Prison Break
Tuesday: The Shield (I assume it'll run on Tuesdays)
Wednesday: South Park
Thursday: 30 Rock, The Office, CSI, Supernatural, The Office spinoff

I'll give Fringe and Dollhouse a shot since I enjoy most of the shows from J.J. Abrams and Joss Whedon.

Winter: 24, Lost and Battlestar Galactica (or whenever it starts up again).

 

[Marty M]

The 8:00 hour on Mondays will be the toughest for me. I would like to watch Chuck, Sarah Conners, and How I Met Your Mother. Unfortuneatly, I only have a two-channel tuner DVR. I'll have to decide which show has to wait for reruns. Add to my dillema is if ABC Family brings back Kyle XY on Mondays at 8:00, as well.

I am still stunned to see that Til Death got renewed and Back to You did not. Neither show was that great, but I thought the writing in Back to You was better.

As far as new shows I will be curious to see how long Life on Mars will last. I enjoyed the BBC series, but not sure the US version will have enough appeal to last even half a season.

 

[Brian^K]

Yeah, that Monday 8PM hour is tough for us as well, for the same shows. We're going to record HIMYM on our TiVo S2, and use TiVo MRV to transfer it to our TiVo S3.

I wouldn't worry about Kyle XY (which we also watch here). It is broadcast twice each week, I believe.

We also have a problem Thursday 10PM, with Life on Mars, Eleventh Hour and ER. I'm going to put ER on the TiVo S2; we may or may not decide to watch in SD via TiVo MRV, but who knows? Also, we'll keep an eye out for impromptu encore presentations that could relieve the pain here.

We end up with another three-way conflict starting in January: Sunday 10PM.

 

[Jason Seaver]

From what I've seen, that's a tallest midget honor, but I think the deciding factor was that the cast of Til Death is cheaper. Supposedly Twentieth Century Fox Television (the production company, as opposed to the network) was shopping Back to You to other outlets with the thought that NBC or CBS might be able to afford it, but it looks like no-one bit.

 

[Brian^K]

Makes sense: Kelsey Grammer, Patricia Heaton, Fred Willard, Christopher Lloyd, James Burrows, Gail Lerner (and I bet there are a few other big names associated with the show who I didn't remember) -- it would really need to be the #1 sitcom in the country in ratings to justify those salaries.

 

[Malcolm R]

Isn't there a new comedy coming from the creators of "Will & Grace"? I'll give that a trial run.

 

[Marty M]

Thanks for the remind about Kyle. It's probably like what they are doing with Greek now, which is shown on Tuesday night as well. As I mentioned in my previous posting, I will be watching Life On Mars, but I am not very hopeful, given networks recent track record with time travel shows.

 

[David Hobbes]

my viewing schedule as you can see i like my dumb comedies.

Sunday
08:00 FOX - The Simpsons
09:00 FOX - Family Guy

Monday
08:00 CBS - The Big Bang Theory
08:30 CBS - How I Met Your Mother
09:00 CBS - Two and a Half Men
10:00 ABC - Boston Legal (love the show, watch if time permitting)

Tuesday
08:00 FOX - House(love the show, watch if time permitting)

Wednesday
08:00 CBS - The New Adventures of Old Christine
08:00 FOX - Bones(love the show, watch if time permitting)
09:00 FOX - Til Death

Thursday
09:00 CBS - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation(love the show, watch if time permitting)

Friday

Saturday

The Bench
CBS - Rules of Engagement - LOVE THIS SHOW!!

 

[MishaLauenstein]

My Fall:
I'll watch the Pilot of almost everything and make my decision on the new shows.

Sunday

07:00 CW - Outsourced - ?
08:00 CBS - The Amazing Race
08:00 FOX - The Simpsons
08:30 FOX - King of the Hill
09:00 ABC - Desperate Housewives

Monday

08:00 CBS - The Big Bang Theory
08:00 FOX - Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
09:00 FOX - Prison Break
09:00 NBC - Heroes

Tuesday

09:00 CBS - The Mentalist - ?
09:00 CW - Surviving the Filthy Rich - ?
09:00 FOX - Fringe - ?
09:30 NBC - Kath & Kim - ?


Wednesday

08:00 ABC - Pushing Daisies
08:00 CBS - The New Adventures of Old Christine
08:30 CBS - Project Gary - ?
09:30 FOX - Do Not Disturb - ?
10:00 ABC - Dirty Sexy Money

Thursday

08:00 ABC - Ugly Betty
08:00 CW - Smallville
08:00 NBC - My Name is Earl
08:30 NBC - 30 Rock
09:00 NBC - The Office
09:30 NBC - The Office/SNL Specials
10:00 ABC - Life on Mars

Friday

08:00 CW - Everybody Hates Chris
08:00 NBC - Crusoe - ?

 

[Roco]

there is getting more and more reasons not to watch network programs.
now that shark, women's murder club, law and order and october road are gone all that is left is ncis, the unit law and order svu and cold case.
and as for deal no deal they have pretty much ran it into the ground. oh well guess i'll have to learn to read.