My thanks to NBC for being the greatest contributor to my exhaustion today.

Updated (12:05 am 5/11):  Now that the dust has settled, the official word of the most expected cancellation came down.  Banishing Smash to Saturdays was a death knell!  It's officially gone.  So is The New Normal, which is no surprise since it was doing worse than partner Go On, which was cancelled earlier today.  

Updated (9:15 pm ET):  More pickups!  The Blacklist is finally official, so is Night Shift (Ha! to all of you calling it dead), and Welcome to The Family.  In a flash of rare awesomeness for NBC, Community has earned a fifth season!  

Updated (5:54 pm ET):  DAMN YOU NBC!!!!  Seems like this network doesn't want me to watch them at all.  NBC has officially cancelled Go On.  Also, The John Mulaney Show is dead, not too surprising since they shot late and couldn't find a cast.  NBC also gets the honor of the first casting exit of a new pilot.  Parker Posey is leaving The Family Guide.  Also not surprising, Rock Center With Brian Williams has been cancelled.  Looks like NBC will have to fill that slot with tacky reality, as opposed to informative. 

Updated:  This article has been up five whole minutes and we've already got a update!  The Chicago Fire Spinoff has been picked up.  You'll notice the correction made on the lists down below in bold.

Well, if NBC is doing one thing this pilot season, it's giving us bloggers and entertainment writers plenty to scoff about come upfronts.  NBC just announced it was picking up for series Undateable, which is pretty cool like I like properties from Bill Lawrence, and the absolutely laughable Ironside.  

Updated 9:00 pm:  The fate of the remaining bubble shows have been decided.  As you recall, Criminal Minds was officially renewed a day or two ago.  So the remaining shows, CSI: NY, Golden Boy, Vegas, and long-time survivor Rules of Engagement have all been cancelled.  No surprises there, but that does free up some slots for shows.  Rumor has it, CBS plans on order two to three more pilots. 

Updated 6:05 pm:  Two pilots can be added to the "not going forward list."  Untitled Tad Quill and Untitled Rottenburg/Zuritsky.  That's what you get for being untitled! 

The networks are busy with all their last minute announcements before this Friday before upfronts comes to an end (on the west coast anyway) ends, and CBS is the latest to announce pilot pickups.  They've picked up two drama and four comedies.  That's so far, but one wonders where there is room to work in anything else! The new series for 2013 - 2014 are:

Dramas:

Intelligence
Hostages

Comedies: 

Mom
Crazy Ones
The Millers (formerly Greg Garcia Untitled)
We Are Men (formerly Ex-Men)

Notably absent from the drama list so far is the front runner, Beverly Hills Cop.  Another omission, the NCIS: LA spinfoff, NCIS: RED.  Two highly buzzed about pilots, Backstrom and Super Clyde, are missing as well.   It has not been reported yet that any of the other remaining pilots have been officially rejected, but considering the very limited slots on the CBS schedule, it's not looking too great. 


I'll provide updates here as they come in. Also, come back here very soon for the CBS fantasy schedule.  They're going last because honestly, it won't look much different from what it currently is.  That's the fun of being the number one network. 

For those that don't remember what any of these pilots are, here's the list and detailed info:

http://www.tvfortherestofus.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=427:its-rabbit-season-its-duck-season-its-pilot-season-detailed-look-at-cbs-pilots-hint-one-already-aired&catid=54:general-television&Itemid=28

Since The CW was so kind and went and made all their pilot pickups and remaining renewals official today, let’s look at their fantasy schedule next.  I had already done one last week, but given the new info it deserves some updating.  Below is all the new info.

The shows with their fates TBD were The Carrie Diaries and Nikita.  They were both renewed!  Now, there’s this whole mystery regarding number of episodes.  It is presumed The Carrie Diaries will get 13 episodes.  That’s usually what The CW does with renewals of bubble shows so I believe that.  

As for Nikita, there’s tons of overlapping information out there.  It was confirmed by executive producer Craig Silverstein on Twitter that Nikita will be getting a shortened season.  The number of episodes was not revealed.  I’ve read a variety of reports that say it can be anywhere from 6 to 13.  There’s no official word what that count is.  There’s also no official word that this will be the last season as was rumored before.  It’s my understanding there are still negotiations underway, but The CW has some better leverage since they have renewed all their remaining bubble shows and have picked up five new pilots.  It’s possible the information on remaining episodes will be known by upfronts on May 16th, but there’s always a chance that info won’t be announced either.  

Here are the new pilots.  None of these are surprises, and were the pickups I anticipated in my last schedule:

The 100
The Tomorrow People
Reign
Oxygen
The Originals (previously announced)

Knowing all this, here is my fantasy schedule.  I’m still sticking with the idea that on Wednesdays, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!  But if Nikita is truly running for 6 to 13 weeks, does it stay on Fridays?  I’m thinking not now.  So what is?  The answer might surprise you.  


Monday

8:00 - Beauty and The Beast
9:00 - Oxygen

Tuesday

8:00 - The 100
9:00 - The Tomorrow People  

The order of these could be easily reversed.  

Wednesday

8:00 - Arrow
9:00 - Supernatural

Thursday

8:00 - The Vampire Diaries
9:00 - The Originals

Friday

8:00 - Hart of Dixie
9:00 - Call it "Anything Can Happen Fridays."  There’s America’s Next Top Model, repeats of new shows, repeats of veteran shows, Nikita, The Carrie Diaries, any new reality the network comes up with.  The sky’s the limit!  

Midseason

Reign, Nikita, The Carrie Diaries

So, what do you think?  Upfronts are Thursday, May 16th, so there's plenty of time to ruminate.  

Well FOX went and made things easy on us!  All their pilot pickups and cancellations are official now.  Now the only bear left is a schedule with more shows than slots available. 

There’s no real big surprises in FOX's pilot pickup list at all.  The shows picked up were all considered to be strong front runners.  What’s very interesting is the number of pilots picked up.  Four dramas and five comedies.  That’s pretty bold considering they have about 2 slots available.  

 

Some are speculating these shows will be used to fill a hole or two created by American Idol, because the show is getting completely retooled.  They want to fire Uncle Nigel!  And all the judges.  Except Randy Jackson, who one upped everyone and quit!  I knew the dawg was pretty smart.  I don’t think X-Factor is gaining a lot of confidence beyond next season either.  

UPDATED:  NBC started informing the shows that they are not moving forward with the bad news, and there are two big surprises.  They aren't going to pick up The Sixth Gun (which was considered a front runner) or Hatfields and McCoys.  Other shows that were informed are The Gates, Joe, Joe, & Jane, The Secret Lives of Husbands and Wives, Bloodline.  Brenda Forever is out of contention for the fall, but there's slim hope (I do mean slim) that it'll be picked up for midseason.  There was an earlier report that Night Shift was on the list of "no's" as well, but that report has proven to be false.  

Below is my minor corrections to my fantasy schedule.  Since I had The Sixth Gun and Hatfields and McCoys possibly sharing nights with others, now they won't!   

Since NBC traditionally goes first in the upfront presentations, they go first in the fantasy schedule.  I don’t think I need to say how many holes are in this network’s schedule.  It’s swiss cheese!  I hope you have enough fingers to keep the dam from bursting.  

As far as latest pilot rumors, all dramas pretty much are contenders, and NBC loves their comedy pilots so much, they’re thinking of doing away with their entire comedy block with the exception of Parks and Recreation.  I think that’s a negotiating ploy myself, designed to scare producers of existing comedy shows to give license fee concessions.  I’m not convinced this year’s pilots are better than normal, but there are many good ones in there.  Although, aside from me very much wanting to see Go On continue, if any of the others go, I don’t think TV would be shattered.  Also, MJF has already been ordered to series, so I’ll just pencil that in on Thursdays.  

NBC did officially pick up five dramas since our last look, Revolution, Grimm, Chicago Fire, Parenthood, and Law and Order: SVU, so I have them in the schedule here.  NBC as you know has been testing Grimm on Tuesday at 10pm.  It’s only been there a few weeks, but I don’t see it moving there permanently since that’s Parenthood’s slot, unless they decided to have both dramas split the slot (aka Grimm at midseason).  Considering Parenthood and Grimm both got 22 episode orders, and they’re both very different shows, I don’t see that happening.  Thus, I’m keeping Grimm at Fridays at 9pm.  Considering it wins it’s time slot and is big with DVR, don’t fix what ain’t broke.  

Shows I’m predicting for cancellation:  1600 Penn (duh!), Up All Night (even though this was essentially cancelled as soon as the lead actors left but NBC didn’t have the nerve to say so), Deception, Guys With Kids, The New Normal (GLAAD award or not, something isn’t connecting with audiences), Whitney, Smash (if NBC could afford it, it is actually doing okay for a Saturday show when DVR is worked in).  

Let me add something further about Smash.  Why can’t networks like NBC, who are really trying to carve a new niche for themselves, try to put on low budget CW type shows on Saturday?  Something youth oriented that will generate buzz in alternate viewing platforms?  Smash is getting CW type ratings on a Saturday, which isn’t bad at all, and seems to be doing very well with DVR (I don’t know about online).  Shouldn’t they be using Saturday to boost an online empire like The CW is doing with it’s entire schedule?  That way, they can grab a little bit of that niche money, and perhaps give the world alternate viewing options rather than college football, NASCAR, and procedural repeats?  They can be in house shows, so if they catch on NBC Universal would get all the syndication money.  SyFy is making a mark with it’s “Supernatural Saturdays.”  Come on NBC, here’s an opportunity waiting to happen!  I know, they won’t bite.  We know what network we’re dealing with here.  

Anyway, shows I’m predicting to get a limited episode order with renewal (great DVR ratings being the reason):  Community, Go On, Hannibal

I’m not going to speculate just yet which pilots actually get picked up, because quite frankly there are some overlapping rumors out there and I just think NBC could pick up anything at this rate.  Their dramas are pretty good (except for Ironside).  I’m still calling The Sixth Gun, The Blacklist, Night Shift and the Chicago Fire Spinoff the front runners, but they’ll remain on a speculative wish list for me right now.  There will be at least two other dramas picked up for midseason (Hatfields and the McCoys, Believe, Wonderland, Crisis all very good possibilities).  I see at least six comedies for fall, and another two or three being picked up for midseason filler.  

Without further adieu, my attempt at a schedule!

I've been through 16 episodes of "Revolution", and it is kind of interesting how every single week has a littany of repetitive themes.  After a spending a boring afternoon at work catching up on Tim Surrette's brilliant (and bitingly hilarious) reviews of Revolution at TV.com, I've been inspired to create that one catch-all Bingo card.  Turns out one is all that's needed for this show. 

Reap the rewards of multiple bingos everytime!  With  episodes to go, you might as well come out from each hour a winner, especially when the characters in each episode end up being total losers. 

The CW.  Where the goal is to standout, because they’re lost in the mix bad enough.  Oh, I kid.  To be honest, it’s been a good year.  They are now a two hit network, as opposed to a one hit network.   So, will any of these new pilots add to that?  Maybe.  After all, they really don’t have to try that hard to catch NBC. 

Since the entire slate is dramas, that makes categorizing easy!

CBS is the number one network for a reason.  Not only do they work hard to keep their current schedule intact, they’re usually forward thinking in selecting pilots that will fill future holes.  Even though the slots for the fall season are super limited, they know that shelf life of a few of their aging veterans isn’t good.  This year will be the last for How I Met Your Mother, and very possibly Two and A Half Men as well.  Midseason utility player Rules of Engagement is gone (still not sure why they don’t make it official).  This alone leaves two open comedy slots on Mondays, even if there’s only one for the fall.

Reality show Survivor is really losing steam, and even though CSI will likely go two more years, one has to wonder how much time The Good Wife and The Mentalist have.  CBS is keeping all that in mind when it considers such a rich crop of pilots.  If one stands out, there’s always midseason to plug holes to test the waters. 

There’s also shifting fading shows to Friday.  Criminal Minds, Hawaii Five-0, The Good Wife, and The Mentalist are all prime candidates to fill that Friday void at 8 and 9 pm.  Survivor too.  Suddenly, that opens up a few slots, and creates potential for a newly rebuilt Sunday and/or Wednesday lineup.  Tuesdays at 10pm aren’t doing so hot either, so there’s a place for a new high profile show.

There are also rumors that CBS will expand its Thursday comedy lineup to two hours (thus where the single camera selections come in).  That will either push Person of Interest to 10 pm, or they get a new night.  I really don’t see them pushing one of their major success stories to a new night.  I see Elementary being moved to fill other schedule holes instead.  That is if CBS has the guts to mess with something that’s working.

It’s all something to think about when going through the following pilot statuses in a nutshell.  Keep in mind a lot of this is based on buzz, rumor, speculation, feedback from people who got to see the pilot being shot, or Deadline.  It’s still too early to get a big picture, and probably will be for a few more weeks. 

New Info:

A cast was finally found for Untitled Rottenburg/Zuritsky (still listed with the working title of Mother’s Day).  Too bad they didn’t find a title yet.  There’s a couple notables in here, which is kind of remarkable given how late it is in pilot season.  Still, this is CBS.  They’ve got some pull.

Cast:  Debra Messing, Maggie Elizabeth Jones, Michael Nathanson, Paul Adelstein

Casting is still continuing for the Untitled Tad Quill project, but they’ve also scored some big names.  They’re still cutting it very close though.

Cast:  Matthew Broderick, Kristin Chenoweth, Phil Lewis, Jennifer Aspen

Otherwise, there isn’t much else.  This has been one very smooth pilot season for CBS so far (except for said comedies).  It’s actually kind of boring after looking at NBC. 

Dramas

Front Runner:  Beverly Hills Cop

Looking Good:  The Surgeon General, Intelligence, Backstrom

Serious Contenders For Midseason Pickup:  Hostages, NCIS: RED

Has A Shot:  The Ordained

Still too early to tell:   The Anatomy of Violence, The Advocates, Second Sight, Reckless

Comedies

Slam dunk, put it on your fall schedule now:  Mom

Front Runner:  Crazy Ones.  This is really encouraging actually, because it’s finally pushing CBS into single camera comedy territory.  The all star casting of Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar is pushing this one above the other good contenders.

Strong, but fighting hard for limited slots:  Super Clyde, Bad Teacher, Friends With Better Lives, Untitled Greg Garcia Project, Ex-Men

Too early to tell:  Untitled Rottenburg/Zuristsky, Untitled Tad Quill, Jacked Up, Gaffigan

In our next installment for CBS, the fantasy schedule! 

Coming up, The CW.  Given their limited slate of pilots, I’m going to do my first set of fantasy scheduling with this netlet.