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!
Sunday
7 pm Football Night in America
8 – 11 pm Football
When football is done – I hope you’ve been loving The Celebrity Apprentice!
7 pm Dateline or reruns (cause we don’t get enough of those on Saturday)
8 pm – Bad reality
9 pm – Bad reality
10 pm – A new series that really won’t fit with their bad reality (I’d put the Chicago Fire spinoff here). Eventually they’ll close out the year with extended bad reality.
Monday
8-10 pm – The Voice
10 pm – Revolution/New Drama midseason (I say The Sixth Gun).
What about when The Voice isn’t on the air? NBC also has plenty of bad reality in the pipeline. The Biggest Loser is still around, right?
Tuesday
8 pm – The Voice
9 pm – New Drama (Probably Night Shift)
10 pm – Parenthood/New Drama (Hatfields and McCoys could work here)
See my earlier comment on The Voice for Mondays? That.
Wednesday
8 pm – New Comedy (single-camera)
9 pm – New Comedy (single-camera)
9 pm – Law and Order: SVU
10 pm – Chicago Fire
Thursday
8:00 pm – New Comedy multicamera (likely the new Sean Hayes one, which was called Happiness but I have no idea what it is now).
8:30 pm – MJF
9:00 pm – Parks and Recreation
9:30 pm – New Comedy (single-camera likely)
10:00 pm – New Drama (Probably The Blacklist)
Friday
8 pm – Community/Go On (or vice versa)
8:30 pm – New Comedy or Community or Go On
9 pm – Grimm
10 pm – Dateline
Saturday
8 pm – Repeat
9 pm – More repeat
10 pm – Are you even still watching?
Shows to fill in all the holes when series are cancelled or to plug midseason gaps:
Hannibal, two new comedies, Rock Center with Brian Williams, two new dramas. Also NBC always has the mixed bag of reality.
How confident am I about this schedule? Who knows? This is NBC. They like playing it safe, yet they do some extraordinarily head-scratching things. I personally would like to see them pick up most of their dramas and ditch some of those reality hours. But there’s this thing called “cost” I guess. We’ll know the real schedule come Sunday (they announce early).
What’s your ultimate NBC schedule? What series would you like to see on this (sorry, past cancelled shows don’t count). We’ll know soon enough who’s right and who’s wrong.
