Category Archives: New Amsterdam

Fall Schedule Shakeup at FOX: ‘New Amsterdam’ Shelved, ‘Lyrics’ returns, ‘Bones’ moves

Via Variety, word has broken that FOX is shuffling its fall schedule to, well, I don’t really know why they’re doing it. On the one hand, their new schedule certainly seems like it will be more competitive. However, at the same time, I don’t believe that the switch from new programming to reality programming is going to do much good for the network’s pedigree.

Variety: Fox Shuffles Fall Schedule (Aug. 2nd)

The Details:

New Amsterdam, FOX’s crime procedural about a 400+ year old man who will only be able to age when he finds his true love, has been shelved until midseason. It will likely debut in the Fridays at 9pm timeslot that it would have been moving to in January anyways thanks to American Idol.

Why is it moving? My guess is a combination of retooling (The show isn’t shutting down production, but certainly they’ll be slowing down a bit) and perhaps it just isn’t coming together very well. It should be interesting to see whether more news breaks about this in the coming days.

Bones, meanwhile, is moving to find itself a new timeslot away from a rather tough Wednesday 9pm lineup (Private Practice, Criminal Minds, Bionic Woman). The FOX forensic crime procedural will be moving to New Amsterdam’s timeslot of 8pm on Tuesdays (Starting on September 25th) before itself likely moving to Fridays at 8 in January.

Why is it moving? Well, it’s more because of what else is moving, but more importantly it gives the show its own timeslot in its chosen genre (The only competition being NCIS, which skews older). So, considering they want it to survive on Fridays in the Spring, they need to give it a boost.

The other news deals with two reality shows.

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Filed under 2007 Fall Preview, Bones, Don't Forget the Lyrics, FOX, New Amsterdam, Television

2007-2008 Fall Premiere Dates – FOX, NBC, CBS, ABC and The CW

This fall, all of your favourite shows will be returning, and some new blood will join the pack. Which nights should you be scheduling off? Here’s the full calendar list of premiere dates for the Big 5 Networks.

NOTE: New shows are shown in blue.

September 6th

8:00pm

Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader [FOX]

September 11th

8:00pm

The Biggest Loser [NBC]

September 12th

9:00pm

Kitchen Nightmares [FOX]

September 14th

9:00pm

Nashville [FOX]

September 17th

8:00pm

Prison Break [FOX]

9:00pm

K-Ville [FOX]

September 18th

8:00pm

Beauty & The Geek [Two Hours] [The CW]

Bones [FOX]

September 19th

8:00pm

Kid Nation [CBS]

America’s Next Top Model [The CW]

Back To You [FOX]

8:30pm

‘Til Death [FOX]

9:00pm

Gossip Girl [The CW]

September 20th

8:00pm

Survivor: China [CBS]

September 23rd

8:00pm

The Simpsons [FOX]

8:30pm

King of the Hill [FOX]

9:00pm

Cold Case [CBS]

Family Guy [FOX]

10:00pm

Shark [CBS]

September 24th

8:00pm

How I Met Your Mother [CBS]

Chuck [NBC]

Dancing with the Stars [ABC]

8:30pm

Big Bang Theory [CBS]

9:00pm

Heroes [NBC]

Two and a Half Men [CBS]

9:30pm

Rules of Engagement [CBS]

The Bachelor [ABC]

10:00pm

CSI: Miami [CBS]

Journeyman [NBC]

September 25th

8:00pm

New Amsterdam [FOX]

NCIS [CBS]

Dancing with the Stars (Results) [ABC]

9:00pm

House [FOX]

The Unit [CBS]

Reaper [The CW]

9:30pm

The Singing Bee [NBC]

Boston Legal [ABC] [Special 90 Minute Premiere]

10:00pm

Cane [CBS]

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit [NBC]

September 26th

8:00pm

Deal or No Deal [NBC]

9:00pm

The Bionic Woman [NBC]

Criminal Minds [CBS]

Private Practice [ABC]

10:00pm

Life [NBC]

CSI: New York [CBS]

Dirty Sexy Money [ABC]

September 27th

8:00pm

My Name is Earl [NBC]

Smallville [The CW]

Ugly Betty [ABC]

9:00pm

The Office [NBC]

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation [CBS]

Grey’s Anatomy [ABC]

10:00pm

ER [NBC]

Without a Trace [CBS]

Big Shots [ABC]

September 28th

8:00pm

Ghost Whisperer [CBS]

Deal of No Deal [NBC]

9:00pm

Moonlight [CBS]

10:00pm

Las Vegas [NBC]

Numb3rs [CBS]

September 30th

7:00pm

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (2 hours) [ABC]

9:00pm

Desperate Housewives [ABC]

9:30pm

American Dad [FOX]

10:00pm

Brothers & Sisters [ABC]

October 1st

8:00pm

Everybody Hates Chris [The CW]

8:30pm

Aliens in America [The CW]

9:00pm

Girlfriends [The CW]

9:30pm

The Game [The CW]

October 2nd

8:00pm

Cavemen [ABC]

8:30pm

Carpoolers [ABC]

October 3rd

8:00pm

Pushing Daisies [ABC]

October 4th

8:30pm

30 Rock [NBC]

9:00pm

Supernatural [The CW]

October 5th

9:00pm

Friday Night Lights [NBC]

October 12th

8:00pm

20/20 [ABC]

9:00pm

Women’s Murder Club [ABC]

10:00pm

Men in Trees [ABC]

October 15th

9:30pm

Samantha Who? [ABC]

October 18th

10:00pm

Viva Laughlin (Preview) [CBS]

October 21st

8:00pm

Viva Laughlin [CBS]

October 25th

9:30pm

Scrubs [NBC]

November 27th

10:00pm

Cashmere Mafia [ABC]

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Filed under 'Til Death, 2007 Fall Preview, 30 Rock, Brothers & Sisters, Cavemen, Chuck, CSI: Miami, Dancing with the Stars, Desperate Housewives, FOX, Friday Night Lights, Gossip Girl, Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, House, How I Met Your Mother, My Name is Earl, NBC, New Amsterdam, Prison Break, Private Practice, Pushing Daisies, Reaper, Scrubs, Shark, Supernatural, Television, The Bionic Woman, The CW, The Office, Ugly Betty

The Three Most Disturbing Trends of the 2007/2008 Upfronts

Each year, the Upfronts create a series of trends which show what the networks are really thinking for the following year. They take what was successful the year before, and they decide that they should just copy all of that into their own schedules. For example, Lost’s success led to three different sci-fi copycat shows the following season: Invasion (ABC), Surface (NBC), and Threshold (CBS). Similarly, after the success of Prison Break, networks switched to serial conspiracy/action dramas like Vanished (FOX), Kidnapped (NBC), and Smith (CBS). This season has seen a variety of different trends, and some of them actually seem quite good on the surface. However, I think that there is actually a number of bad precedents being set which we should all remain aware of as next season begins.

The Three Most Disturbing Trends of the 2007/2008 Upfronts

3. The Procedural Nature of Television Drama

I’ve expected it from CBS for many years, now: all of their dramas are unlikely to have any sort of serial aspect, choosing instead to stick to procedural structure. Law & Order really started it off, CSI picked up the ball and kept running, and there is surely to be a new franchise waiting in the wings with time. It’s a quality which the networks love, since it means people can just sit back and watch a single episode without getting too caught up in the previous week’s action. And, I like some of these dramas: they can be compelling and fun to watch, and they repeat well for the purpose of syndication. However, I don’t want to see all procedural and nothing but procedural dramas.

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Filed under ABC, American Idol, FOX, Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, House, My Name is Earl, NBC, New Amsterdam, Private Practice, Reality TV, Sarah Connor Chronicles, Survivor, Television, The Amazing Race, The Apprentice, The CW, The Office, Upfronts, Veronica Mars

The Five Biggest Mistakes of the 2007 Network Upfronts

There is no question that the Upfronts bring on a lot of good things, which I will get to in time. However, it’s tough directly after the release of all of the fall schedules to not dwell on the negatives. The show which we canceled, the shows that were mistreated, and the show that you cringe just thinking about. As a result, we start our weekend coverage of the Upfronts with a piece which covers the mistakes made, and which ones will have the most negative effect on the state of television.

The Five Biggest Mistakes of the 2007 Network Upfronts

5. CBS cancels ‘Jericho’

I’ve talked about why canceling Jericho was the right move in the end, but I think it still needs to be recognized that CBS might need to reconsider such moves in the future. Wonky scheduling killed the show’s audience, not necessarily its quality, and I think this is where CBS might have hit their final straw. I think that CBS is worried about the bottom line, and the ratings performance, and I kind of wonder whether they really watched the show to see. Jericho’s fanbase was rabid and of a different sort than most of their shows. The network was able to cancel shows in the past without fanfare (Where’s the outrage for Close to Home?) because they are casual viewers: Jericho didn’t have any of those, and canceling it is likely to end up being more than they bargained for.

It had to be done, but it’s certainly put them in a lesser eye with some of the people that they hope might turn up this season for Moonlight and Viva Laughlin, two shows which might need a touch of their fandom. If they ever want to branch into serial television for real, they will need to realize that quality does matter. We’ll see if their tone changes as time moves forward.

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Filed under 'Til Death, ABC, Cavemen, FOX, Friday Night Lights, House, Jericho, NBC, New Amsterdam, Ratings, Television, The CW, Upfronts, Veronica Mars