Some thoughts on the 2012 Fall Network Schedules

It’s that time of year again.  The broadcast networks are all releasing their fall 2012 television schedules.  With that comes the chance of your new favorite television show being pulled within weeks of going on the air.

In this age of a thousand cable channels, the broadcast networks are fighting for their life, especially NBC.  It does not matter what CBS puts on the air because, more often than not, it will stay on all season long because their viewers have misplaced their remotes a long time ago.

One of the more promising shows of the next season is being held until the midseason: 1600 Penn, a show that NBC picked up.  The series focuses on a First Family but, as is the case with sitcoms, they all have their own quirks.

The biggest question of all is whether or not viewers will move with their shows?  That’s going to be a very important question for FOX, especially in light of moving Glee to Thursday nights to a very competitive time-slot.

We saw what happened when CSI: NY moved from Wednesdays at 10 to Friday nights at 9.  They lost viewers.  They are continuing to lose viewers.  After being on the bubble for two seasons in a row and getting a last minute renewal, I fully expect the 2012-13 season to be the last for the CSI spin-off.

ABC officially announces their schedule on Tuesday.  I expect them to move Revenge to Sunday nights at 10.  Even with the juggernaut called Sunday Night Football, we saw that Once Upon A Time was able to hold its own so one would think that the Revenge viewers would move with the show.

I do have a bone to pick with NBC.  They might think that they are protecting Community but placing it on Friday nights does hurt the show.  Moreover, instead of airing it at 8:30, the show should kick off the night at 8 PM.  In addition, I expect heavy competition from Fringe during the timeslot.

The CW picked up Arrow, based on the DC comic book Green Arrow.  My gut feeling says that the CW will keep it on their Friday night genre night, thus more competition.

I don’t understand why viewers have not given up on American Idol.  The series sucks.  I don’t even watch it.  Instead, why do you not make the decision to vote with your remote and watch shows that deserve an audience?

One big thing to note is that comedies are back.  NBC has given their schedule a combined 5 hours of sitcoms.  FOX, on the other hand, has two nights of two-hour comedy blocks for a total of four hours.