In the CBS featurette for its new midseason action-adventure INTELLIGENCE (it’ll take over the Monday 10PM timeslot from Hostages), the show is variously compared to Mission: impossible, Frankenstein, The Six Million Dollar Man and James Bond.  Curiously, the one they left out was Chuck, for which this show’s concept is virtually a dead ringer:  […]

  AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. is The Big One, not just for ABC but for any network this fall.  A spin-off of one of the most successful movies ever made (and part of a gigantically successful ongoing franchise), co-written and directed by the film’s director himself–who just happens to be a brilliant TV auteur in his […]

  Thanks to SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL, THE VOICE and Dick Wolf, NBC is in stable–if unexciting–shape as the 2015-16 season ends, and the Peacock’s fall line-up is as notable for what it doesn’t do as for what it does.  Although the network has ordered a dozen new series, only 3 of them will begin airing […]

  UPDATED with reactions to FOX trailers, which are available here:   The FOX fall schedule is a puzzlement. FOX seems to have done little to help itself with its fall 2016 line-up, leaving two of its weakest nights unimproved, and burying one of its highest-profile projects on low-rated Friday.  The network will be more […]

    HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER:  Thursday 10PM on ABC THE FACTS:  The new wing to the Shonda Rhimes Thursday that’s about to be a cornerstone of the ABC line-up.  In case that name wasn’t enough, try this one:  Viola Davis, starring as a brilliant, enigmatic criminal defense attorney who teaches a law […]

  We’ve arrived at Friday in our tour of the fall primetime schedule, and former head of NBC Scheduling Mitch Metcalf, former head of NBC Current Programming Ted Frank and I have our predictions ready.  (Here are our predictions for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.)  Friday is the least-watched (other than barely-programmed Saturday) and least dramatic […]

  ABC is in need of a lot of help next season, and it’s ordered a ton of product for its shelves, with 5 new comedies and 7 dramas on tap.  (The network also renewed The Neighbors, Nashville and Suburgatory among the bubble shows, while canceling How to Live With Your Family, Happy Endings, Body […]

  One of FOX’s big moves for the fall is revamping its Tuesday 8-9PM comedies, shifting sharply in tone from last falls soft duo of Raising Hope and Ben & Kate to a more guy-oriented tone.  Seth MacFarlane’s Dads has the responsibility for kicking off the night, and then the cop comedy BROOKLYN NINE-NINE is […]