The Upfronts are officially here, more troubled than ever thanks to the ever-declining ratings at the broadcast networks.  (This Variety article does a good job of laying out the ways in which business considerations are altering what shows are put on the air.)  NBC is in the best position of the broadcasters, thanks to […]

  Welcome to Upfronts week, when the broadcast networks (or what’s left of them) announce their Fall schedules and attempt to generate billions of dollars worth of excitement from advertisers.  It’s harder than ever to authoritatively analyze the thought process that goes into a broadcaster’s cancellation, renewal and pick-up decisions, because network ad revenues directly […]

  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 […]

  We’ve reached the broadcast networks’ Upfront Week… which used to be a lot more central to our television lives than it is now.  Ratings everywhere are down, and there’s no reason to think they’ve hit bottom, which has caused seismic changes in the ways networks make scheduling decisions.  Among other things, with revenues from […]

  THE MCCARTHYS:  Thursday 9:30PM on CBS THE FACTS:  Ronnie McCarthy (Jake Lacy) is part of a lovingly smothering Boston Irish-Catholic family, who are just fine with him being gay but embarrass him at every turn anyway.  The series was created by Brian Gallivan, a relative newbie, so the showrunner will be Mike Sikowitz, of […]

  BAD JUDGE:  Thursday 9PM on NBC THE FACTS:  Rebecca Wright (Kate Walsh) is given to hard drinking and sex in the office (among other places).  She’s also a criminal court judge in LA.  Further complicating her life:  the 8-year old son (Theodore Barnes) of a couple she sent to jail, who’s become her new […]

  FOREVER:  Tuesday 10PM on ABC THE FACTS:  Dr. Henry Morgan (Ioan Gruffudd) is a brilliant New York medical examiner who can solve any murder.  Partly that’s because he has a lot of experience with death, since he himself has (temporarily) died many times–when he falls out a window, is poisoned or hit by a […]

  STALKER:  Wednesday 10PM on CBS THE FACTS:  From the grisly mind of The Following‘s Kevin Williamson, a procedural about an LAPD squad that specializes in tracking down dangerous stalkers.  Maggie Q runs the unit, and Dylan McDermott is the cocky new arrival from New York who immediately gets on her wrong side; both of […]