THE SKED’S NIELSENWAR CHRONICLES: Mondays

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As The Joker would say:  Here… We… Go.

After weeks of semi-starts and special “previews” of new shows racking up big numbers against minimal competition, the real 2012-13 TV season gets underway tonight.  Each day this week (except Saturday, which in TV terms doesn’t exist). we’ll look at the hour-by-hour battles to come, our expectations, and some factors to watch.  (Note:  CW won’t be introducing its scripted shows until October, but in any case its numbers are tiny compared to the other networks.)

8PM:  THE VOICE (NBC) vs. DANCING WITH THE STARS (ABC) vs. HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER/PARTNERS (CBS) vs BONES (FOX):  The Voice probably has this hour in the bag, with Bones at the bottom, but there are interesting undercurrents here.  Will an “all-star” line-up of contestants rejuvenate Dancing from its moribund last season?  And can Partners hold up its end of the Monday CBS Murderer’s Row sitcom line-up?  Look for Dancing to stabilize at best, and Partners to do OK but not what 2 Broke Girls did in the same slot last season.

9PM:  THE VOICE (NBC) vs. DANCING WITH THE STARS (ABC) vs. 2 BROKE GIRLS/MIKE & MOLLY (CBS) vs. THE MOB DOCTOR (FOX):  One of the central questions of the night, and indeed the season, is how 2 Broke Girls will do as the anchor show in CBS’s Monday line-up.  The series had a tremendous first season, but it’s now being asked to fill some big shoes.  We think it will find the fit comfortable.  We already know The Mob Doctor is unlikely to be long for this world, and NBC and ABC will perform as they did in the previous hour.

10PM:  REVOLUTION (NBC) vs. CASTLE (ABC) vs. HAWAII 5-0 (CBS):  We know fairly well how Castle and Hawaii do, so Revolution is the hour’s question mark.  The show had a great launch last week… facing a rerun on CBS and a low-rated special on ABC.  How will it hold up?  Our guess is that like many other fantasy adventures over the past decade, its numbers will dwindle as the fall goes on.