TELEVISION: The 2015 Upfronts
The fall 2015 upfronts have started rolling in and NBC and FOX are first out of the gate. On NBC, every freshman was herded to slaughter save Debra Messing’s Momcop Copmom drama/comedy/action hour The Mysteries of Laura. I guess something had to survive to tell the tale of NBC’s disastrous 2014-2015 slate. It also looks like the network which used to dominate the network comedy side of television had jettisoned that era. It retains ONE comedy, Undateable, and one new one, People Are Talking, on its fall slate. Undateable‘s recent live episode proved successful enough that NBC has decided to air all next season episodes live. Midseason looks to bring more comedy back to NBC, including a reboot of Coach (with original players returning) as well as shows from former NBC comedy royalty Rob Lowe, Jenna Fischer and Megan Mullally. Just when you think you’ve had enough Neil Patrick Harris, he’ll be on your TV again this fall in his own variety series called Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris. The Voice will continue to pull viewers in for NBC next fall while still being unable to produce an actual star that can sell albums and the network is hoping that there is enough Heroes nostalgia to warrant the reboot of that show with Heroes Reborn. We’ll also see another live-action musical after the successes of The Sound of Music and Peter Pan with The Wiz in December.
NBC’s Fall 2015 Schedule
MONDAY
8-10 P.M. — The Voice
10-11 P.M. — BLINDSPOT [Trailer]
TUESDAY
8-9 P.M. — The Voice
9-10. PM. — HEARTBREAKER [Trailer]
10-11 P.M. — BEST TIME EVER WITH NEIL PATRICK HARRIS (through November)
10-11 P.M. — Chicago Fire (premieres in November)
WEDNESDAY
8-9 P.M. — The Mysteries of Laura
9-10 P.M. — Law & Order: SVU
10-11 P.M. — Chicago P.D.
THURSDAY
8-9 P.M. — HEROES REBORN [Teaser]
9-10 P.M. —The Blacklist
10-11 P.M. — THE PLAYER [Trailer]
FRIDAY
8-8:30 P.M. — Undateable
8:30-9 P.M. — PEOPLE ARE TALKING [Trailer]
9-10 P.M. — Grimm
10-11 P.M. — Dateline
SATURDAY
8-10 P.M. — Dateline Saturday Night Mystery
10-11 P.M. — Saturday Night Live (Classic encores)
SUNDAY
7-8:20 P.M. — Football Night in America
8:20-11 P.M. — Sunday Night Football
Check out info and trailers for more NBC fall and midseason programming here.
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Yes, it’s finally happened; FOX is canceling American Idol. Just five seasons too late. Its next season, the 15th, will be its last and as much as they hope it goes out with a bang it will likely be a whimper. That said, FOX does appear to have some hit potential on their slate with Minority Report from executive producer and based on the book and film of the same name as well as Scream Queens from the Glee trio of Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan and Brad Falchuk. They also have a Rob Lowe comedy so with his NBC one, Lowe will have a very busy summer. The biggest news for FOX though is probably its event series, the return of The X-Files. It should be a ratings juggernaut to see the goings on with Scully and Mulder in 2015. The biggest series breakout for any network in a number of years, Empire, is staying put on Wednesdays at 9pm.
FOX’s Fall 2015 Schedule
MONDAY
8-9 PM – Gotham
9-10 PM – MINORITY REPORT [Trailer]
TUESDAY
8-8:30 PM – GRANDFATHERED [Trailer]
8:30-9 PM – THE GRINDER [Trailer]
9-10 PM – SCREAM QUEENS
WEDNESDAY
8-9 PM – ROSEWOOD [Trailer]
9-10 PM – Empire
THURSDAY
8-9 PM – Bones
9-10 PM – Sleepy Hollow
FRIDAY
8-9 PM – MasterChef Junior
9-10 PM – World’s Funniest
SATURDAY
7-10:30 PM – Fox Sports Saturday: Fox College Football
SUNDAY
7-7:30 PM – NFL on Fox
7:30-8 PM – The OT
8-8:30 PM – The Simpsons
8:30-9 PM – Brooklyn Nine-Nine
9-9:30 PM – Family Guy
9:30-10 PM – The Last Man on Earth
Midseason notes:
- American Idol is returning for its 15th and final season in January.
- New Girl will return to Tuesdays in January after Scream Queens finishes its run, followed by new comedy The Guide to Surviving Life.
- The X-Files event series will arrive in January after the NFC Championships.
- Other midseason premieres: The Frankenstein Code, Lucifer, Bordertown.
For a more detailed description of the upcoming FOX fall slate click here.
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After a very strong 2014-2015 season, ABC is making very few changes to their schedule and lineup for the new season. Five new shows will be headed your way, including the highly anticipated reboot of The Muppets. It will lead off the Tuesday night programming at 8pm and be followed by the breakout hit, Fresh Off the Boat from last season. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday shows and lineups are staying put, no changes there. On Tuesday, Quantico will join The Muppets for new programming. As the name implies the show is about FBI recruits at Quantico and stars Dougray Scott. Friday will see the comedy Dr. Ken follow Last Man Standing and stars Community‘s Ken Jeong, who is also the show writer. Sunday will see two new shows, Oil and Of Kings and Prophets. Oil, about an oily tycoon family, stars Don Johnson and Chace Crawford and feels like a Dallas redux. Of Kings and Prophets is a biblical drama starring Ray Winstone.
ABC’s Fall 2015 Schedule
MONDAY
8 PM — Dancing with the Stars
10 PM — Castle
TUESDAY
8 PM — THE MUPPETS [Trailer]
8:30 PM — Fresh Off the Boat
9 PM — Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
10 PM — QUANTICO [Trailer]
WEDNESDAY
8 PM — The Middle
8:30 PM — The Goldbergs
9 PM — Modern Family
9:30 PM — black-ish
10 PM — Nashville
THURSDAY
8 PM — Grey’s Anatomy
9 PM — Scandal
10 PM — How to Get Away with Murder
FRIDAY
8 PM — Last Man Standing
8:30 PM — DR. KEN [Trailer]
9 PM — Shark Tank
10 PM –20/20
SATURDAY
8 PM — Saturday Night Football
SUNDAY
7 PM — America’s Funniest Home Videos
8 PM — Once Upon a Time
9 PM — OIL [Trailer]
10 PM — OF KINGS AND PROPHETS [Trailer]
Plus, check out the trailers for these new mid-season shows: The Family, The Real O’Neals, The Catch, Wicked City and Uncle Buck.
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CBS’s 2015 Fall Schedule
MONDAY (September-November)
8-8:30 PM: The Big Bang Theory
8:30-9 PM: LIFE IN PIECES
9-10 PM: Scorpion
10-11 PM: NCIS: Los Angeles
MONDAY (starting in November)
8-9 PM: SUPERGIRL [Trailer]
9-10 PM: Scorpion
10-11 PM: NCIS: Los Angeles
TUESDAY
8-9 PM: NCIS
9-10 PM: NCIS: New Orleans
10-11 PM: LIMITLESS
WEDNESDAY
8-9 PM: Survivor
9-10 PM: Criminal Minds
10-11 PM: CODE BLACK
THURSDAY (September-November)
8-11 PM: Thursday Night Football
THURSDAY (starting in November)
8-8:30 PM: The Big Bang Theory
8:30-9 PM: LIFE IN PIECES
9-9:30 PM: Mom
9:30-10 PM: ANGEL FROM HELL
10-11 PM: Elementary
FRIDAY
8-9 PM: The Amazing Race
9-10 PM: Hawaii Five-0
10-11 PM: Blue Bloods
SATURDAY
8-10 PM: Crimetime Saturday
10-11 PM: 48 Hours
SUNDAY
7-8 PM: 60 Minutes
8-9 PM: Madam Secretary
9-10 PM: The Good Wife
10-11 PM: CSI: Cyber
Mid-season notes:
Person of Interest, 2 Broke Girls, Mike & Molly, The Odd Couple will return mid-season. CSI is officially ending with a 2-hour movie in September.
Crazy/fun fact:
The last time CBS didn’t have sitcoms opening Monday night was the fall of 1948.
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The CW’s Fall 2015 Schedule
CW, with its limited scope of hours in primetime (two) and days of programming per week (five) is sticking to what they know with bringing back all shows and only debuting one new show this fall, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. The one-hour Rachel Bloom sitcom that Showtime passed on will be paired with CW’s breakout hit Jane the Virgin as its lead-in. Talks of that Supernatural spin-off fizzled. Supernatural goes into its 11th season this fall.
MONDAY
8 PM – CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND
9 PM – Jane the Virgin
TUESDAY
8 PM – The Flash
9 PM – iZombie
WEDNESDAY
8 PM – Arrow
9 PM – Supernatural
THURSDAY
8 PM – The Vampire Diaries
9 PM – The Originals (new night)
FRIDAY
8 PM – Reign (new night)
9 PM – America’s Next Top Model
New shows DC Legends of Tomorrow and Containment will debut midseason, as will The 100.
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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