Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Lox with Les

The CBS schedule isn't especially glamorous, but the announcement is always the highlight of the week, thanks to the annual command performance given by Les Moonves. (After doing his best to play nice and not take his usual dozen potshots at Jeff Zucker, Les couldn't help himself when a reporter mentioned Zucker's speech at NBC's upfront about digital content, which according to those who witnessed it was long and painful. "I hard he talked about it for a while," Les cracked, and when people started laughing, he said, "That's a statement, a factual statement.")

More on the lineup after the jump:
The line-up, night by night:

MONDAY
8:00-8:30 PM HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (NT)
8:30-9:00 PM THE CLASS (N)
9:00-9:30 PM TWO AND A HALF MEN
9:30-10:00 PM THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE
10:00-11:00 PM CSI: MIAMI

TUESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM NCIS
9:00-10:00 PM THE UNIT
10:00-11:00 PM SMITH (N)

WEDNESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM JERICHO (N)
9:00-10:00 PM CRIMINAL MINDS
10:00-11:00 PM CSI: NY

THURSDAY
8:00-9:00 PM SURVIVOR
9:00-10:00 PM CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION
10:00-11:00 PM SHARK (N)

FRIDAY
8:00-9:00 PM GHOST WHISPERER
9:00-10:00 PM CLOSE TO HOME
10:00-11:00 PM NUMB3RS

SATURDAY
8:00-9:00 PM CRIMETIME SATURDAY
9:00-10:00 PM CRIMETIME SATURDAY
10:00-11:00 PM 48 HOURS: MYSTERY

SUNDAY
7:00-8:00 PM 60 MINUTES
8:00-9:00 PM THE AMAZING RACE
9:00-10:00 PM COLD CASE
10:00-11:00 PM WITHOUT A TRACE

Some thoughts:
  • "HIMYM" would be safer after "Two and a Half Men," but the combination of it and "The Class" (written by "Friends" co-creator David Crane) could be very cool, and in general there's less I want to watch Monday at 8 than there is at 9.
  • "Race" is at 8 p.m. permanently, a good move for such a family-friendly show but maybe not such a great night, since ABC has "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" there.
  • "Smith" stars Ray Liotta as a master thief planning one last job, and Virginia Madsen is his wife. So much for "Sideways" leading to a revival of her movie career.
  • My favorite James Woods movie is "True Believer," so even though he's playing a different kind of defense lawyer in "Shark," I'm there unless the "Six Degrees" pilot just knocks my socks off.
  • "Jericho" has an interesting concept (small Midwestern town survives a nuclear detonation but is cut off from the rest of the world), but Skeet Ulrich as your lead? Really? Really?
  • "King of Queens" is coming back at midseason for 13 final episodes, but anything else from this year you don't see on the schedule is dead.
Not much else to say, but feel free to fire any questions about it.
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8 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:37 PM, May 17, 2006

    Interesting....

    :-/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous12:47 PM, May 17, 2006

    What's the rationale behind moving Without A Trace to Sundays? I thought it was doing well on Thursdays.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Matt1:26 PM, May 17, 2006

    CBS is, for the first time in years, trying regularly scheduled programming on Sunday nights rather than a movie. They wanted a proven hit to anchor the night, and with the 10 PM Sunday slot open without Grey's there, moving a show made complete sense, and Trace was the logical one to move.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous2:18 PM, May 17, 2006

    TAR is up against The Simpsons? Ack! Thanks heavens for DVRs! And finally, I can watch WaT first-run instead of recording it for later (my Sundays at 10 are free because I don't watch Grey's).

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous4:14 PM, May 17, 2006

    Why aren't the upfronts shown on TV or the web, or released on MP3?

    Why do we have to rely on print reporters and Access Hollywood to describe the spectacle? Why can't we see it for ourselves?

    (I have the same question re: TV Critics Association press tour.)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous5:51 PM, May 17, 2006

    Aw, I kind of loved Skeet Ulrich in the cancelled-too-soon ABC show "Miracles." Heh.

    I'm just glad they didn't pick up Capitol Law. As much as I would like to see Joshua Jackson (Pacey!) on my TV every week...that pilot was awful.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous2:53 AM, May 18, 2006

    I know this is completely off-topic, but I'm posting it here in hopes Alan will see it. Will NBC air the remaining episodes of "Joey" this summer? I know there had been talk of that earlier in the year.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous9:27 AM, May 22, 2006

    Loved Skeet in Miracles as well, and did an amazing job in The Magic of Ordinary Days with Keri Russell. The video promo at www.cbs.com for Jericho looks great!

    ReplyDelete