2011-12 Season Disclaimers
09/12/2011 at 11:32 pm | Posted in iamnoahjames.com, Net/Spec | 1 CommentTags: 2011-2012, ABC, CBS, CW, FOX, NBC, PostAWeek2011, primetime, Schedule
As I delve into the networks’ 2011-2012 line-up over the next few days, I thought it would be best to explain a few things. This way, I don’t have to repeat myself. If you have any questions – or think I’ve missed a few things – please email or reply in the comments.
For the new season, I will be starting with The CW (since The Ringer starts tomorrow). However, I will not be including The CW in the network comparison posts. This is not a diss to the network that CBS/WB built. I won’t include it because The CW’s metric for programming and their shows’ success/failure isn’t the same as the Big Four. The CW doesn’t base renewal/cancelation decisions completely on ratings. Their (CBS & CW) primary goal is to produce original content in order to sell it into global syndication. As long as they don’t lose money in the process, they typically keep the show on.
In fact, they are notorious for bundling more popular shows with lower performers – this gives the global stations better deals on buying two shows – but has caused some friction with executive producers of some shows. The Alfred Gough and Miles Millar (who adapted Smallville, and were the showrunners for the first 7 seasons) actually sued, claiming that they were owed more than half of the residuals on global sales, since the stations were only buying the lower rated show because it was bundled with the hugely popular Smallville – had Smallville been sold separately, they claimed the other show wouldn’t have been.
Alfred Gough & Miles Millar
Regardless, as of this posting, the system has been working well for both co-owners. They do tend to cancel the lowest rated of the shows – not counting Friday shows (which we will discuss soon) – but that tends to be the only time they look at Nielsen.
Moving on from CW…
I will be including premiere dates for the shows in the network specific posts – but not the Network v. Network daily breakdown ones.
For the new shows, some will be described using known properties (you’ll know what I mean when you read The CW post). This is not a dig at the show for being unoriginal. In fact, most of your favorite shows and movies were pitched to studios and executives using other shows/movies to create an instant picture. You only have a little time to pitch your idea, and you have to be able to make the tone as vivid as you can to get the top brass excited. A murky pitch does not get a show greenlit.
I might repeat this when I address the Friday schedule, but oh well. The fact is that all four of the big networks have scripted dramas on that night. Other than Fringe and Chuck (who are on Fridays to let them run their course), the ONLY reason networks put scripted shows on the night with the lowest weekly viewership is for advertiser dollars. Advertisers still don’t spend as much on reality/unscripted shows as they do scripted – unless a proven entity like Survivor or American Idol – so networks try and grab as much of the money up for grabs as they can. So what happens when that show usually get cancelled, but the advertisers paid for more episodes of it? Same thing that happens when a show doesn’t perform as well as promised to advertisers: Makegoods – meaning they get those (ratings) points made good by the network airing free spots on other programs.
Finally, I will not be covering midseason shows (except possibly FOX). I’ve found that a good chunk of those new programs either come-and-go, get pushed back to being burned off on the summer schedule, or get shelved – so there’s not much reason to invest time in them until they actually see the light of day. FOX is an exception because – due to American Idol – their midseason schedule has been known to be drastically different than their fall one.
Without further ado, I will start the new 2011-2012 schedule breakdown for each network. This will be followed by addressing each day of the week (minus Saturdays) and predicting which network will win in the prime demos – A18-49 and Households. Feel free to join in the prediction/analysis fun!
FOX Role Call
08/17/2011 at 9:52 pm | Posted in iamnoahjames.com, Net/Spec | 2 CommentsTags: 2010-2011, cancel, FOX, PostAWeek2011, renew
UPDATED: FOX has reversed their decision to cancel Breaking In! The show will be back for a second season.
Last but not least, FOX – the undisputed king of the all-important A18-49 and A18-34 demos. What shows survived the 2010-2011 season, and what shows bit the big one. Scroll down for the complete list of shows – as well as my thoughts on the network’s decisions:
Renewed:
Fringe
American Dad
Raising Hope
Bob’s Burgers
The Cleveland Show
The Simpsons
Bones
Family Guy
House
Glee
Cops
Hell’s Kitchen
Kitchen Nightmares
So You Think You Can Dance
Cancelled:
Running Wilde
The Good Guys
Lie to Me
Lone Star
Traffic Light
The Chicago Code
Human Target
Breaking In
America’s Most Wanted
My Thoughts:
Not too many surprises for FOX.
After running on (ratings) fumes this season, canceling Lie to Me, Human Target, & The Good Guys was inevitable.
Gordon Ramsay can do no wrong on FOX, as everything he touches usually brings in viewers by the droves. His summer show MasterChef is continuing the successful partnership.
What’s not surprising is Cops being renewed for another season – as FOX’s Saturday lineup has consistently won the night for many years now. What is surprising is the cancelation of America’s Most Wanted. FOX’s president explained that the network hasn’t made any money off of the show in quite some time. However, he is still keeping it in the FOX family by airing an AMW special every three months.
Sadly, most of FOX’s freshman shows didn’t make it to a sophomore year. Running Wilde, Traffic Light, & The Chicago Code never even premiered with a respectable number.
Breaking In’s termination makes the 3rd show in a row for Christian Slater to be canned in its first season. NBC’s My Own Worst Enemy lasted 13 episodes, ABC’s The Forgotten had 17, and now Breaking In being canceled after its midseason run.
Despite Lone Star getting fawned on universally by critics, virtually no one showed up for the first two episodes – making it one of the first shows of the official fall network season to be axed.
After Glee, House is FOX’s highest-rated show – so its renewal was a no-brainer. However – due to contract negotiations for the veteran drama, Lisa Edelstein (Cuddy) walked away after her salary negotiations didn’t meet her (or, probably more realistically, her rep’s) requirements. Sad for House fans – as Cuddy is a fan favorite – but lucky for CBS’s The Good Wife, where she will have a recurring role next season.
Fringe got renewed for a full 22-season order. Despite my belief that it looked likely for cancelation, I image WB came in and practically gave away the show to FOX. After the 4th season, WB will have at least 88 episodes of the show produced – making a syndication sale possible (88 is the least number you need). Don’t be surprised if this is the final season of the sci-fi show.
So what do YOU think? Are you happy/upset about any of the choices FOX made? Would you have done anything differently?
Sound off below in the comments section, or email me at iamnoahjames@yahoo.com
ABC Role Call
08/09/2011 at 1:20 am | Posted in iamnoahjames.com, Net/Spec | 1 CommentTags: 2010-2011, ABC, cancel, renew, Schedule
Next, ABC. What shows survived the 2010-2011 season, and what shows bit the big one. Scroll down for the complete list of shows – as well as my thoughts on the network’s decisions:
Renewed:
20/20
America’s Funniest Home Videos
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
Dancing with the Stars
The Middle
Cougar Town
Body of Proof
Private Practice
Castle
Desperate Housewives – Final Season
Grey’s Anatomy
Modern Family
Secret Millionaire
Shark Tank
Wipeout
Happy Endings
Cancelled:
Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution
The Whole Truth
My Generation
Detroit 1-8-7
No Ordinary Family
Off the Map
V
Supernanny – series ended
Brothers & Sisters
Better With You
Mr. Sunshine
My Thoughts:
Ok, so this will seem like a cop-out; but really, not a lot of surprises here.
Castle was a perpetual bubble show that rose to be a strong player this season – even beating Hawaii Five-O for the A18-49 demo most of the time. With the genius cross-platform marketing they’ve been doing with releasing mystery novels “written by” Castle – this has become a golden goose for the Disney-owned network. Watch ratings grow even more if the show hits cable syndication while new episodes are being produced (which helped turn NCIS into a mega-hit for CBS).
No Ordinary Family and Mr. Sunshine started out incredibly strong when they debuted (fall and midseason, respectively) – but both shows started losing viewers until no one was left. I’m sad for both of those shows.
Judging by its ratings, I have to believe that Shark Tank – which was renewed – is super-cheap.
I’m shocked that Supernanny wrapped up this year. Only because I thought it wrapped up years ago.
Don’t be surprised with Brothers & Sisters being cancelled. Its ratings had put the show on the bubble for two seasons now. If ABC could get a freshman drama to maintain higher ratings than the older show, B&S was a goner – which is exactly what happened with Body of Proof. That show came in with strong ratings, and – this is the important part – kept those strong ratings for its first season. Proof was renewed, while B&S was let go.
Detroit 1-8-7 & My Generation never had a chance. I don’t even think My Generation aired a third episode. Don’t be too hard on that show – Thursday at 8 has been a challenging spot for ABC for multiple seasons now.
It’s official: This upcoming season of Desperate Housewives is its last. This shouldn’t be a huge shock for those following the industry – Marc Cherry (the creator) had this season as the end for a few years now. All that was left was to negotiate the stars’ contracts– which took a long time.
So what do YOU think? Are you happy/upset about any of the choices ABC made? Would you have done anything differently?
Sound off below in the comments section, or email me at iamnoahjames@yahoo.com
NBC Role Call
08/08/2011 at 11:56 pm | Posted in iamnoahjames.com, Net/Spec | 2 Comments
Up now, NBC. What shows survived the 2010-2011 season, and what shows bit the big one. Scroll down for the complete list of shows – as well as my thoughts on the network’s decisions:
Renewed:
Chuck
Celebrity Apprentice
Who Do You Think You Are?
The Sing-Off
The Biggest Loser
Community
Harry’s Law
Parenthood
30 Rock
Parks & Recreation
Law & Order: SVU
The Office
Cancelled:
The Cape
Outlaw
Friday Night Lights – Final Season
The Paul Reiser Show
Undercovers
Minute to Win It (?)
School Pride
Chase
The Event
Law & Order: LA
Perfect Couples
Outsourced
America’s Next Great Restaurant
My Thoughts:
Wow, this was quite a frustrating year for NBC. After being bashed by viewers and the industry itself for the Leno M-F 10p strip (which took away work from writers), they needed to rehab their image and get back in good favor. Due to that, NBC ordered up a bunch of new shows – mostly dramas – to entice viewers back. The Cape, Outlaw, Undercovers, Chase, The Event – these shows promised to give a fresh twist on a familiar setting. The result?
A near-unanimous cold shoulder. Outlaw, Chase, and The Cape (a midseason show) were practically DOA. The Event started off promising; but its ratings started to spiral downwards rather quickly. It did manage to get a full season order, but after its winter break, the audience had moved on.
Law & Order: LA was a show that was created to appease the fans that were mad because NBC reneged on their promise to renew the original Law & Order a year back (had it been renewed a 21st season, it would have been the longest running primetime drama in TV history, beating Gunsmoke). Turns out, it only took fans a few weeks into the show to realize that they were still mad. Even after retooling the show (killing off Skeet’s character, making Molina the focal character), the ratings never got to a comfortable level. I was sad to hear it got cancelled, as a buddy of mine was going to be a recurring character.
A handful of freshman sitcoms came and went – The Paul Reiser Show, Perfect Couples, and Outsourced. Premiering after The Office, Outsourced actually did impressive numbers. However, when it was moved after 30 Rock (at 10:30p EST), the numbers dropped down to tiny bits. Midseason show Perfect Couples didn’t even get to run its entire short order, but at least it lasted longer than its replacement – The Paul Reiser Show – which was canned after only two airings.
No word yet on Minute to Win It’s fate. Here’s the deal: It’s not scheduled for Fall 2011 or Midseason 2012 – but if (and when) new shows get cancelled, this cheap game show will be quick and easy to produce some filler installations. The ratings when the series first started were stellar, but – like every other primetime game show – it started to over-saturate the schedule to the point of viewer indifference. But don’t count it out yet.
Are you shocked that The Office (sans Carell) and The Biggest Loser (sans Jillian Michaels) were renewed? That’s silly! They are the top-rated shows for NBC – The Office does well with the high-income households as well. Those shows aren’t going anywhere.
Now Law & Order: SVU will be one to watch, ratings-wise. Christopher Meloni won’t be returning, and Mariska Hargitay will only appear for the first 13 episodes of the 22-ep order. Kelli Giddish (Chase) & Danny Pino (Cold Case) will be the two new leads. While a strong performer for NBC, fans seem to have invested a lot in their favorite detective team over the past 12 seasons. I’ll be interested if the show will stay high, or start going downward like CSI once Patterson left.
30 Rock has never been a ratings winner, but it’s the perfect storm for habitual NBC renewal – combining Emmy nods, Tina Fey, & Lorne Michaels. This show will last as long as Fey wants to keep it going, but longer than Alec Baldwin would prefer.
Community also is a meager with ratings, but it has a lot of things going for it (besides being one of my favorites) – It didn’t totally get destroyed by The Big Bang Theory, and its numbers didn’t dip when American Idol joined the party midseason. In fact, it retained the majority of its fall numbers. NBC has to be thankful of that – you can’t ask much more than that for your Thursday night primetime kick-off show. It got a full season order too – which will get it up to over 66 episodes. What does that mean? That means it’s more than likely going to get a fourth season renewal as well. In this day-and-age, a show needs 88 episodes to be stripped (meaning entering a Monday-Friday) syndication run.
For fall, Chuck will run on Fridays. It’s looking like the 13-episode order will be the final episodes of The Little Dramedy That Could.
So what do YOU think? Are you happy/upset about any of the choices NBC made? Would you have done anything differently?
Sound off below in the comments section, or email me at iamnoahjames@yahoo.com
FX Renews 3 Comedies
08/08/2011 at 10:24 pm | Posted in iamnoahjames.com, Net/Spec | 1 CommentTags: FX, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Louie, renew, renewal, renewed, Wilfried
Great news for FX fans!
FX has renewed Wilfred for a second season, Louie for a third season, and It’s Always Sunny in Flip-A-Del…I mean, Philadelphia for two more seasons (an 8th and 9th)!! This makes Sunny the longest running live-action comedy in the history of basic cable!
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