THURSDAY
SHILO’S PREDICTIONS: 8:00 The Big Bang Theory; 8:30 Young Sheldon; 9:00 Mom; 9:30 Life in Pieces; 10:00 Instinct
CRAIG’S PREDICTIONS: 8:00 The Big Bang Theory; 8:30 Young Sheldon; 9:00 Mom; 9:30 Life in Pieces; 10:00 Scorpion
ACTUAL SCHEDULE: 8:00 The Big Bang Theory; 8:30 Young Sheldon; 9:00 Mom; 9:30 Life in Pieces; 10:00 SWAT
SHILO: Though I’m glad that CBS listened to us from 8:00 – 10:00, our predictions were made under the assumption that Monday wouldn’t be a barrel of crazy. As such, I think it would be best for both comedy nights if Mom and Me, Myself & I flipped. Mom is arguably the second strongest comedy on CBS behind Big Bang and could both solidify Mondays and protect Superior Donuts, while Me, Myself & I would get the direct Young Sheldon lead-in and air surrounded by fairly compatible single cams. It’s good that CBS is trying to expand the definition of a CBS comedy and all, but it’s extremely pointless to order off-brand stuff and refuse to nurture it. As far as the 10:00 hour here, I feel like SWAT is the wrong fit. It should be more male than the comedies, whose ratings power peters out the further away you get from Big Bang, and it’ll be running into How to Get Away with Murder, which is very strong with black audiences. Given that SWAT has a black lead and focuses on the issue of race, CBS should’ve tried to get it away from shows with that type of skew, even with it being more male than Murder. Launching a new 10:00 drama with a modest-at-best lead-in in 2017 is suicidal anyway, but launching a new 10:00 drama with a modest-at-best lead-in that’s incompatible and competition that goes after the same audience is lunacy.
CRAIG: I actually really liked the trailer for SWAT. It seemed deeper than the expected procedural, and finally here’s a CBS drama that doesn’t star a white guy. Maybe CBS figures Thursday nights are going to be big for them, so why not put their biggest potential new hit on Thursday nights? I think the show will do fine and thrive there.
