CRAIG’S CHOICES:
Most Promising Trailer: Constantine. Anyone unfamiliar with how scary this show might be, or how true it might be to the DC/Vertigo series of the same name, might really like this.
Most Anticipated New Show: A to Z. I’m already waiting for Episode 2.
Best Scheduling Move: Although you predicted it beforehand, I think the Blacklist Thursday move could have some long-term payoffs. It’s bold, but it’s good, I think.
Worst Scheduling Move: That second hour of NBC Thursdays in the Fall. If Bad Judge doesn’t perform, the entire rest of the night could hurt.
Most Likely New Hit: State of Affairs. Cushy timeslot, big names… at the very least, this show will get a lot of early sampling.
Likely First Cancellation: Bad Judge. Though it’ll be one of those “hey, we needed the timeslot for The Blacklist” kind of excuses.
What I’ll Be Watching:
Fall: Constantine, About a Boy, A to Z, Marry Me, The Mysteries of Laura (maybe), and I really do intend to get caught up on The Blacklist one of these days.
Midseason: I really think we need to know more about midseason first. Aquarius sounds intriguing, as does Emerald City, though.
SHILO’S SUPERLATIVES:
Most Promising Trailer: A to Z. I’m a sucker for a good romantic comedy and the trailer hinted at strong chemistry between the leads and a likability that something like Marry Me might lack.
Most Anticipated New Show: Constantine. It definitely stands out against NBC’s more same-y drama slate and I’m curious how the swarm of comic-based television will impact a series not based on a household name.
Best Scheduling Move: NBC’s fall schedule is a bunch of pretty decent moves that could look great if everything breaks the right way. The best move would probably be Constantine on Fridays – Grimm has basically been on an island for the duration of its run and Constantine looks like something that could give the fourth-year supernatural procedural the type of help it hasn’t had before.
Worst Scheduling Move: Thursday nights are going to get walloped. I don’t blame NBC for being cautious with The Blacklist after what happened to Smash and Revolution, but they’re going to have to eat some ugly numbers and possibly say goodbye to a promising new comedy in A to Z in order to make it to February.
Most Likely New Hit: State of Affairs. It should get some excellent sampling following The Voice; it’ll have far and away the most buzz of the Monday-at-10:00 dramas; and it looks procedural enough to be casual viewer-friendly while serialized enough to keep ardent television fans from looking away in boredom.
Likely First Cancellation: A to Z. For better or worse, it’s much more low-key than Bad Judge, so I could easily see it smothered by Scandal and unable to break through the cluttered fall release schedule, especially since the night as a whole will be weak for NBC.
What I’ll Be Watching:
Fall: About a Boy, A to Z, Constantine
Midseason: Mission Control, Emerald City, The Slap (if it makes it to air this season)
SO, HOW DID WE DO?
Taking away a point for each wrong hour, and a half point per right hour but wrong timeslot… and, in the interest of playing fair, counting The Blacklist/State of Affair moves as a whole point themselves… Shilo pretty much wiped the floor with his levels of awesome. Shilo has 13 points out of 17, with Thursday being the only night without real perfection. Craig’s total puts him at 11 out of 17.
And across the board… Shilo more correctly predicted the networks’ schedules, though both he and Craig had their scores going up from last year.
