CRAIG’S CHOICES:
Most Promising Trailer: Does 5 seconds of Heroes Reborn count? Blindspot looks pretty great, and although the pilot we saw is “not for review,” I don’t think we’d get in trouble for saying it’s pretty darned good.
Most Anticipated New Show: Heroes Reborn. Give us the first episode please, NBC!
Best Scheduling Move: Blindspot on Mondays at 10, for sure.
Worst Scheduling Move: Whatever Medical Drama It Is This Week at 9 on Tuesdays with Neil Patrick Harris at 10, and not the other way around. Undateable on Fridays is up there, though.
Most Likely New Hit: Blindspot, again.
Likely First Cancellation: People Are Talking about how quickly that sitcom might be pulled. Franklin needs his Bash. Or is it Bash who needs his Franklin? In any event, Zack needs his Screech.
What I’ll Be Watching In The Fall: Heroes Reborn, Undateable, Best Week Ever With Neil Patrick Harris, possibly Blindspot
SHILO’s SUPERLATIVES:
Most Promising Trailer: I was really impressed with the Blindspot trailer. It was big, expensive, and looked like something that could appeal to fans of The Blacklist and Revolution, NBC’s two big successes in the hour, alike. This might be the drama that helps NBC make a scripted turnaround.
Most Anticipated New Show: I’m all in on Superstore. We haven’t seen a trailer as of yet, but quirky workplace comedies are (or at least used to be) NBC’s bread and butter and I’m excited to see America Ferrera back on television.
Best Scheduling Move: Thursdays seem pretty well-built. If the lineup proves to be football-proof, Blacklist should be much stronger in the live + same day ratings, restoring it to something resembling its pre-Thursday status, and NBC will have its biggest presence on the night since The Office concluded.
Worst Scheduling Move: Tuesdays are for sure a mess, but I think Wednesdays are pretty bad, as well. NBC shot itself in the foot by assuming Empire would be moving to 8:00 and might’ve harmed SVU without getting anything in return. If they were going to have SVU going up against Empire, they needed to have something stronger in the 8:00 hour than The Mysteries of Laura, so things should get pretty ugly unless NBC tweaks its schedule before the fall.
Most Likely New Hit: Blindspot, easily. Combine a great time slot with little broadcast competition, no direct cable competition, and a memorable trailer and I think NBC will be have its strongest post-Voice drama since the first season of The Blacklist.
Likely First Cancellation: Since NBC is relying on name brands (Heroes, Chicago Med, Neil Patrick Harris) and protecting the projects without a built-in base (Blindspot, The Player), it looks like People Are Talking might be taking the hit. A new show airing on Fridays with what should be a mediocre lead-in and direct competition just seems like a sitting duck, so much so that the only way it won’t be the first cancellation is if it gets a late start.
What I’ll Be Watching In the Fall: I might give People Are Talking a few episodes to find itself, since it usually takes some time for multi-cams to work the kinks out. If not, though, NBC and I won’t be seeing one another until midseason.
SO, HOW DID WE DO?
Taking away a point for each wrong hour, and a half point per right hour but wrong timeslot… and still giving credit in a case where a show does come in there eventually (hello, Chicago Fire)… Craig is on top with 11 points out of a possible 15, while Shilo has 8 points. Come back tomorrow for FOX!
