WEDNESDAY
CRAIG: 8:00 Law & Order: SVU; 9:00 Chicago PD; 10:00 Shades of Blue
CRAIG: One of several days where I went through different permutations – at one point I had Shades of Blue taking the Wednesday at 8 slot, but then I realized that Blindspot could very well do well Wednesdays at 10 as part of another “powerful women” night. I don’t particularly think SVU is an 8:00 show, but it’ll have to be to make this work. There are just too many shows in NBC’s quiver, and not enough timeslots, especially in the fall.
SHILO: For me, Wednesday is all about what the non-FOX networks do to combat Empire. In NBC’s case, they need to have SVU stick to the hip hop soap no matter where it airs; if Empire stays at 9:00, so does SVU, but if Empire moves to 8:00, it’ll do the same. It doesn’t make sense to me to put something with long-term potential against the strongest show on broadcast when you have something venerable like SVU, which has shown that it’s capable of surviving and thriving against Empire. Therefore, I would keep the SVU–PD combination for the fall and pull my attention toward the 8:00 hour, where The Mysteries of Laura stayed surprisingly/impressively steady this past season. The slot could maybe stand to go a bit younger, though, which is why I slotted in breakout comedy Superstore at 8:00 and crime comedy Trial & Error, which is described as a “documentary-style procedural revolves around a young big-city lawyer and his oddball defense team during a high-profile murder trial in a small Southern town,” at 8:30.
The two shows are very different from the ABC comedies in the hour, while Superstore showed this past season that it’s able to survive amidst strong competition. Trial & Error, meanwhile, hits on the true crime trend that’s only been gaining momentum and makes for a solid partner with the 9:00 and 10:00 procedurals. If NBC is serious about comedy, they’re going to have to treat their comedy roster better than they did this season and the first thing they can do is give their fall comedy hour a prioritized slot vs. shoving it to Friday again and only paying lip service to the idea of having (and supporting) comedy.
