WEDNESDAY
CRAIG’S PREDICTIONS: 8:00 Law & Order: SVU; 9:00 Chicago PD; 10:00 Blindspot
SHILO’S PREDICTIONS: 8:00 Superstore; 8:30 Trial & Error; 9:00 Law & Order: SVU; 10:00 Chicago PD
ACTUAL SCHEDULE: 8:00 Blindspot; 9:00 Law & Order: SVU; 10:00 Chicago PD
SHILO: Is it too early to eulogize Blindspot already? Because putting it on Wednesdays at 8:00 feels like the worst case (non-Friday) scenario it could have gotten. Not only is this the slot where Revolution went to die after dropping half its audience in season one (for what it’s worth, Blindspot has dropped more than half), Blindspot doesn’t seem that compatible with either an 8:00 time slot or the Law & Order: SVU/Chicago PD combo that remains unchanged from this past season, so the amount of casual viewing and SVU pre-tune might be minimal at best. This feels like a show that will be on an island pretty quickly and even taking into account normal declines in viewership, it could very easily become a weaker show than The Mysteries of Laura was this season.
Had NBC not been worried about the show’s trajectory, I think it would have gotten a pairing with The Blacklist or at least some type of lead-in; however, since the show isn’t owned by NBC and would still be two full seasons away from syndication at the end of next season, this feels like minimizing the damage Blindspot can do while allowing mostly new properties access to the network’s best lead-ins. With NBC as deep as it is in terms of dramas, it’ll take Blindspot vastly overperforming for there to be a realistic shot at a third season.
CRAIG: I assumed Blindspot would go Wednesdays at 10 (in my article; the actual post said Shades of Blue, but really, this is what I meant!) I’m not surprised it’s moved away from Monday, but the 8:00 timeslot seems a bit weird. A move like this killed Revolution; hopefully bad luck won’t strike twice. Also: RIP The Mysteries of Laura. Fortunately for Debra Messing, NBC is probably already plotting her next two-season wonder.
