Our looks at new nights of TV programming continue with Wednesdays, as KSiteTV’s Craig Byrne and Shilo Adams ask one another questions about the new TV that will be on Wednesdays this Fall. (And not one question about Arrow. What’s this about failing cities?)
All jokes aside, Wednesdays are a night with a lot of new programming, so let’s get started, shall we? As with previous days, there are page breaks between questions, so look for that navigation at the bottom of a given page.
Let’s get started!
CRAIG: Will NBC’s love affair with Debra Messing produce a hit to lead off Wednesday nights with The Mysteries of Laura?
SHILO: In a word, no.
In more words, The Mysteries of Laura is one of the least buzz-y pilots of the fall, with Messing coming off the disastrously rated second season of Smash and more attention being paid to making fun of the premise (a woman juggles being a cop and a mother) than hyping up the actual series. While Laura gets a preview behind America’s Got Talent, it’s the same one that Up All Night and Free Agents got; it doesn’t help that Talent isn’t as strong in the demo as it used to be, so the preview might end up being self-defeating – an old-skewing show becoming more old-skewing after being sampled by a whole lot of people outside the demo.
There’s also the fact that a preview only works when your episode can inspire positive word-of-mouth. Putting something that has mixed at best reviews on a stage like this might inspire okay premiere numbers, but when The Mysteries of Laura comes across a full competition slate in its second week, it’s going to have an even harder time finding an audience. A preview after a two-hour Law & Order: SVU, a show that’s sturdy in the demo 15 seasons in, simply might have been a better option.
It doesn’t help that The Mysteries of Laura will be unprotected on Wednesdays or that Wednesdays at 8:00 has been a troublesome spot for the network; most recently, the slot helped kill former demo giant Revolution. While Laura fits in more with Law & Order: SVU and Chicago PD than the genre drama, and NBC has embraced procedurals much more readily under Bob Greenblatt, the show has the makings of being the next Harry’s Law – a show with solid total viewing numbers but a cripplingly low demo audience.
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2 Comments
Ratings were good for the overnight of Mysteries of Laura, but obviously that’s with the AGT finale lead-in. My DVR unfortunately didn’t save the ep even though the record light was on, so I’ll have to catch up on the pilot. Based on the promos, it’ll probably be a show that me and my husband find hilarious and no one with a Nielsen box watches. Such is our luck.
Red Band Society only scored around 4 million viewers in the overnights, which is a risk when you give out a pilot early – everyone already saw it and doesn’t show up again. Personally, I DVR’d because I’m curious.