Tag Archives: fall schedule

Upfronts: Preview The CW’s fall schedule including ‘Supergirl’ & one-hour romantic comedy

The CW, CBS’ sister network, is the little network that could, sustaining itself mostly with superheroes and vampires over the years and more recently with critically acclaimed comedies. For the upcoming 2016-17 TV season, the green-hued net has 3 new dramas and 1 new comedy entering the fray, so let’s take a look.

This fall, Supergirl is moving from CBS to The CW where it will join producer Greg Berlanti’s crop of DC-based superhero shows including ArrowThe Flash, and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. CW head Mark Pedowitz promises the “biggest [crossover event]” is in the works. Supergirl will continue on in its Monday-at-8 timeslot followed by Jane the Virgin. On Tuesday, The Flash will open for new hour-long romantic comedy No Tomorrow and on Wednesday, Arrow will aim to attract viewers to new drama Frequency, an adaptation of the 2000 science fiction thriller. Thursday pairs the hot Legends of Tomorrow with veteran Supernatural (which is entering its 12th season!), and Friday sees The Vampire Diaries joined with the low rated but critically touted Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, which is relocating from Monday.

The single new series being held for midseason on The CW is Riverdale, a live action drama based on the characters from Archie Comics, also produced by Greg Berlanti. For fans of The OriginalsReigniZombie, and The 100, fear not; though they are all being benched in the fall, they will return sometime later in the season.

Jump after the break to view the full fall schedule and preview The CW’s new fall and midseason series with video clips and descriptions. Continue reading Upfronts: Preview The CW’s fall schedule including ‘Supergirl’ & one-hour romantic comedy

Upfronts: Preview ABC’s fall schedule including Kiefer Sutherland as POTUS

ABC is network number three to present its new series for the upcoming 2016-17 TV season. There are 5 new dramas and 4 new comedies on deck, and of the nine new series, five will debut this fall. The upcoming season marks a changing of the guard in Alphabet city as Channing Dungey takes over for Paul Lee as the net’s new entertainment president.

In one of her first big moves as network head, Dungey cancelled a significant number of ABC’s shows including the long-running Castle and Wednesday night staple, Nashville. Leading out of Dancing with the Stars on Monday nights now and replacing Castle is a new procedural toplined by Hayley Atwell, Conviction; Atwell, ironically enough, is the former star of ABC’s now-cancelled Agent Carter. Comedy is a big deal for Dungey, and viewers should take notice. A two-hour comedy block has been added to Tuesday, and veteran The Middle is relocating there from Wednesday to serve as the opening course. It will lead into new sitcom American Housewife and the returning Fresh off the Boat and The Real O’Neals. Closing out the final hour of the evening is Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., now in the 10pm hour. A second two-hour block of comedy follows on Wednesday, and the network now entrusts The Goldbergs to kickstart the funny. It will open the night for another new sitcom, Speechless, which is followed by vet Modern Family and breakout hit black-ish. Taking over Nashville‘s Wednesdays-at-10 vacancy is new political drama Designated Survivor with Kiefer Sutherland (24). This fall, “TGIT” takes a backseat since Scandal is being held until midseason (likely because star Kerry Washington is pregnant with her second child). Sandwiched between Grey’s Anatomy and How to Get Away with Murder is new legal drama Notorious (and no, it is not executive produced by Shonda Rhimeshence the halting of TGIT). But fear not–TGIT will return in midseason when both Scandal and another Shonda show The Catch return to the schedule. Friday remains dominated by ABC’s single-cam sitcoms Last Man Standing and Dr. Ken, and Sunday looks familiar with Once Upon A TimeSecrets and Lies (finally returning for its second season), and Quantico.

New series being held for midseason include another Shondaland show, Still Star-Crossed, the third time-travel series to come out of this year’s upfronts, Time After Time (following NBC’s Timeless and FOX’s Making History), and sitcoms Downward Dog and Imaginary Mary (for former including a talking dog, and the latter a completely animated character). Mary is the second live-action/CGI hybrid to debut this week, following FOX’s Son of Zorn. Special event programming include a David Blaine magic special, Ali: The Champion, a special honoring boxer Muhammad Ali, limited series When We Rise, and a three-hour filmed musical event, Dirty Dancing.

Jump after the break to view the full fall schedule and preview ABC’s new fall and midseason series with video clips and descriptions. Continue reading Upfronts: Preview ABC’s fall schedule including Kiefer Sutherland as POTUS

Upfronts: Preview FOX’s fall and midseason schedules, including new ’24’ & ‘Prison Break’

FOX followed NBC out of the gate in presenting its next programming slate for the 2016-17 TV season. In total, the now American Idol-less network is showcasing 8 new dramas, 3 new comedies, 2 new reality series, and a live musical. Of the 13 new shows, four will premiere this fall and the remainders will air in midseason or later. Sound familiar? NBC is playing up stability in the fall, too, debuting only three new series early on and saving the rest for next year. Unlike the other networks, however, FOX shares its fall and midseason schedules at the Upfronts, so we have a clearer picture here as to when benched series will see the light of day.

This fall, FOX’s schedule is unmistakable. Gotham and Lucifer open Monday. Brooklyn Nine-Nine and New Girl provide a comedic launchpad for Ryan Murphy’s fun horror fest Scream Queens on Tuesday. On Wednesday, new drama Lethal Weapon is paired with broadcast juggernaut Empire. Thursday sees crime procedural Rosewood leading into the final season of Bones. Another new drama based on a popular film franchise, The Exorcist, gets the Friday-at-9 slot following Hell’s Kitchen, where it will go head-to-head with NBC’s Friday night genre fare, Grimm. Animation Domination Sunday includes the return of Bob’s BurgersThe SimpsonsFamily Guy, and at 8:30 a new half-hour sitcom, Son of Zorn, which is an eccentric live action/animated hybrid from Phil Lord and Chris Miller (The Last Man on Earth). A live presentation of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, starring Laverne Cox (Orange is the New Black) and Victoria Justice (Victorious), will air sometime in October, just in time for Halloween.

Perhaps the most anticipated new series next season, the exciting return of 24 and Prison Break, are being saved for midseason premieres. In 24: Legacy, Kiefer Sutherland’s Jack Bauer is out and The Walking Dead‘s Corey Hawkins is in as the new lead. Typically FOX announces midseason premieres as we get closer to winter, but the new 24 is a special case because it has snagged the coveted post-Super Bowl slot; it will premiere Sunday, Feb. 5 immediately following the big game, and then it will fall into its regular Monday-at-8 timeslot the day after. The next chapter in Prison Break is being billed as a six-episode event series and it will air Thursdays-at-9 leading out of Rosewood come early 2017; the entire gang is back and it looks incredible. Other new series being held for midseason include dramas APB with Justin Kirk (Tyrant), MLB-backed Pitch from EP Dan Fogelman (Crazy, Stupid, Love), racially charged Shots Fired, and Lee Daniels’ Star, plus comedies The Mick with Kaitlin Olson (It’s Always Sunny) and fun time-traveller Making History with Adam Pally (Happy Endings). Reality series Kicking and Screaming and My Kitchen Rules come later, too. And for all your Sleepyheads out there, Sleepy Hollow will return to Friday next year.

Update (5/20): FOX has made some tweaks to its upcoming schedules, just days after announcing them at the Upfronts. Baseball drama Pitch will now premiere in the fall (alongside the new MLB season, so that makes sense), and this pushes Bones to winter. And that, in turn, pushes Prison Break to spring, when it will air on Tuesday instead of Thursday. Got it? Good. The fall and midseason schedules below have been updated to reflect these changes.

Jump after the break to view the full fall schedule and preview FOX’s new fall and midseason series with video clips and descriptions. Continue reading Upfronts: Preview FOX’s fall and midseason schedules, including new ’24’ & ‘Prison Break’

Upfronts: Preview NBC’s fall schedule including time travel drama & afterlife sitcom

NBC is the first of the Big Four Networks to unveil its new series for the upcoming 2016-17 TV season. In total, the Peacock has 7 new dramas, 5 new comedies, and 3 new reality series in the pipeline to debut next season. Of the 15 new shows, only three will rollout in the fall, and the rest will remain on tap for midseason.

Time travel drama Timeless from Eric Kripke (RevolutionSupernatural) and Shawn Ryan (Last ResortThe Chicago CodeThe Shield) has landed NBC’s most powerful timeslot, the plumb Monday-at-10 hour behind ratings juggernaut The Voice. On Tuesday, ensemble drama This Is Us from Dan Fogelman (Crazy, Stupid, Love) is sandwiched between a second hour of The Voice and the returning Dick Wolf procedural Chicago Fire. This past fall’s breakout hit Blindspot is relocating to Wednesday to give Timeless a fighting chance, where the Greg Berlanti-produced thriller will lead into Law & Order: SVU and Chicago P.D. Comedies will open Thursday nights, with the returning Superstore leading into Michael Schur’s (Brooklyn Nine-NineParks and Rec) next surefire hit The Good Place. The second half of NBC’s “Must See TV” evening is comprised of Chicago Med and The Blacklist. Genre fare Grimm remains on Fridays perched at the 9pm hour, SNL rules Saturday night as is tradition, and football dominates Sundays.

New series being held for midseason include spinoff The Blacklist: Redemption, another Dick Wolf spinoff Chicago Justice, Wizard of Oz-inspired Emerald City, mystical Midnight Texas, a prequel series Taken based on the Liam Neeson movie franchise and sitcoms Great News (from Tina Fey and Robert Carlock), Marlon Wayans’ Marlon, DC Comics-based Powerless, and Trial & Error with John Lithgow. Reality series warming the bench include The New Celebrity Apprentice spearheaded by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Better Late Than Never starring Henry Winkler, William Shatner, Terry Bradshaw, and George Foreman, First Dates executive produced by Ellen DeGeneres, and The Wall EP’d by LeBron James. Special event programming include Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love, Hairspray Live!, and A Few Good Men Live!.

Jump after the break to view the full fall schedule and preview NBC’s new fall and midseason series with video clips and descriptions. Continue reading Upfronts: Preview NBC’s fall schedule including time travel drama & afterlife sitcom