I'm going to do a mid-term report card on each of the major networks, and perhaps one for cable. This will be a quick look at the state of each network in regards to new and returning dramas, comedies and reality television programs. What's working; what isn't; what the prognosis is before each network launches their mid-season replacements later this year.Grades will be determined based on a mixture of artistic merit and how the show is doing in the ratings. It is after all show business, and both are equally important. I'll have some personal assertions embedded as all grades are at least in part subjective, but equal weight will be given to an interpretation of the ratings for each program. All new shows will be dealt with individually, while I will group the returning shows together by genre.
Next up, CBS.....
CBS has been television's most watched network for almost a decade. Millions of viewers flock to almost everything they air. Their brand is so successful (oftentimes called the Crime Broadcasting System) that it becomes very difficult to get a new show on their network. Last spring they greenlighted only 4 dramas and 2 comedies; 5 of these shows premiered this fall. Oftentimes the shows will come out of the gate as either a hit or a miss. There is little middle ground. This fall has proved surprisingly problematic as there's been one hit, one miss, and three that have made little impact.
Their main problem lies in the average age of their viewer. Their shows (most of which have been on the network for a decade) still attract the viewers they first did. Meaning their audience ages as their shows do. In order to have that breakout hit, the network needs to tap into that 18-49 age demographic, which aren't watching most of their programming. The other inherent problem is that scripted shows cannot run forever--eventually something has to give. But right now, it's fairly steady as she goes.
So what's what?
New Dramas Grade: C+
Unforgettable is as much a hit as the displaced former resident of the Tuesdays at 10:00 slot, The Good Wife. The new Poppy Montgomery vehicle appears to have leveled off at about the same levels as Julianna Margulies' far more delicious show averaged last year. That's gotta be a bit discouraging, especially since The Good Wife has lost some viewers in its move to Sunday. Unforgettable is a show that is absolutely unsurprising. It's a perfect CBS procedural, taking the same cases we have seen for ten years and dressing them up just a bit differently, with different actors playing the same sort of characters we have come to recognize indelibly as those that solve crimes. There's absolutley nothing wrong with it, but nothing right with it either. GRADE: C (Artistically: C; Ratings Effort: C)
The Gifted Man is at least not a show about crime. The cast is strong with Patrick Wilson bringing just the right amount of prickishness to the at times overbearing sentimentality to the show. Hopefully the recent addition of Rachelle Lefevre as the new doc in charge of the clinic will continue to add some acidity to the show which is just one spoonful sugar away from being too much. I'd also like a bit more humor. Ratings wise the show isn't burning up the airwaves on Fridays at 8:00, but it isn't doing any worse than anything else that has aired there in recent years (spiritual kin Medium, The Ghost Whisperer). GRADE: B- (Artistically: B+; Ratings Effort: C)
Person of Interest was one of my most anticipated shows of the fall. It stars Jim Cavizel (The Passion's Jesus) and Micahel Emerson (Lost's Ben Linus). Together they go out to stop crimes before they happen. The show comes from the minds of Josh Nolan (the most recent Batman movies) and J.J. Abrams (creator of some of my favorite genre television shows: Alias, Fringe, Lost). They were going to back off from the mythology and give us a great action/adventure show for adults. Instead they gave us Person of Interest. I tried. I really, really tried. I think by trying to keep it so accessible it gave us nothing to latch onto. It is aimless, backing away from making any salient points about the oppressiveness of modern technology in a post-Patriot Act world. There's so much here that could be really, really cool. Unfortunately, it's not. Ratings-wise, the show premiered pretty well, and it looked like CBS had made a smart move. Since then the ratings have cooled off, and while it still soundly wins the hours in total viewers, it isn't doing the numbers in either total viewers or the 18-49 demographic that CSI did in the time slot last year. GRADE: C- (Artistically: C-; Ratings Effort: C-)New Comedies Grade: C-
2 Broke Girls is the comedy hit that CBS has been looking for since Big Bang Theory made its mark three years ago. It premiered to huge numbers after Two and a Half Men, and then settled down to still better than its lead-in when it moved to after How I Met Your Mother. The numbers aren't Modern Family breakout hit, but they are better than Mike and Molly's were a year ago when it was the only new comedy on any network to be renewed. How's the show? Well, when it focuses in on Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs, it's pretty good. They have an off-putting yet warm chemistry that makes the show more than watchable, raunchy but watchable. When they bring in the other regulars (them that's at the diner) the show is fairly horrid. Fortunately most of the diner stuff has been relegated to one or two lines a week, other than the frightfully stereotyped Asian boss. He keeps getting stuff to do, way to much stuff to do. I haven't committed fully to the show yet, but keep watching as Mondays have become uncharacteristically weak for me. GRADE: B (Artistically: B-; Ratings Effort: B+)
How to Be a Gentleman looked to be a good companion piece to Big Bang Theory. Turns out that theory was incorrect. The numbers for the show dropped off at an alarming rate, for more than last year's Shit My Dad Says, and now the show has been relegated to Saturday nights where it will air the rest of the shows that it has made. It is in effect cancelled. It was another of those shows that I couldn't get through even the first episode. GRADE: F (Artistically: F; Ratings Effort: F)Returning Dramas Grade: C+
Hawaii 5-0, like most of the rest of the CBS drama slate, does nothing for me personally, but it is such a pretty show to look at. The numbers haven't increased a whole lot. NCIS and NCIS: LA continue to be two of the most watched television shows anywhere. It's amazing to think that JAG, a show NBC cancelled in 1996 and CBS picked up the next year, could still be a wise investment, spinning off NCIS in 2003, then NCIS: LA in 2009, giving CBS three top rated shows for 15 years. Criminal Minds continues to dominate all other Wednesday night shows, except Modern Family; it has even increased its demo ratings over last year. CSI, now on Wednesdays with added Ted Danson, is on a creative upturn which is fortunate as the ratings are softer than they were on Thursdays at 9:00. That said, this was a smart CBS move as the show does better business on Wednesdays than anyone else has in several years. I liked The Mentalist it's first year, but the CBS crime hegemony quickly overruled its quirky center and the show became yet another CBS-standard fare. The poor ratings for Person of Interest is doing it no favors, as The Mentalist is losing demo ratings at an alarming rate. CSI: New York, a surprise renewal last spring, is proving itself to be more of the same as it's total viewers and demo ratings have barely changed a bit since last year. The Good Wife, the artistic jewel in CBS' Tiffany Network crown, has had an unfortunate start this fall. The heavily promoted move to Sunday nights, did not generate audiences. The numbers are slightly down from where they were last year when the show was on Tuesdays at 10:00, and the demo ratings are significantly lower than previous time slot owner, Undercover Boss. I could really care less about ratings though as this is a show that has to be made. CSI: Miami continues to underwhelm on all fronts. Though football overruns are not helping either it or The Good Wife.
Returning Comedies Grade: B+
CBS comedies have been relegated to Monday nights for so many years, that it was shocking that they moved one of their burgeoning hits, Big Bang Theory, to Thursdays last season. Even more shocking, Big Bang Theory grew in total numbers, and demographics, and are doing their absolute best to kill all NBC Thursday night comedies. A recent repeat of a Big Bang episode more than doubled the total audience and demographics of a new episode of NBC's Parks and Recreation. The show is also back on strong creative footing, after last season's horrid descent into sexual depravity; the addition of strong and funny female characters and actresses really saved the show artistically. On Mondays, the shows aren't faring as well artistically. Yes, numbers are up over last year for all the returning comedies, but let's call that what it is: Ashton Kutcher. He has single-handedly saved Two and a Half Men from what many thought was a certain death after the Charlie Sheen debacle last winter. It's also watchable to me for the first time. I don't look forward to it, as I do many other comedies, but I mostly enjoy the time I spend watching it.. How I Met Your Mother has wallowed far too long in it's central "mysteries" and has effectively worn out most of the charm that the series once held. I still like many of the performances (especially Neil Patrick Harris, Colbie Smulders and Jason Segal), but I want them to stop teasing things and tell a frickin' story. I checked out of Mike & Molly fairly early on, because I thought it was fairly mean spirited, and relatively meh--not good, not bad, just meh. I do like Melissa McCarthy, and wanted to give it another shot. It's smoothed out its rough edges, and she and Billy Gardell are both quite strong. The show is just meh--not good, not bad, just meh.
State of Reality Grade: B+
CBS thankfully doesn't let reality program dictate its schedule, unlike chief competitor FOX. The shows it airs are artistic leaders of the industry and mostly joys to watch. Survivor is the mac daddy of reality competitions. It it hadn't broken out 12 years ago, the television landscape would like quite different. For all the new bells and whistles the show has stayed true to its strong and vibrant core. And that's a good thing. The move to Wednesdays last season softened the ratings a bit, but there has been no indication of the show stopping anytime soon. The Emmys have given an award for Best Reality Competition programming or 8 years now; seven of those years, The Amazing Race has won the Emmy. It is still the standard by which all other reality shows should model. The ratings may not be as strong as other shows of its ilk, but they never have been terribly low, either. It's doing fine. 60 Minutes isn't the ratings powerhouse it once was, but it is still the best televised news magazine in the business. 48 Hours Mystery still does solidly enough for CBS on Saturday nights to keep it renewed for the last 20 years.
Reasons to Watch CBS: The Good Wife, Big Bang Theory, Survivor, The Amazing Race, A Gifted Man and sometimes How I Met Your Mother and Two and a Half Men
Reasons to Be Hopeful: 2 Broke Girls
Probable Outcomes by End of Season:
- Cancellations for Person of Interest, either CSI: New York or CSI: Miami and possibly A Gifted Man.
- 2 Broke Girls or Mike & Molly may move to Thursdays to be paired with Big Bang Theory.
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