There's Nothing On...Mondays

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New series are blocked in red; returning series in a new time slot are blocked in orange.

One of the chief complaints about television programming is that there's nothing on.  This is the second part in a daily series to look at what actually is on each night.  The focus will be on broadcast network programing and some of the key offerings on cable; there's no way to cover the hundreds and hundreds of cable networks.

The Big Gun:  The Voice (NBC)

I hesitate to pick the big star of Monday nights.  I begrudgingly pick The Voice as a last man standing sort of thing.  CBS used to own the night with it's comedy block; to say that it is rebuilding its brand would be kind.  Dancing with the Stars owns the hearts and minds of old souls everywhere, but even an all-stars season will fail to generate much heat.  The CW says goodbye to Gossip Girl, but won't garner headlines or eyeballs until The Carrie Diaries premieres in the time slot later this season.  Bones is the veteran here, but I'm certain that it's not in the business of attracting new viewers.

That leaves The Voice.  While clearly running the risk of turning into the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire of the 21st century,  The Voice will try its hardest to become year round programming.  I'm sure it will do fine here this fall, but I'm also certain that this double play shortens its life span (and those of other singing competitions) considerably.

DVR Gridlock:  None

There are so few shows that interest to me on Mondays that I will undoubtedly spend the time clearing out the backlog from Sunday nights.

Most Eagerly Anticipated Returning Show:  HIMYM

I've watched How I Met Your Mother from the beginning and enjoyed most of it.  It has gotten redundant, but I still enjoy at least something every episode.  That said, I wouldn't be sad to this series announce its end date and soon.  I want Cobie Smulders to be free to reprise her Avengers' role of Maria Hill in Joss Whedon's new series for ABC about S.H.I.E.L.D., the spy organization in the blockbuster film.

Most Promising New Series:  Revolution

I wrote my review about Revolution last week.  Yes, it's problematic, but there's still a lot to be interested in.  And when the other new shows are CBS' Partners and Fox's The Mob Doctor, NBC wins again by default.

Also:

--I'd like for Two Broke Girls to be more to my taste than it is.  Primarily because I like Beth Behrs a lot and want to see her succeed.

--I like Inbetweeners on MTV, but I like the BBC version more right now.  The American version needs to break away form the scripting of the British one now.

Series blocked in green get an unequivocal recommendation; series blocked in yellow are recommended but cautiously.