Night-by-Night Overview

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

 

Monday
Last Season	The Fall Season	The Winter Season
CBS: As predicted, Two and a Half Men benefited from their well-known cast and timeslot FOX: Per our expectations, the poorly named Skin did not survive despite the production team. We were also correct regarding the unlikely return of Wonderfalls NBC: Thanks to the quick demise of Skin and the lack of drama competition, Las Vegas followed in the footsteps of Third Watch in becoming somewhat of a sleeper hit UPN: We were on track in predicting the success of Eve	ABC once again returns with football. Instead of Primetime Live, they are trying a reality show at 8pm CBS returns once again with their proven 2-hour comedy block followed by C.S.I. Miami. The one key change is moving Yes, Dear to mid-season to make room for Jason Alexander’s Listen Up FOX returns with its mid-season program The Swan joined by summer’s North Shore at 8pm WB returns with their same schedule NBC and UPN have maintained their same basic strategies (dramas for NBC and urban comedies for UPN), adding one new show each	With football over, ABC moves into their typical off-season movie schedule. This Winter, the movie will be joined by a new drama at 10pm FOX completely reworks Monday in the Winter with returning 24 preceded by a new drama CBS, NBC, UPN and WB currently have no schedule changes planned for the Winter
2003/2004 Survivors Two and a Half Men (CBS) Las Vegas (NBC) Eve (UPN) - Moving to Tuesday
2003/2004 Casualties Skin (FOX) Wonderfalls (FOX) --- [Actually aired on Fridays]
Go to The New Monday Night Programs   Return to Top of Page

 

Tuesday
Last Season	The Fall Season	The Winter Season
ABC: The producers of I'm with Her were not really able to turn a one-note story into an ongoing series CBS: NCIS lived up to our expectations in replacing the long-running JAG NBC: To no surprise of ours, neither NBC 2003/2004 comedy returned UPN: While All of Us extended UPN’s urban success, as predicted, neither Rock Me Baby or The Mullets have returned WB: Per our expectations, One Tree Hill nicely fit into the WB drama fold	ABC returns once again with a night of sitcoms followed by NYPD Blue (in its last season) CBS is back with a night of drama. The one change is new program Clubhouse replacing the departed Guardian With 24 moving to a January launch, Fox has brought in a new drama at 9pm preceded by another reality program at 8pm (filling the slot until American Idol premieres) NBC has given up on sitcoms from 8-9pm moving into reality. They have maintained their sitcom block at 9pm followed once again by a Law & Order spin-off UPN continues their urban sitcom block at 8pm. With the failure of their 2003/2004 sitcoms at 9pm, they are once again trying a drama Thanks to the success of One Tree Hill, WB returns with an identical schedule	After a half-season of uninterrupted airings of NYPD Blue’s final season, ABC introduces a new Steven Bochco drama CBS, UPN and WB plan to stick with the same schedule (pending ratings performance) come Winter NBC sticks with reality at 8pm, but moves from original episodes of Average Joe to original episodes of The Contender FOX is also replacing one reality show with another as American Idol returns to the schedule in place of The Billionaire
2003/2004 Survivors NCIS (CBS) All of Us (UPN) Eve (UPN) - Moving from Monday One Tree Hill (WB)
2003/2004 Casualties I'm with Her (ABC) Whoopi (NBC) Happy Family (NBC) Rock Me Baby (UPN) The Mullets (UPN)
Go to The New Tuesday Night Programs   Return to Top of Page

 

Wednesday
Last Season	The Fall Season	The Winter Season
ABC: As expected, It’s All Relative did not fit in at 8pm while Karen Sisco was easily defeated by Law & Order CBS: Following our predictions, Brotherhood of Poland, NH did not fare well against Law & Order FOX: Our concerns regarding the compatibility of A Minute with Stan Hooper in its time slot were proven correct UPN: Per our speculation, Jake 2.0 went the same route as other UPN (non-Trek) sci-fi	With the exception of The Bachelor, ABC has a whole new night with a new drama replacing comedies at 8pm and reality taking over at 10pm CBS maintains their 60 Minutes/sitcom block from 8-10pm. After a number of failures at 10pm, they are hedging their bets with the latest C.S.I. spin-off FOX is sticking with a night of comedies while NBC is staying with dramas Giving up on sci-fi for the night, UPN returns with Top Model and a new drama With Angel moving on, WB has added a family drama as the companion show to Smallville	ABC, CBS and WB are all currently planning on maintaining their Fall Wednesday schedules into the Winter With the return of American Idol, FOX has shifted and added to their Wednesday night sitcom schedule Following in the footsteps of other drama series, The West Wing will also be running uninterrupted originals through half the season. Come Winter, the timeslot will be filled by a new limited-run drama UPN replaces Top Model with another reality contest: The Road to Stardom with Missy Elliott
2003/2004 Casualties It's All Relative (ABC) Karen Sisco (ABC) Brotherhood of Poland, NH (CBS) A Minute with Stan Hooper (FOX) Jake 2.0 (UPN)
Go to The New Wednesday Night Programs   Return to Top of Page

 

Thursday
Last Season	The Fall Season	The Winter Season
CBS: As expected, Threat Matrix was no threat to the other networks FOX: Long-shot Tru Calling was able to draw from a cult following. We were also on target in our predictions regarding The O.C.’s ability to build an audience with its early launch NBC: Coupling was not able to live up to its high-profile timeslot and hype WB: The lower production cost apparently kept Steve Harvey alive despite being beaten in the ratings. On the other hand, as predicted, Run of the House was not able to overcome the challenges of the timeslot	ABC has maintained their same basic strategy of reality-drama-newsmagazine with a younger-oriented drama replacing the previously older-skewing 9pm drama CBS and sister-network UPN are back with identical schedules while FOX returns with a slightly modified version of what they intended to launch in 2003/2004 (switching Tru Calling and The O.C.) Mid-Season The Apprentice returns to NBC on Thursday reducing the Must See TV comedy block to a single hour. As expected, ER is also back WB has given up on 9pm sitcoms opting for reality instead. They have also expanded their 30 minutes of variety at 8pm to an entire hour (with two new variety programs replacing the relocated Steve Harvey	NBC will be introducing at least one new sitcom after The Apprentice ends its 2004/2005 run For the moment, all other networks are sticking with their same Fall schedule in the Winter
2003/2004 Survivors Tru Calling (FOX) The O.C. (FOX) - [Aired Wednesday in 2003/2004] Steve Harvey (WB) - Moving to Sunday
2003/2004 Casualties Threat Matrix (ABC) Coupling (NBC) Run of the House (WB)
Go to The New Thursday Night Programs   Return to Top of Page

 

Friday
Last Season	The Fall Season	The Winter Season
ABC: We were on target in expressing concern regarding the survival of Married to the Kellys. We were also correct in noting the built-in viewership potential for Kelly Rippa and Hope & Faith CBS: As predicted, Joan of Arcadia benefited from a very likeable format and cast (launched with a good pilot). In terms of The Handler, we foresaw this program facing challenges against 20/20 NBC/FOX: Fulfilling our expectations, neither Luis on FOX or Miss Match on NBC could compete with already established competitive programming WB: All About the Andersons and Like Family were just two of the latest casualties in a WB trend (noted last year) to clean up on Friday night each year	ABC and WB are both sticking with a night of comedies through 10pm. ABC retains 20/20 at 10pm CBS returns with a night of dramas maintaining the same schedule from 8pm-10pm. At 10pm, they have replaced Joe Pantoliano’s The Handler with Dr. Vegas (which coincidently co-stars Joe Pantoliano) FOX has reworked Friday night at 8pm opting for reality instead of sitcoms. At 9pm, they are returning with a drama; however, the less-than-expected Summer ratings for The Jury may change these plans NBC is back with two dramas and a newsmagazine, although the order has been switched, with Dateline now opening the night UPN has given up on their movie night. Instead, they are offering a repeat airing of Top Model followed by the re-located (and ratings-challenged) Star Trek: Enterprise	While most of the networks plan (hope) to stick with their Fall schedules into the Winter, FOX will be launching two new dramas replacing their reality/drama pairing in the Fall UPN’s schedule post-America’s Next Top Model is still TBD
2003/2004 Survivors Hope & Faith (ABC) Joan of Arcadia (CBS)
2003/2004 Casualties Married to the Kellys (ABC) The Handler (CBS) Luis (FOX) Miss Match (NBC) Like Family (WB) All About/Andersons (WB)
Go to The New Friday Night Programs   Return to Top of Page

 

Saturday
Last Season	The Fall Season	The Winter Season
Once again, no new shows premiered on Saturday in 2003/2004	For the third year in a row, there are no new series on Saturday night ABC returns with a night of movies while FOX returns (yet again) with Cops and America’s Most Wanted CBS has practically given up on airing dramas on Saturday, returning with 48 Hours (renamed 48 Hours Mystery) and reality. Their Crimetime Saturday block is a timeslot where they will be re-airing their various crime dramas (CSI., Cold Case, Without a Trace, etc.) NBC returns with their Saturday movie franchise joined by a repeat airing of The Apprentice	Hope springs eternal as all of the networks expect to maintain their Fall Saturday schedule into the Winter
2003/2004 Survivors & Casualties No new programs premiered in 2003/2004
Go to The New Saturday Night Programs   Return to Top of Page

 

Sunday
Last Season	The Fall Season	The Winter Season
ABC: Per our expectations, 10-8 was not able to compete CBS: As predicted, Cold Case benefited from its pedigree (production team and format) FOX: Like The Grubbs the year before, The Ortegas never even premiered. As far as Arrested Development goes, despite less-than-stellar ratings, FOX has decided to support this program based on strong critical acclaim NBC: While Lyon’s Den benefited from Rob Lowe, fans did not accept him in his first non-West Wing role. Additionally, cast changes actually revitalized The Practice format WB: We were in no way surprised when Tarzan quickly swung off the screen	With the failure of a drama at 8pm, ABC is giving reality a try. Additionally, prior 9pm timeslot owner Alias has been pushed off to January (in order to allow un-interrupted original airings) making way for a new drama CBS returns with the same schedule while FOX continues with sitcoms from 7pm to 9pm. However, FOX has given up on sitcoms at 9pm; instead, trying reality NBC has returned with almost the same schedule. The one difference is Crossing Jordan replacing Lyon’s Den WB has moved away from “beginnings” at 7pm. Instead, they are going with variety (with Steve Harvey). From 8pm-10pm they are sticking with dramas	ABC maintains their Fall Sunday schedule with one change: Alias returns at 9pm While FOX moved away from sitcoms at 9pm in the Fall, they will be moving back to that strategy in the Winter CBS, NBC and the WB plan on continuing their Fall schedules into the Winter
2003/2004 Survivors Cold Case (CBS) Arrested Development (FOX)
2003/2004 Casualties 10-8 (ABC) The Ortegas (FOX) - Never Aired Lyon's Den (NBC) Tarzan (WB)
Go to The New Sunday Night Programs   Return to Top of Page