Sunday, September 6, 2009

Fall TV Draft

I was sitting around contemplating the end of summer, reflecting on what I had done and what I had failed to accomplish when I realized that the summer was really truly over. This made me weep openly.

I realized that it was time to do the one thing that cheers me up at the end of every summer. Initiate the “Fall 2009 TV Draft”! Every fall I do a little research as to what shows will return/premiere and then decide what shows will make the cut into my weekly television habit. This season the research was expedited by tv.ign.com and their excellent “Fall TV Preview”, if you are looking forward to something that didn’t make my cut feel free to check them out for the less interesting fare.

This year the draft surprised me because I had no idea how excited I was about “V” until I set my series priority. On the flip side, I was flabbergasted to see how far down the list Heroes was in comparison to previous years. The other issue that came up was Thursday overload. Ten of my seventeen drafted series air on Thursday nights which makes for a DVR/Tivo/Hulu/Netflix scheduling mess.

I know 17 shows seem like a lot to start the season and in truth it actually is a bit of a DVR full. But through cancelations, bad writing, series priority, and smart time shifting this list will become extremely manageable. I have drafted five series premiers this season and if history teaches us anything at least 3 of them won’t be back next season. For example, ABC could drop FlashForward after one episode if they don’t pull the right numbers on Thursday night after all the promotion they have done for it this summer. FOX bringing Dollhouse back for any episodes surprised me so if their numbers sink at all I think they are goners as well.

Supernatural and Fringe should be safe for this season and I am hopeful they have extremely strong ones. However, even Fringe was on the bubble to return this season as their numbers dropped significantly over the course of last year and the storyline involving multiple dimensions is one that is bound to make the network nervous. Thankfully Supernatural airs on the pathetic CW network and any show that scores better than static will at least get to finish its season.

If a show falls in the priority 11-17 range I am not opposed to catching up on DVD or Hulu (It’s Always Sunny), my wife makes me watch (Private Practice), or I have been so disappointed by this show in the past but for some reason can’t let it go (Heroes).

Oddly enough, the show I am most excited about this season is one I have heard the least about and does not premiere until turkey month. “V” is an “alien visitors come to Earth in peace… or do they” series that has a lot of interesting writers, producers, and actors involved. Talent has been recruited for “V” from such notable shows as Lost, Alias, Angel, Chuck, and The 4400 which is enough to make this guy watch. Also, let’s face it, I am a sucker for shows about aliens, shows about conspiracies, and shows that claim they want to be the spiritual successor to Lost.

Finally the show by which I plan on measuring all others, Lost does not even get back on until the spring TV season. Caprica and Chuck are two others I am looking forward to that are not listed here because they won’t be on for many months.


Series Premiere TimeslotNetworkPriorityDay
V11.3.098pmABC1Tuesday
Supernatural9.10.099pmCW2Thursday
Dollhouse9.25.099pmFOX4Thursday
Fringe9.17.099pmFOX4Thursday
FlashFoward9.24.098pmABC5Thursday
Glee9.09.099pmFOX6Wednesday
How I Met Your Mother9.21.098pmCBS7Monday
30 Rock10.15.099:30pmNBC8Thursday
The Office9.17.099:00pmNBC9Thursday
House 9.21.09 8pmFOX10Monday
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia9.17.0910pmFX11Thursday
Community9.17.099:30pmNBC12Thursday
Survivor9.17.098pmCBS13Thursday
Stargate Universe10.02.099pmSyfy14Friday
Heroes9.21.098pmNBC15Monday
Grey’s Anatomy9.24.099pmABC16Thursday
Private Practice 10.01.0910pmABC17Thursday

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