This TV Season's Winners & Losers

The new network Prime Time season begins in earnest Monday September 24th. I've picked my favorites, but favorites don't always mean success. Everything depends on where it's scheduled and what other shows it's up against. With that in mind, here's who I think will succeed or fail in their opening time slot.

Monday: CBS' "The Big Bang Theory" will succeed, only because it's in the Monday night comedy line-up that has brought reasonably good returns for the network. NBC's "Chuck" and Fox's "K-Ville", however are going up against that, as well as ABC's juggernaut "Dancing With The Stars". I'm afraid that spells doom for those two. ABC's "Samantha Who?" benefits from being sandwiched between "Dancing With The Stars" and "The Bachelor."

Tuesday: Everything is a returning series on CBS, NBC, Fox and CW leading off, and that means absolutely no chance for ABC's "Cavemen" and "Carpoolers." "Reaper" on CW has gotten good buzz, but has no chance against "House" and the "Dancing" results show. CBS' "Cane" has a good shot against ABC and NBC, whose "Boston Legal" and "Law and Order: SVU" don't garner killer ratings.

Wednesday: All new for ABC with "Pushing Daisies", "Private Practice" and "Dirty Sexy Money". The first stands a good shot because "Kid Nation" on CBS and "Back To You" on Fox have both premiered and gotten just so-so ratings. I think "Kid Nation" will run it's course but not be renewed while "Back To You" will survive a full season. New shows have head-to-head competition after that. Either ABC's "Private Practice" becomes a breakout hit and destroys everyone else or it survives and shares success with NBC's "Bionic Woman". Finally, ABC's "Dirty, Sexy Money" should have enough to beat NBC's "Life."

Thursday: The only major new show here is ABC's "Big Shots", going up against "Without A Trace" and "ER". Needless to say, it has no shot of lasting long.

Friday: There's going to be an interesting battle in the middle time slot, with ABC's "Women's Murder Club", CBS' "Moonlight", returning "Friday Night Lights" on NBC and Fox checking in with "Nashville." There are no clear winners here, with Fox the only clear loser. This could be like Thursday, with everybody getting about an equal share of the pie.

Sunday: About the only new thing here is CBS' "Viva Laughlin" going up against "Extreme Makeover", "Sunday Night Football" and the combo of "The Simpsons" and "King Of The Hill." Failure for the new show is imminent.

Recap: Winners: "Samantha Who", "The Big Bang Theory", "Cane", "Pushing Daisies", "Back To You", "Private Practice", "Dirty Sexy Money", "Women's Murder Club"

Losers: "Chuck", "Journeyman", "K-Ville", "Aliens In America", "Cavemen", "Carpoolers", "Reaper", "Life", "Gossip Girl", "Big Shots", "Don't Forget The Lyrics", "Next Great American Band", "Nashville", "Viva Laughlin"

Maybe: "Bionic Woman", "Moonlight"

Makes it but won't get renewed: "Kid Nation"

Another Sad Day For The Media

I honestly don't know which cable news network was on the TV I was hearing from another room tonight (althought I suspect it was Fox), but it so disgusted me I had to turn it off. Whoever was the anchor in this case (not one of the usual night crew that I've heard, so it may not have been Fox) was interviewing "OJ Simpson's Best Friend". The station was on for about ten minutes and the anchor doing the interview was doing non-stop baiting: Does OJ have a temper? Why do you think he was so angry on that tape? You say the tape was doctored but someone else says it wasn't, so what do you have to say about that? Who's going to pay for OJ's lawyer? We have Mark Fuhrman here. What do you have to say about OJ, Mark? And after all the badgering, OJ was released after posting bail and they went to live coverage like it was the Bronco chase all over again. Oh and by the way, if OJ posted bail, where did he get the money, friend? Was it his own or did someone give it to him? We know OJ loves to talk. Do you think he'll talk too much now that he's free? He could face the rest of his life in prison (that was repeated at least five times in the ten minutes I listened. It got so bad, even Fuhrman said hey, let's calm down before we taint the jury pool and let's treat this as the separate case it is, not a chance to avenge a previous verdict.
I think OJ killed his wife. I think it was a travesty of justice then. I also think what's going on now is a travesty of the media, and honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if this was a set-up at all. Someone made an audio tape of the incident and profited from it already. The whole thing stinks and the media is playing a willing player to the stink. Another reason why sometimes I hate being a part of this business myself (although at least I'm only behind the scenes and not a part of the news side).

Fall Season Predictions Part 2

Journeyman (NBC): This will follow "Heroes" on Monday nights. Show about a man who goes back in time to change history for the better. Success will depend on whether viewers want two sci-fi shows back to back. It didn't work a couple years ago for ABC and I don't know if it'll work here either.
Samantha Who? (ABC): New sitcom with Christina Applegate as a woman who has amnesia and is finding out what a bad person she was. Interesting premise that could work. I hope so, because there haven't been very many good sitcoms the past few years.
Carpoolers (ABC): Again, a possibly interesting premise focusing on the lives of a group of carpoolers. I saw some of the pilot and it wasn't terribly funny. Also, there would necessarily have to be scenes in the car, and I think that'll get old pretty quick.
The Big Bang Theory (CBS): Your basic brainy nerds who want to go out with the foxy girls. This time, though, one of the foxy girls is a brain as well. Limited appeal show and seems like a strange fit for CBS, one of the highest skewing networks. Success seems doubtful.
Big Shots (ABC): Think "Desperate Housewives" from the male perspective. Think failure.
Nashville (Fox): New reality show following a group of musicians trying to make it in the Music Capital of the World. This is not a "voting people off" reality show. Some country fans might like this, but unless there are some very charismatic cast members, I don't see this as being a hit.
K-Ville (Fox): I was going to wait on this until I actually saw the pilot, which is available now on the Fox network web site, but I still haven't had the chance to check it out. A drama set in post-Katrina New Orleans, this could be a hit if it doesn't constantly hammer on what wasn't done and focuses on what is and isn't being done.
Chuck (NBC): Comedy/Action series about a uber-nerd guy who apparently has all kinds of government secrets on a chip in his brain, so naturally everyone wants to get him and the chip to achieve world domination. Makes me want to up-chuck.
That's most of the new shows for the fall and what I think they should do, based on concept alone. Next up, looking at the respective schedules to try to pick what they will do, based on when they air and who they're up against.

'Roid Rage In The WWE

The WWE recently announced the suspension of ten of it's wrestlers following the reports of steroid use by one of it's wrestlers, the late Chris Benoit. This is causing a great debate in my brain. On the one hand, the WWE is so scripted in storylines, for all I know none of the other wrestlers were using steroids, but Vince McMahon can now exploit that they were for new storylines. On the other hand, if the ten were doing steroids, because the WWE is such scripted entertainment, what difference does it make if the wrestlers were following the rules of their sport or not? We know just from watching that what rules there are in the ring are made to be broken, so why should I care about this? I'm just so confused...