NBC 2006/07 Schedule - It's New to You!

I was slowly working towards a recap of all the upfronts, but then NBC had to go and blow up its 2006/07 schedule. King of LaPlaca James Dinan gives a pretty good synopsis, but I wanted to take a night-by-night look at the revamp.

Sunday stays the same.

Monday sees Medium get pushed off to midseason so the Peacock can start things off with Deal or No Deal, Heroes, and Studio 60. And while Monday at 10 is an easier set of shows to go against than Thursday at 9 (What About Brian? and CSI:Miami versus CSI and Grey's Anatomy), Studio 60 I can't help but think that having a game show and another new drama as your lead-ins isn't going to bode well. Then again, with the other airing of Deal or No Deal moving into Studio 60's Thursday at 9 slot, this may be the only night it gets any viewers.

Tuesday opens as planned with Friday Night Lights but then double-dips L&O with Criminal Intent and SVU back-to-back. That's a lot of the criminal justice system in one night, and forces a choice between D'Onofrio/Noth and Laurie at 9 pm. That's not fair.

Wednesday swaps the sitcoms and The Biggest Loser, letting the weight loss show take the brunt against Lost and Criminal Minds. Kidnapped moves into the 10 pm slot, and might do OK there if anyone is around to watch.

Thursday only has that Studio 60 for Deal or No Deal. I just get the sense that this is going to be a painful night for NBC regardless.

Friday sees the early return of Crossing Jordan, followed by Las Vegas and L&O: Original Recipie. That might actually do OK versus the CBS shows, though it does feel like L&O is getting the brush-off.

Saturday, really, who cares. NBC isn't trying, and neither is anyone else.

There's a deck chairs on the Titanic feel to all this moving. Sure, Studio 60 gets a better time slot, but given that the other networks have stronger shows in the two hours prior to it, the move doesn't exactly guarantee success. The rest of the moves don't do much for me either way, although it does seem like NBC is cedeing the middle of the week a bit. I'm all for counter-programming, but you still need to offer something reasonably compelling. Just throwing something different up there isn't the best way to find success.