The NBC Shuffle
Amid a last minute move to counter FOX’s big Thursday night fall lineup, NBC, the one-time king of Thursday night programming has moved several of its new shows off the fall Thursday night lineup and moved them to Monday.
Why is this important to scifi/fantasy and horror fans? NBC, put in the FOX quandry, has decided to remove its big supernatural hit “Medium” starring Patricia Arquette from its primetime fall schedule. The show will return in January on Sunday nights at 10:00 PM ET, although execs at NBC have indicated that if any of the new shows fail in the ratings race “Medium” could be brought back before January.
Admitting defeat and loss of its longtime reign over Thursday’s, NBC has thrown in the towel by placing Howie Mandel’s “Deal or No Deal” game show up against FOX’s mega hit “Grey’s Anatomy.” The only Thursday staple still on tap for NBC will be the award winning “ER.” Also on board for Thursday night for the Peacock Network will be the new SF series “Heroes,” the story about ordinary people who discover they possess unusual powers.
According to NBC’s Web Site, “Heroes” is still scheduled to be on Mondays. I have enough issues with overlapping schedules on Fridays without having to worry about Thursday, too.
Yeah, I’m the one that watches Smallville and Supernatural. Sure, Smallville is borderline, but the Superman stories have always facinated me.