Titular Thursdays
Realistically, every night
the nets schedule is important. But none were as important as Thursdays.
Most nights can count two, at the maximum, three nets, that are flying
high, but Thursday had a grand total of five networks whose ratings would
be seriously damaged without the night. CBS started the season off
the Thursday radar, but by the end "Survivor" was tv's number one series
and "CSI" was consistantly in the top 3. Too bad it couldn't find anything
for 10pm, save one week when a "CSI" repeat landed in the top 5. NBC's
fortunes have always rested on Thursday night, and they did once again
this season even though numbers were down significantly. ABC also
did well on the night thanks to "Millionaire," but later in the season
even that was well down the ratings charts. The WB hummed like a
fined tuned engine with "Gilmore Girls" & "Charmed," while the UPN
counted "WWF Smackdown!" as its top rated show. The only success hold-out?
Fox. It gave up on Thursday this season, airing a string of age
old movies. Coincidently, it fell well behind the rest. Go figure.
The
(potential) new line-up...
8:00 8:30
9:00 9:30
10:00
CBS
| Survivor III
| CSI
|(new drama |
ABC
| Whose |Whose Line? | Who Wants To
Be A |PrimeTime
|
| Line? |
|
Millionaire? | Thursday |
NBC
| Friends |(new comedy) | Will &
| (new comedy) | ER |
| |
| Grace |
| |
Fox
| The Family |(new comedy) |
(new drama) |
| Guy |
|
|
UPN
|
WWF Smackdown!
|
WB
| Gilmore Girls
| Charmed
|
Next season... things
aren't going to change much. Almost all the nets have found a winning strategy,
save Fox. But be on the look out for some desparate fine tuning, especially
on NBC.
Why would CBS mess
with success on the night? It's "Survivor"-"CSI" combo were usually one-two
atop the ratings charts at the end of last season, and expect that to continue
into the next. "Survivor" has managed to do what no other show on Thursday
could- get viewers out of the habit of watching "Must-See TV." And "CSI"
managed the same miraculous feat. The only thing the net really needs is
a new drama for 10pm. One week, a repeat "CSI" landed at number 4 in the
slot, proving that it is programmable. It's just finding the right program
that's the problem.
NBC's got the most
to lose on Thursdays next season. It has to prove that it can stave off
"Survivor," and, more importantly, "ER" has to try to hold on to tv's top
drama crown with
"CSI" beating at the gates. The net also had to find a replacement for
"Friends" and "ER"- they're going into their eighth seasons. Two new sitcoms
for 8:30 amd 9:30pm are a give-in, and one of those sitcoms will probably
be the Julia-Louis Dreyfuss project. A more iffy predicition would be NBC
premiering "ER" in November and trying a new drama in the slot. "ER"s numbers
have been slipping for the last few seasons, and a replacement needs to
be found. Besides, does the net have a better night to launch a new
show?
The only other net looking
of a change is Fox. Wait, scratch change. Dramatic overall is more
appropriate. Speculation is that "The Family Guy" will return to the Thursday
schedule, where it got killed two years ago. Though the show was thought
to have been cancelled, it performed so well for Fox over the summer that
it plans to air it this summer too. Follow that up with a new sitcom (or
good old stand-by repeats of "That 70s Show") and a new drama, and you
have a disaster in waiting.
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