Thursday will bring an ABC-CBS ratings smackdown this fall: “Grey’s Anatomy” goes head to head with “CSI” on television’s most profitable night of the week.
That’s the headline from a first look at the broadcast networks’ primetime slates, unveiled in New York last week.
Industry optimists say “Grey’s” and “CSI” may not steal viewers from each other so much as inflate the night’s already heavy viewing levels. In any case, “must see” NBC is a distant memory, like the Sunday night movie, finally killed by “Desperate Housewives.”
Come fall, CBS is banking on James Woods, NBC is counting on Aaron Sorkin, ABC is invested in Mick Jagger and J.J. Abrams, and Fox is trusting to Brad Garrett.
Additionally, the CW’s first primetime schedule includes “7th Heaven,” a new Darren Star drama starring Donnie Wahlberg, an “urban comedy” block on Sundays, and “Veronica Mars” and “Gilmore Girls,” on Tuesdays.
The networks trumpeted their 2006-07 schedules to the advertising community and advertisers ponied up an estimated $9 billion in advance commitments, consistent with last year’s sales. The Internet may be making inroads, iPods and cellphones may be generating buzz, but TV commercials remain the main draw for Madison Avenue’s big bucks.
DVDs of the new primetime contenders are winging to critics in advance of presentations in Los Angeles in July, as another cycle begins. Remember, 80 percent of all the TV pilots hailed in shiny DVD form now will be serving as cocktail coasters in six months.
The single biggest winner of the week: creator-producer J.J. Abrams. Abrams – the wunderkind behind “Lost,” “Felicity,” “Alias” and “Mission: Impossible III” – didn’t just win the post-“Grey’s Anatomy” timeslot for his new series, “Six Degrees” on ABC. But his ratings-weak “What About Brian” got a reprieve and returns on ABC in the fall. Just as CBS has an all-Jerry Bruckheimer lineup on Sundays (“Without a Trace,” “Amazing Race,” “Cold Case”), ABC is looking like J.J. World (“Lost,” “Six Degrees” and “What About Brian.”)
Dispelling fears that African-American programming would be overlooked, the newly constituted CW, a merger of WB and UPN, announced its first primetime schedule would include an “urban comedy block” on Sundays, including “Everybody Hates Chris,” “All of Us,” “Girlfriends,” “The Game” (about the wives/girlfriends of NFL athletes).
There’s no lack of season-long serial dramas patterned after “24”: “Kidnapped” on NBC follows one case all season; “The Nine” on ABC chronicles a 52-hour hostage crisis. “Vanished,” on Fox, delves into the mystery of a U.S. senator’s missing wife; it’s described as a blend of “CSI” and “24.”
The serial idea is even spreading to comedy. ABC has “Big Day,” described as a cross between “24” and the feature film “Father of the Bride,” and “Let’s Rob …” about a group of misfits who intend to rob the New York City apartment of Mick Jagger, who is an executive producer of the show and has taped a cameo appearance.
NBC will keep “ER” on Thursdays in the fall, then at midseason give the time slot to the new drama “The Black Donnellys.” “ER” then returns in the spring. Aaron Sorkin’s soap-drama “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” starring Matthew Perry, is the lead-in at 8 p.m. Thursday. Tina Fey’s “30 Rock” mows the same turf in half-hour form.
The most intriguing reality concept, at least on paper, is the collaboration between Mark Burnett, Steven Spielberg, Fox, and DreamWorks Television: “On the Lot” features aspiring filmmakers competing for a job.
Top-ranked CBS, boasting stability, will add only four new series (three dramas, one comedy). Ray Liotta and Virginia Madsen headline a John Wells heist thriller, “Smith.” Skeet Urich stars in “Jericho,” an apocalyptic thriller. And James Woods is the legal “Shark” in a courtroom drama. The comedy is an ensemble piece, “The Class,” from David Crane, co-creator of “Friends.”
While comedy is in short supply, among the most anticipated is Brad Garrett in Fox’s “Til Death,” about a bickering married couple and the lovey-dovey newlyweds next door.
TV critic Joanne Ostrow can be reached at 303-820-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com.
