Fall TV Preview 2015: Monday TV Deathmatch

We’re tackling the new fall TV schedule night by night, moving onto Monday night.

Let’s bitch it out…

The following table does not include online / streaming series from Netflix, Amazon or Hulu. These will be addressed at the bottom of the post on the appropriate days.

MONDAY TV DEATHMATCH

[table id=2 /]

Hourly Breakdown: 8pm EST

https://youtu.be/QddRWN40Odc

• ABC‘s perennial “D-listers massacring ballroom moves” show returns Sept 14 with a questionable cast that includes Paula Deen, BSB’s Nick Carter and Gary Busey (WTF?). The show’s overall numbers have decreased in the last few years and it has always skewed old (hence the desperate move to have the dancers perform moves from Silento’s “Watch Me / Nae Nae” in teasers). At the end of the day ABC has bigger fish to fry than this two hour time block, so it’s probably fine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypPbcgAexaQ

• Starting Sept 21 CBS will run new episodes of Big Bang Theory (and new red shirt series Life in Pieces)…at least until NFL finishes on Thursdays. Then Supergirl takes over (Oct 26). Big Bang will do big business regardless of where it lands and Supergirl is one of the most anticipated series of the fall, so CBS is looking pretty at 8pm.

• FOX hit ratings gold with its “Batman without Batman” series Gotham (Sept 21) last year, even though the inept plotting and propensity of villains left a lot to be desired. For those less than pleased with the latter, S2 may be a hot mess; all of the series’ promos confirm plans to add even more adversaries. Here’s hoping that the writers figured out their narrative inadequacies over the summer and know how to strike a better balance.

https://youtu.be/7v7bahXJBr0

• With American Idol breathing its death gasp in the Winter, NBC‘sThe Voice (Sept 21) stands to inherent the reality TV singing competition mantle. With the swiveling chairs are always entertaining and the return of Gwen Stefani (undoubtedly the body-will-be-banging pre-divorce) should be interesting to watch. Overall The Voice should do just fine (particularly against ABC’s aging Dancing With The Stars)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ctFmXGm_yE

• The CW kicks off the week with Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (Oct 12), its sole new Fall series. CEG is about a woman who moves across the country to pursue a relationship with her old HS sweetheart…who barely knows she exists. The show is a hard-sell because it has no lead-in support and while tonally it’s a good fit for stablemate Jane the Virgin, that series isn’t exactly a powerhouse in the ratings so this could be a low-rated night for the teen-skewing network. Crazy will need good notes from critics (which it should manage because it looks great) and a healthy sampling from audiences to survive.

Hourly Breakdown: 9pm EST

• Bad dancing continues on ABC with the second hour of Dancing With The Stars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCCo2M5q7jQ

• CBS continues to keep the career of one-time American Idol and forever Smash alum Katharine McPhee alive as Scorpion (Sept 21) trudges on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fLl-DMzxrk

• FOX‘s sole new entry for the night is Minority Report (Sept 21) a defacto sequel to the 2002 Spielberg/Cruise film based on the novel by Philip K Dick. In the near-future, precogs have visions of the future, effectively allowing police to stop crime before it happens. It’s a sound premise, but FOX appears to have stripped it down to produce a bland police procedural with vaguely futuristic components. Here’s hoping recent cast addition/confirmed show killer Nick Zano can breathe some life into the proceedings.
• NBC airs hour two of The Voice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLLM2PvEO2A

• The CW likely hopes lightning strikes twice with S2 of its acclaimed dramedy Jane the Virgin, which left off with a handful of massive cliffhangers. After delivering one of the most consistently enjoyable and remarkably self-assured debut seasons we can remember, expect more of the same in the second season, plus random guest appearances by pop starlets K$sha & Britney Spears…because ??? The Latin peeps made sense. The blonde princesses? Not so much.

Hourly Breakdown: 10pm EST

• ABC throws another wrench into the Castle/Beckett relationship when the latter is promoted to Captain on S8 of Castle (Sept 21).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEM3c8fh4mE

• Starting Sept 21 CBS airs S7 of NCIS:LA (aka the one with Chris O’Donnell and LL Cool J) which this year celebrates its 150th episode.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FHLBldRdIo

• NBC debuts a new action drama featuring an unlikely male/female duo solving crimes. The premise is so eerily similar to another NBC series that you would be forgiven if you mistook Blindspot (Sept 21) for The Blacklist. Still, the combo of a hot, nearly naked lady and a generic crime procedural should be catnip for viewers. This series is arguably the peacock network’s best chance for ratings success this season.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFVNi8gUEy4

• The sole notable Monday cable series is S2 of FX’s Fargo (Oct 12) which jumps back to 1979 to tell a story briefly hinted at in S1. The real question is whether an entirely fresh cast (featuring Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Ted Danson, Jean Smart and a bevy of others), as well as a brand new (time) setting, can capture the same magic in a bottle as the first season.

That’s it for Mondays. Check back tomorrow for Tuesday TV Deathmatch.