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SitcomsOnline.com 2010-11 Upfront Preview: NBC and Fox

Next week is the big week in the TV world--the network upfronts! And as usual, the week prior to the upfronts, we preview on what we think the networks will do! NBC and Fox are up first next Monday (May 18), so we will preview them first. So let's get right to it!

NBC has been stuck in fourth place for a handful of years now and they are trying to come back but have failed so far. Will this be the year? The pilots sound promising, but that doesn't mean anything as we saw what happened to Studio 60 some years back.
Here is the SitcomsOnline.com NBC 2010-11 preview:

New Series Already Picked-Up: Undercovers (drama), The Event (drama), Love Bites (drama), Law & Order: LA (drama) and Outsourced (comedy).
Already Renewed Returning Series: 30 Rock, Parks & Recreation, Community, The Biggest Loser, The Marriage Ref, Who Do You Think You Are?, Celebrity Apprentice (Spring), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Parenthood, and The Office.
Likely Returning Series: Chuck, Law & Order, Minute to Win It, and of course Dateline.
Likely To Be Canceled or Already Canceled: Heroes, Trauma, Mercy, The Jay Leno Show and 100 Questions (summer burn-off).
Likely Additional New Series Pick-Ups (our picks): Chase (drama for fall), Kindreds (drama for fall), Friends with Benefits (comedy for fall), The Rockford Files (drama for fall), This Little Piggy (comedy for mid-season), and Perfect Couples (comedy for mid-season).

OUR FALL 2010 PREDICTION:

Sundays
7:00PM Football Night in America
8:00PM Sunday Night Football

Mondays
8:00PM The Apprentice
9:00PM Undercovers (NEW!)
10:00PM The Rockford Files (NEW!)

Tuesdays
8:00PM The Biggest Loser
10:00PM Love Bites (NEW!)

Wednesdays
8:00PM Parenthood
9:00PM Kindreds (NEW!)
10:00PM Law & Order: SVU

Thursdays
8:00PM Friends with Benefits (NEW!)
8:30PM Community
9:00PM The Office
9:30PM Outsourced (NEW!)
10:00PM Chase (NEW!)

Fridays
8:00PM Who Do You Think You Are? / Minute to Win It
9:00PM Dateline
10:00PM Law & Order: LA (NEW!)

Saturdays
8:00-11:00PM Repeats

COMMENTS: NBC's Jay Leno Show experiment bombed badly and now NBC has a lot of holes to fill. This past spring they used reality series as a replacement to so-so numbers and scripted drama Parenthood, which shows some potential. Couple of veteran series might not be back, with Heroes the most likely not returning.
NBC has some buzzworthy pilots, but they still need to prove it will work on air, which NBC has not done with really anything since Heroes' first season. They have picked-up four pilots already (not counting Law & Order: LA) as of this writing, and they will probably pick-up up to four more by the time the schedule is announced next week. The Rockford Files will likely get picked-up, but will it break the mold of remakes that last more than one season? Undercovers from J.J. Abrams has a lot of buzz and is already picked-up could be anchored for Mondays and the already picked-up comedy Outsourced sounds promising and could work out of The Office on Thursdays. If the latter happens, it probably means 30 Rock will be on the move or will be held to mid-season (which I think they will do). I also think they will launch one more comedy to the 8pm hour to get more buzz, so this could mean Parks and Recreation could be held to mid-season as well because Community shows more promise. Or maybe NBC will bring a third hour of comedy to the night at 10pm? Could happen, but I went with a new drama at 10. I can't see them adding another hour of comedy on any other night because NBC would likely need a returning show and none of comedies are big enough besides The Office to jump start a new comedy. I think NBC will hold upcoming serialized drama The Event (already picked-up) until January and perhaps air it for 13 straight weeks.
NBC is bringing back the original The Apprentice for the fall (or so they say), so it will likely air Mondays or Wednesdays at 8. I think Mondays would be better as we saw what a Wednesday edition did previously. Chuck could return in mid-season for a final season perhaps in its Mondays at 8 slot, but I don't think Heroes deserves to come back. Law & Order will likely return for a 21st season, but I can see them holding it until mid-season. Perhaps a final season for that, too? When Sunday Night Football ends, I can see NBC airing the original Law & Order there at 10pm with Celebrity Apprentice and The Marriage Ref leading in.
NBC needs some serious life to every night of the week. The fall is always saved by Sunday Night Football, so I expect many changes to each night. Promising drama Parenthood could work better in an earlier slot, perhaps Wednesday at 8, giving way to already picked-up dramedy Love Bites on Tuesday at 10 following The Biggest Loser. Plus it looks like Love Bites won't be serialized.

Remember, next Monday (May 18) is the actual date when we will find out NBC's plans for the 2010-11 season. So, come on back next Monday and we will let you know the details and you can see how much we were right (or wrong). Stay tuned next week for the official fall line-ups for all the networks. I love this time of year!
Discuss your thoughts on our prediction and feel free to make suggestions of your own!


Fox is coming off a decent season and has developed Glee into a hit, but American Idol is falling finally so they will need to develop more scripted hits in this tough time to find hits.
Here is the SitcomsOnline.com Fox 2010-11 preview:

New Series Already Picked-Up: None.
Already Renewed Returning Series: The Simpsons, The Cleveland Show, Family Guy, American Dad!, Glee, Fringe, Hells Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, Cops, and of course American Idol.
Likely Returning Series: House, Bones, Human Target, and of course America's Most Wanted.
Likely To Be Canceled or Already Canceled: Lie to Me, Brothers, 'Til Death, Dollhouse, Sons of Tucson, Past Life and 24.
Likely New Series Pick-Ups (our picks): Midland (drama for fall), Breakout Kings (drama for fall), Traffic Light (comedy for fall), Keep Hope Alive (comedy for fall), Jamie Foxx Sketch Comedy (fall), Terre Nova (drama for mid-season), Bob's Burgers (animated comedy for mid-season), and Security (comedy for mid-season).

OUR FALL 2010 PREDICTION:

Sundays
7:00PM NFL Overrun / Animated Encores
8:00PM The Simpsons
8:30PM The Cleveland Show
9:00PM Family Guy
9:30PM American Dad!

Mondays
8:00PM House
9:00PM Midland (NEW!)

Tuesdays
8:00PM Glee
9:00PM Traffic Light (NEW!)
9:30PM Keep Hope Alive (NEW!)

Wednesdays
8:00PM Human Target
9:00PM Breakout Kings (NEW!)

Thursdays
8:00PM Bones
9:00PM Fringe

Fridays
8:00PM Kitchen Nightmares
9:00PM Jamie Foxx Sketch Comedy (NEW!)

Saturdays
8:00PM Cops
8:30PM Cops
9:00PM America's Most Wanted

Comments: With 24 ending and American Idol weakening, Fox will need to find a few new hits. House will likely still lead-off Mondays, leading into a new drama, perhaps Midland. It won't have 24 in back-up in January if that fails, so maybe a new drama like Terre Nova from Steven Spielberg would be ready by then. As for Tuesdays, I think Glee will likely kick off the night leading into two comedies. When Idol comes, Glee would likely move back to 9pm or perhaps another night (like Wednesday) if the comedies work. I think the comedy Security sounds good (stars Odette Yustman!), but it will have a tough time finding a companion, so I left it off the fall schedule but could see a mid-season birth. On Wednesdays, I think they will start with Human Target but that won't be high rated as we have already seen this season. So maybe Lie to Me returns instead? But why are they airing new episodes this summer then? A new drama will likely air at 9pm, perhaps Breakout Kings. If that hits, it could move to 8pm in the winter, with Idol at 9. I think Bones would likely remain on Thursdays at 8pm, as could Fringe at 9pm unless they want something more in the vein of Bones. Fridays will likely not have scripted, so something like Kitchen Nightmares and the Jamie Foxx sketch comedy could work (if it is even being developed for primetime). Saturdays...do I need to ever talk about that? Fox will never change that. As for Sundays, animation domination will continue of course with the same line-up, as nothing new will be ready for fall. Perhaps Bob's Burgers will be ready by mid-season.
So, we have the usual again...Fox hopes to do decent in the fall with some help given by the World Series and look to explode in the winter/spring. Question is can Glee do these numbers it is doing now or the numbers it was doing last fall? Will it turn into House type numbers without the Idol help? We'll have to see.

Remember, next Monday (May 18) is the actual date when we will find out Fox's plans for the 2010-11 season. So, come on back next Monday and we will let you know the details and you can see how much we were right (or wrong). Stay tuned next week for the official fall line-ups for all the networks.
Discuss your thoughts on our prediction and feel free to make suggestions of your own!

Stay tuned tomorrow for our prediction for ABC!