CBS is doing a great job ...
Question: CBS is doing a great job counterprogramming
American Idol with
NCIS. So my question is: Now that the season premiere of
Fear Factor tanked in the ratings against repeats, why don't they try
The Book of Daniel in that time slot instead? In my book, giving it
Dateline as a lead-in on Fridays at 10 pm/ET shows zero faith in the show. And on another matter, what do you think of NBC's new two-hour comedy block on Thursdays?
Answer: If NBC had put
The Book of Daniel on Tuesdays at 8 pm/ET, in the teeth of
Idol, just as many complaints would likely pour in that NBC is trying to kill it there. (Wednesday at 8 would have been a better option. A night of
Daniel leading in to
West Wing, which deserves to move back to Wednesday for its final episodes, leading in to
Law & Order would be the sort of high-quality night NBC generally lacks nowadays). The Friday time period will not be easy for
Daniel, which is probably going to be a tough sell to begin with. (I'd love to be surprised.) But I'm not sure where the show would get an easier ride. As for NBC's comedy block, moving
My Name Is Earl to Thursday as the 9 pm/ET anchor makes sense, but I would have paired it with
Scrubs, although I concede that
The Office has enough cult fans, as well as supporters in the critical press, that putting it on a night once designated for the networks' best comedies at least sends a message.
Will & Grace, however diminished it may be, has earned its place on the night to play out its final season, but pairing it with the generic
Four Kings is business as usual at NBC, which squandered years of "must-see" capital by scheduling mediocre sitcoms between
Friends and whatever hit aired at 9 pm/ET. All in all,
Earl aside, it is not a lineup to give up CBS for.
