Now that both Matthew Perry ...
Question: Now that both
Matthew Perry and
Steven Weber (and
D.L. Hughley) have signed on to
Aaron Sorkin's
Studio 7 on the Sunset Strip, do you think NBC will give the show
ER's current "must-see" Thursday time slot? After all, Perry (
Friends) and Weber (
Wings) are
both former Thursday residents and many have suggested that perhaps
ER finally needs a new night for its old age. Or do you think
Studio 7 will get one of the vacated
West Wing time slots (Sundays at 8 pm/ET or Wednesdays at 9 pm/ET)?
Answer: I'm pretty awful at guessing network schedules, but I'm betting that, given what I imagine would be the comedy-drama tone of Sorkin's new show (more
Sports Night than
West Wing), it would be perfect for
West Wing's old Wednesday-night slot — although
Lost has become a juggernaut these last few seasons, so maybe it would be better off inheriting the fading
Law & Order's time period. Sundays won't be an option, at least for the first half of the season, because of NBC's new football contract. Maybe Mondays would work, if
Las Vegas proves to be a draw on Fridays and stays there. If
Studio 7 lives up to its potential, it will obviously be NBC's next crown jewel and should be programmed accordingly. It would be cool for a show like this to cap what is now a comedy night for NBC on Thursdays, but don't count out
ER just yet. Though creatively diminished, it's still a powerful draw, at least in first-run, so I'd be surprised (though hardly disappointed) if NBC decides to move it. This will certainly be a burning question as the next season begins to take shape.
