Why does it seem that so many ...
Question: Why does it seem that so many established shows are being moved around this fall?
Law & Order: Criminal Intent and
Without a Trace are being moved from their established time slots. Have the networks given up on them to concentrate on establishing their new fall shows?
Answer: The circumstances are different for each show, but this isn't a case of the networks "giving up" on a show. It's more that the networks are realizing the value of these shows by moving them into strategic new time periods.
Criminal Intent was going to be bumped by NBC's new Sunday-night football franchise anyway, so it was moved to Tuesdays, where NBC traditionally struggles, to act as a lead-in to the more popular
Special Victims Unit. CBS made a riskier decision by moving
Trace from Thursdays to Sundays because the net is killing its movie night and wanted to put two strong crime procedurals back-to-back.
Cold Case and
Trace are going to be very compatible, and CBS has already been successfully testing the strategy this summer. I'll miss
Trace on Thursdays, but since I'll be playing back
CSI at 10 pm/ET after watching
Grey's live, I wouldn't have as much time for it then anyway. I'll probably be able to watch it more consistently on Sundays, unless
Brothers & Sisters turns out to be a hit. Speaking of which....
