It’s going to feel a lot like 2005 on the Big 4 this fall, and Saturday nights are all right for programming on
the CW
.
The former is a flashback from the George W. Bush era, when
NCIS,
CSI
and
Law & Order
: Special Victims Unit
all held dominant spots in the primetime lineups. And
CBS
and
NBC
are hoping history repeats itself in 2021 with the latest iterations of those franchises hitting the small screen this year, with some original cast members in tow.
Shuffling the deck with long-running
Riverdale
moving to Tuesdays to partner with
The Flash
and other scheduling sleight of hands,
the CW’s big play
is tackling Saturday nights with originals for the first time. How much traction a double dose of
Whose Line Is It Anyway?
and
World’s Funniest Animals
delivers probably needs to be viewed in the larger context of the Mark Pedowitz-run channel also going unscripted on Sundays this fall for a full weekend theme.
New Scripted Series For 2021-22 Broadcast Season: A Photo Gallery
Yes, there are actually truly new shows this upcoming season like
ABC
girl-band drama
Queens
, the CW’s
Legends of the Hidden Temple
and
Killer Camp,
Fox
’s musical competition show
Alter Ego
, NBC’s
La Brea
and CBS’
Ghosts.
Remarkably, the past home of
The Office, Friends
and
Seinfeld
has zero sitcoms on the schedule for the fall — and we’ll see how that works out.
Still, bringing in the big crowds and big bucks, there’s a lot of NFL as usual. The gridiron is on Fox on Thursdays (for now), Saturdays on ABC — the NCAA kind — and of course, the big kahuna of
Sunday Night Football
on NBC
.
Now, football is king and news is good(ish), but in these fractured audience times, tried and true is where the broadcast drama is.
Which means there is a heck of a lot of
Dick Wolf
, with the fabled producer planting stakes in three separate nights of TV over two different networks.
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In fact,
CBS
on Tuesdays and
NBC
on Wednesdays have literally nothing on but Wolfworld franchises. The ViacomCBS-owned net has
FBI
, followed by newbie
FBI: International
and
FBI: Most Wanted
back-to-back-to-back. The Comcast-owned net has
Law & Order: SVU
and then a second season of
Law & Order: Organized Crime
, with OG
SVU
actor Christopher Meloni
back in his Elliot Stabler role
.
Update:
Its
planned spinoff
Law & Order: For the Defense
originally was set for 8 p.m. Thursdays, but the project
is not moving forward
.
In that vein,
ABC
is looking back to
The Wonder Years
for its own throwback hopes. Executive produced by
Empire
co-creator Lee Daniels, Saladin K. Patterson and original cast member Fred Savage — who helmed the pilot — and narrated by Don Cheadle, this version of the Emmy- and Peabody-winning show set in the late 1960s focuses on a middle-class Black family in Montgomery, AL.
CBS also is staying in the Chuck Lorre business with more
Young Sheldon, Bob
❤️
Abishola, United States of Al
and
B Positive.
Additionally, the network is giving
SEAL Team’
s fifth season a high-profile four-episode stint on Sunday nights before shifting David Boreanaz and crew
over to Paramount+
to increase the original inventory and allure of the burgeoning streamer. The second season of
Evil
also will be housed on Paramount+ and maybe
Silence of the Lambs
sequel of sorts
Clarice
too.
Broadcast TV Series That Departed During The 2020-21 Season – A Photo Gallery
Meanwhile, in a distinct failure of imagination but firm belief in the bottom line, the ever-expanding House of Redstone also has
NCIS: Hawaiʻi
and
CSI: Vegas
, with the latter seeing William Peterson’s Gil Grissom back in the lab. The logic is clear, as CBS Entertainment boss
Kelly Kahl told
Deadline’s Pete White: “In my mind, franchises hit the trifecta: They have terrific live viewing, they have significant delayed viewing, and they also do very well on streaming.”
That’s a bingo!
With that, take a look at the franchise-filled fall TV grid below:
See ya midseason.