How is Midseason Looking?

Posted by Marisa December 4th, 2008 at 11:31am In General

Not too good. Well, at least not at first. With the fall being kind of a wash—no new shows have really excited me to the point that I’ve kept up with any of them—I was hoping things were going to pick up for midseason. It looks like I’m going to have to wait a little longer.

Actually, maybe it won’t be so bad. Dollhouse debuts February 13. If it stays on the air past February, I’ll consider that a triumph. Other than that, the shows I’m kind of excited about—definitely Harper’s Island (I saw a screener promo and was intrigued) and Kings (looks crazy!), maybe even Castle—are looking more like late March/early April debuts. It’s okay. I’ll read some books in January and February. Or maybe I’ll figure out where all my cable channels are and start watching the critically acclaimed shows on FX, AMC, and Sci Fi that people keep bugging me about.

After the jump, I cobbled together a midseason schedule—as best I could, since some networks don’t really seem to be settled with everything yet **coughABCcough**—and added my $0.02 about the (crappy) new winter debuts.

MONDAY

8:00

ABC The Bachelor (January 5 until March 2)

Dancing with the Stars (Effective by March 9)

CBS Big Bang Theory/How I Met Your Mother

FOX House

NBC Superstars of Dance (January 4 to 26, then Chuck returns)

A dancing reality show, you say?

CW Gossip Girl

9:00

ABC The Bachelor (January 5 until March 2)

CBS Two and a Half Men/Worst Week

FOX 24 (Effective by January 19)

NBC Superstars of Dance

CW One Tree Hill

10:00

ABC True Beauty (January 5 until March 2)

An inner-beauty pagent, so hit on the girl who comes in third.

Castle (Effective by March 9)

A mystery writer has a copycat killer—and the writer is played by Nathan Fillion, mmmm.

CBS CSI: Miami

NBC Momma’s Boys (January 5 to 26, then Heroes returns)

Ryan Seacrest lands yet another hosting gig. Yawn

TUESDAY

8:00

ABC According to Jim

CBS NCIS

FOX American Idol (Effective by January 20)

NBC The Biggest Loser: Couples

CW 90210

Reaper (Effective by March 17)

9:00

ABC Scrubs (Effective by January 6)

CBS The Mentalist

FOX Fringe

NBC The Biggest Loser: Couples

CW Privileged

10:00

ABC Primetime: What Would You Do (January 6 to March 17)

Cupid (Effective by March 24)

Bobby Cannavale is Cupid and he has to match 100 couples before he can return to Olympus, and with Rob Thomas at the helm it might not be as cheesy as it sounds.

CBS Without a Trace

NBC Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

WEDNESDAY

8:00

ABC ???

CBS New Adventures of Old Christine/Gary Unmarried

FOX American Idol (Effective by January 21)

NBC Knight Rider (January 7 to February 25)

CW 13: Fear is Real (Effective by January 7)

A reality show where people face their fears, but totally not like Fear Factor.

9:00

ABC Lost (Effective by January 21)

CBS Criminal Minds

FOX Lie to Me (Effective by January 21)

A show about a human lie detector sounds questionable, but oh my God it stars Tim Roth!

NBC Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (January 7 until February, then Life returns)

CW 90210

10:00

ABC Life on Mars

The Unusuals (Effective by April

They expect us to believe that Amber Tamblyn is part of the NYPD. I buy smoke monsters before I buy that.

CBS CSI: NY

NBC Law & Order

THURSDAY

8:00

ABC Ugly Betty

CBS Survivor (Effective by February 9)

FOX Bones (Effective by January 15)

NBC My Name is Earl/Kath & Kim

CW Smallville

9:00

ABC Grey’s Anatomy

CBS CSI (Effective by February 9)

FOX Kitchen Nightmares (Effective by January 29)

NBC The Office/30 Rock

CW Supernatural

10:00

ABC Private Practice

CBS Eleventh Hour (Effective by February 9)

Harper’s Island (Effective by April 9)

Harper’s Island seems like Lost, minus all the sci-fi stuff, plus serial-killer-I-Know-What-You-Did-Last-Summerness. Has potential.

NBC ER (January 8 until the series finale March 12)

Kings (Effect by March 19)

A cracked-out retelling of the David and Goliath story set in a the future looks intriguing.

FRIDAY

8:00

ABC Wifeswap

CBS Ghost Whisperer (Effective by January 9)

FOX Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles (Effective by February 13)

NBC Howie Do It (Effective by January 9)

Ugh. Just, no.

CW Everybody Hates Chris/The Game

9:00

ABC Supernanny

CBS Flashpoint (Effective by January 9)

Some kind of emergency-response-team procedural starring Veronica Mars’ dad.

FOX Dollhouse (Effective by February 13)

I really hope Fox doesn’t cancel Joss Whedon’s new outing immediately, but I’m not counting on it.

NBC Friday Night Lights (Effective by January 16)

CW 13: Fear is Real

10:00

ABC 20/20

CBS Numb3rs (Effective by January 9)

NBC Dateline NBC

SATURDAY

8:00

ABC Movie

CBS Game Show In My Head (Effective by Jan 3)

It’s a new game show by Ashton Kutcher hosted by Joe Rogan. Guilty Pleasure at best.

FOX Cops

NBC Law & Order (or SVU)

9:00

ABC Movie

CBS Crimetime Saturday (Effective by January 3)

FOX America’s Most Wanted

NBC Law & Order (or SVU)

10:00

ABC Movie

CBS 48 Hours Mystery (Effective by January 3)

FOX

NBC Law & Order (or SVU)

SUNDAY

8:00

ABC Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

CBS The Amazing Race (Effective by February 15)

FOX Simpsons/King of the Hill

9:00

ABC Desperate Housewives

CBS Cold Case (Effective by February 15)

FOX Family Guy/American Dad

10:00

ABC Brothers & Sisters

CBS The Unit