NBC's Fall TV Preview

Well, the summer is almost over and that can only mean one thing, re-runs are over, and new television is upon us. This year, all networks have a chance to become THE station with the hottest shows, but no station needs ratings more than NBC. Last year was NBC's worst in ratings, leaving the executives scratching their heads trying to figure out how to get people to tune in. Many shows have been cut, and new experiments (some good, some horrible) have taken their place.

NBC built some good viewership last year with one of the best new shows around, Heroes. Heroes keeps its Monday night slot from last year (9:00), which means that every Monday, football fans will have to make a choice of what to watch, or simply fire up the Tivo. As with Heroes, NBC chose to keep it's Thursday night of comedy the same, with its hilarious lineup of My Name is Earl, 30 Rock, The Office, and Scrubs. As if people have not had enough of Howie Mandel and the mindless Deal or No Deal, NBC has decided to show it, not once, but twice a week, on Wednesday and Friday from 8:00-9:00. This will prove to be a mistake for NBC, as the ceiling for this type of game show has already been reached. Also returning for NBC are ER (Thursday at 10:00), Friday Night Lights (Friday at 9:00), Las Vegas (Friday at 10:00), The Biggest Loser (Tuesday from 8:00-9:30), Law and Order:SVU (Tuesday at 10:00, with an encore presentation Friday at 10:00), and Dateline (Saturday at 9:00). Speaking of The Biggest Loser, has there ever been a show that made you want to get off the couch and work out more than this show? Loser ranks right behind the Rocky movies only in terms of watching something that makes one think "I should be working out right now...It looks like so much fun!"