Ta-da: The fall TV season is here.
Or is it?
Trying to pin down an official start date this year is about as easy as unearthing a reality show participant uninterested in fame, wealth or an onscreen hook-up. In any event, here’s our annual peek at the TV schedule this fall.
Be forewarned: This season’s lineup promises to be more fluid than ever. For one thing, the dates you see on this chart denote a program’s premiere — not necessarily the night of the show’s regular weekly airings. And all, we repeat all, dates are subject to change. All new shows will be reviewed in full on the date of their premieres.
Monday
ABC
7:00: THE BENEFACTOR SEPT. 13)
8:00: MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL (SEPT. 13)
CBS
7:00: STILL STANDING (SEPT. 20)
7:30: LISTEN UP (SEPT. 20)
8:00: EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND (SEPT. 20)
8:30: TWO AND A HALF MEN (SEPT. 20)
9:00: CSI: MIAMI (SEPT. 20)
NBC
7:00: FEAR FACTOR (AUG. 30)
8:00: LAS VEGAS (SEPT. 13)
9:00: LAX (SEPT. 13)
FOX
7:00: THE NORTH SHORE (SEPT. 6)
8:00: RENOVATE MY FAMILY (SEPT. 1) / SWAN 2 (OCT. 25)
9:00: LOCAL PROGRAMS
WB
7:00: 7TH HEAVEN (SEPT. 13)
8:00: EVERWOOD (SEPT. 13)
9:00: LOCAL PROGRAMS
UPN
7:00: ONE ON ONE (SEPT. 20)
7:30: HALF & HALF (SEPT. 20)
8:00: GIRLFRIENDS (SEPT. 20)
8:30: SECOND TIME AROUND (SEPT. 20)
9:00: LOCAL PROGRAMS
Aside from Fox, which offers one new unscripted show (“Renovate My Family”) and one new-ish soap (“North Shore”), most networks are content to do some minor reshuffling of their lineups on Monday. As for the evening’s only new scripted drama, the Heather Locklear airport saga “LAX,” it’s probably going to get stomped by “CSI: Miami,” so there’s no need to linger on its faults (OK, we’ll linger just a little bit below).
NEW COMEDY
“LISTEN UP”: Don’t count on this new CBS sitcom, starring Jason Alexander as an unbearably whiny newspaper columnist and TV show host, to break the post-“Seinfeld” curse. When will TV execs learn that Alexander works best as a second banana?
“SECOND TIME AROUND”: As sitcoms go, this UPN freshman has a reasonable premise: A couple who married too young, divorced and tied the knot once again. Though “Soul Food” alum Nicole Parker is a bubbly presence as the female lead, for the most part this predictable show falls flat.
NEW DRAMA
“LAX”: It’s “ER” at the airport, and given the right execution, the concept could have been as grip-ping as any good medical soap. But Locklear and Blair Underwood, the lead characters — who are supposed to be locked in a love-lust-hate thing — fail to strike sparks, and the rest of this NBC show is pedestrian at best. Never mind, this flight will probably be canceled anyway.
NEW UNSCRIPTED
“THE BENEFACTOR”: ABC tries to pull off an “Apprentice”-size hit, with 16 folks vying to win a million bucks from entrepreneur and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. Cuban isn’t nearly as well known as The Donald, but in the reality genre, the concept can be more important than the individual players.
“RENOVATE MY FAMILY”: Pet makeovers? Has it come to this? Fox’s short-run makeover show stars Dr. Phil’s son, author Jay McGraw, who’ll help families change their lives and their homes with the assistance, of “a stylist, an interior designer, a construction crew, and even experts who reinvent cars and pamper pets.” Insert your own “Queer Eye”-meets-Fido joke here. (Show premieres Wednesday, Sept. 1, then moves to Mondays.)
Tuesday
ABC
7:00: MY WIFE AND KIDS (SEPT. 21)
7:30: THE GEORGE LOPEZ SHOW (SEPT. 21)
8:00: ACCORDING TO JIM (SEPT. 21)
8:30: RODNEY (SEPT. 21)
9:00: NYPD BLUE (SEPT. 21)
CBS
7:00: NAVY NCIS (SEPT. 28)
8:00: CLUBHOUSE (SEPT. 26)
9:00: JUDGING AMY (SEPT. 28)
NBC
7:00: LAST COMIC STANDING (AUG. 31)
8:00: FATHER OF THE PRIDE (AUG. 31)
8:30: SCRUBS (AUG. 31)
9:00: LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT (SEPT. 21)
FOX
7:00: TRADING SPOUSES / THE BILLIONAIRE (NOV. 9)
8:00: THE NEXT GREAT CHAMP (SEPT. 7) / HOUSE (NOV. 16)
9:00: LOCAL PROGRAMS
WB
7:00: GILMORE GIRLS (SEPT. 21)
8:00: ONE TREE HILL (SEPT. 21)
9:00: LOCAL PROGRAMS
UPN
7:00: ALL OF US (SEPT. 21)
7:30: EVE (SEPT. 21)
8:00: VERONICA MARS (SEPT. 22)
9:00: LOCAL PROGRAMS
An evening replete with old reliables (“NYPD Blue,” “Judging Amy”), with the promise of an intriguing 8 p.m. battle between “Clubhouse” (CBS) and the sitcom team of “Father of the Pride” and “Scrubs” (NBC).
NEW COMEDIES
“RODNEY”: Apparently a bone tossed toward the red states, this ABC sitcom, an Oklahoma-set vehicle for stand-up comic Rodney Carrington, is a paean to family values and painful bits of good ol’ boy misbehavior. For a small wager, Carrington walks into Wal-Mart stark naked (arguing no one will notice) and punishes his two boys by forcing them to enact a pseudo-wedding ceremony. NASCAR dads, take note.
“Father of the Pride” (Aug. 31): This NBC family cartoon is a comedy about a lion who lives in Las Vegas and performs as part of Siegfried and Roy’s (miraculously restored) live show. Cute and cuddly in ads, this one may be too dumb for adults and too risque for kids.
NEW DRAMAS
“CLUBHOUSE”: CBS’ earnest yarn about a 16-year-old who descends, literally and otherwise, into the dugout, joins a major New York baseball team as batboy, and discovers that lifelong heroes can be heels and the big time soiled with locker-room grunge. Jeremy Sumpter is Pete, son of a Staten Island single mom (ever-winning Mare Winningham), while Dean Cain is the gruff superstar turned mentor.
“HOUSE”: The doctor is in, he’s just not warm or fuzzy, more akin in temperament to private eye Philip Marlowe than a physician in this layered and sometimes witty Fox endeavor. Hugh Laurie stars as a brilliant but cranky practitioner who never talks directly to patients (he says they always lie) and then in absentia, helped by a team of experts, he solves their often mysterious maladies. A misanthropic medic with a heart of gold.
“VERONICA MARS”: The title character (Kristen Bell) in this UPN series is a 21st Century Nancy Drew, saddled with a single parent, her father, a former sheriff turned impoverished gumshoe. She helps with his investigations while grappling with her outcast role as penurious, outspoken student at a California seaside high school flush with well-to-do conformists.
NEW UNSCRIPTED
“THE BILLIONAIRE”: Donald Trump gets more competition in the form of this Fox reality show starring British mogul Richard Branson and a cast of would-be moguls.
“THE NEXT GREAT CHAMP”: This unscripted boxing show has already gone several rounds in court; reality titan Mark Burnett claims “Champ” rips off his NBC boxing show, “The Contender.” At press time, a key court date was scheduled for the morning of “Champ’s” premiere, but it seems unlikely that the Fox show will be KO’d.
Wednesday
ABC
7:00: LOST (SEPT. 22)
8:00: THE BACHELOR (SEPT. 22)
9:00: WIFE SWAP (SEPT. 29)
CBS
7:00: 60 MINUTES (SEPT. 22)
8:00: THE KING OF QUEENS (SEPT. 29)
8:30: CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE (SEPT. 29)
9:00: CSI: NEW YORK (SEPT. 22)
NBC
7:00: HAWAII (SEPT. 1)
8:00: THE WEST WING (OCT. 20)
9:00: LAW & ORDER (SEPT. 22)
FOX
7:00: THAT 70S SHOW (SEPT. 8)
7:30: QUINTUPLETS (SEPT. 8)
8:00: THE BERNIE MAC SHOW (SEPT. 8)
8:30: METHOD & RED (SEPT. 8)
9:00: LOCAL PROGRAMS
WB
7:00: SMALLVILLE (SEPT. 22)
8:00: THE MOUNTAIN (SEPT. 22)
9:00: LOCAL PROGRAMS
UPN
7:00: AMERICAN’S NEXT TOP MODEL (SEPT. 22)
8:00: KEVIN HILL (SEPT. 29)
9:00: LOCAL PROGRAMS
Wednesday night is shaping up as a major battleground night: First off, ABC’s buzzed-about “Lost” goes up against a recharged “Smallville” and UPN’s top performer, “America’s Next Top Model.” (If “Hawaii” emerges as the winner of this time slot, remind me to throw myself off a cliff.) Then at 8 p.m., ABC’s unscripted franchise, “The Bachelor,” goes up against UPN’s much-praised new drama “Kevin Hill.” But the main event is at 9 p.m., which features a Godzilla vs. Mothra-style throwdown in the form of lumbering show-killer “Law & Order” taking on the scrappy “Son of CSI,” a.k.a. “CSI: New York.”
NEW COMEDY
“CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE”: Why would CBS take talented actors such as Jean Smart, John Goodman, Ed Asner and Olympia Dukakis and stick them in a lame sitcom full of cliches about dopey in-laws and Grandpa’s addiction to anti-impotence drugs? Because it can, dear reader, because it can.
NEW DRAMA
“LOST”: J.J. Abrams, who as the creator of “Alias” knows a thing or two about supplying thrills and chills, fights the reality trend with this edge-of-your-seat show about survivors of a plane wreck who are cut off from all civilization. This program packs more excitement into the first hour than many shows — unscripted or scripted — can muster during an entire season. Let’s hope ABC sticks with it, as it has done with “Alias.”
“CSI: NEW YORK”: CBS’ unstoppable “C.S.I.” juggernaut takes on the Big Apple, with Steppenwolf vet Gary Sinise playing this edition’s lead detective. Will viewers ever tire of this well-executed yet predictable cop-show formula? We may find out this fall.
“KEVIN HILL”: One of fall’s most buzzed-about shows, UPN’s “Hill” stars the tasty Taye Diggs as a hot-shot lawyer whose life goes from Maxim parties in Manhattan to baby feedings at 2 a.m. when he inherits a cousin’s baby. Though the scenes with the baby and her gay nanny are good, the drama shows true potential when Hill joins an all-female law firm headed by classy “ER” regular Michael Michele.
THE MOUNTAIN”: The WB fights the current crop of beach-set prime-time soaps with a family soap set at a mountain resort in Utah. Given that “The O.C.” producer McG is one of the prime movers behind the show, we may see “O.C.”-style success on the slopes–unless the WB decides to devote all of its efforts to promoting its much-praised new drama “Jack & Bobby.”
“HAWAII” (Sept. 1): A collection of utterly predictable cop cliches set among the waving palm trees of Hawaii, and not nearly good enough to follow the footsteps of “Hawaii Five-0.” If “Lost” is a hit, expect NBC’s “Hawaii” to go on permanent vacation.
NEW UNSCRIPTED
“WIFE SWAP”: Two families trade moms for a couple of weeks. Where have we seen that before? Oh, yeah, on Fox, which started airing its take on the reality concept over the summer. Though the ABC version is more than competent, how much more wife-swapping will viewers want to see?
Thursday
ABC
7:00: LIFE AS WE KNOW IT (OCT. 7)
8:00: EXTREME MAKEOVER (SEPT. 23)
9:00: PRIMETIME THURSDAY
CBS
7:00: SURVIVOR: VANUATU (SEPT. 16)
8:00: CSI (SEPT. 23)
9:00: WITHOUT A TRACE (SEPT. 23)
NBC
7:00: JOEY (SEPT. 9)
7:30: WILL & GRACE (SEPT. 16)
8:00: THE APPRENTICE (SEPT. 9)
9:00: ER (SEPT. 23)
FOX
7:00: THE O.C. (NOV. 4)
8:00: TRU CALLING (NOV. 4)
9:00: LOCAL PROGRAMS
WB
7:00: BLUE COLLAR TV
7:30: DREW CAREY’S GREEN SCREEN (SEPT. 16)
8:00: TBA
9:00: LOCAL PROGRAMS
UPN
7:00: WWE SMACK-DOWN!
8:00: LOCAL PROGRAMS
NBC’s endangered “must-see” species may be facing extinction: With “Friends” gone, “Joey,” “Will and Grace,” “The Apprentice 2” and “ER” now vie with the armed and dangerous “CSI” and “Without a Trace” on CBS and ABC’s newcomer, “life as we know it.”
NEW COMEDY
“JOEY”: In this widely touted NBC spinoff, Matt LeBlanc is now friendless in L.A. Can Joey’s dim wit fuel an entire sitcom? The summer ads looked hopeful; the buzz on the pilot isn’t. Will anybody be there for Joey?
NEW DRAMA
“life as we know it”: Meaninglessly saddled with an all-lowercase title thanks to a copyright dispute, this ABC comedy-drama from the producers of “Freaks and Geeks” is a high school story redolent with frank sexual themes and believable teenage angst. There are also setups for sudsy cliffhangers: the swaggering Romeo of the gang (Tom Cruise look-alike Sean Faris) catches his seemingly happily married mom with his gym coach. And then there’s Ben (Jon Foster), who lusts for his all-too-flirtatious English teacher.
NEW UNSCRIPTED
“DREW CAREY’S GREEN SCREEN”: Improv goes high tech in this WB variety newcomer. Comic actors riff on ideas suggested by the audience, gradually enhanced by a team offstage animating the bits and creating a kind of improvised movie.
Friday
ABC
7:00: EIGHT SIMPLE RULES . . . (SEPT. 24)
7:30: COMPLETE SAVAGES (SEPT. 24)
8:00: HOPE & FAITH (SEPT. 24)
8:30: LESS THAN PERFECT (SEPT. 24)
9:00: 20/20
CBS
7:00: JOAN OF ARCADIA (SEPT. 24)
8:00: JAG (SEPT. 24)
9:00: DR. VEGAS (SEPT. 24)
NBC
7:00: DATELINE NBC
8:00: THIRD WATCH (SEPT. 17)
9:00: MEDICAL INVESTIGATION (SEPT. 9)
FOX
7:00: THE COMPLEX: MALIBU (AUG. 30)
8:00: THE NEXT GREAT CHAMP (ENCORE)
9:00: LOCAL PROGRAMS
WB
7:00: WHAT I LIKE ABOUT YOU (SEPT. 17)
7:30: COMMANDO NANNY (SEPT. 17)
8:00: REBA (SEPT. 17)
8:30: GROUNDED FOR LIFE (SEPT. 17)
9:00: LOCAL PROGRAMS
UPN
7:00: STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE (OCT. 8)
8:00: AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL (ENCORE)
9:00: LOCAL PROGRAMS
A night of familiarity noteworthy for a scalpel-to-scalpel medical match-up (“Dr. Vegas” on CBS and “Medical Investigation” on NBC) and some reality repeats from earlier in the week (“The Next Great Champ” on Fox and “America’s Next Top Model” on UPN).
NEW COMEDIES
“COMPLETE SAVAGES”: Veteran actor Keith Carradine (“Deadwood,” “Nashville”) is the single father of five teenage boys. He’s also a firefighter, and burning buildings, we’re told, are more relaxing than the homestead. Mel Gibson, by the way, is an executive producer of this ABC venture.
“COMMANDO NANNY”: The ubiquitous Mark Burnett (“The Apprentice,” “Survivor”) turns to a sitcom, this one based on his own experience as a male nanny, smoothing the ruffled feathers of ever-crusty Gerald McRaney playing a well-heeled Beverly Hills dad. Beware: Original lead Philip Winchester has already been replaced.
NEW DRAMAS
“DR. VEGAS”: Talk about the beautiful and the damned: Perennial pretty boy Rob Lowe, lately based in Washington, D.C., moves to Las Vegas in this CBS drama as new in-house physician at a casino; whiny, annoying Joe Pantoliano (sent to sleep with the fishes on “The Sopranos”) is general manager. Gamblers, mobsters and debauchees deserve a little bedside manner, too, apparently.
“MEDICAL INVESTIGATION”: The “CSI”-ish formula goes majorly medical in this NBC series about a S.W.A.T.-like team of medical experts, led by Neal McDonough (“Boomtown”), who swoop in to handle urgent disease crises. It’s not exactly a CDC docudrama: One preview episode hinges on a malady mysteriously turning New Yorkers an alien shade of cobalt blue.
NEW UNSCRIPTED
“THE COMPLEX: MALIBU”: Fox gloms onto ABC’s unexpected hit “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” and adds a “Survivor”-esque element: Couples compete to determine who has done the best condo redecoration. But we wonder if this survival-of-the-home-renovators concept will fly without a Ty Pennington or a Paige Davis — or, heck, even an Amber Brkich — to gaze at.
Saturday
ABC
7:00: THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY (OCT. 16)
CBS
7:00: THE AMAZING RACE (SEPT. 25)
8:00: CRIME TIME SATURDAY (VARIOUS DRAMA REPEATS)
9:00: 48 HOURS MYSTERY (SEPT. 25)
NBC
7:00: THE APPRENTICE (ENCORE)
8:00: VARIOUS DRAMA REPEATS
9:00: LAW & ORDER REPEATS
FOX
7:00: COPS (SEPT. 11)
7:30: COPS (SEPT. 11)
8:00: AMERICA’S MOST WANTED(SEPT. 11)
9:00: LOCAL PROGRAMS
Though the trend began last year, this fall networks have even more warmly embraced the concept of Saturday night as repeat night. Given that many reality shows won’t have much of an afterlife in the syndication or DVD markets, network execs figure it makes sense to earn a few more cents on episodes of unscripted shows by airing them twice in one week (they’re also doing it on Friday nights). And CBS has shown that even cop-show repeats, a.k.a. “Crimetime Saturday,” can produce not-so-terrible results.
But surprisingly, given its strong showing over the summer, CBS has shifted the sixth edition of “The Amazing Race,” long considered the Cadillac of the unscripted genre, to Saturday nights as well. Perhaps if one of the network’s other shows flames out, dependable performer “TAR” will migrate back to a weekday slot.
But that’s the only news about this night because there are absolutely no new shows on Saturday. Since the night has long been considered a graveyard for new programming anyway, most TV executives have opted not to spend their cash making or marketing shows for it.
“I think same-week repeats to give the viewer an opportunity to see the show again — I think [that] has some real value,” Jeff Zucker, the president of the NBC Universal TV group told a TV-critic convention recently.
Sure, there’s some value to viewers, who may have missed one of their favorite shows. But there’s even more value in the twice-a-week concept for the networks, who, as part of giant media conglomerates that demand high profit margins, are pinching pennies wherever they can.
Sunday
ABC
6:00: AMERICA’S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS (SEPT. 26)
7:00: EXTREME MAKEOVER: THE HOME EDITION (SEPT. 26)
8:00: DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (OCT. 3)
9:00: BOSTON LEGAL (OCT. 3)
CBS
6:00: 60 MINUTES (SEPT. 26)
7:00: COLD CASE (OCT. 3)
8:00: CBS SUNDAY NIGHT MOVIE (SEPT. 26)
NBC
6:00: DATELINE NBC
7:00: AMERICAN DREAMS (SEPT. 26)
8:00: LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT (SEPT. 26)
9:00: CROSSING JORDAN (SEPT. 26)
FOX
6:00: KING OF THE HILL (NOV. 7)
6:30: MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE (NOV. 7)
7:00: THE SIMPSONS (NOV. 7)
7:30: ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT (NOV. 7)
8:00: THE PARTNER (NOV. 7)
9:00: LOCAL PROGRAMS
WB
6:00: STEVE HARVEY’S BIG TIME (SEPT. 12)
7:00: CHARMED (SEPT. 12)
8:00: JACK & BOBBY (SEPT. 12)
9:00: LOCAL PROGRAMS
The objects of interest here are “Arrested Development,” Fox’s ongoing, Emmy-nominated and critically admired comedy struggling to find an audience, and the fate of “Desperate Housewives,” an hour-long stylistic novelty some consider a bold new ABC long shot.
NEW DRAMAS
“DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES”: Desperation can breed inspiration. One of the more provocative and original new shows of the year, this ABC comic soap opera bristles with the sardonic disdain of suburbia found in the movie “American Beauty.” But women viewers may find it offensive to wives, mothers, suburbanites and feminists alike. Definitely stay tuned.
“JACK AND BOBBY”: A sturdy, heart-warming and traditional family melodrama, this WB entry comes with a timely twist. It tells of two contemporary high school teenagers, one of whom will grow up to be president sometime in the 2040s. Talking heads from the future offer truly postmodern commentary, and while it sounds like hokum, the pilot boasts excellent writing, Christine Lahti leads an outstanding cast and the backstage brains include Greg Berlanti (“Dawson’s Creek,” “Everwood”) and Thomas Schlamme (“The West Wing”).
NEW UNSCRIPTED
“THE PARTNER”: A stepchild of “The Apprentice,” this Fox reality contest pits blueblood Ivy League law graduates against street-smart lawyers in weekly simulated trials based on actual cases, judged by a jury they selected. Then, the losers go on trial, defending their botched case before a “celebrity” judge.
