TV Eye
New Fall Season
By Belinda Acosta, Fri., May 25, 2001
Monday
ABC: Who Wants To Be a Millionaire (7pm), Monday Night Football (8pm)
CBS: King of Queens (7pm), Yes Dear (7:30pm), Everybody Loves Raymond (8pm),
Becker (8:30pm), Family Law (9pm)
Fox: Boston Public (7pm), Ally McBeal (8pm)
NBC: The Weakest Link(7pm), Third Watch (8pm), Crossing Jordan (9pm)
UPN: The Hughleys (7pm), One on One (7:30pm), The Parkers (8pm), Girlfriends (8:30pm)
WB: 7th Heaven (7pm), Angel (8pm)
The network offerings couldn't be more different, with the dogfight at the 8pm time slot, where returning favorites Everybody Loves Raymond, Ally McBeal, Third Watch, and Angel (in its new time slot, strangely paired with the sickly sweet 7th Heaven) compete for Nielsen ratings.
Tuesday
ABC: Dharma & Greg (7pm), What About Joan (7:30pm), Bob Patterson (8pm), The Job (8:30pm), Philly (9pm)
CBS: JAG (7pm), The Guardian (8pm), Judging Amy (9pm)
Fox: That 70s Show (7pm), Undeclared (7:30pm), 24 (8pm)
NBC: Emeril (7pm), Three Sisters (7:30pm), Frasier (8pm), Scrubs (8:30pm), Dateline (9pm)
UPN: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (7pm), Roswell (8pm)
WB: Gilmore Girls (7pm), Smallville (8pm)
Good news for Gilmore Girls. It picked up some prime real estate, moving into the Buffy slot vacated when the show moved to UPN. Bob Patterson, starring Seinfeld alum Jason Alexander, has promise even if memories of that unfortunate Michael Richards vehicle are still painfully fresh.
Wednesday
ABC: My Wife and Kids (7pm), The Dad (7:30pm), The Drew Carey Show (8pm), Spin City (8:30pm), NYPD Blue (9pm, till December when 20/20 takes the time slot).
CBS: 60 Minutes II (7pm), The Amazing Race (8pm), Wolf Lake (9pm)
Fox: Alternating reruns of The Simpsons, Malcolm in the Middle, and That 70s Show (7pm), Grounded for Life (7:30pm), Titus (8pm), The Bernie Mac Show (8:30pm)
NBC: Ed (7pm), The West Wing (8pm), Law & Order (9pm)
UPN: Enterprise (7pm), Special Unit 2 (8pm)
WB: Dawson's Creek (7pm), Felicity (8pm, Glory's Days will take over the time slot at the beginning of 2002).
This looks like an evening to set up the VCR or buy yourself a Tivo. NBC has their new "must-see TV" night, with two power hours from 7-9. At 9pm, there's NYPD Blue or Law & Order. Take your pick. For Trekkies, there's Enterprise, the prequel to the original Star Trek starring Scott Bakula as Captain Jonathan Archer.
Thursday
ABC: Whose Line Is It Anyway? (7pm), Who Wants To Be a Millionaire (8pm), Primetime Live (9pm)
CBS: Survivor III (7pm), CSI (8pm), The Agency (9pm)
Fox: The Family Guy (7pm), The Tick (7:30pm), Temptation Island 2 (8pm)
NBC: Friends (7pm), Inside Schwartz (7:30pm), Will & Grace (8pm), Just Shoot Me (8:30pm), ER (9pm)
UPN: WWF Smackdown! (7pm)
WB: Popstars (7pm), Elimidatedeluxe (7:30pm), Charmed (8pm)
Survivor rules the 7pm time slot, but NBC picks up speed again at 8pm with Will & Grace, Just Shoot Me, and ER going up against a slate of unknowns -- except Charmed, which really can't hold a candle to W&G.
Friday
ABC: The Mole (7pm), Alias (8pm), Once & Again (9pm)
CBS: The Ellen Show (7pm), American Wreck (7:30pm), That's Life (8pm), 48 Hours (9pm)
Fox: Dark Angel (7pm), Pasadena (8pm)
NBC: Providence (7pm), Dateline (8pm), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (9pm)
UPN: Movie (7pm)
WB: Sabrina the Teenage Witch (7pm), Maybe I'm Adopted (7:30pm), Deep in the Heart (8pm), Raising Dad (8:30pm)
Ellen Degeneres on CBS? Pinch me.
Saturday
ABC: Movie
CBS: Touched by an Angel (7pm), Citizen Baines (8pm), The District (9pm)
Fox: COPS (7pm), America's Most Wanted (8pm), Mad TV (10pm)
NBC: Movie
Sunday
ABC: Wonderful World of Disney (7pm), The Practice (9pm) (midseason: The Court, The Web, HMO)
CBS: 60 Minutes (6pm), The Education of Max Bickford (7pm), First Monday (8pm, midseason; otherwise a movie feature).
Fox: Futurama (6pm), King of the Hill (6:30pm), The Simpsons (7pm), Malcolm in the Middle (7:30pm), The X-Files (8pm) (midseason: Andy Richter Controls the Universe)
NBC: Dateline (6pm), The Weakest Link (7pm), Law & Order: Criminal Intent (8pm), UC: Undercover (9pm) (midseason: Leap of Faith, What Are You Thinking?, Untitled Julia Louis-Dreyfus Show)
WB: Lost in the USA & No Boundaries (7pm), The Steve Harvey Show (8pm), Men, Women, and Dogs (8:30pm), Nikki (9pm), Off Centre (9:30pm)
UT alum and recent Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden stars in Max Bickford, a drama that centers on Richard Dreyfuss.
Bon Voyager
The Alamo Drafthouse has stepped forward to host a viewing party of the Star Trek: Voyager series finale "Endgame" on Saturday, June 2, 4pm. As Trekkie fans know, watching the final Voyager season has been a challenge since UPN left town. Admission is free.
Add to the disgruntled viewers list Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Roswell fans -- both shows were dumped by WB but picked up by UPN for next season. These fans are e-mailing me, asking if UPN will come back to town. To answer that question, I offer this "official comment" from the network, courtesy of Melissa Burton in the UPN publicity department:
"We are working diligently with all parties concerned to ensure that virtually everyone that was able to watch Buffy previously will be able to continue to watch the series when it moves to its new home on UPN."
As always, stay tuned.
E-mail Belinda Acosta at [email protected]
