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One year ago I spent the entire upfronts week feverishly clicking my refresh button looking for the latest information on the coming fall television season. What a difference a year makes. After the 100-day writer’s strike left most of the network’s schedules flopping on the dock like a hooked but forgotten flounder, no one (not the advertisers, not the networks, and certainly not the audience) seems particularly thrilled about the network announcements (or lack of announcements) for their future plans. This week is, after all, FOR the advertisers, and since network television is no longer viewed as being all that lucrative those advertising dollars are looking for something more than the typical slate of potential prime-time disasters. Take ABC, for example. The network plans on adding a whopping TWO new programs to its fall prime-time line-up, choosing instead to bring back almost all of it’s fall ‘08 slate (minus, Carpoolers, Cavemen and October Road). But who cares, especially this early in the process? More after the jump…

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I don’t think we need to pretend that any of the readers of this website actually care about what The CW is planning on doing this fall, with a few notable exceptions. Because of this, I’m going to forego the usual massive breakdown of the networks proposed lineup complete with sociological analysis, opinions and recipes. In this case it just seems like overkill.

When the network launched last fall I was a strong supporter as it meant the two relatively insignificant networks (The WB and UPN) could pool together their best shows and really make a run at those younger viewers and present themselves as a sreious contender. Nine months later, The CW has proven to be a bust, and may have sunk shows that otherwise might have had a little more life. Now that they’ve presented their first original schedule (not comprised of the syphoning of two previously established networks) we can see exactly the type of network The CW has become: the broadcast version of MTV — which sounds like a compliment until you remember what it’s actually like to watch MTV. A brief runthrough of what’s important after the jump…

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About a week ago, I went on a rant about the depressing nature of the CBS network. For a company so comfortable in first place, it seemed to refuse any risk-taking whatsoever. This was, of course, especially true as rumors about the cancellation of How I Met Your Mother began to circulate. Well here we are a short time later, HIMYM is safe and CBS’s fall schedule adds the most ambitious (if smallest number of) new shows of any network.

While I wouldn’t by any means say I’m going to become a regular viewer of CBS programming come the fall (look, I don’t like police procedurals), I’ll certainly be checking out more of their new programming than the other guys. Why? Because they took some risks and that’s about all you can (or should) ask from broadcast television. I have the CBS vitals after this break…

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ABC is a funny network. In the early 90s it was the epicenter of the lousy-but-popular sitcom boom. NBC eventually edged it out with quality, but that period of time after The Cosby Show lost relevance and before Seinfeld and Friends exploded, ABC is what people watched when they wanted to laugh. Home Improvement was the Emmy favorite (as well as a favorite in the Pecoraro household), but as an 11 year old in 1991, it seemed that TGIF and its crop of non-threatening family comedies was all anyone ever talked about (I ran with a pretty hip crowd).

Those years are obviously long gone. Audiences want drama instead of comedy on their television sets, which is why I wasn’t shocked yesterday when NBC announced only one new comedy was being greenlit (as of now it doesn’t even have a home on the network). ABC seems to be holding out hope that audiences will eventually want to laugh again, explaining why the network has picked up four new comedies (of course it only renewed one of its existing crop, and no, it wasn’t According to Jim). The full breakdown is available after the jump…

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I can’t say for certain if this is one-hundred percent true, but it seems that in the history of modern television slow and steady has never won the race. This automatically makes me respect NBC a little more than the other networks. For a place that refused to believe television would ever change, they’ve certainly done a good job of transforming themselves into a home for innovative programming and as an alternate to cable over these past two seasons. If only audiences were actually watching. The FULL rundown of NBC’s 2007 fall lineup after the break…

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Last but not least, in the “what’s new this fall” category comes from the new UPN/WB merger, “The CW.”  Also, I may begin referring to this channel as C-Dubs, so please don’t be caught off guard.

There are only two new series planned so far for C-Dubs, which isn’t much of a surprise as the biggest part of this experiment is what kind of ratings the network’s existing shows can bring in without the unneeded competition from  another network going after the exact same audience.  So a lot of what you’ll see on this network will be familiar faces (or at least recognizable) from years past.  Veronica Mars, Gilmore Girls, Everybody Hates Chris, Smallville– all made the cut.  But more on those later.  Let’s check out the new shows after the jump…

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Yay, more upfronts!  Does the fun ever start?!  FOX this season seems to be playing with a familiar gameplan. The will air a handful of popular shows through out the fall and just coast until American Idol comes back in January, where they will then rule the ratings.  Throw into the mix five or so new dramas and a couple comedies that will surely be jerked around for months before being yanked off the air and there you have it.  Follow the bouncing link for the new series…

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Number one, baby!  Number one!!  No body messes with the boss, you hear me?  No one.  Not even CBS development vice presidents, apparently.  The network unveiled its fall lineup this morning (Wha-whaaa?!) and upon first glance, it looks awfully close to their current line-up.  This is the case because whatever it is the network is doing right now (CSI-Survivor-Two-and-a-Half-Men), it’s working so well they don’t feel the need to alter it in the slightest.  Though there will be a few add-ons.  Perhaps you’d like to click below to hear about these titles…

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First of all, what the hell is “MyNetwork” suppose to be?  The short answer is it’s the new UPN.  The long answer is that since The WB and UPN merged, half of those existing stations in America will be without an affiliate.  MyNetwork is essentially a start-up network that will be in place on all of the former UPN channels that are owned by FOX.  Like The CW, they’ll be launching in the fall.  Unlike The CW, their programming is going to be very telenovela heavy, which means it’s going to be featuring a few prime-time soaps that run five nights a week for limited runs.  Click below to see what they’re about…

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It’s gonna be a busy week for those who enjoy getting all worked up over shows that will likely be on the air for 2 weeks this fall. Yesterday NBC unveiled an impressive (and small) list of their fall hope-to-bes. Today came ABC whose list is extensive, if boring. As a network they’re in the strangest position as they have the top three dramas on television (and when American Idol is not on it translates to the top 3 spots in the ratings) in Lost, Desperate Housewives and Grey’s Anatomy. Unfortunetly for them, the rest of their lineup is a complete mess– especially on the comedy front. Click below for ABC’s announced series…

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Each spring the networks hold their upfront meetings with the advertisers.  Here they present their fall schedule and put on a sometimes literal song and dance in hopes of getting the most “upfront” ad dollars.  NBC came out of the gate first with a list of their new shows.  History has shown that most of these shows, if not all of them, won’t make it to the end of next season.  Though the past year has mixed up the landscape and it appears “newish” ideas seem to be thriving– unless you’re trying to make a comedy.  No one seems to want to touch those with a ten foot pole (a twenty foot pole?).  Check out the list by clicking below…

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