With the broadcast season now at roughly a halfway mark — one sweeps period down, the fall lineups pretty much established — it seems an appropriate time for an progress report on the year thus far in TV. With A being perfect and F being absolutely worthless, we gave no one an absolute in either category.
CBS
Overall grade: A -
New shows: B
Returning shows: B +
CBS comes closest of any broadcasting network to operating the way TV did for decades, seeking wide audiences for almost all its programs and eschewing (within some limits) the contemporary approach that emphasizes demographics over everything else. They've gotten big boosts from veteran shows like The Good Wife (up 12 percent) and Mom (up a stunning 34 percent) and even a slate of mostly awful Thursday night NFL games provided a ratings bonanza. Blue Bloods is now a reliable Top 10-20 show, and even Hawaii Five-O has a solid fan base (although those of us who loved the original still have a hard time with the 21st century version).
The temporary move of The Big Bang Theory to Mondays for two months gave Scorpion enough of a lead-in cushion to become a hit on its own, and NCIS: New Orleans quickly established itself as a popular drama almost as formidable as the original NCIS, still a huge draw. No one thinks anything happening on Madame Secretary remotely approaches reality, but it's thus far proven a solid Sunday-night attraction, able to at least breathe the same air in the Nielsens as pro football.
They're also smart enough to realize the time has come to pull the plug on veteran programs like Two and a Half Men (woeful in its final incarnation) and The Mentalist (no story left to tell with "Red John" gone). Even shows that are fading — like NCIS: Los Angeles, down 26 percent but still up 69 percent over previous time-slot occupant Hostages — seem to be working.
Folks never tire of Criminal Minds, but Stalker has proven a creepier and far less appealing clone that doesn't seem fated to get a second season. The magic seems gone for multi-Emmy winner The Amazing Race (down 24 percent), while CSI may have finally run its course and Survivor shows signs of age. Also fans don't seem thrilled with the new turn taken by Elementary (down 21 percent).
NBC
Overall grade: B -
New shows: C +
Sunday Night Football and The Voice obscure a lot of sins for NBC, and they're the reason they remain atop the 18-49 ratings race. The big surprise remains Law & Order: SVU, up a surprising 19 percent and now looking as though it may approach the 20-year mark of predecessor Law & Order. Critics absolutely loathe Dick Wolf's other two entries Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D., but they keep humming along. While not sure why they keep playing games with The Blacklist, thus far audiences haven't deserted it. Grimm's one of those shows that get just enough following to remain viable, never becoming a huge hit but doing better than cult-favorite status.
On the downside, last year's critical darling About a Boy has lost nearly half its audience (a 40 percent dip). The comic-book faithful haven't been kind to Constantine, and both drama fans and mystery/espionage audiences are horrified by what they've seen thus far of The Mysteries of Laura and State of Affairs. Safe to say neither Debra Messing or Katherine Heigl will be buying TV critics any dinners soon. Did anybody ever watch Bad Judge?
Shows like The Biggest Loser, Last Comic Standing and The Voice mostly concern themselves with online buzz and celebrity-reporting fodder, and are doing as expected.
ABC
Overall grade: C
New shows: B -
Shonda Rhimes doesn't own ABC yet, but they might want to give her an even bigger chunk. Thanks to the enormous out-of-the gate success enjoyed by How To Get Away With Murder, and the continuing buzz generated by Scandal and even old warhorse Grey's Anatomy, ABC remains highly competitive on broadcast television's biggest night, Thursday. Dancing With The Stars is showing signs of fading but is still a draw, and the marriage annals on Castle kept it riding high. For reasons unclear to me, lots of folks love The Goldbergs (up 27 percent).
Black-ish is the hot new comedy, though it's taken some online hits from the left among black intellectuals and critics. Modern Family and The Middle remain solid. But the news is bad for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (down 27 percent despite improved marks from comic-book/sci-fi fans) and potentially fatal for last season's late surprise Resurrection (down a stunning 44 percent). Selfie has already been deleted.
Fox
Overall grade: C-
New shows: C-
It's been pretty much a disaster at Fox except for Sunday nights. Moving Golden Globe winner Brooklyn Nine-Nine over has led to an incremental increase (7 percent), but amazingly The Simpsons (a show that will seemingly live forever) is up 16 percent and Family Guy is doing even better (up 22 percent). Gotham has soared to the forefront as a superbly acted prequel, even if many weeks the villains are more interesting and entertaining than the heroes.
That's the good news. Sleepy Hollow was a sensation last year; this season it's just been asleep (down 27 percent). New Girl has never been an audience draw and continues to decline (down 26 percent). Someone running the network loves The Mindy Project, but they may be the only person watching it. Bones is getting decent enough ratings for a Friday night show. Maybe someone else can name another new Fox show that's a hit. I sure can't. Utopia got a ton of hype, as did The Red Band Society. The former is gone, the latter soon will join it, and Mulaney seems destined for oblivion.
The World Series did them no favors in terms of audience share (great if you loved the sport though). College football on Saturday nights hasn't given Fox what the NFL does for NBC on Sundays either. No one anticipates American Idol can ride in and save the day anymore. Now the hope is just that it can hold its own. Likewise So You Think You Can Dance.
The CW
Overall grade: D +
New shows: B
Ratings have never been the real measuring stick for this network — in large part because they never get any, but also because the audience they're seeking (even younger than the 18-49 demographic) is much harder to ascertain. Online buzz, mobile chatter, gear sales, etc. are what's monitored more on that outlet, but by any standard The Flash has been a mega-success. It and Jane the Virgin are responsible for the high mark in terms of new programs.
The Flash's recent crossover episode with Arrow boosted both programs, and it's much lighter and faster-paced than expected. Jane the Virgin isn't geting big numbers, but creatively it has more than lived up to the hype, and it's been a boost for both Latinos and the cause of programming diversity in general.
Arrow and Supernatural continue to be the engines driving the CW. Vampire Diaries and The Originals are both plummeting (down 27 and 32 percent respectively). Why Beauty and the Beast remains on the air with ratings approaching those for test patterns is anybody's guess. Other CW shows such as The 100, Reign, Hart of Dixie and the revamped Whose Line Is It Anyway? have their fans, though not many. America's Top Model continues to do what it's supposed to do: fuel the Twitter and tabloid jets.
R.I.P.
James Garner, Jan Hooks, Joan Rivers, Robin Williams, Sid Caesar, David Brenner, Ann B. Davis, Meshach Taylor, Don Pardo, Marcia Strassman
Reputation death
Bill Cosby.
