TV'S MVPs TO THE RESCUE

I love to see the pieces of the scheduling puzzle being used proactively.  Here’s a situation that’s nothing new: networks, faced with staggering competition, have relied on their big guns to help boost other shows.  CBS has regularly used reruns of hits “The Big Bang Theory” and “Young Sheldon” on Monday nights to help its newer comedies, while ABC recently scheduled “Modern Family” on Tuesdays at 9:30 as a bridge between “Black-ish” and the new “Kevin (Probably) Saves the World.”  This triage certainly makes sense considering the power of these hits that still reach audiences most broadcast shows still don’t.  In the case of “Big Bang,” the network has ordered three runs of each episode which gives them many leftovers to use from the previous season.  I would say that even if there weren’t so many episodes on the shelf, this is the time to use them.  There would be more upside now even if there weren’t reruns left for the late summer weeks.   These hits are among the few shows that do perform in the summer, but in-season needs the assist now more than ever.

As mentioned, this is nothing new, but remains deft strategizing to watch.  Regularly, networks “encore” series in the same week usually during the first weeks of a new series, or to plug holes in the lower-watched Friday and Saturday nights.  Fox is doing this with “9-1-1” and “X-Files” on Fridays and The CW is running the “Black Lightning” pilot again three days after its premiere.  CBS has had a long practice of putting series favorites on their “Crimetime Saturday” line-up.  Networks pay for two runs of these shows (sometimes three) so you’ll see Fox air primetime series like “Hell’s Kitchen” in Saturday late night or NBC using “Will & Grace” encores on Saturdays at 8 to lead into “Superstore” on the east coast and to allow an 8:30 start for “Saturday Night Live” on the west coast.  Likewise, “Saturday Night Live” has been coming to the rescue with primetime repeats going back to the late 70s.  The other painful truth is that if these hits don’t help the new shows, they will likely still be the face of the networks in years to come. 

Over the years, the hits have been called in to replace the quickly cancelled.   Back in 1998 during the final weeks of “Seinfeld,” NBC used third-runs of episodes on Wednesdays at 8:30 to bridge fellow sitcoms “NewsRadio” and “3^rd Rock from the Sun.”  The dear, departed WB Network branded first-season repeats in a regular Sunday slot as “Beginnings” when they aired “7^th Heaven,” “Gilmore Girls” and “Smallville,” among others.  See your favorites from the beginning!  This was being done long before early series episodes were made available online.

Years ago, weaker shows would be yanked for sweeps periods.  It wasn’t always fair to the 8:30 shows on Must See TV but added “Friends” repeats were evergreens.  Often, the new shows had already failed to benefit from their lead-ins and were on life support, anyway.

The exciting thing is to see new hits that become viable pieces on other nights of the schedule.  “The Good Doctor,” “S.W.A.T.” and “SEAL Team” are not only showing up on special nights for additional exposure, they are also helping other nights.  “Young Sheldon” recently had a three-episode binge on a Monday night.

Where do schedules go from here?  It will be interesting to see the impact of the “Roseanne” reboot leading off Tuesday nights into the final season of “The Middle.”  Both shows could be used to fortify other nights with encores.  “The Simpsons” and “Family Guy” repeats could augment weeknights where they rarely visit outside of Sunday night.   As broadcast networks pick up fewer shows and rely on returning favorites, we may see a lot more familiar faces multiple nights a week.