The past several days have seen several big renewals for freshmen series. TNT is dipping back for ten more episodes of Men of a Certain Age, while ABC is happy enough with their Wednesday comedy lineup, they've renewed all three of them. CBS just gave the nod to newcomers NCIS: LA and The Good Wife.
Men of a Certain Age has quickly become one of my favorite shows, and has a nice average of 4.4 million viewers every week, according to Zap2It. It's the authenticity of the characters and their situations that really resonated with me, even though I'm not yet a man of that particular certain age. Even better, TNT is hoping to have the new episodes on the air before 2010 closes out.
ABC took a huge risk with a lineup of four new comedies in a row, but right away you could tell that three of them had the potential to be something special. Cougar Town had to stop focusing so much on Courteney Cox and allow the ensemble to carry the show, and now it's firing on all cylinders. Modern Family, the darling of the new season, had no such problems. It's been amazing from the beginning.
The Middle is that little show that could. It's not talked about much, and it had no real lead-in, because I'm going to pretend that Kelsey Grammer's Hank never even existed, so the fact that it's been so good and managed to find an audience is spectacular. If only they could get a good lead for the night. If CBS decides to drop The New Adventures of Old Christine, which is a real possibility, I wonder if there's any way ABC could grab it. That's what I use for my lead-in on the night. It's already on at 8 PM ET Wednesdays. Why not have it slide on over and join the other dysfunctional family comedies.
While ABC was picking up Wednesdays nights, CBS was renewing Tuesdays. NCIS: LA roared out of the gate, becoming the number one new show of the season with a whopping 16.8 million viewer average so far, according to Zap2It. Nobody does procedurals like CBS, and the power of the JAG spin-off NCIS franchise has even eclipsed the CSI juggernaut this season.
Julianna Margulies headlines The Good Wife, a legal procedural for the network that also features an underlying thread exploring political infidelity. Margulies is very strong in the lead role, and solid cases and the intrigue behind her husband's incarceration keep things moving along nicely. The show is a steady winner in its 10 PM ET Tuesday night time slot.
What other new shows are you looking for renewals from?
