Fall 2008 Schedule Grid

Know the drill? Jump to the Grid: Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | Midseason | Not Returning

Each Spring, the networks announce their Fall schedules at an event known as the Upfronts; they present information about new and returning series to advertisers in order to sell ads for the coming TV season. Since at least 1999, I’ve put together the new Fall Schedule in Grid format as the networks make their announcements at the Upfronts.

NBC: Press Release | Fall Preview
ABC: Press Release (Word doc) | Press Release (PDF) | Upfront 2008 | Fall Schedule (PDF)
- ABC Video (check out the 5/13 episode of ABC.com Start Now for clips of new shows and a neat montage of current shows)
The CW: Press Release | Fall Preview
CBS: Press Release | Fall Preview (includes video of new shows)
FOX: Press Release | Fall Preview | Future on FOX Blog

Midseason series are listed after the schedule grids; I also list which shows from last season are not returning further on down this page. If you don’t see a show on the grid, don’t panic– they may be holding it for midseason (a.k.a. January) as, for instance, ABC is doing with Lost.

By default, the time is set for the Central timezone, but you can use the gizmo in the sidebar to change the timezone to Eastern (which is what most people are used to). You’ll need to have Javascript enabled for the script to work.

When you see "(info)" after the name of a new show, you can click on "info" to go to an official page on the network website about the show. Premiere dates are listed in parenthesis after the name of the show; not many are known at this point, I’ll add the dates as they’re announced.

The focus of this grid is primetime broadcast network programming, but (since so many of you asked for it) I will be adding some cable programming to the grid. Keep in mind that most cable series air in shorter seasons that don’t really coincide with the seasons that air on the broadcast networks– so lots of cable shows aren’t listed here because they don’t debut in the fall, but aired during the summer or will air in the winter.

The networks usually make some changes to the schedule before the season actually starts. I’ll be updating the grid with any changes during the summer and also document what changes were made after the original announcements.

Key
New series Returning series in new timeslot Returning Series in same timeslot  

Monday

Mon 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30
ABC Dancing with the Stars Samantha Who? Boston Legal
CBS The Big Bang Theory How I Met Your Mother Two and a Half Men Worst Week (info) CSI: Miami
NBC Chuck Heroes My Own Worst Enemy (info)
FOX Sarah Connor Chronicles Prison Break (8/25) Local Programming
CW Gossip Girl One Tree Hill
ESPN Monday Night Football
Notes:

ABC: After Dancing with the Stars finishes their season, the untitled project from Ashton Kutcher and Tyra Banks (info) will take over the 7pm - 8:30pm timeslot. ABC says that this will be the final season for Boston Legal; after Boston Legal finishes a 13 episode season, The Bachelor will take over that timeslot.

FOX: At midseason, Dollhouse (info) will take over the 7pm timeslot from Sarah Connor Chronicles; 24 will take over the 8pm timeslot from Prison Break.

NBC plans to put the new show The Philanthropist (info) on at 9pm (taking over the timeslot from My Own Worst Enemy) starting sometime during the winter.

Tuesday

Tue 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30
ABC Opportunity Knocks (info) Dancing with the Stars Eli Stone
CBS NCIS The Mentalist (info) Without A Trace
NBC The Biggest Loser Kath & Kim (info) Law & Order: SVU
FOX House Fringe (info) (8/26) Local Programming
CW 90210 (info) Surviving the Filthy Rich (info)
Notes:

ABC: After Dancing with the Stars finishes their Fall season, Scrubs will move into the 8pm timeslot and new series The Goode Family (info) will air at 8:30pm.

FOX: At Midseason/Winter, American Idol will take over the 7pm timeslot from House.

Wednesday

Wed 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30
ABC Pushing Daisies Private Practice Dirty Sexy Money
CBS New Adventures of Old Christine Project Gary (info) Criminal Minds CSI: NY
NBC Knight Rider (info) Deal or No Deal Lipstick Jungle
FOX Bones (8/27) ‘Til Death Do Not Disturb (info) Local Programming
CW America’s Next Top Model Stylista (info)
Notes:

FOX: At midseason, House will take over the 7pm timeslot from Bones and American Idol will air at 8pm.

NBC: Law & Order is scheduled to take over the 9pm timeslot from Lipstick Jungle at some point during the winter.

 

I’ve spent a lot of time putting together this grid and the many pages at TVPicks.net (including TV picks since March 1999 and Fall Grids since at least 2000). If you find any of this stuff helpful, please consider showing your gratitude with a donation or gift (emails are always appreciated as well). Thanks!

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Thursday

Thu 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30
ABC Ugly Betty Grey’s Anatomy Life on Mars (info)
CBS Survivor CSI Eleventh Hour (info)
NBC My Name Is Earl 30 Rock The Office ER
FOX The Moment of Truth Kitchen Nightmares Local Programming
CW Smallville Supernatural
Notes:

ABC: Lost will probably air on Thursday nights at 9pm when it returns at midseason, but ABC isn’t saying for sure where it’ll land, just that it will return in January.

FOX: At midseason, Hell’s Kitchen will take over the 7pm timeslot from The Moment of Truth; Secret Millionaire will take over the 8pm timeslot from Kitchen Nightmares.

NBC: The Office will air hour-long episodes at the beginning of the Fall season; in October a special Thursday night edition of Saturday Night Live (info) will take over the 8pm timeslot with election coverage. After the election, The Office will return. An (untitled so far) spin-off of The Office (info) will follow it at 8:30pm starting this winter. Also this winter, The Celebrity Apprentice will take over the 9pm timeslot for a while.

Friday

Fri 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30
ABC Wife Swap Supernanny 20/20
CBS Ghost Whisperer The Ex List (info) Numb3rs
NBC Crusoe (info) Deal or No Deal Life
FOX Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? (8/29) Don’t Forget the Lyrics! Local Programming
CW Everybody Hates Chris The Game America’s Next Top Model (Encore)
Notes:

FOX: At midseason, Bones will move to the 7pm Friday timeslot; ‘Til Death will move to 8pm Fridays and Do Not Disturb (info) will move to 8:30pm Friday.

NBC: This winter, Deal or No Deal will move from 8pm back to 7pm (taking over the timeslot from Crusoe) and Friday Night Lights will air at 8pm.

Saturday

Sat 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30
ABC Saturday Night College Football
CBS Crimetime Saturday (Reruns of Crime shows) Crimetime Saturday 48 Hours Mystery
NBC Dateline NBC Knight Rider Law & Order: SVU
FOX Cops Cops America’s Most Wanted Local Programming
Notes:

FOX Late Night: Mad TV (10pm) and TALKSHOW with Spike Feresten (11pm) will continue.

NBC Late Night: Saturday Night Live will continue on in the same timeslot it’s had for years.

When you’re done checking out the grid, you might want to go check out my TV picks for tonight. I’ve been posting TV picks most days since March of 1999. Stop by daily if you like what you see or subscribe via feed or email. Or you can read the picks on your Livejournal Friends List or be notified of when I update the picks via Twitter.

Sunday

Sun 7:00 7:30 8:00 8:30 9:00 9:30
ABC Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Desperate Housewives Brothers & Sisters
CBS The Amazing Race Cold Case The Unit
NBC NBC Sunday Night Football (9/4 and 9/7)
FOX The Simpsons King of the Hill Family Guy American Dad Local Programming
CW Programming in Partnership with Media Rights Capital (TBA)
We   Bridezillas Girl Meets Cowboy (Oct 14)
Notes:

FOX: At Midseason, the new show Sit Down, Shut Up (info) will take over the 7:30pm timeslot from King of the Hill. Another new show called The Cleveland Show (info) will take over the 8:30pm timeslot from American Dad.

In the winter, once the NFL season is over, NBC will air the following shows on Sunday nights: Dateline NBC at 6pm, new series Merlin (info) at 7pm, fabulous returning drama Medium at 8pm, and the new series Kings (info) at 9pm.

Grid for the 6pm hour and earlier times is below:

Sun 4:00 4:30 5:00 5:30 6:00 6:30
ABC America’s Funniest Home Videos
CBS 60 Minutes
NBC Football Night in America (9/7)
FOX   The O.T. (NFL games/coverage)
CW    
Notes:

NBC: Once football season is over, Dateline NBC will take over the 6pm timeslot.

Didn’t see a show on the grid? It may be returning at midseason or may not be returning at all. Keep on reading for the lists of midseason shows and canceled series.

Returning or Premiering at Midseason

Some midseason series may never air, others may take to the airwaves early, others may not air ’til after what is traditionally considered midseason. "Midseason" has usually meant January or sometime around then. I’ve listed probable timeslots where known. It’s all very subject to change.

"Alternative Series" seems to be code for reality shows, game shows, and shows that involve competitions of some sort. Or pretty much anything that’s not a drama, comedy, or some mix of both.

If a show isn’t on the grid and isn’t listed as for midseason, it’s probably dead– scroll on down the page to find out.

Midseason Series
New Comedies: The Cleveland Show (FOX) (info) (Sundays at 8:30pm)
The Goode Family (ABC) (info) (Tuesdays at 8:30pm)
Lie To Me (FOX) (info)
Man of Your Dreams (NBC) (info)
The Office Spin-Off (NBC) (info)
Outnumbered (FOX) (info)
Sit Down, Shut Up (FOX) (info) (Sundays at 7:30pm)
Zip (NBC) (info)
New Drama:

Blue Blood (NBC) (info)
Courtroom K (FOX) (info)
Dollhouse (FOX) (info) (Mondays at 7pm)
Harper’s Island (CBS) (info)
Kings (NBC) (info)
The Listener (NBC) (info)
Merlin (NBC) (info)
The Philanthropist (NBC) (info)

New Alternative: America’s Toughest Jobs (NBC) (info)
Chopping Block (NBC) (info)
Salvage (NBC) (info)
Secret Millionaire (FOX) (info) (Thursdays at 8pm)
Shark Taggers (NBC) (info)
Swords: Lives on the Line (NBC) (info)
Top Gear (NBC) (info)
Untitled Ashton Kutcher/Tyra Banks Project (ABC) (info) (Mondays at 7pm)
Who Do You Think You Are? (NBC) (info)
Returning Series:

24 (FOX) (Mondays at 8pm)
According to Jim (ABC)
American Idol (FOX) (Tuesdays at 7pm, Wednesdays at 8pm)
The Bachelor (ABC) (Tuesdays at 9pm)
The Celebrity Apprentice (NBC)
Dance War (ABC) (might return, might not; ABC isn’t sure yet)
Hell’s Kitchen (FOX) (Thursdays at 7pm)
Here Come the Newlyweds (ABC) (might return)
Heroes (NBC)
Lost (ABC) (Thursdays at 9pm)
Primetime: What Would You Do? (ABC)
Reaper (the CW)
Rules of Engagement (CBS)
Scrubs (ABC) (used to air on NBC) (info) (Tuesdays at 8pm)

ABC didn’t have a very long list of new shows at all for Fall or Midseason, but did name 20 shows that are in development so surely some of them will reach the airwaves during the season. I’ve listed those below.

Possible Midseason Series
Comedies
in Development:

Bad Mother’s Handbook (ABC)
Five Year Plan (ABC)
Never Better (ABC)
Roman’s Empire (ABC)
This Might Hurt (ABC)
FourPlay (ABC)
Single with Parents (ABC)
In the Motherhood (ABC) (info)

Dramas

in Development:
Captain Cook’s Extraordinary Atlas (ABC)
Castle (ABC)
Cupid (ABC)
Finnegan (ABC)
Good Behavior (ABC)
Prince of Motor City (ABC)
Untitled David Hemingson Project (ABC)
The Unusuals (ABC)
Section 8 (ABC)

Not Returning at All

These are shows which aren’t listed on the Fall schedule and aren’t scheduled to return at midseason or any other time. In some cases they were canceled or just came to an end, in other cases we only know of their demise because they aren’t mentioned in the announcements of the new schedules.

If you don’t see a show on the grid or on this list, it’s possible I overlooked it, but it’s more likely that the show’s network hasn’t made their Upfront announcement yet or the show’s fate is otherwise yet To Be Determined.

Not Returning
1 vs. 100 (NBC)
Aliens in America (CW)
Amne$ia (NBC)
Beauty and the Geek (CW)
Big Shots (ABC)
Bionic Woman (NBC)
Cane (CBS)
Canterbury’s Law (FOX)
Carpoolers (ABC)
Cashmere Mafia (ABC)
Cavemen (ABC)
Clash of the Choirs (NBC)
Crowned: The Mother of All Pageants (CW)
CW Now (CW)
Girlfriends (CW)
Jericho (CBS)
Journeyman (NBC)
Kid Nation (CBS)
K-Ville (FOX)
Las Vegas (NBC)
Life is Wild (CW)
Men in Trees (ABC)
Miss/Guided (ABC)
Moonlight (CBS)
My Dad is Better Than Your Dad (NBC)
Nashville (FOX)
The Next Great American Band (FOX)
New Amsterdam (FOX)
Notes from the Underbelly (ABC)
October Road (ABC)
Online Nation (CW)
Oprah’s Big Give (ABC)
Phenomenon (NBC)
Power of 10 (CBS)
Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious (CW)
quarterlife (NBC)
The Return of Jezebel James (FOX)
Secret Talents of the Stars (CBS)
Shark (CBS)
The Singing Bee (NBC)
Unhitched (FOX)
Viva Laughlin (CBS)
Welcome to the Captain (CBS)
Women’s Murder Club (ABC)
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