ABC and CBS Kick Off the 2014-15 Television Season in a Big Way – Ed Martin

After a four-month wait premiere week is finally here.

As I noted in last Thursday’s column , it almost feels like an anti-climax given the relentless promotion of the broadcast networks’ new series that kicked in last May and has not let up since. It’s not all that unusual to hear people comment on how tired they are of several of them even though they have yet to actually arrive on network schedules. I’m certain the networks will argue that there is no such thing as too much promotion. I’m not sure that’s true, at least not in the way to which we have all become accustomed. Time will tell on this one.

Of course, where NBC and The CW are concerned, that ongoing promotional blitz has several more weeks to go, as most of their new “fall” series will not debut until October (and in the case of NBC’s “State of Affairs,” not until November). Over at Fox, two new shows – the reality series “Utopia” and the drama “Red Band Society” – both made their debuts before premiere week, to less than encouraging results. NBC last week gave its unimpressive new drama “The Mysteries of Laura” an early launch, and it seemed to do well, but it had a very strong lead-in and faced no significant competition. I’m betting that its second episode this week will suffer a considerable decline. Admittedly, I have no idea how “Laura” might do when playback is measured over the next seven days. I suspect “Red Band Society” might get a nice boost from the old DVR, as seems to be true for many Fox series.

Meantime, ABC and CBS have stepped up and above the others in their efforts to preserve some of the excitement of the traditional premiere week. In addition to starting new seasons of their hottest shows – “The Good Wife,” “The Big Bang Theory,” “Person of Interest,” “NCIS,” “Survivor,” “The Amazing Race” and “Blue Bloods” on CBS; “Modern Family,” “The Middle,” “Nashville,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal” and “Shark Tank” (joining “Dancing with the Stars,” which made its season premiere last week) on ABC – both networks this week are premiering several of their most promising freshmen efforts.

I didn’t think ABC did a very good job of launching and promoting its new 2014-15 series during upfront week or during the network’s day at the Summer 2014 Television Critics Association tour. So I was slow in getting to know most of them. But once I did I was struck by their overall quality and how genuinely entertaining so many of them turned out to be. I now consider them collectively to be the best batch of new broadcast shows this season. Simply for the great diversity represented in its new shows ABC deserves an “A” for effort.

Three of the best from ABC’s freshman class are starting this week: The legal drama-thriller “How to Get Away with Murder” (from where I sit the best new broadcast series of the season), the supernaturally tinged procedural crime drama “Forever” and the contemporary comedy “black-ish,” (which, in tandem with “The Middle,” “The Goldbergs” and “Modern Family” on Wednesday gives ABC the most powerful family-comedy block any network has put together in longer than I can remember).

Two of ABC’s lesser freshmen efforts – the rom-coms “Selfie” and “Manhattan Love Story” – won’t debut until next week. We won’t see “Cristela,” another strong family sitcom (and one boosted by its instantly ingratiating star, Cristela Alonzo), until October.

CBS on Sunday debuted its eagerly anticipated adult political drama “Madam Secretary” in between the season premieres of “60 Minutes” and “The Good Wife.” Early ratings reports indicate that it performed just fine in that desirable time period, for which it seems to have been custom designed (this despite a football overrun that bumped its scheduled premiere by one hour). “Madam Secretary” wasn’t as dynamic a pilot as I had hoped, but all the elements are there for a very satisfying show, one that should serve as a fine lead-in to the best drama on television.

Also having their premieres on CBS this week are its drama-comedy-adventure hybrid “Scorpion” (which will have to work hard to keep up with its exciting pilot) and can’t lose spin-off “NCIS: New Orleans.” ("Scorpion" is pictured above.)

“Stalker,” the thriller about detectives who hunt serial killers that is likely to be one of the most talked-about new broadcast series of the fall (due to its highly disturbing violence, much of it inflicted on women, at least in the pilot), will not premiere until next week. Many critics (myself included) have nothing good to say about it (except that series leads Maggie Q and Dylan McDermott are quite good in the lead roles), but given the insatiable appetite out there for deeply unsettling shows like CBS’ long-running hit “Criminal Minds” this one may prove review-proof.

Ed Martin is the Editor of MediaBizBloggers. He also writes the Watercooler TV column forMyersBizNet. Ed has been writing about television for over 25 years. He is a member of the Television Critics Association and the Broadcast Television Journalists Association. Follow him on Twitter at @PlanetEd.

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