CBS try something different

The New Adventures of Old Christine is an Emmy winning sitcom which has been all over the CBS schedule and currently leads off Wednesday's prime time lineup. So far it's doing better than expected in its new slot and online viewing of episodes (click here) are also on the rise. Hopefully that will hold but CBS could be increasing their lead and helping their line up right now, if they gave a damn.

Each week, Ava and C.I. cover TV here. They've been doing it since early 2005. We know our intended audience, the audience Ava and C.I. always factored in: the people who can't go dashing off to the movies, the young parents who have to depend upon TV to provide the entertainment and the escape.

Saturday's is a dead zone. CBS airs repeats (and 48 Hours) and those repeats are crime dramas (aired too early for the hours they replay in -- if anyone wants to notice). The new sitcom Worst Week is struggling in the ratings. The Big Bang Theory could do be better. So why is CBS wasting every Saturday night promoting (by re-airing) Criminal Minds and CSI: New York?

We tossed it back out to longterm readers last month, would they whether see the "Crimetime" programming or the sitcoms?

No one wants to watch Crimetime and none do. "We flip on PBS," wrote Kayla. "There's not generally much worth watching but I'm not going to have those crime scenes on the screen while our kids are walking in and out." Stu and Linda pop in "an old video -- videotape" for the same reason: "Our kids are now seven and eight and the blood and glimpses of corpse nudity isn't really something we want to expose our children too. So we skip the 'Crimetime' dramas and watch a movie. It's really too bad because NBC is offering the same sort of garbage as CBS."

Over and over again, we heard no one wants to sit through that crap. Now some will -- the same ones who sat through Walker Texas Ranger on CBS weekends not all that long ago. We think it is outrageous that the big three cannot schedule seven nights worth of new programming. But if Saturday's just your repeat day, we think it's time for a change.

Specifically, the first two hours of prime time Saturday is a sitcom bloc. It kicks off with The Big Bang Theory, goes into Gary Unmarried, followed by The New Adventures of Old Christine and ending with Worst Week.

Gary Unmarried and Worst Week are new to CBS this fall. They could use the promotion, expecially Gary Unmarried which is actually funny. It also can pump up the ratings for The Big Bang Theory and The New Adventures of Old Christine in the same way that sitcoms have seen increases when their syndicated episodes begin airing.



Crimetime Saturday? That's needed for what damn reason? Because NBC offers the same thing and CBS can't think for themselves and pray viewers can't?