Friday, December 13, 2024

CBS Fall Schedule Turns Wednesday Over to “Reality” Shows, Abandons Saturdays Completely

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CBS has issued its fall schedule, and two days of it are basically not TV anymore.

All of Wednesday night is now “reality” programming. I put reality in quotes because it’s scripted reality, the unreal. The shows are “Survivor,” “Amazing Race,” and the new “Real Love Boat,” a dating show for singles on the high seas. CBS says it’s like the old “Love Boat” except there are no aging movie stars from the 1940s and 50s.

Turning Wednesday into a cheap deal is no surprise. CBS can’t compete with NBC’s Dick Wolf “Chicago” night and won’t deal with ABC’s comedy night which will now include “Abbott Elementary.”

CBS has completely abandoned Saturday night, althought that’s been happening for a while now. In the old days, “All in the Family,” “Mary Tyler Moore,” “MASH,” “Bob Newhart,” and “Carol Burnett” was the CBS Sunday line up. But that day is really done forever. Now it’s Drama rerun, Drama rerun, and then the miserable “48 Hours,” which is usually about an unsolved murder in a white trash town.

So that’s it. Oscar and Tony winner Marcia Gay Harden is starring in a series called “So Help Me Todd,” which of course isn’t even about her, but of course it’s not, she’s over 40. So help me God.

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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