Category / Television

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CBS Upfronts

For reasons I don’t entirely understand, CBS unveiled their plans for the 2026-2027 season this week, well ahead of the traditional May timeframe for their upfront presentation.  The week starts with a revamped Monday without the familiar comedy block starting out the night.  FBI and its spinoff CIA both move up an hour, followed by Harlan Coben’s Final Twist, a true crime series hosted by the best-selling author.  Tuesday gets turned over to the NCIS franchise, with the original version leading off the night, followed by the new NCIS: New York and the returning NCIS: Origins.

Wednesday continues as all reality, with extra-long episodes of Survivor followed by The Amazing Race.  Thursday has the network’s only remaining comedies, with Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage followed by Eternally Yours, about a vampire couple whose 500-year marriage has grown stale.  Another installment of Elsbeth and the new Cupertino, a legal drama set in Silicon Valley, finish out the night.  Friday remains the same, with Sheriff Country followed by Fire Country and Boston Blue.  Sunday kicks off with 60 Minutes, followed by Marshalls, Tracker, and reruns.

On tap for midseason on Wednesdays are the returning NCIS: Sydney, Ghosts, and Matlock, along with Einstein, starring Matthew Gray Gubler as the great grandson of Albert Einstein who is forced to help the police solve their toughest cases.

Gone and never to be seen again are The Neighborhood, DMV, and Watson.

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Another One Bites The Dust

Little more than a year after the death of former co-star Michelle Trachtenberg, Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Nicholas Brendon died Friday at his San Francisco home at the age of 54.  Brendon, who had suffered public struggles with alcohol and drug abuse and mental illness, revealed in 2023 that he had suffered a heart attack and had been diagnosed with a congenital heart defect.  His death is believed to have been due to natural causes.

Brendon made his first mark in the entertainment industry as Xander Harris on Buffy, starring for the show’s seven season run between the WB and the CW.  He failed to find long term success following the show’s end, starring in the adaptation of Anthony Bourdain’s memoir Kitchen Confidential, which lasted four episodes, and scoring notable guest appearances on Criminal Minds and Private Practice.

It has been a rough week for Buffy fans, with Brendon’s death coming on the heels of the news that Hulu was passing on the pilot for the planned sequel series from director Chloe Zhao and original star Sarah Michelle Gellar.

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I Don’t Want To Wait For Our Lives To Be Over

James Van Der Beek, titular star of the iconic teen soap series Dawson’s Creek, passed away yesterday at the age of 48.  Van Der Beek announced he had been diagnosed with Stage 3 colorectal cancer in November of 2024.

Van Der Beek rose to fame starring as Dawson Leery on the WB hit drama.  He would later play a fictionalized version of himself on Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23.  On the big screen, he was known for his starring role in Varsity Blues.

Van Der Beek is survived by his wife and their six children.

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Midseason Review – Fridays

Our final look back at the new fall season gives us Friday’s amazing slate of shows.

9:00

Boston Blue – The Blue Bloods spinoff sends Donny Wahlberg to Boston for some reason.

I never managed to watch this.

Debuting this spring:

Celebrity Jeopardy! All-Stars – The latest installment of dumbed down Jeopardy! for mostly D-list celebrities to win money for charity.

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Midseason Review – Thursdays

We are on the back half of our look back at the offerings for the new fall season. Thursday night is traditionally the busiest night of the week for my television viewing habits, but not this year. Here’s what was on the slate for this season.

7:00

9-1-1 – Returning for its ninth season, and its third on ABC, although without star Peter Krause.

I’m not saying that sending two of the characters on a space adventure for the first three episodes of the season was a jump the shark moment, but I’m also not saying it wasn’t.

8:00

9-1-1: Nashville – Another spinoff, moving the franchise to Tennessee.

This isn’t clicking for me.  It doesn’t have the heart of the original.

9:00

Elsbeth – The The Good Wife spinoff returns for its third season, but I still have to watch the second one.

I’ve stopped recording this one but may circle back one day on streaming.

Grey’s Anatomy – The medical drama enters its 22nd season with the follow-up on last season’s explosion.

What can I say after 21+ seasons?  The show is what it is at this point.

And now the new entries:

Scrabble – The game show returns to The CW with a new host: Craig Ferguson.

Trivial Pursuit – LeVar Burton returns for a second go-around of the board game-based quiz show.

 

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Midseason Review – Tuedays

Continuing our look back at my thoughts on the new fall season, with the offerings that I found myself interested in for Tuesdays.

7:00

Murder in a Small Town – A second season of the Canadian mystery-drama of the week featuring old favorites Kristin Kreuk.

At some point, you would think someone would notice that there are an awful lot of murders in this otherwise idyllic small town.

8:00

Doc – A surprise hit last spring, Molly Parker returns for a second go-around.

Still enjoyable but turning into more of a standard medical drama as the Doc gets her memories back.

9:00

High Potential – One of the only breakout hits of last season, Kaitlin Olson returns for a second season as an under-employed genius who consults with the police.

More of the same here.

Now, let’s see what interesting tidbits are coming this spring:

Will Trent – The series very loosely based on Karin Slaughter’s novels returns for its fourth season.

 

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Midseason Review – Sundays

With the advent of winter premieres, the start of the premium cable network shows, and with February sweeps around the corner, it’s time to revisit my thoughts from the beginning of the season and look ahead at what’s to come for Sunday nights.  Oh yeah, that’s right.  There was nothing.

Now, let’s see what interesting tidbits are coming this spring:

Still nothing.  Nada.  Zip.  Zilch.

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2025: The Year In Television

With fewer good productions airing on network and cable networks and instead moving to the various streaming platforms, that seems to have taken over as my main form of non-game show or sports television watching. Now that I work from home full time, I have plenty of time to take in whatever they have to offer. Since we cover the network and cable shows that I watch elsewhere, let’s take a look at the 17 seasons of shows I streamed on eight different platforms this year.

Based on a True Story Season Two (Peacock)
A copycat killer starts terrorizing LA.

Black Doves Season One (Netflix)
When a spy’s lover is killed, she puts her undercover identity in jeopardy to find out what happened.

Black Mirror Season Seven (Netflix)
The British anthology returns with a strong six-episode season, including a sequel from a previous favorite.

Criminal Minds: Evolution Season 18 (Paramount+)
The BAU returns once again, following up on plot threads from the previous season.

Doctor Who Season Two (Disney+)
Ncuti Gatwa exits what was intended to be a new era for Doctor Who.

Ginny & Georgia Season Three (Netflix)
Georgia’s past comes back to haunt her, and her kids pay the price.

Mr. Mercedes Seasons One – Three (Peacock)
An adaptation of the Bill Hodges trilogy of novels by Stephen King.

On Call Season One (Amazon Prime)
A training officer and her rookie try to keep the streets of Long Beach safe.

Only Murders in the Building Season Five (Hulu)
Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez return for another investigation into a murder in their building.

The Pitt Season One (Max)
Noah Wylie returns to the emergency room.

Pluribus Season One (Apple TV)
A space virus has turned the human race into a single hive mind, save for a handful of immune survivors.

Poker Face Season Two (Peacock)
Rian Johnson and Natasha Lyonne return after more than a year for a second installment.

The Sex Lives of College Girls Season Three (HBOMax)
The final season sees Reneé Rapp move on for a music career and a new roommate move in to take her place.

Shrinking Season Two (Apple TV+)
Brett Goldstein joins the cast as the drunk driver who killed Jimmy’s wife.

The White Lotus Season Three (HBOMax)
The third season action moves to Thailand.