Since yesterday’s diary mentioned a few pilots from NBC in contention for next season, I felt it only fair to look back at CBS and ABC. CBS actually operates under more of a constant development now, more like a streamer does, less concerned about when a show premieres on its lineup. They are working on Cupertino with Robert and Michelle King, the creative minds behind CBS/Paramount Plus hits The Good Wife, The Good Fight, Elzabeth, and Evil. The series stars Mike Colter, and while not a guarantee, feels like something they’d at least throw at the wall to see if it stuck. CBS is also developing an Einstein show starring Matthew Gray Gubler from the long running CBS drama Criminal Minds. They just focus on less pilots, probably more so than any network except The CW, which ports a lot of content from other countries.

I couldn’t find any meaningful information about ABC pilots. FOX actually has two strong performers in Murder In A Small Town and Doc, both of which have grown, and should secure renewals. FOX Memory Of A Killer is at some catastrophic level of attrition, premiering to 7.6 million, and now pulling in just 1.6 million. I don’t know how they justify a second season. Animal Control has already been renewed for a fifth season, after this season hit a ratings high. Going Dutch however, is the least watched show on FOX. Going Dutch only averages 881K per episode. That’s not even a million. That’s CW numbers. Of Animation Domination, The Simpsons, Family Guy, American Dad, and Bob’s Burgers have all been renewed through the 28-29 season. Their newer shows, Universal Basic Guys and Krapapolis both were picked up for another season. Grimmsburg is too early to tell, as we are still waiting on its third season to premiere. And while I dismissed Best Medicine mid-pilot, it has been performing extraordinarily well for FOX and is actually their highest rated scripted series.So, I’d expect a second season. I’d be shocked if they cancelled The Masked Singer, even though it is at a ratings low. It is the kind of franchise I could see them trying to fix before cancelling, meaning a refresh of either Nick Cannon, or the Judges Panel. I’d be surprised if there wasn’t a conversation being had at FOX about a last ditch effort to creatively surge viewership. Remember, Dancing With The Stars was once flirting with cancellation at a critical low, and it wasn’t until a refresh that the ratings went up. Perhaps audiences have grown tired of the panel. FOX has a few shows in development, with stars like Ginnifer Goodwin, Elodie Yung, and Scott Foley. Nothing that screamed to me that it must be picked up to series, though I’m pretty sure they won’t move Going Dutch to a third season, so whatever is likely to be paired with Animal Control would be the best bet. However, they’ve also put Family Guy with it before, so they could just do that again.

TV Shows Watched: Starfleet Academy: S1E8 (Paramount Plus) with audio description, Heated Rivalry: S1E4 (HBO MAX) with audio description, Percy Jackson: S1E7 (Disney Plus) with audio description, How To Get To Heaven From Belfast: S1E2 (Netflix) with audio description, The Night Agent: S3E1 (Netflix) with audio description, and Emily In Paris: S5E10 (Netflix) with audio description

Starfleet Academy- Star Trek goes to drama club, and Sam tries to get defragmented. Thi show is terrible. The opening of the episode is a cry for help from a writer, who knows what they are writing is awful, and has a character comment on how unnecessary the expository words coming from Holly Hunter actually are.

Heated Rivalry- The AD sucks. The beginning of the episode, which is basically a montage of real life for the two guys, interspersed with graphic sex, is delivered in such a fashion, that everything is homogenized and blurred together, doing the series a disservice. it isn’t even about being performative, it is about realizing that you are describing different things, and at least finding a way of breaking it up so that it doesn’t bleed so poorly into each other like a stream of utter nonsense. For a show about passion, the AI has none. The thing is, there are better AI models and platforms, and this show isn’t even bothering to utilize one.

Percy Jackson- Percy needs to rescue Annabeth while Clarice does her warrior thing, and Grover and Tyson steal a car, ultimately needing to call Mom to save the day. Cronos is left unsatisfied at the end of this, and demands Luke kill the Son Of Poseidon, though he can’t be bothered to mention which one, because this show forgets it actively has two sons of Poseidon. There are probably more, but even within the series, Tyson is a son of Poseidon, still unclaimed though (I believe, for now).

How To Get To Heaven From Belfast- The mystery continues to build, as our lead takes what she knows back to her hometown, wondering if the body buried is still buried, or if it was ever buried at all. Vague, I know. This series is Ok. It isn’t fully my thing, but it isn’t dull or lifeless either. The AD is fine.

The Night Agent- We’re doing racial specificity now. That must mean a new AD company. I can’t remember if Roundabout did Season 2, but I know they did 1, so somehow I feel like this is a step in the right direction, though I also don’t remember Season 2. Weird. Rose does not exist, and our Night Agent has to save a guy from a band of misfit thugs, as he has some shocking news. The cliffhanger at the end is that some guy, who I’ve forgotten entirely, is now calling in his favor. This was fine, and I’m sure I’ll remember more. Oddly, even with TWO recaps, I still didn’t remember everything. I had one that Netflix did before Episode 1 started, then Episode 1 has a built in recap at the start. The AD did a lovely job tracking the fight scenes, gun and otherwise.

Emily In Paris- Don’t you hate it when a character is on a show, and they just don’t know they are on a show that makes it impossible for their character to exist? In a non-shocking turn of events, let’s just say the show isn’t changing its title anytime soon. While Emily spent half the season not in Paris, Paris still has her heart, which is bad news for… well… what is his name again?