Mondays This Fall: An Early TV Preview

Of the 27 new TV series that debuted on the major networks last fall, over half have already been canceled. For every surprise hit, like ABC’s Once Upon a Time or NBC’s Grimm, there were many more misfires, like FOX’s heavily hyped Terra Nova, NBC’s The Playboy Club, CBS’ Unforgettable, and the CW’s Ringer. Perhaps in an effort to rebuild audiences, the powers that be have already announced what new shows we’ll be seeing this fall and have released multiple previews online.

I previously predicted the failures of Lonestar, Charlie’s Angels, and several other series that you probably don’t remember, but I still get things wrong sometimes. Along with guesses on what will rise up the ratings charts and what will be canceled before 2013 arrives, here’s a look at what Monday nights are going to look like in a couple of months.

7:30 PM

CBS adds Partners to its successful comedy line-up. Remarkably similar to the 1995 FOX sitcom of the same title (and appearing in the same time slot, no less), it focuses on two best friends and their “bromance”. Starring Ugly Betty’s Michael Urie, Numb3rs David Krumholtz, and One Tree Hill’s Sophia Bush as the fiancé who “complicates” their relationship.

Squeezed in between hits like How I Met Your Mother and Two Broke Girls, this would have to be absolutely horrible not to make it.

8 PM

FOX’s The Mob Doctor sums itself up in its own title. A new surgeon (Jordana Spiro) finds herself with a dangerous part-time job as a no-questions-asked, anything goes emergency doctor for the Chicago mafia. Co-starring The Untouchables’s William Forsythe, the show certainly has some pedigree, but will viewers have the patience for a premise that is better suited for a movie?

Taking over the recently ended House’s classic spot, The Mob Doctor is facing some serious competition. ABC’s Dancing With the Stars is one of TV’s highest rated shows, while NBC’s The Voice shines in the coveted 18-49 age bracket. The real question is whether it can bring in the reality-shunning viewers who usually flock to CBS’ comedies.

The CW plans to adapt the Sex & The City teen-lit prequel The Carrie Diaries into a midseason series, but it’s one of the few shows that doesn’t have a preview up online yet. Though history has not been kind to shows that take place in the ’80s, this has enough of a built-in audience to at least keep up the same ratings as the waning Gossip Girl.

9 PM

Lost’s J.J. Abrams and Supernatural’s Eric Kripke have dreamed up Revolution for NBC. Imagine waking up to find that everything electronic has stopped working. Fifteen years into this apocalyptic world of no cellphones, internet, or television, a family deals with a world full of abandoned cities and local governments.

Will NBC’s Revolution be yet another show about a bleak future on earth that viewers reject? Judging from its competition, CBS’ fun procedural Hawaii 5-O and ABC’s cult hit Castle, I’m guessing that it won’t last long.

Coming soon: A look at Tuesday nights. What is up against the highest rated show in television and can a star from The Office strike out on her own?