Right about now, viewers could be grumbling.
Most scripted shows are starting long holiday breaks. Christmas specials are fine (sort of), but when do the real shows return? And when do the mid-season ones arrive?
Earlier, the big-four networks set their plans; we’ve attached those stories below. Now the CW has its news, mostly resuming its fall line-up in January … or, for “Kung Fu” (shown here), early February.
Still pending, however, are the starting dates for several key CW shows that were delayed to mid-season — a new “Superman & Lois” season and the final seasons of “The Flash,” “Riverdale” and “Nancy Drew.” Those could end up at 8 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays and from 8-10 p.m. Sundays. Meanwhile, we’ll start with the CW news:
SEASONS BEING RESUMED
— Jan, 12: “Walker” and its prequel, “Walker Independence,” 8 and 9 p.m. Thursdays.
— Jan. 14: “Criss Angel’s Magic With the Stars” and “World’s Funniest Animals,” 8 and 9 p.m. Saturdays.
— Jan. 20: “Penn & Teller: Fool Us” and “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” 8 and 9 p.m. Fridays.
— Jan; 23: “All American” and its spin-off, “All American: Homecoming,” 8 and 9 p.m. Mondays.
— Jan. 24: “The Winchesters,” moving to the 9 p.m. slot Tuesdays.
— Feb. 8: “Kung Fu,” returning to its 9 p.m. slot Wednesdays.
SEASON BEGINNING
— Feb. 11: “Masters of Illusion” takes the Cris Angel spot, at 8 p.m. Saturdays.
SPECIAL
— Jan. 15: The Critics Choice Awards, 7-10 p.m. on a Sunday.
(Now here are the previous stories about mid-season; this is from Nov. 8)
So now we know what we might be doing during a long, cold winter.
We can stare at our TV sets, catching lots of shows that are new or semi-new or, at least, re-arranged.
This week, ABC, NBC and Fox announced their mid-season plans. Combined, in January and February they’ll have five new drama series (two of them about missing-persons units), three new comedies (including “Not Dead Yet,” shown here with Gina Rodriguez), three new reality shows and about a dozen season-openers, plus some shows changing nights.
In general, the trend is to avoid reruns, except for a few hit shows. Networks are happy airing an episode once and then sliding it to a streaming service.
Here’s how the nights will look on those three networks. Most days, ABC and NBC have three hours, Fox has two; on Sundays, they each add an hour:
MONDAYS
— NBC fills its “Voice” void with “America’s Got Talent All-Stars” (Jan. 2), which has past contestants from the summer show and – despite the title – from similar shows around the world. That’s 8 p.m., with “Quantum Leap” staying at 10.
— ABC has its own reality show, “The Bachelor” (Jan. 23); “The Good Doctor” stays at 10.
— Fox finally opens the “Fantasy Island” season, originally set for last summer. That’s at 8 p.m., starting Jan. 2; a week later (after a post-football debut), “Alert” is at 9 p.m.: Scott Caan and Dania Ramirez play officers in Philadelphia’s missing-persons unit.
TUESDAYS
— ABC has a transformed drama night, starting Jan. 3. “The Rookie” is at 8 p.m., with its spin-off, “The Rookie: Feds at 9. At 10, “Will Trent” stars Ramon Rodriguez as the survivor of a tough foster-care childhood, now an agent for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
— Fox starts the new season of “9-1-1: Lone Star” on Jan. 17. A week later, it debuts “Accused,” a 15-week anthology of self-contained crime stories.
— NBC has the night’s comedies. A “Night Court” reboot has Melissa Rauch as Harry’s daughter, taking his job and his obstacle (John Larroquette). That debuts with two episodes Jan. 10 (UPDATE: now changed to Jan. 17), leading into the two-hour series finale of “New Amsterdam.” A week later, “American Auto” and “La Brea” return at 8:30 and 9. In March, “The Voice” (also on Mondays) and “That’s My Jam” will be at 9 and 10.
WEDNESDAYS
— ABC keeps its current comedies plus “Big Sky” until Feb. 8. Then “Not Dead Yet” debuts at 9:30 p.m., with Gina Rodriguez as newly single and short of money, taking a job as an obituary writer. Also that night, “A Million Little Things” starts its final season at 10.
— NBC sticks with its “Chicago” dramas and Fox stays with reality. Beginning Jan. 11, it has “Celebrity Name That Tune” at 8 p.m. and the new “Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test” at 9.
THURSDAYS
— ABC starts an all-game night on Jan. 5, with the new “The Parent Test” sandwiched by “Celebrity Jeopardy” and “The Chase.” Its regular dramas will return Feb 23.
— NBC will continue to have “Law & Order” shows and Fox will continue to have Gordon Ramsay cooking competitions at 8 p.m. and comedies at 9 and 9:30. But starting Feb. 16, Ramsay’s “Next Level Chef” is at 8 and “Animal Control” (Joel McHale as an animal-control officer) is at 9; “Call Me Kat” continues at 9:30.
FRIDAYS and SATURDAYS
— Neither night changes. On Fridays, Fox has wrestling, ABC has “Shark Tank” and “20/20,” NBC has Lopez vs. Lopez,” “Young Rock” and “Dateline.” Saturdays bring reruns, sports and true-crime shows.
SUNDAYS
— When football finishes, NBC needs a replacement night. On Feb. 19, it starts the 10-episode season of “Magnum P.I.” (moving from CBS) at 9 p.m. and debuts “Found” (a missing-persons unit with Shanola Hampton and Mark-Paul Gosselaar) at 10. A week later, “The Blacklist” starts its season at 8.
— Also on Feb. 19, ABC launches the “American Idol” season at 8. At 10, it debuts “The Company You Keep,” which starts with the romance of a con man (Milo Ventimiglia) and an undercover CIA agent (Catherine Haena Kim).
— Fox will stick with its cartoons, except when borrowing an hour to introduce “Alert” on Jan. 8 and “Accused” on Jan. 22.
(And this is from Nov. 14)
After putting “The Real Love Boat” in drydock, CBS has a mid-season plan for Wednesdays.
The night will no longer be all-reality. This winter, it will juggle reality (“Tough as Nails,” then “Survivor”), game shows (“Lingo” and “The Price is Right at Night”) and an action series (shown here) – a fresh twist on the James Cameron film, “True Lies.”
Action has already been a temporary solution for the night.
Originally, Wednesdays were all-reality: The twin giants — “Survivor” at 8 p.m. and “Amazing Race” at 10 — sandwiched a dating show, “The Real Love Boat.”
But “Love Boat” ratings promptly submerged; after four episodes, the show was pulled from CBS and confined to Paramount+. “Amazing Race” moved to 9 p.m., with the 10 p.m. slot going to reruns – including “So Help Me Todd” on Nov. 16; “Fire Country,” Nov. 23; and “FBI International,” Nov. 30.
Now the night needs a mid-season makeover, with “Amazing Race” and “Survivor” tentatively ending their seasons on Dec. 7 and 14, respectively. The new plan has:
— “Price is Right,” hosted by Drew Carey, at 8 p.m., starting Jan. 4.
— “Tough as Nails” with a two-hour debut at 9 p.m. Jan. 4, then taking the 10 p.m. hour on Jan. 11. Hosted and co-produced by Phil Keoghan, who also hosts “Amazing Race,” the show was a summer success during the pandemic.
— “Lingo,” taking the 9 p.m. slot on Jan. 11. RuPaul Charles is the host and producer.
— “True Lies,” with a two-week introduction. It debuts at 9 p.m. Thursday, Feb 24, after comedies … then moves to its regular spot at 10 p.m. Wednesday, March 1 – the night “Survivor” has a two-hour start to its new season.
In the 1994 “True Lies” movie, a guy (Arnold Schwarzenegger) convinced his wife (Jamie Lee Curtis) he was a dully bureaucrat, when he actually had perilous secret-agent duties. The TV show gives that a feminist flip: Once the wife (Ginger Gonzaga) learns of the deception by her husband (Steve Howey), she becomes a top agent herself.