NBC is giving
Friday Night Lights a one-night trial tonight in the time slot normally reserved for the under-performing
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. NBC has repeatedly stated that this is a one-time thing, that
Studio 60 is not in any way canceled, and that things will return to normal next week. While it wouldn't be out of line to suggest that this is the usual network-speak, and that something suspicious is afoot, some credence is given to NBC's proclamations by the fact that
Studio 60 was always scheduled to have a rerun tonight.
Regardless, the real question is this: What will NBC do if
Friday Night Lights improves dramatically on
Studio 60's ratings in the Monday, 10PM time slot?
Placing
Friday Night Lights directly after
Heroes makes a lot of sense. Their demographics (young-ish males) are presumably similar, at least far more so than the
Heroes and
Studio 60 audience, which is, obviously, wildly different. Personally, although I've only managed to catch one
Friday Night Lights episode this season, I'll be far more inclined to watch
Friday Night Lights tonight by sticking around after Heroes. I do it for
Studio 60 every week.
Unfortunately, I don't see
Friday Night Lights performing too well tonight, but there is a better than average chance it improves on
Studio 60's ratings. What then? It's become obvious that
Friday Night Lights cannot compete against it's usual time slot competitor,
Dancing with the Stars. However,
Dancing with the Stars will be off the air in a few weeks. Can NBC hope to regain some viewers for
Friday Night Lights once
Dancing with the Stars ends? Maybe, but not likely.
Dancing with the Stars is set to be replaced with the William Shatner-hosted game show (which I will discuss in detail later this week)
Show Me the Money. All I'll say is that
Show Me The Money will get remarkably huge ratings. Take my word for it.
The verdict in all this: things look bleak for both
Studio 60 and
Friday Night Lights. Something, eventually, will end up thriving in that soon-to-be-coveted post-Heroes slot, but I don't think NBC will find that show until next year. Sorry,
Friday Night Lights.
-Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer