First of all…Happy New Year, everybody.

And I’m sure NBC is ready for a clean slate.

On November 14th, NBC announced its mid-season schedule. And I continue to ask myself why they make the decisions they do.

Fall 2011 has been almost a disaster. Two “slam dunk” dramas were cancelled within practically four aired episodes (Playboy Club & Prime Suspects). Free Agents is out the door, with Community not trailing too far behind. Chuck is facing its series finale very soon. NBC is running out of options fast. And yet, they still aren’t putting their best foots forward.

The Mid-Season schedule released a few familiar titles, and a few new ones; but ultimately, a good slew of shows are returning. However, though I’m a little disappointed, I’m also happy NBC has taking some good direction in their decision-making.

Mondays:

8pm: The Voice

What’s worse than putting a 2-hour A Capella competition on Mondays? Following that with another 2-hour singing competition. With Super Bowl high numbers, it’s be great. But the real question is can it surpass American Idol? People thought The X Factor could, and it wasn’t even close. Also, it’ll be interesting to see if people get tired of this singing thing. A.I., then Glee, then X Factor, then The Voice and Smash on one network? Too much.

10pm: Smash

What’s worse than a 2-hour singing competition? Following that with another singing show. I wonder if the strategy is to tire out the singing competition/shows. However, I feel that Smash comes at the best time. Not only are Glee fans wanting a more realistic “Glee”; people are also looking for another Spielberg production NOT a mirror of his previous work (e.g. Falling Skies [War of the Worlds]; Terra Nova [Jurassic Park]). I bash on the overload of singing, but perhaps Smash (so heavily highly acclaimed) will get by.

Tuesday:

8pm: The Biggest Loser

We know about this already. Good show, consistent ratings. I don’t think we’ll lose this show anytime soon.

10pm: Parenthood/Fashion Star (March 13th)

Parenthood was down from last year, but it will end with a decent run for its 3rd season, bouncing within a 5.2 million viewership, 2.0 rating consistently. Fashion Star will take over as the new reality show, looking for the next big brand of fashion. This will be the first attempt (to my knowledge) of bringing this type of show on primetime; and is slightly comparable to America’s Next Top Model. But that doesn’t impress me.

Wednesday:

8pm: Whitney

Everyone is HATING on this show, yet it’s the second highest rated show on NBC. Parks and Rec is funnier, just not as well known, and Community hits well with pop culture, but not in ratings. Whitney seems dry, and not as funny, yet it does so well; probably due to The Office following. But now it’s time to see its true colors How well will it do as a lead-in for…

8:30pm: Are you there, Chelsea?

I don’t think this show will do well…at all. Chelsea Handler can really only be handled on a cable-TV level; but as a network person, I’m not sure. When I see this, I see a very mini-Playboy Club. Not in taste, but in interest. Yes, Vodka. People like it. But just because the people drink it doesn’t mean that it will be watched by those who do…or those who don’t.

9pm: Rock Center with Brain Williams

What a random place to put this show. NBC stated that the early numbers were not worrysome to NBC because it had to grow an audience. And when they mean grow, they mean changing it to a different night and putting after a show that consists of an audience probably downing alcohol (e.g. young people who don’t care about hard hitting news packages). You’re also competing with American Idol. Other shows will have to deal with this, but a newsmagazine? Come. On. Poor planning on this one. No one wins. Suggestion: Have this show replace Dateline on Sundays. You don’t need Dateline twice.

10pm: L&O: SVU

It’s surprising to see that SVU has survived, staying between 7-9 million viewers against ABC surprise hit Revenge and ever-popular, but slowly dwindling CSI. However, that’s with Harry’s Law helping it a little. How will it do with a lower rating lead-in? Again…questionable decision.

Thursday:

8pm: 30 Rock

I’m glad it’s coming back. I’m just hoping the writing from last few seasons don’t. It needs to get better…soon.

8:30pm: Parks and Rec

It not only really needs the help from 30 Rock (since Community doesn’t really help), it also needs help in general. One of the most underrated shows on television is still just trending at 4 million viewers.

9pm: The Office

The most watched show on television deserves to be there. Yes, there’s no Steve Carell. But honestly, I don’t (really) miss him. Jim, Dwight, and Andy have done a good job keeping up the slack, plus Robert Calfiornia making Andy feel awkward is nice. We’re now a bit comfortable with Andy as manager and Andy-Erin’s relationship finally resurfaced at the end. Everyone else is kind of….ug. But it was like that before Michael left anyways. So the same ol’, same ol’. Nothing to complain about.

9:30pm: Up All Night

It’s been keeping up its own end of the deal by holding up the 8pm Wednesday slot against The X Factor and a following show getting canned. So it deserves a spot behind The Office to see how it fares compared to previous timeslot-owner Whitney. I’m sure whoever had the highest rating in this spot is guaranteed renewal, while the other is probably guaranteed cancellation.

10pm: The Firm

I’m going to say one thing, and only one thing about movies turned TV shows: Unless your name is Friday Night Lights, DO. NOT. DO IT. Now I predict if it’ll be better or worse than Prime Suspects. I say better…but not by much. However, I can’t say much until I see a preview clip, which hasn’t been released as of yet.

Friday:

8pm: Who Do You Think You Are?

Interesting show; not in danger to my knowledge

9pm: Grimm

The surprise hit has been doing very well, and though I predicted a good first season, I didn’t think this good. But it’s okay. The stories are actually really good. The drop for the second episode was only 500K viewers, which is nice for a drop. Hopefully it will continue to go strong on Friday nights. I like it so far.

10pm: Dateline NBC

Come on. Who didn’t see this coming?

Sunday:

7pm: Dateline NBC

Twice? Really?

8pm: Harry’s Law

Though it’s not 11 million viewers, competing against The X Factor, Criminal Minds, and Modern Family to get 7-8 million average is a heck of a good job. Though it’s really low on the P18-49, we kind of predicted that, considering it is Kathy Bates. The Sunday move is interesting, since it’ll be competing against very strong ABC freshmen Once Upon A Time (ironically similar numbers as Harry’s first year) and CBS’s Undercover Boss/Amazing Race, less competitive than Harry’s previous timeslot. It’ll be interesting to see what happens there. That’s an okay move by NBC, a good gamble to take.

9pm: Celebrity Apprentice

People really like this show. I don’t like celebrity, but hey: why talk trash about something that works? It’ll be different from the Desperate Housewife/The Good Wife demo.

Missing Shows: Community (heard it might be back in spring?), Bent, Awake (don’t understand why this wasn’t scheduled. Thursday. 10pm. Perfect timeslot for it.), BFFs, and Off The Rockers