TV Heartbeat! Why it’s Grease Lightning! OJ and Madoff go to court!

This week gets musical while networks do the time slot shuffle and some folks just do time.

With NBC’s success with live musical broadcasts, Fox hopes Grease is the word. The beloved movie version added the best songs to the musical so, luckily, it looks like Fox’s version will be based on the movie. Also like the movie, the cast looks about 10 years past high school with Julianne Hough, Aaron Tveit, Vanessa Hudgens and Carly Rae Jepsen (who gets a new song). There are also a bunch of “guest stars” (?!?) like Boyz II Men as Teen Angel. Go Greased Lightning!

Meanwhile, Galavant wraps up a second season and, no, the ratings did not improve this year. Let’s see if ABC’s mysterious reasons for the second season renewal still hold for another season next year.

If you’re in the mood for a big court case, TV has two options for you this week: FX has American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson and ABC will be taking Madoff to court with Oscar-winner Richard Dreyfuss in the title role.

At the mid-season mark, the networks are shuffling a few shows around. Fox is swapping the struggling Second Chance with Hell’s Kitchen. This is a second chance for the show since this will lower ratings expectations on a Friday and Fox hopes that pairing it with Sleepy Hollow will make more sense.

In an unusual move, The CW is moving some of its stronger shows to Friday. Once the network’s top show, The Vampire Diaries and its spin-off, The Originals, will now reside on Friday. (The CW is more focused on its superhero shows now.)

Cinemax’s Banshee and Syfy’s Lost Girl begin their final seasons this week. Supernatural being are really on their way out…

The Muppets is not moving, but ABC has “re-booted” the show since they realize the humor in the first episodes was too mean-spirited. The Jason Segel movies couldn’t crack the right tone either which just makes you appreciate the original series.

NBC has the return of Grimm also begins its season and the debut of You, Me and The Apocalypse which stars Jenna Fischer as one of a handful of folks watching the end of the world from a bunker. Although the plot doesn’t sound like it, it’s a comedy.

Tonight: Suits season premiere (USA)
Thursday: You, Me and The Apocalypse debut (NBC)
Friday: The Vampire Diaries and The Originals move (The CW), Second Chance moves (Fox), Masterchef Junior season finale (Fox), Grimm season premiere (NBC), Banshee final season premiere (Cinemax)
Saturday: Screen Actors Guild Awards (TNT)
Sunday: Grease: Live (Fox), Galavant season (series?) finale (ABC)
Monday: Lost Girl final season premiere (Syfy)
Tuesday: The Muppets re-booted (ABC), American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson debut (FX)
Wednesday: Madoff debut (ABC), Young & Hungry debut (Freeform), Baby Daddy season premiere (Freeform)

Health check

As expected, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow started big, but not quite enough to eclipse its sibling show, The Flash. Nonetheless, The CW is very happy to have another DC show in the line up!

After following the NFC Championship game, The X-Files had a huge audience (as expected). The Monday night airing, in its regular time slot, was one of Fox’s biggest debuts this year. We may see more X-Files in the future! Next week’s episode is supposed to be terrific and very funny so don’t miss it!

Lucifer also got off to a great start so let’s see if he can continue to attract audiences next week.

Meanwhile, Agent Carter’s return was similar to where ratings left off last season so we may see Marvel’s Most Wanted (the spinoff from Agents of SHIELD) in Agent Carter’s place next season. Doh!

Stay tuned!

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