The WB Fall Schedule, 2004-05. Click on the graphic above for more info.

For this viewer, of all the networks The WB (even though it’s not available in Vancouver, most of the programmes find their way onto Canadian airwaves) has the most consistently watchable programmes, ranging from Everwood and Gilmore Girls, to Smallville and (the increasingly long in the tooth) 7th Heaven. Oh sure, The WB’s programming is drama heavy and far from hip, but migawd it’s mostly free of dreadful ‘reality-based’ programmes, and rarely talks down to you.
So, what does The WB have up its sleeve for the fall? Well, it seems that ratings are down, and as such The WB’s grand poobahs, Jordan Levin and Garth Ancier, have had to do more than a little tweaking.
New shows include Jack and Bobby, the dramatic retelling of the childhoods of John F. and Robert F. Kennedy, and The Mountain, which some have described as ‘Dynasty’ on skis. Most of the rest of the new programming (designed to raise ratings) appears to be barely watchable, but at least The WB left their core programming alone. We thank God (wherever she is) and Messieurs Levin and Ancier for this small favour.
For further insight (such as it is) into The WB’s 2004 fall season, we’ll start you off with The Futon Critic. Then there’s: Rick Porter at Zap2it.com, and Rachel Porter at some About.com site called … oh, never mind.
For the remaining fall television schedules for the major U.S. networks, click on the following direct VanRamblings’ links: CBS, NBC, ABC, and FOX.

The ABC Fall Schedule, 2004-05. Click on the graphic above for more info.

There’s something decidedly anti-climactic and mildly dispiriting about the announcements of the fall television schedules — or should that read: ‘soon to be cancelled shows’ — for the major U.S. networks. For its part, ABC is doing everything it can to wrest itself from the bowels of the ratings basement. But what has new head honcho Stephen McPherson come up with? You can judge for yourself, but from VanRamblings’ vantage point, aside from the humour that the Defamer brings to the situation …

ABC’s doing its part to make sure laughter stays dead by reducing their comedy load and by bringing back According to Jim, My Wife and Kids, and George Lopez. In any case, look for ABC to suffer another season in the toilet, looking up at Fox’s pimply, third place ass.

there’s not that much, unless you’re excited about the prospect of six more hours of barely watchable, so-called ‘reality’ programming, a spinoff of The Practice starring William Shatner, or a new series titled Lost, about the survivors of a plane crash stranded on a remote island.
Want to know what others are saying about ABC’s Fall Schedule? Not much, but here goes anyway. Zap2it.com offers this, while Gary Levin at USA Today writes about ABC’s reality heavy programming.
David Bauder, writing for the Associated Press, and Bill Carter and Stuart Elliott, writing in the New York Times’ Business section, compare the ABC and WB new fall schedules, while Kimberly Potts, at E-online, bemoans the loss of Alias this fall (not to worry, Kim, it’ll be back mid-season).
For the remaining fall television schedules for the major U.S. networks, click on the following direct VanRamblings’ links: CBS, NBC, the WB, and FOX.