TV's New Fall Season 2011 - Spreadsheets and Analysis

TV is my first love. And I'm a spreadsheet guy. I've written all about my obsession with both TV and spreadsheets here.

For 2011, I've done it once again. Poring through the various network and cable sites, TV blog sites, and the best episode guide on the Internet (epguides.com), I've taken the last few weeks compiling the following:

• A list of network and cable TV shows returning this fall, complete with the season number, network, premiere date and scheduled air day.
• A list of shows coming later this season.
• A grid for each day of the week with the shows, times, premiere dates and season number
• A grid for each day of the week with each show, times and dates for episode tracking
• And something new: a list of shows cancelled/ended in the 2010-2011 season

Get the Fall 2011 TV Collection of Spreadsheets here. If you just want a PDF of shows and premiere dates, that's here.

One of the things that disappoints me the most each year is investing my time in new programs that really capture my interest, only to have them cancelled, often in mid-story.

I was curious if it was common across networks, or if some may be more likely to cancel. Here is a ranking of the most shows cancelled after one season in 2010. Not ironically, NBC turned out to be the biggest loser, with 11 cancelled new shows, 3 of which had unaired episodes.

• NBC - 11 shows cancelled (3 with unaired episodes)
• ABC - 7 shows cancelled (2 with unaired episodes)
• FOX - 6 shows cancelled (1 show with unaired episodes)
• CBS - 5 shows cancelled
• Toon - 3 shows cancelled
• FX - 2 shows cancelled
• AMC - 1 show cancelled
• CMT - 1 show cancelled
• CW - 1 show cancelled
• Starz - 1 show cancelled
• Syfy - 1 show cancelled
• TBS - 1 show cancelled

From my list, that's a total of 40 new shows cancelled, 29 from the Big Four. I wonder how many will fall this season.

Of the programs cancelled, I was most disappointed to lose four very well-written and brilliantly acted shows:

• The Chicago Code

• Detroit 1-8-7

• Lie to Me

• Men of a Certain Age

Just a thought: I believe American cable needs to carry Canada's CBC, even if it's lagging behind the true release schedule, just like they've arranged with BBC America.

Anyway, I hope you find this helpful or mildly interesting, or you feel better about yourself knowing you don't suffer from such an obsession. Or high-five if you do!

Cheers!

The New Fall Season - The Ultimate TV Spreadsheet (UPDATED)

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Check out my new TV page where I have the new Fall 2010 Schedule PDF and
Fall 2010 TV Spreadsheet: Fall 2010.

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To put it politely, I'm a detailed-oriented individual. I enjoy organizing information and love my spreadsheets. I also have a thing about linear thinking: Beginning, Middle, End. I start a book on page 1 and finish at "The End." I don't skip ahead. I don't read chapters out of order.

When I watch a movie, I start from the beginning or don't watch at all. And when I watch television -- and that's all the time -- I prefer to follow the order of every series from episode 1 to the end. For most sitcoms, this isn't necessary and I will break that pattern, especially for fun shows in syndication. But for dramas, there are story arcs, evolution of characters, show history/mythology references and call-backs, etc. The episodes are meant to be watched in order.

Anyhoo, my obsession is your gain. I create a TV spreadsheet every fall, based loosely on a spreadsheet provided to me many years ago by my friend Steve, who also enjoys watching lots of TV.

If you'd like to use it for yourself, or are curious about peeking into the mind of a slightly OCD neurotic like myself, before I get my own episode on A&E (or Syfy), go for it. You can download it from my MediaFire site here for free.

I've taken the time to put nearly every US primetime show (broadcast and cable), with their premiere dates, in this grid.

If you'd like an explanation of how I use it, please read on.

The first tab is called Key. It's just a guide of the items I use to track shows on the seven daily tabs.

The second tab is Channels. This lists the networks referred to in the other grids, with a column for the standard definition channel and the high definition channel. It's pre-populated with the channels for my FiOS service in Howard County, Maryland. All you need to do with this tab is update the blue channel numbers according to your local service, and your channel numbers will automatically appear on the seven individual daily tabs, which I'll explain in a minute.

The third tab is called ComingSoon. I find it quite handy. It's an alphabetical list of shows (also displaying network and approximate air date) that aren't back on yet, like American Idol.

The fourth tab, Premieres, is an alphabetical listing of all shows and their Fall start dates. I skipped the few summer series that are already in progress.

Finally, there is a tab for each day, but they all serve the same purpose. I've broken them out because I despise unnecessary scrolling, unless it's me pontificating in a blog. :-) I find them useful for tracking what's coming up, what I've recorded, what I've seen and missed, and what to catch up on in the reruns, on NetFlix or on DVD.

Let's start with Sunday, the first day of the week, at least according to my calendar. The rows are the TV shows. I provide the title, network, channel (HD for nearly all), start time and stop time (both U.S. Eastern Time).

The columns are the dates. "Off" means it's pre-season. A green block with "HD" in white letters means a new episode is coming up and I want to tape it/watch it. I used to use "SD" for shows that weren't in high definition. Most are now, and gosh, that's really anal, isn't it? If the letters are in red I missed it. If it's a checkmark I've seen it. If it's "---", there was no new episode that night.

The other six tabs work exactly the same way.

These are new sheets for anyone to use. The premiere dates have the first HD block in them. They're accurate to the best of my knowledge.

This should be obvious, but simply delete the rows of the shows you don't care to follow. And, no, I don't watch all of these.

I hope it serves a useful purpose for you, even if it's just the Coming Soon portion.

Perhaps it's all Willie Wonka's fault. If Mike Teavee had a different first name, and wasn't also a cowboy, maybe I would have read more.