ABC Schedule: Will "Club" Murder "Trees"?

ABC is giving another chance to Angie Harmon's female-centric procedural "Women's Murder Club," which did horribly among adults 18-49 on Friday nights last fall, to gain momentum among the younger crowd. The casualty? "Men in Trees."

Fans of "Men in Trees" may see ABC's latest scheduling move as a slap in the face. The Anne Heche-fronted romantic drama which premiered on Friday nights in the fall of 2006 kept switching timeslots and going on and off the schedule whenever the network felt like giving other programs like "October Road" and "Cashmere Mafia" priority.

Now the remaining episodes of season 2 are scheduled to get burned off Wednesday nights at 10:00pm, after the regular season is finished and average viewer levels decline (beginning May 28).

In the meantime, viewers will see 3 episodes of "Women's Murder Club" (Tuesdays at 10:00pm as of April 29) bump regular timeslot occupant "Boston Legal" to Wednesdays at 10:00pm.

But will the move help "Club" at all? The first of the 3 all-new episodes will clash with an all-new "Law & Order: SVU" (a well established procedural in the timeslot) with Robin Williams making a special guest appearance as the villain.

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"Murder Club" Thursday Tryout: Mixed Results (TV Ratings: Thursday, 11/15/07)

The good news is that ABC's female-friendly procedural "Women's Murder Club" rose 65% among adults 18-49 (2.0 to 3.3). The bad news is, the show did as poorly as the timeslot regular occupant "Big Shots" retaining only 45% of the 19.28 million viewers who tuned into "Grey's Anatomy" (that's 8.93 million viewers).

"Women's Murder Club" is not doing very well in the demo in its regular timeslot on Friday nights because many young adults are simply not at home watching TV.

If ABC will be content with WMC being an older-skewing show, they might as well keep it on Friday nights where it has finally given the network some visibility.

That means "Big Shots" should either stay on Thursday nights, or - if the Alphabet decides to swing the ax - they may look for a better fit out of the medical drama.

Personally I'd love to see "Brothers & Sisters" move to Thursdays at 10. That way ABC could pair "Desperate Housewives" and "Dirty Sexy Money" off on Sundays - a match made in heaven!

But I digress. Here are now the rest of the ratings:

ABC:
Ugly Betty (10.73 million)
Grey's Anatomy (19.28 million)
Women's Murder Club (8.93 million)

CBS:
Survivor (14.76 million)
CSI (21.29 million)
Without a Trace (14.49 million)

NBC:
My Name Is Earl (7.97 million)
30 Rock (6.47 million)
The Office (8.86 million)
Scrubs (6.04 million)
ER (9.52 million)

FOX:
Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (9.60 million)
Don't Forget the Lyrics (6.01 million)

The CW:
Smallville (4.49 million)
Supernatural (2.89 million)

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TV Ratings: "Women's Murder Club" Kills the Competition (10/12/07)

ABC may have yet another hit on their hands. "Women's Murder Club" starring Angie Harmon debuted to over 10 million viewers winning Friday night.

The show not only built upon the ratings of its lead-in, the news-magazine "20/20," but it almost doubled them.

That means the female-friendly procedural outperformed ABC's other freshman dramas like "Pushing Daisies," "Dirty Sexy Money" and "Big Shots."

Furthermore, the show began with 10.62 million viewers tuned in, and by 9:30 that audience grew to 10.98 million.

This is a very good sign for the series as most shows lose some of the audience sampling the pilot in the second half hour and subsequent airings.

The episode underwent a major overhaul as most of the scenes in the pilot were completely reshot.

The return of "Men In Trees" was mediocre, retaining 65% of WMC audience.

"Friday Night Lights" unfortunately went 19% down to only 5.42 million viewers, scoring a 4th place in the 18-49 demo, only ahead of wrestling on The CW.

ABC:
20/20 (5.64 million )
Women's Murder Club (10.80 million)
Men in Trees (7.05 million)

CBS:
Ghost Whisperer (8.81 million)
Moonlight (7.30 million)
Numb3rs (9.10 million viewers)

NBC:
Deal or No Deal (10.17 million)
Friday Night Lights (5.42 million)
Las Vegas (7.14 million)

FOX:
American League Championship Series (7.07 million)

The CW:
Friday Night Smackdown! (4.44 million)

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VIDEO: New "Women's Murder Club" Trailer (ABC)

With all the "Sex and the City" knock-offs coming our way this fall did we really need this "Sex" meets "CSI" procedural? Then again "Women's Murder Club" is based upon a bestselling book by James Patterson and it may give ABC its best shot at finding a hit procedural.

The drama starring "Baywatch Nights" and "Law & Order" vet Angie Harmon will air on Friday nights, a scheduling move one can perceive as an error since so many of the shows die on Fridays, or on the contrary, a clever decision given the weak competition on broadcast TV. After all "CSI" and "The X-Files" started out on Friday nights.

ABC has been trying to develop a procedural for years. Recent success stories of "Desperate Housewives," "Grey's Anatomy," "Ugly Betty" and "Brothers & Sisters" have put this network at the forefront of female-friendly programming, so this may just be the right ticket. Take a look.

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New ABC Shows: "Women's Murder Club"

When you are a woman working in a man's field, you get a lot further by teaming up. After all, sometimes the best way to get your man is with a woman.

Director Brett Ratner (X-Men: The Last Stand, Red Dragon, Rush Hour) adapts the best selling novels by James Patterson for a thrilling new crime series "Women's Murder Club" that redefines women's work.



San Francisco Detective Lindsay Boxer (Angie Harmon, "Law & Order") can analyze a crime scene in seconds, but she's frustrated that investigating and prosecuting a crime can take months or even years.

To circumvent the Justice Department men's club, she assembles an all-female group of experts a medical examiner, a newspaper reporter and a young assistant district attorney.


And because personal lives often blend into professional ones, they also become reliable friends. These women solve the latest homicides while unraveling the mysteries of their own turbulent romantic lives.

Four of today's brightest talents approach this character-driven plot with intelligence, warmth, action and humor.


According to ABC, if you combine the feminine wit and warmth of "Sex and the City" with the gritty reality of "CSI" and the dedication of "Law and Order" you'll understand the unique appeal of "Women's Murder Club."



The question however is, will the viewers understand that appeal now that they'll be flooded with "Sex and the City" updates?

A surprise last minute pick-up (ABC was initially rumored to have picked up an update of the classic detective feature "Marlowe" instead of this series) the drama was given a Friday night timeslot.



ABC has been desperate to develop its own procedural and since it is nowadays seen as home to female-friendly programming, it was only natural that it would take its shot at the genre with this drama.



"Women's Murder Club" will air at 9 p.m. where it will battle a new vampire series on CBS, a new season of "Las Vegas" on NBC and the reality show "Nashville" on FOX.

Starring: Angie Harmon as Lindsay Boxer, Aubrey Dollar as Cindy Thomas, Elizabeth Ho as Yuki Castellano, Laura Harris as Jill Bernhardt, Paula Newsome as Claire Washburn, Rob Benedict as Owen and Tyrees Allen as Warren Jacobi.

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