Midseason Matchups 2012, Friday

Bold indicates a timeslot change; ALL CAPS indicates a new show

8/7c

Winter Broadcast: Shark Tank (ABC, 1/20) vs. A Gifted Man (CBS) vs. Chuck (NBC) vs. Kitchen Nightmares (Fox) vs. Nikita (CW)

Spring Broadcast: Shark Tank (ABC) vs. Undercover Boss (CBS, 2/17) vs. Who Do You Think You Are? (2/3) vs. Kitchen Nightmares (Fox) vs. Nikita (CW)

Cable: Friday Night Smackdown! (Syfy)

Projected A18-49 winner: Kitchen Nightmares (Fox)

Notes: Reality logjam! I thought Home Edition could be a real challenger at 8:00, but it was at least a couple ticks behind Nightmares head-to-head. Nightmares has a history of beating two of these shows. So the most likely challenger would appear to be Undercover Boss, but I'll stick with the incumbent until it proves otherwise.

---

9/8c

Winter Broadcast: Primetime: What Would You Do? (ABC, 1/20) vs. CSI: NY (CBS) vs. Grimm (NBC) vs. Fringe (Fox) vs. Supernatural (CW)

Spring Broadcast: Primetime: What Would You Do? (ABC) vs. A Gifted Man (CBS, 2/17) vs. Grimm (NBC) vs. Fringe (Fox) vs. Supernatural (CW)

Cable: Friday Night Smackdown! (Syfy)

Projected A18-49 winner: CSI: NY (CBS)

Notes: Genre logjam! As always, I'm taking "old money." Grimm had an ever-so-slightly higher average than NY this fall, but CSI: NY won their last head-to-head meeting 1.7 to 1.6 back on November 18. If absence has made the heart fonder for What Would You Do?, it could be a contender. It was getting upper-1s back in fall 2010.

---

10/9c

Winter/Spring Broadcast: 20/20 (ABC) vs. Blue Bloods (CBS) vs. Dateline (NBC)

Cable: Merlin (Syfy, 1/6), Spartacus (Starz, 1/27)

Projected A18-49 winner: Blue Bloods (CBS)

Notes: Newsmagazine logjam! This was the only all-original timeslot to return totally intact from 2010-11. It feels like it could be that way deep into the future, unless circumstances warrant CBS moving down Blue Bloods to use as a lead-in.

---

Other Midseason Matchups:
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Sunday