I'm not saying they should air it in the Wild At Heart slot, but don't ITV1 hold the rights to Thunderbirds? I'm surprised they haven't tried to do something with that but maybe they think it'd cost too much to make new episodes.


Holby City and Casualty could run in tandem in their current slots; maybe Casualty in the spring and autumn (to counter The X Factor) and Holby City in the winter and summer. 13 episodes per series would work well.

I'm not saying the soaps should have a massive break - just, say, six weeks over the school summer holidays; end on a cliffhanger, try some new programming in the interveneing period (going by AIs and share to see if it'd be worth making another series) then bringing them back in the first week of September.

E4 is stating to annoy me.

looking at Digiguide, bioth TBBT and HIMYM will be in repeat, and for some reason E4 doubles up on The Cleveland Show (episodes 5 & 6) only to then repeat episode 6 the next week. This is somewhat confusing. I am alos betting both TBBT and HIMYM will have delayed returns.

If the problem is to do with Allen Gegorey, they might as well pull it now and not let it mess up the schedule.

Reduce Casualty to around 30 episodes a year from September to March, so you can do a repeat of some episodes in the summer (like they did in the 90's), and reduce Holby to 30 episodes from October to June, clearing the summer schedule for some fresh programming.

Thanks; about average then.


IMO, they do have the money. Taking the current programming, just have a slight rejig (FANTASY SCHEDULE WARNING):

I think it may have been when the "dare" was accepted, but not when it was done - though iirc he did get a giant round of applause at the leaving party.

Similar things were said when The West Wing was in development in the US. In general though I think a lot of people tend to underestimate that part of the appeal of The West Wing is that its a show about how politics should be rather than how it actually is. I think that appeal travels internationally but I also think the major stumbling block for a 'UK West Wing' will always be how high the bar will be quality wise. It would have to be brilliant and not because its a 'UK West Wing' but because otherwise people won't watch it. If The West Wing had been a fantastic drama it wouldn't have been so successful in the US.

In truth I think this is the kind of show that Channel 4 should be looking at.


I think its interesting that in the UK we tend to lead more toward dealing with politics as comedy and satire rather than as drama. If I remember rightly ITV did a 'drama' about John Prescott a few years ago that ultimately just became a very broad comedy and Channel 4 did a drama about Blair in the aftermath of the Iraq war that was more comedy and satire than drama. But of course despite this readiness to tackle politics like that we don't have anything like The Daily Show. Its strange.

Eventually ITV1 needs to sort out the primetime schedules, and I have to say I think the best move would be to undo most of Simon Shaps's terrible work. A little bit of reorganising would pay dividends and open up slots in logical places across the week.

Corrie should return to the classic, glory schedule of Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 19.30 with the fifth episode at 20.30 on Monday.

Emmerdale? Sunday to Friday, 19.00. No double episodes, hour eps, clashes... bring the soaps back to the pre-Shaps era! As I said in my last post it still can work with XF on Sundays with 19.00 Em 19.30 CS 20.00 The X Factor 21.00 Downton. A dynamite schedule!

This way, apart from Mondays, there is no soap after 8pm on weeknights. The Corrie lead-ins aren't what they were now, and audiences are too savvy to care. So give up the 8.30pm Corries apart from Mondays where it works fine.

This opens up Wednesday at 20.00 for pre-watershed commissions. ITV need to reintroduce pre-watershed drama to the schedule, something sorely lacking since the glory days of The Bill (before it was butchered into an early grave).

I'd potentially put Wild at Heart here too (it wouldn't fit if ED/CS returned to Sundays), and commission some new series to potentially expand into more permanent fixtures - as others mentioned, The Bill with firemen instead of police would work well I reckon!

While arguably Tuesdays and Thursdays would be a tad weak in the 8pm hour, football will be on Tuesdays a lot of the time and I reckon airing quizzes on non-football weeks, with factual at 9pm would be a good bet. Tuesdays are a write-off anyway, so ITV should properly focus on Wednesdays and Thursdays, especially at 8pm.

That said, a full series of Family Fortunes with non-celebrities could work at 8pm on Tuesday in non-football weeks (a good alternative to Holby), followed by those factual journey shows ITV seem to love lately.

As for Thursdays at 20.00, eventually I would aim for a second pre-watershed drama slot, but this would take a while to establish. In the mean time, two-hour dramas from 8pm like Midsomer Murders could be placed here.

Fridays should be comedy and chat, so sitcoms could be launched at 20.30 with Jonathan Ross at 21.00?

Yes, doing all this would sort some problems out and yes, I fully concede it would create new issues. But the current schedule blocks are really not working in the interests of a diverse schedule.

ITV1 will eventually have nothing left to fall back on if it doesn't try and find new ratings bankers for weeknights - that's why it's crucial to re-open the 8pm hour on Wednesdays and Thursdays. The soaps can't prop the channel up forever, and as said, audiences are savvy these days and lead-ins are increasingly meaning nothing - so having the slots available to be creative and flexible are key for a stronger future!

I don't think he needs to cancel either of them. They both remain popular with viewers and reliable performers but I can't see any harm in cutting down the episode order for both shows to free up space (and money) for new shows. It also allows them a little more flexibility with their schedules. As an example I still cannot understand why they'd want to air Casualty alongside The Voice. It seems to me that if you're spending large sums of money on a new reality show to appeal to younger views sticking a decades old drama on the schedule with it probably isn't sending out the right message.

They really should have been developing a new Saturday night schedule to line-up with The Voice but they can't because they're tied into so many episodes of Casualty and to a lesser extent the National Lottery.


The film left the brand rather tainted with both old and new audiences. That the Captain Scarlet remake didn't set the world alight probably didn't help matters either. Although I'm sure Gerry Anderson was talking about a revival last year.

Wednesday Feb 28th 2007
CONFESSIONS OF A DIARY SECRETARY (WED 2102) 4.45 million

Have I Got News For You and Mock The Week satirize politics here week in week out, a UK show like Colbert or Daily Show would struggle here - they have a cult following in the US but they don't really pull in the ratings.

I concur with James J, the soaps should depart the schedule at their traditional time of 8pm. The soap overkill and double episodes smacks of the cheap and nasty ITV1 schedules of the noughties. Also the big two soaps are no longer the ratings monsters they used to be and I am sure the overkill that started in the late nineties can be cut back with few complaints.
ITV1 needs to wake up and realise many of their shows are becoming old now and need to find replacements for them. I am sure if by 2015 they are still churning out tired celebrity versions of Millionaire and ageing reality formats their ratings will regularly be below 10 per cent.

I think one of the biggest mistakes schedulers (and some people on here) make is to think viewers want evenings to be beautifully themed and targeted to perfectly matched demos.

Thousands of gameshow fans have voted in the prestigious http://www.ukgameshows.com/ Poll of the Year. The results are in...

- Secret Fortune voted the best new gameshow format of 2011.
- Red or Black voted the worst new gameshow of 2011.
- Only Connect voted overall as the best gameshow of 2011.

For all the results: http://www.ukgameshows.com/ukgs/Poll_of_the_Year_2011

I see the logic of what you're saying but Stevenson spoke explicitly of cutting back on the tired old formats the BBC was relying on year after year, So far he hasn't done anything to match his words. We have the same tired old formats being churned out week after week after week. ITV, which has to earn every penny it spends, might have some excuse but the BBC is in unique position and shouldn't be at the bottom of the barrel so often.

The announcement last week of new drama was good news - until one reached Stevenson's self-congratulatory justification.

Cutting down on episodes seems a good compromise. An acknowledgement that change shouldn't be too radical but also a statement that the BBC isn't being lazy and resting on its well-funded laurels. There are a lot of talented writers out there (look at Radio 4, numpty BBC TV execs) who may not have churned out episode after episode of puerile soap but who have a lot to offer.

The ridiculous soap schedule is what's strangling ITV1. Do they have enough two hour dramas to take up Wednesday and Thurday? The second question is can they afford to open up pre-watershed in the 8pm hour? Surely it would be less of a risk for them to open up a couple of 7pm hours for new pre-watershed programming with the soaps bringing the viewers back in if need be; say:

Monday: as now
Tuesday and Thursday: 8pm Coronation Street; 8.30pm Emmerdale
Wednesday: as now
Friday: 7pm-8pm Emmerdale; 8.30pm Coronation Street

Coronation Street has a neater schedule which is spread throughout the week; Emmerdale's sixth episode is neatly tacked on to a current episode rather than clumsily scheduled in an 8pm slot and the 8.30pm episodeshave a Coronation Street lead in to support them. More importantly they claim the centre of primetime allowing the 7pm slot on Tuesday and Thursday to be a breeding ground for new dramas with the first half hour against The One Show.

I like the weekends being soap free and to be honest I think that's one good move from ITV1. They just need to be more creative and inventive with the 7pm slot especually on Sunday's when the reality shows aren't airing.

In an ideal scheduler's world all shows would start at :00 and :30 past the hour. The 5 main channels would cater to all demographics throughout the night and programmes that appeal to say 18-34 would start 6:00,7:00,8:00 etc.... UK TV viewing consumption is very high indeed - with half of UK adults regularly watching TV in primetime.

It was a shame that last night's schedule on BBC1/ITV1 was askew, there was little chance for viewers to switch channels watching live - timeshift comes in handy but with solid programming on both channels for 2.5-3.5 hours there was just too much on for some viewers to watch everything in one evening.

Few gameshows of any sort of quality or depth launched in 2011 then?

Secret Fortune just cherrypicked successful elements of existing gameshows and blended them together, churning out something vaguely satisfying the first time, before the novelty soon wore off in subsequent viewings. It doesn't even come close to the great Lottery formats of old, but we've had this discussion before and it's clear they are going to leave the good ones dead and buried in favour of fresher more dumbed down ideas.

Gameshows these days are just too gimmicky and horrible. Eggheads and Only Connect are the only ones worth my time. Oh, and Countdown, but I haven't warmed to Nick Hewer as host at all. A cardboard cutout in the hosting chair would probably bring more warmth and charisma to proceedings.

Don't forget with those fantasy schedules that ITV1 only airs on average about 3 hours of drama per week (excluding soaps). Usually it's about 4-6hrs per week in Q1, 3-5hrs in Q2, 0-2hrs in Q3 and 4-5hrs in Q4 pre-December.

So if as suggested, Wednesday and Thursday 8-10pm should be turned into drama slots, that'd basically mean no other night (such as the important Sunday/Monday evenings) would be able to have drama most weeks based on the current budget. That's why it'd only be really worthwhile for them to move the soaps out of the 8pm hour if they commit to a larger drama budget, which I'm not sure they're willing to do (apart from maybe 2013).

What a dire schedule, it's even worse than now frankly. Emmerdale for an hour on Friday and Thursdays at 8.30? Also, what happens when the football returns to Tuesdays?

Why are people on here so resistant to restoring the classic ITV Sunday? Is it because the BBC are basically owning Sundays now with the magic mix of older-skewing shows and decent dramas?

Corrie feels right on Sundays, it still does after all these years. My Mum still says she expects it to be on Sundays and misses it on a Sunday night.

Completely agree about Secret Fortune, it really isn't very good. There aren't many good gameshows around - I'm a bit fed up of Eggheads although Countdown is normally worth a watch. Deal or No Deal is still a decent watch in small doses too, but by that I mean I can only watch it every so often without getting fed up of it (the silly fancy dress shows every other week are irritating too). I'm fed up of The Cube now too.

I think the best gameshows on TV right now are the two 5pm shows: Pointless and The Chase. Both are just great shows and it's a shame they have to clash. The Chase edges it for me in terms of sheer entertainment mixed with a really neat quiz format (and plenty of questions too, unlike certain gameshows in primetime that can drag 7 or 8 questions out over more than an hour - Million Pound Drop I'm looking at you!). Both shows deserve their success and both deserve primetime outings as they're both infinitely better than anything the main channels are coming out with in primetime just now (ie. Secret Fortune, High Stakes, Exit List, The Bank Job - all rubbish).

Yeah, I knew it was a bit much. But there has got to be other programming they can put there.

Fact is, Sunday nights would be absolute bankers with the soaps starting them off. Yes, they've axed all their 8pm Sunday dramas bar WaH but it still hooks viewers back to the traditional ITV Sunday. Sundays used to be one of ITV's strongest days, then Simon Shaps blew it to bits for the sake of The X Factor results in the last few months of the year and Dancing on Ice at the start.

As for Wednesdays, they can be restored hopefully when the footie goes, with Corrie at 19.30 and (hopefully) pre-watershed drama that has been promised for 20.00. Again, used to be such a banker for ITV with Corrie, The Bill and whatever was at 9pm. And again, DESTROYED by Simon Shaps.

I've gone into ITV1 mode tonight and it hurts. The channel's in such a state generally, it does my head in. I genuinely think Simon Shaps was the worst channel controller ever, even worse than Jay Hunt.

I think the general consensus on here is that there's not much else ITV could do - certainly that's what I've always gleaned from rzt who despite his deep knowledge cannot provide any suggestions for improvement to ITV1's schedule.

Maybe from a money perspective it's as "good" as it can be. As a viewer it reeks, is disorganised and sloppy and sums up ITV1 as the largely cheap channel it is, with a couple of gems here and there if you look hard enough.

Switch the Tuesday and Wednesday schedules around so non-football Tuesday's are supported by two hour dramas.

It isn't that bad for Emmerdale; it has some kind of pattern to it (7-8.30-7-8.30-7) and it would be supported by Coronation Street in the 8pm hour. They're never going to get rid of that sixth episode now.

All that would happen if the 'classic' schedule returned is ITV would potentially collapse in the 8pm hour, like every Tuesday at the moment. They've lost The Bill which sustained Wednesday and Thursday. They could become competitive in the 7pm due to BBC One's deference to The One Show, even if it is with documentaries and quiz shows. They wouldn't succeed in the 8pm against the nature documentaries, Holby City and Watchdog.


Because the soaps tended to rate lower on Sunday nights then any other night of the week? Plus it immediately makes the schedule skew older on a night when most 18-34s are inside preparing for work the next day. Yes, BBC One's schedule did brilliantly yesterday but I bet demo wise ITV1 did better (up to Sherlock anyway). I can understand the temptation and it would improve the schedule but at what cost - especially to Thursday's.

The soaps stranglehold on ITV1 means they have absolutely nothing to offer other viewers on Monday, Thursday and Friday nights until 9pm. It seems to be stifling any other kind of programming and it's time ITV looked at cutting back this overkill with two shows that often don't top the ratings now.
Just as no one rioted in the streets when the soaps were moved from Sunday, I'm sure ending them at 8pm would make sense.

What a nonsense statement to make.

They are trying to find replacements, hence why every year they air programmes that are new!

A few comments to throw in

All this talk about axing soaps to 'open up' the schedule.

You aren't factoring in that opening up the schedule may result in the BBC slotting in a popular show and therefore taking the slot for good. All mock schedules assume the BBC will just carry on as normal and wouldn't immediately make Waterloo Road run all year round Thursdays at 8pm for example.

Also, we have seen time and time again, that 'opened up' schedules mean no hook to get viewers in and hence nobody bothers with the schedule at all.

It was pretty much a naff year for new shows. I could've named loads that would qualify for the worst show than the best show of 2011.

If you look here, we've had some stinkers.
http://ukgameshows.com/ukgs/New_Shows

Red or Black
Don't Scare the Hare
The Marriage Ref
Signed by Katie Price
Quiz Trippers
High Stakes
Sing if You Can
Born to Shine
Show Me the Funny