Forecaster: "Timeless" and "Conviction" face off in a battle of new shows

Conviction (ABC) First Look Featurette HD
Forecaster: Timeless and Conviction face off in a battle of newshows

One of the more intriguing timeslot battles of the new season kicks off Monday, as ABC, CBS and NBC all bring their 10 p.m. shows on line.

In the long term, CBS Scorpion probably sets up as the healthiest of the three. Its already an established show, and by the midpoint of the season (if not sooner) it would be no surprise to see it at the top of the 10 oclock heap.

The face-off between two new shows one of which will feel very familiar and the other of which is part of a big trend this season will be pretty interesting to watch.

The more familiar show is ABCs Conviction, about a former first daughter (Hayley Atwell, back on ABC after Agent Carter) whos put in charge of a conviction integrity unit i.e., checking whether people in prison should really be there at the Manhattan D.A.s office. Its a procedural with a charismatic lead, just like the show its replacing, Castle, was, and the dynamics between Atwells cynical character and her more idealistic colleagues will be familiar to anyone whos ever watched House.

NBCs Timeless, meanwhile, sends its three leads (Abigail Spencer, Malcolm Barrett and Matt Lanter) traveling through time (the pilot sends them to the date of the Hindenburg blimp explosion) to chase a criminal (Goran Visnjic) whos stolen another time machine with the intent of changing history to destroy the current present. Its one of four new shows with a time-travel element this season (Frequency, Time After Time and Making History are the others), and it gets to be first out of the gate.

Since it has The Voice as a lead-in, Timeless will likely put up a better premiere number than Conviction on Monday night. But it will be interesting to see how the two shows play out in the ratings over the course of the fall. Will novelty and a strong lead-in keep Timeless up, or will viewers go more for the tried-and-true formula of Conviction?

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Source: http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2016/10/03/forecaster-timeless-and-conviction-face-off-in-a-battle-of-new-shows/