Flow

Flow is important in TV programming. It's not nearly as important and developing shows that people like, but it still makes a difference. Each network hopes one show will lead into the next so viewers keep watching.

Ugly Betty is a new show that ABC has high hopes for. It's somewhat similar to the hit movie The Devil Wears Prada, and has tested well, so they've given it a good slot on Thursdays at 8 right before their biggest hit, Grey's Anatomy. It has a good shot at doing just fine, but I wonder if this was the best spot for it. The show has a light feel, and the characters often play like caricatures. It's a lot like Desperate Housewives, in fact, but is different enough--less outrageous melodrama--that it wouldn't feel like a repeat if it followed that show. (Last season ABC tried to follow Lost with another ensemble serial full of mystery, Invasion, and it didn't really work.)

Meanwhile, Brother's & Sisters, a (somewhat dreary) show that deals with numerous interpersonal relationships, seems more cut from the same cloth as Grey's Anatomy. ABC has given it the plum slot following Desperate Houseewives where Grey's Anatomy itself became a hit. It doesn't seem to follow that well from the wilder Housewives, and may have played better near Anatomy.

Meanwhile, the oddest night of TV is NBC on Monday: Deal Or No Deal, Heroes and Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip. These are three shows with the potential to do well, but are all very different--a game show, a comic book come to life, and a realistic drama with witty dialogue.