ITV Discussion Thread

Trial and Retribution should becoming to an end soon too - think it was a 10-episode run.

Taggart is listed as a new series, so perhaps after tonight's episode more episodes will air on Thursdays - or Pushing Daisies could take the slot.

Trial and Retribution is 16 episodes.

Anyway, as I presume ITV are sticking to their guns with the soap-free weekends, it will be inevitable that we see Britain's Got Talent weekly on a Sunday and The X Factor results (if not the whole show) on Sunday. Fundamentally with the schedule I would suggest the following changes. (apologies to those who get riled by these 'fantasy' grids, I just think they are a good way of setting out a schedule)

http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/2561/itvlate08mu1.gif

Changes:
1. Moving of the 2-hour sleepy dramas (Lewis, Marple, Poirot, Midsomers etc) to Friday at 8pm. Friday is a night where the older audience will be in and these shows in this timeslot would harness that demographic.
2. Removal of Corrie's second Friday episode and Emmerdale's hour-long Tuesday, bringing Corrie back to 4 a week and Emmerdale 5. Healthy - and commercially justifiable.
3. Moving The Bill's Wednesday episode to Tuesday. With Holby City soon being shunted to Thursday while the inferior Holby Blue's series 2 plays out, ITV should pit the better cop show on their channel against it and reclaim Tuesday at 9pm it lost years back. This would also mean less episodes a year as in Champions League weeks there would be no Tuesday ep.
4. Extension of News at Ten to every weeknight, for the general stability and structural benefit of the schedule.

That's all. I think that would help boost the all-hours shares, especially on Friday.

In other news, how on earth will ITV cope when I'm a Celebrity returns? Or another Hell's Kitchen series we learnt would be happening last year? Will they clear the whole slate of 9pm dramas for these shows or... what?

They will do like they do every year, all the 9pm dramas will conveinantly end just before I'm a Celeb starts

Pretty much agree with your weekday schedule, though wouldn't bother with the second edition of Tonight (a shift from quantity to quality wouldn't do it any harm), instead having The Bill on Tuesday and Wednesday and then Millionaire (or something new) on Thursdays.


Weekends are still a problem though - Sunday is only surviving currently as it's nicked the crown jewels from Saturday, which really is struggling without them.

Yep, it's loosely based on that game.

Ooh, Peter Fincham is replacing Simon Shaps at ITV!

Probably the best thing that's happened at ITV since Michael Grade arrived, though he himself has also been rewarded for the outstanding performance of his new schedule with an extra year on his contract.

Don't get too excited - he might end up kowtowing to shareholders like Michael Grade did.

Here's news of the shake-up as reported on the Digital Spy website:

Fincham replaces Shaps in ITV shake-up

Well thank god for that. Shaps has pretty much proved he was never really up to the job. I'm quite excited about this appointment.

I saw the end of Trial and Retribution today. I've never seen it but it looks like a superb, gripping, well-shot drama.

Anyway, the atmosphere was utterly spoiled with that DISGUSTING too tall, blue bar 'NEXT TIME' strap and then the blue bar credits.

Monstrous creations, saddening to see them still in existence. Let's hope Fincham as controller of ITV1 orders a total revamp of all presentation on the channel, abolishing these hideous creations forever.

I know the credits don't make the programme but it does add a sort of ... generic ITV feel to the show itself in my mind. It almost strips some of the originality away, somehow. I'm not sure, maybe it's just me.