After digging into some more research, I have found a critic who has some more risky and bold predictions for The Player, as it premieres tomorrow night, Thursday, at 10pm. Although NBC has put a majority of advertising campaign and strategic planning into its other premiering show, The Blindspot, one critic believes this might all backfire. The Blindspot might be more in the public eye, but the line up does not flow the same as the Thursday night show. For example, The Player follows The Blacklist and Heroes Reborn in a smooth transition of high energy, dramatic television.

Conversely, The Blindspot premiered on a Monday night following NBC’s The Voice. These are bound to be two very different audiences: light-hearted vs. intense and calculating. There is also The Player‘s star appeal. Where The Blindspot‘s original plot is what will draw new audiences to the show, The Player has Wesley Snipes and all the bells and whistles of an action dramedy. In future blogs, I look forward to comparing two of the shows NBC has decided to launch.

A scene from Monday night’s series premiere of “Life in Pieces” starring Dianne West and James Brolin.

On Monday night, CBS debuted its newest comedy, Life in Pieces, immediately following the season premiere of The Bing Bang Theory. According to TV by the Numbers, Life in Pieces drew in 11.28 million viewers for a 2.6 rating and a 9% share in the 18-49 demographic. Life in Pieces retained a good portion of The Big Bang Theory’s audience of 18.20 million for overall strong premiere numbers.

Life in Pieces was only completely outperformed by one of its competitors. The season premiere of The Voice pulled in 12.37 million viewers for an 18-49 rating of 3.5 and 11% share. On ABC, the second week of Dancing with the Stars didn’t fair very well in the 18-49 demographic with a 1.8 rating and 6% share, even though it pulled in 11.46 million viewers. Life in Pieces completely outperformed the season two premiere of Gotham on FOX, which had 4.57 million viewers and a 1.6 rating and 5% share among 18-49 viewers.

Early reviews of Life in Pieces have been mostly favorable, so it will be interesting to see how much of the audience will return next week for episode two.

The Code Black premiere is still a couple weeks away, but the media has been buzzing about the show’s cast. Marcia Gay Harden, who is well known for her roles in Into the Wild, Pollock, Mystic River, and various guest roles in television shows including Damages, The Newsroom, and How to Get Away with Murder will play the lead, Dr. Leanne Rorish. Originally, Harden was cast to play the supporting role of Christa Lorenson, with Maggie Grace casted as Dr.Rorish.  When Grace left the project because the producers felt she was too young,Harden took over the lead role. Dr. Rorish is known for preforming high risk procedures, and her title as a no nonsenseResidency Director earns her the nickname of “Daddy.”

Actress Bonnie Somerville was then given the part of Christa, and the producers changed the character to be younger than originally planned. In addition, Luiz Guzman is set to play head nurse Jesse Salander who is referred to as “Mama” and is responsible for managing the residents.

Behind the scenes, Code Black is written and produced by Michael Seitzman, and directed by David Semel. Other producers include Marti Nixon who is known for her recent work on Unreal, and Linda Goldstein-Knowlton.

Cast of CBS Code Black