The Number One Thing All Courtroom Dramas Get Wrong

I used to have a job for three different counties and two different companies where I did background checks on people and it required me to spend time at different courthouses. While I have never once seen a courtroom in action, I can tell you that television gets a major thing wrong about how it comes to handling cases in a court of law. And it’s all of them too. I know that the title of this post makes it seem like I’m singling out just courtroom dramas, but I do mean that it could be considered any show on TV that features courtrooms in it at some point or another.

 

That thing is this: cell phones. You cannot bring cell phones into a courthouse. You will get in serious trouble. And, yes, this includes lawyers and judges. You cannot bring cell phones in there. There is a sign outside of the courtrooms that says absolutely no cell phones allowed. If this happens in a small town like what I live in, then it certainly would happen in the big cities that shows are often set in.

 

What would the punishment for having a cell phone in a courtroom be? I’m not sure. But I’m almost certain that it wouldn’t be what you’d see in TV shows. It wouldn’t be judges getting mildly annoyed. It would likely be them being arrested on the spot for contempt of court.

 

That’s why it’s annoying that every show that uses scenes in a courtroom gets this wrong. I mean, you’d think that with all of the legal analysis and experts that they use to get a show as accurate as possible, they would get something as simple as no cell phones in a courtroom right. Have none of these writers done something as simple as visit a courtroom to see a case happen? I would at some point. That is why I’m upset that this is always wrong.

Notes on the Current NBC Schedule: 2022 Version

This might be the only time that I do a post like this covering this network, but we’ll see. It could happen again, but I’ll never know for sure. With me now possibly watching every new show on this network for the foreseeable future, I might as well cover what this network will be like.

 

It is just a bit difficult actually to keep track of this network entirely as it airs Sunday Night Football and then airs shows on primetime on Sundays only after football season is over. I might do a part two of this post then once we know what the midseason schedule is like. It is hard for this network to get viewers for their Sunday shows, which is ironic since its primetime Sunday Night Football is the highest rated show each television season. The Sunday shows that had aired new episodes last year were Weakest Link, Transplant, and The Courtship after the Olympics and the summer show of Who Do You Think You Are? I don’t care about the summer schedule when I do posts like these.

 

Let’s cover the new shows. I’m first going to cover the fall ones, then midseason. The only two new fall ones right now are Quantum Leap and Lopez versus Lopez. The midseason ones that are coming are Found, LA Fire and Rescue, Night Court, and The Wheel.

 

The NBC shows that were cancelled shows from last season that we know thus far are America’s Got Talent: Extreme, The Courtship (which moved to USA Network), The Endgame, Home Sweet Home (which moved to Peacock), Kenan, Mr. Mayor, Ordinary Joe, The Thing about Pam, and This is Us.

 

When it comes to what replaced what, let’s see if I can figure this all out. I’m ignoring the Sunday shows as I don’t know what could happen with them yet. I won’t know until later what Magnum P.I. will be replacing on this network. I hope that it doesn’t turn into Brooklyn Nine-Nine where it airs later and later each season over and over again. There are other things I won’t know until later.

 

Anyways, both Ordinary Joe and The Endgame were replaced now by Quantum Leap. La Brea returns to replace the show This is Us which had already once replaced La Brea. Meanwhile, Capital One College Bowl is temporarily replacing The Blacklist. Mr. Mayor is effectively replaced by Lopez versus Lopez. Kenan was replaced by part of The Voice. That’s all that I can think of mentioning for now.

 

Note that this will be the last Saturday update for a while. Some might reappear from time to time in the future. The updates will be random at times as usual and continue weekly on Fridays for a while now for the foreseeable future. Enjoy them while you can.

Notes on the Current CBS Schedule: 2022 Version

You might have wondered where this post was last year. I thought that I wouldn’t be doing a post on this or any other network again. But then something unusual happened. CBS cancelled a highly rated show called Magnum P.I. over issues with NBC. After about a month or so of legal wrangling, NBC got to uncancel Magnum P.I. and thus brought it back for not one but two new seasons. I used to have a rule where I would watch any new CBS show at least once that I still haven’t brought back and possibly never will. I might do that with NBC now instead in addition to the networks of the CW and FOX. Still, I am going to bring back this post for this network this year. Don’t expect it back again.

 

The new shows that will air on CBS in the fall are East New York, The Real Love Boat, So Help me Todd, and Fire Country. I will only certainly be watching just the first one and probably none of the others. The two new shows at midseason are Superfan and True Lies.

 

The shows that were cancelled after the last season were Beyond the Edge, B Positive, Bull, Come Dance with Me (unofficially), Good Sam, How We Roll, and United States of Al. They also got rid of Magnum P.I. which is now moving to NBC as mentioned before and SEAL Team moved to Paramount+.

 

Going to what replaced what, I’ll mention a show by show breakdown. East New York replaced Come Dance with Me. Fire Country replaced Magnum P.I. CSI: Vegas is replacing Bull. So Help Me Todd replaced the comedies of both United States of Al and How We Roll. The Real Love Boat replaced Beyond the Edge. The Amazing Race replaced Good Sam. That’s all, folks.

 

Tomorrow’s post will cover NBC’s schedule with a bit more effort in it. I know that I did not go to the whole replacement of what happened with B Positive or SEAL Team, the only ones that didn’t return that left the season early. There are some other scheduling things covered in the most recent cast update of CSI: Cyber that I did. I won’t go any further and will end this post here.

My Planned Viewing Habits: Fall of 2022

I realize that there is not much time for me to cover some of the upcoming stuff about the fall season as it is about to start really soon. But I can still rush this post. You will now be seeing weekly posts of this blog on Fridays for the foreseeable future with one last post planned for a Saturday soon. I will bring back at least one post you haven’t seen in a while before getting to other, long delayed ones that I hope to get done sooner rather than later. Anyways, let’s get to the planned viewing habits that I might have going into fall of 2022.

 

There won’t be too many late airing summer shows that will mess things up. The only real ones that are still airing anything that I watch now are the CW shows of Bump and Leonardo, neither of which will be lasting that long this season. Another one could count, but I’m going to mention that among the shows that I watch in the regular season.

 

There are some networks I watch all new shows on. But that rule doesn’t apply to spin-offs of shows that I don’t watch. I’ll be watching the new CW shows of Family Law, Professionals, and Criss Angel’s Magic with the Stars. On FOX, I’ll be watching nothing, having already checked out Monarch and not being into it anymore. And that’s good since it gives me a chance to watch another show that is new then that I wouldn’t have seen likely, although I can record three shows while watching a fourth live. It is just not something that ever happens.

 

I may be watching every new NBC show from this point forward. But we’ll see. The new ones that they will be showing this fall are Lopez versus Lopez and Quantum Leap. The second one is a new show, even if it is considered a continuation of the original.

 

The other new shows on other networks that I plan to check out are the show of East New York on CBS and the show of The Rookie: Feds. I might get into the other ABC show I might watch at some point in time in the wildcard section.

 

Then there’s the stuff not on at fall that I still care about. I won’t even know what all will be coming back for sure. So I’m going to mention all of them, in no particular order: The Flash, Nancy Drew, Superman and Lois, 9-1-1: Lone Star, Magnum P.I., and Would I Lie to You?

 

Of course, there are the usual wildcards such as some of the FOX Sunday shows. While I’m not going to include any of the midseason wildcards yet, I will mention some of the uncertainties of this season. I’m unsure if I’ll check out Fire Country yet. I don’t yet know if I’ll check out Law & Order beyond the crossover premiere. Those are so common now, I should do a post on that. I may get into Chicago P.D. I could also do The Amazing Race instead while it is on. I’m unsure yet if I’ll check out Celebrity Jeopardy! It would only happen if nothing else is on that time. If I like Family Law, I might not watch either The Simpsons or The Great North. I am not planning to watch Bob’s Burgers or Family Guy as long as I am watching Coroner on the CW or I like East New York.

 

The returning shows that I’m still into are The Rookie, NCIS: Los Angeles, The Equalizer, Coroner, NCIS, NCIS: Hawaii, The Good Doctor, FBI, FBI: Most Wanted, FBI: International, The Resident, La Brea, New Amsterdam, Survivor, Stargirl, Home Economics, Kung Fu, Lego Masters, Grey’s Anatomy, Station 19, Ghosts, CSI: Vegas, Young Sheldon, Law and Order: SVU, Law and Order: Organized Crime, S.W.A.T., Blue Bloods, and Whose Line is it Anyways?

 

After the last season, there are a lot of shows that I’m not into anymore. Big Sky had disappointed me far too much so I’m not watching it again. The Masked Singer had a controversial contestant and while I already wasn’t watching it, I’m not going to for sure at all, although I’m still going to look up who is on each episode, which I don’t have to watch to figure that out. The other show that I bid farewell to is Riverdale which isn’t on during the fall, but is still not something I’ll return to even knowing that it is ending since it is failing me that big.

 

As usual, I’m going to close this out by saying that I’m unsure if plans will stay or not. I have no idea how much of shows I might miss due to poor reception problems. I may miss a lot of shows for various reasons. I do still blog about Survivor and CSI: Vegas so those two are almost the only certainty of what I will be watching no matter what.

Summer Shows 2022 Part 2

I had wanted to see Generation Gap at one point in time, but I don’t care enough to see it right now and might not see it at all ever. I’ve had a largely leisurely summer free from seeing a lot of shows at all most of the time. I am starting to think that I may cut down on TV like this in the regular season too like I did on Wednesdays earlier this year around Lent. As for why you haven’t seen this blog on Saturdays, it has been due to me having to share it with other blogs. I am hoping that I can get this on other days of the week since not one but two of them are open now for weekly updates. I have a lot of posts that I want to get done, some sooner rather than later, but it might not happen at all. I also want to get reviews of some regular season shows more updated than they have been in the past to be more in sync if you will with itself if that makes sense.

 

Bump: Show Description- A teenager who didn’t know she was pregnant winds up dealing with a lot of family drama beyond just being a new mom while still in high school. Behind the Scenes- This is a show from Australia that is airing in the US. It is only half an hour so I’m unsure if this is supposed to be a comedy or a drama that’s shorter. I see it as more of a drama than a comedy. My Thoughts- Parts of this seem interesting and worth seeing what happens. Other parts of this seem dumb or otherwise not work such as the extent of some of the drama going on at once. Long Term Prospects- I have no idea if this will last or not. Where to Find- On the CW at 8/7 Central on Thursdays

 

Leonardo: Show Description- This is a show about a potential murder charge being brought against the famous Leonardo Da Vinci and some of the story leading into it. I am unsure if this is based on real events or completely made up. The fact that this is promoted as fiction leads me to think that this is more likely made up. Behind the Scenes- This is another foreign import, although I forget which country this originates from. Freddie Highmore from The Good Doctor is on this show. My Thoughts- I’m not entirely sure what I think about this show. I think that I like it enough just to see what happens in this and then later look up if this is anywhere close to reality or not. It seems boring enough in some places and unfocused at times. But it also has a good enough story to keep up with. Long Term Prospects- I am thinking that this is likely to be a self contained story that won’t last much beyond what we get this season. Where to Find- On the CW at 8/7 Central on Tuesdays

 

Password: Show Description- This is a game show where people have to guess a word using only one word hints to figure it out. Behind the Scenes- This is a revival of this same classic game show that has been on a lot in the past. Jimmy Fallon from Saturday Night Live and The Tonight Show is on this show a lot, helping the ordinary contestants win. My Thoughts- It seems to work, although it can also seem a bit boring at times. Long Term Prospects- This will probably last, although I’m unsure if it will since you can never tell with these. Where to Find- On NBC at 10/9 Central on Tuesdays

 

I’m now going to switch to existing shows. I realized when I did a random control f in the document that I use this blog for that I couldn’t find something that should have been here so I’m going to update this to include this if I haven’t already. I have no idea where that review is. I’d have to check the archives of this blog to see where it might.

 

Press Your Luck: Status- Currently on ABC during the summer. Why I’ve seen it- I was interested in this. Noteworthiness- This is a revival of the classic syndicated game show. Description- Contestants have to win prizes while avoiding whammies that take away everything they’ve won thus far. Pros- The show is fun to watch and keep track of. I actually want to be on it sometime. Cons- This can seem long and drawn out at times. Note to Parents- I’m not sure if there is much, if anything, wrong with this in terms of whether or not people can watch. This is PG, so you’ll have to see why. Recommendation- I like it so I think that you should watch it too. My Viewing Habits- I watch what I can of this when the show comes in. Prediction- This will probably keep lasting. Reception: somewhat good. Grade: B. New review?

 

Great Chocolate Showdown: Status- Currently on the CW at 9/8 Central on Thursdays. Why I’ve seen it- I tend to watch a new CW show at least once. Noteworthiness- This is a Canadian show airing here in the US. Description- Various contestants compete in a food competition where they deal with different chocolate creations. Pros- The food is always interesting and not just the same old thing over and over again. Cons- Its biggest flaw is that not all of the contestants get their food eaten during the first round which doesn’t seem fair. Note to Parents- There is nothing wrong that I can think about this outside of maybe LGBT contestants. I don’t find that wrong, by the way. I only mention that in case someone else finds it wrong. Recommendation- This might be good if you aren’t busy with other things. My Viewing Habits- I haven’t seen every episode, but have liked it since the first one. Prediction- It already has a third season in Canada while airing its second one right now in the US. I am pretty sure that it will keep airing in both countries. Reception: great. Grade: B.

 

Stargirl: Status- Currently on the CW at 8/7 Central on Wednesdays. Why I’ve seen it- It looked good and interesting. Noteworthiness- This is adapted from the Stargirl comics by DC comics. Description- A teenage girl gets a cosmic staff believed to be from her father that turns her into a mystic superhero called Stargirl. Notable People- Amy Smart, from movies, is a character on the show. Pros- Very well done in terms of being character driven among nearly all of its stars both big and small, it is hard to think of much that’s bad about it. Cons- I do worry that it has the problems of having to see every episode to understand it. Note to Parents- There are some issues with this, but also good life lessons as well. I suggest that preteens and older can watch, but not too much else. Recommendation- I think that you should watch it and as long as it isn’t a part of Arrowverse, you don’t have too much to worry about regarding it. Prediction- This could keep lasting, but it will be hard to know for sure right now since a lot of is new just coming back this season. Reception: positive. Grade: A.