If any network desperately needed a revolution, it's NBC.

The network did fine during football season, then collapsed. Last week, it averaged 3.8 million viewers ... less than half of what CBS had and barely more than one-third of what zombies and Jesus got on cable-TV. It finished fourth among the big-four networks (nowhere near third) and almost fell behind Univision.

Fortunately, this is the week it had scheduled the start of its spring revival -- "The Voice" on Mondays and Tuesdays, followed by the return of "Revolution" on Tuesdays.

Next season, NBC will have twice as
much of what's working (“The Voice”) … and more then twice as
much of what's not working (comedies).

“The Voice” will have two editions,
instead of one, and will be on two nights (Mondays and Tuesdays)
throughout the season. That dumps one reality show (“The Sing-Off”)
and keeps another (“The Biggest Loser”) off at last temporarily..

Monday (Jan. 16) is an overcrowded day for TV viewers. Please catch my previous blogs on Betty White and Ashton Kutcher; here's the brief story I sent to papers on "Alcatraz":

By MIKE HUGHES

For the people from ”Lost,” the new
series was a bit easier.

This time, they didn't have to make up
the island. Alcatraz – once a prison, now a tourist spot – is
real, just off San Francisco.

CBS really tries to be hip, you know. For next fall, it has a drama from a producer and co-star of "Lost"; it has the first medical show in which a surgeon confers with his late ex-wife. And its two new comedies will both be about mis-matched friends in the city.

Still, don't expect any head-long plunge into "Lost" madness. This is still CBS, which knows its audience and stays steady, at the top of the ratings. This morning, it announced its fall schedule; here's the story I sent to papers:

By MIKE HUGHES