Like NBC, ABC seems to have made a major revamping of its lineup. Gone are freshman shows FlashForward, The Deep End, the forgotten, Eastwick, the short lived Happy Town, and Romantically Challenged with Alyssa Milano all replaced with seven new shows. Also discontinued is sophomore comedy Better Off Ted as well as long time favorites Scrubs and Ugly Betty. There are three mid-season replacements and V which was not cancelled but seems to be missing from the schedule, but ABC President Steve McPherson made the decision to keep V over Flashforward. Still it’s strange that it does not appear in the fall schedule and must be meant as a mid-season or spring intro.
With seven news shows in the mix including four new dramas, two new comedies, and one new reality show ABC seems to have a nice mix. Certainly their Wednesday night comedy block which was successful this past year is intact and now includes the comedy Better Together followed by the drama The Whole Truth after Cougar Town.
Saturdays in the fall will include college football in prime time and then we’ll see where they go in the spring. Basically Monday’s and Sunday’s stay the same with some new shows sprinkled throughout the week.
Here is the new schedule as announced: New shows are underlined and italicized.
Monday
8:00 - 9:00 p.m. Dancing with the Stars
10:00 – 11:00 p.m. Castle
Tuesday
8:00 – 9:00 p.m. No Ordinary Family
9:00 – 10:00 p.m. Dancing with the Stars the Results Show
10:00 – 11:00 p.m. Detroit 1-8-7
Wednesday
8:00 – 8:30 p.m. The Middle
8:30 – 9:00 p.m. Better Together
9:00 – 9:30 p.m. Modern Family
9:30 – 10:00 p.m. Cougar Town
10:00 – 11:00 p.m. The Whole Truth
Thursday
8:00 – 9:00 p.m. My Generation
9:00 – 10:00 p.m. Grey’s Anatomy
10:00 – 11:00 p.m. Private Practice
Friday
8:00 – 9:00 p.m. Secret Millionaire
9:00 – 10:00 p.m. Body of Proof
10:00 – 11:00 p.m. 20/20
Sunday
7:00 – 8:00 p.m. America’s Funniest Home Videos
8:00 – 9:00 p.m. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
9:00 – 10:00 p.m. Desperate Housewives
10:00 – 11:00 p.m. Brothers & Sisters
Mid-season replacements include Off the Map, Happy Endings, and Mr. Sunshine.
With some strong shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Dancing with the Stars, Desperate Housewives, Brothers and Sisters, the Wednesday comedies, and Castle maybe ABC will be able to support some of their new freshman shows this year with a more stable lineup. I have to admit I am not really too excited about any of the new shows ABC is choosing to premiere, but we’ll see who ends up making it next year. We’ll take a look as the season gets a little closer. Thanks for reading…
Jeffery Yarter
