The third of the network upfronts is out, covering ABC’s fall schedule. Here are my thoughts and what I anticipate Critical Myth will be covering in one degree or another next season. The following is the schedule released by the network on 15 May 2012:
ABC FALL 2012 SCHEDULE
MONDAY:
8:00 p.m. “Dancing with the Stars”
10:00 p.m. “Castle”
TUESDAY:
8:00 p.m. “Dancing with the Stars the Results Show”
9:00 p.m. “Happy Endings”
9:30 p.m. “Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23″
10:00 p.m. “Private Practice”
WEDNESDAY:
8:00 p.m. “The Middle”
8:30 p.m. “Suburgatory”
9:00 p.m. “Modern Family”
9:30 p.m. “The Neighbors”
10:00 p.m. “Nashville”
THURSDAY:
8:00 p.m. “Last Resort”
9:00 p.m. “Grey’s Anatomy”
10:00 p.m. “Scandal”
FRIDAY:
8:00 p.m. “Shark Tank”
9:00 p.m. “Primetime: What Would You Do?”
10:00 p.m. “20/20″
SATURDAY:
8:00 p.m. “Saturday Night College Football”
SUNDAY:
7:00 p.m. “America’s Funniest Home Videos”
8:00 p.m. “Once Upon a Time”
9:00 p.m. “Revenge”
10:00 p.m. “666 Park Avenue”
- Mondays
No amount of ridiculously hot women in skimpy dancing outfits is going to get me to watch “Dancing With the Stars”. I’d be far more likely to watch “Castle”, but despite giving it a few tries, it just hasn’t been my thing.
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Tuesday
Moving “Private Practice” to Tuesdays means that my wife’s viewing habits will be able to stretch out a bit, but otherwise, it’s the usual slew of reality results shows and comedies.
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Wednesday
“Modern Family” is one of the few network comedies we enjoy, so it will be staying on our personal list. “Nashville” is about as far from the kind of show I would enjoy as I can imagine, though. So far, no genre fare early in the week.
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Thursday
“Last Resort” sounds like the kind of show that has potential, but might struggle to find an audience on an already packed Thursday night. “Grey’s Anatomy” never seems to end, even though it’s long since been played out. But I’m getting sick of Shonda Rhimes taking up slots in the schedule that could go to shows with actual creativity.
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Friday
At least ABC is not contributing to the major pile-up of genre shows on Friday nights. On the other hand, is this really a winning line-up?
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Saturday/Sunday
Saturday Night College Football will be situational for me, but if my Hokies are playing, it’s a given. In terms of Sunday night, I’m definitely going to keep watching “Once Upon a Time”. “666 Park Avenue” sounds like it could be terrible, but it has a great cast and an intriguing production pedigree. I’d switch this with “Revenge” in terms of time slot, to capitalize on a potential common audience.
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Mid-Season
The only thing that sounds like it has potential is “Zero Hour”, which looks like a cross between “Miracles” and “National Treasure”. It’s made by the guy behind “Prison Break” and folks from any number of action films, so it could be fun, if nothing else.
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Final Verdict
ABC has been willing to experiment in recent years, across the board, so it’s mostly a question of how studios will execute. “Once Upon a Time” will continue to get coverage, with the possibility of “666 Park Avenue” and “Zero Hour”, should they prove worthy. I’ll also be keeping an eye on “Last Resort”, to see just what tone it presents once the premise gets going.