Last season ABC was lucky enough that the television industry didn't pay a lot attention to their dumb schedule moves and for that they need to thank NBC and Jay Leno. But there is no Tonight Show fiasco this year and ABC needs to have a strong midseason line up to recover from a dissapointing fall.
The network had two early dissapointments , the documentary style drama "My Generation" which was cancelled after just two episodes and the legal drama "The Whole Truth" which will burn off some episodes through December and possibly the rest on summer. Detroit 187 premiered with only a 2.1 rating in adversisers coveted adults 18-49 demo and while it has a pretty stable run-last Tuesday it scored a 1.7 in finals- it definetely doesn't retain much of "Dancing With The Stars" audience and even loses 25% of its audience in the second half hour. ABC gave it a back 5 order -like it did with the last season's "The Forgotten" which was in the same time slot and had similar ratings- just to fill some holes. I don't even expect that they will air all the 18 episodes. "No Ordinary Family" which has been picked up for a full season , was the only new drama that premiered with some promising ratings, scoring a 3.1 in adults 18-49. But since then it is just falling and falling. Last Tuesday it was down to a series low with just a 1.7 rating in demo. In its defense its timeslot is really competitive with demo powerhouse "Glee" on FOX and CBS's "NCIS". The only new comedy entry "Better With You"-which also has a full season pick up- is definetely an improvement versus last year's "Hank" which was removed from the schedule after 6 episodes but as desperate ABC is, i don't expect that they wont premiere at least one new show on their comedy line up next year and right now the Shana Goldberg-produced sitcom is the weekest link.
But the veterans show are also down versus past seasons. And while its kinda normal, Grey's Anatomy is down 25% versus last year and the same is Desperate Housewives. Brothers & Sisters, Private Practice and Castle are surely lean-in dependent and at this point they won't grow. At the positive news Dancing With The Stars is still big and The Middle and Modern Family are up versus last season while Cougar Town has a decent run despite the fact that it can't retain much of Modern Family's audience. Primetime: What Would You Do and veteran 20/20 are doing a decent job on Fridays but Supernanny not and ABC shoud have already cancelled the show last spring.
So what now?
ABC has three dramas (V, Body of Proof and Off The Map), two comedies (Mr Sunshine, Happy Endings) and a bunch of realities for midseason. They have already announced that the second season of V will premiere on Tuesdays at 9/8c between DWTS cycles starting January 4. While i still like the show i can't deny that the only reason that ABC renewed it last season is the fact that they needed at least one drama to return for next year to avoid the "total failure" from the press. The show scored only low 2's with the final season of Lost as a lead in. Now i expect that it will fall to 1.6-2.0 range and the 10-episode run will be its last. ABC has also announced that the Shonda Rhimes-produced medical drama Off The Map will premiere on Wednesday 10pm slot starting January 14. This timslot is kinda a death slot for ABC with previous occupants Eastwick and The Whole Truth failing to succeed. I'd prefer it on Sundays at 10/9c after Desperate Housewives. But the network has made its choice. I just hope that it will perform at least decently beacause its their biggest gun for midseason and the only new drama on ABC that i am actually waiting to see. Body Of Proof starring Dena Delany was supposed to premiere on Fridays on fall but ABC's new President of Entertaintment, Paul Lee made a wise move by delaying it for midseason. I expect that it will premiere on Tuesday at 10/9c slot with the results show of Dancing With The Stars as a lead in and seriously this is the best timeslot that network could give it since Castle is staying where it is. I hell dont know where they'll schedule their two midseason comedies. I can see them giving a Romantically Challenged-treatment to one of them (Mondays at 9:30/8:30c with DWTS as a lead in) but that would hurt Castle. Another solution would be that they will schedule them on Tuesdays at 8/7c but its a really tough timeslot especially for new shows. Again they can definitely schedule them on Wednesday comedy block by putting on hiatus Better With You or even Cougar Town and there is always the summer burn off, if ABC has lost faith on the Mathew Perry's Mr Sunshine and the relationship comedy Happy Endings. A winter edition of the summer successful reality series Wipeout will replace the unnecessary Grey's Anatomy repeat on Thursday at 8/7c which will have a strong competition with FOX's American Idol and CBS's Bing Bang Theory The alphabet has also already announced that the Secret Millionaire will premiere on Sunday at 8/7c, and they have a bunch of alternative programs held for midseason (Jaime Oliver: Food Revolution, Extreme Makeover: Weight Edition, Wife Swap, Shark Tank).
So there it is! ABC will propably announce their midseason line up shortly. We just have to wait and see.
CBS im coming for you...
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