Jimmy James
05-16-2006, 01:06 PM
This is the second in a series of five. You can find the NBC article here (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.).
ABC's 2006-2007 schedule:
Monday
8:00 p.m. Wife Swap
9:00 p.m. The Bachelor
10:00 p.m. What About Brian
Tuesday
8:00 p.m. Dancing With the Stars (new day)
9:00 p.m. Let's Rob (NEW SERIES)
9:30 p.m. Help Me Help You (NEW SERIES)
10:00 p.m. Boston Legal
Wednesday
8:00 p.m. Dancing With the Stars (new day)
9:00 p.m. LOST
10:00 p.m. The Nine (NEW SERIES)
Thursday
8:00 p.m. Big Day (NEW SERIES)
8:30 p.m. Notes From The Underbelly (NEW SERIES)
9:00 p.m. Grey's Anatomy (new day and time)
10:00 p.m. Six Degrees (NEW SERIES)
Friday
8:00 p.m. Betty The Ugly (NEW SERIES)
9:00 p.m. Men In Trees (NEW SERIES)
10:00 p.m. 20/20
Saturday
8:00 p.m. ABC Saturday Night College Football (NEW SERIES)
Sunday
7:00 p.m. America's Funniest Home Videos
8:00 p.m. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
9:00 p.m. Desperate Housewives
10:00 p.m. Brothers & Sisters (NEW SERIES)
Before talking about the new shows, let's talk about what won't be back:
Emily's Reasons Why Not
Hope & Faith
Hot Properties
Invasion
Alias
Freddie
Sons & Daughters
The Night Stalker
Primetime Live
Less Than Perfect
Rodney
Commander In Chief
In Justice
The Evidence
Miracle Workers
I can't complain about the loss of any of those shows. I cheer the cancellation of Sons & Daughters.
ABC renewed several shows for midseason, including George Lopez, According to Jim, American Inventor, and Supernanny.
ABC's new midseason shows include Set for the Rest of Your Life, Day Break, In Case of Emergency, Traveler, Just for Laughs, and Greg Behrendt's Wake Up Call.
Let's get into the new shows:
Betty the Ugly: This is a rare hour long comedy, apparently. It's about a normal looking woman who has problems fitting in when she becomes part of the high fashion world. This looks like a quick cancellation based on its Friday night timeslot. It stars nobody I have heard of.
Big Day: Each show will focus on a different character's perspective on a couple's wedding day. Marla Sokoloff (from The Practice) and Wendy Malick (from Just Shoot Me) are the headliners. I don't see how this show can possibly last based on that premise even if it manages to attract an audience on Thursdays at 8.
Brothers & Sisters: This show comes from Marti Noxon (producer of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and creator of many failed pilots). A family comes together for a birthday party, and a soap opera breaks out. Calista Flockhart (from Ally McBeal), Ron Rifkin (from Alias), and Rachel Griffiths (from Six Feet Under) star. This show will get the benefit of the timeslot Grey's Anatomy is giving up. If people continue to watch Desperate Housewives next season, this show will at least benefit from a strong lead-in.
Help Me Help You: This show is about group therapy dispensed by a crazy man. Isn't it a bit late to try to ride the coattails of Anger Management? Ted Danson stars with Jane Kaczmarek (from Malcolm in the Middle) also cast. This show's Tuesday at 9:30 time slot won't do it any favors.
Let's Rob...: This show serves as the lead-in for Ted Danson's show above. This show is about a criminal conspiracy to rob Mick Jagger. Donal Logue (from Grounded for Life) leads the cast. It actually sounds just crazy enough to get me to check it out.
Men In Trees: This sounds like Help Me Help You in Alaska. It's about a woman who is a relationship coach whose own relationship falls apart. Ironic, huh? Anne Heche, Abraham Benrubi (from ER), and John Amos (from Good Times) have been cast. Like Betty the Ugly, this show is doomed to air its few episodes on Friday.
The Nine: People are held hostage in a bank when a robbery goes bad. A "twist of faith" happens. Chi McBride (from Boston Public), Scott Wolf (from Party of Five), and Tim Daly (from Eyes and Wings) star. This show benefits from the LOST lead in, though that didn't do Invasion any favors this season. I'll likely check it out based on the strength of the cast.
Notes from the Underbelly: Preparing to have a baby changes the lives of expectant parents. Duh. I haven't heard of any of the people attached, but Barry Sonnenfeld's name is attached to the credits as a producer. This show doesn't suffer from the unnecessarily limiting concept that its lead in Big Day does, but its potential to draw an audience on Thursdays at 8:30 is similarly limited.
Six Degrees: Six strangers in New York keep popping up in each other's lives. Think of it as a show just about the LOST flashbacks. Exciting, huh? Erika Christensen (from the movie Traffic) is the only name I recognize other than JJ Abrams credited as producer. With all he has his fingers in, there is about zero chance he has even seen the pilot he supposedly produced here. I think he gets so many credits because he has stolen Walt Disney's frozen head or something. It's the best way to get your show greenlit on ABC no matter what it is. Six Degrees will lead out of Grey's Anatomy, which is now on Thursday nights (more on that below).
Day Break: This is the first of the midseason shows. A cop gets mixed up in a bunch of murders. He tries to clear himself of suspicion in some and prevent others. Taye Diggs stars, but the big name here in my book is Adam Baldwin (from Firefly).
In Case of Emergency: Four high school friends get together. Hilarity ensues. Jonathan Silverman (from The Single Guy), David Arquette (from Courtney Cox), and Lori Loughlin (from Full House) star. Jon Favreau gets himself a producer credit on this show. Maybe that will be enough to get it a look. It comes along at midseason.
Traveler: Two friends call the wrong people and attact the suspicion of the NSA. Steven Culp (the only tolerable thing about Desperate Housewives) is the biggest name attached. This also comes along at midseason.
I don't preview reality TV crap, so that's it.
This is a terrible upfront if you ask me. If any network comes up with a weaker slate of shows than this one, I'll be shocked. I say that knowing that the CW's development season is said to have been disasterous. The rumors indicate that they're going to at least have the good sense to cut their losses unlike ABC.
The big move of the upfronts is the move of Grey's Anatomy to Thursdays at 9. I think ABC even blew that. Why try to be second fiddle to CSI at 9 when they could have positioned the show to be the top Thursday at 10 show? ABC would tell you it is because putting one good show on at 9 brings in viewers at 8 and 10. I say bull. If that actually worked, ABC would have had a hit in Invasion because it aired out of LOST. Somebody needs to inform the executives at ABC that there are these devices known as remote controls that most of its audience has. It is truly pathetic how badly ABC is blowing the set of four big shows they got out of nowhere two seasons ago (LOST, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Dancing with the Stars). It's almost like they don't want to be more than a mediocre network.
ABC's 2006-2007 schedule:
Monday
8:00 p.m. Wife Swap
9:00 p.m. The Bachelor
10:00 p.m. What About Brian
Tuesday
8:00 p.m. Dancing With the Stars (new day)
9:00 p.m. Let's Rob (NEW SERIES)
9:30 p.m. Help Me Help You (NEW SERIES)
10:00 p.m. Boston Legal
Wednesday
8:00 p.m. Dancing With the Stars (new day)
9:00 p.m. LOST
10:00 p.m. The Nine (NEW SERIES)
Thursday
8:00 p.m. Big Day (NEW SERIES)
8:30 p.m. Notes From The Underbelly (NEW SERIES)
9:00 p.m. Grey's Anatomy (new day and time)
10:00 p.m. Six Degrees (NEW SERIES)
Friday
8:00 p.m. Betty The Ugly (NEW SERIES)
9:00 p.m. Men In Trees (NEW SERIES)
10:00 p.m. 20/20
Saturday
8:00 p.m. ABC Saturday Night College Football (NEW SERIES)
Sunday
7:00 p.m. America's Funniest Home Videos
8:00 p.m. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
9:00 p.m. Desperate Housewives
10:00 p.m. Brothers & Sisters (NEW SERIES)
Before talking about the new shows, let's talk about what won't be back:
Emily's Reasons Why Not
Hope & Faith
Hot Properties
Invasion
Alias
Freddie
Sons & Daughters
The Night Stalker
Primetime Live
Less Than Perfect
Rodney
Commander In Chief
In Justice
The Evidence
Miracle Workers
I can't complain about the loss of any of those shows. I cheer the cancellation of Sons & Daughters.
ABC renewed several shows for midseason, including George Lopez, According to Jim, American Inventor, and Supernanny.
ABC's new midseason shows include Set for the Rest of Your Life, Day Break, In Case of Emergency, Traveler, Just for Laughs, and Greg Behrendt's Wake Up Call.
Let's get into the new shows:
Betty the Ugly: This is a rare hour long comedy, apparently. It's about a normal looking woman who has problems fitting in when she becomes part of the high fashion world. This looks like a quick cancellation based on its Friday night timeslot. It stars nobody I have heard of.
Big Day: Each show will focus on a different character's perspective on a couple's wedding day. Marla Sokoloff (from The Practice) and Wendy Malick (from Just Shoot Me) are the headliners. I don't see how this show can possibly last based on that premise even if it manages to attract an audience on Thursdays at 8.
Brothers & Sisters: This show comes from Marti Noxon (producer of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and creator of many failed pilots). A family comes together for a birthday party, and a soap opera breaks out. Calista Flockhart (from Ally McBeal), Ron Rifkin (from Alias), and Rachel Griffiths (from Six Feet Under) star. This show will get the benefit of the timeslot Grey's Anatomy is giving up. If people continue to watch Desperate Housewives next season, this show will at least benefit from a strong lead-in.
Help Me Help You: This show is about group therapy dispensed by a crazy man. Isn't it a bit late to try to ride the coattails of Anger Management? Ted Danson stars with Jane Kaczmarek (from Malcolm in the Middle) also cast. This show's Tuesday at 9:30 time slot won't do it any favors.
Let's Rob...: This show serves as the lead-in for Ted Danson's show above. This show is about a criminal conspiracy to rob Mick Jagger. Donal Logue (from Grounded for Life) leads the cast. It actually sounds just crazy enough to get me to check it out.
Men In Trees: This sounds like Help Me Help You in Alaska. It's about a woman who is a relationship coach whose own relationship falls apart. Ironic, huh? Anne Heche, Abraham Benrubi (from ER), and John Amos (from Good Times) have been cast. Like Betty the Ugly, this show is doomed to air its few episodes on Friday.
The Nine: People are held hostage in a bank when a robbery goes bad. A "twist of faith" happens. Chi McBride (from Boston Public), Scott Wolf (from Party of Five), and Tim Daly (from Eyes and Wings) star. This show benefits from the LOST lead in, though that didn't do Invasion any favors this season. I'll likely check it out based on the strength of the cast.
Notes from the Underbelly: Preparing to have a baby changes the lives of expectant parents. Duh. I haven't heard of any of the people attached, but Barry Sonnenfeld's name is attached to the credits as a producer. This show doesn't suffer from the unnecessarily limiting concept that its lead in Big Day does, but its potential to draw an audience on Thursdays at 8:30 is similarly limited.
Six Degrees: Six strangers in New York keep popping up in each other's lives. Think of it as a show just about the LOST flashbacks. Exciting, huh? Erika Christensen (from the movie Traffic) is the only name I recognize other than JJ Abrams credited as producer. With all he has his fingers in, there is about zero chance he has even seen the pilot he supposedly produced here. I think he gets so many credits because he has stolen Walt Disney's frozen head or something. It's the best way to get your show greenlit on ABC no matter what it is. Six Degrees will lead out of Grey's Anatomy, which is now on Thursday nights (more on that below).
Day Break: This is the first of the midseason shows. A cop gets mixed up in a bunch of murders. He tries to clear himself of suspicion in some and prevent others. Taye Diggs stars, but the big name here in my book is Adam Baldwin (from Firefly).
In Case of Emergency: Four high school friends get together. Hilarity ensues. Jonathan Silverman (from The Single Guy), David Arquette (from Courtney Cox), and Lori Loughlin (from Full House) star. Jon Favreau gets himself a producer credit on this show. Maybe that will be enough to get it a look. It comes along at midseason.
Traveler: Two friends call the wrong people and attact the suspicion of the NSA. Steven Culp (the only tolerable thing about Desperate Housewives) is the biggest name attached. This also comes along at midseason.
I don't preview reality TV crap, so that's it.
This is a terrible upfront if you ask me. If any network comes up with a weaker slate of shows than this one, I'll be shocked. I say that knowing that the CW's development season is said to have been disasterous. The rumors indicate that they're going to at least have the good sense to cut their losses unlike ABC.
The big move of the upfronts is the move of Grey's Anatomy to Thursdays at 9. I think ABC even blew that. Why try to be second fiddle to CSI at 9 when they could have positioned the show to be the top Thursday at 10 show? ABC would tell you it is because putting one good show on at 9 brings in viewers at 8 and 10. I say bull. If that actually worked, ABC would have had a hit in Invasion because it aired out of LOST. Somebody needs to inform the executives at ABC that there are these devices known as remote controls that most of its audience has. It is truly pathetic how badly ABC is blowing the set of four big shows they got out of nowhere two seasons ago (LOST, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Dancing with the Stars). It's almost like they don't want to be more than a mediocre network.