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« Roush Dispatch
Upfront Week: The ABCs of Stability
Jonny Lee Miller in Eli Stone by Danny Feld/ABC
What an odd week of network Upfronts it’s shaping up to be. Less of a bang than a whimper so far. NBC famously jump-started the process by announcing its fall and even next winter's schedules six weeks ago. You could have attended NBC’s Monday “NBC Experience” party at Rockefeller Center and not even have realized there was going to be a fall season. It was like going to a loud and garish theme park, or state fair, with a carnival atmosphere prevailing: monitors blaring everywhere, American Gladiators jousting on a platform, KITT talking to passersby outside, a Top Chef food booth, and so on, but precious little information about the new season just around the corner. (Walking through the maze of network/cable cross-platform promotions, I did manage to have a brief conversation with Tricia Helfer, the statuesque Six, at a Battlestar Galactica station, and wished her well as she heads to Miami this week to begin filming her new role on USA Network’s Burn Notice.)
As everyone stood around the tented area that used to be the Rockefeller Center skating rink, soaking it in, the consensus (at least in my circle) was: Beats watching the shows. Of which there are only four new ones on NBC in the fall. For my initial thoughts on NBC’s “in-front” announcement from back in early April, go here.
Moving on to ABC, which is only putting two new shows on its fall schedule. The network’s entertainment chief Stephen McPherson trumpeted ABC’s “incredibly stable schedule” in a session with reporters early Tuesday, and it’s hard to argue with that claim. Or to protest critically given how many quality shows got a pickup, including the midseason charmer Eli Stone, now to air on Tuesdays at 10 pm/ET. (Boston Legal, renewed for a 13-episode final season, according to McPherson, moves to Mondays at 10 pm/ET, temporarily and blessedly replacing that tired Bachelor franchise—which, inevitably, will return at midseason.)
The new shows include the long-awaited Americanization of Life on Mars, the quirky BBC drama about a detective (Jason O’Mara) who wakes up after a car accident and finds he’s now solving crimes back in the primitive 1970s. David E. Kelley bought the rights and adapted the series, but has since left the project, which will now be overseen by the executive producers of the happily defunct October Road. (No judgment call here until I see what they do with it.) Mars gets the plum Thursday slot after Grey’s Anatomy and Ugly Betty—marking time until Lost’s return in the winter, perhaps?
The other newbie is a reality game show, Opportunity Knocks, from Ashton Kutcher, in which producers invade a family’s home to ask them personal questions for prizes. McPherson puts it in the feel-good reality tradition the network has established with hits like Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. This hourlong show airs Tuesdays at 8 pm/ET, going head-to-head with NBC’s reality hit The Biggest Loser. Sounds harmless, and infinitely missable.
As always, any network schedule announcement gives fans an opportunity to wring their hands over the little gems that got away—most notably on ABC, the criminally neglected Men in Trees, the high-profile crime drama Women’s Murder Club (someone snap up Angie Harmon right now!) and the cute midseason sitcom Miss Guided, which never really got a chance. But in the bigger picture, ABC is charging back next season with a remarkably solid schedule, including an intact Wednesday lineup of sophomore hopefuls cut short this season by the strike: the delightful Pushing Daisies, the annoying Private Practice (which given that cast has plenty of room for improvement) and the guilty-pleasure Dirty Sexy Money, all of which will be relaunched as if they are new series. Sundays are unchanged, capped by the popular Desperate Housewives-Brothers & Sisters combo. Samantha Who? is back on Mondays, the only half-hour sitcom on ABC’s fall schedule, and a transplanted Scrubs is waiting in the wings for midseason—when it could be paired with animated comedy The Goode Family, from King of the Hill’s Mike Judge. (According to Jim is also on deck for midseason, so the comedy news isn’t all good.)
McPherson says ABC has another 17 pilots in various stages of development that could potentially make it to air during the season, so expect more changes if cracks develop in this seemingly strong foundation.
More later today if ABC’s clips, such as they are, impress one way or the other. And I’ll be weighing in as well on the CW’s official presentation, which directly follows ABC’s this afternoon. Having fun yet, TV fans?
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May 13, 2008 12:10 PM
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I realize it may not be bad news to you, but I'm seriously crushed that they're cutting down 'Boston Legal' to 13 episodes and declaring it the final season already. That is a terrible loss for me.
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May 13, 2008 1:23 PM
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ABC is probably smart by not moving shows around their schedule. It's probably a lot easier to promote their sophomore shows by having them exactly where they started last season, though I must admit that all their sophomore shows need a lot of nurturing. The ratings were far from stable when they signed off. I probably would have changed some timeslots, but for ABC it is probably better to play it safe for now.
Apart from that, ABC's new schedule isn't too exciting. I'm way more interested in which of their current pilots in development will get on the air. Hopefully "Captain Cook's Extraordinary Atlas" and "Good Behavior", which at least sound interesting and original.
As for their cancelled shows, I think ABC made the right choice as to which shows to renew and which shows to cancel. Of course some of these shows could have performed better if ABC had scheduled them smarter, but if I had to make a decision and would have seen these numbers with very little critical buzz for these shows, I would have done the same thing.
I guess the only interesting fall schedule will be seen for FOX.
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May 13, 2008 1:38 PM
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Men in Trees was OK but seemed to have lost something. I enjoyed Womens Murder Club but can understand its cancellation. What I don't understand is Private Practice. I think it is an obvious cancellation but I think ABC would lose too much face to cancel it now. I bet it doesn't last long in the new season. Grey's is getting passe too. The characters are more annoying that endearing and the egos of the actors threaten to undermine its future.
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May 13, 2008 3:30 PM
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Thank God there's good news about Pushing Daisies. I feel like it's been forever since I've seen or heard anything about it. This week's upfront news has been so patchy with news of all the networks' freshman series, that I was slightly holding my breath for fear of the worst. I can't help feeling like I'm playing a bit of Russian Roulette every time I check back with the site.
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May 13, 2008 5:40 PM
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So does that mean that Miss/Guided is officially cancelled? I was still holding out hope that it would come back as a mid-season replacement for something... Boo.
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May 13, 2008 6:04 PM
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ABC's line up sounds "stable" read "boring" to me.
I really liked October Road and am very frustrated there will be no conclusion to this how. I realize Rousch (and almost every other critic) did not like it. We are all entitled to our opinions. But you have to feel for a viewer that hung in there for 2 seasons to find out who Sam's father is and now will never know.
Maybe you will like Life on Mars better, I don't think I will. Another police show with the added element of time travel to the 1970's sounds great, NOT!
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May 13, 2008 6:44 PM
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1st I wish they had renewed Miss Guided, but why does everyone diss According Jim, I realize it is not a Seinfeld or Arrested Development, But it is Funny, And I think Uncle Andy should get his own show when Jim is done.
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May 13, 2008 8:48 PM
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I'm disappointed about Boston Legal. I thought David E. Kelley backed out of Life on Mars to focus on BL, but now it looks like he'll be out of a job come next year 
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May 13, 2008 8:55 PM
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@josie
The original BBC production of Life on Mars was original and very, very good. But, while I'll be interested to see what Kelly is planning to do with it, I'm sceptical. The original was a total of sixteen episodes, and even the creators say they didn't think the premise could sustain a story any longer than that. Now, with a change in show runners, and the rumored replacement of cast (not Mara), count me doubly worried. I keep seeing a redux of the Viva Blackpool/Laughlin mess. What I do know is, if they get rid of Colm Meany as Gene Hunt. I'm outta there!
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May 14, 2008 12:05 PM
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Stephen McPherson is an ass. Boston Legal should have been renewed for a full season. We need to watch more dramedys with substance, not girlie shows all the time.It always has a good message. I guess it was a good trade getting Life on Mars. ABC will ruin it though and make it a soap opera. Maybe Marc Cherry should write it.
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May 15, 2008 3:17 AM
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Any word on Cupid?
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May 17, 2008 4:08 PM
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ABC please reconsider and bring back October Road for six more episodes. Please hear the fans and finish the stories that were started.
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May 28, 2008 11:26 PM
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