ABC Fall (?) Annotated

[Mark Jeffries]

No premiere date, and I don't see a good portion of this happening--only three fall debuts.   Here we go as listed by Deadline, new shows in all caps:

MONDAY

8 PM — Dancing with the Stars--I believe host Tom Bergeron has already said that even in September, the combination of 600 cheering audience members and 25 sweaty bodies on live television (and no one wearing masks) is asking for it.  I would hope that the BBC has already decided that there will be no "Strictly" this fall--please tell me that's true, Adam.

10 PM — The Good Doctor

TUESDAY

8 PM — The Bachelorette--the first fall appearance for the franchise and the first African-American bachelorette (in a franchise not known for treating BIPOCs well), but wait--twenty men and one woman, Chris Harrison and a crew and production staffers in one house together in late summer in the midst of a pandemic.  Oh yeah, what a great idea.

10 PM — BIG SKY--David E. Kelley is back on OTA television with a thriller in which two private dicks (Ryan Phillippe and Kylie Bunbury) with the help of Phillippe's ex (Deedee Pfeiffer, Michelle's sis) search for kids kidnapped somewhere in Montana.  Based on a series of books and produced by part-Disney owned A+E Studios (their first OTA network series) and Disney-owned 20th, Kelley's longtime home base.

WEDNESDAY

8 PM — The Goldbergs

8:30 PM — American Housewife

9 PM — The Conners

9:30 PM — CALL YOUR MOTHER--Empty nester mom Kyra Sedgwick decides she needs to be seen with her kids again and reinserts herself into their lives without one thank yew, with much hilarity ensuing.  A multi-cam sitcom (since those shows only do well if Chuck Lorre is the creator--and oh yeah, are they going to have 225 people watching the show or is all going to be from John Bickelhaupt or Bob LaMasney's laff boxes?) created by Kari Lizer ("Old Christine") for Sony and ABC Studios.

10 PM — Stumptown

THURSDAY

8 PM — Station 19

9 PM — Grey’s Anatomy

10 PM — A Million Little Things

Can it still be TGIT with one show not produced by Shonda Rhimes?

FRIDAY

8 PM — Shark Tank

9 PM — 20/20 (Two Hours)

SATURDAY

8 PM — Saturday Night Football--If there is college football.

SUNDAY

7 PM — America’s Funniest Home Videos

8 PM — SUPERMARKET SWEEP--When you're in the market and you hear that beep, think of the fun YOU could have on...  The reboot of the game show that started on ABC daytime in 1965 (and joined the long list of shows called by critics the decline and fall of Western civilization) was scheduled for this year's Summer Fun and Games block, but along with "Card Sharks" didn't go into production before the stay-at-home orders.  ABC and format owner Fremantle are trying again, with Leslie Jones hosting as originally announced.  Now considering that the Lifetime and PAX TV revivals of the 90s and early oughts did at least half of each episode with no audience and LaMasney's laff box, it's possible that they could pull it off.  But do you see people running through the aisles throwing Foster Farms turkeys and giant economy size boxes of Tide detergent (emptied to make it easier to pick up) into their shopping carts wearing masks?  No.

9 PM — Who Wants To Be A Millionaire--Their just-completed celebrity season was shot in the early stages of the pandemic before the stay-at-home orders and they proved they didn't need a studio audience.  The question for game show fans is if civilians are going into the Hot Seat facing Jimmy Kimmel or if it will be celebs again.

10 PM — The Rookie

Right now, nothing new for mid-season--"black-ish" and "mixed-ish" will return, along with the spring drama "For Life."

And there you have it.

[Mark Jeffries]

Addendum: "Idol" and "Bachelor" will be back mid-season.

[Adam Bowie]

On Wed, Jun 17, 2020 at 8:40 PM Mark Jeffries <spotl...@gmail.com> wrote:

MONDAY

8 PM — Dancing with the Stars--I believe host Tom Bergeron has already said that even in September, the combination of 600 cheering audience members and 25 sweaty bodies on live television (and no one wearing masks) is asking for it.  I would hope that the BBC has already decided that there will be no "Strictly" this fall--please tell me that's true, Adam.

So far they've not determined that Strictly will be cancelled. But I can't see it going ahead with a studio audience which instantly removes a lot of the show's appeal. There was talk of the professionals being isolated for a couple of weeks to pre-record the group dances, but I have no idea how it would work when sweaty contestants have to practice week in, week out and then go home to their families. 

Maybe they'll cobble together something for the TV audience, but I can't see how the normal format can work until at least 2021 without significant risk.

So far in the UK only select shows have gone back into production, and they're being shot very differently. If dramas are tricky, then this would seem extraordinarily hard...

Adam