Upfronts Week: ABC


This is Upfronts Week, the time when all five major networks unveil their fall schedules to advertisers, and, of course, the public. Each day I'll be taking a look at the network schedules and weighing in on what we see and new shows. Today is ABC's turn.

ABC
Best Scheduling Move:
It makes sense to drop "A Million Little Things" in between the two Shondaland Shows in the Fall. It's an experiment they came to in the winter for a few weeks, and I think the genres work well together and that gives them a stronger Thursday night.

Most Curious Scheduling Move:
Overall ABC's schedule makes a lot of sense for their brand and what they do. However, the network has long struggled with the Tuesday at 10 p.m. slot, seemingly finding something that worked with the drama "The Rookie," which had some more comedic elements. Instead of leaving that night intact, they decided to move "The Rookie" to 10 p.m. on Sundays opposite football, which doesn't make a lot of good sense for that show, and put new drama "Emergence" in the Tuesday slot. It's a more serious and serialized sci-fi drama. I don't know if it fits with the vibe of the night or is going to really land well there.

Most Promising New Show:
ABC, like NBC and FOX before them, has three new scripted shows this Fall. That seems to be the magic number. And unlike other networks, there wasn't one that really stood out to me as much better than the others, or much worse. So this is grading on a curve. I liked the trailer and premise for "Stumptown," which is about a no-nonsense P.I. played by Cobie Smulders. I think it could work well tagged on to their comedy block, the last of which stars her real life husband Taran Killam. I think this seemed like the one I was most drawn to of their three new shows.

Least Promising New Show:
Again, I thought all three had their merits, so this is grading on a curve, too. But I'm going with "Emergence," which has a weird, high-concept premise that didn't grab me in the description or trailer. I really like Alison Tollman, but this one felt like it was the most difficult to flesh out, and as mentioned above I don't like the time slot and pairing it got. This could be a tough sell in a slot that's had a lot of tough sells for ABC over the years.

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