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The original Haut Potentiel Intellectuel hit show from France has now arrived in the USA on-demand via Hulu ahead of High Potential’s premiere this September on ABC

by Sports Benches

USA’s version of the HPI TV show High Potential not only has a premiere date earlier this week of Tuesday September 17th at 10pm right after the new season of Dancing With The Stars with more to come weekly across several Tuesdays, but Kaitlin Olson fans (whose actress will lead the show as Morgan Gillery in the same way as Morgane Alvaro in France) and ABC viewers can watch the original HPI show from France right now on-demand via Hulu that was dropped off earlier today for those wondering what High Potential will look like when they will finally arrive on TV later this year due to last year’s labour strikes.

Yes, the original show from France would be probably up to their 4th season by now with the first three seasons being made available to US viewers at this stage as we don’t know how High Potential will turn out on the big ABC. Gotta credit to management though for discovering this show that was hit in France’s TF1 where they want HPI to give themselves a try in America and the ABC management loved it as soon as they saw the idea that followed up with a pilot copy under a star behind the scenes staff under Drew Goddard before it was approved as a series originally for the Fall cycle earlier last year.

In case you don’t know it which is similar to the US plot, it’s just Morgane while she was cleaning at a police station, she discovered she has a knack of solving crimes with an outstanding IQ of 160 – despite being divorced twice with three kids & has run-ins with police along the way when Morgane agreed to work with the station as a consultant. The characters there will have some similarities on what we will see for High Potential very soon – such as Morgane Alvaro (Morgan), Adam Karadec (Just Karadec, don’t know why), Daphne and Elliott (one of Morgan’s three kids but slightly renamed under Elliot with one T).

I just saw the original promo video of HPI from France’s TF1 and yes, I can see the exact same thing what Morgan does in both versions when they were both dancing and cleaning and then got into the habit of solving crimes once a unsolved crime folder was accidentally knocked down the ground that the Police couldn’t do while at dark all done by herself.

You can see how this goes for yourself on Hulu for those living in the USA here as well as Amazon Prime Video in Australia here as High Potential will be on ABC with Hulu on-demand the next day as well as on Disney + Internationally.

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Thoughts on Kai Cenat’s July 4 room stunt that was staged in a fake room on a top-secret field with Mr Beast & AMPDavis

by Sports Benches

We thought there was a house on fire the other day ahead of the big July 4 US public holiday when AMPDavis purposely burned down the room where Kai Cenat was streaming to his viewers in front of a desktop on twitch that was full of fireworks along with other Mr.Beast stuff worth so much money before they ran out to the caravan just in time for the downfall but hey it was staged after all where they’ve built a fake room together that lasted for a month at an undisclosed green field location.

Glad they’re okay though since it was simply acting and fake as don’t try this at home which will have massive consequences if you do this such as burning it down with fireworks before you might hurt yourself if you’re lucky and then you will have a tough time when it comes to insurance or even no insurance. Also shout out to Mr Beast who was there for Kai and Davis for the stunt having stopped by in Sydney here last week & he too has all the money in the world like in the billions of dollars to turn up for a bit to showcase his brand or make content there before he go back home comfortably on a private plane.

He’s the one who loves to give out some money and his prizes whenever he likes at any time to his fans such as that luxury car giveaway to several lucky Aussies whom he randomly selected when many of Mr Beast’s fans brought one of his chocolate “Beastable” products at their local supermarket stores for a limited time by scanning the QR code in order to be in for a draw online. If you want to know who he is, make sure you tune into his YouTube Channel and Instagram while Kai Cenat also has a huge following just like Mr Beast where he has a few million followers across his social media including his live Twitch streams.

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Thoughts on 2023 ABC legal drama pilot Judgement ft. Sarah Shahi finally showed its concept art for its opening titles on IMDB

by Sports Benches

While both current ABC comedy pilots may have finished filming their respective pilot presentations in front of a studio audience over the last week or two, there’s some key concept art for the opening sequence/intro finally being shown into the world of IMDB a day or two ago for one of ABC’s failed drama pilots from early last year called Judgement. It was a legal drama being made by Joey Falco who ran the reboot of Charmed from 2018 with actress Sarah Shahi as the main cast leader of this project in the form of her character Mia Bahari. You can tell by the title sequence of Sarah wondering with her eyes wide open on top of backdrops through the town of Washington DC (fictional setting there as the pilot was filmed in Atlanta, Georgia) as well as a series of wording such as “In the Supreme Court of the United States” & “United States Court of America” before you can finally see such a killer logo towards the end there in the wording called Judgement. That’s all to tell by its cover as the full pilot show access is only limited to cast members and behind the scenes staff involved unfortunately, not even going to a certain studio building would help to watch this pilot in-person either unless you’re really lucky. It’s only appropriate when showing off a piece of work like a part of your resume/CV as if you continue to seek your next opportunity.

It would’ve been a great promo for the public to see as if Judgement did make it into a series order but then the writers and later actors’ strikes have delayed pretty much everything for most of last year from April to October-November. Even if there wasn’t any revolt from people working behind the scenes in the scripted TV business, Judgement wouldn’t be given an advantage anyway when trying to get ahead of others like The Good Lawyer (also eventually being overlooked because the Strikes held them up for far too long). Yes, I understand about the split timelines part but then it’s 100% just about Mia whose professional reputation was on the line after being nominated for a seat in the Supreme Court off the back of her poor personal and love life other than what she did 15 years ago (was last year in fictional terms to its present day 2038).

So having an excellent line-up of cast members featuring team leader Shahi wasn’t bad alongside the key production art where the ABC management gave them some good grades which was largely well received, it’s just the plot when applying it in a pilot presentation from a year-long development script and its planned storyboards was something they didn’t like and therefore, Judgement didn’t make it at the end of the day. Although Judgement was given the chance to being given a lifeline by other networks following its original rejection by ABC but then these lifelines very rarely succeed unlike this one here. It’s not easy to make TV by first writing your story idea via a script, work with them for a year to make changes in the hope of making this script suitable for TV if you’re lucky, then assemble a cast and a location to film for a certain period of time hoping for the best by sending a copy back upstairs before you can finally go all in for the big screen if accepted – that’s life for y’all.

The good news is that the so-called “Pilot Season” most likely a thing of the past where it’s a bit like a knockout contest during February-March ahead of its final selections for the networks to showcase its annual May upfronts but it seems filming pilots where some go and some being eliminated and then archived in a vault or even all go and all not go isn’t changing anytime soon for now except FOX who nearly relies on straight-to-series orders off development scripts. I guess networks would want to double check everything first depending on axed shows and how these pilots would best fit their audience if they do make it as this kind of method have worked best for them across Fall and Mid-Season cycles in recent years.

Other than that, you never know when you will be able to watch an episode of Judgement one day if you’re lucky but 99.9% impossible. Judgement was produced by 20th Television alongside its Disney subsidiary studio ABC Signature and The Detective Agency as you can see it for yourself online at anytime on the pilot’s IMDB page here. And if you’re a huge fan of watching past pilots that never made into TV, I recommend you follow The Media Garage on both YouTube and Patreon. The same goes with JQ’s YouTube Channel here where they had tons of closing credit clips from various unaired TV pilots.

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Thoughts on NBC staying on with IMSA sports car racing the other day for another few years amid the loss of IndyCar to FOX

by Sports Benches

NBC Sports may have lost the IndyCar rights to FOX Sports last week ahead of next season under the series’ new multi-year TV rights cycle, but they did successfully retain the IMSA SportsCar Championship rights however for another few years. Nothing much will change other than the fact there will be up to 17 hours of screen time on the free-to-air NBC channel per year (50% up from what we see right now) with the rest including its support categories and on-demand content being on Peacock.

So it looks like most of the races including the 2 hour and 45 minutes ones and key portions of the long-distance endurance races – such as the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, 6 Hours at Watkins Glen and 8-Hour Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta will all be happening on NBC. Although nothing is guaranteed like FOX promised to IndyCar when they will have all races live free-to-air from next year while NBC wanted to keep the IndyCar rights by having nearly all races for free & only a handful ending up elsewhere in which the series said no, there’s still a possibility that we could see just a handful Premier Class races going behind a paywall on Peacock and maybe on cable via USA Network like we see with IndyCar at the moment.

Speaking of IMSA on cable, they still should get some air time with some of long-distance endurance races as above but no word at this stage as to whether or not if the taped support race encores/highlights will continue during the following weekend of each round, etc – especially for viewers who is still around as some have already cut the cord in recent years for streaming. They used to do it quite frequently when NBCSN was there a few years back before it was shut down two years ago & the network barely shows motorsport encore/highlights these days with USA Network & CNBC already have their own time filler like USA’s endless marathons of second-run syndicated dramas as well as CNBC’s daily financial/business coverage.

And lastly who will still be around for NBC’s IMSA coverage? Leigh Diffey is one of them who has been around sportscars for a long time and will be back to commentate the early rounds of next season including the 24 Hours of Daytona but is expected to be given the reigns though as the network’s leading NASCAR Cup Series announcer during the second half season. Yes, they haven’t made the announcement yet as official but still likely to happen after the Olympics in September with Rick Allen to fully focus on Xfinity when the CW gets the early Playoff access and for Diffey to come in at the right time during Cup day.

When Leigh is on other commitments, Dave Burns has been filling in every now and then including Brian Till who is also an analyst having competed in CART back in the early 90s. Calvin Fish has always been a mainstay as the leading sports car analyst also for a long time as no doubt he and Leigh will continue their long-running partnership together for another few years. It remains to be seen though if Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe will stick around where both of them have always been around in IndyCar but it looks like they will both likely move on considering Hinch has also done some Formula 1 work from time to time & Townsend barely appeared on the network beyond IndyCar. Then on pit road, there’s no doubt Matt Yocum will be there for the most part including some from NASCAR on an occasional basis like Dillon Welch and Marty Snider.

All in all, it wasn’t a difficult deal for NBC to renew their commitment with IMSA when the US sports car series is also run by NASCAR. You could tell they could get the World Endurance Championship rights that includes the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans race but it seems TNT Sports via Warner Bros Discovery has kept them in great hands for the time being, especially when they use their sister Eurosport English-language commentary feed from Europe for every round on Motor Trend.

If IMSA did move to TNT, they would be the whole home of sports car racing but then it wouldn’t go down well when it comes to the overall reach with no free-to-air presence while the series has so many different manufacturers in the books & there’s no way IMSA would want to accept that. For now, NBC still has the 2nd half NASCAR Cup races, IMSA & dirt bike racing.

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Update on ABC Network’s two sitcom pilots of 2024 with a good chance of having both Shifting Gears & Forgive and Forget on the air for mid-season in January/February 2025

by Sports Benches

So two of the ABC half-hour comedy pilots of 2024 is now up to the pilot filming stage recently with Shifting Gears already had their presentation over the past week which will be seen by management while Forgive and Forget has just begun doing it on their own before following the same process. As we all know, Shifting Gears is all about a father (Tim Allen) who run a successful classic car restoration business but needs time to try and re-connect with his long lost daughter who just moved into his house alongside her teenage kids. Forgive and Forget, on the other hand, has something to do with Hank (Ty Burrell) wanting to re-connect these memories with his son Ben while he can after he was unexpectedly diagnosed with dementia.

Yes, the decisions is still not yet been finalised but they’re getting there with first-look trailers and official photos expected to come out in 1-2 months ahead of an expected airdate going into the mid-season cycle in either January or February 2025. That’s where ABC will be able to bring it home with their Wednesday sitcom line-up where another top season of Abbott Elementary goes on as well as the last six episodes of Season 7 in The Conners before their end of era and maybe 1-2 new sitcoms coming in with both Shifting Gears and Forgive and Forget – should the executives be happy to give the green light.

According to today’s update from Deadline by Nellie Andreeva, it looks like both new sitcoms will certainly be going ahead into a series order this time around. Here are the reasons why:

  • Both sitcoms are in a multi-camera format that is cheaper for the network to produce as part of their plans going forward;
  • Both sitcoms have star names in their respective pilots such as Tim Allen (Home Improvement, Last Man Standing, Toy Story and The Santa Clause) and Kat Dennings (2 Broke Girls) for Shifting Gears as well as Ty Burrell (Modern Family) in Forgive and Forget;
  • Both sitcoms’ plots/scripts for the next prime-time cycle went well that is so fitting for ABC to roll both of them out going into the new year in place of Home Economics and Not Dead Yet whose shows have already been axed.

Yes, having both sitcoms going forward almost feels like a straight-to-series order but at least the network is taking their time that bests fit their audience on the the big ABC on TV and Hulu across on-demand/online thanks to their year-round development process when the traditional “Pilot Season” may be a thing of the past. So no more quick decisions as if it’s an elimination contest where they typically pick a couple for pilot, send back for the executives upstairs for an assessment and then some will get the chance while others be thrown out and have their copy being archived in a top-secret vault storage.

I also had a look of Shifting Gears’ IMDB profile page today and they too now got their intro title card off the back of their recent pilot taping as this might not be the show’s official logo if they were given a series order but you never know. Watch this space as ABC is very certain to welcome two new sitcoms onboard (and both also under the subsidiary 20th Television umbrella) featuring two veterans of Tim Allen and Ty Burrell any minute from now over the next few weeks to months.

UPDATE 29/6/24: I also just saw the logo now of Forgive and Forget via Diana Maria Riva’s instagram page from a few days ago who plays one of the characters there (Hank’s ex-wife and shares an adult son together with Ben) on the other ABC comedy pilot. Likewise with Shifting Gears, they both come in a multi-camera format that has a studio audience/laughing track in it as part of the network’s plans to make these scripted sitcoms more affordable going forward. With that being said and as long as the pilot presentation goes well based on the script plot and its acting performance, this one will most certainly join Shifting Gears as one of ABC’s two brand new comedy shows during the mid-season mark in around January/February 2025.

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More of Days of Our Lives on 10 Play where brand new episodes will air from Tuesdays-Sundays likewise with Bold & The Beautiful

by Sports Benches

Days of Our Lives has just aired its final episode (back-to-back) yesterday on FOX One after a decade on the air, which is about three episodes old from the original US airing at the moment ahead of the show’s new home in Australia starting Monday on 10 Play. Likewise with the previous Foxtel deal, they will be fast-tracked likewise with fellow Sony/Corday stable and also sister CBS soap The Young and The Restless coming soon next month on top of 10’s long-time mainstay Bold & the Beautiful.

But what’s even better is that they will dump all the previous six month’s episodes there to view for a certain time (nothing lasts forever upon expiry after one month for example) while dropping all new episodes from Tuesdays to Sundays at 9am on 10 Play. So it looks like they will be up to date with the US after all rather than leaving just 3 episodes behind and then pick it up from here going into next week when it was previously on Foxtel alongside Bold whose fast-tracked and same day US episodes on 10 Play have been running Tuesdays-Saturdays at around 7 to 9am for a few years now. I’m sure Y & R should be following the same path soon enough given the flexibility to drop it online at any time instead of trying to fit in on TV when the US TV schedule is completely different to what we have here such as the time zones & the content they show, etc. – with nearly all of daytime soaps are happening in the one place & also free to watch too without having to pay a subscription.

Going back to Days since the 10 Play fast-tracked airings is going to be Tuesdays to Sundays, wondering if the show is getting a bit of an advantage like the Canada broadcast on the cable subscription W Network? Their episodes are a day ahead of the original US airing despite Days is being made in the US for over several decades through NBC from the start until mid-2022 and now Peacock. I guess that’s a Corday/Sony or US-Canada TV station affiliates thing for the benefit of the advertisers who put so much $$$ on TV, so another huge win if that is going to happen here with Y & R joining them (alongside Bold that would finally see both CBS Daytime soaps air on the same Viacom CBS-owned 10) next month on the same agreement.

For now, if you still have a Foxtel and/or Binge subscription – make sure you catch up while you can before the latest episodes expire tomorrow as Y & R will still be around on Fox One a bit longer until the end of this month at 12.45 pm weekdays (still 3 episodes behind the original airing then same day airings on 10 Play from next month). And for those new to 10 Play, all you have to do is sign up for an account with your email address and a recommended strong password and you can go start watching their big library of Daytime soaps at anytime on your devices with new episodes available from 9am for most days.

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Thoughts on Days of Our Lives & The Young and The Restless moving from Foxtel to 10 Play/Network 10 starting soon in June & July

by Sports Benches

We heard big, big news earlier today when it comes to watching soap operas here in Australia as both Days of Our Lives and The Young and the Restless will now be leaving Foxtel soon after a long 10-15 years to Network 10 starting next month where both of them will be fast-tracked likewise with the previous Foxtel treatment but for free via 10 play’s streaming service.

Days (a long time original NBC Daytime show whose existence lives on now at Peacock Premium) will be first joining up on Monday 3rd June before fellow CBS soap Y & R will finally join the popular Bold and the Beautiful show on the same Viacom CBS owned 10 staple from Monday July 1. If I recall, 10 Play has same day Bold episodes that runs from Tuesday-Saturday mornings as the 4.30pm half-hour daily timeslot (the one that is edited and doesn’t run the same US episodes that is a few weeks old) on TV isn’t going anywhere anytime soon despite the ongoing parent ownership uncertainty with management.

So not sure if Days and Y & R will follow suit when the soon-to-be-finished Foxtel fast-tracked agreement is currently three days behind the original airing since the episodes first come out on a Pay TV channel like Fox One but hoping the first-run episodes on 10Play would allow them to be the same page as the US airing like they do with Bold thanks to their flexible scheduling so fans can tune in at anytime, anywhere they like during the day. If not, at least a couple of episodes behind would better than nothing with Bold already very popular here & everywhere than the two – so probably understandable.

Yes, both shows will end up on 10 at some point as don’t know when and if that happens, maybe the episodes they put in on TV will be a similar arrangement to Bold. But where they’re gonna put it on their daytime schedule? Most likely during the mornings since Studio 10 is now gone with The Drew Barrymore Show (a syndicated daytime talk show also attached to CBS) also coming onboard Monday week (June 3rd) at 11am before the midday news bulletin. I guess 10 wants to provide viewers a fresh alternative look to own their offering in the mid-mornings from 9am-12pm so they can watch all the other soaps and Drew’s show instead of Nine’s Today Extra & Seven’s The Morning Show rather than attempt another new morning program.

It also looks like since 10 is so committed to soaps here is that they would give CBS’s next new Daytime soap The Gates a chance that will begin in January next year in place of the outgoing The Talk that is going to be a refreshing departure from 10’s weekday line-up as the current talk show episodes (a few days old from the US) air at 7am. Surely that wouldn’t be an issue even though it’s an hour-long show that is going to be built around a rich African-American family, with first-run viewings would be online on 10 Play and then TV-run episodes would come as second viewings a few months later after that (probably at either lunch time after the midday news or 2.30pm as a lead-in to the 3.30pm news which is so far, so good.)

All in all, great seeing 10 make this deal happen with Sony Pictures Television who holds the International rights to Bold and Days since they’re both Ken Corday created properties even though Y & R has been on CBS all along for over 50 years from Day 1 back in 1973 where the Aussie airings were first held by Nine for many decades until 2007. Speaking of Nine, they did come back to airing Y & R and Days a few years ago but only as a second airing to Foxtel whose episodes are 6-18 months behind on 9Gem. This current agreement will continue a bit longer until they can no longer air the episodes being contracted by 10 going into 2025 with Y & R first up not long before the end of the year and same goes to Days next up a year later. So not bad while it lasted but it’s about time these soaps get a first-run go for free on top of Bold on 10 Play soon enough & can’t wait for the Y & R-Bold future crossovers that is gonna be great to see across the same network next time around.

Who knows? Days already has a good Australian following over the years despite ranking last with Peacock saving them from danger two years ago while Y & R has always been the best-ranked soap as well for a very long time. And what does it mean for General Hospital who continues to pick a whole lot of Daytime Emmy nominations every year? Well, it seems they won’t be back on Australian TV or streaming services legally anytime soon since ABC is owned by Disney that has been on the air for 61 years, doesn’t have a good connection with a free-to-air network here other than Disney + (their own paid streaming service) & also doesn’t have an International following beyond the US & Canada. But the good news is that you can still watch the show that is up to date with the US online on YouTube and Dailymotion, even though the quality ain’t the best but it’s still better than nothing including the last five minutes clips in each of the show’s episodes via the show’s official Facebook page.

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Thoughts on Top Gear Australia making its long awaited return yesterday but only on Paramount + with no second free-to-air viewing anytime soon on Network 10

by Sports Benches

It’s been a long time coming since Top Gear was so popular worldwide when you got Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May onboard until the unexpected split nearly 10 years ago after Jeremy’s fracas with a producer saw the series go downhill ever since with multiple hosts like Friends alum Matt LeBlanc, Radio Host Chris Evans and the late Sabine Schmitz who was great at racing cars from Germany – even the final latest trio of former England cricketer Andrew Flintoff, TV personality Paddy McGuiness and Chris Harris didn’t go so well at times as none of them can really emulate the OGs.

We also had a couple of seasons with Top Gear Australia when things also didn’t go so well last time mainly when it was aired on Nine between 2010-12 despite a good start with Series 1 on SBS (who used to hold the distribution rights from the beginning) and now the show is back once more this time with a brand new trio of hosts alongside a brand new network to air these episodes that will is going to be behind a paywall on Network 10’s paid streaming platform Paramount +. You got two well-known hosts and a car enthusiast likewise with the other Top Gear shows worldwide such as Australian Survivor host and actor Jonathan LaPaglia, former Rugby League/NRL player and TV host Beau Ryan and Blair “Moog” Joscelyne.

So no Shane Jacobson (well-known actor) who moved on even though he’s always so passionate about cars as he was from the previous version on Nine last time alongside Ewen Page as well as original host across both networks Steve Pizzati.

All they will do for this instalment is travel around the world to take on some fun and difficult challenges alongside some in-studio segments at Cockatoo Island such as reviewing the latest cars & have The Stig test it out on an undisclosed race track while there will be a celebrity guest segment stopping by each episode with an interview including taking part behind the wheel (Subaru BRZ much like Toyota GT86 in the UK one) in a pre-taped lap from the same circuit. The Australian revival was originally announced at the Network 10 upfronts late last year as part of this year’s Paramount + Australian offerings with 4-5 months of filming as the premiere already launched yesterday with more weekly episodes to come in the next coming weeks.

And according to Mediaweek.com not long before the premiere, it seems we won’t have the chance to see it on Network 10 at all with no second window viewing at a later date unlike NCIS Sydney who finally made their way to free-to-air here a few days ago from its original November 2023 premiere on Paramount + worldwide and CBS in the USA. I guess it’s a show that is going to have a small following amongst car enthusiasts who love to see the best new stash of stuff on the planet rather than take it on a wider audience where most people might not be interested that much at the end of the day but understandable.

Top Gear Australia has been there, done that and unfortunately crashed and burnt when it was previously on Nine while they were they had the rights to air the original UK series a decade ago. And speaking of the UK version whose status is on hold for the time being after a series of Freddie Flintoff’s crash-prone accidents in recent years while hosting the show, Paramount + also now holds the Australian rights off Stan and you can view these latest episodes right now alongside the Australian revival.

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Thoughts on ABC’s new look for 2024-25 prime-time season with first trailers finally out for High Potential & Doctor Odyssey

by Sports Benches

Yesterday, ABC has revealed its 2024-25 prime-time TV schedule with a couple of changes to its line-up where the long-awaited High Potential joins Dancing with the Stars on Tuesdays at 10pm while Dr. Odyssey is a straight swap for Station 19 on Thursday nights where they have sandwiched in between 9-1-1 (another of Ryan Murphy shows) and Grey’s Anatomy at 9pm.

We can see some of the original HPI elements being transferred onto the upcoming American version as her name is Morgan Gillery (French being Morgane Alvaro) who always has a lollipop, furry clothing, three kids, cleaning attire including gloves and most importantly, a good brain with an IQ of 160 we didn’t know she can solve crimes that the police couldn’t do.

On Dr. Odyssey or Doctor Odyssey, we can surely tell you that this straight-to-series order is coming through a cruise ship and isn’t turning back with more details happening on the inside at a later date. So rest assured we will see the first bunch of episodes being filmed with a plot, trailer and full line-up of cast and characters soon enough ahead of its premiere around September/October. Again, an easy pick considering Ryan Murphy’s 9-1-1 was a good move from FOX to ABC this year and the network wants to work with him more when Shonda Rhimes’s properties nowadays other than Grey’s is now on Netflix.

For the Wednesday side, it seems Abbott Elementary will be the only sitcom out there at 9.30pm for now as The Conners’ final six episodes will be set at the mid-season mark with The Golden Bachelorette kicking things off for 90 minutes. Then they went with a limited-series documentary about a mother faking cancer which is based on a podcast called Scamanda.

And Sundays will all be about The Wonderful World of Disney rather than celebrity game shows following America’s Funniest Home Videos with some Mondays expecting to be The Bachelorette when the network isn’t airing Monday Night Football.

All we need to find out now in the coming months whether or not if Shifting Gears and Forgive & Forget will be joining both Abbott and The Conners as chances have been increased to have two new sitcoms onboard, even though it’s still not yet guaranteed when this Wednesday line-up for Fall looks a bit different. That way, they can make 2nd half Wednesday line-up more structured for their sitcom slate while the remaining hour block would belong to a revival of Extreme Makeover.

Plus, it would be best if ABC Signature updates their logo to the current network one when the on-air branding was last changed back in August 2021 as well as its ident too at some stage. Surely, it will look good to kickstart HPI (yes, it’s called High Potential but still calling HPI when it was a original hit in France) alongside Grey’s Anatomy & The Rookie.

Speaking of The Rookie, yes, they might be left with the main show now that The Rookie: Feds was axed after just one year but they still have plenty to offer and starting off in the 2nd half would put this show back on the map after celebrating its 100th episode recently. So understand that this show needs a bit of a rethink in order to get back to basics rather than splitting into two different timeslots back in 2022-23 – like Sunday at 10pm during the Fall & Tuesday 8pm during the winter. Don’t know where they will end up going into the new year but yeah, better to have a consistent timeslot on a certain day for this.

Will Trent also staying where they are, who might not be ready to get a full season ride at this stage when they were also a huge hit right from the very start. But then they began during the mid-season year after year and they don’t wanna change that isn’t broken that might see them fall on the wrong path going into Season 3. Again, we understand that tactic as well.

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Thoughts on The Conners being renewed for the 7th & final season with six episodes & Not Dead Yet just being axed after 2 seasons

by Sports Benches

The last two of the ABC existing sitcom slate has been decided earlier today with The Conners (multi-camera) getting a proper farewell of six episodes for Season 7 later this year in the Fall while Not Dead Yet is no more after 2 seasons and 23 episodes.

With the 2024-25 prime-time schedule set to be released sometime next week, it’s possible that the Extreme Makeover revival will begin at 8pm Wednesdays followed by a Abbott Elementary-The Conners sitcom double after that and then a new show comes in place of A Million Little Things called High Potential (a comedy-crime drama adapted from France about a divorced mother of three who has an outstanding IQ of solving crimes even though she was a cleaner at a local police station).

People can say whatever they want as to why Not Dead Yet doesn’t deserve to be cancelled when they got a good/popular following but then the same goes with every other show and at the end of the day, there’s no point keeping it when the ratings keep on getting low over time. Not Dead Yet would’ve been a perfect lineline for Hulu or any other streaming services but again don’t see that happening unfortunately. It’s been a good run though as wish them all the best and surely we won’t see the last of Gina Rodriguez who will be hosting a brand new game show Lucky 13 in July on ABC with Shaquille O’Neal.

Meanwhile, great to hear that The Conners will get a proper ending at the request of star actress Sara Gilbert whose relationship with ABC has been great after the show recovered really well from the Roseanne Barr controversy regarding her political views that saw the second coming of Roseanne being unexpectedly short-lived. Yes, six episodes might be short but then it’s only going to last for this Fall likewise with Sara’s other show The Talk on CBS which will also end at the same time to make way for another new soap The Gates on Daytime TV from January 2025. We wish them all the best to bring this show home on a brilliant note ahead of the cast and creators next chapters after this.

What does it mean now for the network’s next slate of sitcoms going into the 2nd half of the prime-time TV season?

With Abbott Elementary always getting a full season order since it’s the network’s best sitcom in years, we could see at least one new sitcom coming through the door if not two at the mid-season mark depending on how things go at the pilot presentations next month. Shifting Gears would definitely be given an advantage considering Tim Allen is back onboard alongside 2 Broke Girls star Kat Dennings – no doubt about that. On Forgive & Forget, yes, you got Modern Family alumni Ty Burrell also fronting this project at the same time which is also excellent to hear. But then it’s 50/50 chance where his pilot might not make it when ABC might prefer one new sitcom in Allen to join Abbott and another one would be as to how they are going to fit another half-hour sitcom with no other new 30 minute show to complement on Wednesdays unless they want to throw in a repeat, another new sitcom pilot or a show from Hulu to finish off the prime-time season. These are the only pitfalls that could see Forgive & Forget being denied a series order but again, it’s going to depend on the pilot presentation next month. If that show comes out strong, then I’m sure that will give ABC a headache and not harshly dismiss them alongside Allen’s pilot considering they want to have more cheap multi-camera sitcoms alongside a studio audience.

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