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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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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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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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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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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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Last year, Monday Night Football was unexpectedly on free-to-air via ABC every week for the whole of last season in the NFL due to the Hollywood strikes that halted daily activity amongst all networks in the scripted world. This dispute went on for a couple of months until the agreement was finally reached to turn the switch back on around October-November last year where most shows including existing ones were able to get back to work right away on what has been an unusual and shortened prime-time TV season, which has been currently running from February-early March to until at least the end of this month. Now MNF will be back to its part-time slate next season as it originally was with 5-6 simulcast games with ESPN and three exclusive ABC games. They will also continue to air two post-season Playoff games together with the Wild Card that has been going on for nearly a decade while having the Divisional game once again following their first time out back in January.

When they will air a Super Bowl game again? It will be the 61st edition in February 2027 at Sofi Stadium in California for the first time over 20 years that goes back to 2006 when ABC Sports was around for one last ride before it became ESPN on ABC.

I guess they won’t be paying a bit more extra money to make the weekly free-to-air simulcasts happen at least until at least the next NFL TV contact comes in from 2034 while they can air a bit more Super Bowls when the scripted world is back in full activity as expect to see reality TV content again in its place like Dancing With the Stars or 1-2 from the Bachelor franchise.

I think it will be the latter with the Bachelor in Paradise like it was back in late 2022 followed by an hour of the older-skewing show like The Golden Bachelorette or Golden Bachelor since DWTS wouldn’t wanna leave free-to-air again anytime soon on Tuesdays, which could see for a full season of Will Trent in place of the soon-to-be-outgoing The Good Doctor at 10pm.

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May has just been getting started and here’s what you need to know so far ahead of the upfronts later this month on Tuesday 14th, which we will be able to know which of your favourite shows – both existing and new ones – to tune in for next season’s prime-time TV schedule on ABC. 

Drama

So far they’ve got two new drama shows onboard for this Fall (September/October)  – one is High Potential (A show adapted from France about a mother of three and cleaner who has an outstanding IQ with a tremendous ability to solve crimes) & another is Dr. Odyssey (a Doctor relying on charms to get what he wants). 

High Potential as we know was originally picked up just a year ago that was supposed to start late last year but then the strikes have unexpectedly put the scripted world on hold for months before everyone in the industry were able to return to work after a much needed agreement between the studios and unions. So a pushback to this October to begin fall would be most appropriate rather than rushing things up to fit in this ongoing shortened prime-time TV season. Meanwhile, Dr. Odyssey – one of the new Ryan Murphy projects who oversees 9-1-1 – is a straight-to-series order that was made a little over last month by the network. We didn’t see this coming when ABC decided to take a different approach to bringing new shows that usually takes a year of development before looking to bring onto a pilot or straight-to-series stage & it seems the network wanted to expand its tried and tested relationship with Murphy by bringing one of his new shows onboard right away on top of 9-1-1 since Station 19 is wrapping up its own story soon. And yes, I can assure you it’s 100% happening since the social media accounts has been popping up ABC’s typeface on it just like High Potential as the other new drama.

As said with Station 19 having its own finish line soon, Dr. Odyssey will be expected to be a like-for-like replacement in between 9-1-1 and Grey’s Anatomy at 9pm on Thursdays. In regards to High Potential, I can see them replace A Million Little Things (a show that already finished after six seasons at the end of the 2022-23 season) as it should be from the beginning when they were originally progressed from a pilot into a series order on Wednesday nights at 10pm. And Will Trent will be able to enjoy a full season in place of The Good Doctor whose stint will also be finishing up soon after seven seasons.

Comedy/Sitcoms

Now on the comedy side, we will finally get at least one new sitcom if not two in a while since early last year. Although it will most likely go into air for the mid-season cycle (early 2025). I guess the network will increase a bit more reality TV content going forward like another revival of Extreme Makeover to start off Wednesdays at 8pm alongside back-to-back 30 min sitcoms and High Potential. The two sitcoms (both multi-camera which is the direction ABC wants to go for the first time in a while that is more affordable than the single camera ones) are up for contention are Shifting Gears (something to do with a car restoration owner undergoing his own transformation with his daughter back moving in alongside her kids) and Forgive and Forget (it’s about a father wanting to reconnect with his son to make new memories while he can who has dementia).

Abbott Elementary has been the shows’s biggest hit since 2021, so that’s guaranteed for them to stay on as long as they like. Meanwhile, there were doubts as to whether or not if The Conners might be exiting Season 6 early when they wanted one more season to finish things off their way. However, this is certainly going to happen since they have a great relationship with the show after years of huge recovery away from Roseanne Barr when the Roseanne revival was short-lived back in 2018.

Then I’m sure Shifting Gears will almost be like a straight-to-series order despite being yet to start production until next month, with veteran actor Tim Allen back onboard alongside 2 Broke Girls star Kat Dennings. But again, it depends on how they go after the network chose to skip any new sitcom pilots where they performed below expectations during last year’s pilot intake. And Forgive and Forget’s fate regardless of its pilot performance next month will depend on Not Dead Yet’s renewal status. As long as they come out strong, they will get a series order since Not Dead Yet’s ratings kept going downhill over the past two seasons and we would be surprised if NDY stays on for a third season whose audience isn’t suited to TV.

Post Notes

Confirmed: two new drama shows replacing The Good Doctor and Station 19 with all other existing dramas staying on for next season such as Grey’s Anatomy, The Rookie, Will Trent and 9-1-1 alongside one existing sitcom in Abbott Elementary

Prediction: two new half-hour sitcoms with Not Dead Yet being axed after two seasons due to continuous falling ratings and The Conners getting their wish to finish their story at season seven on a high.

It seems like that’s all ABC will do to finalise their 2023-24 prime-time TV schedule with no further new drama and/or sitcom pilots to consider until at least mid-season if not in a year’s time. I guess ABC Signature is not putting forward with any proposed pilots for the network other than High Potential at least for the first half prime-time TV season that would mean they are undergoing a brand refresh with an updated logo like the current on-air TV bug that has been running for three years now alongside a whole new ident, having not heard any jingles on any of their produced content as of late since last year.

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It’s been a while since Easter but we have heard quite a lot over the last week from ABC regarding its shortlists of new shows hoping to impress management ahead of the Fall season later this year other than Dr. Odyssey, which went straight into series.

Kat Dennings joins Tim Allen who will play his character’s daughter Riley on Shifting Gears

She might not have been acting that much other than Dollface over the last couple of years, but the 2 Broke Girls star is ready to make her way back into prime-time TV now as she will be playing the daughter of Tim Allen’s character Matt on Shifting Gears. We know so far before her announcement that Matt, a successful car restoration owner, is set for a restoration of his own after his daughter was forced to move into his home alongside her teenage kids. Now her character’s name is Riley whom she had a strained relationship with her dad growing up before she married her boyfriend she hated while having two kids along the way, which turned out to be a divorce & now she moves back in hoping to make it work with her dad this time.

This is something we have yet to see when it comes to the Allen-Dennings working chemistry but they have got great experience performing in front of a studio audience before as is the setting Shifting Gears will go with where ABC doesn’t have a recent history of multi-camera sitcoms other than tons of single-camera stuff since The Conners back in 2018.

Thoughts on The Conners and Not Dead Yet renewal bubble

While most of the current drama shows have recently been given the renewal to stay on for next season other than Station 19 & The Good Doctor, we are still waiting whether two of the current comedy shows The Conners and Not Dead Yet will also be joining Abbott Elementary for later this year or not. First of all, The Conners has been great to ABC for a few years having recovered well from the Roseanne Barr controversy as their renewal would rest on 1-2 new multi-camera pilots. Meanwhile, Not Dead Yet is right now 50/50 since the ratings aren’t there but has a great following though with Gina Rodriguez (Nell) as they could come back for Season 3 depending on the network’s line-up on Wednesday nights that would best fit their viewers.

It would be great if they can give The Conners’ creator Sara Gilbert one last season to perfect a brilliant ending to the show in a way that would put great respect to the network as I guess this show will stay on a bit longer. We saw CBS axe The Talk last week, a daytime talk show she was involved with from the beginning for the majority, as they will have a shortened 15th season to wrap things up at the end of this year before a new African-American soap comes in by January called The Gates.

With that being said, The Conners will stay, Shifting Gears would be a definite yes & Forgive & Forget is dependent on Not Dead Yet’s fate as well as potentially other new comedy pilots coming into play soon enough but ABC’s further investment into multi-camera sitcoms would give them a slight advantage despite Burrell’s success with single camera stuff like Modern Family. And more viewers would drop out even more before it’s too late if Not Dead Yet stays on for a third season where there’s worse shows than this who didn’t rate well at the start and had to be abruptly be cut away before it even finished.

Phillipa Soo and Don Johnson join Joshua Jackson for ABC’s new drama show Dr. Odyssey

And lastly, we have two new additions for ABC’s new drama show Dr. Odyssey which is going to be a medical serial but this time it will be set on a cruise ship. So far it’s a straight into series order with Joshua Jackson playing the lead character & will also be executive producing who relies on charms to make things work. Now Don Johnson and Phillipa Soo has came onboard as additional leading cast members; Again, we don’t know which characters they will be playing as Dr. Odyssey is still developing before shooting its first scenes later this year. However, I guess Soo will be lead woman/the doctor’s lover while Johnson will be the veteran working with the doctor. Speaking of Soo, she’s been with ABC before when Dangerous Liaisons didn’t make it as a pilot ten years ago while she was on Hulu’s Dopesick for a few episodes back in 2021 under 20th Television studios. Don’t forget her husband Stephen Pasquale also appeared on ABC’s cancelled straight series pilot Avalon two years ago as the leading male cop alongside Neve Campbell’s Nic Searcy – also under 20th Television. It looks like the new show’s social media accounts is beginning to pop up now with the network’s text logo and its covers on it saying “new series coming soon on ABC and Hulu”; The new show and ABC are even following each other on Instagram which is good news despite no welcome post announcement. The same goes with High Potential whose new drama show will also arrive later this year despite staying idle for so long due to last year’s strikes,. Now here’s hoping for ABC to learn their lessons by not changing their minds on cancelling a straight series order ever again like it was over the last few years such as Avalon (2022), two untitled Alec Baldwin comedy projects (2018 and 2021) & even While You Were Breeding (September 2023) via Freeform.

What’s next before we finish April and enter May?

I guess ABC Signature is currently seeing their current broadcast TV shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Station 19, The Rookie and The Good Doctor reaching its finish line soon for this shortened prime-time season thanks to the writer’s and actors’ strikes for most of last year, which is probably the reason why they haven’t come up with the next season pilots just yet. But I guess we will at least see one new drama and comedy pilot coming up from their end and hopefully, they get a new logo and outro since ABC updated their on-air ident for a few years now. And if any new shows are to join past the pilot stage, I expect to see 1-2 new comedy pilots depending on Not Dead Yet as well as at least one new drama show replacing The Good Doctor (High Potential doesn’t count since it’s from last year and Dr. Odyssey would fit in between 9-1-1 & Grey’s on Thursday nights).

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Well, CBS just made the announcement today that they will remove a chat show from their daytime line-up called The Talk going into next year. They first went on air back in mid-2010 in place of one of the channel’s former soaps As The World Turns, having enjoyed a great run of 14 seasons right now with the final 15th shortened season coming up to close it out between September-December 2024. Seems like it’s right time, although I think they should’ve bowed out a year or two ago but then the show gave a couple of guys a chance to step in full-time amongst a female-led panel after Sharon Osborne was fired. So what does that mean going forward? It seems they won’t make a CBS Mornings third hour and compete against ABC’s GMA 3 and NBC News Now during the middle of the day. However, they will most likely give another new soap a go that is centred around a rich African-American family called The Gates. Credit to CBS on fulfilling Michele Van Jean’s dream of running her own soap if this happens as it will be interesting to see who will be coming over soon enough from CBS’s other soaps like Bold & The Beautiful & Young and The Restless as well as ABC’s General Hospital & Peacock’s Days of Our Lives.

And with regards to the Australian showing here once The Talk will be taken off the air, I guess it won’t be much of a great loss from Network 10 who normally puts them on the air so early in the morning with a few days behind the original US airing which doesn’t gain much of an audience as another cheap-filler program will do to replace them at the 7 to 8am timeslot. I know CBS Studios is involved with The Gates when it comes to the production as we’ll wait and see if the show will be distributed internationally but don’t think an hour-long soap would be worth the risk since the popular B & B is 30 mins long as a decent lead-in to their 5pm news bulletin and Neighbours came back to life a few months ago thanks to Amazon Freevee.

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ABC has just made a big call today and it’s going to be a brand new straight-to-series drama show being led by 9-1-1’s Ryan Murphy that will begin later this year alongside High Potential called Dr. Odyssey. If they need a new medical drama to fill in for the soon-to-be-finished The Good Doctor, it’s gotta be at the right place at the right time in none other than this show where 9-1-1 meets The Love Boat on a cruise ship. More details will come at a later date including filming dates with Joshua Jackson playing the main character (definitely Dr. Odyssey who relies on charms to get what he wants) and will also do a bit of behind the scenes work as an executive producer with Murphy under the Disney owned 20th Television studios umbrella.

Great to see 9-1-1 finding its strong ground at ABC after Season 7 began last Thursday, having been with FOX over the first couple of seasons and ABC going for a new medical show with someone (Murphy) who can craft all about medical/first responders stories well is simply excellent timing after a few unsuccessful medical pilots over the past few years such as Triage and The Hurt Unit. I can see this replacing the also soon-to-be-outgoing Station 19 fire drama soon enough and have it sandwiched between 9-1-1 and Grey’s Anatomy on Thursday nights or like for like in place of the Good Doctor on Tuesdays.

Let’s hope since there has been another restructure within the network executives upstairs over the past year, I’m sure they won’t make another reverse cancellation of these straight-to-series orders like it has been in the past & instead give these new ones like Dr. Odyssey a go. Now with two upcoming series order dramas & two new comedy pilots being lined up for Fall in September/October, we have yet to see any involvement from ABC Signature other than the guaranteed High Potential show regarding the choice of these next pilot orders (comedy and/or drama) with the main network but it will come sooner rather than later. For now, congratulations to Ryan Murphy and Joshua Jackson with the new medical drama show Dr. Odyssey.

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