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Thoughts on ABC’s early 2025 schedule for mid-season with new show premieres, season resumption and season finale dates revealed

by Sports Benches

There was a huge announcement about ABC’s mid-season schedule beginning in January 2025 and finally not only we will have season premieres for some new shows both reality & scripted but also season resumptions and season finale dates for some already booming content as well. 

Comedy/Sitcoms

Let’s start with the comedy side and it looks like Tim Allen’s brand new show Shifting Gears will kick off Wednesdays at 8pm starting January 8th followed by the ever popular Abbott Elementary to round off the hour at 8.30pm. Then 9 & 10 pm slows will be taken by both Celebrity Jeopardy and the already returning What Would You Do? social experiment show.

What does it mean for The Conners? Well looks like their six-episode journey towards the finish line for season 7 will begin around the Spring time in March. 

This is interesting as maybe we will get to see all three sitcoms after all while they can always throw in another version of The Bachelor franchise if they like or else have a bit of Steve Harvey airtime (total of 90 minutes) like it was earlier this year.

Oh, it’s also nice to see the updated Shifting Gears logo that is good for TV now this is set for takeoff not long from now. You can see the pilot version of the show above before their full season approval by the network not long later. 

Drama

Looks like High Potential and Doctor Odyssey will get a second half season run since their new shows have been going relatively well. HPI to be back in action to solve crimes straight after Christmas and New Year where they will be sandwiched between mid-season premieres of Will Trent and The Rookie at 9pm since Dancing With The Stars have already finished with their year by now. Who would love a full night of dramedys? Everyone asked and ABC has delivered it in return.

Plus, Doctor Odyssey, 9-1-1 and Grey’s Anatomy as part of the Thursday band will be back to empty the tank from early March to around mid-late May as usual.

Everything else?

Yes, Monday night will be seen differently other than a new season of The Bachelor at 10pm, with one coming out the Hulu unscripted library called The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. There’s still no premiere yet for Celebrity Wheel of Fortune for Pat Sajak’s final wheel as host but looks like it will either be on Monday or Wednesday for the spring cycle. Again, maybe Wednesdays would be a good time to roll off both on a high going into mid-2025 on Pat’s Celebrity Wheel (will be expected to continue next season under everywhere man Ryan Seacrest) and The Conners. 

And if that’s not enough, we finally see the season premiere reveals for a number of other new unscripted shows. The revival of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition will be home on Thursdays for at least two months starting January 2 & the long-awaited Docuseries Scamanda will finally begin from January 30 until the usual Thursday scripted gang takes over again.

Then we will get to see which next new comedy and drama shows will be up for pilot or maybe straight-to-series when these projects usually hit within the year-long development mark also going into early next year as most future studio ties will be under 20th Television going forward having recently took over ABC Signature. We shall find out until then including the possibility of an all-new 9-1-1 spin-off (not FOX’s Lone Star) specifically for ABC that could take place from Hawaii.

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Thoughts on ABC picking up another comedy project on Do You Want Kids? from Rachel Bloom & Dan Gregor even though it’s set under single-camera

by Sports Benches

A few weeks after ABC announced their first recent in-development project beginning with the next year-long cycle for comedy named Sisters-In-Law, they’ve picked up another one earlier today from the husband & wife duo of Dan Gregor and Rachel Bloom (Crazy Ex Girlfriend star on The CW) – it’s Do You Want Kids? 

They will both be writing and executive producing together with Bloom also set to be the leading cast member herself. Not only that they were fortunate enough to have 20th Television onboard who just merged with ABC Signature a few weeks ago under the one roof as one of their own studio members Steve Levitan will help them oversee this next exciting project.

This plot is about a married couple who in one universe has a baby while the other does not have a baby. According to Dan via Twitter now X post today, he and his wife is writing this next TV comedy project together about their young daughter & how will this impact their lives – which is what we’re about to see should “Do You Want Kids?” be developed into a pilot and maybe a series run at some point. 

So pretty much this is loosely based on themselves & thejr current lives as young parents alongside their child of one.

Interesting and what’s also interesting is that it will be under a single-camera format — despite ABC’s desire to have more new half-hour shots that is more affordable in front of a studio audience, which is the multi-camera stuff as if you’re staging theatre for TV.

First of all, don’t see Abbott Elementary on the axe at all when they’ve been the network’s strong sitcom performer since its inception back in December 2021. If and when the show does end, Quinta Brunson will be the first person to make this announcement. Although if ABC wishes to make one more room for single-camera content on top of Abbott, then it wouldn’t be a bad idea though if they really want to fill up their Wednesday comedy slate like it was in the past.

They haven’t had any brand new comedy shows since Not Dead Yet (also a single-can sitcom & now gone after two seasons) made their debut earlier last year and then the strikes happened up until October 2023, with Tim Allen’s brand new multi-camera sitcom Shifting Gears set to begin its full season filming not too long from now that is expected to arrive on the air by February 2025.

For now, fingers crossed if “Do You Want Kids?” will make it into pilot around the same time that could hopefully be given an extended run for the next Fall or even mid-season block either late next year or early 2026.

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Thoughts on ABC Signature now becoming 20th Television as of today

by Sports Benches

Today we saw a huge change within ABC and Disney having recently found out that they won’t change the ABC Signature logo & its on-air ident — despite wearing the current on-air bug since its last update for a few years now. Instead, ABC Signature will now be merged under 20th Television effective immediately to kickstart the new month of October.

So will we continue to see tonight’s episode of High Potential and Jimmy Kimmel Live as well as Thursday’s nights episode of Grey’s Anatomy and also future episodes of The Rookie in early 2025 being an ABC Signature production? 

Don’t know but I assume probably that will continue at least during the short term until the end of their respective contracted season in around May 2025, so that would be yes. Then depending on their series renewal for 2025-26, we will definitely see those shows being relocated under 20th TV’s production but it will still be on ABC.

Not everyone will notice about the on-screen changes very quickly since this season’s ABC Signature slate of scripted/unscripted shows have either already been wrapped up or currently midway through production.

Yeah, no surprise to see this coming when ABC Signature chose not to get their logo/on-air ident updated despite the network’s logo change a few years ago. However, we know the Fox-Disney merger was of course behind this when it comes to the studio production side of things. Now this makes sense for ABC Signature to farewell after a decades-long run (that began with Touchstone TV followed by ABC Studios and then ABC Signature over these past few years) by joining sister subsidiary 20th Television that will make one studio arm a whole lot bigger & also effective all under the one roof. Also sending out thoughts to some staff impacted by the merger with some leaving while some will get new roles at 20th TV.

What’s next now? Shutting down/selling up Freeform – one of Disney’s basic cable general entertainment channels. The only things they’re doing right now is having a bunch of reality stuff on air alongside some syndicated repeats and some annual year TV show or movie themed marathons other than having to fulfil a lifelong content agreement with The 700 Club after they ran out all of their own scripted programming earlier this year. 

Not even While You Were Breeding would count when they weren’t there on any of their recent schedules when Freeform decided not to put them on the air one year ago despite wrapping up production. They said that they no longer fit network programming strategy for comedy or other original scripted slate at any kind but then the issue were more like Freeform being on its last legs as a network. 

We still haven’t heard back or what will happen with Freeform’s two in-development projects though like horror drama Night’s Edge and a High School teen drama Rush. I guess they might be Hulu or FX/FXX projects after all should Freeform be the next to go from now.

This is something to keep an eye on over the next coming months or sometime in 2025 with more and more paying TV subscribers tuning in from their devices like Netflix, Disney + & Max.

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Looking back at the debut of Doctor Odyssey on ABC starring Joshua Jackson, Phillipa Soo, Sean Teale & Don Johnson on a cruise ship

by Sports Benches

Following High Potential last week, Dr. Odyssey had their turn on the biggest stage as the next newest ABC drama to arrive earlier today. The next future ABC dramas will have to wait until sometime next year or in 12 months time depending on other series renewals since Will Trent & The Rookie will take over mid-season.

Now it’s been quite a long introduction from the start, but at least there was a bit of fun like that breakdancing scene & Joshua Jackson’s Max love interest with Phillipa Soo’s Avery right in between rescuing a bunch of patients around this cruise ship. Speaking of that breakdancing scene, didn’t know Rachel Dratch – who portrayed Rachel Gunn aka Raygun (Aussie Olympic breakdancer who competed in last month’s Paris 2024) on Jimmy Fallon’s late night talk show last month – was actually there as one of the guest stars in this pilot episode. 

But then she played in a totally different scene though as the wife of that patient whose husband got hit in the neck after she came off the slide at the pool. Glad he’s okay though thanks to Max & his small medical team as sure they had one hell of blast & will of course be back with more fun surprises on deck next time.

Other than that, things will have to take time with a couple more episodes before Season 1 is done (probably until the end of this year) where the feedback of this episode plot here has been mixed of both good and bad compared to High Potential’s debut which received lots of good reviews.

Remember this is a straight-to-series order thanks to the creators of 9-1-1’s Ryan Murphy following 9-1-1’s successful move to ABC during its shortened prime-time TV season earlier this year when most of 2023 were held up for the most part due to the writers’ and actors’ strikes & ABC thought Dr. Odyssey would be the perfect replacement for the departed Station 19.

Yes, episode 2 called “Singles Week” is set to spice things up next Thursday at 9pm but will this be enough though to warrant a Season 2 renewal? We shall wait and see as this is bit like a reality show but full of scripted cast and storylines with no host.

Other than that, it’s great to see Joshua back on-screen whose character is great against all odds. So does Sean Teale who shares a mix of humor and in-action rivalry alongside Jackson’s character as the third wheel (Tristan Silva) to both Jackson and Soo’s IT on-air couple with Don Johnson (Captain Robert Massey) getting to steer this cruise ship even in the toughest of circumstances.

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Thoughts on Gina Rodriguez set for another ABC gig as a new regular for the upcoming Will Trent season off the back of her stints on Not Dead Yet and Lucky 13

by Sports Benches

Didn’t know Gina Rodriguez is getting yet another ABC gig off the back of her time with the Not Dead Yet sitcom as Nellie which was recently axed over the summer after two seasons. First of all post-NDY, she was the co-host of the brand new Lucky 13 game show alongside Shaquille O’Neal that began last month. 

Now she will be a regular in season 3 of the hit Will Trent drama ahead of its mid-season launch in around January-February that is also on the same network and the same 20th Television production.

She will be playing an Assistant District Attorney lawyer, who is new to Atlanta & may be forced to work with Will to solve gang crimes within the area, named Marion Alba. Interesting to see if he will stick with Angie (Erika Christensen) or go with Marion? We shall see in the new year as Gina will be there for some time in Atlanta just like Erika whom they are both both based in the West Coast over in LA.

Looks like she and Disney are going onto another level now and good for her getting more screen time on ABC both as actress and TV show host. Yeah, life won’t be the same for NDY when they had a great following as it would be great if this would’ve been kept elsewhere even on Hulu. Unfortunately, continuous poor ratings is not something ABC wanted to keep at the end of the day & therefore, they decided to end NDY after season 2.

But life with Gina goes on ABC with more Lucky 13 where they’ll have back-to-back episodes next week.

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ABC Network News: Thoughts on Tim Allen’s Shifting Gears set for a series order in early 2025 while Ty Burrell’s Forgive & Forget does not as his project won’t be moving forward

by Sports Benches

So there we have it, ABC’s mid-season comedy line-up is all set with three rather than four shows going into early 2025. 

Abbott Elementary continues yet another full season (Currently on Season 4) at the halfway mark while The Conners’ 7th and final season begins at the same time with six episodes to go, and now Tim Allen’s Shifting Gears joins the party as the next new sitcom for ABC since the recently axed Not Dead Yet back in early 2023. In case you missed it, its about Tim’s persona Matt going through a personal restoration of his own on top of his successful restoration car business when his teenage daughter moves in alongside her teenage kids following her divorce on what is going to be a long ride together from here.

That means, Ty Burrell’s Shifting Gears pilot unfortunately didn’t make it into the network’s plans – so no series order from them. Thought they would be up there after a year of in-development alongside someone who is well known for Modern Family before being given a pilot order a few months ago. 

But then things began to go downhill I’m afraid when it comes to the pilot presentation after management got the chance to watch this for an assessment. 

Although some of the bits and pieces were not bad including some crucial tweaks, such as the re-cast of Hank’s son in a bid to appease management. But again, the plot when being added on a video tape copy just couldn’t quite translate what the network wants to offer to their audience for TV. 

It would’ve been great if a sitcom like this be on any one of the TV networks out there to tackle dementia in a positive way had this gone into a series for mid-season.

At the end of the day, it’s ABC’s decision – who doesn’t sound confident on showing a sitcom that would potentially upset some of the audience – about someone having dementia & wanting to make memories while he can that affects the elderly. 

Especially when Forgive and Forget was filmed in front of a studio audience which is something the network wants to do to cut costs going forward. Probably another reason why Burrell’s project didn’t do well when his Modern Family success was via single-camera. Maybe ABC would’ve gave them another chance there instead in a different format, but then they’re less reliant on single-camera comedies & more into drama and reality/unscripted as said with their $$$.

To those who had the chance to watch the pilot, glad you saw it whereas the TV audience may not be able to ever since it’s going to be archived in a warehouse vault. But you never know what’s going to happen since these failed pilot lifelines being picked up by other networks are very rare as 20th Television is not forgiving and forgetting this one just yet.

And on Shifting Gears, we all know having this star power cast alongside a killer script/plot for Tim Allen’s next TV gig was easy enough for ABC to bring them in following their pilot presentation last month. Sure, it’s almost like a straight-to-series as always where their selection process is based on quality than quantity – see High Potential as a reference from early last year based on the hit French police dramedy, while they also had some off-set changes lately likewise with Burrell’s latest pilot. 

But this is a project that’s still highly well regarded just to make sure all systems can go for the network to begin foster a good relationship with the viewers via Allen once again like it was in the past when you look back at Home Improvement and later Last Man Standing.

What will look like as said with their 2025 mid-season schedule, mainly on Wednesdays, is maybe they’ll start with 60-90 mins on reality from 8pm followed by 90 mins of comedy and maybe another half-hour from elsewhere.

That’s the plan going forward as keep an eye out on Shifting Gears over the next few months such as the key art, logo, pictures and the first look promo before they will finally make it on the air early next year. For now, congratulations to Allen with the call-up once again as we look forward to see him return to the Disney family on ABC & 20th Television soon enough.

Note: The Shifting Gears logo above was maybe via a pilot presentation screenshot on IMDB as this may not be the official one being implemented by ABC but we’ll see.

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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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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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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 ABC Network this week seeing new cast members onboard on respective new shows as well as season renewal verdicts on the comedy side

by Sports Benches

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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