nother year, another probable last place finish in the 18-49 demo. The odd thing about ABC’s dumpster dwelling as of late is that they really do know what their brand is. CBS along with ABC know who their demographic is, and who to really reach. CBS kills it each year, but ABC is plodding along with its mostly femme-centric series (think Grey’s). If you had to point out the highlights of last season, you’d have to point to Scandal. It’s really become a force on Thursday nights. Everything else, was somewhat blah. Hell, they are only returning three shows for sophomore campaigns in SHIELD, Resurrection and The Goldbergs. Neither set the ratings world on fire, but both can be groomed into stronger hits.
Canceled Shows: The Assets, Back in the Game, Betrayal, Killer Women, Lucky 7, Mind Games, Mixology, The Neighbors, Once Upon A Time in Wonderland, Surburgatory, Super Fun Night, and Trophy Wife.
New Shows: Agent Carter, American Crime, Black-ish, Cristela, Forever, Fresh Off The Boat, Galavant, How To Get Away With Murder, Manhattan Love Story, Secrets and Lies, Selfie, The Whispers.
The good news is that most of what ABC canceled this year, was certifiable garbage (not you, Trophy Wife). The bad news is that what they’ve picked up, doesn’t look much better. They are sticking to their shows for women, and family comedies for the most part. Even their newest Marvel show, will feature Agent Carter, so they are doubling down on the demo that brung them. If I had to pick out successes right off the bat, I would have to go with Agent Carter (Marvel connection and stars a lady), and How To Get Away With Murder. Murder has the best shot at success because it will be following Grey’s, which is moving to the dreaded 8pm Thursday slot. Fresh Off The Boat seems like it’s following The Goldbergs formula, only a decade later, so if they schedule it right, it SHOULD do well.
The bad news is that some of the comedies look insipid at best. Love Story and Selfie look like the kind of shows ABC’s tried a thousand times already, and Cristela looks like a sitcom within a sitcom that people make fun of. The Whispers also feels like V or Flash Forward, so maybe it’ll get a full-season pickup, but nothing past that.
To ABC’s credit, they’re actually scheduling shows in a fashion that makes it look like diversity is actually something they care about. They have Black-ish (black family), Cristela (hispanic family), and Fresh Off (asian family) all on their schedules for next year, which shows that reflecting our actual world is somewhat important. Shonda Rhimes’ 3 hour block on Thursdays is also proof of an acknowledgement of other races. I think that if even one of the new “ethnic” shows hits, that’s huge progress. The other thing going ABC’s way is their mostly smart scheduling, Selfie and Love Story notwithstanding. Moving SHIELD an hour gives it some protection, and scheduling Agent Carter for the break keeps that the All New All Marvel hour. Making Wed all single-cam family shows is also going to work. I think ABC might still be in the cellar next year, but it’s not going to be nearly as bleak. American Crime looks like a quality show (that won’t do well), and the same can be said (maybe) for Secrets and Lies. If one of those does well it’ll be a big help. ABC can get back to the top quickly, but it’s going to take more than Wednesday and Thursday successes.
About Russ Stevens
Russ Stevens is an editor and writer at Rookerville and a guidance counselor at Nyack HS. He mostly writes about either loving or hating things. In his spare time, he performs Improv comedy with his troupe Priest and The Beekeeper and is a co-producer of their monthly variety show Pig Pile. He loves all the New York sports teams that are historically bad, and he hates lateness more than anything in the world.