ABC Upfronts
ABC’s upfronts were on Tuesday, but here’s what happened:
Many of the cancelled shows were announced earlier, and I’ll discuss the dead pool in a later post, but let me say with joy that both According to Jim and Samantha Who? are no more. ABC killed Pushing Daisies this year and also yanked Boston Legal, so they have a lot to make up for; this is a start. Kill Grey’s Anatomy, ABC, and we’ll call it even. Alas, Grey’s and its negative effect on undergrads’ ability to spell my name carries on. Also gone though are Cupid, Dirty Sexy Money, Eli Stone, Homeland Security USA, In the Motherhood, Life on Mars, Opportunity Knocks, and The Unusuals (wow, that last one was quick! I guess Joan and God ain’t talkin’ no more).
There are also a whole bunch of new shows, especially on Wednesdays. Comments, embedded clips, and schedule below the fold.
ABC has been advertising Flash Forward for a while now, as anyone watching Lost ads who saw oblique “What Did You See?” ads knows. The set-up is that the entire world blacks out for a couple of minutes, then realize that they all “flashed forward” to an image of their lives six months in the future. Starring Joseph Fiennes, about time travel, and on ABC, I’m surprised it’s not called Damon Lindelof in Love. Lost’s Penny (Sonya Walger) and Mr. Sulu, John Cho, also star. I’m suitably intrigued and impressed with the clip, so I’ll be watching.
I also found the clip for The Middle promising. I’m not mad about Patricia Heaton, but love the janitor from Scrubs and am happy to see him with meaningful work, especially if the script is this good.
I’m somewhat confused by the ad for Happy Town. It starts by boasting that this is from the network that brought us Twin Peaks, but I wonder if the trailer editor ever watched that show. Yes, there’s a murder, but I don’t see the rich characters, quirkiness, and/or thematic play of Twin Peaks. It seems more Harper’s Island, and not suitably interesting to grab me.
Shark Tank is ABC’s new reality show, and seems to be aiming to mix The Apprentice and American Inventor. I don’t see it working, though: it seems too mean (and hence hardly a good fit for ABC’s warm fuzzy brand). And I’m not sure people want to watch shows about failing in the business world in this environment.
Modern Family seems to be the network’s attempt to give the Office treatment to family life, with a domesticom mockumentary. Ed O’Neill returns to TV, though without a clip to watch, I have little else to comment upon.
Ditto with The Forgotten, which is yet another procedural, Cold Case meets Without a Trace. I’m at capacity with my procedural viewing, so I’ll pass.
Eastwick is also lacking a clip at present, though ABC’s marketing team suggest that it is “a devilish blend of Desperate Housewives and Charmed that explores the hidden depths of women,” “brimming with romance, mystery and wicked charm.” Hmmmm. Insert disinterested look here.
Keeping with the girl power theme, ABC is also bringing together Courtney Cox, Busy Phillips, and Jordan from Scrubs in Cougar Town. The title alone hardly promises respect for the women, and the clip is full of angry neurotic women clichés. The young man seems so much more composed and comfortably in his skin, giving us yet another pathetic female lead. This show seems to be exactly what I found disempowering about a certain brand of postfeminism.
Kelsey Grammar takes another swing at primetime comedy with Hank, and if the clip’s anything to go by, this one’s another strike out. Not funny.
The Deep End steps into risky territory. Buoyed by the strength of the Law and Order franchise, and with a spunoff character, NBC’s Conviction didn’t last long with the young hotshot lawyer premise, so The Deep End is, well, jumping in at the deep end. Populated with actors from failed WB/CW shows, it looks okay, but only okay.
Finally, Lost’s Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell) headlines the rebirth of V. I haven’t seen a clip, so I’ll withhold comment, but it better be more than a camp 80s product with lizard people.
Anyways, ABC gave us an incomplete Fall schedule, without telling us where Happy Town, The Deep End, and V fit, no less (or where Lost will go when it returns in 2010). Nevertheless:
- Monday kicks off with Dancing with the Stars at 8 (to be replaced by The Bachelor when it’s over). Nathan Fillian fans keep their beloved Castle at 10
- Tuesday offers a mixed bag, with Shark Tank at 8, then the Dancing with the Stars results show at 9 (or Scrubs at 9 and Better Off Ted at 9.30, when the show’s done). From entrepreneurial competition to either dancing or offbeat comedy, we then segue to procedural at 10, with The Forgotten
- Wednesday is all new, with Hank at 8, The Middle at 8.30, Modern Family at 9, Cougar Town at 9.30, and Eastwick at 10.
- Thursday brings us Flash Forward at 8. Then Grey’s Anatomy comes on at 9 (though since Lost seems like it’d be a good fit with Flash Forward, and FF’s ads played during Lost, let’s hope this means Grey’s will be gone by the new year), and Private Practice at 10
- Friday starts with Supernanny at 8, then Ugly Betty has apparently been banished to Fridays at 9, followed by 20/20 at 10
- Saturday is College Football
- Sunday is wholly familiar: America’s Funniest Home Videos at 7, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition at 8, Desperate Housewives at 9, and Brothers & Sisters at 10
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