2006 Upfronts: Part II

As bad as NBC’s fall schedule looked, I think ABC’s is worse. I knew “Alias” was gone a long time ago, but I was shocked to discover that “Invasion” was gone as well. And that series had really stepped up to the plate! Considering that none of the new shows are particularly noteworthy, it looks like the contribution to my review slate from ABC will be rather small. The following is the schedule released by the network on 16 May 2006:

ABC's complete 22-hour fall primetime schedule is as follows (all times listed are Eastern, with new shows in bold):
DAY TIME SERIES
MONDAY:
8:00 p.m. "Wife Swap"
9:00 p.m. "The Bachelor"/"Supernanny"
10:00 p.m. "What About Brian"
TUESDAY:
8:00 p.m. "Dancing with the Stars" (new night)/"Set for the Rest of Your Life" (new alternative series)
9:00 p.m. "Let's Rob..." (new comedy series)
9:30 p.m. "Help Me Help You" (new comedy series)
10:00 p.m. "Boston Legal"
WEDNESDAY:
8:00 p.m."Dancing with the Stars" (new night)/"George Lopez"/"According to Jim" (new night)
9:00 p.m. "Lost"
10:00 p.m. "The Nine" (new drama series)
THURSDAY:
8:00 p.m. "Big Day" (new comedy series)
8:30 p.m. "Notes from the Underbelly" (new comedy series)
9:00 p.m. "Grey's Anatomy" (new night and time)
10:00 p.m. "Six Degrees" (new drama series)
FRIDAY:
8:00 p.m. "Betty the Ugly" (new comedy series)
9:00 p.m. "Men in Trees" (new drama series)
10:00 p.m. "20/20"
SATURDAY:
8:00 p.m. "ABC Saturday Night College Football"
SUNDAY:
7:00 p.m. "America's Funniest Home Videos"
8:00 p.m. "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"
9:00 p.m. "Desperate Housewives"
10:00 p.m. "Brothers & Sisters" (new drama series)


MONDAYS

Well, now that “Monday Night Football” is on ESPN, there’s no reason to pay attention to ABC. This night will continue to be dominated by FOX and NBC.

TUESDAYS

This continues to be a rather empty night, in terms of shows that I review. Needless to say, ABC has nothing of interest on this night, either.

WEDNESDAYS

Thankfully, “Lost” continues in the same time slot, which is a solid fixture of my TV viewing habits. This series will continue to get the full written review treatment, because I don’t think I could resist the urge to speculate! Everything else? Blah.

THURSDAYS

I know a lot of people love “Grey’s Anatomy”, but it does nothing for me. Without “Alias”, ABC is just getting out of the way for bigger and better things.

FRIDAYS/SATURDAYS/SUNDAYS

A whole lotta nothin’. We used to watch “Desperate Housewives”, but this season has been so incredibly awful that I can only hope I can take it off our TiVo Season Pass. It looks like this network will dominate again, which just means another night of catching up on recorded shows or actually writing for a change.

So…for ABC, I’ll be following one show, which will get the full review treatment. That brings the grand total for 2006-2007 (including SFC shows) to 1 full written review, 6 capsule written reviews, and 1 podcast only. This could be a relatively light schedule next season…