ABC adds four series and more ‘Dancing’
Alec Baldwin talk show, new version of Dancing With the Stars air Sundays
ABC unveiled a fall schedule that includes two new family comedies, a pair of new dramas, a second version of Dancing With the Stars featuring celebrity kids and a Sunday berth for Alec Baldwin’s new talk show.
The schedule opens each night with established programming and new series slotted behind its biggest comedies, Roseanne and Modern Family. Thursday remains an all-Shonda Rhimes night. Sitting out the fall: American Idol, The Goldbergs spinoff Schooled, three more new dramas and Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., marking ABC’s first fall since 2012 without a Marvel series. (Both companies are owned by Disney.) S.H.I.E.L.D. will return in summer 2019.
ABC, which has struggled with Sunday dramas, built an all-reality night that includes Dancing With
the Stars: Juniors, Shark Tank and a Baldwin-hosted talk show that aired a one-episode tryout after the Academy Awards in March.
Fall’s new series:
❚ The Rookie stars fan favorite Nathan Fillion ( Castle) as the LAPD’s oldest newbie cop, who bumps up against skeptical bosses.
❚ A Million Little Things centers on Boston friends who feel “stuck in life,” and marks ABC’s latest stab at a This Is Us- style ensemble drama without a legal, crime or medical hook. The cast includes James Roday ( Psych), Ron Livingston ( Office Space) and Christina Moses ( The Originals).
❚ The Kids Are Alright, a comedy set in the 1970s about a working-class IrishAmerican family with eight sons. Michael Cudlitz ( The Walking Dead) and Mary McCormack ( Falling Water) play the Cleary parents.
❚ Single Parents, about several moms and dads raising kids on their own, who try to balance parental responsibilities with dating. The cast includes Taran Killam ( Saturday Night Live), Leighton Meester ( Gossip Girl) and Brad Garrett ( Everybody Loves Raymond).
Returning comedies Fresh Off the Boat and Speechless, saved from potential cancellation, will be bumped to Friday nights.
And five of this season’s new series — Kevin (Probably) Saves the World, Marvel’s Inhumans, The Mayor, Ten Days in the Valley and Deception — were canceled, along with Quantico and Designated Survivor. The Middle, Once Upon a Time and Scandal also had their long-planned exits.
ABC historically programs more new series and airs more comedies than its broadcast rivals, and this year is no exception.
Despite airing Idol, the season’s toprated new comedy ( Roseanne) and No. 1 new drama ( The Good Doctor), ABC ranks third this season behind NBC and CBS, though its decline slowed to 2% from last season (and 7% among young adults).