ABC's Fall Schedule: My Take (With Video!)

BuzzSugar — Tue, 13 May 2008 16:30:24 -0700

I just finished watching ABC's upfront presentation to advertisers, where the network's executives went over the schedule that was announced this morning and showed clips of the new shows - including Life on Mars, pictured above. The presentation gave me some insight into what ABC's thinking with its schedule, which only includes two new shows for the Fall:

Basically, Fall 2007 was so nice, ABC wants to do it twice. "By far, we had the best Fall in decades," entertainment president Stephen McPherson said, "and then came the lovely strike." So the network is mostly doing it over, bringing back the majority of the new shows from last year.
That doesn't mean ABC isn't actively developing shows for later in the year: They've picked up 20 pilots, split pretty evenly between comedy and drama.
McPherson promoted a few of those shows in his presentation, including Four Play, the new comedy from Will and Grace creators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick. If the show is as funny as those two were just talking about it, we'll be in for a treat.
Also funny: clips from ABC's remake of the Web series In the Motherhood. It reminded me a bit of Bravo's Significant Others if all the characters were moms battling bratty children.
On the downside, the presentation ended with clips from Wipeout, the game show with people falling and running into things. The voiceover dared me not to laugh. I didn't laugh.

To see what I thought of the new shows - Life on Mars, reality show Opportunity Knocks, and animated series The Goode Family - and see clips and pictures of them for yourself, just read more.

Life on Mars
I was pleasantly surprised at how faithful the trailer for this BBC remake seemed to the original - and maybe I'm warming to Jason O'Mara as time-traveling detective Sam Tyler after all. Here's a video and pictures:

View 9 Photos ›

Opportunity Knocks
This traveling game show seems family-friendly almost to a fault. It definitely reminded me of the Saturday morning game shows of my childhood. I see it as more a companion to America's Funniest Home Videos, though, not necessarily anchoring Tuesday night.

The Goode Family
This animated series about a family of vegan, politically correct, recycle-happy folks from King of the Hill's Mike Judge could either be hilarious or unbearable. From the clip, I was actually leaning toward unbearable. What's your take?

View 6 Photos ›

Oh, and here's a Scrubs-on-ABC promo, just because:

ABC's Fall Schedule: Like 2007 All Over Again

BuzzSugar — Tue, 13 May 2008 09:30:02 -0700

ABC revealed its Fall TV schedule at the 2008 upfronts this morning, and, well, it looks pretty familiar. The network is bringing back many of the new shows it introduced last Fall, plus renewing a large number of its other series.

Only two new shows will be on the schedule come Fall: The adaptation of British series Life on Mars and a reality show called Opportunity Knocks, a sort of mobile game show produced by Ashton Kutcher. Among last year's shows, Eli Stone is indeed returning, while Women's Murder Club, Cavemen, Miss Guided, Cashmere Mafia, and Carpoolers said farewell.

ABC has a couple of other shows ready to go for midseason, including an animated series called The Goode Family from Mike Judge and yet another Kutcher-produced reality project, this one a beauty pageant that has Tyra Banks on board as well. And then there's Scrubs, relocated from NBC, which will also premiere at midseason.

Here's ABC's official press release, and to check out the full schedule and descriptions of the new shows, just read more.

All caps = new show
** = new timeslot

MONDAY
8 p.m. Dancing with the Stars
9:30 p.m. Samantha Who?
10 p.m. Boston Legal**

TUESDAY
8 p.m. OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS
9 p.m. Dancing with the Stars results show
10 p.m. Eli Stone**

WEDNESDAY
8 p.m. Pushing Daisies
9 p.m. Private Practice
10 p.m. Dirty Sexy Money

THURSDAY
8 p.m. Ugly Betty
9 p.m. Grey's Anatomy
10 p.m. LIFE ON MARS

FRIDAY
8 p.m. Wife Swap**
9 p.m. Supernanny**
10 p.m. 20/20

SATURDAY
8 p.m. College football coverage

SUNDAY
7 p.m. America's Funniest Home Videos
8 p.m. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
9 p.m. Desperate Housewives
10 p.m. Brothers and Sisters

Midseason: Lost, Scrubs, The Goode Family, According to Jim, The Bachelor, Primetime: What Would You Do? and the Kutcher/Banks reality project.

Here's how ABC describes the new shows:

Life on Mars
Life on Mars is based on the BBC series created by Matthew Graham, Tony Jordan and Ashley Pharoah. The series revolves around Sam Tyler, a modern-day police detective who, after a car crash, mysteriously finds himself transported back to 1973 and still working as a detective.

Life on Mars stars Jason O' Mara as Sam Tyler, Rachelle LeFevre as Annie Cartwright, Colm Meaney as Gene Hunt, Stephanie Jacobsen as Maya, Lenny Clarke as George Randall, Patrick Wenk-Wolff as Colin Raimes and Richard Benjamin as Milton Kornboll.

Opportunity Knocks
Opportunity Knocks is a new show that breaks the mold of typical game and reality shows. We will be showing up on America's doorstep and testing how well they know their family. Our mobile team will arrive at "Anywhere, America" in a semi-truck that is full of flat screen TVs, new furniture and big cash prizes that the family can win right there. We will take the action of a game show directly into our contestants' homes, setting up shop in a family's front lawn. The instant our host, JD Roth, knocks on the front door, the game will begin. Hollywood will invade a suburban neighborhood, and each week one lucky family will play the game of a lifetime in front of all their friends and neighbors.

The host poses trivia questions to family members based directly on their lives, each other and articles found in and around their home. If they're able to prove they know their family inside and out, they'll win the prizes of their dreams.

The Goode Family
A new animated series from Mike Judge, creator of King of the Hill. The Goode Family is obsessed with doing the "right" thing, whether it's environmentally, politically or socially. Unfortunately their efforts often have unintended comic consequences.

"The Goode Family" is voiced by Mike Judge as Gerald, Nancy Carell as Helen, Dave Herman as Ubuntu and Abby Elliot as Bliss.

Untitled Ashton Kutcher/Tyra Banks Reality Project
A beauty pageant unlike any you've ever seen, from executive producers Ashton Kutcher and Tyra Banks.