ABC Fall 2011-2012 Schedule
8:00 p.m. “Dancing with the Stars”
10:00 p.m. “Castle”
TUESDAY
8:00 p.m. “Last Man Standing”
8:30 p.m. “Man Up”
9:00 p.m. “Dancing with the Stars the Results Show”
10:00 p.m. “Body of Proof”
WEDNESDAY
8:00 p.m. “The Middle”
8:30 p.m. “Suburgatory”
9:00 p.m. “Modern Family”
9:30 p.m. “Happy Endings”
10:00 p.m. “Revenge”
THURSDAY
8:00 p.m. “Charlie’s Angels”
9:00 p.m. “Grey’s Anatomy”
10:00 p.m. “Private Practice”
FRIDAY
8:00 p.m. “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”
9:00 p.m. “Shark Tank”
10:00 p.m. “20/20”
SATURDAY
8:00 p.m. “Saturday Night College Football”
SUNDAY
7:00 p.m. “America’s Funniest Home Videos”
8:00 p.m. “Once Upon a Time”
9:00 p.m. “Desperate Housewives”
10:00 p.m. “Pan Am”
Monday:
Monday has been a strong day for the past couple of seasons with Dancing dominating the night and Castle, at least in the spring, dominating the 10 p.m. hour. So stick with the notion “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it” right? Have to disagree there.
Dancing has become ABC’s top performing show in terms of demos and total viewers (old viewers mind you). The 10 p.m. spot following DWTS is a prime spot for ABC to launch a new series. ABC launched Castle three seasons ago during mid season and it has grown very nicely over the past couple of seasons. Castle is increasingly holding a larger percentage of DWTS’s lead-in, showing that the show is becoming more popular with DWTS fans. But with Castle entering its 4th season in fall 2011, isn’t it time for ABC to try something new at 10 p.m.? I believe so. It is a missed opportunity on ABC’s part to get a new show ample sampling. Castle has had three seasons to establish itself, and I believe that Castle can stand on its own on a different night.
Prediction: ABC should contend for the top-rated network for the night. The ratings for DWTs depends largely on who the “stars” are. But nonetheless, DWTS will be a force. Castle gets good ratings, but that largely depends on its lead-in. Castle should be the top-rated show for the hour.
DWTS- 4.5
CASTLE- 3.1
Tuesday:
The 8 p.m. hour of ABC has been a trouble spot. Previous occupant No Ordinary Family started off well, but soon dipped into cancellation. ABC had to resort to running a reality show that also did poorly. So ABC had to resort to airing a recap show of DWTS, which did much better than the previous two occupants. So what does ABC have in store for the fall?
Comedies. And the person to launch a new comedy block is ABC alum Tim Allen. He had success with Home Improvement for ABC. But is Tim Allen still relevant? Hard to say. He is still fairly well known, and people may tune in out of curiosity.
DWTS will air its results show at 9 p.m. The results show usually rates lower than the performance show, showing that people are more interested in watching these celebrities dance than care who wins. But it does rate better than most shows ABC has.
Body Of Proof will get the 10 p.m. spot and the DWTS as its prime lead-in. The show has done OK since its premiere in March. Maybe another season behind DWTS will give it a good sampling.
Prediction: ABC has the added benefit of starting a comedy block with no other comedies in contention. And the network has the track record of starting a successful comedy block out of thin air (Modern Family, The Middle). And with the bar set low because of this year’s mess at 8 p.m., I see ABC improving on the night.
LAST MAN STANDING: 2.5
MAN UP: 2.3
DWTS: 3.5
BODY OF PROOF: 2.3
Wednesday:
ABC has done a very nice job launching 2 comedy blocks when no other comedies were on the schedule. ABC has some nice anchors at 8 p.m. (The Middle) and their big hit at 9 p.m. in Modern Family. But they’ve only had mixed success in the half hour that follow. Cougar Town did ok but squandered much of its lead-in. Mr. Sunshine was an even bigger bust when it took over during mid season. The 8:30 p.m. slot didn’t see any success, with Better With You losing much of its modest lead-in.
The 10 p.m. hour had been a dead zone for ABC in terms of scripted dramas. ABC resorted to airing comedies at 10 p.m., with modest success. Happy Endings did better than it’s drama counterparts, but still low ratings. So it’s very surprising to see ABC put Happy Endings behind Modern Family. The show, it’s safe to say, has many fans inside ABC to get the plum comedy slot behind Family. And it also shows that ABC has more confidence in a 2nd year comedy that one of their new comedy pilots.
ABC will be going back to dramas at 10 p.m.
Prediction: The Middle and Modern Family will provide a nice anchor for their other comedies to take hold. New comedy Suburgatory sounds like a nice fit with ABC “family” comedies. And I don’t hold much hope for Happy Endings, just based on the ratings it was getting at 10 p.m. Yes it’s not a perfect comparison, but the ratings were bad and I don’t see much improvement.
And I don’t hold out much hope for Revenge succeeding. ABC had struck out twice last year, and ABC would have been better served with slotting Castle, an established show, here than a new show. A new drama would be better suited behind DWTS.
THE MIDDLE: 2.6
SUBURGATORY: 2.3
MODERN FAMILY: 4.3
HAPPY ENDINGS: 2.0
REVENGE: 1.8
Thursday:
Every time I here Charlie’s Angels I keep hearing Destiny’s Child. And the new reboot of CA will have to lead off the night on Thursdays. Not only that, it will have to go up against X Factor in the fall and American Idol during the spring. Not to mention The Big Bang Theory on CBS. Will it be able to establish a foothold? It has the name recognition and it is one of the more high-profile pilots out there.
Grey’s Anatomy stays put at 9 p.m. The show has been deteriorating in the ratings for some time now to the point ABC has got to be worried. Just like FOX Mondays, ABC maybe trying to prop up its veteran show to lessen the slow bleed of viewers.
The 10 p.m. hour belongs to Private Practice, which has done respectable numbers. While the show does OK, it does squander some of GA’s audience. When PP aired on another night without the GA support, it was getting cancel-worthy ratings, so the only thing holding up the show at this point, IMO, is the lead-in from GA.
Prediction: Charlie’s Angels will get some good initial viewing. It has the appeal for women, which helps out the rest of the night. I see Angels becoming a modest hit for ABC. Grey’s will get a bump with better lead-in support, and possible Private Practice.
CHARLIE’S ANGELS: 3.0
GREY’S ANATOMY: 3.8
PRIVATE PRACTICE: 2.7
Friday:
The only interesting thing here is Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. The show had been slowly bleeding viewers over the years. ABC wanted to try something new on Sundays 8 p.m. to see if they can reinvigorate that night (the whole night had been lagging). Shifting Extreme Makeover to Fridays is a low-risk move on ABC’s part. The rest of the night is populated with fellow reality show Shark Tank and newsmagazine 20/20.
Prediction: Extreme Makeover was averaging in the low 2’s. The show will no doubt lose some viewers. Shark Tank has never rated that high so its ratings will be low.
EXTREME MAKEOVER: 1.8
SHARK TANK: 1.4
20/20: 1.4
Sunday:
Sundays used to be one of ABC’s strongest nights, anchored by Desperate Housewives. But that show has lost a good amount of viewers, along with Brothers & Sisters (now canceled) and Extreme Makeover. So ABC will try something new in airing scripted content at 8 p.m. and a brand new show at 10 p.m.
ABC is taking a bit of a gamble by airing 3 hours of scripted content on Sundays. The night has not launched a successful drama for quite some time. The dominance of Housewives is slowly coming to an end, and ABC will need to find a replacement for this show in the near future (like Grey’s Anatomy). ABC will try to launch a fairy-tale themed drama Once Upon A Time at 8 p.m. and a period piece Pan Am. Both shows are huge risks since they are in genres that do not have widespread appeal. These shows could change that mold, but it will be difficult.
Prediction: More erosion to Housewives can be expected. Many critics as well as fans have been complaining about the quality of the show. And by reading comments of fans and critics online, it seems like they’ve been running out of storylines. Once Upon A Time and Pan Am will do respectable numbers, but I expect them to be on the bubble come next season.
ONCE UPON A TIME: 2.3
DESPARATE HOUSEWIVES: 3.3
PAN AM: 2.5
