ABC Upfront: Fall 2009

[Pavan]

June 9, 2009


ABC ANNOUNCES FALL PREMIERE DATES

ABC announced the following premiere dates for the 2009-2010 season today. Additional premieres will be announced at a later date. All times listed are ET.

Saturday, September 5
8:00 p.m.-11:30 p.m. “Saturday Night Football”

Friday, September 11
10:00-11:00 p.m. 20/20

Monday, September 21
8:00-10:00 p.m. “Dancing with the Stars”
10:00-11:00 p.m. “Castle”

Tuesday, September 22
8:00-10:00 p.m. “Dancing with the Stars” (special two-hour episode)
10:00-11:00 p.m. “The Forgotten”

Wednesday, September 23
8:00-9:00 p.m. “Dancing with the Stars The Results Show” (special day and time)
9:00-9:30 p.m. “Modern Family”
9:30-10:00 p.m. “Cougar Town”

Thursday, September 24
8:00-9:00 p.m. “Flash Forward”
9:00-10:00 p.m. “Grey’s Anatomy”

Sunday, September 27
7:00-9:00 p.m. “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (two-hour season premiere)
9:00-10:00 p.m. “Desperate Housewives”

Tuesday, September 29
8:00-9:00 p.m. “Shark Tank” (returns to its regular timeslot after being preempted the week prior)
9:00-10:00 p.m. “Dancing with the Stars The Results Show” (regular day and time period premiere)

Wednesday, September 30
8:00-8:30 p.m. “Hank”
8:30-9:00 p.m. “The Middle”

Sunday, October 4
7:00-8:00 p.m. “America’s Funniest Home Videos”

Friday, October 9
8:00-10:00 p.m. “Ugly Betty” (two-hour season premiere)

Friday, October 16
8:00-9:00 p.m. “Supernanny”

[JulieSomoski]

Nice move by ABC giving The Cougar/American Family the Dancing lead-in for their premieres. They should definitely premiere high now. I think it's still up in the air how Hank and The Middle will do, though.

[ryan423]

Dumb move! Put the shows that will lead off the night beginning September 30th at 9pm on the 23rd, and if they build on DWTS, people will tune in at 8 the following week and stick around for the 9pm hour of 'Family' and 'Cougar.'

[Scoobiedoo30]

I cant wait for Saturday Night Football

[Pavan]

Blog story on the premiere dates:

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/blog/20...-futurama.html
See my thoughts on where the not announced dates for series might go.

[JulieSomoski]

Originally Posted by ryan423

Dumb move! Put the shows that will lead off the night beginning September 30th at 9pm on the 23rd, and if they build on DWTS, people will tune in at 8 the following week and stick around for the 9pm hour of 'Family' and 'Cougar.'

That would also have been a smart move, but it might get too confusing that way. It's probably better to launch the shows in the slots they'll be airing. Plus, it seems like ABC is favoring the 9pm comedies much more.

[ryan423]

It ashame cause I think of the four, "The Middle" looks the funniest. I will admit though, Cougar Town looks hilarious too!

[Pavan]

Not allowed to do full reviews yet, but I've seen the following Fall 2009 ABC pilots:

Modern Family - As mentioned saw this pilot at upfront and it is perfectly done! Hilarious!!
Flash Forward - Saw the first act (12 min. or so) at upfront...and from what I've seen SO far, this is action-packed and cannot wait to see the full pilot! Lost-like!
The Middle - This is very funny! Not as good as Modern Family, but the family dynamic is so there. The little kid is amazing!
Cougar Town - Wow, very fun. Lots of risque type moments here, not nearly as much though as the early reports indicated. It's all good! Meow!
Eastwick - This REALLY surprised me. I went into this pilot not expecting much, but I liked it. It is well done and has a good mystery, it doesn't take itself seriously. Good cheesy fun. I liked the movie and this pilot is similar to it. This would do so well after DH. I hope ABC previews it after DH the first week.

Still need to see Hank and The Forgotten (and the full pilot for Flash Forward!).

[Zedman2]

Originally Posted by pavanbadal

Not allowed to do full reviews yet, but I've seen the following Fall 2009 ABC pilots:

Modern Family - As mentioned saw this pilot at upfront and it is perfectly done! Hilarious!!
Flash Forward - Saw the first act (12 min. or so) at upfront...and from what I've seen SO far, this is action-packed and cannot wait to see the full pilot! Lost-like!
The Middle - This is very funny! Not as good as Modern Family, but the family dynamic is so there. The little kid is amazing!
Cougar Town - Wow, very fun. Lots of risque type moments here, not nearly as much though as the early reports indicated. It's all good! Meow!
Eastwick - This REALLY surprised me. I went into this pilot not expecting much, but I liked it. It is well done and has a good mystery, it doesn't take itself seriously. Good cheesy fun. I liked the movie and this pilot is similar to it. This would do so well after DH. I hope ABC previews it after DH the first week.

Still need to see Hank and The Forgotten (and the full pilot for Flash Forward!).

I think Eastwick should have given the post-DH timeslot and Brothers & Sisters moved to Wednesdays. Any chance that ABC exec may realize, in much the same way they moved Ugly Betty to Thursdays prior to its premiere, that this would be a better programming move than what they currently have planned?

[tvcrazed]

Originally Posted by Zedman2

I think Eastwick should have given the post-DH timeslot and Brothers & Sisters moved to Wednesdays. Any chance that ABC exec may realize, in much the same way they moved Ugly Betty to Thursdays prior to its premiere, that this would be a better programming move than what they currently have planned?

I actually think they are still mulling a scenario like this over, since they have yet to announce premiere dates only for B & S and Eastwick. Maybe they are concerned about an all new Wednesday and will give EATSWICK a few Sundays after DH, or maybe just one week, or maybe they will flip the two altogther. I can see why they are hesitating because if they do flip them and EASTWICK flops then they hurt a very successful night and could risk hurting B & S as well. It's not an easy decision. I don't envy them. I think the fact that they are taking their time with it, means they are considering many options.

[JulieSomoski]

Originally Posted by tvcrazed

I actually think they are still mulling a scenario like this over, since they have yet to announce premiere dates only for B & S and Eastwick. Maybe they are concerned about an all new Wednesday and will give EATSWICK a few Sundays after DH, or maybe just one week, or maybe they will flip the two altogther. I can see why they are hesitating because if they do flip them and EASTWICK flops then they hurt a very successful night and could risk hurting B & S as well. It's not an easy decision. I don't envy them. I think the fact that they are taking their time with it, means they are considering many options.

I think they should leave the schedule the same as it is now, with Eastwick on Wednesdays and B&S staying on Sundays. But, come midseason, if Eastwick is holding stable numbers, they should then switch it and B&S. B&S has already shown that it can hold its own without the Desperate Housewives lead-in, and if they switch it halfway through the season instead of at the beginning of the season, it could prove beneficial.

[Brent88]

Originally Posted by Zedman2

I think Eastwick should have given the post-DH timeslot and Brothers & Sisters moved to Wednesdays. Any chance that ABC exec may realize, in much the same way they moved Ugly Betty to Thursdays prior to its premiere, that this would be a better programming move than what they currently have planned?

I hope so. I've been a big advocate for moving B&S for 2 years now. DH is not going to be around forever(not to mention it and the Sunday lineup before it is weakening) and it's been the biggest success in terms of launching new hits, plus B&S had a 2-hour event in March without DH and did very well, so I think it's long past time for it to move and desperately help another night. There's still time and they interestingly haven't announced B&S and Eastwick's premiere dates yet.

[yankeesrj12]

Originally Posted by JulieSomoski

That would also have been a smart move, but it might get too confusing that way. It's probably better to launch the shows in the slots they'll be airing. Plus, it seems like ABC is favoring the 9pm comedies much more.

I'm also favoring the 9pm comedies more. Modern Family looks hilarious, and so does Cougar Town. Hank looks okay, but The Middle looks stupid. Thus I will watch the CBS comedies LIVE at 8pm and the ABC comedies LIVE at 9pm.

[Pavan]

I'm all for B&S to move to Wednesdays now since Eastwick is very good and would fit with DH. Let's hope the ratings tell the same story.

[JulieSomoski]

Originally Posted by pavanbadal

I'm all for B&S to move to Wednesdays now since Eastwick is very good and would fit with DH. Let's hope the ratings tell the same story.

But how would Eastwick do against Cold Case? The smart thing to do would be to wait and see how Eastwick is doing on Wednesdays - if its holding strong and doing well, then they should move it to Sundays. At least ABC knows what they're getting with B&S Sundays at 10pm - a switch may be too risky for them, considering all the risks they're already taking.