ABC Spring Schedule (First Look!)

[Pavan]

We are pleased to announce the premiere of ABC's mid-season programming including, “Miracle Workers,” “American Inventor,” “The Evidence” and “What About Brian” as well as airdates for the series of “Extreme Make-over: Home Edition” Hurricane Katrina Recovery Specials as well as the return of “Commander in Chief” and “Supernanny.”



The premiere schedule is as follows:



As of Monday, March 6

8:00-9:00 p.m. “Wife Swap”

9:00-10:00 p.m. “Supernanny” (return)

10:00-11:00 p.m. “Miracle Workers” (new series premiere – in the time period for four weeks)



Thursday, March 16

8:00-10:00 p.m. “American Inventor” (new series -- special two-hour premiere)

10:00-11:00 p.m. “Primetime”



As of Wednesday, March 22

8:00-8:30 p.m. “George Lopez”

8:30-9:00 p.m. “Freddie”

9:00-10:00 p.m. “Lost”

10:00-11:00 p.m. “The Evidence” (new series premiere)



As of Thursday, March 23

8:00-9:00 p.m. “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition -- After the Storm” (four specials over four weeks)

9:00-10:00 p.m. “American Inventor” (regular time period premiere)

10:00-11:00 p.m. “Primetime”



Sunday, April 2

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

8:00-9:00 p.m. “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”

9:00-10:00 p.m. “Desperate Housewives”

10:00-11:00 p.m. “What About Brian” (new series -- special preview)



As of Monday, April 3

8:00-9:00 p.m. “Wife Swap”

9:00-10:00 p.m. “Supernanny”

10:00-11:00 p.m. “What About Brian” (time period premiere)



As of Tuesday, April 18

8:00-8:30 p.m. “According to Jim”

8:30-9:00 p.m. “Rodney”

9:00-10:00 p.m. “Commander In Chief” (return)

10:00-11:00 p.m. “Boston Legal”





Below is the press release that will be issued shortly containing additional information.




************************************************************************************************************



ENTERTAINMENT



February 1, 2006





ABC ANNOUNCES PREMIERE DATES FOR “MIRACLE WORKERS,” “AMERICAN INVENTOR,”

“THE EVIDENCE” AND “WHAT ABOUT BRIAN,” AND AIRDATES FOR A SERIES OF

“EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION” HURRICANE RECOVERY SPECIALS,

PLUS THE RETURN OF “COMMANDER IN CHIEF” AND “SUPERNANNY”





The ABC Television Network today announced premiere dates for alternative series “Miracle Workers” and “American Inventor,” new scripted dramas “The Evidence” and “What About Brian,” four “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” hurricane recovery specials and the return of “Commander In Chief” and “Supernanny.”



On Monday, March 6, “Supernanny” returns with new episodes (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET), followed by the premiere of “Miracle Workers” (10:00-11:00 p.m., ET), a life-changing series about real people overcoming almost insurmountable odds with the help of an elite team of medical professionals. “Miracle Workers” will air in the time period for four weeks. “Wife Swap” continues to lead off the night (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET). “The Bachelor: Paris” will have completed its run.



On Thursday, March 16, “American Inventor,” an exciting series from Simon Cowell and the producers of “American Idol” about the biggest search ever for America’s best new invention, will premiere with a special two-hour installment from 8:00-10:00 p.m., ET, and will air from 9:00-10:00 p.m., ET, as of Thursday, March 23.



“The Evidence” premieres on Wednesday, March 22 (10:00-11:00 p.m., ET). The series revolves around Inspectors Sean Cole (Orlando Jones) and Cayman Bishop (Rob Estes), two long-time partners and best friends in the San Francisco Police Department. In the series, the crucial “evidence” in the case will be presented at the outset of the story. All of the pieces to the puzzle will be known by viewers from the beginning. The question is -- how does it all fit together?



“Invasion” will go on broadcast hiatus to accommodate the run of “The Evidence,” and is slated to return with all original episodes in April.



On Thursday, March 23 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET), preceding the regular time period premiere of “American Inventor,” the network will air the first of four consecutive “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” specials -- “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition -- After the Storm” -- in which the design team and some very special guests impact the lives of residents of four of the Gulf Coast states hardest hit this past hurricane season – Louisiana, Texas, Florida and Mississippi. The remaining three installments – each focused on a project in a different state – air in this time period over the next three weeks.



“What About Brian,” a contemporary, heartwarming ensemble show about a group of supportive friends in various stages of romantic relationships and friendships living in Los Angeles, will have a special preview on Sunday, April 2 (10:00-11:00 p.m., ET) – following an original episode of “Desperate Housewives” -- before moving to its regular time period on Monday, April 3 (10:00-11:00 p.m., ET).



On Tuesday, April 18 (9:00-10:00 p.m., ET), “Commander In Chief,” on which Geena Davis stars in her Golden Globe-winning role as the first female President of the United States, returns to the schedule.





SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE (changes in bold):





As of Monday, March 6

8:00-9:00 p.m. “Wife Swap”

9:00-10:00 p.m. “Supernanny” (return)

10:00-11:00 p.m. “Miracle Workers” (new series premiere– in the time period for four weeks)



Thursday, March 16

8:00-10:00 p.m. “American Inventor” (new series -- special two-hour premiere)

10:00-11:00 p.m. “Primetime”



As of Wednesday, March 22

8:00-8:30 p.m. “George Lopez”

8:30-9:00 p.m. “Freddie”

9:00-10:00 p.m. “Lost”

10:00-11:00 p.m. “The Evidence” (new series premiere)



As of Thursday, March 23

8:00-9:00 p.m. “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition -- After the Storm” (four specials over four weeks)

9:00-10:00 p.m. “American Inventor” (regular time period premiere)

10:00-11:00 p.m. “Primetime”



Sunday, April 2

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

8:00-9:00 p.m. “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”

9:00-10:00 p.m. “Desperate Housewives”

10:00-11:00 p.m. “What About Brian” (new series -- special preview)



As of Monday, April 3

8:00-9:00 p.m. “Wife Swap”

9:00-10:00 p.m. “Supernanny”

10:00-11:00 p.m. “What About Brian” (time period premiere)



As of Tuesday, April 18

8:00-8:30 p.m. “According to Jim”

8:30-9:00 p.m. “Rodney”

9:00-10:00 p.m. “Commander In Chief” (return)

10:00-11:00 p.m. “Boston Legal”





Jo Frost, as “Supernanny,” can tame the wildest toddler, soothe the savage six-year-old and get the most difficult child to overcome problems with behavior, sleep, mealtime, potty training and other challenges that have vexed parents around the world for centuries. Nick Powell is the creator and executive producer of both the American and British versions of the show. Craig Armstrong is executive producer and Tony Yates the co-executive producer of the American version. “Supernanny” is produced by Ricochet, Ltd.



The “Miracle Workers” team includes lead doctors Redmond Burke, a pioneering cardiac surgeon who performed New England’s first heart lung transplant on a child; Billy Cohn, a cardiovascular surgeon who has been called the “Thomas Edison” of heart surgery for his impressive list of inventions that have changed surgery techniques; emergency room doctor Mandaar Gokhale; UCLA Medical Center nurse Janna Bullock and McLennan Community Recovery RN Tamara Houston. Created by Renegade 83, “Miracle Workers” will be executive-produced by Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey (co-heads of DreamWorks Television), and David Garfinkle and Jay Renfroe from Renegade 83 Entertainment. Scott Jeffress is co-executive producer.



“American Inventor’s” panel of expert judges include: Doug Hall, an inventor, bestselling author and radio host, and also the founder and CEO of Eureka! Ranch, an inventing, training and research firm; Ed Evangelista, one of eight Executive Creative Directors at the New York headquarters of JWT; Mary Lou Quinlan, Founder and CEO of Just Ask a Woman, one of the premiere women’s marketing companies in the U.S.; and Peter Jones, one of the U.K.’s brightest young entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. Hosted by Matt Gallant, “American Inventor” is produced by Simon Cowell’s Syco Television LLC and FremantleMedia North America, Inc. The executive producers are Simon Cowell, Liz Bronstein, Siobhan Greene, Cecile Frot-Coutaz and Peter Jones.



“The Evidence” stars Orlando Jones (“The Replacements”) as Inspector Cayman Bishop, Rob Estes (“Melrose Place”) as Inspector Sean Cole, Martin Landau as Dr. Sol Goldman (“Ed Wood”) and Anita Briem (“La Monja”) as Emily Stevens. Created and executive-produced by Sam Baum and Dustin Thomason, “The Evidence” is a John Wells Production in association with Warner Bros. Television.



The “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” design team includes Ty Pennington, Paul DiMeo, Paige Hemmis, Michael Moloney, Ed Sanders, Preston Sharp, Tracy Hutson, Eduardo Xol, Tanya McQueen and Daniel Kucan. The series is produced by Endemol USA, a division of Endemol Holding. David Goldberg is President of Endemol USA. The series is executive-produced by Tom Forman and premiered December 3, 2003, on the ABC Television Network.



“What About Brian” stars Barry Watson as Brian, Matthew Davis as Adam, Sarah Lancaster as Marjorie, Rick Gomez as Dave, Amanda Detmer as Deena, Rosanna Arquette as Nic and Raoul Bova as Angelo. The creator/executive producer of “What About Brian” is Dana Stevens and the executive producers are J.J. Abrams (“Lost,” “Alias”), Jeff Judah, Gabe Sachs, Thom Sherman and Bryan Burk. The co-executive producer is Dan Lerner. The producer is Carol Trussel. The series is produced by Touchstone Television in association with Bad Robot.



“Commander In Chief" stars Geena Davis as Mackenzie Allen, Donald Sutherland as Nathan Templeton, Harry Lennix as Jim Gardner, Kyle Secor as Rod Calloway, Ever Carradine as Kelly Ludlow, Caitlin Wachs as Rebecca Calloway, Matt Lanter as Horace Calloway and Jasmine Anthony as Amy Calloway and Mark-Paul Gosselaar as Richard “Dickie” McDonald. The series was created by Rod Lurie. Steven Bochco, Dee Johnson, Rod Lurie and Marc Frydman serve as executive producers. The series is produced by Touchstone Television in association with Steven Bochco Productions.

[gilligan fanatic]

ABC just can't seem to keep a regular Thursday line up for more than 5 weeks it seems like.

[Pavan]

Originally Posted by gilligan fanatic

ABC just can't seem to keep a regular Thursday line up for more than 5 weeks it seems like.

Dancing with the Stars will have its season finale by the end of February that is the reason for the change. There is talk that another installment might be ready for April-May, but I doubt it.

Fridays is still a mystery. If Crumbs has episodes still left, I'd bet they would put that on Friday, along with two Hope & Faith episodes and Less Than Perfect.

[Mr. Television]

They finally have a Thursday that was working for it and its only up for a month.

[Brent88]

The wait is over...

Where's Alias?

[spunkygirl]

Originally Posted by barwars

More importantly, where is Less Than Perfect?

[Brent88]

Originally Posted by barwars

More importantly, where is Less Than Perfect?

Fridays after DWTS is still not announced.

[Pavan]

See today's blog and I tried to figure out the missing pieces there.

[Mr. Television]

Originally Posted by barwars

More importantly, where is Less Than Perfect?

It might not air until the Summer. ABC's done that to a few shows sometimes.

[db108108]

Originally Posted by I Walk The Line

It might not air until the Summer. ABC's done that to a few shows sometimes.

Which essentially means that it's a burn off and the series is canned.

[Superbowl]

Originally Posted by I Walk The Line

It might not air until the Summer. ABC's done that to a few shows sometimes.

Yes, they did that with the Drew Carey Show most recently.

[Pavan]

I don't think that will happen to Less than Perfect. We will see it before June I'm sure.

[spunkygirl]

I hope so. It wouldn't surprise if me if ABC canned it like they done before. They can the good stuff and keep the crappy stuff

[Buffyboy323]

Oh Dear God! Where in the Hell is Alias??? My god. I'm Garner deprived. And what about Grey's Anatomy??? they should take a few weeks off from Desperate Housewives instead.

[Brent88]

Originally Posted by Buffyboy323

Oh Dear God! Where in the Hell is Alias??? My god. I'm Garner deprived. And what about Grey's Anatomy??? they should take a few weeks off from Desperate Housewives instead.

Grey's Anatomy only breaks for one week... on April 2nd for a preview of What About Brian? It's regular timeslot is Mondays at 10pm ET/PT, so Grey's is not affected but that one week. They are launching it there since it will have a monster lead-in.