Today we continue our report on the networks' recent upfront presentations to advertisers with a look at what's in store next season for ABC and CBS.
ABC
First the bad news. ABC leads all the networks in pink slips.
Canceled: Deception, The Crossing, Kevin (Probably) Saves the World, The Mayor, Marvel's Inhumans, Ten Days in the Valley, Designated Survivor, Quantico, Scandal, The Middle, Once Upon a Time and Alex, Inc.
In better news, if you enjoy half-hour family sitcoms, then ABC will be your destination this fall with 10 on the schedule. Credit the hit revival of Roseanne for the trend.
Here's ABC's fall schedule, with new series in bold.
Sunday: America's Funniest Home Videos, Dancing With the Stars: Juniors, Shark Tank, The Alec Baldwin Show. Note: Baldwin's talk show is broadcast TV's first in prime time since NBC's ill-advised attempt with Jay Leno in 2009.
Monday: Dancing with the Stars, The Good Doctor.
Tuesday: Roseanne, The Kids Are Alright, black-ish, Splitting Up Together, The Rookie. Notes: Kids is an Irish-Catholic family comedy set in the '70s starring Michael Cudlitz (The Walking Dead) and Mary McCormack (In Plain Sight), and The Rookie stars Nathan Fillion as the oldest rookie on the Los Angeles police force.
Wednesday: The Goldbergs, American Housewife, Modern Family, Single Parents, A Million Little Things. Notes: Single Parents is an ensemble comedy about a group of divorced parents who support one another. Little Things is a drama about a group of friends in Boston.
Thursday: Grey's Anatomy, Station 19, How to Get Away with Murder. Note: Murder will have a shorter season and be replaced in the spring with Season 2 of For the People.
Friday: Fresh Off the Boat, Speechless, Child Support, 20/20.
Saturday: Saturday Night Football.
Joining American Idol at midseason will be Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (with only 13 episodes); a new Eva Longoria (Desperate Housewives) drama, Grand Hotel(think Upstairs, Downstairs); Whiskey Cavalier, a spy comedy/drama with Scott Foley (Scandal) and Lauren Cohan; the legal thriller The Fix with Robin Tunney (The Mentalist); and The Goldbergs spinoff, Schooled.
CBS
CBS is going increasingly retro with its schedule, adding two more reboots or revivals of "classics" -- Murphy Brown and Magnum P.I. They join MacGyver and Hawaii Five-O already in progress.
But first, a moment of silence for these CBS programs that will not be returning: Scorpion, Superior Donuts, Wisdom of the Crowd, 9JKL, Zoo, Living Biblically, Kevin Can Wait and Me, Myself & I.
And now, the new fall schedule. New programs are in bold:
Sunday: 60 Minutes, God Friended Me, NCIS: Los Angeles, Madam Secretary. Notes: In God Friended Me, a confirmed "pesky atheist" (Brandon Micheal Hall, The Mayor) is friended by God on Facebook. Dramedy ensues.
Monday: The Neighborhood, Happy Together, Magnum P.I.; Bull. Notes: The Neighborhood stars Cedric The Entertainer as the grumpy black neighbor when an overly friendly white guy from Michigan (New Girl's Max Greenfield) moves next-door in Los Angeles.
Happy Together stars Damon Wayans Jr. as a boring, ordinary suburban family man who gets his cool back when an emerging pop star moves into his attic.
Magnum P.I. is a modern take on the classic 1980-88 Tom Selleck series. Jay Hernandez (Scandal) stars as Thomas Magnum sans caterpillar moustache. Oh, this time around Higgins is a lady (Perdita Weeks, Penny Dreadful).
Tuesday: NCIS,FBI, NCIS: New Orleans. Note: FBI is yet another police procedural. Featuring Missy Peregrym (Rookie Blue) and Jeremy Sisto (Suburgatory), it's about the inner workings of the New York FBI office. This also means that between CBS and NBC, Dick Wolf will have five shows on next season.
Wednesday: Survivor, SEAL Team, Criminal Minds.
Thursday: The Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon, Mom, Murphy Brown, S.W.A.T. Note: If Roseanne Barr can come back, why not 72-year-old Candice Bergen? Murphy Brown revives her Emmy-studded 1988-1998 sitcom. The returning cast includes originals Faith Ford, Joe Regalbuto and Grant Shaud. Creator Diane English returns to write all 13 episodes.
Friday: MacGyver, Hawaii Five-O, Blue Bloods.
Saturday: Drama reruns, 48 Hours.
On the bench until midseason are returning series Elementary, Instinct, Life In Pieces, Man With A Plan, Celebrity Big Brother and The Amazing Race, along with new series The Code, The Red Line andFam.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:
mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Weekend on 05/24/2018