Analyzing the 2018 Fall Schedule: ABC

After an eventful couple of upfronts weeks, the five broadcast networks have put forth their fall 2018 schedules. There are some ingenious moves; there are some confounding moves. There are new shows hoping to be sampled and become the next big thing; there are relocated veterans hoping to improve their time slots and leg out a few more seasons. We won’t know whether each network put forth the right combination of shows until the fall, but that isn’t going to stop KSiteTV’s Craig Byrne and Shilo Adams from giving their annual first impressions on all five of the fall schedules. They’ll break down the schedule of every network on a nightly basis, telling you what surprised them and what they think might be set up for failure, all before naming everything from the most promising new show to worst scheduling move and what they’ll be watching in the fall.

Third up is ABC, which is coming off a season with the successful revivals of Roseanne and American Idol, as well as breakout medical drama The Good Doctor. 2018-19 finds the network spinning off Dancing with the Stars for the first time while giving another boost to Grey’s Anatomy spinoff Station 19 and fielding comedies about a Catholic family, ’90s high school, and a ragtag group of single parents. TGIF is back with two low priority veterans; buzzy drama A Million Little Things looks to take on two procedurals; and Nathan Fillion is back as the oldest rookie in the LAPD.

But before you dig into what Craig and Shilo thought about each schedule, you can review their fantasy schedules below and rewatch the trailers for each of ABC’s new series.

2018-2019 Scheduling Predictions: NBC | FOX | ABC | CBS | The CW

2018-2019 Scheduling Analysis: NBC | FOX | CBS | The CW

Trailers: The Kids Are Alright | The Rookie | Single Parents | A Million Little Things | Grand Hotel | The Fix | Whiskey Cavalier

SUNDAY
CRAIG: 7:00 America’s Funniest Home Videos; 8:00 Child Support; 9:00 Shark Tank; 10:00 False Profits
SHILO: 7:00 America’s Funniest Home Videos; 8:00 Child Support; 9:00 Shark Tank; 10:00 The Alec Baldwin Show
ACTUAL SCHEDULE: 7:00 America’s Funniest Home Videos; 8:00 Dancing with the Stars: Juniors; 9:00 Shark Tank; 10:00 The Alec Baldwin Show

CRAIG: Although unscripted for most if not all of the night is what we expected, it still makes me sad as I love my scripted TV. With that said, the experiment of doing American Idol live in the Spring seemed to work really well and justifies the whole Sunday thing. I also hope for ABC’s sake that Dancing With The Stars: Juniors does better than the young American Idol spinoff they tried (though some of those kids ended up famous, go figure). If anything, the DWTS kids’ show is something families can watch on Sundays at 8, which is a notion I can totally get behind. I won’t be watching, but those with families can have at it.

SHILO: I’m glad that ABC stayed unscripted here since Idol on Sundays would make it tough for scripted shows to get any traction. I just have my doubts about Dancing with the Stars: Juniors and The Alec Baldwin Show. The former I think could easily eat into its parent show, which is already coming off a softly rated Athletes season that was treated like scheduling filler by both the network and audience. Dancing has been one of ABC’s most important scheduling pieces, so I feel like the network should be trying to preserve it vs. running it into the ground like Juniors could do. While a low cost 10:00 hour that could help the affiliates is understandable, The Alec Baldwin Show is a vanity project whose first episode, airing post-Oscars, was a self-serving, surface-level mess that seemed more like a bare bones podcast taping than anything that could (or would) appeal to a wide audience.