FRIDAY
SHILO:
CRAIG:
ACTUAL SCHEDULE: 8:00 Fresh Off the Boat; 8:30 Speechless; 9:00 Child Support; 10:00 20/20
SHILO: Child Support here gives me “We had Designated Survivor penciled in at 9:00 but had to cancel that show last minute” vibes. It would’ve been decent Sunday (or midseason) filler, but aside from giving 20/20 something more compatible than Agents of SHIELD as a lead-in, I don’t know the upside here or what ABC wants to do midseason. Bringing back comedy to the 8:00 hour is interesting, though using both Fox-produced comedies turns it into (Potential) Vertical Integration Theater and I wonder if both Fresh and Speechless skew the right way for a smooth Friday transition. And where ABC only has one comedy backup in Schooled, there’s a (small) chance that we don’t see Fresh and Speechless together all season, since one could be called up to bat if The Kids Are Alright or Single Parents disappoints, or if Splitting Up Together doesn’t get a back order.
CRAIG: It’s Friday night, and the mood is right… for only the first hour. I’m really not sure if TGIF can truly return without that Miller-Boyett feel. Why isn’t Fuller House on broadcast? Who am I kidding, Fuller House would be on a bigger night of the week, as would any inevitable reboot like Family Still Matters, Hangin’ With The Old Mr. Cooper and Step By Step By Step. I’m happy the shows they did put on Fridays are coming back but I really hope they’re not afterthoughts. I’m also not sure what the logic is in saving Agents of SHIELD for a year, until summer, though I suspect they’ll change their minds when there’s a hole in the schedule. Originally, I assumed the summer thing was because of an Infinity War tie-in; now, we know it’s not so it all seems silly. Then again, I’ve always wanted a broadcast summer comic book show…. I just didn’t expect Marvel to be the ones doing it.
