TUESDAY
SHILO:
CRAIG:
ACTUAL SCHEDULE: 8:00 The Conners; 8:30 Bless This Mess; 9:00 Mixed-ish; 9:30 Black-ish; 10:00 Emergence
SHILO: So, the positives. I think trying to get Bless This Mess better sampled is good; the series has shown some ratings promise since debuting earlier this spring and it’s something that could help expand ABC’s comedy brand. In the absence of a viable new comedy that could air post-Conners, which seems to be the case since ABC didn’t like its development, I don’t mind trying to turn Bless This Mess into something. I also like Black-ish being pushed to 9:30 – the show is a valuable asset for ABC thanks to its syndication deal and continued acclaim/awards attention, but its performance this season was screaming for a demotion.
Now, the negatives. I’m not super confident in Mixed-ish in this position. I understand ABC wanting to inject some life into Tuesday and avoid it becoming the Island of Misfit Wednesday Shows, but not only do they have Mixed-ish facing Empire and This Is Us head on, they’ve given it a fairly incompatible lead-in in Bless This Mess. If Bless doesn’t respond to being post-Conners, or if there’s another situation like Black-ish had this season when The Kids Are Alright was its lead-in, Mixed-ish might be on its own. Which is a shame since it seems exactly like the type of smart, upscale comedy that would thrive on Wednesday.
As far as 10:00, I don’t understand kneecapping Emergence. If they went to the trouble of actually rescuing it after NBC passed on it, why are they giving it a Black-ish lead-in when Black-ish is coming off a bad Live + Same Day season? It’s hard enough for a show like Emergence to sustain itself even if it launches well, so not giving it much support in terms of lead-in just makes me think ABC sees this show as a stopgap to NYPD Blue or some other new hour-long they have in the back of their mind.
CRAIG: NYPD Blue is not happening (yet) and Emergence looks like so many ABC shows that we’ve seen before, except it needs more Martin the dog. I do like the creators, though. I’m not a fan of the title Mixed-ish and I feel it’s a little strange having a spinoff lead in to the show that birthed it, but okay. I really don’t understand the decision to have American Housewife on Friday, but I’ll talk about that on the Friday section. Glad Bless This Mess is continuing.
