WEDNESDAY
CRAIG: 8:00 The Goldbergs; 8:30 Schooled; 9:00 Modern Family; 9:30 Bless This Mess; 10:00 Station 19
SHILO:
ACTUAL SCHEDULE: 8:00 The Goldbergs; 8:30 Schooled; 9:00 Modern Family; 9:30 Single Parents; 10:00 Stumptown
CRAIG: I’m glad my favorite hour of broadcast comedy stays and am surprised the second hour remains the same as last year, but yay stability? It’s the last year for Modern Family so maybe ABC wants to be as stable as possible. Happy, also, about Stumptown; I love Cobie Smulders, and thank Rao they kept the graphic novel’s title.
SHILO: I don’t know. I’m glad the 8:00 hour remains in tact, but I’m surprised that there’s no movement at 9:00. I figured that with Modern Family about to sign off, they would launch something new in hopes of finding their next anchor; instead, we get Single Parents again, which wasn’t a horrible performer (particularly in non-linear measures) but just doesn’t have much in the way of long-term potential. And I don’t think it’ll be that helpful to Stumptown, which will need all the help it can get judging by that trailer and the fact that it’ll have to air against two other procedurals.
On the one hand, Stumptown is comedic enough to make sense post-comedies and separate itself from super serious SWAT and Chicago PD. On the other, Whiskey Cavalier was comedic enough to make sense post-comedies and separate itself from super serious SEAL Team and Chicago PD and we know how that turned out. ABC probably has the right idea in going after lighter, female-driven procedurals if they’re insistent on getting into this format, but they either need to clear some space so the shows can launch at 9:00 or get their 9:00 hours together to prevent more hopeless 10:00 launches. Because continuing to launch dramas at 10:00 with iffy 9:30 shows is lunacy.
