SHILO’S SUPERLATIVES
Most Promising Trailer: Confession: I’ve seen one (1) episode of Black-ish and none of Grown-ish, so I wasn’t exactly the target audience for Mixed-ish. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the trailer, which played like a weirder, quirkier version of ABC’s patented comedy format – something of an Unbreakable Rainbow Johnson. It had a fun soundtrack, great child actors (key to any ABC comedy), and seemed like it’ll tackle substantive issues without being didactic. I’ve been burnt out on ABC’s comedy brand for a while, but this is something that might bring me back into the fold.
Most Anticipated New Show: The Baker and the Beauty. I love a good romantic drama, a format that ABC would be wise to delve more into as they seek to win back female viewers. I think having a romantic drama with two Latinx leads is a step in the right direction as far as representation, especially if the show can use this fact in its storytelling. I’m also looking forward to seeing Nathalie Kelley again after she left/was fired from Dynasty; if we can’t get the OG Cristal vs New Cristal battle for soap supremacy that me and the other 11 people who watch Dynasty want, then I’m fine with her turning up on what sounds like another fun, frothy piece of escapism.
Best Scheduling Move: I like Bless This Mess getting put post-Conners. I don’t 100% get it since ABC was said to order multi-cam United We Fall with the intention of using it Tuesdays at 8:30, but giving a time slot upgrade to a show you own that’s had some promising ratings results isn’t a bad move. If they can solidify its success, Bless This Mess could help expand their comedy brand, a major opportunity for a soft reboot with Modern Family set to sign off this season.
Worst Scheduling Move: It’s got to be either The Rookie to Sundays or Emergence on Tuesdays. The former is in a rough slot in general and I’m not super confident that Kids Say the Darndest Things does decently or that the Shark Tank audience wants scripted at 10:00. I also don’t like that ABC took a look at the show’s very solid non-linear numbers and thought the best course of action was to move it from a tough 10:00 slot to a tougher 10:00 slot. As far as Emergence, ABC’s treating it like a placeholder by scheduling it following a weak Black-ish; the trailer already looked like several shows that haven’t worked on broadcast in recent years, so expecting it to be sampled with this schedule is ludicrous. At this point, they should’ve just renewed Whiskey Cavalier, moved it to Tuesdays, and called it a day.
Most Likely New Hit: ABC is high enough on Mixed-ish that they moved the backdoor pilot to next fall and prioritized it over every comedy that previous ABC president Channing Dungey had in development. So I think the network will give this show the most support and ratings latitude out of their three new fall shows. It helps that the show looks and feels the most like an ABC hit out of the bunch, so if anything finds an audience, I think this is it; the iffy scheduling and the connection to a softly rated parent show will probably keep it from becoming a hit-hit, but it should do more than enough to be renewed.
Likely First Cancellation: As with the other broadcast networks, I don’t know if we’ll see any of the fall shows outright cancelled. In this case, especially, since the only dramas on the bench are earmarked for Thursdays (Station 19), post-Oscars (For Life), and summer (The Baker and the Beauty). My guess is that Emergence‘s low concept, poor scheduling, and similarity to a multitude of failed genre shows causes it to be capped at 10-13 episodes, while Stumptown, which the network was very high on during development, is a low-and-steady show that gets 22 episodes.
What I’ll Be Watching in the Fall: I might sample Mixed-ish since I was taken off guard by the trailer. Otherwise, ABC and I shan’t meet until The Baker and the Beauty is bestowed upon the world.
HOW DID WE DO?
So, in predicting the ABC schedule in our fantasy scheduling a few weeks ago, who got it the most right?
Giving a point per hour for getting it on the right not, splitting in half if it’s the right night, wrong time slot, Craig had 9.5 points out of a possible 19, and Shilo ended up with 9. Yeah, we failed. Stay tuned for our reactions to CBS and The CW!
