ABC has confirmed that family comedy American Housewife will be returning for a third season.
After putting up breakout numbers Tuesdays at 8:30 following The Middle, the show was moved Wednesdays at 9:30, where it was seemingly in line to assume the 9:00 slot once Modern Family concluded. American Housewife still put up respectable numbers in season two with retention comparable to black-ish when it aired in the same slot, but it objectively lost a little bit of heat. Be it the late hour reducing the time for Same Day viewing or some type of incompatibility with Modern Family, the show looked less like potential long-term anchor and more like solid :30 comedy during its second season.
It remains to be seen what ABC does with American Housewife next fall. A 44-episode show getting renewed and airing in the fall typically means a fourth season renewal is guaranteed due to syndication, so where Housewife is owned by the network, they have some type of duty to protect it for at least one more season. Where Modern Family is (likely) ending next season, there’s a chance that they shift Housewife back to Tuesdays so they can use Wednesdays at 9:30 on another show. But where comedy space on ABC is tight enough as it is, Housewife staying put is very much within the realm of possibility, especially if the network wants to premiere two new comedies at 8:30.
The season finale of American Housewife airs Wednesday, May 16th at 9:30 on ABC.
