Craig: ABC needs another Castle – a show that is procedural enough that people can randomly tune in while at the same time it has characters and stories that continue from week to week. Sitcom-wise, they might want to look to the broad appeal of something like Last Man Standing and think about why such a show does so well. Finally, they have access to Marvel properties – use them, and not on spy shows. Inhumans is a bold and interesting start, but despite their pedigree as creations of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Marvel has so frequently used them as X-Men stand-ins that I’m not sure how it’ll play out. Marvel is also trying way too hard to make The Inhumans happen, and it’s weird that it’s not connected to Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., a show that has actually had Inhumans in it!
Finally, ABC needs to think about their Disney connections as well as property utilizing Once Upon A Time creators Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, because that show is not going to be around forever, and they might want to think of something new from Disney and new from those two “master storytellers” at some point soon.
Shilo: I’m a big proponent of the comedies expanding another hour since ABC’s brand is so strong and the comedies repeat exceptionally well. In particular, their Sunday lineup could use the boost that’d come with backing away from serialized soaps and toward ABC’s family brand, unique among the other broadcast networks. Having 12 comedies going at once would be a lot, but it would allow ABC to slowly work at rebuilding their drama slate and to give what dramas they do launch the best slots possible.
WHAT ABC DOESN’T NEED GOING FORWARD
Shilo: They desperately need to leave the Shonda dramas to Shonda herself; trying to make every drama have the same vibe as the Thursday lineup hasn’t worked and just stunts what progress ABC could be making. So if ABC is determined to have more of a procedural presence in their lineup, which I understand in theory as long as their shows are augmented toward their core audience and away from what CBS and NBC procedurals are trying to do, they need to pay attention to tone and the balance between soap and character.
