CRAIG’S CHOICES
Most Promising Trailer: For the Fall, I’d have to go with The Mayor, partly because none of the Fall ABC trailers really did much for me. The Mayor at least looked entertaining, amusing, and relevant considering what’s going on in the White House.
Most Anticipated New Show: New show? Even though I’m scared it will be dreadful, I do want to see how Marvel’s Inhumans turns out. I’d love to be pleasantly surprised. On a similar note, even though it’s not a new show, I’m really curious how the reworked Once Upon a Time will turn out.
Best Scheduling Move: I really like that Black-ish is anchoring the Tuesday 9PM hour. It’s one of ABC’s best half-hours, and I think it can thrive and possibly even grow without the Modern Family lead-in.
Worst Scheduling Move: See the entire ABC Fall schedule here.
Most Likely New Hit: Again, I’d have to go with The Mayor, simply because it comes off as less bad than some of the alternatives.
What I’ll Be Watching In the Fall: The Goldbergs, Once Upon a Time, Inhumans…. and that may be it, though there are other ABC shows I like; I just don’t always have the time to watch them. Certainly The Goldbergs over all else, though. At midseason, Deception should be fun.
SHILO’S SUPERLATIVES
Most Promising Trailer: Deception looks like it could fill the Forever-sized hole in my heart. The trailer was an energetic, visually audacious take on the procedural format and something that will look different than everything else on broadcast television next season. It’s also the type of procedural that ABC should be going after – family friendly, visually distinct, funny.
Most Anticipated New Show: Deception is the only new ABC show for 2017-18 that I find to be promising. The comedies are weirdly off-brand, as the network seems to want to distance itself from one of the only things currently working for them, while the dramas are a mixed bag of ABC tropes of the past (muddled genre shows, woman-in-peril mysteries) and the network’s attempts to reach conservative viewers. Deception seems like one of the most fun new shows for next season and a nifty way of livening up a procedural.
Best Scheduling Move: Keeping the original TGIT together this fall is probably ABC’s best decision. They’re three shows that work well together and that strength will be needed going up against This Is Us, which has the potential to suck the air out of the room on Thursdays the same way it did on Tuesdays this past season. Where ABC is essentially giving up on Sundays and Fridays this fall, they needed to utilize at least some drama strength and it’s much preferable to have a lineup you know works going up against a strong newcomer than force a new, unproven show to find sampling in a slot that could be extremely difficult.
Worst Scheduling Move: Getting American Idol will blow up in ABC’s face. It’s a really expensive production (see: Katy Perry’s $25 million salary that’s higher than what Ryan Seacrest and Jennifer Lopez were making at the time Idol was originally cancelled for financial reasons, as well as the fact that ABC will still have to fill out its panel/hosting job with at least three more big names and might be paying the same licensing fee that FOX paid) that hasn’t had enough time to generate the nostalgia factor; had Idol been off for a few years, I could maybe see the logic in trying to nab it, but it ended a well-publicized “final” run a year ago and unless there are plenty of welcome format changes, I don’t think sampling will be big enough to justify this much money and scheduling space used to accommodate it. ABC might’ve blown up Sundays and Fridays, as well as cancelled a heck of a lot of shows and possibly put Dancing with the Stars at risk (a’la how The X-Factor accelerated Idol‘s decline), for what amounts to a bloated flop.
Most Likely New Hit: Since it airs at 10:00 and should skew older, I don’t think The Good Doctor is going to be huge-huge, but if anything on ABC is going to separate itself from the pack, I think this will be it. It has a sizable amount of buzz on social media, it should be pretty compatible with its lead-in, and it’s distinct from its time slot competition, which trend toward action and explosions in lieu of emotion and catharsis. How this show performs should give an indication to ABC’s strength because if they can’t make something like this work, they might be in trouble this season.
What I’ll Be Watching In the Fall: ABC and I are consciously uncoupling for the time being. They cancelled both of the shows that I watched and I’m not a huge fan of their development, so we won’t be seeing one another this fall. And unless I decide to sample Deception, that will extend through the entire season.
HOW DID WE DO?
Giving a half point for each correct half hour, and half credit if we go the night right but the time wrong, here’s how we ranked:
Out of a total 19 points, Craig had 11.5 points for his predictions, while Shilo had 12. Still probably not as well as we’d done in past years. Darn you, Ten Days in the Valley, for putting Shilo ahead yet again!!
Find all of KSiteTV’s schedule prediction and analysis articles here.
