Monday 10 April 2017

ABC 2017-18 Season: News & Updates



Wow. ABC seemed to be off to a strong start at the beginning of the season but things have taken a downturn.

UPDATE (09/05/2017) ABC has officially picked up American Idol for next season! What a surprise (no sarcasm intended) the show will probably return in January (mid-season) and is likely to air on Mondays alongside ABC's other reality juggernauts (The Bachelor, Dancing With The Stars) or even Sundays.


UPDATE (10/05/2017) SHOCKER!!!! ABC HAS CANCELLED LAST MAN STANDING! Modern Family has received a two-season pick up (season 9 & season 10)



UPDATE (11/05/2017) More fantastic albeit surprising news! The Goldbergs has also been renewed for two additional seasons (Season 5 & 6) one season was obvious, but two additional seasons are more than deserved for this little 80s show which has managed to blossom despite an ok ratings start in 2013. Both The Goldbergs and Modern Family are produced by outside studios (Sony & 20th Century Fox) as the TV landscape changes with SVOD rights and ownership becoming more lucrative and important, it will make it harder for outside studios to keep their shows on networks as well as score series orders on their pilots. The double renewal for both shows ensures ABC does not have to engage in difficult license fee/ownership negotiations until two years from now and also keeps two of their most stable shows on the schedule until (almost) the end of the decade.

Tragic news: AMERICAN CRIME HAS BEEN CANCELLED! Although the news was to be expected after the current season delivered abysmal ratings, the show was one of the most proactive and well made shoes on television today. 

Dr. Ken, Imaginary Mary, The Catch, The Real O'Neals, and Secrets & Lies have also been cancelled. American Housewife, Designated Survivor, Black-ish and somehow Once Upon A Time and Agents of Shield have been renewed...

UPDATE (12/05/2017) ABC has finally renewed Fresh Off The Boat and Speechless!!!

Gregory's Thoughs:

ABC's Tuesday and Wednesday comedy blocks consisting of some of the strongest sitcoms on network television (bar CBS of course) Fresh Off The Boat, The Middle, Modern Family, Black-Ish and The Goldbergs have remained fairly strong for the duration of the season with new additions American Housewife and Speechless performing well. However, The Real O'Neals has failed to catch on, Imaginary Mary has not done much better and Downward Dog has been relegated to the summer. Last Man Standing  has been going from strength to strength whilst Dr. Ken could be doing better even though it airs on Fridays. Most of the comedies will be coming back with The Real O'Neals and Imaginary Mary being the obvious cancellations.

Sundays have continued to be a troublesome day for the network to schedule. Once Upon A Time's ratings have plummeted further and the show probably won't survive past the 2017-18 season. Secrets & Lies returned after an 18 month break to dire ratings and Quantico failed to build upon the hype from the first season. The critically acclaimed anthology drama American Crime and one of the many time travel themed shows Time After Time have posted disastrous ratings and will probably have the same fate as Conviction.

Shondaland returned albeit with less clout. Grey's Anatomy continues to surprise everyone with its stability after 13 years whilst Scandal and How To Get Away With Murder slowly bleed viewers. The Catch will likely be cancelled and the quickly cancelled Notorious will be forgotten.

ABC needs to pull the plug on Agents of Shield. 

Next Season...

ABC should keep their comedy blocks mostly intact and replace the ones dragging the night's averages down (The Real O'Neals, Imaginary Mary, possibly Dr. Ken). With over a dozen comedy pilots on tap it won't be hard for Channing Dungey to find replacements.

TGIT does not seem to be as strong as it was a few seasons ago. Though most shows are bleeding live viewers, TGIT is still relatively stable and should stick around for the next season or two. However, ABC should start preparing for Scandal and HTGAWM's inevitable departure.

FIX SUNDAYS! I don't know how but something needs to be done about ABC's Sunday lineup. ABC has had dramas on Sundays for many years now but maybe next season is the time for ABC to revolutionise Sunday night programming. ABC could try reality/game-show based shows or possibly more comedies however comedies on Sundays are very rare (apart from Fox) but this could work in ABC's favour.

No comments:

Post a Comment