Upfronts continue! My thoughts on Fox and NBC are at the appropriate links. Stay tuned for CBS and The CW. Today, we’re talking ABC!
My first thoughts on returning shows… I’m so excited for the renewals of A Million Little Things, American Housewife (it moves to Friday nights though *sad face*), black-ish, Grey’s Anatomy (renewal for 2 more seasons! I’m assuming this show will end after these two seasons or by its 20th season), How to Get Away With Murder, Station 19, Modern Family (final season! It’s time. I’ve been a loyal viewer from the very beginning but I’m happy they are going out on a high note rather than a tired one), Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (this show just keeps getting better and better oh my God), Single Parents (even though I’m behind on this show) and Fresh Off the Boat (even though the lead is not too pleased about the show being her #1 priority now that she’s a hot commodity and roles are coming at her left and right. Major eye roll there. She’s not the first or last big shot to miss out on a great job because her TV show takes the #1 priority. Allison Janney’s on Mom for goodness sake and she’s an Oscar winner. I’ve been to a taping of Mom and I like Mom but if anyone deserves to curse out being locked into a contract… Keep hustling, be humble and opportunities will be there. Play the long game. And maybe don’t air your frustrations publicly when hundreds of jobs are at stake, not just yours. On one hand, it’s refreshing to hear an actor frustrated with the embarrassment of riches scenario, sure, but uhhh there’s a reason talking about it so publicly is in bad taste. Anyway…
Thoughts On Notable Cancelled Series:
Splitting Up Together is the only cancelled series on ABC this season that I genuinely enjoyed through and through so that’s a bummer but I always felt the other shoe was going to drop because you can just feel it when not enough people are watching a show. So.
ALLISON TOLMAN, ALEXA SWINTON
Thoughts On New Series:
Starting with dramas… Emergence sounds fantastic and I am so excited for Allison Tolman as the lead. Donald Faison is also in this. Great cast. Concept is 100% right up my alley. I am SO down for this. Cannot wait. Yes. Want. When is premiere night?
Stumptown is based on the graphic novel series which I started reading in 2016 but wasn’t blown away by. That said, I’m very interested in seeing how it’s adapted. The look of the show feels like the graphic novel. The tone feels semi-right but I see why they made it slightly lighter. Cobie Smulders doesn’t immediately come to mind when I think of the main character but I see how they got there and I’m on board with it. Plus, there’s Michael Ealy so I’m in. Part of me wants to re-read the first volume of the graphic novel because it’s been awhile but I know that I won’t so, I will just have to enjoy the show for what it is. And for what it is, it looks good. I might enjoy the show more.
The Baker and The Beauty seems like it would be right up my alley as a book or movie but as a TV show? I’m hoping it can keep my interest for much longer than where I feel comfortable leaving the story. There is certainly more story to tell, that’s not the issue. Just…some things, it’s nice to let your mind fill in fuzzies. But this is going there long term. So let’s see what they do.
For Life is inspired by the life of Isaac Wright Jr. and sounds absolutely incredible so I’m really pumped for this one.
As for the comedies… I’m all in for the latest black-ish spinoff, Mixed-ish which follows Rainbow Johnson as she grows up in the 80s. But as someone who isn’t mixed, I’m looking forward to not just being entertained but seeing the world through a different lens and thinking about things in ways I never would have. The black-ish franchise is certainly good for putting into words so much of the black experience, the college experience, and now hopefully the mixed experience. I’m on board. United We Fall doesn’t particularly sound like anything unique but I’ll check out the Pilot and see what it’s all about.
New series are in CAPS.
Sunday
7-8pm America’s Funniest Home Videos
8-9pm KIDS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS
9-10pm Shark Tank
10-11pm The Rookie
Monday
8-10pm Dancing with the Stars
10-11pm The Good Doctor
Tuesday
8-8:30pm The Conners
8:30-9pm Bless This Mess
9-9:30pm MIXED-ISH
9:30-10pm black-ish
10-11pm EMERGENCE
Wednesday
8-8:30pm The Goldbergs
8:30-9pm Schooled
9-9:30pm Modern Family
9:30-10pm Single Parents
10-11pm STUMPTOWN
Thursday
8-9pm Grey’s Anatomy
9-10pm A Million Little Things
10-11pm How to Get Away with Murder
Friday
8-8:30pm American Housewife
8:30-9pm Fresh Off the Boat
9-10pm 20/20
Saturday
8pm Saturday Night Football
Midseason Drama: Station 19, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Midseason Comedies: Schooled
Midseason Reality: American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, The Bachelor
NEW DRAMA:
A character-driven genre thriller, Emergence is about a police chief who takes in a young child she finds near the site of a mysterious accident who has no memory of what has happened. The investigation draws her into a conspiracy larger than she ever imagined, and the child’s identity is at the center of it all.
Cast: Allison Tolman as Jo, Alexa Swinton as Piper, Owain Yeoman as Benny, Ashley Aufderheide as Bree, Robert Bailey Jr. as Officer Chris, Zabryna Guevara as Abby with Donald Faison as Alex and Clancy Brown as Ed.
Based on the Stumptown graphic novel series, Stumptown follows Dex Parios (Cobie Smulders) – a strong, assertive and sharp-witted army veteran with a complicated love life, gambling debt and a brother to take care of in Portland, Oregon. Her military intelligence skills make her a great PI, but her unapologetic style puts her in the firing line of hardcore criminals and not quite in alliance with the police.
Cast: Cobie Smulders as Dex Parios, Tantoo Cardinal as Sue Lynn Blackbird, Cole Sibus as Ansel Parios, Adrian Martinez as Tookie with Camryn Manheim as Lieutenant Cosgrove and Michael Ealy as Detective Miles Hoffman.
THE BAKER AND THE BEAUTY
Daniel Garcia is working in the family bakery and doing everything that his loving Cuban parents and siblings expect him to do. But on a wild Miami night he meets Noa Hamilton, an international superstar and fashion mogul, and his life moves into the spotlight. Will this unlikely couple upend their lives to be together and pull their families into a culture clash?
Cast: Victor Rasuk as Daniel, Nathalie Kelley as Noa Hamilton, Carlos Gómez as Rafael Garcia, Dan Bucatinsky as Lewis, Lisa Vidal as Mari Garcia, David Del Rio as Mateo Garcia, Belissa Escobedo as Natalie and Michelle Veintimilla as Vanessa.
FOR LIFE
Inspired by the life of Isaac Wright Jr., For Life is a fictional serialized legal and family drama about a prisoner who becomes a lawyer, litigating cases for other inmates while fighting to overturn his own life sentence for a crime he didn’t commit. His quest for freedom is driven by his desperate desire to get back to the family he loves and reclaim the life that was stolen from him. The show will also, through the window of his ferocious struggle and his complicated relationship with a progressive female prison warden, examine the flaws and challenges in our penal and legal systems.
Cast: Nicholas Pinnock as Aaron, Indira Varma as Safiya, Joy Bryant as Marie, Glenn Fleshler as Frank, Dorian Missick as Jamal, Tyla Harris as Jasmine with Mary Stuart Masterson as Anya and Boris McGiver as DA Maskins.
NEW COMEDY:
In mixed-ish, Rainbow Johnson recounts her experience growing up in a mixed-race family in the ’80s and the constant dilemmas they had to face over whether to assimilate or stay true to themselves. Bow’s parents Paul and Alicia decide to move from a hippie commune to the suburbs to better provide for their family. As her parents struggle with the challenges of their new life, Bow and her siblings navigate a mainstream school in which they’re perceived as neither black nor white. This family’s experiences illuminate the challenges of finding one’s own identity when the rest of the world can’t decide where you belong.
Cast: Arica Himmel as Bow Johnson, Tika Sumpter as Alicia Johnson, Gary Cole as Harrison Johnson, Christina Anthony as Denise, Mykal-Michelle Harris as Santamonica Johnson and Ethan Childress as Johan Johnson.
UNITED WE FALL
United We Fall is a profoundly realistic family sitcom that follows the trials and tribulations of Jo (Christina Vidal) and Bill (Will Sasso), parents of two young kids, as they try to make it day to day as a functioning family. Bill’s very judgmental live-in mother and Jo’s large, Latinx Catholic family will never hesitate to let our couple know they’re seemingly screwing up, but Bill and Jo will always have each other’s backs, united against everyone – other parents, teachers, doctors, specialists, coaches, co-workers and, especially, their kids.
Cast: Will Sasso as Bill Ryan, Christina Vidal as Jo Ryan, Jane Curtin as Sandy Ryan and Ella Grace Helton as Emily Ryan.
NEW UNSCRIPTED:
KIDS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS
ABC has picked up a new iteration of the classic variety show Kids Say the Darndest Things, hosted and executive produced by comedic superstar Tiffany Haddish. The hilarious reimagined format showcases a mix of in-studio segments and taped pieces from across the country, all set in front of a live studio audience. The series will capture Haddish’s unique voice and sensibility as she interacts with real kids – and their innocently entertaining points of view.