HI GUYS! It’s Upfronts week and I AM A LITTLE STRESSED OUT. Cancelations, renewals, series orders, THERE IS JUST A WHOLE LOT GOING ON RIGHT NOW AND I AM GOING TO GO WANDER THE DESERT ONCE THIS WEEK IS OVER.
This post is an attempt to organize what we know about what ABC has in store for the fall season: all the new shows, all the renewed shows and, R.I.P. — all the canceled shows. News is fluid right now, so check back in as I will continue to update these posts.
Also, box wine. Please.
Schedule
MONDAY
7 p.m. Dancing with the Stars
9 p.m. The Good Doctor
TUESDAY
7 p.m. The Conners
7:30 p.m. Bless This Mess
8 p.m. MIXED-ISH
8:30 p.m. black-ish
9 p.m. EMERGENCE
WEDNESDAY
7 p.m. The Goldbergs
7:30 p.m. Schooled
8 p.m. Modern Family
8:30 p.m. Single Parents
9 p.m. STUMPTOWN
THURSDAY
7 p.m. Grey’s Anatomy
8 p.m. A Million Little Things
9 p.m. How to Get Away with Murder
FRIDAY
7 p.m. American Housewife
7:30 p.m. Fresh Off the Boat
8 p.m. 20/20 (two hours)
SATURDAY
7 p.m. Saturday Night Football
SUNDAY
6 p.m. America’s Funniest Home Videos
7 p.m. KIDS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS
8 p.m. Shark Tank
9 p.m. The Rookie
New Shows
MYKAL-MICHELLE HARRIS, ARICA HIMMEL, ETHAN WILLIAM CHILDRESS
mixed-ish
Description from ABC:
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.
T’s Take:
If you like black-ish, you’re going to like this very solid-looking spinoff. 1. The girl they cast as Rainbow is perfect, 2. God bless Gary Cole and 3. I’ll watch anything even slightly cult-related.
ALLISON TOLMAN, ALEXA SWINTON
Emergence
Description from ABC:
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.
T’s Take:
So, ever hear of a little show called Stranger Things? Yeah, this is like that but without the 80s nostalgia. Will watch.
COBIE SMULDERS
Stumptown
Description from ABC:
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.
T’s Take:
Alright, this is how you start a trailer. I’m not a reader of the graphic novels, and the description alone didn’t do anything for me, but this trailer certainly makes the series look fun, thanks in large part to Cobie Smulders’ charisma.
Kids Say the Darndest Things
Description from ABC:
Hosted and executive produced by 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.
T’s Take:
I mean, you know what this is. It is pretty funny, though, that the day this news was announced, Haddish was on “Gay of Thrones” talking VERY graphically about anal sex. Tiffany Haddish says the darndest things!
United We Fall
Description from ABC:
“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.
T’s Take:
Without a trailer, it’s hard to know whether or not this has any sort of special magic that will separate it from all of ABC’s other family comedies. It sounds like a natural fit, though.
For Life
Description from ABC:
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.
T’s Take:
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
VICTOR RASUK, NATHALIE KELLEY
The Baker and the Beauty
Description from ABC:
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?
T’s Take:
Again, without a trailer, it’s hard to say. It’s based on an Israeli romantic comedy that ranks as one of the highest-rated scripted series in Israeli history. But will it translate? Who knows.
Cancellations
- For the People
- The Fix
- The Kids Are Alright
- Splitting Up Together
- Speechless
- Take Two
- Whiskey Cavalier
Renewals
- A Million Little Things
- American Housewife
- black-ish
- Bless This Mess
- The Conners
- Fresh Off the Boat
- The Goldbergs
- The Good Doctor
- Grey’s Anatomy (for Seasons 16 and 17)
- How to Get Away With Murder
- Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
- Modern Family (for 11th and final season)
- The Rookie
- Schooled
- Single Parents
- Station 19
So, they’re cancelling Splitting Up Together and keeping American Housewife. There goes that series of JCPenney’s commercials.
(Shoulda kept Splitting Up, if only for Jenna Fischer.)