2013 Upfront Answers, ABC

Last week, I asked "Upfront Questions" to preview each network's fall 2013 schedule. With the schedule now official, here are the "Upfront Answers"!

ABC's upfront previews: True Power Rankings | Upfront Questions

Other Upfront Answers: NBC | Fox | ABC | CBS | CW

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MONDAY

Fall 2013 Schedule
8/7c Dancing With the Stars
10 pm Castle

My Question: How dire is the Dancing with the Stars problem, really?

ABC did acknowledge the Dancing with the Stars problem in a real way, trimming down the real estate by cancelling the Tuesday results show. But it remains on Monday, in the fall, and against The Voice. The problem here isn't so much that the DWTS ratings are unacceptable in this slot per se (it's hard to gauge what the "acceptable" level is with a show like this), but that it felt like there was real potential to do better in a different competitive situation: either on another night or in a winter run that could get it away from The Voice calendar-wise.

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TUESDAY

Fall 2013 Schedule
8 pm MARVEL'S AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D
9 pm THE GOLDBERGS
9:30 pm TROPHY WIFE
10 pm LUCKY 7

My Question: Is ABC finally in the right position to go really aggressive on Tuesday?

Um, yes. Three hours of new shows is pretty aggressive. So the idea is good. And the one thing that ABC did really right on this sked was S.H.I.E.L.D in the Tuesday 8/7c slot. Putting something else new after it is also a good idea, if it really has the potential that many seem to think it does. But... a comedy block? Against The Voice and New Girl? And comedies that felt like they could be better fits with Modern Family than the ones they put there?! Sorry, but I'm not a fan. Lucky 7 could be a good choice in what should be a procedural-laden Tuesday 10/9c hour.

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WEDNESDAY

Fall 2013 Schedule
8 pm The Middle
8:30 pm BACK IN THE GAME
9 pm Modern Family
9:30 SUPER FUN NIGHT
10 pm Nashville

My Question: Which of the potential second-tier returning sitcoms get the cushy Wednesday slot(s)?

None! I figured this was possible, but I would've pegged it more in favor of shows like The Goldbergs and Trophy Wife. Instead, ABC makes it clear they have not learned the "incompatibility with Modern Family" lesson whatsoever, throwing yet another show that's trying to skew younger than Modern into the network's best slot. We've been hearing that ABC desperately wanted to be in the Rebel Wilson business despite the apparent problems with Super Fun Night, and this move only doubles down on that notion. Greenlighting a person rather than a show has had a pretty sketchy recent history; see The Mindy Project.

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THURSDAY

Fall 2013 Schedule
8 pm ONCE UPON A TIME IN WONDERLAND
9 pm Grey's Anatomy
10 pm Scandal

My Question: Is the time now for ABC to mess with its blooming power hours?

No! I thought we were a year away from anything happening here, and I'm glad ABC agrees. While I might have preferred Once: Wonderland in the previously rumored hiatus bridge role, this is actually a fairly reasonable place for this show. If nothing else, I'm just relieved it wasn't S.H.I.E.L.D. At least a successful Once spin-off might share a little audience with Grey's.

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FRIDAY

Fall 2013 Schedule
8 pm Last Man Standing
8:30 pm The Neighbors
9 pm Shark Tank
10 pm 20/20

My Question: Will the full-fledged return of TGIF be realized?

No! The cancellations of How to Live and Malibu Country meant that ABC was being a lot more liberal with the comedy axe than expected, and coupled with multi-cam newbie King John not making it, it became increasingly clear ABC was not setting itself up for this. Instead, they'll simply plug one of their last renewals alongside Last Man Standing in a block that I guess at least has the family-friendliness compatibility... but it's yet another mix of multi-cam and single-cam, making three straight networks to try this.
 

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SUNDAY

Fall 2013 Schedule
7 America's Funniest Home Videos
8 pm Once Upon a Time
9 pm Revenge
10 pm BETRAYAL

My Question: How does ABC deal with the increasingly daunting event season and cable presence?

They certainly didn't address it in terms of getting these shows off the night. Once and Revenge will still have to deal with the Sunday cable heavy-hitters. But they are doing something; the shows will air 12 episodes, then an event season hiatus, then 12 episodes. The immediate Twitter reaction has been, "Because that worked so well for Revolution!" That's a valid point, but Sunday is a very different beast. There's actually a really compelling reason competition-wise to get these shows off the schedule for a big chunk of the year. So this is certainly better than doing nothing at all.

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GENERAL IMPRESSIONS

I sort of have the same immediate reaction to ABC's sked as I did to NBC's: they had the right general ideas. ABC recognized the Dancing with the Stars problem, they recognized the event season problem, and they recognized the opportunity to be very aggressive with a S.H.I.E.L.D-fueled Tuesday. They didn't unnecessarily mess with success on Thursday and Friday.

The difference is in the execution. NBC's execution of their ideas wasn't exactly what I would've done, but for the most part it seemed reasonable enough. ABC's execution seems considerably less reasonable in some spots. I don't like DWTS dueling directly with The Voice again; their plan almost seems more like they're just "punishing" the show rather than trying to do something about it. I don't get putting two very Wednesday-esque comedies on Tuesday after S.H.I.E.L.D; it just feels like all the comedy scheduling resulted from them being overly star-struck by Rebel Wilson. And I don't like the stand-pat on collapsing Sunday, with yet another new show getting thrown into the Sunday 10:00 slot. At least last year, this night had some Revenge breakout potential. Now we know that Betrayal isn't getting much of a lead-in.