2014 Upfront Answers, ABC

Last week, I asked "Upfront Questions" to preview each network's fall 2014 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 2014 Schedule
8:00 p.m. “Dancing with the Stars”
10:00 p.m. “Castle”

My Question: Has the Monday 10/9c hour once again become ripe for a newbie?

Nope. Something significant happened since last week's previews that really changed the outlook for this hour: NBC decided to stick with The Blacklist on Monday in the early fall. Given that, and given CBS almost can't possibly be any weaker than they were this year, the hour suddenly looked much less ripe. Could ABC have actually changed the plan here in the last 48 hours, or was Castle always the choice? We'll never know for sure, but it seems possible (since the Tuesday 10/9c drama Forever would've felt like a pretty good fit with DWTS). If Castle was always their play here, they're surely feeling even better about that after NBC's sked reveal.

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TUESDAY

Fall 2014 Schedule
8:00 p.m. “Selfie”
8:30 p.m. “Manhattan Love Story”
9:00 p.m. “Agents of SHIELD” (ed. note: Agent Carter fills in at midseason)
10:00 p.m. “Forever”

My Question: Does ABC have more compatible pieces around Agents of SHIELD?

Well, Agents does lead into a new drama with some genre leanings, but it still sounds more like a women 25-54-oriented show than a men 18-34 one. The younger-skewing comedies probably wouldn't have been as good a fit with SHIELD as The Goldbergs, and even the "fit" between those two was questionable. Getting the comedies out of the Tuesday 9/8c comedy fray seems smarter than putting them after SHIELD. Bottom line: they did put new pieces around Agents of SHIELD, but it's hard to really label this a SHIELD-centric night. The same flow problems as last year may return.

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WEDNESDAY

Fall 2014 Schedule
8:00 p.m. “The Middle”
8:30 p.m. “The Goldbergs”
9:00 p.m. “Modern Family”
9:30 p.m. “Black-ish”
10:00 p.m. “Nashville”

My Question: Will Modern Family actually get a new family comedy lead-out in the fall?

Yep! Coupled with The Goldbergs' wise move to Wednesday (it wouldn't have fit with the Tuesday choices), this looks like a much better Wednesday arrangement than most of what ABC's been giving us in recent years. Good luck to them.

Another interesting development since last week's previews: Nashville was able to negotiate a 22-episode renewal, even though (if you believe Deadline) the network clearly wanted just 13 (and probably midseason). The real question here was whether Nashville's presence on the fall sked would take a fall slot away from a new drama, a comedy hour, or Resurrection. Given ABC still has four comedy hours and Resurrection, the answer is pretty clearly "new drama." But I think that's the right thing to do. It's unlikely new drama #3 after a comedy block would have a much better outlook than Resurrection.

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THURSDAY

Fall 2014 Schedule
8:00 p.m. “Grey’s Anatomy”
9:00 p.m. “Scandal”
10:00 p.m. “How to Get Away with Murder”

My Question: Does How To Get Away With Murder have enough potential to warrant messing with the power hours?

Oh, yes. As I've laid out over the last couple weeks, messing with such a strong duo had to be a gut-wrenching dilemma, and there was no perfectly elegant solution. But this seemed like the best one, because it gives Murder the most lead-in juice and Scandal the highest-viewed hour. It felt like a pairing of destiny. As for what happens with Grey's? Let's hope for the best, but the worry will remain about three hours from one producer being too much on one night.

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FRIDAY

Fall 2014 Schedule
8:00 p.m. “Last Man Standing”
8:30 p.m. “Cristela”
9:00 p.m. “Shark Tank”
10:00 p.m. “20/20”

My Question: Is there a better way to make use of Shark Tank?

Nope, and it didn't seem like there would be. Last Man gets a multi-cam lead-out, and it'll be expected to do better than The Neighbors.

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SUNDAY

Fall 2014 Schedule
7:00 p.m. “America’s Funniest Home Videos”
8:00 p.m. “Once Upon a Time” (ed. note: Galavant fills in at midseason)
9:00 p.m. “Resurrection” (ed. note: American Crime fills in at midseason)
10:00 p.m. “Revenge”

My Question: Can ABC do any better than what they've already got?

Nope, but the 22-episode order for Nashville may have made this a more interesting decision than it looked a week ago. Again, I think it's better to see what they've got early on with Resurrection.

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GENERAL IMPRESSIONS

Six nights of this schedule are pretty close to perfect. I wanted to see a new drama in the Monday 10/9c hour last week, but The Blacklist's continued presence there complicates the situation more than expected. Wednesday's comedy arrangement makes far more sense than usual for ABC. Thursday is a big vote of confidence in How to Get Away with Murder, which is good to see; let's hope it deserves it. And Friday/Sunday were in sweet spots that didn't warrant much change.

Then there's Tuesday, which looks like a potential really big mess. On some level, that was necessary, and at least the comedies were kept away from a logjam in the 9/8c hour. But if Agents of SHIELD has a weak season two and gets a horrible lead-in from those incompatible comedies, this will end up being a bigger deal than it seems on the surface.