'Eli Stone' in, 'Women's Murder Club' out at ABC
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- May
- 13
ABC unveiled its 2008-09 primetime schedule this morning, with few (okay, make that no) surprises.
In addition to hits like “Desperate Housewives” and “Grey’s Anatomy,” the network brought back all of last year’s breakthrough—though not breakout—dramas, which had their freshman seasons cut short because of the writers’ strike.
They include: “Dirty Sexy Money,” “Eli Stone,” “Private Practice” and “Pushing Daisies.”
And as expected (or already announced), the network dumped “Women’s Murder Club,” “Men in Trees,” “October Road” and “Miss/Guided.”
ABC also announced one new drama, David E. Kelley’s “Life on Mars,” based on a British series about a modern-day police detective who is transported back to 1973 after a car crash.
The network also picked up a game show from producer Ashton Kutcher called “Opportunity Knocks,” which ABC Entertainment President Steve McPherson called a cross between “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” and “Who Wants to Be A Millionaire.”
As for comedies,”According to Jim” will be back for its EIGHTH season. (Jim Belushi HAS to have naked photos of someone high up, right?) The worst kept secret in TV was announced, too: That “Scrubs” will move to ABC, now that NBC’s dropped it. Both of those sitcoms will be back mid-season.
Speaking of mid-season, other shows scheduled to air in early 2009 include: “Lost,” “The Bachelor,” “The Goode Family” (an animated series) and a untitled beauty pageant reality show produced Tyra Banks and (again!) Ashton Kutcher.
In other news, “Ugly Betty” is indeed moving production from L.A. to NYC.
And David E. Kelley is coming back to write most of what will be the final season of “Boston Legal.” (Thank goodness.)
So who made up the big winners and losers of the upfronts? Let’s see:
WINNERS:
• Greg Berlanti: The Rye native and super-duper writer-producer saw all three of his shows come back: “Brothers & Sisters,” “Dirty Sexy Money” and “Eli Stone.”
• Zach Braff: Though ABC called the pick-up of “Scrubs” from NBC economical, I’m guessing the Braffster will still cash a whopping paycheck. And kudos for squeaking out one more season.
• Ashton Kutcher: He may have stunk up the big screen with “What Happens in Vegas,” but the former “That 70’s Show” star has been making it big on the small screen as a producer. He’s now got two shows in production for ABC.
LOSERS:
• James Patterson: Folks seemed to like the books more than the TV version of the part-time Briarcliff resident and blockbuster author’s “Women’s Murder Club” series. Any other year, the blah “WMC” probably would have been given a pass. But with a schedule heavy with critical favorites held over from the strike, the drama just couldn’t survive.
• Elmo-ites and Roadies: Head honchos heaped praise on “Men in Trees” creator Jenny Bicks and the small audience dedicated to “October Road,” but the network just couldn’t make the numbers work. Though I found it interesting that McPherson slammed NBC for changing the time slot for “Scrubs” a zillion times, when it did the same to “Trees.”
Anyway, ABC’s fall primetime schedule is below, with only a few time slot changes. We’ll have to wait to see where the network plugs in “Lost” and the rest in the new year.
MONDAY:
8:00 p.m. “Dancing with the Stars”
9:30 p.m. “Samantha Who?”
10:00 p.m. “Boston Legal”
TUESDAY
8:00 p.m. “Opportunity Knocks” (NEW)
9:00 p.m. “Dancing with the Stars the Results Show”
10:00 p.m. “Eli Stone”
WEDNESDAY
8:00 p.m. “Pushing Daisies”
9:00 p.m. “Private Practice”
10:00 p.m. “Dirty Sexy Money”
THURSDAY
8:00 p.m. “Ugly Betty”
9:00 p.m. “Grey’s Anatomy”
10:00 p.m. “Life on Mars” (NEW)
FRIDAY
8:00 p.m. “Wife Swap”
9:00 p.m. “Supernanny”
10:00 p.m. “20/20″
SATURDAY
8:00 p.m. “Saturday Night College Football”
SUNDAY
7:00 p.m. “America’s Funniest Home Videos”
8:00 p.m. “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”
9:00 p.m. “Desperate Housewives”
10:00 p.m. “Brothers & Sisters”
UPDATE: 2:30 p.m. Since some folks seem to be wondering, it looks like last fall’s heavily-hyped (and critically panned) “Carpoolers,” “Cavemen” and “Big Shots” were canceled, too. Honestly, they were all so terrible, I completely forgot about them. Perhaps ABC hoped you’d do the same.
(Photos courtesy of ABC)
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, May 13th, 2008 at 9:18 am by Heather Salerno.
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Indeed! Jim Belushi must have some SERIOUS blackmail photos for the network to renew his lame-brain show. I was shocked when it got picked up for even a second season.
You can't be serious; they keep "According to Jim" but axe "Miss Guided"? I simply do not understand network executives, how do these things even make sense to them??
I'm with you all… Never watched even five minutes with According to Jim. Miss Guided was an adorable sitcom that actually made us laugh. Does ANYone even watch According to Jim? I mean, it's critically panned and has horrible ratings. I mean, whatthe?