Upfronts: ABC’s new fall lineup
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At this morning’s ABC news conference, most of the news of the fall pickups (‘Opportunity Knocks,’ ‘Life on Mars’), cancellations (‘Men in Trees’ and lots more) and renewals (all their hit shows, plus ‘Boston Legal’ and ‘Eli Stone’) had already come out. And it was a badly kept secret, if the word even applies, that ‘Scrubs’ would be moving to ABC from NBC next season.
But the network’s president, Steve McPherson, offered a few new bits of information. For example, he said the network would be reshooting parts of the pilot for ‘Life on Mars,’ the remake of the BBC series about a detective who finds himself back in 1973 after he’s run over by a car. (In the American version, it’s 1972 for some reason.) He said there will be some casting changes, but not Jason O’Mara, the lead, who guest-starred recently on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ as a patient with a deadly brain tumor. The new show will air on Thursday nights at 10 p.m. in the post-’Grey’s’ time slot.
McPherson also said that because David E. Kelley, the executive producer of ‘Life on Mars,’ will be writing nearly every one of the 13 episodes of the final season of ‘Boston Legal,’ he won’t be concentrating much on ‘Life on Mars’ yet. Which led a reporter to ask: This is the final season of ‘Boston Legal’ for sure? Yes, it will be, McPherson answered.
Another reporter asked McPherson about ‘Ugly Betty’s’ move to New York, and McPherson said he was ‘excited from a production standpoint’ that a show that takes place in New York could shoot in New York. He reiterated what has already been reported -- that New York City had made ABC Studios a great offer to move the production there.
When asked about the cancellation of the much-loved ‘Men in Trees,’ McPherson said ‘we just couldn’t get traction on that show’ (but did not mention the many time-slot changes and long hiatuses it was subject to). He said that the network is still in business with series creator Jenny Bicks, whom he called ‘one of the great female voices.’
ABC’s fall schedule is below, with new shows in bold.
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”
9:00 p.m. “Dancing with the Stars’ (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”
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”
-- Kate Aurthur