Well, Pushing Daisies fans, there's the good news and then there's the bad news.The good news is that ABC hasn't quite decided what to do about the fate of Pushing Daisies. Daisies and fellow sophomore drama series Dirty Sexy Money are both said to be in contention for renewal for the 2009-10 season. However, then there's the bad news: Pushing Daisies isn't anywhere on ABC's midseason schedule. (Its Wednesday night timeslot, according to the schedule obtained by Futon Critic from ABCStagePass.com, has been taken over by Scrubs and The Goode Family.)
The decision to take Daisies off the schedule could mean that ABC merely decided to cut costs and truncate the second season and could later decide to magnanimously renew the series for a third season despite low ratings. (Production wrapped on the series' initial thirteen episodes last week so it's now a given that it won't shoot any additional episodes for this season.) I'm hoping that ABC does come to its senses and decide to bring back Daisies, even with another shortened season. (After all, thirteen episodes is more than the series aired in its first season.)
Also missing from the lineup: Life on Mars, which could continue to air new episodes through January and February, should ABC decide to delay the start of its new series until March, the Nathan Fillion-led mystery drama Castle, Cupid, and comedy Better Off Ted. (Could the latter series be delayed until next season? Possibly but it's more likely they'll bow in March.)
And what series gets the plum post-Lost timeslot? Why that would be new series The Unusuals, a police procedural with some intriguing metaphysical and serialized elements. (If you couldn't tell, I quite enjoyed the pilot for that one.)
Meanwhile, the rest of ABC's midseason schedule can be found after the jump.
ABC MIDSEASON SCHEDULE 2009
MONDAY
8-9:30 pm: The Bachelor
9:30-10 pm: Samantha Who?
10-11 pm: True Beauty (New Series)
TUESDAY
8-9 pm: Border Security USA (New Series)
9-9:30 pm: According to Jim
9:30-10 pm: According to Jim
10-11 pm: Eli Stone
WEDNESDAY
8-8:30 pm: Scrubs
8:30-9 pm: The Goode Family
9-10 pm: Lost
10-11 pm: The Unusuals (New Series)
THURSDAY
8-9 pm: Ugly Betty
9-10 pm: Grey's Anatomy
10-11 pm: Private Practice (New Time Slot)
FRIDAY
8-9 pm: Wife Swap
9-10 pm: Supernanny
10-11 pm: 20/20
SATURDAY
8-11 pm: Saturday Night Movie
SUNDAY
7-8 pm: America's Funniest Home Videos
8-9 pm: Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
9-10 pm: Desperate Housewives
10-11 pm: Brothers & Sisters
Stay tuned.
Comments
Looks like the only night I'll be watching ABC is Wednesdays for my Lost fix. And I'll check out The Unusuals too.
What is True Beauty? How have I missed hearing about it?
I'm not surprised about PD. Honestly, I think they should considering airing it as a summer show with shorter seasons. I think it'd fare better during the summer and it'd give ABC some new scripted material during that timeframe while also saving them some cost in not having to produce the typical length season.
I am a little surprised about Life on Mars. Not sure why since I knew ABC's surplus of mid-season shows meant anything not performing well was probably going to be off the schedule to make way for the new stuff.
It'll be interesting to see how PP does after GA. I really don't see them pulling in any more of the GA audience than they already have and two hours of Medical drama may be overkill.
Cupid, Castle, and Better Off Ted could end up appearing in March as there's still no indication of any launch dates for the new series yet and most have shorter season runs (ten episodes). Or they could be held until next season as well. It's still anybody's guess.
True Beauty was formerly known as the untitled Ashton Kutcher/Tyra Banks reality series. Details under wraps but it was originally announced last May.
Geez, ABC, what'd I ever do to you?
Have you done a write up about Unusuals yet?
Curious to know more about it other than at I can gleem from imdb.
-JR
A summer line-up that included PD and DSM wouldn't be bad at all. And if ABC launched them in the summer and they were actually a success they could then extend the seasons into the fall season.
Unlikely, I know. But it would be ideal.
Kilmoonie, I didn't do a review of The Unusuals when I saw it in August as it was likely to change significantly before air as it was a pilot presentation. Given the news that it has now been scheduled, I will have to revisit that.