ABC's Fall Line up 2008

[Geekyfanboy]

ABC's 2008/2009 TV Schedule

By Garth FranklinTuesday May 13th 2008 10:06am

The Fall TV Season presentations for all the new network shows take place this week with the second announced today. Here's a full breakdown of which concepts have made the final list over on ABC.

With much of its schedule consisting of scripted (and often serialized) series, the alphabet network suffered this past year due to the five-month long writer's strike causing all sorts of disruption to its primetime shows like "Desperate Housewives," "Grey's Anatomy" and "Lost".

Yet despite all this, a good portion of the new shows the network introduced still managed to nab sizeable audiences - enough that the network intends to continue on with at least five of last year's newcomers and see how they fare in a hopefully more stable schedule this coming season. As previously reported, the big news on the renewal front is that "Boston Legal" will have a fifth season.

With such a stable line-up however, it means that there's only a few new shows this year. There's literally just one new drama series - the US remake of the hit British time travel 70's cop drama "Life on Mars". There's also just two comedies - Mike Judge's new project "The Goode Family" and "Scrubs" which the network picked up from NBC. There's also two reality shows - an untitled beauty pageant show that Ashton Kutcher and Tyra Banks are producing, and a game show called "Opportunity Knocks".

A large number of notable pilots didn't make the final cut and won't be seen. These include Rob Thomas' second attempt at turning "Cupid" into a TV series, the ambitious fantasy drama "Captain Cook's Extraordinry Atlas", the Denis Leary-produced NYPD dramedy "The Unusuals", the Hamlet-inspired gothic soapie "The Prince of Motor City", the horror novelist police consultant procedural "Castle," and the LA vice squad drama "Finnegan".

Onto the new shows and they are:

Life on Mars
(Time-Travel Cop Drama, Thursdays 10pm)
"Life on Mars" is based on the BBC series created by Matthew Graham, Tony Jordan and Ashley Pharoah. The series revolves around Sam Tyler, a modern-day police detective who, after a car crash, mysteriously finds himself transported back to 1973 and still working as a detective. The cast includes Jason O' Mara as Sam Tyler, Rachelle LeFevre as Annie Cartwright, Colm Meaney as Gene Hunt, Stephanie Jacobsen as Maya, Lenny Clarke as George Randall, Patrick Wenk-Wolff as Colin Raimes and Richard Benjamin as Milton Kornboll.

The Goode Family
(Comedy, Mid-Season)
A new animated series from Mike Judge, creator of "King of the Hill." "The Goode Family" is obsessed with doing the "right" thing, whether it's environmentally, politically or socially. Unfortunately their efforts often have unintended comic consequences. "The Goode Family" is voiced by Mike Judge as Gerald, Nancy Carell as Helen, Dave Herman as Ubuntu and Abby Elliot as Bliss. Executive producers for "The Goode Family" are Mike Judge, David Krinsky, John Altschuler, Michael Rotenberg and Tom Lassally.

Renewals include "According to Jim," "America's Funniest Home Videos," "The Bachelor," "Boston Legal," "Brothers & Sisters," "Dancing with the Stars," "Desperate Housewives," "Dirty Sexy Money," "Eli Stone," "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," "Grey's Anatomy," "Lost," "Private Practice," "Pushing Daisies," "Samantha Who?," "Supernanny," "Ugly Betty," "Wife Swap" and "20/20."

Cancellations include "Big Shots," "Carpoolers," "Cashmere Mafia," "Cavemen," "Just for Laughs," "Miss/Guided," "Notes from the Underbelly," "October Road," "Oprah's Big Give," "Women's Murder Club"


The nightly ABC schedule this Fall will be as follows (shows not listed but renewed will return mid-season and have yet to be scheduled):

MONDAY
8pm: "Dancing with the Stars"
9:30pm: "Samantha Who"
10pm: "Boston Legal"

TUESDAY
8pm: "Opportunity Knocks"
9pm: "Dancing with the Stars the Results Show"
10pm: "Eli Stone"

WEDNESDAY
8pm: "Pushing Daisies"
9pm: "Private Practice"
10pm: "Dirty Sexy Money"

THURSDAY
8pm: "Ugly Betty"
9pm: "Grey's Anatomy"
10pm: "Life on Mars"

FRIDAY
8pm: "Wife Swap"
9pm: "Supernanny"
10pm: "20/20"

SATURDAY
8pm: "Saturday Night College Football"

SUNDAY
7pm: "America's Funniest Home Videos"
8pm: "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"
9pm: "Desperate Housewives"
10pm: "Brothers and Sisters"