ABC Next to Fine-tune Sked?

Now that NBC has just redid its fall sked, it looks to
me that ABC might be next with some tinkering.

Patrick Joseph Mc Namara...

They're going to be doing this all summer long, and even into the fall.

The biggest weak spot, which looks bigger now, is
Tuesday 9 p.m. It seems highly unlikely that the
new sitcoms Let's Rob and Help Me Help You will
get any traction in that hour opposite House, Unit
and now Law & Order: CI, even with a Dancing with
the Stars lead-in. Problem is that Let's Rob doesn't
look and feel compatible with Dancing at all and its
failure to grab an audience will adversely affect Help
Me. If anything, it should be the other way around,
Help Me after Dancing followed by Let's Rob, but
while that might perk things up just a little, the 9 p.m.
hour would still look weak. Let's Rob looks more like
it should be a mid-season show, so I don't know why
it was picked as a fall entry unless ABC execs think
they're going to get a million laughs out of it whenever
Mick Jagger appears, which is only going to be
sporadically I hear.

Other rethinks may be - or maybe should be - Brothers
& Sisters on Sunday, Betty the Ugly and Men in Trees
on Friday, and maybe even Big Day and Notes from
the Underbelly on Thursday. Those latter two sitcoms
would seem to be more of a natural fit after Dancing
with the Stars on Tuesday and Help Me and Let's Rob
maybe should go into the Thursday 8 p.m. hour. I think
Brothers & Sisters should be completely disposed of
and Wife Swap and The Bachelor used as replacements
for Dancing when its run ends. That would open up
slots for Betty and Men in Trees to be placed in more
favorable spots, like Sunday and Monday 10,
respectively. Day Break could be added to the
lineup instead of waiting till mid-season, going in
maybe Monday at 9. According to Jim and George
Lopez are supposed to be back - beats me why - so
they can take over Friday 8-9. That would leave two
hours still to fill, Monday at 8, which could be for
Traveler, and Friday at 9, which, if ABC really wants
it, can be used for Brothers & Sisters. So the
lineup could look like this:

MON
8:00 Traveler
9:00 Day Break
10:00 Men in Trees

TUE
8:00 Dancing with the Stars
9:00 Big Day
9:30 Notes from the Underbelly
10:00 Boston Legal

WED
8:00 Dancing with the Stars/
9:00 Lost
10:00 The Nine

THU
8:00 Let's Rob
8:30 Help Me Help You
9:00 Grey's Anatomy
10:00 Six Degrees

FRI
8:00 George Lopez
8:30 According to Jim
9:00 Brothers & Sisters
10:00 20/20

SAT
8:00 College Football

SUN
7:00 America's Funniest Hom Videos
8:00 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
9:00 Desperate Housewives
10:00 Betty the Ugly