Redoing ABC's Disastrous Fall Sked

Being thoroughly disgusted with ABC's fall layout,
I went back to my last mock ABC sked and tinkered
with it a bit to get it to look the way the network's
lineup should really look like. It's more or less the

Anthony D. Langford...

The only thing I have to say is that I agree ABC's schedule is
horrible. They've made some disasterous choices (giving up completely
on Mondays, all new shows on Fridays and too many new shows in general)
and seem destined for failure. As for the alternate schedule, I'd
like to see it done based on what's good for ABC, not based on personal
likes and dislikes about a particular show, especially since many of
the shows haven't even aired yet.

same as the Final Take version I posted a while back,
but with a few time changes, a few sitcoms subtracted,
the surprise Saturday College Football slot included,
and overall, much, much less repugnantly chick-
flickish in content.

New shows in CAPS or quotes.

SUNDAY
Makes sense to keep 7-10 pm stet, but follow it up with
something more fun and scintillating than the drab-
sounding "Brothers and Sisters". Also, I think I'd slip
in Supernanny as an alternating series with AFHV at 7,
each airing a month or two at a time.

7:00 America's Funniest Home Videos / Supernanny
8:00 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
9:00 Desperate Housewives
10:00 BETTY THE UGLY

ABC has "Brothers and Sisters" at 10.

MONDAY
Forget the wearisome reality shows and the invisible
What About Brian on this night, create a presence with
a pair of new dramas that can both take advantage of
and complement Grey's Anatomy in the linchpin
position at 9 here. GA has already proved with its
Monday night airing of its season finale that it can easily
dominate the 9 pm hour.

8:00 OCTOBER ROAD
9:00 Grey's Anatomy
10:00 MEN IN TREES

ABC has Wife Swap, Bachelor and What About Brian.

TUESDAY
The betting here is that Dancing will be strong enough
to spill over a sizeable portion of its viewers into Ted
Danson's new sitcom at 9, which should be a hit and
which in turn would feed into "Him & Us," and possibly
still have a decent amount left over for "Day Break" at 10.

8:00 Dancing with the Stars / The Bachelor [mid-season]
9:00 HELP ME HELP YOU
9:30 HIM & US
10:00 DAY BREAK

ABC has "Let's Rob..." at 9, followed by "Help Me
Help You" and Boston Legal, with "Set for the Rest of
Your Life" filling in for Dancing after its run ends.

WEDNESDAY
While admittedly Dancing should help Lost retain its
viewers, it will do nothing for Lost's filler series "Day
Break" in December when George Lopez and
According to Jim are expected to take over Dancing's
8 pm lead-in hour. This is why "Day Break" stands a
better chance on Tuesday at 10 as a regular entry
instead of here as a filler. The night plays out
thematically better with the dramatic troika/quartet I
have here:

8:00 20 QUESTIONS
9:00 Lost / MASTERS OF SCIENCE FICTION [Lost's
Dec-Jan filler]
10:00 SIX DEGREES

ABC has Dancing with the Stars at 8 and "The Nine" at
10, with "Day Break" as the Dec-Jan filler for Lost at 9,
and with George Lopez and According to Jim slated to
return in the 8 pm hour after Dancing ends its run.

THURSDAY
The strategy for this night is identical to Tuesday's, with
Dancing leading into a pair of new sitcoms and a cop
show, all with the notion that Dancing's numbers will
manage to support the rest of the night well enough.

8:00 Dancing with the Stars / Wife Swap [mid-season]
9:00 LET'S ROB...
9:30 IN CASE OF EMERGENCY
10:00 DRIFT

ABC has "Big Day," "Notes from the Underbelly,"
Grey's Anatomy and "Six Degrees".

FRIDAY
The idea for Friday is to minimize the loss on this
night, thereby hopefully strengthening it as well, so
this is why there is only one new hour followed by
two returning ones.

8:00 60 MINUTE MAN
9:00 20/20
10:00 Boston Legal

ABC has "Betty the Ugly," "Men in Trees" and 20/20.

SATURDAY
8:00 ABC SATURDAY NIGHT COLLEGE FOOTBALL

As can be seen, I've replaced the needless "Brothers
and Sisters," "The Nine," "Big Day," "Notes from the
Underbelly" and What About Brian, along with
According to Jim and George Lopez, and demoted
Wife Swap and The Bachelor to back-up status, with
"20 Questions," "60 Minute Man," "Drift," "Day Break,"
"October Road," "In Case of Emergency" and "Him &
Us." There's also "Masters of Science Fiction," which
I would use as Lost's filler. Also dumped are the
expendable and disposable mid-season likes of
"Traveler," "Just for Laughs," "Set for the Rest of
Your Life" and the inexplicable Greg Behrnardt
project. Now that I sit back and glean over what
should actually be the net's real fall lineup, it all
looks so much better. Much, much better now.
Take some cues from this, ABC.