UPDATED Jun. 18 at 12 p.m. PT: ABC released its fall lineup on Wednesday, with the broadcaster planning to be back to business as usual despite the production shutdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Guidelines were recently issued on how shows can resume production despite the pandemic, though the vast majority of productions have not started up again yet.
“We wanted to honor the current environment and be thoughtful, which is why we waited until this moment when we have more confidence in our ability to return scripted programming in the fall,” ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke tells Variety.
Burke did acknowledge the chance that the schedule as it currently exists may not happen in a normal time frame, however. “We hope it’s a fall schedule,” she says. “We’re calling it our premiere schedule.”
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ABC’s schedule remains largely unchanged with a few notable exceptions. First and foremost, Season 16 of “The Bachelorette” featuring Clare Crawley will air this fall on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT. The season was originally meant to air in May 2020 but was pushed due to the pandemic. In addition, the network has scrapped its Friday night comedy block, concentrating all of its comedy shows on Wednesday night instead. This season, “Fresh Off the Boat” and “American Housewife” aired on Fridays. Tuesday night’s comedies will move to make way for “The Bachelorette.”
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ABC is also leaning heavily on unscripted fare, including “Dancing with the Stars” “Shark Tank,” “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” and “America’s Funniest Home Videos.”
The network’s previously announced new series orders are the drama “Big Sky,” comedy “Call Your Mother,” and a reboot of “Supermarket Sweep.” “Big Sky” will air Tuesdays after “The Bachelorette,” while “Call Your Mother” will be held for midseason. “Supermarket Sweep” will air at 8 on Sundays. Full descriptions of all three shows can be found below.
New seasons of “American Idol,” “The Bachelor,” “For Life” and “mixed-ish” will be premiering later in the season. “black-ish” was originally being held for midseason but ABC reversed course on Thursday, moving the show back to the fall schedule.
“We are incredibly grateful to Karey, Dana and Peter for recognizing the importance of ‘black-ish’ in this moment and applaud them for making the necessary shifts to bring the show back as soon as possible,” said “black-ish” creator Kenya Barris. “While the last few months have felt overwhelming at times, they have also underscored just how important it is that Black voices are not only heard but empowered and amplified as well; and our entire ‘black-ish’ team is humbled to be a small part of telling our stories and are excited to get back to these conversations.”
The schedule in its entirety can be seen below.
ABC is now the third broadcaster to announce plans to return most of its lineup this fall. Both CBS and NBC previously announced similar plans. Fox and The CW have taken a different approach, planning instead to air acquired programming with Fox also holding some of its 2020 midseason shows for the fall.
“We approached our scheduling process from an optimistic point of view,” Burke says. “We didn’t scramble and feel we needed to acquire shows from elsewhere. We really felt like we could return the whole schedule intact, but of course we needed to replace ‘Modern Family’ and we wanted to create room to launch a couple of new hits.”
ABC FALL 2020 SCHEDULE. ALL TIMES ARE ET/PT
MONDAY
8:00 p.m. “Dancing with the Stars”
10:00 p.m. “The Good Doctor”
TUESDAY
8:00 p.m. “The Bachelorette”
10:00 p.m. “Big Sky” (NEW SERIES)
WEDNESDAY
8:00 p.m. “The Goldbergs”
8:30 p.m. “black-ish”
9:00 p.m. “The Conners” (NEW DATE/TIME)
9:30 p.m. “American Housewife”
10:00 p.m. “Stumptown”
THURSDAY
8:00 p.m. “Station 19”
9:00 p.m. “Grey’s Anatomy”
10:00 p.m. “A Million Little Things”
FRIDAY
8:00 p.m. “Shark Tank”
9:00 p.m. “20/20” (TWO HOURS)
SATURDAY
8:00 p.m. “Saturday Night Football”
SUNDAY
7:00 p.m. “America’s Funniest Home Videos”
8:00 p.m. “Supermarket Sweep” (NEW SERIES)
9:00 p.m. “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” (NEW DATE/TIME)
10:00 p.m. “The Rookie”
NEW SERIES:
BIG SKY
From visionary storyteller David E. Kelley (“Big Little Lies”) comes “Big Sky,” a thriller created by Kelley, who will write multiple episodes and serve as showrunner in its premiere season. Private detectives Cassie Dewell and Cody Hoyt join forces with his estranged wife and ex-cop, Jenny Hoyt, to search for two sisters who have been kidnapped by a truck driver on a remote highway in Montana. But when they discover that these are not the only girls who have disappeared in the area, they must race against the clock to stop the killer before another woman is taken. Based on the series of books by C.J. Box, “Big Sky” is executive produced by David E. Kelley, Ross Fineman, Matthew Gross, Paul McGuigan and C.J. Box, and is produced by A+E Studios in association with 20th Century Fox Television. A+E Studios is the award-winning studio unit of the global media company A+E Networks, LLC. 20th Century Fox Television is a part of Disney Television Studios, alongside ABC Studios and Fox 21 Television Studios.
Cast: Katheryn Winnick as Jenny Hoyt, Kylie Bunbury as Cassie Dewell, Brian Geraghty as Ronald Pergman, Dedee Pfeiffer as Denise Brisbane, Natalie Alyn Lind as Danielle Sullivan, Jesse James Keitel as Jerrie, with John Carroll Lynch as Rick Legarski and Ryan Phillippe as Cody Hoyt.
CALL YOUR MOTHER
From Kari Lizer (“The New Adventures of Old Christine”), this multicamera comedy follows an empty nester mom who wonders how she ended up alone while her children live their best lives thousands of miles away. She decides her place is with her family and as she reinserts herself into their lives, her kids realize they might actually need her more than they thought. “Call Your Mother” is produced by Sony Pictures Television & ABC Studios. ABC Studios is a part of Disney Television Studios, alongside 20th Century Fox Television and Fox 21 Television Studios.
Cast: Kyra Sedgwick as Jean Raines, Rachel Sennott as Jackie Raines, Joey Bragg as Freddie Raines, Patrick Brammall as Danny, Emma Caymares as Celia and Austin Crute as Lane.
SUPERMARKET SWEEP
ABC is bringing back the classic TV game show “Supermarket Sweep,” hosted and executive produced by Emmy® Award-nominated comedienne and actress Leslie Jones. The fast-paced and energetic series follows three teams of two as they battle it out using their grocery shopping skills and knowledge of merchandise to win big cash prizes. The original format aired on ABC from 1965-1967 and went on to become a global sensation. It was adapted in 13 international territories and, most recently, relaunched in the UK. “Supermarket Sweep” is produced by Fremantle. Executive producers include Leslie Jones, Hunter Seidman and Jennifer Mullin, Alycia Rossiter and Wes Kauble.
