ABC formally announced its 2011-12 schedule Tuesday, with notable news including the development of a new comedy block and the delay of some high-profile pilots until midseason.
Tuesday at 8PM, the new comedy hour on ABC, will feature new Tim Allen-starrer “Last Man Standing” and fellow freshman comedy “Man Up.”
Wednesdays remain dedicated to comedy but revert back to the two hour format, with new drama “Revenge” launching at 10PM. “The Middle” stays put at 8PM as a lead-in to “Suburgatory,” while 9PM staple “Modern Family” leads into returning freshman “Happy Endings.”
That means “Cougar Town,” which has long struggled to retain a significant chunk of the “Family” lead-in, loses its 9:30PM Wednesday timeslot. Bumped to midseason, the show could join high-profile comedy pilot “Apartment 23” (surprisingly held to midseason as well) in an expanded Tuesday block during the “Dancing with the Stars” offseason, should ABC gain some traction with the 8PM comedy debuts.
Also held back is new drama “Good Christian Belles,” which appeared to be one of ABC’s top drama focuses in the development season, with “Charlie’s Angels” and, recently, “Once Upon a Time” also standing out. Those two are slated for the fall, however, with “Angels” leading off Thursday and “Time” replacing “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” at 8PM on Sundays (“Makeover” will move to Fridays).
“Desperate Housewives,” still at 9PM, will lead into period drama “Pan Am.”
ABC’s full fall schedule is featured below (note: in addition to the aforementioned, “Work It,” “Missing,” “Scandals” and “The River” are also slated for midseason).
MONDAY: 8:00 p.m. “Dancing with the Stars”
10:00 p.m. “Castle”
TUESDAY: 8:00 p.m. “Last Man Standing”
8:30 p.m. “Man Up”
9:00 p.m. “Dancing with the Stars the Results Show”
10:00 p.m. “Body of Proof”
WEDNESDAY: 8:00 p.m. “The Middle”
8:30 p.m. “Suburgatory”
9:00 p.m. “Modern Family”
9:30 p.m. “Happy Endings”
10:00 p.m. “Revenge”
THURSDAY: 8:00 p.m. “Charlie’s Angels”
9:00 p.m. “Grey’s Anatomy”
10:00 p.m. “Private Practice”
FRIDAY: 8:00 p.m. “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”
9:00 p.m. “Shark Tank”
10:00 p.m. “20/20”
SATURDAY: 8:00 p.m. “Saturday Night College Football”
SUNDAY: 7:00 p.m. “America’s Funniest Home Videos”
8:00 p.m. “Once Upon a Time”
9:00 p.m. “Desperate Housewives”
10:00 p.m. “Pan Am”