ABC's Fall 2007

Here's what ABC has done with its schedule for 2007-08. A number of new shows, with several shows debuting later in the season (Lost) or being held in reserve.

Cancelled:
According To Jim, Big Day, Day Break, Extreme Makeover, George Lopez Show, Great American Dream Vote, Help Me, Help You, In Case Of Emergency, Knights of Prosperity, Show Me The Money, Six Degrees, What About Brian?

Renewed:
Saturday Night College Football, Supernanny, Wife Swap, America`s Funniest Home Videos, Boston Legal, Brothers & Sisters, Desperate Housewives, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Grey`s Anatomy, Lost, Ugly Betty, Notes From the Underbelly, October Road, 20/20

Moved: Men In Trees

New: Carpoolers, Cavemen, Sam I Am, Big Shots, Cashmere Mafia, Dirty Sexy, Money, Private Practice, Pushing Daisies, Women's Murder Club, Miss/Guided, Eli Stone,
Oprah's Big Give

In addition Cashmere Mafia, will debut and Notes From the Underbelly, October Road will return to the line-up once Dancing With The Stars, and The Bachelor complete their Fall 2007 run. Lost is scheduled to return in January. Miss/Guided, Eli Stone, and Oprah's Big Give do not currently have debut dates.

Complete Schedule (Fall 2007):

Monday
8:00-9:30 p.m. Dancing With The Stars
9:30-10:00 p.m. SAM I AM
10:00-11:00 p.m. The Bachelor

Tuesday
8:00-8:30 p.m. CAVEMEN
8:30-9:00 p.m. CARPOOLERS
9:00-10:00 p.m. Dancing With The Stars (Results)
10:00-11:00 p.m. Boston Legal

Wednesday
8:00-9:00 p.m. PUSHING DAISIES
9:00-10:00 p.m. PRIVATE PRACTICE
10:00-11:00 p.m. DIRTY SEXY MONEY

Thursday
8:00-9:00 p.m. Ugly Betty
9:00-10:00 p.m. Grey`s Anatomy
10:00-11:00 p.m. BIG SHOTS

Friday
8:00-9:00 p.m. Men In Trees (moved)
9:00-10:00 p.m. WOMEN'S MURDER CLUB
10:00-11:00 p.m. 20/20

Saturday
8:00-11:00 p.m. Saturday Night College Football

Sunday

7:00-8:00 p.m. America`s Funniest Home Videos
8:00-9:00 p.m. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
9:00-10:00 p.m. Desperate Housewives
10:00-11:00 p.m. Brothers & Sisters

Carpoolers is about four guys from diverse backgrounds and viewpoints who enjoy a bit of male bonding on their daily commute to and from work. The cast includes Fred Goss, Jerry O'Connell, Jerry Minor and Tim Peper as the guys, with Faith Ford and Allison Munn.

Based on the Geico commercials, Cavemen deals with three outsiders trying to fit in. In this case the outsiders are thirty something cavemen Joel (Bill English), Nick (Nick Kroll) and Jaimie (Dash Mihook). Also stars Kaitlin Doubleday and Stephanie Lemelin.

After awakening from a coma Samantha Newly can't remember anything in Sam I Am. As she delves into her past she finds that far from being honest, good hearted and loving she was – essentially – a self-absorbed, narcissistic bitch and must resist the temptation to go back to what she was. Christina Applegate stars along with Jennifer Esposito, Kevin Dunn, Melissa McCarthy, Tim Russ and Jean Smart.

Big Shots is about four high powered CEOs are at the top of their game – at least they are before the women in their lives come join them at which point they become more than a little dysfunctional. Michael Vartan, Dylan McDermott, Christopher Titus and Joshua Malina are the guys while the women in their lives include Nia Long, Paige Turco, Peyton List, Wendy Moniz, Jessica Collins and Amy Sloan.

Dirty Sexy Money is about an idealistic lawyer (Peter Krause) who is catapulted into the life of the extremely wealthy but somewhat less than idealistic Darling family following the suspicious death of his father. The cast include Donald Sutherland as the family patriarch, Jill Clayburgh as his wife, and William Baldwin, Glenn Fitzgerald and Natalie Zea.

Private Practice is the Grey's Anatomy spin-off that was introduced recently in a backdoor pilot on that show. The cast is essentially the same as in the pilot as Addison Forbes Montgomery ditches McDreamy and McSteamy. According to the press release the show is about "a woman unafraid of change and willing to begin a new life."

Barry Sonnenfield and Brian Fuller bring us Pushing Daisies. Described as "an unprecedented blend of romance, crime procedural and high-concept fantasy in a forensic fairytale about a young man with a very special gift." Ned (Lee Pace) has a special gift – he can touch dead things and bring them back to life. He uses his ability as a private detective, bringing murder victims back to life to ask them what happened. Things get complicated when he touches his childhood sweetheart "Chuck" (Anna Friel – American TV isn't that liberal yet). She encourages him to use his power to help others. There's just one fairly major problem; if Ned touches Chuck again she'll die again – this time for keeps. Also stars Chi McBride, Swoozie Kurtz and Kristin Chenoweth.

Based on the novels by James Patterson, Women's Murder Club is about four women - a detective, a district attorney, a medical examiner and a reporter – who pool their abilities and expertise in investigations and their personal lives. Stars Paula Newsome, Aubrey Dollar, Tyrees Allen, Angie Harmon, Laura Harris, Elizabeth L. Ho and Rob Benedict

What if you went back to your old high school, this time as a teacher only to find that the old rivalries and crushes hadn't changed as you got older? That's the concept behind Miss/Guided, as Rebecca Freely (Judy Greer) becomes the guidance counsellor at her old high school and develops a crush on Spanish teacher Tim (Kristoffer Polaha) only to have Lisa (Brooke Burns), the former cheerleader and leader of the cool kids who was her nemesis in her unpopular high school days, return to the school as the new English teacher.

Cashmere Mafia is about four high powered, ambitious and sexy women who try to balance their glamorous and exciting careers with their glamorous and exciting personal lives. Stars Lucy Liu, Frances O'Connor, Miranda Otto and Bonnie Somerville.

Eli Stone is about a lawyer (Jonny Lee Miller) who is a rising star at one of the top law firms in San Francisco. He only represents biggest and richest corporations and makes it his business to screw the little guy. At least he does until a series of hallucinations caused by an aneurysm leads him to try to find a deeper meaning in life – hopefully while keeping his job and his relationship with the boss's daughter (Natasha Henstridge).

Oprah's Big Give is the first primetime series from Oprah Winfrey's Harpo productions. In this eight episode "alternative series" contestants will be giving away millions of dollars to make a difference in people's lives across the United States in an effort to become "The Biggest Giver." Besides Winfrey the executive producers include Bertram van Munster and Elise Doganieri who created The Amazing Race.

Comments:
Carpoolers: This just doesn't seem overly exciting to me. It sounds a lot like a number of other shows that are about the battle of the sexes.

Cavemen: I've read at TVSquad that the pilot for this show is quite a mess. I like the commercials, but the commercials are only thirty seconds long. I'm pretty sure they won't work over thirty minutes (with commercials).

Sam I Am: I'm guessing that this show traces its lineage back to the recent Drew Barrymore movie 50 First Dates but for some reason I keep being reminded of Emily's Reasons Why Not when I read about this. Still Applegate is enough of a pro that she might be able to carry this one off.

Big Shots: Male bonding, this time with a more dramatic slant than with Carpoolers. I have to say that it bears at least a casual resemblance to a male version of ABC's own Cashmere Mafia and NBC's Lipstick Jungle but maybe I'm just projecting that model onto it.

Dirty Sexy Money: Depending on how this is played it could be great. An absolutely spectacular cast including one of the nuttier Baldwin brothers means that this could be played as a serious drama or as a dramedy or even a one hour comedy as the title seems to imply. I don't think the time slot will be that good for it though as I really like the look that I've had of the new NBC series Life, and I doubt if CBS will be cancelling or moving CSI: New York

Private Practice: I reviewed the backdoor pilot a while ago. I think the pilot suffered from being so thoroughly integrated into an episode of Grey's Anatomy. The episodes of JAG that introduced NCIS are how a backdoor pilot should be done. The pedigree of this show, coming out of Grey's Anatomy and having one of the show's more popular characters are definitely in the spin-off's favour though.

Pushing Daisies: I don't hold out much hope for this show. I guess they're trying to go for the same sort of vibe as Heroes but I find the subject matter a bit morbid while at the same time the description reminds me of other shows where the protagonist is sent out to use his special powers to help people.

Women's Murder Club: I don't know the books so I don't know how much is mystery solving and how much is female bonding. It sounds like it could have potential, and Friday is a weak night for TV but it's up against at least one and possibly two series that are established in the time slot (depending on whether CBS renews Close to Home tomorrow).

Miss/Guided: The description of this one reminds me of nothing short of Square Pegs all grown up. Do people really carry the prejudices and qualities they had in high school into their post-college adult work lives? Or do they go out, get drunk and reconcile their differences?

Cashmere Mafia: Where have I seen this idea before – oh yes, yesterday in the NBC upfronts, and again – this time with men instead of women – in the description of Big Shots. With the show appearing at midseason (once Dancing With The Stars and The Bachelor their runs) I don't hold out much hope for it despite a decent cast.

Eli Stone: Life changing experience causes someone to re-evaluate his life and turn over a new leaf. Surely we've seen this one before, numerous times. Given that it has yet to find a spot on the ABC schedule I doubt that it will last more than a handful of episodes given the track record this season of shows like Day Break, 3 Lbs. Drive and The Black Donnellys.

Oprah's Big Give: Philanthropy as a reality competition? I guess it could work and if anyone can make it work it's probably Oprah. I just wonder if it's going to be The Philanthropic Apprentice?