The alphabet network (ABC) really seemed to clean house with several of their shows calling it quits.
Whether they decided to call it quits before getting cancelled is really just a matter of opinion.
Modern Family, How to Get Away with Murder and Fresh Off the Boat will take their final bow at the end of 2020, if not before.
Their only new show, Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time, in January will make their debut on January 7, 2020.
Let’s be honest here, it’s not really a new show. Just an extension of an old one.
The show will feature all three of its biggest winners of all time: Ken Jennings, Brad Rutter, and Jamez Holzhauer.
Jamez Holzhauer, in 2019, won $2,712,216, Ken Jennings, in 2004, won $3,370,700, and Brad Rutter, in 2000, won $4,688,436.
The trio will compete in a series of matches until someone wins $1,000,000 and will be crowned the Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time winner.
Since all three of them have already won way more than a measly $1,000,000, the real prize is probably the claim to be the best; to win bragging rights.
It should be noted that Rutter has never been defeated by either a human or computer so many fans feel that the odds of him winning are in his favor, but it’s most likely anyone’s game.
While most networks found themselves having to cancel new shows, ABC hit gold with shows like mixed-ish, Stumptown and Kids Say the Darndest Things.
Although the ratings for mixed-ish have slipped somewhat, there has been no talk of a cancellation.
The fourth new show, Emergence, has been the focus of rumors about the possibility of a cancellation and ABC has been mum about this. They currently have the show as TBD (to be determined) among the shows getting renewed.
So instead of having a couple of new shows coming on, they’re bringing back a couple of staples for their winter season premieres as well as those who took a Fall break:
January 4:
America’s Funniest Home Videos
January 6:
The Bachelor (2 hour season premiere)
mixed-ish
black-ish
January 8:
Modern Family
Single Parents
Stumptown
January 13
The Good Doctor
January 15:
The Goldbergs
Schooled
January 17:
American Housewife
Fresh Off the Boat
January 21:
The Conners
Bless This Mess
January 23:
Station 19
Grey’s Anatomy
You’re going to wait until February for American Idol (February 16), The Rookie (February 23), and April 2 for How to Get Away with Murder.
On February 11, 2020, ABC will wheel out the much anticipated show, For Life.
Fast facts:
Genre: Crime/Thriller
Created by: Hank Steinberg (61*, RFK, Without a Trace, The Last Ship)
Cast: Nicholas Pinnock as Aaron (Captain America: The First Avenger, Fortitude, Marcella, Barbarians Rising); Indira Varma as Kate (Attachments, Arena, Rome, Game of Thrones); Dorian Missick as Jamal (The Manchurian Candidate, Deliver Us from Evil, Law & Order, Southland, Animal Kingdom); Mary Stuart Masterson as Anya (The Stepford Wives, Some Kind of Wonderful, Fried Green Tomatoes, Benny & Joon, Law & Order: SVU, Blindspot); Felonious Munk as Hassan Nawaz (stand-up comedian)
Premise:
An inmate, while serving a life sentence, becomes a lawyer and fights to overturn his sentence for a crime he didn’t commit.
Special note: Rapper 50 Cent (Curtis Jackson) is one of the producers. The production company involved, G-Unit Film & Television, is Jackson’s company.
The Boob Toober review:
Doing a weekly series about prison and prison life (regardless of the storyline) is a touchy subject. Doing a weekly serious about prison and prison life on network television is difficult. Doing a weekly series about prison and prison life on a network that is known for its family-oriented reputation as well as watering-down anything that might offend their conservative viewership is like doing a high-wire act.
There are a lot of stories to be told about prison life that can either be horrifying or uplifting, but the biggest obstacle here will be the show’s ability to tell a story that is believable.
It also remains to be seen whether the showrunners can find an audience on ABC because if they try to appease the conservative viewers, they could risk losing both their urban viewers and those viewers who are either in prison or have family members that are/were in prison.
Risking damaging a working relationship with Curtis Jackson who, with his production company, has created quite an impressive resume as a producer could hurt them down the line as well.
The premise isn’t a new one, but let’s hope the way the story is told and how the characters react to their environment is certainly an original one.
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