Upfront Week 2011: ABC

Last Updated on August 17, 2011

ABC introduced some interesting programs on its schedule for the fall. The network is ordering a total of 13 new series, and is trying to make Tuesday nights a new home for comedy.

And two of the new shows are curiously similar to two shows premiering on NBC this fall. More on that in a moment.

First, let’s take it night by night, starting with Mondays, where Dancing with the Stars gets its two-hour time slot at 8:00pm. Castle follows at 10:00pm.

Tuesdays at 8:00pm, ABC plans an hour of comedy, starting with Last Man Standing. This sitcom stars Tim Allen, whose Home Improvement was a major hit for ABC in the 1990s. This new series has Allen starting as a married dad with a teen daughter who got pregnant by a guy who’s apparently not in the picture:

Not sure about that one, but then the clip doesn’t give you much of a picture of what the show is about. At 8:30pm, Man Up focuses on three men trying to figure out what it means to be a man in the 21st century.

If it seems to you that a man-centered hour of comedy is an odd lead-in to Dancing with the Stars, you’re not alone. Just sayin’.

Body of Proof stays put at 10:00pm.

On Wednesdays, Jeremy Sisto stars as a single dad who fears his daughters are becoming a little too mature too quickly, and decides to relocate to the suburbs, in Suburgatory. This show will air at 8:30pm, sandwiched between returning shows The Middle and Modern Family. Following Happy Endings at 9:30pm is the new drama Revenge.

Revenge is about a woman whose family was driven out of town in shame, and who has now returned to exact…well, you guessed it…on the town:

That brings us to Thursday nights, where ABC is planning a reboot of a classic 1970s favorite, Charlie’s Angels:

Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice round out the night.

Fridays feature reality shows and the long-running 20/20. Saturdays are filled with college football.

Then comes Sunday, which starts with America’s Funniest Home Videos. Then things start to get interesting.

At 8:00pm, ABC introduces Once Upon a Time, a fantasy show about a young woman who finds the son she gave up 10 years earlier and moves with him to a mysterious New England town in which fairytale characters are alive (but don’t recall that they were once fairy tale characters). Confused? Maybe this will help:

I’m really not sure why they need the frame story about the modern-day mom who reconnects with her son. It seems like that would only be a distraction to the fairy tale craziness. Still, it seems odd that this show is coming along just as NBC is debuting Grimm, a supernatural drama about a descendant of the Brothers Grimm.

Speaking of craziness, Desperate Housewives is on at 9:00pm. Then at 10:00pm, it’s time for the other odd coincidence: Pan Am. Remember NBC’s Playboy Club that I mentioned yesterday? Remove the Playboy bunny logo, keep it set in the 1960s, and trade the cocktail waitress outfits for stewardess uniforms at 35,000 feet, and you get the picture.

Here is the fall schedule for ABC:

MONDAY
8:00pm — Dancing with the Stars
10:00pm — Castle

TUESDAY
8:00pm — Last Man Standing (New!)
8:30pm — Man Up (New!)
9:00pm — Dancing with the Stars (Results Show)
10:00pm — Body of Proof

WEDNESDAY
8:00pm — The Middle
8:30pm — Suburgatory (New!)
9:00pm — Modern Family
9:30pm — Happy Endings
10:00pm — Revenge (New!)

THURSDAY
8:00pm — Charlie’s Angels (New!)
9:00pm — Grey’s Anatomy
10:00pm — Private Practice

FRIDAY
8:00pm — Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
9:00pm — Shark Tank
10:00pm — 20/20

SATURDAY
8:00pm — Saturday Night College Football

SUNDAY
7:00pm — America’s Funniest Home Videos
8:00pm — Once Upon a Time (New!)
9:00pm — Desperate Housewives
10:00pm — Pan Am (New!)