ABC's 2008/2009 TV Schedule -- New Show Descriptions -- Boston Legal's Last Season

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ABC's 2008/2009 TV Schedule
By Garth FranklinTuesday May 13th 2008 10:06am
The Fall TV Season presentations for all the new network shows take place this week with the second announced today. Here's a full breakdown of which concepts have made the final list over on ABC.

With much of its schedule consisting of scripted (and often serialized) series, the alphabet network suffered this past year due to the five-month long writer's strike causing all sorts of disruption to its primetime shows like "Desperate Housewives," "Grey's Anatomy" and "Lost".

Yet despite all this, a good portion of the new shows the network introduced still managed to nab sizeable audiences - enough that the network intends to continue on with at least five of last year's newcomers and see how they fare in a hopefully more stable schedule this coming season. As previously reported, the big news on the renewal front is that "Boston Legal" will have a fifth season.

With such a stable line-up however, it means that there's only a few new shows this year. There's literally just one new drama series - the US remake of the hit British time travel 70's cop drama "Life on Mars". There's also just two comedies - Mike Judge's new project "The Goode Family" and "Scrubs" which the network picked up from NBC. There's also two reality shows - an untitled beauty pageant show that Ashton Kutcher and Tyra Banks are producing, and a game show called "Opportunity Knocks".

A large number of notable pilots didn't make the final cut and won't be seen. These include Rob Thomas' second attempt at turning "Cupid" into a TV series, the ambitious fantasy drama "Captain Cook's Extraordinry Atlas", the Denis Leary-produced NYPD dramedy "The Unusuals", the Hamlet-inspired gothic soapie "The Prince of Motor City", the horror novelist police consultant procedural "Castle," and the LA vice squad drama "Finnegan".

Onto the new shows and they are:

Life on Mars
(Time-Travel Cop Drama, Thursdays 10pm)
"Life on Mars" is based on the BBC series created by Matthew Graham, Tony Jordan and Ashley Pharoah. The series revolves around Sam Tyler, a modern-day police detective who, after a car crash, mysteriously finds himself transported back to 1973 and still working as a detective. The cast includes Jason O' Mara as Sam Tyler, Rachelle LeFevre as Annie Cartwright, Colm Meaney as Gene Hunt, Stephanie Jacobsen as Maya, Lenny Clarke as George Randall, Patrick Wenk-Wolff as Colin Raimes and Richard Benjamin as Milton Kornboll.


The Goode Family
(Comedy, Mid-Season)
A new animated series from Mike Judge, creator of "King of the Hill." "The Goode Family" is obsessed with doing the "right" thing, whether it's environmentally, politically or socially. Unfortunately their efforts often have unintended comic consequences. "The Goode Family" is voiced by Mike Judge as Gerald, Nancy Carell as Helen, Dave Herman as Ubuntu and Abby Elliot as Bliss. Executive producers for "The Goode Family" are Mike Judge, David Krinsky, John Altschuler, Michael Rotenberg and Tom Lassally.


Renewals include "According to Jim," "America's Funniest Home Videos," "The Bachelor," "Boston Legal," "Brothers & Sisters," "Dancing with the Stars," "Desperate Housewives," "Dirty Sexy Money," "Eli Stone," "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," "Grey's Anatomy," "Lost," "Private Practice," "Pushing Daisies," "Samantha Who?," "Supernanny," "Ugly Betty," "Wife Swap" and "20/20."

Cancellations include "Big Shots," "Carpoolers," "Cashmere Mafia," "Cavemen," "Just for Laughs," "Miss/Guided," "Notes from the Underbelly," "October Road," "Oprah's Big Give," "Women's Murder Club"


The nightly ABC schedule this Fall will be as follows (shows not listed but renewed will return mid-season and have yet to be scheduled):

MONDAY
8pm: "Dancing with the Stars"
9:30pm: "Samantha Who"
10pm: "Boston Legal"

TUESDAY
8pm: "Opportunity Knocks"
9pm: "Dancing with the Stars the Results Show"
10pm: "Eli Stone"

WEDNESDAY
8pm: "Pushing Daisies"
9pm: "Private Practice"
10pm: "Dirty Sexy Money"

THURSDAY
8pm: "Ugly Betty"
9pm: "Grey's Anatomy"
10pm: "Life on Mars"

FRIDAY
8pm: "Wife Swap"
9pm: "Supernanny"
10pm: "20/20"

SATURDAY
8pm: "Saturday Night College Football"

SUNDAY
7pm: "America's Funniest Home Videos"
8pm: "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"
9pm: "Desperate Housewives"
10pm: "Brothers and Sisters"


ABC's 2008/2009 TV Schedule (May 12th 2008)

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THE FUTON'S UPFRONT NOTES: ABC By The Futon Critic Staff (TFC)

LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) -- A round-up of the various developments from ABC's upfront presentation that may have gotten lost in the shuffle: -- 11 series didn't make the cut for ABC's 2008-09 season schedule, including "Oprah's Big Give." "We loved that show and absolutely would have loved to bring it back," ABC entertainment president Steve McPherson said in a conference call this morning. "But it was something [Oprah] didn't want to do." Also confirmed dead: "Big Shots," "Carpoolers," "Cashmere Mafia," "Cavemen," "Just for Laughs," "Men in Trees," "Miss/Guided," "Notes from the Underbelly," "October Road" and "Women's Murder Club." -- ABC still has 17 pilots under consideration for midseason. McPherson detailed the projects during the actual presentation, which include eight comedies and nine dramas. They are "Bad Mother's Handbook," "Five Year Plan," "Never Better," "Roman's Empire," "This Might Hurt," "Fourplay" (previously "Untitled Kohan/Mutchnick Project"), "Single With Parents" (previously "My Brother's Hot (And Other Dilemmas)" and "In the Motherhood" on the comedy front and "Captain Cook's Extraordinary Atlas," "Castle," "Cupid," "Finnegan," "Good Behavior," "Prince of Motor City," "Untitled David Hemingson Project," "The Unusuals" and "Section 8" on the drama side. All except "Motherhood" were previously announced (as always, you can click on the links to the right for full details on any project). Said half-hour is based on the popular web series of the same name, which starred Jenny McCarthy, Chelsea Handler and Leah Remini. It's not clear why the "Untitled Victor Fresco Project," which has already cast Andrea Anders and Portia de Rossi, was not listed. Overall, only three scripted pilots were completed prior to ABC's upfront: "Life on Mars," "More Things Change..." and the "Untitled Cedric the Entertainer Project." McPherson, who went out of his way to affirm the necessity of the pilot process, hopes to order several new comedies and dramas by August and September respectively for midseason. -- "Boston Legal" will return for its fifth (and final) season of 13 episodes. The series will shift to Monday's at 10:00/9:00c for its swan song, to be replaced by "The Bachelor" at midseason. McPherson says that creator David E. Kelley is expected to write most of the remaining episodes. Also due at midseason: the "Untitled Banks/Kutcher Project" will spell "Dancing With the Stars" cycles on Mondays while "Scrubs" and newcomer "The Goode Family" will fill the same void on Tuesdays. No time periods were specified for "Lost," "According to Jim" or "Primetime: What Would You Do?" -- The "Life on Mars" pilot will likely be reshot. McPherson noted that the retooling could involve some recasting but the general idea is establish the vision of incoming executive producers Josh Applebaum, Andre Nemec and Scott Rosenberg. -- "Here Come the Newlyweds" and "Dance War" may return. Neither project appeared on the Alphabet's 2008-09 schedule but each could potentially return according to network sources. Casting has already begun on a second season of "Newlyweds," however production on a new season hasn't been greenlit. -- Other odds and ends. "Scrubs" and "According to Jim" have been picked up for 18 episodes each, while the network's fall schedule will kick off during the traditional "premiere week" of September 22.

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[Bucsfan67]

hate to see Boston Legal ending, but at least it gets a 5th season, which insures it will reach syndication...