It’s going to be a busy, busy spring of programming moves on ABC.
On Tuesday (December 4), ABC announced its midseason premiere dates, an impressively busy assortment of movies that includes premiere dates for “Body of Proof,” “Zero Hour,” “Red Widow,” “How to Live with Your Parents (for the Rest of Your Life)” and “Family Tools,” plus another time slot swap for “Suburgatory.”
Oh and ABC also announced premiere dates for the 16th installment of “Dancing with the Stars,” as well as the new reality shows “Celebrity Diving” and “The Taste.”
Up first is “The Taste,” a cooking competition series featuring Anthony Bourdain, Nigella Lawson, Ludo Lefebvre and Brian Malarkey. It will premiere on Tuesday, January 22 from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. and will settle into a regular Tuesday 8 p.m. slot the following week.
The heavily overhauled “Body of Proof” will launch its third season in the Tuesday 10 p.m. slot it has struggled in in the past, the same Tuesday 10 p.m. slot that finally claimed the life of “Private Practice” this year. That will be on Tuesday, February 5.
The next week, on Thursday, February 14, the Anthony Edwards conspiracy thriller “Zero Hour” will move into the Thursday 8 p.m. time period that has claimed the life of “Last Resort,” “Missing,” “Charlie’s Angels” and “FlashForward” in recent seasons. Good luck!
The Radha Mitchell drama “Red Widow” takes the Sunday 10 p.m. slot, yet another of ABC’s problem spots with recent victims including “Pan Am,” “GCB” and “666 Park Avenue.” Produced by “Twilight Saga” Melissa Rosenberg, “Red Widow” will have a two-hour premiere from 9 to 11 on Sunday, March 3 and will move into its regular 10 p.m. slot the following week.
Coming off a disappointingly low-rated All-Stars installment, “Dancing with the Stars” will kick off Season 16 on Monday, March 18. The entirely self-explanatory “Celebrity Diving” will premiere on Tuesday, March 19 at 8 p.m. and the “Dancing” results shows will move into the 9 p.m. hour on March 26. That puts “Happy Endings” and “Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23” on track for early conclusions, though ABC suggests both shows will have a few remaining unaired episodes for a later date.
On Wednesday, April 3, “Suburgatory” will shift back to its original Wednesday 8:30 slot, allowing “How to Live with Your Parents (for the Rest of Your Life)” to take the prime slot post-“Modern Family.” “The Neighbors” will air 12 original episodes in a row and will be wrapping its season before the “Suburgatory” switch.
And, finally, “Suburgatory” will then wrap its season a little early, allowing “Family Tools” to take the 8:30 p.m. Wednesday slot starting on May 1.
Whee!
In case you didn’t get all of that, here’s a list:
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ABC”s Midseason premiere dates are as follows (all times listed are ET):
Tuesday, January 22
8:00-10:00 p.m. “The Taste” (Two-hour Series Premiere)
Tuesday, January 29
8:00-9:00 p.m. “The Taste” (Regular Time Period Premiere)
Tuesday, February 5
10:00-11:00 p.m. “Body of Proof”
Thursday, February 14
8:00-9:00 p.m. “Zero Hour”
Sunday, March 3
9:00-11:00 p.m. “Red Widow” (Two-hour Series Premiere)
Sunday, March 10
10:00-11:00 p.m. “Red Widow” (Regular Time Period Premiere)
Monday, March 18
8:00-10:00 p.m. “Dancing with the Stars”
Tuesday, March 19
8:00-9:00 p.m. “Celebrity Diving”
Tuesday, March 26
9:00-10:00 p.m. “Dancing with the Stars the Results Show”
Wednesday, April 3
8:30-9:00 p.m. “Suburgatory” (New Time Period Premiere)
9:30-10:00 p.m. “How to Live with Your Parents (for the Rest of Your Life)”
Wednesday, May 1
8:30-9:00 p.m. “Family Tools”
