ABC announced an extremely busy slate of midseason premieres on Friday (November 18), including three dramas, a comedy and a slew of unscripted shows, but if your Twitter feed is anything like ours, most of the buzz has been about at least one comedy that’s nowhere to be seen.
The network’s midseason plans will begin on Tuesday, January 3 with the launch of the cross-dressing comedy “Work It” in the 8:30 p.m. currently occupied by the soon-to-be-deceased “Man Up.” The entirely self-explanatory “Celebrity Wife Swap” will air at 9 p.m. premiering on the same night.
“Celebrity Wife Swap’ will remain in that Tuesday 9 p.m. home until February 7, when the found-footage horror drama “The River” premieres. “The River” will then run until “Dancing with the Stars” is back on Tuesdays on March 27 (a week after its Monday, March 19 premiere).
January 5 will mark the return of “Winter Wipeout” to its Thursday 8 p.m. slot, as ABC tacitly acknowledges that nothing scripted has succeeded in that hour for years. But don’t give up on Thursday 8 p.m. drama forever, because ABC will then premiere “Missing,” starring Ashley Judd and Sean Bean, on Thursday, March 15.
ABC’s other midseason hour-long, “GCB” will move into the 10 p.m. (or 10:01 p.m.) Sunday slot after “Desperate Housewives” starting on March 4.
Finally, at least in terms of concrete premieres, ABC has “Shark Tank” returning on Friday, February 3 at 8 p.m.
But where is “Cougar Town”?
Nowhere, currently.
And where is ABC’s highly anticipated “The B**** in Apartment 23”?
Nowhere, currently.
Both comedies, which ABC initially expected to pair on Tuesday nights between “Dancing with the Stars” seasons, are currently absent, but both comedies are still expected to return this spring. At some point. Somewhere.
Stay tuned!