ABC Shakes Up Schedule

NEW YORK: ABC has ordered a host of new fall and midseason series, including six dramas, four comedies for a Wednesday night comedy block and Mark Burnett’s Shark Tank, a U.S. version of the Sony Pictures Television format Dragon’s Den.

“Our focus is always on delivering the best stories with the most memorable characters on TV, whether that’s established audience favorites or innovative new shows,” said Stephen McPherson, the president of ABC Entertainment Group. “This year we’ve got the best of both. We’re headed into the season with a strong slate of returning series as well as great new shows from one of our best development seasons ever.”

ABC unveiled its 2009-2010 schedule to advertisers and the media at a presentation this morning at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall. The Monday night lineup remains unchanged, with Dancing with the Stars returning to the 8 p.m. slot for two hours, followed by the surprise renewal, Castle, which launched earlier this year. Once Dancing with the Stars completes its run, the 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. slot will be taken up by The Bachelor.

On Tuesdays, the night kicks off with Shark Tank, from Mark Burnett and Sony Pictures Television, in which budding entrepreneurs have the chance to pitch their ideas to multi-millionaire tycoons in the hopes of securing an investment. Premiering this summer, the show moves to its Tuesday 8 p.m. slot in the fall. Barbara Corcoran (Manhattan real estate titan), Kevin Harrington (king of infomercials), Robert Herjavec (technology tycoon), Daymond John (fashion mogul) and Kevin O’Leary (venture capitalist) are the five multimillionaires lined up for the show. Tuesdays at 9 p.m. will go to the Dancing with the Stars results show, leading into the new drama The Forgotten, from executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer. In this crime show, a team of dedicated amateurs work on cases involving unidentified victims. In midseason, Tuesdays at 9 p.m. will be home to the returning Better of Ted and Scrubs.

Wednesday nights will be stocked with new series. The night features two hours of new comedy: Hank, with Kelsey Grammer; The Middle, a family comedy with Patricia Heaton from Warner Bros. Television; Modern Family, with Ed O’Neill; and Cougar Town, from ABC Studios and starring Courtney Cox as a recently divorced single mother. Capping off Wednesday prime time is Eastwick, based on the movie and John Updike novel The Witches of Eastwick.

On Thursdays, ABC will introduce a new drama as a lead in to its successful Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice block. The ABC Studios series Flash Forward begins with a mysterious event that causes the entire world to black out and humanity is given a glimpse into its near future. It is adapted from award-winning author Robert J. Sawyer’s novel and executive produced by David S. Goyer (co-writer of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight) and Brannon Braga (24, Star Trek: Enterprise).

Friday nights see the return of Supernanny at 8 p.m., followed by Ugly Betty at 9 p.m., with 20/20 capping off the night at 10 p.m. Saturdays will be taking up by Saturday Night College Football, and the Sunday schedule is intact with Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters.

Midseason replacements include V, a reimagining of the 1980s mini-series about the world’s first encounter with an alien race; The Deep End, a new legal drama from Twentieth Century Fox Television about first-year associates at a major law firm; and Happy Town, set in a small town reeling from its first crime in seven years after a string of unsolved kidnappings. Returning to the schedule in midseason is Lost for its final season. Also due to return are the reality series True Beauty and Wife Swap.

Among the shows that did not make the cut were Samantha Who?, The Unusuals and Cupid.