ABC’s Fall Schedule Built on “Strength & Consistency”

Only three new scripted series are slated to debut in the fall on ABC, as the network touts its “most stable schedule in over a decade.”

Mondays continue to see the pairing of Dancing with the Stars and The Good Doctor, a top four-ranking drama.

On Tuesdays, the hit sitcom The Conners returns, paired with Bless This Mess taking over a new time slot at 8:30 p.m. This provides a lead-in for the brand-new comedy mixed-ish, a spin-off of black-ish, which moves to the 9:30 p.m. slot. The freshman drama Emergence, about a police chief who takes in a young child she finds near the site of a mysterious accident who has no memory of what has happened, lands at 10 p.m.

The Wednesday schedule remains largely intact, with returning series The Goldbergs, Schooled, Modern Family and Single Parents. The evening is capped off with the freshman drama Stumptown, based on the graphic novel series. The series follows Dex Parios (Cobie Smulders), a strong, assertive and sharp-witted army veteran with a complicated love life, gambling debt and a brother to take care of in Portland, Oregon.

Thursday’s block of Grey’s Anatomy, A Million Little Things and How to Get Away with Murder returns, with all shows in their regular time periods.

American Housewife moves to Fridays, leading off the night at 8 p.m., followed by Fresh Off the Boat at a new time, at 8:30 p.m.

The Rookie moves to Sunday nights at 10 p.m. Also that evening, a brand-new reboot of Kids Say the Darndest Things hosted and executive produced by Tiffany Haddish will lead in the 8:00 p.m. hour, paired with the return of America’s Funniest Home Videos and Shark Tank.

New dramas The Baker and the Beauty—based on a hit Israeli show created by Assi Azar originally for Keshet Broadcasting—and For Life—a serialized legal and family drama about a prisoner who becomes a lawyer—along with the new comedy United We Fall—a family sitcom that follows the trials and tribulations of Jo (Christina Vidal) and Bill (Will Sasso), parents of two young kids, as they try to make it day to day as a functioning family—will debut midseason. Additionally, ABC has renewed American Idol for a third season, the franchise’s 18th to date.

In her inaugural upfront presentation as president of ABC Entertainment, Karey Burke commented: “Since the beginning of the year, ABC has been the number one network with a schedule that is working, and we are going to nurture it. Going into next season, our priorities are stability and launching shows in a way our audience will know we are committed to them. Add to that some of the most buzzed-about titles and top talent of the recent pilot season, and we have an enviable combination that sets the stage for us to win with women and grow our overall reach.”

Visit WorldScreen.com’s Fall Season Grid for all the details on the new and returning shows on the U.S. broadcast networks, and a listing of pickups by studio.