The WIT Analysis: ABC

The Rookie, a new drama starring Nathan Fillion from Entertainment One, led the social media buzz for ABC’s new fall and midseason shows presented at its Upfront last week, according to analysis from The WIT.

The new crime procedural is scheduled for Tuesday days at 10 p.m., where it is up against NBC’s freshman medical drama contender New Amsterdam. The Castle alum stars as a “small-town guy” who gives up his life to move to Los Angeles and become the LAPD’s oldest rookie cop. The show, which hails from former Castle executive producer/co-showrunner Alexi Hawley, logged 12 million views on its official Facebook and YouTube accounts as of May 22. It has generated about 54,000 Facebook likes and 6,300 tweets in the seven days since the Upfront; moderate numbers in comparison to ABC’s buzziest show last year, The Good Doctor, which had 24 million trailer views, 250,000 Facebook likes and 50,000 Twitter comments.

“The comments around The Rookie are quite exclusively and enthusiastically centered on the presence of Nathan Fillion, with Castle fans delighted to finally see him as a ‘real’ cop,” observes The WIT’s Caroline Servy. “Those who do not share the same excitement are either skeptical of another generic law-enforcement drama or predict an early cancelation by ABC. But the overall sentiment for the series is outstandingly positive, and the drama looks like a sure bet.”

Close behind The Rookie in trailer views is A Million Little Things, which is being distributed by CBS Studios International. The new Wednesday night ensemble drama from DJ Nash and Aaron Kaplan generated 10 million Facebook and YouTube views, 43,000 Facebook likes and 2,100 Twitter conversations.

“The playful social media crowd, after retitling ABC’s new drama as 13 Reasons Why This is Us, declared positive feelings about the cast, with special enthusiasm around the comeback of James Roday (Psych) and David Giuntoli (Grimm),” Servy says. “On the negative side, some users were left a bit depressed by the trailer and have the feeling that ABC has missed the opportunity to add the humor and comedy vibe that would have made it a stronger rival to This is Us.”

Third on ABC’s social-buzz list is the single-cam comedy Single Parents, from 20th Century Fox Television. The new show from New Girl creator Liz Meriwether stars SNL alum Taran Killam as a single man trying to raise his 7-year-old daughter with the help of other single parents. Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl) also stars in the ensemble Wednesday night comedy, which generated 7 million trailer views. Its Facebook page has reached 17,000 likes so far, giving it an advantage over ABC’s other new single-camera comedy The Kids Are Alright, with under 5 million views for its trailer and 10,000 Facebook likes.

“The online crowd is definitely positive about the modern comedy premise, saying it has a cute and funny vibe,” Servy says. “The New Girl creator’s credentials are a sure value for many social media users, and the presence of Leighton Meester is creating its fair share of excitement.”

For more on the U.S. network and studio lineups, visit World Screen’s Fall Season Grid here.