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This trend of comedies at 10 PM seems to be catching on quickly at the broadcast networks. Right after NBC announced that it will expand its 8-10 PM Thursday comedy block to 11 PM in midseason, ABC is doing the same with its Wednesday 8-10 PM comedy block. Beginning April 13, the network will air midseason comedy Happy Endings at 10 PM, followed by Modern Family reruns branded as “fan favorites” at 10:30 PM.
ABC will start warming up the Wednesday 10 PM slot with comedies this month by pulling canceled legal drama The Whole Truth earlier than previously planned and replacing it with Modern Family and Cougar Town repeats. Before that, from February 9 through April 6, ABC’s other midseason comedy, Mr. Sunshine, will take over the network’s plum post-Modern Family slot at 9:30 PM to give the Matthew Perry-starring comedy the best possible launching pad. One Friends alum, Courteney Cox, will make room for another, Perry, as Cougar Town, which airs in the 9:30 PM time period, will go on hiatus, returning on April 13. With the time off, Cougar Town now has 20 of its 22 episodes scheduled, with the remaining 2 expected to get a berth too, either replacing a Cougar Town rerun or in a different spot on the schedule. As previously announced, anchoring the Wednesday lineup at 10 PM from Feb. 9 through April 6 will be the new medical drama Off the Map. With ABC slotting its midseason comedies after having already announced the plans for its midseason dramas Body of Proof, Off the Map and V, CBS is the last remaining broadcast network to firm up its midseason schedule.
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This is fantastic news for Mr. Sunshine.
This was my absolute favorite comedy pilot of the year, and second favorite pilot overall to THE WALKING DEAD. It’s great to see the ABC giving the show a chance to succeed. I can’t wait to watch more.
Playing around with Cougar Town can’t be good for it. The ratings will slip and ABC would have an excuse to cancel it, which is a mistake. Hopefully ABC won’t fiddle around with Thr schedule so much for next year.
Its about time Mr. Sunshine was put on the schedule.
really hope happy endings doesn’t end up buried…it was one of the best pilot scripts i read this year…definitely deserves a real time slot/lead in/chance.
Looks like the “Friends” will be duking it out for the post Modern Family slot!
The Mr. Sunshine pilot was TERRIBLE. Not even Matthew Perry can save that mess.
Agreed. I don’t know who’s saying MR. SUNSHINE was the best pilot. It wasn’t on paper, and it certainly wasn’t after it was shot. Maybe the episodes that follow will be better, but the premise is flawed. Oh, and no one wants to see Mathew Perry anymore. His cute Chandler days are far behind him.
I have to agree. It was a bad, bad script. I haven’t seen the pilot, maybe wonders were worked, but I doubt it.
Might not be for you, but I loved it. It’s Perry doing what he’s good at. Haven’t seen the shot pilot, but I loved it on paper. It’s a really good half-hour compared to a lot of the stuff on networks these days.
IMO, YO sucks. The pilot is great.
Agreed on Happy Endings. That looked like their most promising new comedy, they should’ve given this one a better timeslot than 10PM!
It looks like they are trying new things, which is great. I love Courtney Cox but Cougar Town is awful and she would be lucky not to be on it anymore. Happy Endings and Mr. Sunshine both look great. Let’s give them a chance and get some new blood on TV.
Unfortunately, mathew Perry is SO yesterday…so overrated., Even the premise of this series has the “been there,don’t that” feel. He really is not much of an actor, never was. How does his past relationship with Jamie Tarses fit into this getting a green light. anyone have the answer??
AH, you seem delightfully bitter. “been there, done that? Can’t name another sitcom that takes place in a sports arena.
So what does the full ABC schedule look like? This is very confusing. What are they doing with Cougar Town during that hiatus? Are they moving it behind Dancing w/ the Stars (90 minute edition)?
Off The Map starts in Jan. they have already been promoting it. Will they have original Cougar Town’s in Jan? I love Cougar but it’s not a great show to lead in a drama. The Whole Truth wasn’t great by any means but they could have easily gotten it better numbers with a better lead in. It had a great cast and a decent premise. Cougar Town is just not a good lead in for a drama.
Off The Map has a lot of promise. Different take on the medical drama, young sexy cast, and Shonda power. They should give it a better lead in for its first episode. They should put it after Grey’s for a week, or at least put a double Modern Family as a lead in.
Mr. Sunshine was a decent pilot at best. I don’t think it has much potential but I love the cast so will check it out. It’s much better then Happy Endings so I think they are making the right decision to give Sunshine the post Modern slot. I don’t see Sunshine doing much better then Cougar Town. Happy Endings was dreck and is pretty much getting buried.
Happy Endings deserves a better slot, but hopefully that show will prevail. The script and pilot were great. Cast is terrific.
Moss, you can’t even WRITE. I’d say you are a bitter writer on a terrible show, but that’s giving you too much credit.
What a messy mess of a schedule. Who’s running ABC now, Jeff Zucker?
I love Cougar Town and I’m really annoyed with ABC for taking it off the air. I REALLY hope they don’t screw up Cougar Town the way they’ve screwed up so many other shows in the past few years and let it get canceled.
I beg to differ – Matthew Perry is a really engaging actor but this pilot was mediocre at best. Typical network schlock – no edge or anything. A slow pitch down the middle. It’s going to need something more to stick out from the crowd.
It’s got Allison Janey….that should help it stick out.
This is great news I don’t think that any dramas will do well at 10p — it has become such a dead spot for abc.
Janney is the best thing about Mr. Sunshine, but she deserves a better show. Yeesh.
As opposed to the brilliance of Cougar Town..
Taking off Cougar Town on Wed. will now force me to quit watching ABC all together.