Tag / WGA

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ABC Upfronts

Change is in the air at ABC, where they are adding new scripted programming after taking last year off due to the WGA and SAG/AFTRA strikes.  A familiar name is returning to Mondays, with Monday Night Football back in its long-time perch for selected weeks.  The network has yet to announce what will air in the weeks where football remains on ESPN only.  Dancing With the Stars moves to Tuesday, followed by High Potential, written by Drew Goddard and starring Kaitlin Olson.

Wednesday kicks off with the first installment of The Golden Bachelorette, followed by Abbott Elementary and Scamanda, a docu-series based on the podcast about a wife and blogger who faked cancer.  9-1-1 returns for its second season on ABC to kick off Thursdays, followed by Doctor Odyssey, a new medical drama from Ryan Murphy and starring Joshua Jackson.  The 21st season of Grey’s Anatomy wraps up the night.  Friday remains the same, with Shark Tank followed by two hours of 20/20.  Sunday also stays stable, with America’s Funniest Home Videos followed by three hours of The Wonderful World of Disney.

On the bench for mid-season are new installments of American Idol, The Bachelor, Celebrity Jeopardy, Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, the final season of The Conners, The Rookie, What Would You Do? and Will Trent.  A new version of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, produced by Reese Witherspoon, is also on the docket.

Shows never to be seen again are The Good Doctor, Not Dead Yet, and Station 19.

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Out Of Jeopardy

This past spring, going against the advice of the union, Mayim Bialik opted against hosting the final episodes of the Jeopardy! season in deference to the ongoing strike by the Writer’s Guild.  Sony and Jeopardy! producers did not put up much of a fight, since her co-host, Ken Jennings, was there to step in and take her place.  When the current season started, Jennings continued to host with both the Writer’s Guild and the Screen Actors Guild still out on strike.  With both strikes now resolved, the door was theoretically opened for Bialik to return and continue swapping hosting duties with Jennings.  That door is now closed.

Sony announced last week that Ken Jennings would be the full-time host of the syndicated version of Jeopardy!  There is a small possibility that Bialik could return in the future to host a future primetime special, but that also seems unlikely at this point.  From a show perspective, this is probably the right move.  Having two rotating hosts wasn’t really working, and Bialik never seemed to grow into the role the way Jennings did, instead coming off more as an actor playing as a host.

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2023 New Fall Season

Normally, today we would start our annual look at the fall television schedule and the shows I was planning to watch.  This is not a normal time.  The Writer’s Guild of America has been on strike since May 2, and the actors covered under SAG-AFTRA joined the picket lines on July 14.  With no writers and no actors, it is hard to make a whole lot of new TV.  Because of that, this fall’s offerings is a motley collection of reality shows, game shows, repeats, and imported content.

Because of this, we will combine everything for the fall into this post, since it will be a very short list.

Sunday

Nothing!

Monday

Nothing!

Tuesday

Celebrity Jeopardy! – Ken Jennings replaces Mayim Bialik as host and recycled clues will be used due to the ongoing strike.  There’s no telling what celebrities will be participating, since actors are not allowed to promote any projects during the strike.

Wednesday

Nothing!

Thursday

Nothing!

Friday

Nothing!

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Post Mortem – Modern Family

After 11 seasons, Modern Family wrapped up its run in April, having won 22 Primetime Emmy Awards and 6 Writers Guild of America Awards.  Conceived by creators Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan while sharing stories of their own “modern families,” the show was presented in the mockumentary style that was all the rage in the late 2000s/early 2010s.

The ensemble cast, headed by television veteran Ed O’Neill, powered the show, with breakout performances by Sofia Vergara and Ty Burrell.  I’m sure we will be seeing this cast in numerous other projects for years to come.