This is a hectic time for ABC’s shows – especially the ones that try to make us laugh.
Suddenly, “Black-ish” (shown here) is back on the fall schedule … “Call Your Mother” is off it … Jimmy Kimmel is taking the summer off … And next month, something fairly rare – a new summer sitcom – will debut.
All of those came in separate announcements, during a time when forces – from COVID shutdowns to protest coverage – keep bringing change. They are:
“BLACK-ISH:” Just as society was taking a fresh inteerst in black lives, ABC’s fall line-up seemed to be going in the opposite direction: Many of its key shows – “Black-ish,” “Mixed-ish” and “For Life” – were on hold until mid-season.
Now that’s been partly rectified, with “Black-ish” set for 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays this fall. The show has had a habit of raising strong issues, racial and others. “Following recent monumental events, it’s imperative that the dialog continues and empowers viewers to raise their voices,” ABC programming chief Karey Burke said in a statement.
The change puts “Call Your Mother” (a Kyra Sedgwick comedy) on the shelf until mid-season. It also means ABC will have only two new shows in the fall, David E. Kelley’s “Big Sky” and Leslie Jones hosting a “Supermarket Sweep” reboot.
KIMMEL: Meawhile, one voice (sometimes a sharp, topical one) will be gone for a while. Kimmel told viewers Thursday that he’ll take the rest of the summer off, to be “spending even more time with my family.”
There’s nothing wrong, he said, just a desire for some free time after almost 18 years on the show. After two weeks of reruns, guest hosts (not yet named) will take over on July 6.
SITCOM: In the midst of that, ABC will add a situation comedy – a diverse one, at that – this summer.
“United We Fall” will debut with two episodes at 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 15. Lisa Vidal and Will Sasso play frazzled parents, facing the disapproval of her Latino family and his live-in mother (Jane Curtin).