ABC austerity: a wobbly, makeshift line-up

Maybe we should start worrying about ABC.
At first, its apparent austerity program seemed logical. Faced with giant jolts – the pandemic and two strikes – ABC scrambled. It added unscripted shows; it also borrowed shows from cable and streaming networks.
But now that’s gone overboard. After the season had already started, ABC decided to pillage all of “Monday Night Football,” pushing two game shows and “Scamanda” until 2025.
They won’t be missed; the world certainly has no shortage of games or true-crime stories. ABC does have some good shows — including “High Potential,” shown here, at 10 p.m. Tuesdays — but it continues its austerity trend; consider:
— When Covid hit, ABC cut back on scripted shows. In the fall of 2021, it had back-to-back nights of “Dancing With the Stars” and “The Bachelorette.” It also had Sunday-night game shows; soon, it added “Judge Steve Harvey.”
— Two years later, the strikes hit. When they ended (Sept. 27 and Nov. 9, 2023), ABC was in disarray., with makeshift line-ups for spring and summer.
— By this fall, CBS and NBC were pretty much back to normal; ABC wasn’t. It had only five scripted shows (albeit good ones) – three on Thursdays, plus “High Potential” and “Abbott Elementary.” It had only three new shows – “High Potential,” “Golden Bachelorette” and “Scamanda.”
— Then it went further.”Scamanda” was set to start Oct. 9, but was delayed for a news special. It was set for Oct. 16, then shelved.
Instead, ABC will have “Monday Night Football” every week (not just some weeks), dispersing its Monday shows. “Celebrity Wheel of Fortune” and “Press Your Luck” were delayed until 2025; another show (“What Would You Do?”) moved to Wednesdays, ousting “Scamanda.”
That leaves ABC with borrowed goods. It shares football with ESPN … shares “Dancing With the Stars” with Disney+ … and fills its Sunday movie spot with films that have been fueling Freeform and the Disney Channel.
This adds up to more than one-third of this fall’s primetime schedule. ABC is sort of feasting off its offspring.
Yes, the network’s owner (Disney) had problems elsewhere. Its amusement parks were hit by Covid and storms; its Disney+ was expensive to launch.
And yes, ABC still knows how to make good shows. It has more – “The Rookie,” “The Conners” and “Will Trent” – waiting to return at mid-season.
For now, however, this remains a makeshift network worth worrying about.