First Take: ABC's 2015-16 Schedule

The show more than lived up to the advance buzz it began to generate last year at this time and its largely sexdriven narrative not to mention that dialogue wasted no time dragging broadcast television out of the shadows of shame and fearfulness that continued to keep it rooted in a weird outdated dark age and into the bright light of contemporary video content In fairness CBS39 quotThe Good Wifequot has done quite a bit to force broadcast TV to grow up as wellAnyway once ABC Entertainment Group President Paul Lee announced his network39s final 201516 schedule Tuesday it became immediately clear that ABC just might have the most talked about new series of fall 2015 as well and it couldn39t be more different from Shonda Rhimes39 sexy legal dramaThis time around ABC will be all about the Muppets which is actually very coolIn a season that is already getting much attention for its many backfromthedead franchises including quotHeroes Rebornquot and quotCoachquot on NBC and quotThe XFilesquot on Fox amp8211 ABC has likely trumped them all with the return to television of Kermit Miss Piggy Fozzie and the rest of their crew The concept for its new series quotThe Muppetsquot is fresh and onpoint The show will spoof the currently popular mockumentary style sitcom examples include quotThe Officequot and quotModern Familyquot How can it lose quotThe Muppetsquot isn39t just the latest entry in an iconic multimedia franchise it39s a multimedia franchise populated with iconic characters of broadbased crossgenerational appealquotThe Muppetsquot looks like it will be the gleaming jewel of ABC39s freshman class though several others show great promisequotQuanticoquot looks to be actionpacked in the best way but that conclusion could prove incorrect since it is based only on a smattering of clips from what appears to be a handsomely produced pilot Regardless radiant leading lady Priyanka Chopra just might be this season39s biggest breakout starquotDr Kenquot starring the hugely funny and equally popular Ken Jeong looks to be a very compatible lead in to the inexplicably enduring quotLast Man Standingquot and way more entertainingABC39s ambitious new Sunday serial quotOilquot might work if it comes across like a contemporary and provocative quotDallasquot for this still young millennium something the recent TNT reboot of the original quotDallasquot never managed to doBiblical drama quotOf Kings and Prophetsquot doesn39t look particularly interesting to me but all things Biblerelated are finding a dedicated audience these days on broadcast and basic cable so this could prove to be one of ABC39s smartest programming movesAmong ABC39s midseason shows quotThe Familyquot with Joan Allen as a politician dealing with massive emotional turmoil at home looks like a compelling and misery intensive drama much like quotAmerican Crimequot which was just renewed for a second season quotWicked Cityquot about two sexy and mesmerizing serial killers played by the sexy and mesmerizing Ed Westwick and Erika Christensen seems violent and revolting enough to score big with Millennials In fact Paul Lee said the other day that it tested very well with that demographic Be afraidThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecom management or associated bloggers

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First Take: ABC's 2015-16 Schedule

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Ed Martin

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First Take: ABC's 2015-16 Schedule

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