ABC Announces Winter/Spring 2009 Schedule

ABC has scheduled three new dramas to fill its 10 pm hours later this season. Police procedural Castle, starring Nathan Fillion, will air Monday nights at 10 pm starting March 9. Another crime drama, The Unusuals, starring Amber Tamblyn, will air on Wednesdays at 10 pm beginning April 8. Rob Thomas’ romantic dramedy Cupid will run Tuesday nights at 10 pm starting March 24. Also, ABC News’ Primetime: What Would You Do? will return on Tuesday, January 6, at 10 pm.

Scheduling the dramas at 10 p.m. keep the new shows out of reach of Fox’s American Idol, but they will also have competition from fellow police procedurals. Castle will air up against CBS’ CSI: Miami. The Unusuals will face CSI: New York and Law & Order. Romantic comedy Cupid shouldn’t be bothered by CBS’ Without a Trace and NBC’s Law & Order: SVU. The downside to ABC’s plan is that 10 p.m. has become an hour of heavy DVR use, which can make it difficult to launch new shows.

ABC has yet to firm up Wednesdays at 8 pm and Tuesdays at 9:30 pm. Right now the network has plans to air a half-hour of Scrubs on Tuesdays followed by an as-yet-unannounced show. The network has comedy Better Off Ted and Mike Judge’s animated series The Goode Family waiting in the wings to play with. Talks to acquire King of the Hill continue, but a deal seems unlikely due to the time frames involved. Sources say ABC is very happy with the The Goode Family scripts, but is still waiting to see some completed animation to get a full sense of the show before scheduling a premiere. ABC also booked the premiere of Dancing With the Stars, which will return Monday, March 9 at 8 pm, with the results show premiing Tuesday, March 17 at 8 pm The Monday performance shows will be two hours for the first few weeks, then shift to 90 minutes as of March 30.

Monday, January 5, 2009

The Bachelor (Season Premiere), 8 PM/ET
True Beauty (Season Premiere), 10 PM/ET

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

According To Jim, 8 PM/ET
According To Jim, 8:30 PM/ET
Scrubs, 9 PM/ET
Scrubs, 9:30 PM/ET
Primetime: What Would You Do?, 10 PM/ET

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Ugly Betty, 8 PM/ET
Grey’s Anatomy, 9 PM/ET
Private Practice, 10 PM/ET

Monday, January 12

The Bachelor, 8 PM/ET
Samantha Who, 9:30 PM/ET
True Beauty, 10 PM/ET

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Lost (Repeat of previous season finale), 8 PM/ET

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Lost Clip Show, 8 PM/ET
Lost (Because We Left), 9 PM/ET
Lost (The Lie), 10 PM/ET

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

TBA, 8 PM/ET
Lost, 9 PM/ET
Life on Mars, 10 PM/ET

Monday, March 09,2009

Castle (Series Premiere), 10 PM/ET

Tuesday, March 24,2009

Cupid (Series Premiere), 10 PM/ET

Wednesday, April 08,2009

The Unusuals (Series Premiere), 10 PM/ET

Note – Fridays and Sundays will remain unchanged.