According to Ain't It Cool

ABC has gone with three new dramas and two new comedies on their fall schedule

New Dramas

Commander In Chief (Starring Gina Davis as the first female president)
Invasion (About a small town in FL being taken over by aliens)
The Night Stalker (Starring Stuart Townsend as Kolchak)

New Comedies

Freddie (Freddie Prinze Jr.)
Hot Properties (About a Manhattan realtor)

The Schedule

Monday
8 p.m. Wife Swap
9 p.m. Monday Night Football

Tuesday
8 p.m. According To Jim
8:30 p.m. Rodney
9 p.m. Commander-in-Chief
10 p.m. Boston Legal

Wednesday
8 p.m. George Lopez
8:30 p.m. Freddie
9 p.m. Lost
10 p.m. Invasion

Thursday
8 p.m. Alias
9 p.m. The Night Stalker
10 p.m. Primetime Live

Friday
8 p.m. Supernanny
9 p.m. Hope and Faith
9:30 p.m. Hot Properties
10 p.m. 20/20

Saturday
8 p.m. Movie

Sunday
7 p.m. America’s Funniest Home Videos
8 p.m. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
9 p.m. Desperate Housewives
10 p.m. Grey’s Anatomy


Returning in Mid-season

Jake in Progress
The Bachelor

New Mid-season

Comedies: Crumbs, Emily's Reasons Why Not, Son's & Daughters

Dramas: Evidence, In Justice, What About Brian

Invasion, though the Night Stalker might be interesting if they do it right.

The only one that sounds interesting to me is Invasion.

I think Commander In Chief sounds like an interesting show. And Invasion sounds like it could be really good. The real stinker is Freddie. I think it will tank.

The things that strike me are

1. They are killing off Alias by putting it up against Survivor and The OC. (Especially when you factor in JG's rumored pregnancy. Although I've also heard that season 5 was going to be it's last anyway.)

2. They are dooming Night Stalker by putting it up against CSI.

3. Those two sitcoms seem like a very odd lead in to Lost.

4. Apparently they are going to run Emily's Reasons Why Not, Jake in Progress and What About Brian on Mondays after football ends. I don't understand picking up Jake at all.

5. Although it says Less Than Perfect has been picked up, I don't see it listed or as mid-season.

Yeah, I dont get the Lost lead in either.

I'll watch Invasion and Night Stalker because I'm a sort of uber-nerd.

I can't believe they are changing lost's time slot, bumping it back by an hour, when it was working well where it was. They should move Invasion to an earlier slot so kids can see it more easily.

Dear Lord let that Freddie Prinze Jr comedy be cancelled. Well I guess that Alias move would mean a further death for NBC's Joey. Good grief

Eeh, I don't understand their new Wednesday.. Lost should have stayed where it was, and Alias should be after it. I guess they're trying to have a Thursday, but I don't think those programs will give them one.

AHHHHHHHHHH.


What's up with alias?


didn't they learn their lesson with Once & Again?

Alias is coming back in the fall and not in Jan?

Personally I think Lost + Night Stalker would work well as a combo.

The Night Stalker is an interesting idea, the original scared the bejeezus out of me when I was but a wee little archie gates. It's about a reporter who is aware of various undead/zombie/werewolf etc type things going on in the city and no one will believe him so he sets out to get proof and possibly take them down himself where he can. I still remember Darren McGavin in the back of a hearse in a junk yard pouring salt into a zombie's mouth and trying to sew it shut with needle and thread before the zombie awoke. Of course it woke up before he was done. The show had crappy production values though, and got cancelled early on but it was a fun idea.

If done well and updated nicely the new version could be suspenseful and fun.

I agree. And Frank Spotnitz is the man to do Stalker justice.

When are they going to have time to film new Alias episodes? Garners doing Catch and Release this summer....

If Alias is up against Survivor then.....good luck there.
Seriously the Alias/Lost combo was working effectively, they evidently have confidence in Alias to anchor its Thursday night. But i think that confidence is misguided for Alias was relying heavily on Lost for its boosts this season. Together, they were a hyped media event. Seperately....it wont be as succesful. We will have to wait and see but its definately a better time for it than 9PM on Sundays.

I just hope they advertise both Alias and Lost alot this year again.

Although Alias benefited from following Lost, it still did not hold enough of Lost's lead in audience. I think ABC believes a new supernatural drama following Lost might hold more of the lead in.

As to what they think Alias will do anchoring Thursday, I have no clue. Perhaps they think that all of Alias's fans will follow it to Thursday. And if the fans don't follow, they are literally dooming both Alias and Night Stalker.

Yes! Lost is moved an hour! Ihave church from 6 to 7 Wednesdays, and we always have to record it.

Geena Davis in Commander-in-Chief? I LAUGH.

Oh wait, it's a drama.

Re: Alias in the fall: Maybe they're gonna film scenes with Jen Garner immediately while her tummy is still little so they can write the pregnancy in.

None of these fall pilots sound that great, bleh. Invasion and Commander-in-Chief sound like they could be interesting, though. Hot Properties may be a good sitcom, too.

The Night Stalker was one of my favorite shows growing up. Same with my best friend, Jeff. It was the perfect blend of comedy and horror, and this news kinda sucks, because we both always saw it as a really good potential movie with Harrison Ford in the lead role.

Yeah I do see a trend now about new shows now trying to replicate Lost. It was bad enough in the mid 90s we had so many X-files rip off shows and Seinfield clones and then the past year we have so many CSI rip offs, reality tv crap, etc. Out of the list on the major networks, there doesnt seem to be any fresh new shows with interesting ideas. Maybe prison break but it looks a little like Oz

Enjoy the fifth season of Alias. It's going to be the last.

Probably. I'm wondering if ABC is actually attempting to purposefully kill Alias off with that Thursday move.

:laugh:

The Night Stalker looks good. I hope ABC pulls a few more big hits like DH, GA and LOST... =D>

It would seem that way, wouldn't it? ABC is quite comfy with all their other dramas right now, and Alias was always that modest hit, that didn't pull in many viewers, but was still a show that ABC could rely on. Now, it's just barely better in the ratings, and ABC doesn't want to directly cancel the show with the backlash it will get from the hardcore fans of the show (like myself). Maybe I'm paranoid, but I think ABC is done with trying to make Alias a hit.

What I don't understand is why Grey's Anatomy doesn't get moved to Thursdays. Calm down, I know it's doing amazingly on Sundays, and taking it away from Housewives would be incredibly stupid, but it seems to be a guaranteed hit. Why risk killing a modest hit with a major core audience like Alias, when you could possibly breathe some major life into Thursdays with the already-established-in-a-few-weeks Grey's Anatomy instead? If the networks want to take major risks (and judging by the first three network schedules announced, they're taking some major risks), I say go the extra mile and do something that will guarantee solid numbers on Thursday.