lost & ugly betty: the alphabet’s spring semester
Eastwick‘s out, so the Wednesday at 10:00 spot will be open soon for ABC scheduling. This is a prime piece of TV real estate, because it comes after Modern Family and Cougar Town, two of ABC’s breakout hits, and also because it’s a 10:00 spot, meaning that its only scripted network competition is CSI: NY. Folks are speculating now on what will end up in its place, and the battle seems to be between Lost and Ugly Betty.
Ugly Betty would benefit from strong comedic partners, and its champions are loudly campaigning to get the show out of the Friday Night Death Slot. And as Lost moves into its final season, 10:00 Wednesdays could be a good home for them, too.
Matt Roush from TV Guide Magazine had a really interesting piece a couple of weeks ago, which described what he thought ABC’s strategy should be for scheduling Lost. Basically, it’s the last season. They’re not necessarily trying to pick up new viewers–they may be able to recoup some former watchers who gave up along the way but still want to know what the smoke monster is, but they’re not going to find any brand new fans this year. And they know that. But they also want to give it a hero’s send-off, and they want to give it a timeslot where it can thrive week-to-week, without getting preempted–preferably at all. They also should be figuring out how to use the last season of Lost to get the fans to shift toward their new shows, like FlashForward and V. So while it may not matter whether or not they pick up new fans, they definitely don’t want to waste Lost and toss it off to, say, Ugly Betty‘s current timeslot.
(I’m also a big fan of the 10:00 hour, simply because they might be more inclined to show explosions, violence, and sex in this timeslot, and I am totally pro-that.)
Ultimately, though, my prediction/suggestion is that Lost will end up as the grounder for a new Tuesday night, taking the Dancing with the Stars results show’s place when it goes on hiatus. Then it’s flanked on either side by (hopefully) V and either The Forgotten (which is currently holding ground on Tuesdays at 10:00) or a rescheduled FlashForward. But that still leaves Monday nights open, with only the laggard Castle on the schedule after DWTS finishes up. And aside from Lost, the Alphabet still has two new scripteds and three new or returning realities to get on the schedule. So Ugly Betty may end up staying on Friday just to give a new show a fighting chance on Wednesday night.
