ABC is sticking with what it knows for the start of the 2021-22 TV season.
The network will introduce only two new shows as part of its fall rollout, opting for sizable measures of stability across primetime. A few shows — notably Big Sky, which joins the network’s Thursday lineup — are changing time periods, but the outline of ABC’s fall schedule looks much like it did at the start of the current season.
“We are proud to continue to deliver highly entertaining, culturally relevant and powerful stories that further drive our momentum as the No. 1 entertainment network,” said Craig Erwich, president of Hulu Originals and ABC Entertainment. “We’ve also made it a priority to be intentionally inclusive across all of our content, and we’re excited to introduce our audience to the rich new characters, bold stories and strong ensemble casts featured in our upcoming programming slate.”
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The two new series are a remake of The Wonder Years centered on a Black family in 1968 Montgomery, Alabama, and Queens, a drama about the members of a 1990s female hip hop group who reunite years later.
Queens will follow the fall cycle of The Bachelorette on Tuesday nights, while The Wonder Years will slot into ABC’s Wednesday comedy block at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT. It will lead into Roseanne spinoff The Conners — just as the original Wonder Years did for Roseanne for a season and a half in 1989-90.
Elisha “EJ” Williams stars in The Wonder Years as 12-year-old Dean, with Dulé Hill and Saycon Sengbloh as his parents and Laura Kariuki as his older sister. Don Cheadle will narrate as the adult Dean. Writer Saladin K. Patterson (The Big Bang Theory) executive produces with Lee Daniels, Marc Velez and original series star Fred Savage, who directed the pilot. Neal Marlens, who co-created the original, is a consultant.
Queens comes from writer Zahir McGhee (Scandal) and stars Eve, Naturi Naughton, Brandy and Nadine Velazquez as members of a ’90s group, the Nasty Bitches, who look to recapture their fame. Pepi Songua and Taylor Selé also star. The show will feature original music performed by the cast. McGhee executive produces with Sabrina Wind and director Tim Story.
In addition to Big Sky, second-year comedy Home Economics (moving back an hour on Wednesdays) and game shows Celebrity Wheel of Fortune (going from Thursday to Sunday) and Supermarket Sweep (an hour later on Sundays) are also in new slots for 2021-22.
ABC also has a fairly light midseason slate at the moment — though that may change, as a number of drama pilots are still in contention for series orders. Currently, however, the network will roll out five shows in the back half of the season: returnees Black-ish (which is entering its final season) and American Idol, new comedies Abbott Elementary and Maggie and limited series Women of the Movement.
The pilots still in the mix for ABC are Dark Horse, about an Indigenous woman’s foray into politics; Epic, a fairy-tale romance anthology from Once Upon a Time‘s Brigitte Hales, Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz; the Kevin Costner-produced National Parks Investigation; Latinx family drama Promised Land; and time-spanning medical show Triage, a holdover from the 2020 development cycle.
ABC’s fall schedule is below. All times are ET; new shows are in italics.
| 7 p.m. | 7:30 p.m. | 8 p.m. | 8:30 p.m. | 9 p.m. | 9:30 p.m. | 10 p.m. | 10:30 p.m. | |
| Monday | Dancing With the Stars | The Good Doctor | ||||||
| Tuesday | The Bachelorette | Queens | ||||||
| Wednesday | The Goldbergs | The Wonder Years | The Conners | Home Economics | A Million Little Things | |||
| Thursday | Station 19 | Grey’s Anatomy | Big Sky | |||||
| Friday | Shark Tank | 20/20 | ||||||
| Saturday | Saturday Night College Football | |||||||
| Sunday | America’s Funniest Home Videos | Celebrity Wheel of Fortune | Supermarket Sweep | The Rookie | ||||
