On Friday, ABC announced the midseason premiere dates for its new and returning shows, but there were some notable holes.
While rookie comedy Work It snagged the post-Last Man Standing slot — taking over for Man Up!, which will finish its run by year’s end — on Tuesdays beginning in January, Bill Lawrence and Kevin Biegel‘s half-hour series Cougar Town still remains off the network’s schedule. When the network unveiled its fall shedule in May, the Courteney Cox-toplined show was being eyed for a midseason run.
Since Cougar Town launched in 2009, the show has seen scheduling jumps. Last season, ABC slotted its spring return after more than two months off the air on a Monday night before continuing in its usual home two days later. Centered on Jules, her group of friends and her college-bound son, Cougar Town has not been the breakout ratings success that ABC has had with Modern Family, which launched the same year.
But Cougar Town isn’t the only ABC offering still awaiting a premiere. Don’t Trust the B—- in Apt. 23, starring Krysten Ritter, Dreama Walker and James Van Der Beek as a heightened version of himself, is still off the net’s schedule. Don’t Trust the B–— follows the lives of two different women, a barista who lost a high-profile upscale job (Walker) and a savvy street smart con artist (Ritter), who end up rooming together in a New York City apartment.
Shonda Rhimes’ Kerry Washington-led political drama Scandal is also missing from the net’s lineup. The hourlong revolves around Olivia Pope (Washington), a former media consultant to the president (Tony Goldwyn) who opens up her own firm, hoping to start a new career and personal life. If and when ABC slots Scandal, this would mark Rhimes’ third drama on the network’s schedule, joining veteran medical procedurals Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice.
