After canceling several dramas earlier this season, ABC heads into the 2009-10 season with an army of promising new series that covers a nice variety of genres sure to please any television palate.
The '80s make a big comeback as ABC hopes to lure in a new audience (and perhaps those who watched the original) with the remake of the cult classic miniseries V, and a small screen version of popular movie The Witches of Eastwick, now titled Eastwick.
Will ABC capture that ratings crown once again? Will viewers forgive the network in time to give one of these new dramas a chance? Stay tuned -- the real drama may very well take place in the ratings war this season!
Canceled ABC Dramas:Dirty Sexy Money, Eli Stone, Life on Mars, Pushing Daisies and The Unusuals.
New Dramas Coming to ABC
Eastwick
Based on the novel by John Updike and inspired by the popular movie The Witches of Eastwick, this series follows three very different women who find they suddenly possess very unique powers when a mysterious (and very handsome) man arrives in their small New England town.
Cast: Rebecca Romijn as Roxie Torcoletti, Lindsay Price as Joanna Frankel, Jamie Ray Newman as Kat Gardener, Paul Gross as Darryl Van Horne, Sara Rue as Penny, Veronica Cartwright as Bun, Johann Urb as Will, Jon Bernthal as Raymond and Ashley Benson as Mia.
Flash Forward
ABC wants to know: "If you knew what your future held, what would you do"? Based on the sci-fi novel by Robert J.
Sawyer, this series follows the repercussions of a cataclysmic event that knocks out the entire population of the world for two minutes and 17 seconds at the same time, allowing everyone to see several months into their own futures. The main focus will be on a group of characters determined to figure out how and why this unprecedented event took place and how they might be able to change their unsettling futures.
Cast: Joseph Fiennes as Mark Benford, John Cho as Demetri Noh, Jack Davenport as Lloyd Simcoe, Sonya Walger as Olivia Benford, Courtney B. Vance as Stan Wedeck, Brian O'Byrne as Aaron Stark, Christine Woods as Janis Hawk, Zachary Knighton as Bryce Varley and Peyton List as Nicole.
The Forgotten
Jerry Bruckheimer brings his special brand of intrigue to ABC with this crime drama about a group of ambitious amateurs who take on cases that involve unidentified victims in an effort to both give the victim their identity back and then solve the case.
Cast: Christian Slater as Alex, Heather Stephens as Lindsey Drake, Michelle Borth as Candace Butler, Bob Stephenson as Walter, Anthony Carrigan as Tyler Davis and Rochelle Aytes as Detective Grace Russell.
The Deep End - Midseason
A swanky LA law firm recruits four newly graduated lawyers from the best law schools in the country. This group of lawyers soon realizes that they must work together as they compete against each other if they are going to survive in this crazy world. ABC's description: "Sex, greed, romance, betrayal - it's all part of being a first year associate at Sterling Law."
Cast: Matt Long as Dylan Hewitt, Ben Lawson as Liam Priory, Tina Majorino as Addy Fisher, Norbert Leo Butz as Rowdy Kaiser, Leah Pipes as Beth Bancroft, Billy Zane as Cliff Huddle, Sherri Saum as Susan Oppenheim and Clancy Brown as Hart Sterling.
Happy Town - Midseason
Following a string of unsolved kidnappings 7 years ago, the residents of Haplin, Minnesota have lived a peaceful existence for years. They are rocked to the core when a crime takes place for the first time in 7 years. Secrets will soon be exposed and lives ruined as the mysteries of this small town begin to unfold.
Cast: Geoff Stults as Tommy Conroy, Lauren German as Henley, Amy Acker as Rachel Conroy, Dean Winters as John Haplin, John Patrick Amedori as Andrew Haplin, Sarah Gadon as Georgia Bravin, Jay Paulson as Larry 'Root Beer' Rogers, Robert Wisdom as Roger Hobbes and Sam Neill as Merritt Grieves.
V - Midseason
An alien race who call themselves "The Visitors" come to earth and appear to want peace, but they may be hiding a truly horrifying agenda. Are they planning to take over our planet, or are their intentions on the level? Will the human race have the resources to fight these creatures?
Cast: Elizabeth Mitchell as Erica Evans, Morris Chestnut as Ryan Nichols, Joel Gretsch as Father Jack Landry, Lourdes Benedicto as Valerie Stevens, Logan Huffman as Tyler Evans, Laura Vandervoort as Lisa, with Morena Baccarin as Anna and Scott Wolf as Chad Decker.
**ABC Fall Programming Schedule At a Glace**
(new shows in bold)
SUNDAY
8:00 Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
9:00 Desperate Housewives
10:00 Brothers & Sisters
MONDAY
8:00 Dancing with the Stars (two-hours)
10:00 Castle
TUESDAY
8:00 Shark Tank
9:00 Dancing with the Stars the Results Show
10:00 The Forgotten
WEDNESDAY
8:00 Hank
8:30 The Middle
9:00 Modern Family
9:30 Cougar Town
10:00 Eastwick
THURSDAY
8:00 Flash Forward
9:00 Grey's Anatomy
10:00 Private Practice
FRIDAY
8:00 Supernanny
9:00 Ugly Betty
10:00 20/20
**Shows renewed, but not listed will appear in the midseason schedule not yet released**
More Fall TV 2009-10 Resources