It’s time to play the music; it’s time to light the lights … Tuesday nights at 8 ET, to be exact.
ABC rolled out its new fall schedule on Tuesday, and there were definitely a few standouts.
1. Tuesdays lead off with the Muppets.
“The Muppets” promises to be a series that adults and kids can enjoy on different levels, with a look at the personal lives of the Muppets, not just their showbiz lives.
Obviously, it’s a recognized Disney brand, and the show looks like a lot of fun. But it remains to be seen whether this is the show that can save ABC’s struggling Tuesday nights (especially with the most recent movie, “Muppets Most Wanted,” being a bit of a box office disappointment).
2. Shonda Rhimes is still the TV queen.
ABC is following up its wildly successful “T.G.I.T.” (Thank God It’s Thursday) night of all Shonda Rhimes shows by adding a fourth Rhimes series, “The Catch.”
Coming in early 2016, the new show stars Mireille Enos (“The Killing”) as a fraud investigator who is about to be defrauded by her fiance.
The series will be episodic, involving her cases, but with an arc about her fiance. Since it’s a Rhimes production, fans are expecting plenty of twists and turns.
3. There are two sitcoms with Asian leads.
Last season’s new ABC show “Fresh Off the Boat” was pretty rare, given that there hadn’t been an Asian lead in a sitcom since the 1990s.
Now, Ken Jeong (“The Hangover,” “Community”) joins ABC’s Friday night lineup as the star of “Dr. Ken” (not a huge stretch for Jeong, who has a medical degree).
4. The Bible comes to Sundays.
Not to be outdone by NBC’s “A.D.: The Bible Continues,” ABC has its own biblical series, though it’s not airing in the “family hour.”
“Of Kings and Prophets” will premiere on Sundays at 10 p.m. ET in the fall, following the new drama that is simply called “OIL” (all caps, that one).
Ray Winstone, who has worked with this material in the movie “Noah,” stars as King Saul.
5. If it ain’t broke …
By most measures, ABC had a very successful season last year, so there are very few changes to the fall lineup from the previous year, which is a bit of a rarity in television these days.
Here’s the full schedule for fall:
(all times Eastern/Pacific)
MONDAY
8-10 p.m. — “Dancing with the Stars”
10-11 p.m. — “Castle”
TUESDAY
8-8:30 p.m. — “The Muppets”
8:30-9 p.m. — “Fresh Off the Boat”
9-10 p.m. — “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”
10-11 p.m. — “Quantico”
WEDNESDAY
8-8:30 p.m. — “The Middle”
8:30-9 p.m. — “The Goldbergs”
9-9:30 p.m. — “Modern Family”
9:30-10 p.m. — “black-ish”
10-11 p.m. — “Nashville”
THURSDAY
8-9 p.m. — “Grey’s Anatomy”
9-10 p.m. — “Scandal”
10-11 p.m. — “How to Get Away with Murder”
FRIDAY
8-8:30 p.m. — “Last Man Standing”
8:30-9 p.m. — “Dr. Ken”
9-10 p.m. — “Shark Tank”
10-11 p.m. — “20/20”
SATURDAY
7-10:30 p.m. — College football
SUNDAY
7-8 p.m. — “America’s Funniest Home Videos”
8-9 p.m. — “Once Upon a Time”
9-10 p.m. — “OIL”
10-11 p.m. — “Of Kings and Prophets”
Midseason:
“The Catch,” “The Family,” “The Real O’Neals,” “Uncle Buck,” “Wicked City”
