Welcome to the Minimalist Fall TV season. ABC will add just three new fall scripted series – the same as NBC and Fox announced Monday – and a reality show.
So instead of about 20 new fall broadcast series, as in past years, viewers should expect to see only about a dozen, as Hollywood grapples with increased competition from streaming services.
ABC's lone comedy is Mixed-Ish, a black-ish prequel, which stars Arica Himmell as Tracee Ellis Ross' Rainbow Johnson growing up in a mixed-race family in the 1980s.
The Emmy-winning Modern Family sitcom will air its 11th and final season in 2019-2020. The network also canceled three sitcoms: The Kids Are Alright with Anderson Township native Sam Straley, Speechless and Splitting Up Together.
The two new dramas feature Cobie Smulders (Avengers: Endgame, How I Met Your Mother) in Stumptown, based on the graphic novel series about an Army veteran with a gambling debt in Portland, Ore.; and Allison Tolman (Good Girls, Fargo, I'm Sorry) in a thriller about a police chief who finds a young mysterious child that "draws her into a conspiracy larger than she ever imagined."
At 8 p.m. Sunday, ABC will follow America's Funniest Home Videos with a reality show, Kids Say The Darndest Things, hosted by Tiffany Haddish (Girls Trip, The Carmichael Show). Bill Cosby hosted a similar series in 1998-2000.
In other ABC/Disney news: Disney will take over full control of Hulu immediately, after Comcast agreed to sell its minority interest in the streaming services. Jimmy Kimmel has signed a new three-year contract to remain as late-night host.
CBS will announce its schedule Wednesday. Here's a link to my "Countdown To TV Cancellations" listing shows on the bubble.
BACK FOR MORE: American Idol; America's Funniest Home Vidoes, American Housewife, A Million Little Things, black-ish, Bless This Mess, The Conners, Dancing with the Stars, Fresh Off The Boat, The Goldbergs, The Good Doctor, Grey's Anatomy, How To Get Away With Murder, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Modern Family, The Rookie, Schooled, Shark Tank, Single Parents and Station 19.
CANCELED: The Fix, Whiskey Cavalier, Take Two, The Alec Baldwin Show, For The People, Speechless, Splitting Up Together and The Kids Are Alright.
MIDSEASON: Two dramas are in the pipeline, The Baker and The Beauty, about a Cuban-American (Victor Rasuk, Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan, Stalker) running his family's bakery in Miami and dating a supermodel (Nathalie Kelley, The Vampire Diaries, Dynasty), and For Life, about a prisoner (Nicholas Pinnock, Counterpart) who becomes a lawyer in jail and fights cases for fellow inmates.
The only comedy is United We Fall about the parents (Will Sasso, Christina Vidal) of two children and their extended family.
THE LINEUP (New programs in bold caps):
SUNDAY: 7 p.m., America’s Funniest Home Videos; 8 p.m., KIDS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS; 9 p.m., Shark Tank; 10 p.m., The Rookie.
MONDAY: 8 p.m., Dancing with the Stars; 10 p.m., The Good Doctor.
TUESDAY: 8 p.m., The Conners; 8:30 p.m., Bless This Mess; 9 p.m., MIXED-ish; 9:30 p.m., black-ish; 10 p.m., EMERGENCE.
WEDNESDAY: 8 p.m., The Goldbergs; 8:30 p.m., Schooled; 9 p.m., Modern Family; 9:30 p.m., Single Parents; 10 p.m., STUMPTOWN.
THURSDAY: 8 p.m., Grey’s Anatomy; 9 p.m., A Million Little Things; 10 p.m., How to Get Away with Murder.
FRIDAY: 8 p.m., American Housewife; 8:30 p.m., Fresh Off the Boat; 9 p.m., 20/20.
SATURDAY: 8 p.m., college football.
