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Alphabet Soup: "Pushing Daisies" Still Not Canceled But Missing from Midseason

Well, Pushing Daisies fans, there's the good news and then there's the bad news.

The good news is that ABC hasn't quite decided what to do about the fate of Pushing Daisies. Daisies and fellow sophomore drama series Dirty Sexy Money are both said to be in contention for renewal for the 2009-10 season. However, then there's the bad news: Pushing Daisies isn't anywhere on ABC's midseason schedule. (Its Wednesday night timeslot, according to the schedule obtained by Futon Critic from ABCStagePass.com, has been taken over by Scrubs and The Goode Family.)

The decision to take Daisies off the schedule could mean that ABC merely decided to cut costs and truncate the second season and could later decide to magnanimously renew the series for a third season despite low ratings. (Production wrapped on the series' initial thirteen episodes last week so it's now a given that it won't shoot any additional episodes for this season.) I'm hoping that ABC does come to its senses and decide to bring back Daisies, even with another shortened season. (After all, thirteen episodes is more than the series aired in its first season.)

Also missing from the lineup: Life on Mars, which could continue to air new episodes through January and February, should ABC decide to delay the start of its new series until March, the Nathan Fillion-led mystery drama Castle, Cupid, and comedy Better Off Ted. (Could the latter series be delayed until next season? Possibly but it's more likely they'll bow in March.)

And what series gets the plum post-Lost timeslot? Why that would be new series The Unusuals, a police procedural with some intriguing metaphysical and serialized elements. (If you couldn't tell, I quite enjoyed the pilot for that one.)

Meanwhile, the rest of ABC's midseason schedule can be found after the jump.

ABC MIDSEASON SCHEDULE 2009

MONDAY
8-9:30 pm: The Bachelor
9:30-10 pm: Samantha Who?
10-11 pm: True Beauty (New Series)

TUESDAY
8-9 pm: Border Security USA (New Series)
9-9:30 pm: According to Jim
9:30-10 pm: According to Jim
10-11 pm: Eli Stone

WEDNESDAY
8-8:30 pm: Scrubs
8:30-9 pm: The Goode Family
9-10 pm: Lost
10-11 pm: The Unusuals (New Series)

THURSDAY
8-9 pm: Ugly Betty
9-10 pm: Grey's Anatomy
10-11 pm: Private Practice (New Time Slot)

FRIDAY
8-9 pm: Wife Swap
9-10 pm: Supernanny
10-11 pm: 20/20

SATURDAY
8-11 pm: Saturday Night Movie

SUNDAY
7-8 pm: America's Funniest Home Videos
8-9 pm: Extreme Makeover: Home Edition
9-10 pm: Desperate Housewives
10-11 pm: Brothers & Sisters

Stay tuned.

Comments

Anonymous said…
So sad about Daisies. They may not have canceled it but I really don't see them bringing it back either. I just wish they would have given it a full season but I guess they couldn't possibly find room in their schedule what with the back-to-back episodes of According to Jim.

Looks like the only night I'll be watching ABC is Wednesdays for my Lost fix. And I'll check out The Unusuals too.
Rae said…
No Cupid?

What is True Beauty? How have I missed hearing about it?

I'm not surprised about PD. Honestly, I think they should considering airing it as a summer show with shorter seasons. I think it'd fare better during the summer and it'd give ABC some new scripted material during that timeframe while also saving them some cost in not having to produce the typical length season.

I am a little surprised about Life on Mars. Not sure why since I knew ABC's surplus of mid-season shows meant anything not performing well was probably going to be off the schedule to make way for the new stuff.

It'll be interesting to see how PP does after GA. I really don't see them pulling in any more of the GA audience than they already have and two hours of Medical drama may be overkill.
Jace Lacob said…
Hi Rae,

Cupid, Castle, and Better Off Ted could end up appearing in March as there's still no indication of any launch dates for the new series yet and most have shorter season runs (ten episodes). Or they could be held until next season as well. It's still anybody's guess.

True Beauty was formerly known as the untitled Ashton Kutcher/Tyra Banks reality series. Details under wraps but it was originally announced last May.
Anonymous said…
@bella. Thanks for making me laugh with your comment about ACCORDING TO JIM being on while PUSHING DAISIES gets pushed off the schedule. I don't understand why ABC wouldn't rather have a show with a core audience of loyalists who are committed to the show rather than an aging comedy that is often the butt of people's bad TV jokes.
Unknown said…
Of all the shows I watch on ABC (Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money, and Desperate Housewives), they're going to cancel all but one of them. Okay, sometimes (I'm so ashamed, Bella) I catch According to Jim but only cuz I like Courtney Thorne-Smith!

Geez, ABC, what'd I ever do to you?
Anonymous said…
Jace,

Have you done a write up about Unusuals yet?

Curious to know more about it other than at I can gleem from imdb.


-JR
Anonymous said…
If ABC were to bring back PD and DSM for third seasons, I would be ECSTATIC.

A summer line-up that included PD and DSM wouldn't be bad at all. And if ABC launched them in the summer and they were actually a success they could then extend the seasons into the fall season.

Unlikely, I know. But it would be ideal.
Anonymous said…
Oh and I hope Border Security USA is DOA. It sounds lame.
TxGowan said…
What happened to ABC's announcement that they would be airing Life on Mars after Lost on Wednesdays? I thought for sure that announcement meant the show would be around at least all of this season.
Jace Lacob said…
Gowan, that was speculative rather than an actual announcement and that line of thinking was apparently revised last week by ABC before the schedule seen here.

Kilmoonie, I didn't do a review of The Unusuals when I saw it in August as it was likely to change significantly before air as it was a pilot presentation. Given the news that it has now been scheduled, I will have to revisit that.

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