ABC Announces its 2011-2012 Schedule

Today ABC announced their schedule for the 2011-2012 season. I wanted to get the schedule online immediately while I wrote my analysis of the schedule. The schedule and my analysis are after the jump.

Monday:

8PM-10PM: Dancing with the Stars

10PM: Castle

Thoughts: ABC is following the if it ain't broke, don't fix it formula on this night. Nothing new to see here.

Tuesday:

8PM: Last Man Standing*

8:30PM: Man Up*

9PM: Dancing with the Stars: Result Show

10PM: Body of Proof

(When DWTS wraps, ABC will air Cougar Town/Apartment 23 at 9PM)

Thoughts: It was almost a certainty that ABC would try to launch a new comedy block on Tuesday and to launch it they pick their new series with their biggest comedy star, Tim Allen. They are relying heavily on Tim Allen being a bankable comedy star, which might not work out for them. What's interesting about the comedies on this night is when DWTS goes on its winter hiatus, ABC is going to air a two hour comedy block. Now that is an interesting move and one that could work out really well for them if the ratings are good. They've always had trouble programming that time on their schedule and this could work there. The rest of the night is status quo with no changes.

Wednesday:

8PM: The Middle

8:30PM: Suburgatory*

9PM: Modern Family

9:30PM: Happy Endings

10PM: Revenge

Thoughts: I'm not surprised that they put a new comedy after the Middle, but I am surprised that they didn't put a new comedy (like Apartment 23) after Modern Family. Instead they put the sophomore series Happy Endings in the best timeslot on the network. I guess they see signs of growth on that show but I'm not sure that it would do any better then Cougar Town did in the fall. And they're back to programming drama at 10PM, which is something that might work if it's the right show. We'll see soon enough.

Thursday:

8PM: Charlie's Angels*

9PM: Grey's Anatomy

10PM: Private Practice

Thoughts: ABC is giving Charlie's Angels the slot that it gave My Generations and Flash Forward in the past two seasons. I don't know which extreme this will lean towards, but this is a risky move. They have to be ready to put all of their promotional power for this to land opposite X-Factor. The rest of the night is status quo with nothing interesting.

Friday

8PM: Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

9PM: Shark Tank

10PM: 20/20

Thoughts: I'm a little surprised that they are moving EM:HE to Fridays. I guess they saw the ratings decline and decided to try something else in its current timeslot. What I hope is that the audience goes with the show. We'll have to wait to see how that works. I'm happy to see that it's leading into Shark Tank, which is one of my favorite unscripted shows. And they aren't doing anything interesting with the 10PM slot, but that's OK with me.

Saturday:

Saturday Night College Football

Sunday:

7PM: America's Funniest Home Videos

8PM: Once Upon a Time*

9PM: Desperate Housewives

10PM: Pan Am*

Thoughts: The most interesting move on ABC's schedule has to be them programming a drama at 8PM on Sunday. This is something that the network hasn't done in quite awhile (and other networks haven't done in a while as well). I don't know if it will end up working for them, but it's a risk that's worth taking. It's unsurprising that they're going to use Housewives to attempt to launch a new drama while they still can (I'm just surprised it wasn't Good Christian Belles). 

Midseason: Cougar Town, Good Christian Belles*, Apartment 23*, Missing*, Scandal, Work It*, The Bachelor, Secret Millionaire 

*=New Show

What do you guys think of the schedule? What's the biggest surprise?