Today was one of the most important days of the year for The Walt Disney Company, and most Disney fans couldn't care less. Today ABC unveiled their fall lineup to advertisers with the hopes of selling a lot of ads and making a lot of money. As a well rounded Disney fan, I follow ABC's program development and the Upfront. Every year I play a game that I am terrible at. I predict one show that will be a hit and one show that will be a bomb. To show you how bad I am at this game I will tell you what I predicted last year. For the show that would bomb I picked Ted Danson's Help Me, Help You. While the show did not get renewed it did air 13 episodes in the cushy post-Dancing with the Stars time slot. My big failure came in predicting the hit. I predicted mid-season show, "Traveler". Not only did the show just premiere last week, but it had mediocre ratings and had its episode order cut to 8 before the show ever aired.
So now for my 07-08 predictions. When it comes to picking the bomb, it is usually safe to pick an ABC comedy because there is apparently a little known FCC regulation that prevents ABC from airing a sitcom that is funny (I'm talking to you Notes from the Underbelly). But alas, I have picked Cashmere Mafia. A show that has "the sass and wit of the film The Devil Wears Prada with insight of the novel I Don't Know How She Does It , this nuanced dramedy taps into the thoroughly modern, but eminently relatable dilemmas of today's working women who valiantly struggle to "have it all." " There is no way that show can be good.
For the hit I am going on a limb and picking Pushing Daisies. THis show "blends romance, crime procedural and high-concept fantasy to create a fairytale in the spirit of Amelie, Stranger than Fiction, and Chocolat. Ok, Ok, Ok….I know it sounds different. But is different always bad? That being said I apologize to the creator of Pushing Daisies for I have just given your show the kiss of death. Since I have picked it as a hit, it will be cancelled before Pirates 3 ends. Good luck next year.
Any thoughts on the upcoming ABC season?