ABC names midseason changes

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The changes include the introduction of some reality shows, a new drama and a comedy featuring cross-dressing to replace an expected cancellation, “Man Up.” ABC has not said officially that it would cancel the show, but has indicated it won’t be making any new episodes. “Man Up” has been bleeding viewers at 8:30 on Tuesdays following the new, Tim Allen comedy, “Last Man Standing.”


Man Up revolves around the lives of three guys with “questionable childish behavior and lifestyles” who decide it’s time to do the one thing they had forgotten to do: act like real men. Replacing “Man Up” is expected to be “Work It,” a sitcom about two men dressing up as women to get jobs.

The new drama “GCB,” (Good Christian Belles) is a soap about a female social clique in Texas. It will begin filling the 10 p.m. position now held by 60’s-themed “Pan Am,” on 3/4.

The new reality shows are “Celebrity Wife Swap,” a celebrity version of the long-running “Wife Swap” franchise (the wives take over running the other family’s household, not anything more intimate); and a new season of “Wipeout,” the winter edition.

Beginning in March, the drama “Missing,” which stars Ashley Judd as a former C.I.A. operative looking for her lost son, will grab the Thursday 8:00 PM  slot that killed off “Charlie’s Angels.”

ABC is also adding a dark drama called “The River,” about a missing explorer and his family’s search for him in a supernaturally threatening Amazon jungle.

The midyear changes and dates:

Tuesday, Jan. 3
8:30-9:00 p.m. “Work It” (new series)
9:00 -10:00 p.m. “Celebrity Wife Swap” (new series)

Thursday, Jan. 5
8:00-9:00 p.m. “Wipeout” (winter edition)

Friday, Feb. 3
8:00-9:00 p.m. “Shark Tank”

Tuesday, Feb. 7
9:00-10:00 p.m. “The River” (new series)

Sunday, March 4
10:00-11:00 p.m. “GCB” (new series)

Thursday, March 15
8:00-9:00 p.m. “Missing” (new series)

Monday, March 19
8:00-10:00 p.m. “Dancing With the Stars” (return)

Tuesday, March 27
9:00-10:00 p.m. “Dancing With the Stars the Results Show” (return)

RBR-TVBR observation: It seemed this season the broadcast networks tried their best to capitalize on the 60’s-themed success of A&E’s “Mad Men.” Now, both Pan Am and The Playboy Club are toast. Unfortunately for NBC, it may not have been so much about the show not being good, as much as the pushback it received from watchdog groups like Morality in Media.