ABC announces 2013 midseason schedule

Credit: ABC

The Alphabet network has announced its midseason schedule, shuffling existing shows around the schedule while also making room for debuting series.

First and foremost is the decision to move comedy “Suburgatory” from 9:30 p.m. to 8:30 on Wednesdays beginning April 3, following the season finale of freshman comedy “The Neighbors,” which currently holds the 8:30 timeslot.

Also on tap, the Sarah Chalke vehicle “How to Live With Your Parents (for the Rest of Your Life)”, which will debut at 9:30 p.m. after “Modern Family” on April 3. The series features Chalke as a recently-divorced single mom who moves back in with her eccentric parents, played by Elizabeth Perkins and Brad Garrett. “Family Tools”, another new comedy series starring Kyle Bornheimer, J.K. Simmons and Leah Remini, will join the Wednesday night comedy bloc on May 1, after “Suburgatory” brings its season to a close.

Wednesday night will see the only comedy changes this midseason, as ABC had originally planned new half-hours to fill Tuesday’s 8 o’clock hour, but reneged, citing comedy’s weak performance in the timeslot this fall. Instead, the network will program the hour with two new reality series. “The Taste”, featuring chefs Anthony Bourdain, Nigella Lawson, Ludo Lefebyre and Brian Malarkey, will be ABC’s most significant foray into the cooking genre yet, debuting with a two-hour telecast Jan. 22 at 8 p.m, before settling into its regular Tuesday, 8 p.m. timeslot.

“Celebrity Diving” , meanwhile, will feature judges Greg Louganis and David Boudia. Based on the international series “Celebrity Splash,” the reality series will premiere at 8 p.m. on March 19, with sitcoms “Happy Endings” and “Don’t Trust the B in Apt. 23″ continuing on in the 9 o’clock hour Tuesdays through mid-March.

In other reality news, the 16th season of “Dancing With the Stars” will begin March 18, with the results show starting March 26, moving back to its original 9 o’clock hour.

On the drama front, the network set a March 3 premiere date for debuting series “Red Widow”, which stars Radha Mitchell as a housewife from Northern California who must work to protect her family after her mafioso husband is killed. After the two-hour March 3 premiere, the series will settle into the 10 p.m. Sunday timeslot, replacing the canceled “666 Park Avenue.” Also on the schedule, the Dana Delany drama “Body of Proof”, which will return on Tuesday, Feb. 5, taking over the 10 p.m. timeslot from the soon-to-be-departed “Private Practice.” The new thriller “Zero Hour”, starring Anthony Edwards, will premiere Feb. 14. In his first series since E.R., Edwards plays a man whose wife is kidnapped, and whose disappearance involves a far-reaching conspiracy over an ancient artifact. The series will fill the Thursday, 8 p.m. role vacated by the recently-canceled Last Resort, which is a tall order, given how awesome Last Resort generally tended to be.

Full story: Variety