ABC announces fall schedule; "According to Jim" still not dead

Man, there is no killing "According to Jim."

The show, which was cancelled then resurrected last year, only to air to abysmal ratings this winter and spring, will come back yet again as an ABC midseason replacement series.

But then, thanks to the writers strike, ABC didn't have a lot of stock on its shelves to tout when it makes its upfront presentation in about an hour. So "Jim" - which at this point will need a stake planted through its heart to keep from returning to terrify audiences anew - and poaching "Scrubs" from NBC was about as much as ABC could offer advertisers in terms of bells and whistles.

I'm off to watch the satellite feed of the upfront and will report back later today. In the meantime, here's the story for tomorrow's paper about ABC's fall 2008 schedule:

ABC kept its upfront presentation unveiling its fall 2008 schedule short and sweet on Tuesday, mainly because the network didn't have many new shows to introduce.

In introducing a schedule with so few changes, network entertainment president Stephen McPherson touted ABC's "incredibly stable schedule, a schedule that dominated in the fall. We were winning (in the ratings) until the strike."

Only two new shows will join the schedule come fall. "Life on Mars," an adaptation of the British series about a police detective who, after an automobile accident, finds himself back in the 1970s, where swaggering machismo is the order of the day in the police precincts, is the lone scripted addition. "Opportunity Knocks," a reality series created by Ashton Kutcher in which a game show is taken out into the streets for contestants in a neighborhood to play, was also added.

New midseason shows include "The Goode Family," an animated series from Mike Judge ("King of the Hill") about a stringently politically correct albeit inept family, and an untitled beauty-pageant reality series from Kutcher and Tyra Banks. ABC has also scheduled the medical comedy "Scrubs," which heretofore had aired on NBC, for midseason. "Lost," "The Bachelor," "According to Jim" and ABC News' "Primetime" will all also join the schedule at a later date.

McPherson stated that additionally, the network has 17 more pilots that are still in development, some of which will appear some time in 2009, but didn't elaborate on what they might be. "We don't feel comfortable picking stuff up until it's been fully developed," he said.

That "Boston Legal" and "Eli Stone" are returning was considered something of a surprise, since neither show was expected to return. "According to Jim" also returns despite anemic ratings - it was almost cancelled last year, as well. Their returns can be attributed to fallout from the writers strike, which prevented more new shows from being developed in a timely manner.

Departing series include "Big Shots," "Men in Trees," "Miss Guided," "Cashmere Mafia," "Carpoolers" and "Cavemen."

ABC's fall 2008 schedule (* indicates new show; ** indicates new timeslot):

Monday
8:00 p.m. "Dancing with the Stars"
9:30 p.m. "Samantha Who?"
10:00 p.m. "Boston Legal" **

Tuesday
8:00 p.m. "Opportunity Knocks" *
9:00 p.m. "Dancing with the Stars the Results Show"
10:00 p.m. "Eli Stone" **

Wednesday
8:00 p.m. "Pushing Daisies"
9:00 p.m. "Private Practice"
10:00 p.m. "Dirty Sexy Money"

Thursday
8:00 p.m. "Ugly Betty"
9:00 p.m. "Grey's Anatomy"
10:00 p.m. "Life on Mars" *

Friday
8:00 p.m. "Wife Swap" *
9:00 p.m. "Supernanny" *
10:00 p.m. "20/20"

Saturday
8:00 p.m. "Saturday Night College Football"

Sunday
7:00 p.m. "America's Funniest Home Videos"
8:00 p.m. "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition"
9:00 p.m. "Desperate Housewives"
10:00 p.m. "Brothers & Sisters"