ABC Sets Premiere Date For The Conners

Though the other networks have already shared theirs, ABC has at last finalized its fall 2018 TV schedule, complete with premiere dates for the Roseanne Barr-less spinoff The Conners, as well as Nathan Fillion’s return to TV with The Rookie. The new schedule also brings the series premiere of Alec Baldwin’s talk show, the single camera comedy Single Parents, and the relationship drama A Million Little Pieces.

The big news from ABC’s fall schedule is, of course, the October start date for The Conners. It’s been a bumpy year for the Alphabet Network, as the Roseanne revival brought in huge ratings but also an enormous amount of controversy. That much is true both in terms of some of the show’s storylines as well as its star’s problematic social media antics, which led to the abrupt cancelation of the revival and the subsequent announcement that The Conners was going to move forward with the original cast, sans Barr.

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But that series won’t hit until October, which is also when the network’s other big premiere, The Rookie, hits. It’s probably no surprise that Nathan Fillion’s return to his old Castle stomping grounds will happen on the same night John Goodman, Sara Gilbert, Laurie Metcalf, and the rest of the Conners make their debut, as the lead-in audience will presumably be quite sizable, and will more than justify the relatively late start date for both shows.

Check out the full schedule below:

MONDAY, SEPT. 24

8:00-10:01pm Dancing with the Stars (Season 27 premiere)

10:01-11:00pm The Good Doctor (Season 2 premiere)

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 26

8:00-8:30pm The Goldbergs (Season 6 premiere)

8:30-9:00pm American Housewife (Season 3 premiere; new time)

9:00-9:31pm Modern Family (Season 10 premiere)

9:31-10:00pm Single Parents (Series premiere)

10:00-11:00pm A Million Little Things (Series premiere)

THURSDAY, SEPT. 27

8:00-10:00pm Grey’s Anatomy (Season 15 premiere; two hours)

10:00-11:00pm How to Get Away with Murder (Season 5 premiere)

SUNDAY, SEPT. 30

7:00-8:00pm America’s Funniest Home Videos (Season 29 premiere)

THURSDAY, OCT. 4

9:00-10:00pm Station 19 (Season 2 premiere)

Scott Foley and Lauren Cohan in Whiskey Cavalier ABC

FRIDAY, OCT. 5

8:00-8:30pm Fresh Off the Boat (Season 5 premiere; new day and time)

8:30-9:00pm Speechless (Season 3 premiere; new day)

9:00-10:00pm Child Support (Season 2 premiere; new time)

SUNDAY, OCT. 7

8:00-10:00pm Dancing with the Stars: Juniors (Series premiere; two hours)

10:00-11:00pm Shark Tank (Season 10 premiere)

SUNDAY, OCT. 14

10:00-11:00pm The Alec Baldwin Show (Series premiere)

TUESDAY, OCT. 16

8:00-8:30pm The Conners (Series premiere)

8:30-9:00pm The Kids Are Alright (Series premiere)

9:00-9:30pm black-ish (Season 5 premiere)

9:30-10:00pm Splitting Up Together (Season 2 premiere)

10:00-11:00pm The Rookie (Series premiere)

ABC has relatively few new series premiering this fall, though it does have some promising additions to its lineup. Missing from the fall schedule, however, is the Scott Foley/Lauren Cohan action-comedy Whiskey Cavalier, which looks like it has the chance to be a standout for the network. Without that series in the offing for a few more months, it looks as though ABC’s hopes for a big fall season rest on the return of The Conners — minus one, of course.