ABC Midseason Schedule: No Decision on ‘Kevin (Probably) Saves the World’

Prior to its scheduled announcement slot at the Television Critics Association, ABC released its midseason schedule, of which the network was non-committal on the hit-then-miss comedy, Kevin (Probably) Saves the World.

The announcement of premieres and show-runs buried the news that the Jason Ritter series was only receiving an additional three-show order to complete its run. It did not announce when those shows would air, or if it would get a second season.

More telling was that a new program, For the People, would take over the Tuesday at 10 timeslot which was previously occupied by the Ritter show, starting on March 13.

Kevin (Probably) Saves the World is a high-concept show that should have, theoretically, fit the ABC demographic as it used angelic-themes to showcase a down-on-his-luck Kevin — who survived a suicide attempt — and is now blessed with a celestial being named Yvette that has convinced him that God chose him to save the world and is the last surviving of the 36 generational righteous beings.

The show debuted in October to a 4.17M viewership but its ratings steadily dropped to 3.61, 3.26, 2.87, 2.71, 2.62, and 2.49 before rebounding to 2.62 for the concluding 10th episode in the first season.

Originally titled, The Gospel of Kevin, the show takes place in Taylor, Texas and stars Ritter, JoAnna Garcia Swisher, Kimberly Herbert Gregory, India de Beaufort, and Chloe East.

ABC also announced the return of Dancing With the Stars Season 26.

This season will be a mini-competition instead of a full season could be a risky move, but it could also be a schedule-saving gamble, considering ABC will be the new home for American Idol in March 2018.

ABC also revealed new details for its mid-season schedule lineup and, in a surprising twist, the currently untitled Grey’s Anatomy spin-off will be bumping back the wildly popular Scandal.

The Shonda Rhimes-created series, which stars Jason George and Jaina Lee Ortiz, will premiere at 9pm ET on March 22 with a two-hour debut episode, and will then bump Scandal, which usually airs at that time, to 10 pm ET.