This year ABC is doubling down on the winter mini-season, launching two high concept niche shows over what is normally, for most networks, a break from new content. Both Galavant and Marvel’s Agent Carter are period pieces consisting of 8 episodes each. However, for some reason, ABC decided to air Agent Carter over eight weeks while doubling up on Galavant’s shorter thirty-minute episodes over four. In this age of fewer summer reruns and little chance of syndication for a shorter run leads us to believe that the original plan was to air the show over eight weeks as well — otherwise why not just produce four-hour long installments? Maybe they thought stretching it out over eight weeks would lose too many audience members.

Regardless of whether ABC had faith in Galavant or not, the end result is a delightfully cheesy show, a dash of Disney, a pinch of Monty Python, with a side of The Princess Bride. Composer and Disney golden boy Alan Menken, along with the team behind Tangled, have created a fun world in which characters can turn from wholesome to risqué on a dime. With a relatively unknown cast save for former Psych cast member Timothy Omundson and go-to baddie Vinnie Jones, along with a few funny cameos, Menken and Co. have managed to make something that feels original yet familiar at the same time. The lead actors have wonderful chemistry and even Vinnie Jones, who has become almost a parody of himself at this point, works wonderfully as a gruff thug in contrast with Omundson’s prissy king.

The biggest complaint you could make about Galavant is it could have used a one or two more memorable songs. While the majority of the songs were fantastic and almost too catchy for their own good (the title song alone will be bouncing around your head for hours after), several songs throughout the season were less than stellar, there more to drive the plot or serve exposition. Admittedly, these only stick out because we’ve been so spoiled by some of the standout numbers: the pirates’ “Lords of the Sea” along with “Hey Hey We’re the Monks” being two prime examples. Some people will be turned off by the musical aspect of the show but frankly anyone who doesn’t like musicals should stay clear. Galavant doesn’t shy away from the cheesy, flamboyant nature of an old-fashioned musical. If anything they turn hard into the skid. Many of the musical numbers demand repeat viewings and you can’t help but laugh at some of the ridiculous antics that take place.

Plot and writing-wise there were weak points scattered throughout the season. A few parts of our heroes’ journey felt a bit glossed over while others felt like they went on longer than necessary. The pirates we meet in episode four are so funny and offbeat you could easily see multiple episodes dedicated to the adventures they had together on their way to Valencia. It’s a shame they weren’t kept in the mix.  The finale also had some awkward moments that didn’t seem to fit the rest of the season: Princess Isabella went from a strong independent woman to a more traditional damsel waiting to be rescued, and Galavant’s plan to get King Richard drunk to go after his brother seemed unnecessary — though it did lead to one of the best musical numbers, “We’re Off on a Secret Mission.” The biggest surprise that came out of Galavant‘s season finale is that it wasn’t a series finale, we’re left with all our characters in precarious situations and our story draws to a close on a cliffhanger. It seemed like this was a one season and done situation so the fact that we now have to hope for a second season to get any kind of resolution was a real shocker. Though after seeing how fun King Richard and Galavant are together, the promise of more of their growing bromance is exciting. With the way everyone is left at the show’s close, there’s a lot of potential for new settings, situations, and some dynamic pairings of characters. Hopefully these will lead to some great songs as well.

Whether or not we get another season, Galavant was different from the rest of the pack, it did something unique and will no doubt have fans and detractors both in abundance. But for those of us who love musicals and can appreciate the show for the funny, cheesy, self-aware approach it takes, Galavant is a welcome addition to the television landscape and here’s hoping we can have at least one more season of humming that damn catchy titular song over and over again.

ABC held its own version of Game of Thrones‘ Red Wedding when network execs went on a cancellation spree, giving the ax to fan and critical faves like Trophy Wife, The Neighbors, and Suburgatory, as well as Mixology, Super Fun Night, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, Mind Games, Killer Women and Betrayal. In the end, one queen reigned supreme as ABC turns over an entire night to hit-maker Shonda Rhimes.

ABC has a lot to prove in the fall as it currently stands as the fourth place network. A night of programming from Rhimes makes sense as ABC can use the night as a launching pad to move any of those around to plug in a hole if needed and launch a new Rhimes-produced show in the vacant slot. And, let’s face it, how much longer can Grey’s Anatomy run? ABC will have to plan for that eventuality and giving Rhimes a night of her own and a long-term contract is probably the best move the network has made.

It will be interesting to see if the wisdom of cancelling three popular, but low-rated, sitcoms pays off. The Twitter-verse pretty much went nuts when ABC canned The Neighbors, a witty, smart, well-cast comedy that probably failed to grab audiences because they wrote it off as a one-joke gimmick (it was certainly more than that). ABC gave the show a terrible time slot in its second season (Friday at 8:30 PM) and never promoted the show. That it had viewers at all is a miracle and should have been rewarded with a third season, better time slot and lead-in. (Tim Allen’s Last Man Standing was far from compatible. ABC should have scheduled The Neighbors with The Goldbergs and moved Trophy Wife after Modern Family.) It now looks like Last Man Standing will have a more compatible partner on Friday night with the new comedy Cristela, about a law school student trying to modernize her family’s old world culture.

Even with the cancellations, ABC’s schedule still looks surprisingly familiar with Sunday and Monday remaining virtually the same. The rest of the week has a few surprising changes, mainly the move of Grey’s Anatomy to the 8:00 PM time slot on Thursday (which hasn’t been successful since Ugly Betty), Scandal an hour earlier at 9:00 PM on Thursdays and Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. moving to the 9:00 PM slot on Tuesday sandwiched between two new comedies and one new drama. ABC hopes S.H.I.E.L.D. will give a boost to the new 10:00 PM drama Forever, starring Ioan Gruffud as a doctor who studies the dead to find an answer to his own immortality.

ABC also has a few shows waiting in the wings including alien drama The Whispers, starring Lily Rabe (American Horror Story) and Milo Ventimiglia (Heroes), Galavant (from The Neighbors creator Dan Fogelman) and Marvel’s Agent Carter starring Hayley Atwell, bringing her Captain America character to the small screen. ABC plans to use limited run series Galavant and Agent Carter as “bridge shows” to fill in the space during the winter breaks of Once Upon a Time and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. respectively. Agent Carter already comes with a built-in fan base, so its success is almost a sure thing. Galavant‘s musical comedy fairy tale may be a harder sell. Rhimes’ new show How To Get Away With Murder, starring Viola Davis, should have no problem luring audiences in with its legal thriller premise.

Here’s hoping ABC can climb out of the ratings basement with it’s fall schedule. To see more photos and video clips of the new shows, be sure to visit and “Like” our Facebook and Google+ pages. Here’s a look at ABC’s fall 2014 lineup:

Monday
8 p.m. — Dancing With the Stars
10 p.m. — Castle

Tuesday
8 p.m. — Selfie
8:30 p.m. — Manhattan Love Story
9 p.m. — Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
10 p.m. — Forever

Wednesday
8 p.m. — The Middle
8:30 p.m. — The Goldbergs
9 p.m. — Modern Family
9:30 p.m. — Black-Ish
10 p.m. — Nashville

Thursday
8-9 p.m. — Grey’s Anatomy
9-10 p.m. — Scandal
10-11 p.m. — How to Get Away With Murder

Friday
8 p.m. — Last Man Standing
8:30 p.m. — Cristela
9 p.m. — Shark Tank
10 p.m. — 20/20

Saturday
8 p.m. — Saturday Night Football

Sunday
7 p.m. — America’s Funniest Home Videos
8 p.m. — Once Upon a Time
9 p.m. — Resurrection
10 p.m. — Revenge

A few years ago I started watching and (much to the chagrin of some of my fellow colleagues) reviewing Skating With The Stars. And, despite the expected “Is this what reality television has come to?” comments, I had a blast and a half watching it. It was one part circus, one part mayhem, one part comedy, three parts dippy judges with the final part a fumbling host, the fantastical Vernon Kay. (Not so coincidentally, Vern hosted a UK version of the show earlier this year on ITV in the U.K. I’m a bit heartbroken he’s not talking up the domestic version. But my worries are for naught — I have the “I-didn’t-even-know-he-was-still-around” Joey Lawrence to entertain me.)

Now, granted … a lot of reality series have come and gone since SWTS. Many (thankfully) were short lived. And truth be told I think Splash is destined to become one of them.

But for what it was worth, I decided to tune in and catch the soaking it made on the small screen … before it becomes a distant memory.

The players in the game? Los Angeles Laker great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (!), Emmy-winning comedian and Life With Louie creator Louie Anderson (!), Nickelodeon’s Drake & Josh star Drake Bell, Chelsea Lately talk show sidekick Chuy Bravo (!), extreme skier Rory Bushfield, Baywatch star Nicole Eggert, an all-grown-up Rudy Huxtable from The Cosby Show, Keshia Knight Pulliam, Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, 2012’s Miss Alabama, Katherine Webb, and Kendra On Top star Kendra Wilkinson.

Do I know half these people? No, I do not. But before you go mouthing off about some of the “C” list celebrities on the roster, hear me out: Who gives a rat’s ass? Some will prove to be part of the overall fun of the show. And come on! Kareem! Louie! Chuy! Ode to joy!

There’s no doubt this is nothing more than throw away frolickry for a Tuesday night. And that was proven rather quickly with the first five folks who stepped onto the diving platforms: Keshia, Louis, Katherine, Rory and Kareem. (The remaining five will let gravity have its way with them next episode. Stay tuned.)

A few things that kept me grounded while this premiere glowed out my television set: Could two more seemingly awkward celebrities than Louie and Kareem be cast on a show like this? Probably. But off the top of my head, I can’t think of any. And besides, I’m here to watch those who are taking the plunge for my dining and dancing pleasure … not to speculate on the coulda/shoulda/woulda aspect of who would have been a better fit.

Come on: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Louie Anderson are spectacle enough, don’t you think? To ponder anyone else would be doing them a grave disservice. As far as I’m concerned, at Louie’s weight (417 pounds) and Kareem’s age (65) both dudes have cojones to sport diving gear and get wet. So right now? I’m tipping my hat to the both them … spectacle or otherwise.

And you know what? Both men took to their dives with heart and humility and as much grace as they could muster under the given circumstances. It may have been comical, it may have looked painful, some may have rolled their eyes while watching them, but the fact of the matter is we were simply viewing while they were actively committing. And that’s really saying something in my book.

The dives of Keshia, Katherine and Rory? Expectedly flat and colorless for the most part except for Rory’s. The dude’s got hyperactive snow skiing skills so you figured he’d showboat … and he did. To pretty good effect, too, going into his initial dive. Top score of the evening, matter of fact. (Though let’s be fair: The scoring on the show is subject to wide interpretation and even greater whim.)

In the end, it was Keshia who got the short end of the stick and got voted off on the first night, despite performing a better and more technical dive than Louie who is quite obviously the sympathetic favorite. And that only goes to prove the show is for spectacle and entertainment value, such that it is.

But you know what? Quite frankly I’m sick of and fed up with all the Steubenville / Obama as Satan / Lindsey Lohan / Samsung Galaxy S4 / Pope Francis / healthy pizza recipe stories of late making their way into my inbox and onto my internet feeds. Aren’t you? I mean, a guy can only take so much.

Instead, I prefer to be entertained. “Live and let dive” Splash’s bi-line claims … and I’m good with that.

Side Note: Can someone in props please pilfer a suit that actually fits Joey prior to the next broadcast? One he doesn’t look like he’s about ready to “Hulk out” in? Thank you.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=BixYqreyaq8

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