Upfronts: ABC

So what's in store for the Alphabet next season?

What's gone - Well, Lost, of course, though that's the only show ending of its own accord. Notable cuts that I don't think were already known include Scrubs (which never should have come back), Better Off Ted, and, most annoying for me, Flash Forward. I liked that show quite a bit, and never felt like it quite got the right treatment, from its placement on Thursdays with Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice to its lengthy hiatus for the middle of the season.

Day by Day -

Monday: The winning formula of Dancing With the Stars and Castle returns. I also had Castle on my dead pool list, so things go from bad to worse.

Tuesday: Starts off with No Ordinary Family, which is about a family that survives an airplane crash in the Amazon and discovers that they've developed super powers. I know there has to be Lost/Heroes crossover fiction online, but I didn't think you could get a TV show based on it. It does start Michael Chiklis and Julie Benz, so perhaps it won't be a complete bust.

This is followed by an hour of Dancing With the Stars results show (snore) and a new cop drama, Detroit 1-8-7, which with the numbering sounds soooo 1995. I would like to think of this as a Great Lakes version of Homicide, but I'm reserving judgment.

Wednesday: The successful comedy block survives and is supplemented with Better Together, which revolves around three couples - one long-dating but not married, one getting married after just weeks together, and one the parents of the women in the other couples. I can't say I'm impressed, but I suppose it's just different enough from The Middle and Modern Family to have a shot.

The night ends with The Whole Truth, a legal drama that's supposed to be inventive because it shows how cases develop from both sides. I suppose that is a little different, but I don't know how that makes this any more compelling than any of the other legal dramas we've been subjected to over the years. Rob Morrow and Joely Richardson star.

Thursday: Grey's and Private Practice return, and are led in by My Generation, which returns to a group of people who were the subject of a 2000 documentary their senior year of high school to see how things have panned out.   I can't say I'm interested, but it's probably better suited for the night than Flash Forward was.

Friday: Starts with Secret Millionaire, which is Undercover Boss but with rich people moving to the ghetto to find the "unsung heroes" and give out some money to ease their consciences. This is followed by Body of Proof, which has Dana Delaney playing a surgeon who, after an accident that ends her surgical career, becomes a medical examiner. She, of course, uses her drive to discover not only what killed people but who. She also has to work on getting back into the good graces of her family, which she mostly ignored while building her surgical career. This might not turn out so bad, especially if it's played more for a family-centered audience than some sort of Quincy rehash.

The night ends with 20/20, which I don't think ABC is aware that it can cancel.

Saturday: College football in the fall, followed by repeats or movies or porn or something in the spring.

Sunday: Unchanged.

There are ton of mid-season shows in the offing, most notably Off the Map, a medical drama from Shonda Rhimes that puts doctors with baggage in an jungle clinic, and Mr. Sunshine, which stars Matthew Perry as the assistant manager of a sports arena who is re-evaluating his life now that he's turned 40. Off the Map sounds like a solid bet to replace My Generation and give us an entire night of soapy doctoring, while Mr. Sunshine co-stars Allison Janney, which is always a good thing. V is also returning at some point, and I'll just have to be happy about that.

Not sure if all of this is enough to stop ABC's casual slide, but I don't quite see another blockbuster in this group.