ABC will launch a new Tuesday night two-hour comedy block next spring when it pairs Tim Allen’s ‘Last Man Standing,’ Chris Moynihan’s ‘Man Up,’ Courtney Cox’s ‘Cougar Town’ and Krysten Ritter’s ‘Apartment 23,’ Deadline is reporting. The men’s two shows will lead into the ‘Dancing With the Stars’ results show in the fall and late spring, and the women’s comedies will be added to the comedy block between the reality competition’s two cycles.
When the four comedies will be aired together, they’ll be going against FOX’s own comedy block, which includes ‘Glee.’ When the hit show goes on hiatus in March 2012, FOX will launch its own four-show comedy block to rival ABC’s lineup.
ABC has also been focusing on including more comedies in its schedule for the 2011-2012 season. This year’s mid-season comedy replacement ‘Happy Ending’ will be airing in ‘Cougar Town’s current Wednesday 9:30 PM slot after ‘Modern Family.’ ABC Entertainment Group president Paul Lee said the network feels the show “has a huge potential.” He added that the network is “just as ambitious about our mid-season launches as we are about the fall.”
Written by: Karen Benardello
