Keeping with the stability theme in the other broadcast schedules released so far, ABC too went for minimum changes, keeping multiple nights intact. But the one major move the network has made is pretty bold — it has left its No. 1 series, High Potential, off the fall schedule, keeping the hit crime drama starring Kaitlin Olson on the bench for midseason.
Also like the other major broadcast networks, ABC is growing its scripted slate for 2026-27. What’s more, “We not only are growing our scripted slate but for the first time in, literally, the history of ABC, have renewed every one of our scripted series, and they’re renewed because they’re all performing well,” said Ari Goldman, SVP, Content Strategy and Scheduling.
And for the first time since before the pandemic, there will be no Bachelor-branded series on ABC’s fall schedule amid the turmoil surrounding the most recent installment of The Bachelorette.
Here is ABC’s fall 2026 schedule, followed by analysis and a description of the network’s sole new series for next season, The Rookie: North.
ABC’S 2026 FALL PRIMETIME SCHEDULE (all times listed are Eastern/Pacific).
MONDAY
8 PM – ESPN’s Monday Night Football
TUESDAY
8 PM – Dancing with the Stars
10 PM – R.J. Decker
WEDNESDAY
8 PM – Scrubs
8:30 PM – Abbott Elementary
9 PM – Celebrity Jeopardy!
10 PM – Shark Tank
THURSDAY
8 PM – 9-1-1
9 PM – 9-1-1: Nashville
10 PM – Grey’s Anatomy
FRIDAY
8 PM – Celebrity Wheel of Fortune
9 PM – 20/20 (two hours)
SATURDAY
7:30 PM – College Football
SUNDAY
7 PM – America’s Funniest Home Videos
8 PM – The Wonderful World of Disney
For the first time since 2019-20, ABC will not have a Bachelor franchise series on the fall schedule after airing installments of The Bachelorette, Golden Bachelor and Golden Bachelorette to kick off the season for the past six years.
“We’ve had to take a look at just managing the franchise properly. These shows have enormous fan bases, and we were so thrilled the year that we were able to launch Golden Bachelor and have it stand out in that fall season the way that it did,” Goldman said of the fall 2023 breakout. “But I think that the usual cadence that we like to find ourselves in is really the flagship series in midseason and then having some summer edition, which we have already locked in on Bachelor of Paradise for next season. So this is more of a return to a steady state on the franchise.”
As Goldman alluded, ABC has The Bachelor on tap for midseason and Bachelor in Paradise for summer 2027. As for the unaired season of The Bachelorette starring Taylor Frankie Paul, “there are no plans that I’m currently ready to share” about putting it on the air, Goldman said.
In its second year, High Potential is ABC’s top series in total viewers adults 18-49. It is also the No.1 broadcast entertainment series of the season in 18-49 (Live+7) and No.3 in total multiplatform viewers (through 35 days). So why is ABC starting the season without its top entertainment performer?
“What we’ve seen the last several years, and we’ve really proven this out with Will Trent and The Rookie back in midseason of 24 and 25, is we want to give viewers a chance to watch these shows with as little interruption as possible across the season,” Goldman said. “So I think when we get to the midseason plans, and you think about the opportunities that we have on the ABC schedule, going from New Year’s Rockin’ Eve to the College Football Playoff, the Grammys, the Oscars and obviously the Super Bowl. I think we have such amazing momentum at the start of 27 to bring the show back in a big way.”‘
Goldman pointed to the success Will Trent and The Rookie have had as midseason replacements in the last couple of seasons (The Rookie just logged its most streamed premiere with the Season 8 opener) and to the fact that High Potential posted the biggest Season 1 to Season 2 increase for a network drama since Glee back in 2010. “So, clearly, the show is resilient,” he said.
In January 2025, Will Trent, High Potential and The Rookie launched a new Tuesday lineup of light, character-based crime procedurals, for which “we’ve kind of lovingly coined the phrase Tuesday Cluesday,” Goldman said.
The trio reunited this past January before The Rookie was sent to Mondays to make room for a new Tuesday Cluesday lineup member at 10 PM, new series R.J. Decker.
ABC is not revealing its midseason scheduling plans but High Potential and Will Trent appear likely to return to Tuesday. R.J. Decker is staying in its current Tuesday 10 PM slot into the fall where it will air behind Dancing With the Stars.
“I think what we now have an opportunity to do with the biggest lead-in by a mile on television, in Dancing with the Stars, is really infuse a lot of energy into this show and get a jump on the season and bring it back as quickly as we can,” Goldman said.
Like most midseason entries, R.J. Decker is believed to have been renewed with a partial order. In success, it could be expanded, I hear, so the series starring Scott Speedman could presumably reunite with Will Trent and High Potential on Tuesday in January.
Meanwhile, The Rookie is likely to be paired with The Rookie: North, which also premieres in midseason, with the mothership, starring Nathan Fillion, serving as a lead-in for the spinoff, headlined by Jay Ellis.
“We haven’t announced our midseason plans, but I think it’s pretty safe to say that there are benefits to pairing shows from these universes together; we’ve seen the strength, said Goldman, who spent years at NBC watching the Dick Wolf franchise stacks in action. “It is simply a rule of audience flow that shows and their spinoffs will have higher compatibility than other pairings. I think back to when I started here at ABC the year that we launched Rookie: Feds, and really the benefit of bringing those shows together in midseason was very clear.”
The Rookie and spinoff The Rookie: Feds aired at 8 PM and 9 PM on Tuesday in midseason 2023, followed by Will Trent.
In addition to R.J. Decker, ABC also is bringing its other midseason 2026 breakout new series, the Scrubs reboot, back in the fall to avoid a large gap. The medical comedy is staying paired with Abbott Elementary the way they were in the spring, with Abbott‘s fall 2025 companion, Shifting Gears, back on the midseason bench for its third season. (The Tim Allen sitcom started in midseason before moving to fall in Season 2.)
“We love the momentum on Scrubs, it was the No.1 new comedy on a multiplatform basis, it was the No.1 comedy in 18-49 on linear this season, so we want to really keep that show present and top of mind as we head into the fall,” Goldman said. “At the same time, Shifting Gears has been a really stellar and consistent performer for us across its two seasons. In fact, it ended Season 2 stronger than where it ended Season 1, which is not always the case in this challenging environment.”
With Scrubs given a 10-episode Season 2 order, Shifting Gears is expected to succeed it alongside Abbott Elementary in midseason where its return “will be very prominently featured alongside” the high-profile sports and entertainment specials at the start of the year to promote it.
Thursday, Sunday and Monday are staying status quo with 9-1-1, 9-1-1: Nashville and Grey’s Anatomy on Thursday, simulcast of ESPN’s Monday Night Football on most Monday nights and The Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday, kicking off with the world television premiere of Inside Out 2.
NEW DRAMA SERIES
THE ROOKIE: NORTH
Expanding the universe, The Rookie: North introduces Alex Holland who believed his midlife wasn’t worthy of a crisis. But after a violent home invasion ignites a dormant purpose, Alex battles a lifetime of failed commitments by joining the Pierce County Police Department as a rookie. Policing from the urban coast to the rural forest where backup isn’t just five minutes away, Alex must prove to his skeptical training officer, his fellow rookies and himself, that he’s finally found something worthy of the fight. The all-new series stars Jay Ellis, Janet Montgomery, Karen Fukuhara, Chris Sullivan, Froy Gutierrez, Mya Lowe and Malik Watson.
The Rookie: North is a spinoff of The Rookie, the long running hit series that was created by Alexi Hawley and recently renewed for a ninth season at ABC. Both series are produced by Lionsgate Television in partnership with 20th Television. Alexi Hawley will serve as executive producer and writer, with Nathan Fillion, Mark Gordon, Bill Norcross and Michelle Chapman also executive producing. Jay Ellis is a producer.
English (US) ·