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ABC has filled in more of its midseason schedule, finding homes for new dramas “Castle,” “Cupid” and “The Unusuals” — albeit probably at the expense of a couple of the network’s current shows.

“Castle,” a light mystery drama starring Nathan Fillion (“Firefly,” “Drive”), will be first out of the gate at 10 p.m. ET Monday, March 9. It will take over the spot currently held by ” Boston Legal,” whose series finale is next week (the unscripted show “True Beauty” will occupy the hour starting in January).

• Source:Â   www.zap2it.com/tv/news

ABC and CBS are making plans for spring, finding homes for several more midseason skeins.

ABC is conducting an extreme 10 p.m. makeover after struggling with the timeslot this season. Blame it partly on the rise of DVRs: Studies have shown that viewers watch more of their pre-recorded fare during the 10 p.m. hour, and Alphabet execs believe they’ve been hit hard.

Net will take another stab at the timeslot — still a critical hour for affils, which depend on strong lead-ins for their local newscasts — with newcomers “Castle,” “Cupid” and “The Unusuals.”

Scheduling moves come following ABC’s decision not to move forward with new episodes of current 10 p.m. inhabitants “Eli Stone” and “Dirty Sexy Money.” (Another 10 p.m. entry, “Boston Legal,” is finishing its run at the end of fall.)

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ABC’s week shapes up this way:

• Mondays, starting March 9, the Alphabet will preem the crime-mystery skein “Castle.” Show takes over following the finale of the Ashton Kutcher/Tyra Banks reality skein “True Beauty,” which airs there starting in January.

“Castle,” from ABC Studios, stars Nathan Fillion as a novelist who discovers that a copycat killer is re-enacting crimes from his books. Andrew Marlowe created and exec produces; Armyan Bernstein, Barry Schindel, Rob Bowman and Laurie Zaks are also exec producers.

• The Tuesday 10 p.m. slot will be filled in the winter with “Primetime: What Would You Do?,” which bows Jan. 6. “Primetime” will then make way for the new version of “Cupid,” which airs there starting March 24. (Both shows fill the void left by the vacating “Eli Stone.”)

Rob Thomas is behind the remake of his 1990s skein “Cupid,” this time starring Bobby Cannavale and Sarah Paulson. ABC Studios is the studio; Thomas exec produces with Jennifer Gwartz, Danielle Stokdyk, Dan Etheridge and Diane Ruggerio.

• Wednesdays at 10 p.m. — as previously announced — will be filled by “Life on Mars” beginning in January. But once “Mars” ends its run, ABC is set to preem the cop drama “The Unusuals,” which bows there on April 8. “Dirty Sexy Money” had previously occupied that hour.
More than one option
• (Film) Red Planet
• (Tv) Mars

“The Unusuals” stars Amber Tamblyn as a cop assigned to the homicide division. Noah Hawley created and exec produces, with Robert DeLaurentis and Peter O’Fallon. Sony Pictures TV is the studio.

Both “Castle” and “The Unusuals” have their work cut out for them, going up against crime drama vets “CSI: Miami” and “CSI: NY.”

ABC and CBS also announced the midseason returns of their signature reality skeins. CBS unscripted staple “Survivor” is back for an 18th cycle Feb. 12, and “The Amazing Race” bows its 14th edition Feb. 15.

Alphabet’s “Dancing With the Stars” returns Monday, March 9, with a two-hour special, continuing with several more two-hour segs before reverting to its normal 90-minute size on March 30. The “Dancing” results show comes in on Tuesday, March 17, at 9 p.m.

• Source:www.variety.com

Nathan Fillion talks to TV Guide Online about Castle at the Emmys

TV Guide’s Ask Matt features a mention of Castle when a reader expressed concern that it was missing from the midseason lineup. Matt reassures the viewer that there’s nothing to be concerned about.

Question: I am already going through withdrawal symptoms for my favorite summer obsession, The Middleman. I fell for this show hard. I love each and every quirky line and cheesy bad guy they throw at me. When they added the brilliant Mark Sheppard as Manservant Neville, I may have literally jumped for joy. Sad, I know. So needless to say, I am very dismayed to learn of the shortened order. It doesn’t bode well for a second-season pick-up. I have to say if ABC Family decides against the further adventures of Dubbie and The Middleman, they must be Peter Piping Weirdos. They need to sit down with a tall glass of icy milk and dismiss any notion of canceling this series. Dare we have any hope at all, or do we inhabit the alternate reality where hope must be bought with cold cash and tennis bracelets? On another front, I carefully pored over my Fall Preview issue, but in the midseason replacement section, there was no mention of Castle, the series starring Nathan Fillion. Was that just because it was announced too late, or since Nathan’s luck as a leading man has been less than stellar, TV Guide figured it was already canceled? His talents were wasted on Desperate Housewives, and I look forward to a show where he can be shiny. Yes, I’m still grieving over Firefly, I admit it. — Linda M.

Matt Roush: I feel your pain about Middleman. I was an early fan, but work, life and other distractions kept me from staying tuned, although I’ve still got a few choice episodes on my DVR for when/if I get a breather. No word yet on its future, but given that this network has given early pickups to other shows it considers breakouts, I wouldn’t get my hopes up. As for Castle, it wasn’t in our midseason roundup because ABC made its midseason series pickups too late for our deadline. Trust me, Nathan Fillion has plenty of fans in this office, even more so after his hilarious appearance as Captain Hammer in Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. We’re still grieving over Firefly, too, but at least we’ll always have Serenity.