Last Resort

CHICAGO – Around a year ago, I named Shawn Ryan’s excellent “Last Resort” the most-promising new show of the Fall season. I think I need to relabel that this year to “creatively promising,” for while I knew Ryan and his crew here had a chance to produce something special, I also worried that ABC was dooming it on Thursday nights.

CHICAGO – Two of our most promising new shows of 2012 were respectably sampled last night on the first Thursday of the Fall season as viewers turned “Elementary” into a solid first-week hit and enough people checked out “Last Resort” opposite the #1 show of the evening to call that a success as well. CBS won the night easily while ABC has plenty to be happy about. FOX should be more concerned and NBC may just want to go dark on the night that they used to own in the ratings.

CHICAGO – It may not look as post-apocalyptic as “Revolution” or “The Walking Dead,” but Shawn Ryan’s excellent “Last Resort,” debuting tonight, is just as much about the end of the world as those programs. It’s about what happens when training fails, structure collapses, and human emotion betrays.

CHICAGO – The 2010-11 season was a very interesting one for network television. After a few years of undeniable failure, most of the networks found at least one new notable hit. FOX is building an entire night of comedy around Emmy-nominated breakout “New Girl.” ABC is ecstatic over the loyal followings for “Revenge” & “Once Upon a Time” (and “Suburgatory” has the potential to truly breakout in its sophomore season).

CHICAGO – With ABC finally unveiling their premiere dates for their Fall 2012 schedules, we finally have a full picture of when each returning show and debuting show will hit the airwaves. Want to know when your favorite comedy is coming back?

CHICAGO – After an incredibly successful 2011-2012 season, ABC is doing something of a victory lap by not changing much of what worked about a season that saw the network create a number of new hits, including “Revenge,” “Once Upon a Time,” and “Suburgatory.”