For ‘Fresh Off the Boat,’ a rising tide
The ABC comedy is poised for a breakout season, buyers say
September 22, 2015
“Fresh Off the Boat” returns for a second season tonight at 8:30 p.m. on ABC with a lot of expectations surrounding it. The comedy showed much promise both creatively and in the ratings in its first season, but it hadn’t quite gelled.
All the ingredients were there for a great dish, an appropriate metaphor considering the show’s main character grows up to become a chef. They just needed time to season.
Now’s the time. This fall, media buyers and planners predicted in a recent Media Life poll on the new season, “Boat” will have a breakout season.
The show’s writers will have had enough time to establish a voice. Comedies often need a season before they start to define their identity; recent programs including “Parks and Recreation,” “The Mindy Project” and “The Goldbergs” didn’t begin to shine until season two.
The show already has an excellent cast, most notably Constance Wu, who plays Eddie’s mom. And now it’s getting what should be a great lead-in.
“Boat” will air behind “The Muppets,” which bows tonight at 8 p.m. and is expected to be one of fall’s breakout hits. That should help lift ratings for “Boat,” which averaged a solid-but-not-spectacular 1.7 adults 18-49 Nielsen rating in its first season.
A look at this week’s top TV draws |
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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 |
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Time |
Network |
Program |
Description |
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8 p.m. |
ABC |
“The Muppets” (C) |
Series premiere. The latest series in the puppet franchise is set up mockumentary style. |
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8 p.m. |
Fox |
“Scream Queens” (D) |
Series premiere. The buzzed-about comedy/horror anthology set on a college campus. |
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8 p.m. |
CBS |
“NCIS” (D) |
Season premiere. How will ratings hold up for TV’s top drama? |
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8:30 p.m. |
ABC |
“Fresh Off the Boat” (C) |
Season premiere. The show about an Asian-American family in the 1990s returns. |
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9 p.m. |
OWN |
“The Haves and the Have Nots” (D) |
Season finale. Just about everybody gets a taste of their own medicine. |
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10 p.m. |
CBS |
“Limitless” (D) |
Series premiere. New drama based on the 2011 Bradley Cooper movie. |
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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 |
||||||
Time |
Network |
Program |
Description |
|||
8 p.m. |
Fox |
“Rosewood” (D) |
Series premiere. New drama follows a private pathologist who works with the Miami police department. |
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8 p.m. |
CBS |
“Survivor” (R) |
Season premiere. The latest season features returning contestants competing on an island in the South China Sea. |
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9 p.m. |
ABC |
“Modern Family” (C) |
Season premiere. Haley hopes to stop Andy from proposing to his girlfriend. |
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9 p.m. |
NBC |
“Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (D) |
Season premiere. The drama’s 17th season begins with a two-hour episode. |
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9 p.m. |
Fox |
“Empire” (D) |
Season premiere. It will be interesting to see how last year’s surprise mega-hit holds up. |
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10:30 p.m. |
truTV |
“Road Spill” (R) |
Series premiere. Reality series in which people discuss random topics while driving in their cars. |
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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24 |
||||||
Time |
Network |
Program |
Description |
|||
8 p.m. |
NBC |
“Heroes Reborn” (D) |
Series premiere. A reboot of the superhero drama “Heroes.” |
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8:25 p.m. |
CBS |
“Thursday Night Football” (S) |
An NFC East battle between the Redskins and Giants. |
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9 p.m. |
ABC |
“Scandal” (D) |
Season premiere. Olivia and Fitz reunite, while others are forced to deal with repercussions. |
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9 p.m. |
Travel Channel |
“Metropolis” (N) |
Series premiere. New travel series looking at cities begins with Paris. |
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10 p.m. |
NBC |
“The Player” (D) |
Series premiere. Wesley Snipes plays the leader of a mysterious gambling organization. |
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10:30 p.m. |
Lifetime |
“Fashionably Late with Rachel Zoe” (R) |
Series premiere. A new reality series following the celebrity stylist. |
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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25 |
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Time |
Network |
Program |
Description |
|||
8 p.m. |
CBS |
“The Amazing Race” (R) |
Season premiere. This season’s contestants begin in Venice Beach, California, before heading to Rio de Janeiro. |
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8 p.m. |
ABC |
“Last Man Standing” (C) |
Season premiere. Mike deals with chaos at home and work following a lengthy road trip. |
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9 p.m. |
Showtime |
“Margaret Cho: psyCHO” (C) |
The comedian performs a stand-up special at Gramercy Theatre in New York. |
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9 p.m. |
CBS |
“Hawaii Five-0” (D) |
Season premiere. The team looks into a case that involves an ancient palace and a treasure map. |
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9 p.m. |
ABC |
“Shark Tank” (R) |
Season premiere. Actor Ashton Kutcher appears as a “guest shark.” |
|||
10 p.m. |
Fox Sports 1 |
“College Football” (S) |
A late-night Pac-12 battle between Stanford and Oregon State. |
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SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26 |
||||||
Time |
Network |
Program |
Description |
|||
12 p.m. |
Big Ten Network |
“College Football” (S) |
No. 4 Michigan State hosts in-state foe Central Michigan. |
|||
12 p.m. |
NBC |
“PGA Golf” (S) |
Third round of The Tour Championship from East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. |
|||
3:30 p.m. |
CBS |
“College Football” (S) |
An SEC rivalry match between Tennessee and Florida in Gainesville. |
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8 p.m. |
Lifetime |
“Murder in Mexico: The Bruce Beresford-Redman Story” (M) |
Movie based on the murder of a “Survivor” producer’s wife in Mexico. |
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8:30 p.m. |
NBC |
“Premier Boxing Champions” (S) |
Bouts include a WBC heavyweight title fight between undefeated champ Deontay Wilder and Johann Duhaupas. |
|||
9:30 p.m. |
Disney XD |
“Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy” (K) |
Series premiere. A new animated version of the comic book-turned-movie. |
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SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 |
||||||
Time |
Network |
Program |
Description |
|||
7 p.m. |
OWN |
“Super Soul Sunday” (T) |
Former president Jimmy Carter guests in an interview taped before he revealed his cancer diagnosis. |
|||
8 p.m. |
Fox |
“The Simpsons” (C) |
Season premiere. This will make you feel old: the animated comedy kicks off its 27th (!) season. |
|||
8:20 p.m. |
NBC |
“Sunday Night Football” (S) |
Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos take on the Lions in Detroit. |
|||
9 p.m. |
ABC |
“Blood & Oil” (D) |
Series premiere. New drama set amid the oil boom in North Dakota. |
|||
9 p.m. |
CBS |
“CSI” (D) |
Series finale. Two-hour episode features the returns of Grissom and Willows. |
|||
10 p.m. |
ABC |
“Quantico” (D) |
Series premiere. New recruits arrive at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. |
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A = awards show or special, C = comedy, D = drama, DD = daytime drama, G = game show, K = kids, M = movie, N = news/documentary, R = reality, S = sports, T = talk/variety show. |
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Tags: abc, comedies, fresh off the boat, fresh off the boat ratings, tuesday tv this week, tv this week
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