ABC Adds Only Two New Fall Shows

Only two new shows on ABC's fall lineup announced today, so ABC is playing it safe.

With viewing down since the writers' strike, ABC has opted to bring back five promising shows cut short by the strike his year: "Pushing Daisies," "Private Practice," "Dirty Sexy Money" (with Lucy Liu added to the cast), "Samantha Who?" and "Eli Stone."

Back are "Boston Legal" which was on the bubble (it moves to 10 p.m. Monday), along with "Grey’s Anatomy," "Brothers & Sisters," "Desperate Housewives," "Ugly Betty" (with Lindsay Lohan for five shows), "America’s Funniest Videos," "20/20," "Dancing with the Stars," "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," "Wife Swap," "Supernany" and Saturday night college football.

"Scrubs" has been snatched up from NBC for a midseason play along with "Lost," "According to Jim," "The Bachelor" and "The Good Family," a cartoon from Mike Judge (“King of the Hill").

Left off the schedule – and likely canceled – were "Notes From the Underbelly," "Miss Guided," "October Road," "Women’s Murder Club," "Men In Trees," "Big Shots," "Carpoolers" and "Cavemen."

The only new drama is "Life On Mars," about a present-day police detective who, after a car wreck, finds himself working as a police detective in 1972. The clip at ABC.com looks fun: Det. Jason O’Mara ("Men In Trees," "Grey’s Anatomy") finds himself in an old school time warp with no DNA tests, cell phones, text messaging, Internet, etc. But the pilot could be different from the series. David E. Kelley developed it from a BBC series, but ABC has drafted former "October Road" producers to run the show. The cast includes Rachelle LeFevre ("What About Brian", Colm Meany, Lenny Clarke and Richard Benjamin. At 10 p.m. Thursday, following "Grey's Anatomy," it could be a hit in the making.

ABC’s other new show is "Opportunity Knocks," a reality show from Ashton Kutcher in which a truck filled with prizes pulls up to a house for a family to win, if they answer questions correctly about family members.

A video clip and fall schedule grid are posted at

http://abc.go.com/

Were you surprised by any of the cancellations? (Other than "Cavemen," of course.)