In Case of Emergency: ABC Changes Its Plans

A couple weeks ago, it was announced that ABC would be airing the season finale of In Case of Emergency on April 4th. Astute viewers realized that the “season finale” would only be the 11th episode. That would leave two episodes of the low-rated sitcom unaired with no scheduled return date. Thanks to a little show on another network, things have changed.

FOX recently announced that they would be extending their Wednesday night American Idol results show to two hours beginning April 11th. This messed up ABC’s plans to debut their new sitcom Notes from the Underbelly at 9:30pm. They’ve obviously learned from the beating that Emergency and Knights of Prosperity have taken.

To compensate, ABC has decided to instead air double episodes of Underbelly on Thursday nights at 10pm after Grey’s Anatomy. This is the first time that a sitcom has aired on a network at 10pm in well over a decade. Men in Trees, which was supposed to return on April 12th, has been postponed for now. Fans need not worry — Trees has already been renewed for a second season.

To fill the Wednesday 9:30pm opening, ABC has decided to keep airing episodes of In Case of Emergency for two additional weeks, allowing it to finish it’s 13 week run on April 18th.

This is mixed news for fans of the sitcom. On the one hand, it’s nice that all of the episodes will air. On the other hand, it’s obvious that ABC doesn’t see much future for it and is okay with sacrificing it to the ratings monster known as American Idol. Coupled with its previous low ratings, it’s highly unlikely Emergency will be picked up for a second season. Stay tuned!