There might be a new episode of Abbott Elementary coming this Wednesday, but the next episode of ABC’s Emmy-winning comedy is about to be coming fans’ way later than they’re used to.
On Monday, Jan. 13, President Joe Biden announced that he will address the nation on Wednesday night via a farewell address which will kick off at 8 p.m. ET. As is always the case in these instances, the broadcast networks will all be airing live coverage of President Biden’s address to the nation which is going to result in some changes to the network’s primetime schedule for the night as ABC will be turning over the opening slot of its primetime slate for the ABC News Special.
The good news is that unlike NBC which has pulled the planned new episodes of Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago PD from its Wednesday night lineup, ABC is still going to be airing new episodes of its original series including Abbott Elementary… they’ll just be airing the episodes later than normal.
With the network dedicating 20 minutes to the ABC News Special of Biden’s address, TV Insider and TV Guide report that ABC’s entire Wednesday night lineup is going to be delayed by 20 minutes which means instead of a new Abbott Elementary airing at 8:30 p.m. ET, this week’s episode won’t kick off until 8:50 p.m. and will wrap up at 9:22 p.m. – yes, 9:22 p.m. is indeed the new wrap time for the episode confirmed by ABC.
So how will ABC’s schedule be impacted in full?
The night will kick off with President Biden Farewell Address to the Nation - ABC News Special with a new episode of Tim Allen and Kat Denning’s new comedy Shifting Gears sliding back to 8:20 p.m. for the night. We then get our new episode of Abbott Elementary at 8:50 p.m. which leads into a new episode of Celebrity Jeopardy! at 9:22 p.m. on ABC. Closing the night will be a new episode of What Would You Do? which will begin at 10:22 p.m. and close out the night.
For those keeping track, here’s what ABC’s primetime schedule is going to look like on Wednesday night due to the network’s coverage of Biden’s farewell address:
8 p.m. ET: President Biden Farewell Address to the Nation - ABC News Special
8:20 p.m. ET: Shifting Gears (NEW)
8:50 p.m. ET: Abbott Elementary (NEW)
9:22 p.m. ET: Celebrity Jeopardy! (NEW)
10:22 p.m. ET: What Would You Do? (NEW)
Of note, these listings could be adjusted or vary by region and it’s likely that those on the West Coast will be able to enjoy new episodes of their primetime series at their normal airtimes given Biden’s address will broadcast live at 5 p.m. local time on the West Coast and therefore is likely not to impact the West Coast primetime programming slate.