ABC’s Alex, Inc. holds the 8:30 timeslot on Wednesdays in its inaugural season. With this timeslot, the program competes head-to-head with, among other shows, CW’s Riverdale and CBS’ Survivor. Through one full season, Riverdale averages about a 1 rating. This is a solid performance by a CW show, but it still leaves room for Alex, Inc. to achieve success. Furthermore, while Survivor used to garner incredibly high ratings during its prime, the program is no longer the behemoth that it once was. Again, this illustrates that Alex, Inc.’s timeslot is not dominated by a particular show. It is also notable that Alex, Inc. will not have to compete with The Blacklist, the relatively popular NBC show that usually holds the same timeslot. The program will have finished its series of new episodes before Alex, Inc. begins its run on ABC. Because the aforementioned shows do not achieve enormous ratings, Alex, Inc. has an opportunity to contend in the 8:30 Wednesday timeslot.

The two primary names behind ABC’s “Alex Inc.” are Zach Braff, who stars and directs the show, and Matt Tarses, who created and writes the program. Both also hold producer credits (Nguyen). This is not Braff and Tarses’ first creative endeavor together, as the two partnered for the comedy series “Scrubs,” which aired for nine seasons, splitting time on both NBC and ABC. While the success of Scrubs cannot be blindly used to predict the potential success of Alex Inc., it is still notable that the partnership of Tarses and Braff has paid off in the past. At the show’s peak in season two, it achieved an impressive average of 15.94 million viewers per week, giving it a 10.28 rating and a 7.9 rating for the 18-49 demographic (Consoli). While the show would eventually decline in ratings, switch networks, and get cancelled, Scrubs was a tremendous success during its prime. Given the promotion for Alex Inc., the new ABC show appears to be less edgy than Scrubs, yet the network clearly hopes to regain the spark that Braff and Tarses’ partnership can bring.

Work Cited:

Consoli, John. “A Look at the Good Ol’ Days of Broadcast Primetime TV: You Know, 2003.” Broadcasting & Cable, 14 Mar. 2013, www.broadcastingcable.com/news/news-articles/look-good-ol-days-broadcast-primetime-tv-you-know-2003/114241.

Nguyen, Hanh. “’Alex, Inc.’ Trailer: Zach Braff Is Back in Business on TV – Watch.” IndieWire, 16 May 2017, www.indiewire.com/2017/05/alex-inc-trailer-zach-braff-abc-1201817372/.e