ABC midseason schedule: ‘Castle’ season 8 returns early; ‘Galavant’ season 2, ‘Agent Carter’ set

There are a wide array of interesting headlines within the just-released midseason schedule over at ABC, but to us one of the most interesting ones is seeing how they’ve completely turned around on holding “Castle” season 8 (per TVLine) until later in the year. The show was originally going on a lengthy hiatus, but is now returning in early January after “The Bachelor.”

What’s the reason for that? Maybe ABC thought about doing a “Bachelor” aftershow and changed their mind, or maybe they decided that given the polarizing nature of this season and where the show is going, they want fans to not have to wait as long to see things that they are happy with. We’ll leave further discussion on that to the comments; for now, let’s just focus on giving you some of the dates. Unless otherwise noted, the schedule will remain consistent with prior weeks.

Sunday, January 3

8:00 p.m. Eastern – “Galavant”

Monday, January 4

8:00 – “The Bachelor”

10:00 – “Castle”

Tuesday, January 5

9:00 – “Agent Carter” (two-hour premiere)

Wednesday, January 6

8:00 – Comedy block (same shows)

10:00 – “American Crime”

Thursday, January 7 

8:00 – “My Diet is Better Than Yours” (seriously, this is a new show, two hours)

10:00 – “Beyond the Tank”

Tuesday, February 2

8:00 – “The Muppets” (which could be largely revamped)

8:30 – “Fresh Off the Boat”

Thursday, February 11

8:00 – The return of #TGIT, all of your favorites!

Wednesday, March 2

8:30 – “The Real O’Neals” (special preview)

9:30 – “The Real O’Neals” (another special preview)

Thursday, March 3

9:00 – “The Family” (sneak preview)

Sunday, March 6

8:00 – “Once Upon a Time”

9:00 – “The Family” (timeslot premiere)

10:00 – “Quantico”

Tuesday, March 8

8:00 – “Fresh Off the Boat” (new time)

8:30 – “The Real O’Neals” (new time)

9:00 – “Agents of SHIELD”

10:00 – “Of Kings and Prophets” (new show)

Wednesday, March 16

10:00 – “Nashville” (spring premiere)

Thursday, March 24

10:00 – “The Catch” (new series)

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