ABC just revealed its summer premiere dates this week and the upcoming dates feature a lot of game shows, a few awards ceremonies and one conspicuously absent TV series. Not present was Secrets and Lies, which was expected to return for Season 2 sometime after midseason. This means Season 2 of the drama will not be returning to ABC until at least this upcoming fall. But is this good or bad news for Secrets and Lies?
Conventional wisdom would state that getting kept off of the schedule for months and months is not great news. Unless a show has an intense fandom—like Sherlock--people are going to fill in the gaps in their TV watching schedule where that show used to air. Secrets and Lies only aired one season in the spring of 2015, and while the show did pretty well in the ratings, it wasn’t such a rousing success that we’re still talking about how good it was. The show ended its run last May and if it doesn’t premiere until fall, it will be almost a year and a half since we’ve seen a new episode—which is a long time to go without the show.
However, ABC was still excited about Secrets and Lies when the network present at the TCA winter tour back in January. So, it’s not like the network has just buried the show, hoping we’ll forget about it. It can easily be argued, too, that the fall schedule is the best time to get shows in front of as many eyeballs as possible. Generally during the summer there is less TV and people are busier, but anticipation starts to build for the fall TV season once kids are back in school and families are adhering to more of a routine again. Since more people are watching TV in the fall, it could be argued that waiting a few more months would actually give Secrets andd Lies a better opportunity to compete.
Due to the murder mystery nature of Secrets and Lies, the drama has undergone some changes leading into Season 2. Juliette Lewis will be back playing Detective Andrea Cornell on the drama, but since Season 2 will follow a brand new case, the other major players have changed. During Season 2, Almost Human’s Michael Ealy and Fast and the Furious franchise actress Jordana Brewster will star. Because of all of the changes, it might have taken a little longer for Secrets & Lies Season 2 to come together. Or perhaps ABC just couldn’t find a timeslot that worked at midseason or this summer.
If you are a fan of Secrets and Lies, I wouldn’t get too worried, yet. Provided ABC announces that the Juliette Lewis-starrer will be a part of the network's fall schedule, the show should be on track for Season 2. However, if the network’s big May announcements regarding fall programming come and Secrets & Lies is still not on schedule, that’s when you should get worried.
Although Secrets and Lies isn’t getting a summer release date, ABC and the other networks do have a bunch of other shows premiering soon. You can check out the full summer TV premiere schedule here.
