ABC Chief Provides ‘Doctor Odyssey’ Status Update

Nellie Andreeva

Tue, May 13, 2025 at 4:01 PM UTC

2 min read

ABC has revealed its fall 2025 schedule, with new spinoff 9-1-1: Nashville replacing Doctor Odyssey in the Thursday 9 PM slot.
President of Disney Television Group Craig Erwich stated that Doctor Odyssey is not currently on the schedule, and the decision to continue the show ultimately lies with creator Ryan Murphy.
Doctor Odyssey, despite strong initial viewership numbers, has struggled to maintain momentum throughout its freshman run and is expensive to produce, with the upcoming Season 1 finale potentially serving as a series finale.

ABC’s April renewals left one series on the bubble, Ryan Murphy’s glossy freshman cruise ship medical drama Doctor Odyssey, starring Joshua Jackson and Don Johnson.

A month later, that has not changed. Ahead of the Disney upfront presentation later today, ABC revealed its fall 2025 schedule , which features new spinoff 9-1-1: Nashville, also from Murphy, replacing Doctor Odyssey in the Thursday 9 PM slot.

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“ Doctor Odyssey isn’t currently on our schedule,” Craig Erwich, President, Disney Television Group, told Deadline. “Ryan’s really busy. He’s doing a lot with us. 9-1-1, 9-1-1 Nashville, All’s Fair [for Hulu]. So we’re just continuing that creative conversations with him.”

In the end, the decision likely will be Murphy’s, Eric Schrier, President of Disney TV Studios whose division 20th Television produces all Murphy series, recently told Deadline .

“I really love Doctor Odyssey, I think it’s a wildly inventive show, and we’re doing everything we can to support it,” he said. “That decision ultimately lies with Ryan Murphy, whether Ryan wants to continue to do it, and he feels like there’s stories to tell that he feels confident in.”

As for timing, the call will likely be made before the end of June when the options on the cast are set to expire.

Doctor Odyssey, whose trailer set a record for a new broadcast series with 77.8M views in the first 48 hours, amassed 13.6M cross-platform viewers for the premiere in its first week. But the Love Boat homage has not been able to sustain the momentum throughout its freshman run. And with its slick production values and big stars, Doctor Odyssey is expensive to produce.

Amid the uncertainty, the upcoming Season 1 finale has an ending that could serve as a series finale, sources said.

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