ABC network lays claim to the longest-running medical drama ever with “Grey’s Anatomy,” which will mark its 21st season this fall and maintains its hold on Thursday nights, except it will be shifting back to the 10 p.m. time slot on the West coast.

This move makes room for the new medical drama on the block, Ryan Murphy’s “Doctor Odyssey,” which stars Joshua Jackson as a doctor on board a luxury cruise ship where the staff works hard and plays harder.

Jackson’s Max and his small but mighty medical team navigate unique medical crises and each other, miles from shore in what ABC bills as a “high-octane procedural.”

The series, also starring Don Johnson, will air Thursdays an hour earlier than “Grey’s Anatomy,” right after the first responder hit “9-1-1,” which was also co-created by Ryan Murphy.

ABC’s other new scripted drama this fall is “High Potential,” a crime drama starring “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s” Kaitlin Olson as she teams up with a by-the-books detective to crack cases.

Based on a popular French series, “High Potential” follows Morgan (Olson), a single mom with three kids and an exceptional mind, who helps solve an unsolvable crime when she rearranges some evidence during her shift as a cleaner for the police department.

When the police discover she has a knack for putting things in order because of her high intellectual potential, she is brought on as a consultant to work with seasoned detective Karadec (Daniel Sunjata), and together they form an unusual and unstoppable team.

On the unscripted front, the network is handing out a rose (and hopefully some comfortable shoes) to “The Golden Bachelorette,” which, like “The Golden Bachelor” before it, will follow contestants in their golden years as they search for a second chance at love.

Fan-favorite Joan Vassos will be the new Golden Bachelorette, and the network is extending the episodes by 30 minutes compared to “The Golden Bachelor’s” hourlong episodes.

In between the new shows, “Abbott Elementary” is holding down the fort for ABC’s comedies as the only sitcom on the fall schedule.

The unscripted staple “America’s Funniest Home Videos” returns in the fall to celebrate its monumental 35th season, along with “Shark Tank” as well as popular films under “The Wonderful World of Disney” umbrella.

“The Conners” will return at midseason for its farewell outing. Dramas “The Rookie” and “Will Trent” are also being held for midseason, along with reality favorites like “American Idol” and “The Bachelor.”



‘KILLER LIES: CHASING A TRUE CRIME CON MAN’ ON NAT GEO

National Geographic expects its summer marquee true-crime series “Killer Lies: Chasing a True Crime Con Man,” premiering on August 28th on Nat Geo and streaming the next day on Hulu, to heat up their storytelling.

Based on Lauren Collins’ 2002 “New Yorker” reveal of a scandal in “Murder, He Wrote,” the Nat Geo special expands on Collins’ investigation into the rise and fall of a provocative French serial killer expert, Stephane Bourgoin, who became famous for jailhouse interviews with serial killers.

Bourgoin’s extraordinary resume of these interviews with killers, as well as his personality quirks, resulted in morbid encounters. Bourgoin cited the violent and horrifying 1975 slaying of his wife by a serial killer as motivation for his relentless interest in the minds of murderers.

After 40 years and 40 books, Bourgoin becomes the target of online sleuths, known as 4eme Oeil Corporation (4th Eye), who try to untangle his web of lies and unearth the truth.

The three-part series, directed by Emmy-nominated filmmaker Ben Selkow, fully reveals the online group’s dogged investigation and the shocking extent of Bourgoin’s deception.

The series features exclusive access to 4th Eye members speaking for the first time on camera in a documentary, along with material from Bourgoin’s own films and past television appearances and forensically reexamined archival footage.

Viewers will hear from those closest to Bourgoin for an intimate peak inside a pathological liar’s mind as well as hear from Bourgoin himself in his most comprehensive sit-down interview discussing his motives for fabricating such grandiose falsehoods.

The premiere episode, “Murder He Wrote,” delves into the lucrative true-crime industry, but the 4th Eye, a collective of vigilante online sleuths, discover Bourgoin’s career was based on a series of dark lies.

“The Eye is Always Watching” episode’s hunt for the truth reveals something far darker lies beneath the surface of Bourgoin’s fame, while “The Reckoning” episode continues investigating many alarming unanswered questions.

In the end, we hear from the victims in this story and delve into the larger themes and questions raised about our insatiable appetite for true crime and the strange compulsions of the human psyche.

“Killer Lies” is an exploration of human nature and cultural psychology and a commentary on the global true-crime industry. Nat Geo contends this is a true-crime story within a true-crime story.

Ultimately, it was avid true-crime fans who brought down Bourgoin, launching their own investigation of the master who had taught them not to underestimate humanity’s capacity for deceit and evil.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.