“Cursed Missed Opportunities” (First Impressions - “Three Turkeys” - Season 6, Episode 8)

The press release can be found here.  As expected, this is a Thanksgiving-themed episode.

So they've moved this episode up, too (to 8 days before Thanksgiving). I'm guessing now that Thanksgiving Eve will be a repeat from last season (last year they also aired a repeat on Thanksgiving Night)* and “Strangers In The Night” will air December 3rd.

*UPDATE: ABC released their schedule for the rest of their month (click here to see details) - they have a couple of repeats from last season scheduled for Tuesdays 11/18 ("Three Dinners") and 11/25 ("The Late Show") at 8:30 to fill in for the cancelled Manhattan Love Story.  They did not reveal which episode airs Thanksgiving Eve, but I still think it will be a repeat.

I don't want to give up hope on this yet, but I really thought we'd see a big move in Alex's story in this one. Given how they've tightened back up to only three stories an episode (or at most a small fourth one), that does not seem likely now.  So, we're probably looking at six straight episodes without much happening for Alex.

From an overall show standpoint I'm not criticizing the change to fewer stories in and of itself – one problem with last year was how much less focused an episode was when trying to cram five (or even close to six) stories into its 20 minutes of airtime. It does on the other hand make it less likely in any given week that Alex (or any other character not listed in the plot lines, for that matter) gets to do much.

The other disappointment is that Alex's story will end up getting little to no focus during the November sweeps period (i.e. they don't want to give her story any play during one the more important ratings junctures of the season).  Hopefully her story will get some play in the February sweeps, and she absolutely better get story time at season's end during the May sweeps.