After a rough year for its freshmen and declines for its veteran shows this side of Scandal, ABC swung big with its pilots and picked up a whopping 12 series today - seven dramas and five comedies. Here is the rundown of the 12 of them:
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has long been the frontrunner for ABC and it's no surprise that it was picked up to series as it may bring in some new viewers to ABC and broadcast TV in general. The show is set in the Marvel universe and is about a peacekeeping group. The slotting of this show will be very interesting. Coming from Joss Whedon, it stars Clark Gregg, Ming-Na, Brett Dalton, Elizabeth Henstridge, Ian De Caestecker, and Chloe Bennet.
Once Upon a Time in Wonderland was another strong frontrunner because it's a spinoff of Sunday night drama Once Upon a Time. The show didn't even have a full pilot, just a presentation, but it was enough for ABC to greenlight it. The show is set in, as you might have guessed, Wonderland. The question is will it air after Once Upon a Time sometime during the season or will it be a temporary replacement for the show?
Resurrection (formerly The Returned) is a supernatural drama about dead loved ones who start returning to a town as if no time passed. The large ensemble drama includes Matt Craven, Devin Kelley, Frances Fisher, Samaire Armstrong, Nicholas Gonzalez, Omar Epps, Kurtwood Smith, Landan Gimenez, Mark Hildreth. This sounds like an ABC drama but it might be tough to schedule.
Killer Women is a more procedural-based drama about a woman in the Texas Rangers. Many see this show as a successor to Body of Proof which was cancelled. The show stars Tricia Helfer, Marc Blucas, Marta Milans, Michael Trucco, and Alex Fernandez.
Lucky 7 has been one of the hottest pilots in recent weeks and it was given the series order. It is a unique format based on a UK series where seven employees in a Queens Service Station win the lottery. Each episode will focus on a different person and each season will focus on a different group of people. The show stars Isiah Whitlock Jr., Stephen Louis Grush, Summer Bishil, Anastasia Phillips, Christine Evangelista, Lorraine Bruce, Luis Antonio Ramos, and Matt Long.
Betrayal got the call over the similar Westside as ABC's big new soapy drama, they seem to have one every year. This one centers on an affair that involves a powerful family and "cataclysmic" results. Sound familiar at all? It seems like a partner for Revenge. The drama stars Hannah Ware, Stuart Townsend, Chris Johnson, Henry Thomas, James Cromwell, and Wendy Moniz.
The final drama picked up was Minds Games (formerly Influence) from Kyle Killen. The series centers on two brothers - one brilliant and one an ex-con who use the science of motivation and manipulation to help clients at an agency. This sounds like a unique twist on a procedural format, which is sort of how Scandal started. However, Killen and series star Christian Slater have had a bad batting record. The show also stars Steve Zahn, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Cedric Sanders, Gregory Marcel, and Wynn Everett.
The Goldbergs (formerly How the Hell Am I Normal?) is a single-cam family sitcom set in the 1980s. Centered on an eccentric family from a nostalgic time, the show stars Wendi McLendon-Covey, Jeff Garlin, George Segal, Darien Provost, and Troy Gentile. This seems like it would be the perfect companion for The Middle on Wednesday nights.
Super Fun Night finally made the cut after missing out last year on CBS. It was converted to a single-cam sitcom and while the product was apparently lukewarm, it has fast rising star Rebel Wilson in it so ABC was unlikely to pass though the project may need some re-tooling. The show is about three nerdy friends seeking to have fun on a Friday night. It also stars Lauren Ash, Liza Lapira, Kelen Coleman, and Kevin Bishop.
Back in the Game (formerly Untitled Cullen Bros.) has been a hot pilot thanks to good reviews for series star James Caan. He plays a former baseball player who takes in his sports-averse daughter and her son. The show also stars Maggie Lawson, Griffin Gluck, Ben Koldyke, and Lenora Crichlow. Despite being a single-cam, it might be a fit with Last Man Standing on Fridays. After all, there are no multi-cam sitcoms left on ABC besides Last Man.
Trophy Wife has a strong cast and centers on a reformed party girl who falls in love with a man who has three kids. The cast is led by Malin Ackerman and Bradley Whitford and also stars Marcia Gay Harden, Michaela Watkins, Natalie Morales, and Ryan Lee. The theme of sitcoms on all four networks is family this year as there are way more family sitcoms picked up. Maybe we are finally done with the Friends knock offs?
One show that doesn't quite seem to fit any mold is the final pickup - the single camera Mixology. The show is set in a trendy Manhattan bar and centers on the singles who come into the bar over one night. I don't get the "over one night" part unless they mean just in the pilot. It is considered a "high concept comedy" so it might be a tough sell especially because it doesn't seem to really have a kindered spirit with all these family comedies and even Super Fun Night doesn't sound like a real partner for it. The show stars Ginger Gonzaga, Kate Simses, Sarah Bolger, Blake Lee, Andrew Santino, and Alexis Carra.
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