ABC will make official pick up announcements Tuesday, but the trades are already reporting that the network has ordered a large number of new shows for the upcoming fall season.Along with some dramas and mythology-laden shows, it looks like ABC is playing it safe by picking up four half-hour family comedies starring some well-known TV vets.
Joining the already renewed Scrubs and Better Off Ted will be Hank, a multi-camera family show starring Frasier's Kelsey Grammer and The Middle, a single-camera comedy with Grammer's former Back to You co-star Patricia Heaton. Both shows seem to have pretty tired concepts. Hank is about a washed-up Wall Street deal maker who moves back to his home town, and The Middle is about a middle-class mom who is approaching middle age. Hopefully the stars, and the jokes, will make these shows worth watching.
The network is also moving ahead with Courteney Cox Arquette's comedy Cougar Town, also starring Josh Hopkins.
ABC also officially picked up Modern Family, billed as a multi-camera mockumentary, like The Office, starring Ed O'Neill (Married With Children) and Julie Bowen (Ed). Remarkably, Modern Family is produced by Back to You executive producers Christopher Lloyd and Steve Levitan.
I'm looking forward to Modern Family. O'Neill and Bowen are two of my favorite not-quite A-list stars, and producers Lloyd and Levitan have a decent track record with network comedies (Fraiser, Just Shoot Me).
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-18-2009 @ 12:13PM
Jake said...
So "Hank" is "Back to You" with a banker instead of a news anchor? So, are we to reach the conclusion that Kelsey Grammar can only play washed-up Big Shots who return to their hometowns anymore? What does that say about Mr. Grammar, I wonder...
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5-18-2009 @ 12:18PM
HD said...
As I said yesterday , ABC has no choice as they have canceled damn near everything else worth watching in prime time. ABC is relying on DWTS, the long in the tooth Greys and DHW and the soon to be gone Lost to carry the entire schedule.
On a side note - ABC will burn off "Pushing Daisies" this Saturday unless something changes. The right thing to do is authorize a two hour series finale for syndication and DVD's, but it won't happen...
...but we will get another season of the instant classics "Wipe Out", "I Survived a Japanese Game Show" and "Meet the Newlyweds" instead - you can just smell the quality of those programs - and not even Ned wouldn't touch them.
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5-18-2009 @ 12:49PM
CParis said...
None of these new "comedies" sound like they're worth opening my eyes for.
I'll stick with cable and hulu.
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5-18-2009 @ 2:46PM
Argus said...
See... Kelsey Grammar works best when he's playing someone who has something to lose, not someone who has already lost, get that through your heads networks!
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5-18-2009 @ 5:59PM
Porchland said...
What's "remarkable" about Lloyd and Levitan doing a show for ABC?
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5-18-2009 @ 6:30PM
Ferretbunny said...
Jaust make anudder "Frasier" TV series.
Dat show still had more posibilities!
Dey jaust needed new writers wit frecher ideas, cuz at de end it was geting a bit borwing and Daphne and Niles were starting to git out of charactur a wittle bit.
Us bunnies luf dat show dough. Weef seen evewey Frasier episode more dan wunce. TV stachons now-a-days have no idea wat dey're doing, quite fwankly.
....Dat's my ferrety opineeon, at least.
Dey chud continue de sewies where it left off, did fwasier go to San Fwanchisco? or Chicago?
Dat's all I had to say.
Fwequent reeder, fiwrst time comintur,
ur pal,
Ferretbunny
www.Ferretbunny.com
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