FOX was not the only network making moves ahead of next week’s upfront presentations?ABC made decisions on fourteen total series, reports Variety.
On the renewal front, ABC confirmed that freshmen series “Castle” and “Better off Ted,” along with longtime comedy “Scrubs,” will all be back next season. All had been considered bubble shows at one point but had recently been moved to “lock” status among most industry sources.
Updates later came in that “True Beauty” had also received a renewal.
ABC also picked up a number of pilots. On the drama side, it gave orders to murder mystery series “Happy Town,” ensemble legal series “Associates,” Jerry Bruckheimer-produced amateur detective series “The Forgotten,” 1980s film and novel adaptation “Eastwick” and a modern remake of “V” that sources say will be promoted as a limited engagement.
New series “Flash Forward,” based on the book, had already been picked up by ABC–the network began aggressively promoting the show during recent episodes of “Lost.”
Comedy orders, none of which surprised those following this year’s developmental slate, went to “The Middle,” a family comedy with Patricia Heaton as the topline, “Cougar Town,” a self-explanatory new comedy starring Courtney Cox and “Hank,” a Kelsey Grammer vehicle starring the “Frasier” actor as a Wall Street hotshot who returns to his small town roots after losing his job.
“Modern Family,” the most buzzed about ABC comedy pilot of the season, had previously been picked up. The comedy, from Christoper Lloyd and Steven Levitan, is a mockumentary series about an extended family.
