ABC renews 15 shows, including ‘Once Upon a Time’, ‘Fresh Off the Boat’ and ‘Quantico’
Channing Dungey, new president of ABC entertainment, is already shaking things up at the network. Or rather, holding things steady.
ABC handed out early renewals on Thursday for a slew of its programming for the upcoming 2016-17 season, a surprise for a network that typically skips early renewals all together.
In total, ABC gave nods to 15 existing shows, though only one of them is a freshman show, a testament to the network’s stability, as well as its weak crop of new offerings from the 2015-16 season.
Creator Adam Goldberg confirmed on Twitter that his series “The Goldbergs”, based on his own rambunctious family, would be returning for a fourth season. The series stars Jeff Garlin (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”) and Wendi McLendon-Covey (“Reno 911”) and takes place, rather nebulously, sometime in the 1980s.
“Once Upon a Time” also was renewed for a sixth season, confirmed by show co-creator Adam Horowitz on Twitter. Though originally focused on fairy tales, the series has grown to incorporate other Disney-owned properties, thanks to the company’s ownership of the network itself. That means that in addition to Snow White and Rumpelstiltskin, audiences also get Cruella De Vil and Jiminy Cricket.
With the series airing its 100th episode on March 6, it’s unclear what additional iconic characters the show could add headed into its sixth season. Perhaps the show will go all-in with its Disney heritage and head back to a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.
Freshman series “Quantico” landed a second season pickup, as implied by showrunner Joshua Safran on Twitter, thanks in part to the show’s strong ratings. The series is Sunday’s top-scripted among adults 18-49 and also serves as a feather in the network’s diversity cap. Priyanka Chopra, best known in Bollywood and as a former Miss World, stars as an FBI recruit suspected of carrying out a terrorist attack, trying to work out the true tale via flashback.
As confirmed by actor Ian Chen on Twitter, the network also renewed for a third season the family comedy “Fresh Off the Boat,” the tale of an Asian American family in the late ’90s as they move from Washington, D.C., to Orlando, Fla., to pursue their dream of restaurant ownership.
Loosely based on the life and memoir of chef Eddie Huang, “Fresh Off the Boat” received a second season order for 13 episodes in May, with ABC ordering an additional nine episodes in October and an additional two in November.
An early renewal is a vote of confidence for the series, created by showrunner Nahnatchka Khan (“Don’t Trust the B---- in Apartment 23”), even as the show’s second season has seen ratings slip.
A complete list of ABC early renewals:
“America’s Funniest Home Videos” (Season 27)
“The Bachelor” (Season 21)
“black-ish” (Season 3)
“Dancing with the Stars” (Season 23)
“Fresh Off the Boat” (Season 3)
“The Goldbergs” (Season 4)
“Grey’s Anatomy” (Season 13)
“How to Get Away with Murder” (Season 3)
“Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D” (Season 4)
“The Middle” (Season 8)
“Modern Family” (Season 8)
“Once Upon a Time” (Season 6)
“Scandal” (Season 6)
“Shark Tank” (Season 8)
“Quantico” (Season 2)
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