LOWDOWN ON THE UPFRONT: ABC Family Grows
‘Middleman,’ ‘Teenager’ Key Summer Slate, As Net Preps First Original Comedy For 2009
By Mike Reynolds -- Multichannel News, 5/2/2008 5:00:00 AM
ABC Family has two new original series on tap for summer, while its fall lineup will feature returning favorites. The network then will step into the scripted comedy arena next year.
Upcoming this summer are rookie original series The Middleman and The Secret Life of the American Teenager, as well as three-night special Samurai Girl. Additionally, the network has ordered third seasons of Kyle XY and Lincoln Heights, plus a sophomore run for Greek, with the latter two scheduled to premiere this fall.
ABC Family president Paul Lee said the 2008 game plan is a familiar one, as the network traditionally uses the summer for series introductions and telefilm premieres.
“Coming out of the May sweep, we’ve established ourselves as a destination in June and then viewers settle in and watch our new series during the rest of the summer,” he said.
ABC Family drops the flag June 8 with original movie The Circuit, starring Michelle Trachtenberg in a story about an estranged father and daughter who compete in the world of stock car racing. His career has hit the skids, while hers is accelerating, although it veers off course from advances by the top racer.
The series kick in next. Premiering June 16, The Middleman is based on the popular graphic novels by writer/producer Javier Grillo-Marxauch (Lost,Medium). It charts the surreal life of twenty-something Wendy Watson, who is recruited by a top secret agency to fight comic book-esque criminals under the guidance of her straight-laced superior. ABC Family has ordered 13 one-hour installments.
The Secret Life of the American Teenager comes from 7th Heaven creator Brenda Hampton. The one-hour drama focuses on the relationships between families and friends and how they deal with an unexpected teen pregnancy. Cast regulars for the 10-episode series, bowing July 1, include Shailene Woodley, Kenny Baumann, Daren Kagasoff, Francia Raisa, Greg Finley, Megan Park, India Eisley, Jorge-Luis Pallo, Mark Derwin and Molly Ringwald. For their parts, John Schneider, Ernie Hudson, Josie Bissett and Steven Schirripa have recurring roles.
The network bookends the series’ launches with another telefilm. Debuting July 13, Picture This stars Ashley Tisdale (High School Musical) in a coming of age comedy in which an unpopular high school senior gets a date to the biggest party of the year with the school’s most popular guy—only to be grounded by her overprotective father, played by Kevin Pollack..
ABC Family winds things down post-Labor Day, with the six-hour Samurai Girl special, Sept. 5-7. Jamie Chung is in the lead, portraying 19-year-old Heaven, who discovers that the wealthy businessman that adopted her as an infant is the head of the Yakuza, the Japanese mafia, and may have had her brother brutally murdered.
“The network has really been able to attract top talent behind and in front of the camera,” said Lee.
Come fall, ABC Family will bring back Lincoln Heights and Greek for their third and second seasons, respectively, before gearing up for its 11th annual "25 Days of Christmas" stunt, which again is led into by the 15-day "Countdown to 25 Days of Christmas."
“If it were up to the [advertising] sales guys, the season would start even earlier,” joked Lee. “Summer and the holidays are our biggest times of year.”
For the 2008 season, ABC Family will flank classics like Rudolph’s Shiny New Year and Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, with sequels to a pair of its holiday telefilms. A Miser Brothers Christmas follows A Year Without a Santa Claus, while Snow 2 Brain Freeze, starring Tom Cavanaugh and Ashley Williams, builds on the first Snow. The basic-cable premieres of theatricals The Chronicles of Narnia and Cars also are under the net’s tree.
The programming formula, forged in original programming with optimistic themes that is aimed at 12-to-34-year-old Millennials, is working, according to Lee. In 2007, ABC Family enjoyed its most-watched year ever in primetime with total viewers, watchers 12 to 34, adults 18 to 34 and 18 to 49, and women 18 to 49; it was also the net’s most-watched year in total day with the four demos.
The momentum has continued in 2008. ABC Family scored its best-ever first quarter in both primetime and total-day, relative to total watchers and its target audiences, according to network officials. April marked record deliveries in all key demos, fueled by original movie, Princess, cable’s top telefilm for the period among females 18 to 34 and 12 to 34.
Looking ahead to 2009, ABC Family will showcase the third season of Kyle XY and the debut of Roommates, the network’s first foray into half-hour comedy production. ABC Family has ordered 13 episodes, which focus on a group of friends trying to figure out love and life in their post-collegiate years. The show's ensemble cast includes Tyler Francavilla, Dorian Brown, Tommy Dewey, David Weidoff and Tamera Mowry,
Also on the 2009 comic docket: Sophie, trailing a young woman in the midst of the worst year of her life. As is the case with Roommates, ABC Family has ordered a baker's dozen episodes of this rookie laugher, whose cast includes Natalie Brown, Sebastian Spence, Jeff Geddis, Amy Lalonde, Mimi Kuzyk, Sara Botsford, Chantelle Chung and Catherine Bérubé.
The original comedies join a lineup that features such acquired series as America’s Funniest Home Videos, What I Like About You and Gilmore Girls.
“The original movies and off-network comedy acquitions have performed well and we’re about to add That 70’s Show in June and My Wife and Kids in September,” said Lee. “Comedy is the next step for us in terms of original series.”
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