Upfront Week, Day 2: ABC

[BillBrasky]

ABC is remaining relatively stable comedy-wise next season, maintaining their family-oriented block of sitcoms on Wednesday nights and adding one newcomer, while also expanding to Tuesday and Friday nights.

"The Middle", "Suburgatory", and "Modern Family" remain in their places on Wednesdays, and the new show, "The Neighbors", comes from several "Modern Family" vets (executive producers Aaron Kaplan and Jeff Morton and director Chris Koch). The show deals with a family of aliens, The Zabvronians, who have been stationed on Earth for the past 10 years, disguised as humans. Awaiting instructions from home, they meet the Weavers, their new next door neighbors and the first humans they've had the opportunity to know. As it turns out, the pressures of marriage and parenthood are not exclusive to planet Earth. Two worlds will collide with hilarious consequences as everyone discovers they can "totally relate" and learn a lot from each other.

"Happy Endings" and "Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23" move to Tuesday nights following the "Dancing with the Stars" results show, and will be joined midseason with two other new sitcoms, "How to Live With Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life)", starring Brad Garrett and Sarah Chalke, and "The Family Tools", based on the UK series "White Van Man". Also appearing at midseason will be a TGIF-like block of family-oriented sitcoms on Friday nights, with Tim Allen's "Last Man Standing" at 8 being joined by "Malibu Country" with Reba McEntire at 8:30.

[AstroChicken]

A sitcom about a family of aliens by Modern Family veterans? I have a nerd boner.

[mueXog]

It looks like ABC might be picking up Rebel Wilson's dead CBS pilot "Super Fun Night" (produced by Conaco) and re-tool it as a single-camera show.

[BillBrasky]

It looks like ABC might be picking up Rebel Wilson's dead CBS pilot "Super Fun Night" (produced by Conaco) and re-tool it as a single-camera show.

As happy as I am to hear that the show's not dead, I kind of wish they would keep it as a multi-camera sitcom. I created a thread a few weeks ago about how multi-cams are kind of a dying genre and most of them now aren't very good (Big Bang Theory, 2 Broke Girls, Mike & Molly, etc.) With this one they actually had a chance to make a good multi-camera sitcom, with Conan producing and everything. Some people in the Deadline comments even point out the same thing, that it's been a long time since the days of "Seinfeld", "Friends", and "Frasier" when there were intelligent and funny multi-cam sitcoms on the air.

[BillBrasky]

It looks like "The Neighbors" will return with original episodes on Wednesday, January 9th, and run for 12 straight weeks, at which point it will be replaced by "Suburgatory" on Wednesday, April 3rd.

New comedy "How to Live with Your Parents (for the Rest of Your Life)" featuring Sarah Chalke as a recently divorced single mom who moves back in with her eccentric parents, played by Elizabeth Perkins and Brad Garrett, will premiere on Wednesday, April 3rd at 9:30 p.m. ET.

Once "Suburgatory" finishes, "Family Tools" will debut on Wednesday, May 1st at 8:30 p.m. It stars Kyle Bornheimer, J.K. Simmons and Leah Remini in a new family comedy that proves mixing family with business is never easy.

[mueXog]

This also doesn't sound good for Happy Endings/Dont Trust The B

"As for ABC’s Tuesday comedy block, it will be completely gone by mid-March, with the Dancing With The Stars results re-taking the Tuesday 9 PM hour on March 19 (The fate of the unaired episodes of Happy Endings and Don’t Trust The B— is unclear)"

I guess ABC is giving up on that Tuesday comedy block altogether because of too much competition. Hopefully they'll at least air the remaining episodes somewhere before flatout cancelling them. I have some hope Happy Endings can survive another season somehow, but not looking good for The B. I probably wouldn't quite as sad about The B if it gets cancelled as it hasn't been on that long and I'm not as attached to it, but I really love Happy Endings.

[isoS]

Once "Suburgatory" finishes, "Family Tools" will debut on Wednesday, May 1st at 8:30 p.m. It stars Kyle Bornheimer, J.K. Simmons and Leah Remini in a new family comedy that proves mixing family with business is never easy.

This show has filmed on my block a couple of times, so I already hate it. Oh, also Johnny Pemberton is on it.

[BillBrasky]

This show has filmed on my block a couple of times, so I already hate it. Oh, also Johnny Pemberton is on it.

Cool. Pemberton is also getting a lot of face time in all the "This Is 40" ads lately.

[isoS]

Update: the house they were shooting at has been painted back to its original color, so I think we're in the clear. Close one guys. Close one.

[jkwall]

New comedy "How to Live with Your Parents (for the Rest of Your Life)" featuring Sarah Chalke as a recently divorced single mom who moves back in with her eccentric parents, played by Elizabeth Perkins and Brad Garrett, will premiere on Wednesday, April 3rd at 9:30 p.m. ET.

I guess it is technically possible that Elizabeth Perkins and Brad Garrett could be Sarah Chalke's parents but... Really?

"Family Tools" will debut on Wednesday, May 1st at 8:30 p.m. It stars Kyle Bornheimer, J.K. Simmons and Leah Remini in a new family comedy that proves mixing family with business is never easy.

I'm trying to think of a sitcom log line from the last couple of seasons that didn't sound like a totally fictional satirical log line. This definitely isn't it.