or


[01/10/11 - 01:29 PM]
ABC at TCA: Lee Wants More Comedy; Touts Renewals, Development
By Brian Ford Sullivan (TFC)

LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) -- "That's a core part of our schedule," ABC Entertainment Group President Paul Lee said about its renewals of "Castle," "Cougar Town," "Grey's Anatomy," "The Middle," "Modern Family" and "Private Practice."

Lee, five months into his job as network topper, was on hand to tout the aforementioned pickups during ABC's executive session at the TCA Winter Press Tour this morning. "My real ambition is to make the ABC studio and the ABC network a real showrunner culture," he added with regards Bill Lawrence, Shonda Rhimes, Steve Levitan and company.

Two shows not on the list however were "Desperate Housewives" and "Brothers & Sisters." "We have ambitions to pick ['Housewives'] up. We are not quite there, ready to do so," he said. "And 'Brothers & Sisters' has gotten really good numbers this year... But we have not made decisions on them yet, and we are not necessarily ready for them, but we'll see as we go forward."

All in all, it was a relatively low key affair as Lee, as expected, reiterated his ambitions to add another night of comedy next season. "I have a twinkle in my eye that I'd love to see another night of comedy," he said, later adding kind words about their first wave of comedy pilots. ("We just picked up on Friday two hilarious comedies, one from Chris Moynihan called 'Man Up' and one from Reich and Cohen, which is called 'Smothered,' which I thought was absolutely hilarious.")

On the drama front, Lee addressed rolling back "V's" second season to 10 episodes: "We made sure it was ten episodes so we could quality control those episodes. And we've also brought we brought a whole load of new ideas into it, so we've tried to really amp up the level of adrenaline in that show. And I think that's our ambition, to make sure that shows like that just get better and better and better. And we were very pleased to see it come back with a good number, very pleased."

As for its acclaimed-albeit-ratings-challenged freshman entry "Detroit 1-8-7," Lee noted that "we haven't made our decisions yet on second season. I'm not saying I wouldn't have liked it like it to have stayed with high numbers, because it's an extremely high-quality show... It's a really gritty, brilliantly written show which we're very proud of. So do we hope it comes back. We're not going to make those decisions probably for another two to three months, I have to say."

Lee also tubthumped Shonda Rhimes's latest drama pilot for the network, an untitled hour about a public relations fixer in Washington, D.C. ("There's a fabulous procedural. I called it procedural. It's so character driven, it's a strange word for it from Shonda Rhimes that we picked up right before Christmas."), as well as potential franchises from the now Disney-owned Marvel Comics.

"We certainly would like to do it," he said about "The Incredible Hulk" and "A.K.A. Jessica Jones," citing the power of the Disney brand. "This is one of the things I think our company does better than other companies that I've worked for in the past, is that you can get the whole company behind an idea and that if it works, you can then make that idea live in theme parks and in retail stores and beyond."

On the flip side, Lee was quick to address the failure of "Skating With the Stars." "We did a whole lot of postmortems afterwards, and, look, not everything works. Statistically, most things don't work. I think we were probably too similar," he said with regards to "Dancing With the Stars." "And I think maybe we put them too close together, or we made something whose DNA was really too close together even though the brief before going in there was, 'Hey, we have this fabulous, culturally defining show. We'd love to extend it.'"

He was also candid about the decision to spell "Cougar Town" for "Mr. Sunshine": "Look, does the position after 'Modern Family' provide for us a great launch pad for what we consider to be strong comedies into the future? Yeah, of course it does. I mean, otherwise we wouldn't have put the Matt Perry show there, and we think that's a good place to put it. In the long term, do we have ambitions that 'Cougar Town' could on its own start an hour? We would love to see it do that. Nevertheless, nobody looks at our Wednesday at 9:00 and 9:30 and doesn't feel that's a great hour of television and those are very good ratings."

The executive sessions continue tomorrow with FOX.





  [january 2011]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
      


· BROTHERS & SISTERS (ABC)
· CASTLE (ABC)
· COUGAR TOWN (TBS)
· DANCING WITH THE STARS (ABC)
· DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (ABC)
· DETROIT 187 (ABC)
· GREY'S ANATOMY (ABC)
· INCREDIBLE HULK, THE (ABC)
· MAN UP! (ABC)
· MARVEL'S JESSICA JONES (NETFLIX)
· MIDDLE, THE (ABC)
· MODERN FAMILY (ABC)
· PRIVATE PRACTICE (ABC)
· SCANDAL (ABC)
· SKATING WITH THE STARS (ABC)
· SMOTHERED (ABC)
· V (ABC)





[10/24/25 - 02:30 PM]
Video: First Look at Upcoming New Drama "Memory of a Killer" Starring Patrick Dempsey and Michael Imperioli - Premiering This January on FOX
Dempsey stars as a hitman, Angelo Doyle, leading a dangerous double life while hiding an even deadlier personal secret - he has developed early onset Alzheimer's.

[10/24/25 - 02:02 PM]
"20/20" Is Friday's Most-Watched Newsmagazine Across the Board
In addition, "20/20" posted its best Adults 25-54 in more than four months.

[10/24/25 - 02:01 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 Across the Board, Leading NBC in All Key Demos for the 4th Straight Week
"Nightline" grew year to year across the board: Total Viewers, Adults 25-54, and Adults 18-49.

[10/24/25 - 01:05 PM]
"Dancing with the Stars" Makes Television History - Rising for Fifth Straight Week
The October 21 episode scored 6.63 million Total Viewers and a 1.38 rating among Adults 18-49, hitting new season highs in both demographics.

[10/24/25 - 08:01 AM]
Netflix Announces "Hollywood Arts," A Brand-New Spinoff of Hit Live-Action, "Victorious," with Daniella Monet Returning as Star and Executive Producer
The series is set to debut on Netflix in 2026, followed by releases on Nickelodeon and Paramount+.

[10/24/25 - 07:14 AM]
FOX Sports Readies for Major League Baseball's 121st World Series Presented by Capital One
Action leads off Friday, October 24, between the National League and current reigning World champion Los Angeles Dodgers and American League champion Toronto Blue Jays from Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada, on FOX, FOX Deportes, the FOX Sports App and FOX One.

[10/24/25 - 07:01 AM]
Video: "Love Is Blind" Season 9: The Reunion - Official Trailer - Netflix
Denver singles shake up their search for "the one" and step into the pods, braving twists, turns and love triangles to find their soulmate sight unseen.

[10/24/25 - 07:01 AM]
Experience the Family, the Fun, and the Fantastic! Marvel Studios' "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" Lands Exclusively on Disney+ November 5
Continuing the celebration of Marvel's First Family, the announcement was made live from SpaceCon 2025 in San Antonio, where The Fantastic Four: First Steps Immersive Pop-Up Experience invites attendees to step inside the iconic Baxter Building.

[10/24/25 - 06:00 AM]
The CW Network and Xfinity Celebrate 11 Years of the NASCAR Xfinity Series by Presenting the Third Stage of the Championship Race Commercial-Free
Taking place in Phoenix, Arizona, on Saturday, November 1, the commercial-free stage presented by Xfinity was created to thank the loyal race fans who have supported the NASCAR Xfinity Series for more than a decade - helping the series grow through their unwavering enthusiasm, increased viewership, and continued trackside attendance.

[10/23/25 - 05:01 PM]
Video: "As You Stood By" - Official Trailer - Netflix
When two women plot to end an abusive marriage through murder, an unexpected visitor arrives - threatening to shatter everything they've carefully planned.

[10/23/25 - 02:33 PM]
Largest Audience for "NBA Tip-Off" Doubleheader Since 2010 as NBA Returned to NBC and Debuted on Peacock
Tuesday night's audience across NBC and Peacock peaked at 7.1 million viewers from 10:45-11 p.m. ET as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder to a one-point win over the Houston Rockets in double overtime.

[10/23/25 - 02:28 PM]
The 305 Just Got Hotter: "Love & Hip Hop: Miami" Moves to BET Season 7 Premieres Tuesday, November 4 at 8 PM ET/PT
The upcoming seventh season dives deeper than ever into Miami's thriving entertainment scene, following a cast of stars who are rebuilding, rebranding, and redefining success in real time.

[10/23/25 - 01:30 PM]
Critically Acclaimed Noir Thriller, "Dark Winds," to Return to AMC and AMC+ Sunday, February 15
The series' gripping fourth season focuses on the search for a missing Navajo girl, which takes Leaphorn, Chee and Manuelito from the safety of Navajo Nation to the gritty terrain of 1970s Los Angeles in a race against the clock to save her from an obsessive killer with ties to organized crime.

[10/23/25 - 12:01 PM]
Video: BET+ Releases Trailer for Horror Film "A Demon's Revenge"
In the film, following the bloodshed in Belize, Peaches, played by Jhoné Lucas, delves deeper into Caribbean folklore and the terrifying truth that lurks beneath.

[10/23/25 - 12:00 PM]
FOX Entertainment Acquires Equity Stake in Chain, Forging Strategic Partnership with Experiential Food Phenomenon Co-Founded by B.J. Novak
Included in the investment is a first look development deal through Chain Media.