LOS ANGELES (thefutoncritic.com) -- The latest development news, culled from recent wire reports:
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Below are series that ABC is picking up for the 2013-14 season (via ABC's press release):
BACK IN THE GAME
Baseball might be America's favorite pastime, but for the Gannon family it's also in their blood. Terry Gannon Jr. (Psyche's Maggie Lawson) was an All Star Softball player until life threw her a couple curve balls: a baby, a lost college scholarship and a loser for a husband. After striking out on her own, Terry heads home with her son Danny (Griffin Gluck) in tow and moves in with her estranged father, Terry Sr. aka The Cannon (James Caan). The Cannon is an opinionated, beer-guzzling, ex-athlete who never quite made the cut as a single father or professional baseball player. Terry is determined to make her temporary stay back home as brief as possible and immediately sets out to find a job and keep Danny as far away from the Cannon's bad influences as possible. As hard as Terry tries to keep Danny away from the sports-driven lifestyle of her youth, Tommy has shown an interest in playing Little League for the first time in his life. Terry soon discovers that his new interest in baseball is not because of the Canon's influence, but rather to impress a girl at his new school. Always the supportive mom, Terry reluctantly agrees to let him try-out for the team, but unfortunately the Gannon legacy of stellar athletic ability appears to have skipped 3rd generation Danny. His stunning lack of baseball skills (he doesn't even know which hand the mitt goes on) makes him the laughing stock of the baseball field. . .and his grandfather's living room. When Danny and a group of other athletically-challenged hopefuls fail to make the team, Danny's disappointment forces Terry to face her past. Even though she vowed never to let baseball dominate her life again, she wants her son to be happy. So when a wealthy neighbor volunteers to finance a separate team for the rejected kids, Terry reluctantly steps up to the plate and offers to coach the team of misfits. This funny, heartwarming comedy comes from the producing team of Mark and Robb Cullen (LUCKY, LAS VEGAS), John Requa and Glenn Ficarra (BAD SANTA, CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE) and Aaron Kaplan (THE NEIGHBORS).
BETRAYAL
It started with a chance meeting at an art gallery. Photographer Sara Hayward and Attorney Jack McCutchen both felt it, a sudden spark and with it, an undeniable feeling of instant attraction. Both are married, albeit, unhappily to other people; she, to successful prosecutor Drew Hayward, a political climber out for himself. Outsiders think they have the perfect marriage but Sara knows full well the distance and coldness that has crept into their marriage. Jack, too, has felt the loss of intimacy in his own marriage to Elaine, the daughter of Jack's boss Terrence Karsten. Karsten is a powerful mogul in a business that creates a lot of enemies. Despite themselves, Sara and Jack find themselves ever drawn to each other after a series of chance encounters. They are two souls wounded by life's vagaries who form a powerful connection and before long, a torrid affair begins. When Karsten's brother-in-law Lou is murdered, all evidence points to Karsten's son TJ. (Henry Thomas) Jack, as the company's lead council, will have to defend him. For Sara's prosecutor husband Drew, this is the kind of high-profile murder case that can secure his political future. Before Sara and Jack's affair has barely started, the lovers will find themselves in an impossible situation-on opposite sides of a murder investigation. The relationship and the case begin a spiraling series of betrayals with cataclysmic results for everyone. From David Zabel (ER) and directed by Patty Jenkins (The Killing, Monster) comes a powerful and compelling story of sex, scandal, revenge and BETRAYAL.
LUCKY 7
Every day, across the country, Americans imagine what it would be like to strike it rich. They dream of new houses, new cars, new everything. It's just a pipe dream. It could never happen to them......but what if it did? In Astoria, Queens, NY, a group of 7 gas station employees have been chipping into a lottery pool for months, hoping, but never thinking they'd actually win. Money could solve problems for each of them. Matt could pay to get his girlfriend and 2 kids out of his mother's house. Matt's brother Nicky, an ex-con, could pay off the gangsters he's indebted to. Samira, a second-generation Pakistani immigrant, could afford to go to Juilliard. Denise, a plucky cashier, could focus on rebuilding her crumbling marriage. Leanne, a young mother, could help her daughter realize her dreams. Bob, the store's manager, could finally retire and Antonio could give his wife and kids a whole new life. Two of the employees hatch a plan to make some quick cash, but the plan goes south. If only they'd waited, they'd find they were about to hit the jackpot - a $45 million one to be exact. From David Zabel and Jason Richman (DETROIT 1-8-7) comes a rich and compelling drama about what happens to a group of people when they win the lottery. While some dreams will be within reach, other problems will come to the surface and relationships will be tested in LUCKY 7.
MIND GAMES (formerly INFLUENCE)
Need help getting a job? How about convincing your daughter not to marry her loser boyfriend? Whatever it is you want, Clark (Steve Zahn, TREME) and Ross Edwards can help you get it. They're not magicians, nor wishful thinkers. Clark and Ross are brothers and partners in a unique agency committed to solving clients' problems using the hard science of psychological manipulation. Clark is a former professor and a world-renowned expert in the field of human behavior. He has a checkered history due to a bipolar disorder, which sometimes results in quirky, manic episodes. His older brother Ross has a story just as dramatic: a slick con man who spent some time in prison. Needless to say, each in their own way knows what makes people tick. Drawing from the most cutting edge research in psychology, they can tailor a plan to influence any situation. It's a little bit science, a little bit con artistry plus a smattering of Jedi mind tricks. The brothers, along with their team of master manipulators are offering clients an alternative to fate and they're changing lives along the way. Fall under the INFLUENCE of a unique and unconventional workplace drama from the executive producer Kyle Killen.
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