Alongside its new series pickups, ABC tonight has decided to renew Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Castle, The Goldbergs, Grey's Anatomy, The Middle, Modern Family, Once Upon a Time, Resurrection, Revenge and Scandal.Unlike the other four broadcast networks, ABC hadn't handed out early renewals to any of its returning series - leaving the network with a couple of no-brainer decisions tonight. Of course, ABC would pick up another season of Modern Family, Grey's Anatomy and Scandal - they are the network's highest rated original series. Once Upon a Time and Castle continue to be solid performers for the network - and they need stability if they're gonna attempt to rebuild next season.
The 2013-14 season was a rough one for ABC. So, the three freshman series who actually held up pretty well in the ratings - Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Goldbergs and Resurrection - were basically guaranteed renewals as well. It should be interesting if the network keeps Resurrection at a limited run of episodes or expands its second season to the standard 22 episodes. Also, noteworthy will be whether The Goldbergs stays put on Tuesdays or moves to the Wednesday comedy block.
Revenge is truly the only bubble show on the network's schedule that got a pick up tonight. It's ratings haven't been that great as of late. But syndication prospects probably helped push it over the line.
More interesting are the series that have yet to hear anything. That list includes Last Man Standing, The Middle, Mixology, Nashville, The Neighbors, Suburgatory, Super Fun Night and Trophy Wife. From that list, I would bet on Last Man Standing, The Middle and Nashville getting additional seasons. The odds on both The Neighbors and Suburgatory went down tonight after ABC picked up new comedies from both series creators - Dan Fogelman's Galavant and Emily Kapnek's Selfie. And as always, I desperately want a Trophy Wife renewal - even though it doesn't seem likely.
UPDATE - Well, it's almost midnight my time - meaning it's already past midnight on the East Coast. And ABC has announced a renewal of The Middle for a sixth season. That's nice. I enjoy the show. It's just an awkward time to make that announcement.
