ABC’s ahead-of-the-curve prediction that America was longing for an escape into ye stories of olde has paid off: Last Man Standing has received a full-season order, guaranteeing many more half-hours of Tim Allen grunting about the women-folk while audiences close their eyes and pretend it’s the ’90s again, maybe also putting on Us3’s “Cantaloop” in the background and clutching a wad of Monopoly money. The network has also officially picked up Once Upon A Time after only two airings—hardly a surprise, since it’s the highest-rated new drama of the fall season—which means that the show can probably slow down on digging up every single fairy tale in the public domain vault, lest it’s reduced in its second season to episodes about, say, giant turnips. Guest-starring Toby Jones as the turnip.
While ABC was in a giving mood, it also granted a full-season pickup to underdog sitcom Happy Endings, which is sort of the TV equivalent of a hundred critics clapping to bring it back to life. Meanwhile, Pan Am—another expensive drama that frequently dissolves into outlandish fantasy, but perhaps not fantastical enough for modern tastes—got a probationary order of five additional scripts. Those will be overseen by recently drafted showrunner Steven Maeda (Lie To Me, Lost), a TV veteran who’s been brought in to help kick things up a notch, maybe by making all of the stewardesses undercover spies. Or revealing that they’re all secretly princesses; audiences seem to like that sort of thing right now. [via L.A. Times]