Only a few days after binging on drama pilots, the American Broadcasting Company lives up to the “American” in its name and goes back for a second helping. It’s picked up four more shows for next season, this time a mixture of comedy and drama from some familiar names.
It wouldn’t be ABC if there weren’t an offering from Shonda Rhimes in the mix, and the latest offering from the network’s favorite super-producer is The Catch, a show about a “gutsy female forensic accountant” who is the rare person who is happy and fulfilled both at home and at work, “until a case comes along that threatens to turn her world upside down.” Hannibal’s Jennifer Schur will write the script. Rhimes deserves kudos for finding a forensic-related job that doesn’t already have a TV show around it, as does ABC, for snapping up a “forensic accountant” show before CBS (or CNBC).
ABC also picked up a semi-autobiographical single-camera sitcom from syndicated columnist Dan Savage, about a “picture-perfect family” whose world is turned upside-down when their son comes out of the closet, then ruins Google forever for Rick Santorum. The script comes from David Windsor and Casey Johnson, who previously worked together on Don’t Trust The B—— In Apartment 23, Trophy Wife, and Galavant. The show is still untitled, although It Gets Better is just sitting there.
From Josh Schwartz (The O.C., Chuck, Gossip Girl), comes the previously reported Broad Squad, a period drama about the first four female police academy graduates in late-’70s Boston, whose world is turned upside-down when they realize they’re not actually on Broad City.
And finally, another long-gestating comedy, this one from Arrested Development writer Brad Copeland (who also adapted the U.S. version of The Inbetweeners), sets up the National Lampoon’s Vacation reunion America’s been clamoring for, as Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo play two retirees who are enjoying their golden years, until their world is turned upside down when they’re stuck raising their grandchildren. Chev & Bev will be Chase’s first TV appearance since leaving Community, and surely won’t end badly for anyone involved.