Good news for ABC, NBC sitcoms, 'Joan', 'Still Life'
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Networks Putting Money on Laffers
By Nellie Andreeva
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - In a vote of confidence for its new
comedies, ABC has ordered four additional scripts each from "Hope &
Faith," "I'm With Her," "It's All Relative" and "Married to the
Kellys."
Meanwhile, after a promising ratings spike Tuesday, NBC has ordered
five additional scripts from freshman comedies "Whoopi" and "Happy
Family." CBS has ordered six more from new drama "Joan of Arcadia,"
and Fox has ordered three more from its upcoming midseason drama
series "Still Life."
The script orders bode well for the freshman shows as they often are a
precursor to additional episode pickups.
If ABC gives so-called back-nine orders to "Hope & Faith," "I'm With
Her," "It's All Relative" and "Married to the Kellys," it would mark
the second year in a row that ABC has picked up all its new comedies
for a full season.
An extra nine episodes would fill out an initial 13-episode order,
making for a full season's worth of 22 episodes.
While "Hope & Faith" has emerged as a breakout hit for ABC on its new
TGIF block Fridays, "I'm With Her," "It's All Relative" and "Married
to the Kellys" also have held well on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday,
respectively.
After a strong premiere, "Whoopi" struggled in the Tuesday 8 p.m.
slot, facing the late John Ritter's final episodes on ABC's "8 Simple
Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter," but rebounded nicely this week
despite running against Fox's postseason baseball coverage.
"Joan of Arcadia" also was hot out of the gate, jump-starting the
network's new Friday lineup at 8 p.m.
"Still Life" is a family drama from the point of view of their
recently deceased 20-year-old son. The David Keith-starrer was one of
two drama series Fox ordered for midseason, along with "Wonderfalls."
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter