Huang also says he now appreciates the place Fresh Off the Boat has in advancing the portrayal of Asian Americans on TV.
“It’s done a lot not just for Asian Americans but people of color in America,” Huang says. “It started a very important conversation. It’s been very productive for culture. That’s what I’m most proud of. I can’t be proud of the show because I don’t watch it. I don’t have emotions about the show, but I have emotions about what the show means socioeconomically.”
Huang also says he doesn’t see himself making a return to the show. “I don’t think so, and it’s not like I’m upset, it’s just that it’s not for me and they’re doing fine without me. I don’t think the show needs me, nor do I need to be a part of the show. It’s its own kind of organism now. That’s fine. I put a baby up for adoption. It’s tough. It’s hard in the beginning but you live with the decision you make.”
We caught up with the cast of the new ABC sitcom at the Television Critics Association winter press tour.
by Jim Halterman1/10/2016In the upcoming ABC sitcom The Real O’Neals, Noah Galvin plays 16-year old Kenny O’Neal, who upends his picture-perfect Irish Catholic family when he comes out as gay.
At the show’s TCA panel on Saturday, Galvin was asked how he thinks audiences will respond to a gay teen coming out on a half-hour, single-camera sitcom.
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“There is a very clear distinction between how young people view the show as opposed to older people, who [may] have gone through this,” he explained.
“I’m gay myself and I haven’t gone through a lot of the things that Kenny goes through in the series,” added the 21-year-old actor, who has primarily worked in theater.
ABC
To that point, Galvin admitted he was unsure whether the show would come across as innovative.
“I [thought], ’Is this crazy, is it new and groundbreaking?’”
But he played the pilot for an older friend, and “they were astounded by it.”
It also helps that Kenny’s not the only character who “comes out” on The Real O’Neals—we learn his father, a Chicago cop, is secretly contemplating divorce; his athlete brother is anorexic; and his little sister has been stealing money from their church.
ABC
What’s more, the show—loosely based on writer/activist Dan Savage’s childhood—places the onus on people who aren’t accepting of Kenny’s orientation.
“It’s normalizing Kenny and making the fearful homophobes the weirdos, which is what I like about it,” Martha Plimpton, who plays Kenny’s devout Catholic mother, told us at the panel.
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“But I think it does it in a very warm and, I think, conventional way.”
Those “fearful homophobes” include right wing groups the Media Research Center, which decried the gay storyline and Savage’s involvement when the show was picked up last May.
ABC
Galvin added that, despite all the advances we’ve made, Kenny could still be a beacon to younger viewers struggling with coming out.
“I would hope that this would open the eyes of many young kids who are watching this,” he told us.
Executive producer Todd Holland told NNN that while they never quizzed auditioning actors about their orientation, “it was very important to me that a gay kid play this role.”
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Galvin was a front runner for the part based on his talent, added Holland, who has worked on acclaimed shows like Wonderfalls, Malcolm in the Middle and My So-Called Life.
But “for the top dog in the whole competition to be a really confident gay kid is just so satisfying.”
ABC put The Muppets on the air, even though it has yet to shoot a pilot.ABC
Talk to anybody who works in television and they’ll freely express how the next five to 10 years are critical for the industry. Everything is going to change.
In the future, networks will probably be brands, more than anything else. When you can watch anything at any time on any number of platforms, it really won’t matter where it came from. That’s a problem if you’re a company whose entire reason for existing is providing content to viewers that can be supported by advertising.
So if you’re, say, ABC, you’re probably thinking about this strange new world. And if you’re ABC, you might decide everything could be solved with branding.
ABC is getting relentless in its branding
ABCThe new serial killer drama Wicked City is apparently part of ABC’s strategy to appeal to millennials.
I’ve often thought that CBS and ABC seem especially well-positioned to survive the upcoming TV Ragnarok — CBS for its giant war chest of cash, and ABC because of all four major networks, I most know what an ABC show is. It’s soapy and sexy and often has a female lead — think Scandal or Nashville. And if it’s a comedy, it’s probably centered on a goofy family of one sort or another — like Modern Family or Fresh Off the Boat.
By contrast, Fox seems as if it will eventually just disappear into 20th Century Fox, its parent corporation (and arguably is already in the early stages of this), while NBC … well, who knows what NBC is doing.
But it’s also possible this assumption is just ABC getting under my skin subconsciously. At the network’s day at the 2015 Television Critics Association summer press tour, everybody up there pitching the network’s shows, both new and old, was relentlessly on-message when it came to what it meant to be an ABC show. The biannual executive session featured network president Paul Lee saying the word “ABC” so often that it almost seemed as if he were inventing a drinking game.
In some ways, this is why Lee is the perfect network head for this age. He really does believe that this enhanced branding isn’t just necessary but true. At one point, he said something about how nobody in TV does heroines like ABC heroines — and even though this is a golden age of lead roles for women on television, I still found myself half believing him, because, hey, ABC does have a lot of shows prominently starring women, including the long-running hit Grey’s Anatomy and the upcoming Quantico. (At one point, the star of that latter show, Bollywood superstar Priyanka Chopra, making her American television debut, said all of the golden-age TV programs that made her want to star on American TV were on ABC. Clearly, the network’s talking points were strong.)
The network also has the cocky swagger of one that really thinks it’s on the right path. It picked up a new series about the Muppets much more quickly than anybody anticipated, and it only sent critics the first five minutes of its upcoming drama Wicked City, when the expected practice is to send the full pilot or skip sending anything entirely if the pilot’s really disastrous. Just five minutes? Whatever. ABC doesn’t care.
(That pilot, it should be said, also opens with a man receiving oral sex from a woman, then murdering her like she was cannon fodder in a slasher movie. When the producers got up to explain what they were thinking, they said they hoped to make a show full of strong women — and, again, because this is ABC, where nobody does heroines like ABC heroines, I half believed them!)
But it’s working
ABCHow to Get Away With Murder, starring Viola Davis, was a big part of ABC’s recent surge.
Whatever Lee is doing (even if it’s just leaning into the cyclical nature of the television industry), it’s turning the network’s fortunes around. ABC’s ratings were up more than any of the big four networks in the 2014-’15 season, launching a staggering number of new hits, including Black-ish and How to Get Away With Murder, which posted some of the best numbers for new shows in years.
Lee occasionally seems like a collection of Twitter hashtags piled on top of each other in the rough form of a man — he spent much of his session telling reporters that Wicked Cityhad tested “through the roof!” with millennials, who don’t really watch TV utilizing traditional methods — but there’s something about his relentless belief that branding will save everybody that makes him seem like some sort of weirdly prophetic figure.
Of all major network heads, Lee alone seems most interested in incorporating literally every storytelling option he can think of. He’ll try miniseries. He’ll do big, serialized soaps. He’ll toss out a detective show or two. He’ll even offer a musical about a singing knight.
He also continues to be one of the boldest major TV executives in terms of backing projects he really believes in. His taste is a little weird — like he really loves that daffy musical Galavant for some reason — but he is more likely to back, say, the incredibly grimAmerican Crime, which tells a brand new ripped-from-the-headlines story about the intersections of race, gender, class, and power every season. Crime didn’t get great ratings, but Lee really loved it, so it’s back. And the Emmys backed up that faith, rewarding the show with 10 nominations — and propelling ABC to the highest nomination total of any of the broadcast networks.
Lee doesn’t seem to always know what the future is, but unlike other networks’ heads, he’s always running heedlessly toward it. He’ll find out if there’s light at the end of the tunnel when he gets there, and if there is, he might just take ABC with him to salvation.
1. Remember when the Black-ish trailer first aired, promising the story of a well-to-do African-American father grappling with how to ensure that his family maintains a sense of cultural identity in the face of his and his wife’s success? The premise was met with reservations, side eyes and several questions, like, was Black-ish going to be the new Cosby Show? And what exactly did they mean by “Black … ish“?
2. But Black-ish creator Kenya Barris and the show’s writing staff let us know what kind of show we could expect and quickly won skeptics over with defining moments like this one from episode 3, “the Nod,” in which Dre teaches his son, Junior, about the long-standing tradition of acknowledging other black people with a simple head nod. As Barris stated, “The show is about a black family—not about a family that happens to be black.”
3. Not only did Black-ish introduce us to the charming and delightful Johnson kids, masterfully played by Yara Shahidi, Marcus Scribner, Miles Brown and Marsai Martin …
4. … but we’ve also had the pleasure of watching their parents, Andre (Dre) and Rainbow (Bow) Johnson, played by Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross—who experienced very different upbringings—hilariously employ a “make it up as they go” method of parenting, seldom getting on the same page about anything other than the fact that they both love their children.
5. Dre and Bow’s parenting efforts are further complicated by Pops, Dre’s father, played by Tony and Emmy Award winner Laurence Fishburne, who represents a more “old school” way of thinking and is always criticizing and questioning Dre’s parenting skills … and his blackness.
6. The show added another layer of hilarity when it introduced Dre’s mother and Pop’s ex-wife, Ruby, played by everybody’s favorite aunt, Jenifer Lewis, serving up her signature scene-stealing style as she constantly spoils Dre and butts heads with Bow.
7. Then Black-ish topped it off with Dre’s quirky co-worker, Charlie Telphy, played by Deon Cole, who can best be described as “touched.”
8. Together these endearing characters take America inside the living room of a black family as it tackles issues such as how (some) black people refuse to acknowledge their gay relatives, and how (most) black people don’t vote Republican.
9. In doing so, Black-ish, through the use of “inside” jokes and references, gives many African Americans the (not-so-common) opportunity to watch characters on TV with whom we identify culturally while it shares these experiences with a broader audience. Most impressive is the show’s ability to entertain both groups in the process, like the time Dre and his sister, played by Raven-Symoné, had an entire conversation about nothing by stringing together a series of phrases—familiar to many African Americans—that have absolutely no relevance.
10. Not only has Black-ish brought us the first black-family sitcom on a network in years, but its success has already helped open the door for more shows centered on families of color, such as ABC’s forthcoming Uncle Buck and Dr. Ken.
What are some of your favorite moments from Black-ish’s first season?
As the world continues to learn how to live in a post–Mad Men world, Vulture got a moment to speak with the representative of one of the show’s most beloved characters: Stan’s beard. Speaking on behalf of his gone-but-not-forgotten facial hair is Jay R. Ferguson, who played Stan Rizzo in the final four seasons of Mad Men. In addition to indulging our beard-related queries, Ferguson also reveals himself as the original “Steggy” ‘shipper and talks us through the difficulties of learning to love again after the magic that was Mad Men.
There was some talk online that the resolution of Stan and Peggy’s relationship was too pat, that it happened too quickly. As someone who was actually involved, did you feel like it was an accurate representation of the characters, or did you feel like it was a little rushed? Well, from a purely selfish standpoint of enjoying working with Lizzie [Moss] so much, I just wish that we could have had more, just so we could have had more work together, but … [sigh]. I don’t know, I think that if there had been any more buildup to it, it would have been too obvious. To me, I saw it coming a mile away anyway, even as subtle as it was. Really, I think all of the purest fans out there that had been paying attention had to have seen it coming, or at least suspected that it was a possibility. I think that the buildup that some people wanted or felt like it should have had, it’s been having as a slow burn for the last four or five years.
How long have you known that that relationship was heading to that place? And how much of it was just chemistry between actors? I like to believe that a lot of it has to do with our chemistry. Stan was, from what I’ve been told, only supposed to be around a couple of episodes when he first came on the show. Obviously things changed, and certainly Lizzie and I being such good friends in real life didn’t hurt, as we were able to bring a little bit of that onto the show, but as far as how long I’ve known known, I did not know know until I got the last script.
Oh, wow.
Other people knew, but I told them I didn’t want anybody to tell me anything, I just wanted to let it happen as it happened and then let me find out that way. From my first day on the job, I pulled Matt [Weiner] aside and I said, “So these two are eventually going to hook up, right?” And he looked at me with this look of, like, No, you dumbass, and said, “No! No! You’re way off!” and went into this spiel about how it’s not like that. I think that at the time, he really did mean it. I don’t think he was trying to throw me off. At the time, it was a disgusting thought to him, but I just always felt like it had that feeling to me.
Now, that also is based on never really having had the experience of being on a show that doesn’t necessarily do what you expect them to do. I’m used to the obvious thing happening, and it wasn’t the obvious thing, as it turned out. They ended up together, but it was way more complicated than I thought in the beginning. From what the writers have told me, it was in season six, I believe, that the trigger was finally pulled to put that story into motion. So that means that for my first two seasons on the show, that was not the direction it was heading in.
That’s amazing.
But I had no idea. I had zero idea. I had my suspicions, like I said. When given the opportunity, I would try and play that up a little bit as much as I could without it being too obvious. So I was really delighted. Lizzie and I were cheering secretly for that to happen the whole time as well, so we were really happy.
To just even have a scene in the finale of this iconic show would have been fine. To just be a face without any words would have been fine, but to have what I had, with all of the other stuff they had to handle in that finale, to have been blessed with such an important part of that last episode and last season, really, was just so special to me.
It’s interesting to me that you always saw the relationship between Stan and Peggy like that because I think that warmth came through, even from the beginning, when Stan was kind of a dick. He seemed like a very winning dick, which is not the case with a lot of the characters on Mad Men. I’m not sure what the initial intention was for Stan on the show, I should probably ask Matt that someday. I would imagine, though, that in the beginning, his presence was supposed to serve as a notice being given that Peggy is coming into her own. Here comes this jokey, misogynistic guy, and she just handles him like a little lackey. I can only assume that that’s the purpose that character was intended to serve. Then it took a turn and became a really great friendship and, like a lot of great romances, this one started with a really special friendship. It’s so great to now not have to play the whole, “Oh, Stan and Peggy? Oh no, are you kidding? That’s a crazy idea!” I’ve been having to do that forever, and it’s been so brutal.
It must be very surreal to be able to talk about the show with such candor and not worry about spoiling anything and being fired. Or worse. Oh, you can’t imagine. I’ve never had to do that before, and of course, that was the main question that came up in every interview I would do before the finale. And if they were on-camera interviews, then I’d really be nervous because then I’m worried about people reading into my body language, and I’m a terrible liar. It’s not a question that you can just answer with, “No.” You have to elaborate and go into whatever bullshit reason you’re making up that it makes sense that they wouldn’t get together.
One of the things that made Stan such a great character was how he brought a comedic aspect to everything, but I’m also interested because he always seemed a bit like the most togethermember of the staff. He was very content, which is not something we saw from characters on the show a lot, and which is something Peggy pushed back at a lot because she assumed that meant he was settling. What was it like to have a sense of self-satisfaction within that character when so many of his co-workers were lost? That’s interesting, I’ve never really thought about it that way, but I agree. When Stan started to let go of his ego a little bit and, not coincidentally, about the time he started to go hippie, the beard and the pot-smoking and all of that stuff, it seemed that about that time he softened up in terms of, he wanted to do good work but he wasn’t as consumed with seeing his name in lights anymore.
Interestingly enough, I was so blessed on so many different levels, but they gave me that line in the finale, of, “There’s more to life than work,” because I feel like that line, it wasn’t just Stan saying that to Peggy, that was a message from the show to the world. It was a very broad statement, and I think that was what Stan had come to embody on the show, the one guy [who balances] doing good work but not letting it consume his life and still having a life outside of the job. Ultimately, that resonates with Peggy, too, when he says it to her, and maybe in some small way, [that] is what helps to encourage her to stay.
Looking ahead, you have a new sitcom coming up called The Real O’Neals. Are you excited to transition to pure comedy? Yeah, totally. It could not be more of a 180 from Mad Men, character-wise, show-wise, everything. It’s a whole new ball of wax. It’s very exciting and terrifying.
It’s very hard to say good-bye to Mad Men. I’ve likened it to getting your heart broken that first time and you feel like you’ll never love again. You can’t even fathom ever having that feeling again because it was so special and so intense and you’ve never felt it before, but ultimately, you do. I can only hope and pray that I can be honored with that feeling once again down the road in my career because it is a wonderful feeling. So now I’m dating again. Now I’m in that process, and this new show is my new girlfriend. We’re still in the beginning stages, so we’ll see where it goes, but I’m very excited about it.
So the beard is gone. I have seen and can verify that the beard is gone. The beard is gone.
How long did it take you to grow and maintain that magnificent beard? Let me see, so, the first season I had it, season six, I believe, it was large. It took maybe two months, give or take, and then I came in and it was too big, so they trimmed it down. But then, somehow, in both halves of season seven, especially in the second one even more than the first, it was even bigger. I didn’t even realize it at the time until they started coming on TV and I was like, Holy shit, man. That thing is just out of hand. It was so large. It was just a mass of hair. I felt so bad for Lizzie in that scene because it’s this wonderful moment of these two characters finally coming together and you assume that there’s two people kissing underneath there somewhere, but you have no idea because visually all you see is this mass of hair covering everything. It’s just crazy, man. So, to answer your question, it took a couple months to grow, and then they would maintain it throughout filming and cut it for me and trim it, keep it looking crazy.
Jay R. Ferguson as Stan Rizzo and Elisabeth Moss as Peggy Olson – Mad Men _ Season 7B, Episode 14
So it’s like a pet, but someone else took care of it. You just had to home it. Yeah. And then when the show ended, it took me awhile to bring myself to cut it.
Aww. But I did, eventually, I cut the sides off first and then I just walked around with this humongous, Lebowski-ish goatee that grew to such an absurd length, and then, I mean, I really didn’t want to let it go. And then I shaved the mustache off and I just had this chin thing that was like a foot long, and then it was just like, “Okay, what am I doing?”
I think this is the new stages of grief. Stages of Jay’s post–Mad Men beard. It was tough to separate.
Last week, the five broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, The CW, FOX, and NBC) held their annual upfronts event to present their upcoming fall and midseason lineups to press and advertisers. During this week the networks also reveal which of their series will be renewed for new seasons or cancelled. While broadcast will be losing several LGBT-inclusive shows, they’ve also renewed a good number of inclusive series and ordered some exciting new content as well.
Check back this fall for GLAAD’s full Where We Are on TV report analyzing the overall diversity of primetime scripted series regulars on broadcast networks and looking at the number of LGBT characters on cable networks for the upcoming 2015-2016 TV season.
While there isn’t a lot of information out yet – particularly about series with large ensemble casts – we do know of a handful of new LGBT-inclusive series coming to broadcast in the fall or midseason schedules.
ABC has ordered a new comedy series, The Real O’Neals, to premiere in midseason. The series, which is loosely based on the life of Dan Savage, follows a seemingly perfect Catholic family whose lives take an unexpected turn when middle son Kenny comes out. The rest of the family reveal their own surprising secrets and the honesty inspires the family to stop pretending to be perfect and start being real with each other. The new drama Quantico, airing Tuesdays at 10 on ABC, follows a group of recruits going through training at the FBI’S Quantico base when one of them is suspected of being the mastermind behind a devastating terrorist attack on American soil. The group includes FBI trainee Simon who is seen kissing his boyfriend in the series trailer. Check out the trailers for The Real O’Neals and Quantico below.
The CW has ordered a new superhero show, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, from out executive producer Greg Berlanti (Arrow, The Flash, CBS’ upcoming Supergirl, NBC’s upcoming Blindspot) to the network’s midseason schedule. Legends of Tomorrow will see Caity Lotz return as Sara Lance, a bisexual character who died on Arrow, but is now the “White Canary” after having been resurrected through the mythical Lazarus Pits. White Canary will team up with several other heroes to defeat an immortal threat, and perhaps reunite with her former love Nyssa. Legends will also feature out actors Victor Garber and Wentworth Miller in regular roles. Check out the trailer below.
FOX has ordered two new LGBT-inclusive series for the fall; the half-hour comedy Grandfathered (Tuesdays, 8pm) and Miami-based procedural Rosewood (Wednesdays, 8pm). Grandfathered stars John Stamos as the ultimate bachelor and a successful restaurateur who suddenly finds himself going from single to father and grandfather in one fell swoop. Kelly Jenrette stars as his lesbian assistant restaurant manager Annelise. Rosewood follows brilliant private pathologist Dr. Beaumont Rosewood (Morris Chestnut) who does for-hire autopsies to find what the police miss. Rosewood’s sister Pippy (Gabrielle Dennis) is the “toxicology queen” of the practice and her fiancé Tara Milly Izikoff (Anna Konkle) works for the practice as a DNA specialist.
Several LGBT-inclusive series were also renewed for new seasons. On ABC, the sitcoms Modern Family and The Middle will return, and reality series Dancing with the Stars will be back for a new season with the out judge Bruno Tonioli. The “Thank God It’s Thursday” block has all been renewed: Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal will return for their twelfth and fifth season respectively, and How to Get Away with Murder (which recently took home the GLAAD Media Award in Outstanding Drama Series) is returning for a second season. Country music drama Nashville was also renewed for a fourth season, and the most recent season finale included aspiring star Will finally coming out publicly. Canadian police drama Rookie Blue‘s fifth season will premiere this summer.
On CBS, Person of Interest was renewed for a new truncated season, while the third season of the supernatural drama Under the Dome, which includes a lesbian attorney, will premiere June 25. The CW picked up new seasons of The 100, Arrow, The Flash, Jane the Virgin, and The Originals. Cycle 22 of America’s Next Top Model will return August 5.
FOX ordered new seasons of Empire, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Bones, Gotham, New Girl, and The Simpsons. NBC has renewed reality series The Biggest Loser and the Jane Lynch-hosted Hollywood Game Night, as well as scripted series The Mysteries of Laura and The Night Shift. NBC has also renewed the comedy Undateable, but the third season will be aired entirely live. Hannibal‘s third season will premiere next month.
In less happy news, broadcast is losing several LGBT-inclusive series. ABC’s Revenge, which boasted one of TV’s few bisexual male characters in fan favorite Nolan Ross, wrapped its fourth and final season this month. ABC also officially cancelled the sitcom Manhattan Love Story which featured a recurring gay character, Tucker. The CW officially cancelled Hart of Dixie with this month’s fourth season finale serving as the series finale. CBS axed the LGBT-inclusive comedies The Millers and The McCarthys.
Glee‘s final season wrapped up on Fox in March and it was announced that The Following‘s current season will be its last. The network has also cancelled freshman comedies Backstrom, Mulaney, and Weird Loners, as well as freshman drama Red Band Society. Fox also cancelled The Mindy Project which has included lesbian and gay recurring characters, but Hulu picked up the series and ordered a 26-episode new season. NBC cancelled their LGBT-inclusive freshman comedies Marry Me and One Big Happy, and drama Parenthood‘s final season wrapped in January.
Don’t forget to check back with GLAAD this fall when we release our full Where We Are on TV report analyzing the overall diversity of primetime scripted series regulars on broadcast networks and looking at the number of LGBT characters on cable networks for the upcoming 2015-2016 TV season.
Let us know: what are you going to be tuning in to this fall?
If it comes down to winning Emmys or having a large audience, Peter Liguori, the CEO of Tribune Media, would prefer the audience.
Tribune Media owns WGN America, which has original series including “Salem” and “Manhattan,” and plans to add more. Speaking at a conference, Liguori laid out his vision for what these shows could be.
“If you look at HBO and FX, there’s a big focus on Emmys,” he said, according to the Hollywood Reporter. “Emmys don’t necessarily create return on investment. Those types of shows play to the coasts. I want to be able to create great programming that creates buzz that is accessible to middle America.”
Liguori was talking about television viewers. But to political obsessives, when someone talks about the coasts and middle America, what’s left unsaid but very much implied is “liberal elites” versus “flyover country” — red states versus blue states. But does TV really break down that way, and is getting a “return on your investment” as easy as putting together red-state-friendly shows like “Duck Dynasty” or a Ronald Reagan biopic?
Not necessarily. Below are the seven most-viewed primetime network shows for the week ending May 3, according to Zap2it. For six of the seven — all except for “The Big Bang Theory” — the top-rated show, Democratic viewers outnumber Republican ones, according to another set of data from 2012.
Political affiliation of viewers of top-rated television shows
by percentage
In fact, according to the fall 2014 GfK-MRI Survey of the American Consumer, a slightly larger percentage of TV viewers identify as Democratic than Republican, about 34 percent to 31 percent, respectively, with about 31 percent identifying as either independent or having no party affiliation (numbers that echo America as a whole). There are other highly rated shows that skew Republican, including “The Blacklist” and “NCIS,” but when it comes to the top-rated shows, their audiences lean a little to the left.
Entertainment Weekly and Experian Marketing Services looked at the most Republican and Democratic shows in January. The full list is interesting and worth looking at, if you’re into that sort of thing, but here’s a sampling of shows from their list with the highest percentage of their audience that identified with a party, according to the GfK survey.
Shows with audiences that skew more Republican
by percentage
Shows with audiences that skew more Democratic
by percentage
Republicans are more likely to watch “Duck Dynasty,” which we knew, and “Scandal” and “Project Runway” have very Democratic audiences, which also makes sense, given the thrust of the shows. But who knew that HGTV, with its “Love It Or List It” and “House Hunters,” was so beloved by Republicans? Or that “Glee” is so evenly divided (independents did not watch that show, it turns out)?
The data show reaching “middle America” on TV isn’t a simple red state-blue state thing. We’re a lot more of a purple country than dual-color presidential election maps can show, with coastal Republicans who enjoy Emmy-winning shows and “flyover country” Democrats watching “The Voice,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” and “Survivor.” For television executives who want to reach a wide audience, that means attracting viewers of all political persuasions.
Media Research Center President Brent Bozell joined Sean Hannity on his eponymous Fox News Channel (FNC) program Thursday evening and ripped ABC for deciding to air a sitcom this fall that’s loosely based on the life of anti-religious bigot Dan Savage.
Entertainment Weekly 5/7/2015 by James Hibberd, Natalie Abrams
It’s time to play the music. It’s time to light the lights. And it’s time for a grown-up reboot of The Muppet Show to get a series order at ABC!
The Muppets will officially return to prime time with a contemporary, documentary-style show (first photo above). For the first time ever, the series will explore the Muppets’ personal lives and relationships, both at home and at work, as well as romances, break-ups, achievements, disappointments, wants and desires—a more adult Muppet show, for kids of all ages. The recent pilot presentation, we’re told, received a standing ovation when it screened for ABC executives a couple weeks ago. Bill Prady and Bob Kushell are co-writers and executive producers alongside Randall Einhorn and Bill Barretta.
The news comes on the heels of ABC ordering six dramas, including Shonda Rhimes’ The Catch, Don Johnson’s untitled oil boom project, biblical saga Of Kings and Prophets, FBI thriller Quantico, anthology series Wicked City and the Joan Allen-starring project The Family. ABC also renewed many of its current shows, while canceling three dramas.
Other ABC comedy prospects Dr. Ken and The Real O’Neals also scored series pick-ups late Thursday.
Dr. Ken stars Community star Ken Jeong as Dr. Ken, a brilliant physician with no bedside manner. He is always trying to be a good doctor, as well as a good husband and dad to his two kids. However, these good intentions have a way of driving everyone crazy at both work and at home. Luckily, his therapist wife Allison is just the right partner to keep things sane. Jeong, Jared Stern and Mike O’Connell penned the comedy and will executive-produce with John Davis, John Fox and Mike Sikowitz.
The Real O’Neals is a contemporary take on a seemingly perfect Catholic family, whose lives take an unexpected turn when surprising truths are revealed. Instead of ruining their family, the honesty triggers a new, messier chapter where everyone stops pretending to be perfect and actually starts being real. David Windsor and Casey Johnson wrote the pilot and will executive-produce with Brian Pines, Dan McDermott and Dan Savage. Martha Plimpton, Jay R. Ferguson, Noah Galvin, Matthew Shively, Bebe Wood and Mary Hollis Inboden star.
The news comes on the heels of ABC ordering six dramas, including Shonda Rhimes’ The Catch, Don Johnson’s untitled oil boom project, biblical saga Of Kings and Prophets, FBI thriller Quantico, anthology series Wicked City and the Joan Allen-starring project The Family.
More to come: We’re in the thick of a frantic annual three-day period of TV broadcasters making big decisions, so expect more series orders today—and perhaps some verdicts on existing shows as well. Follow @jameshibberd and @natalieabrams for up-to-the-minute details.
If you’re expecting the appearance of “A.D.: The Bible Continues” on NBC to be a harbinger of things to come on network television, don’t start saying your thanksgiving rosaries just yet.
The drama, based on the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles and other historical sources regarding the years after the Crucifixion, is not exactly burning up the ratings charts — although, at 5.47M viewers for the last episode, it’s not a disaster either — and it’s definitely on the bubble for renewal.
In the end, it might depend on how badly NBC wants to continue to be in business with “The Voice” producer Mark Burnett and wife Roma Downey — and Burnett’s not one to let something go easily.
That aside, this is the week before the annual upfront presentations in New York City — where the networks showcase their new programming and schedules for advertisers, in hopes that they’ll buy up available advertising spots in advance, or “up front.”
The renewals and cancellations are coming thick and fast, along with news of new-series pickups. So far, there’s nothing to that specifically looks to make Catholic viewers happy — other than the sorts of mainstream shows we like that everybody else does, too – and there might be a thing or two that ruffles feathers.
An epic Biblical saga of faith, ambition and betrayal as told through the eyes of a battle-weary king, a powerful and resentful prophet and a resourceful young shepherd on a collision course with destiny.
Ray Winstone plays King Saul: Haaz Sleiman (seen most recently in the title role of NatGeo Channel’s “Killing Jesus”) plays Jonathan; Maisie Richardson-Sellars plays Michal; Oliver Rix is David; Simone Kessell plays Ahinoam; James Floyd is Ish-Boseth; Mohammed Bakri plays Samuel; and Tomer Kapon plays Jacob.
Before you get too excited, I noticed that one of the executive producers is Reza Aslan, who penned “Zealot,” the widely debunked retelling of the life of Christ. He’s not the only one involved, but it’s not exactly a good sign. We’ll have to wait and see.
* “Galavant”: ABC’s musical series — a loopy take-off on “Camelot” themes — got a surprising pickup, which is good news for song-and-dance fans everywhere. It was one bright spot in a generally dark, gritty and grim TV climate. If you missed it, click here to watch episodes online.
* “Supergirl”: CBS makes a rare foray into superhero drama. Melissa Benoist (“Glee”) stars as Kara Zor-El, a relative of Superman who also escaped Krypton and winds up on Earth. At 24, she decides to embrace her super-identity.
Producers for this one are Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg (“Arrow,” “The Flash”) and Ali Adler, who worked on “Glee” creator Ryan Murphy’s short-lived sitcom “The New Normal” on NBC, about a gay male couple hiring a surrogate to have a child to dress up and call their own.
That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement, but “The Flash” has turned out to quite good, and its upbeat take on the superhero genre won it a Christopher Award – click here to learn more about that from a conversation I had with Kreisberg.
Kreisberg also said that if you like the tone of “The Flash,” then, “our next project, ‘Supergirl,’ in some ways is even more hopeful in that sense.”
* “The Real O’Neals”: Despite the efforts of religious and conservative groups to keep this one from seeing the light of day, ABC has picked up the sitcom based on the life of sex columnist and gay activist Dan Savage, an ex-Catholic with no love for the Church he “walked out” of many years ago.
Martha Plimpton stars as the matriarch of a Catholic family whose perfect facade is upended when one of the kids comes out of the closet. Savage is one of the executive producers, but there are indications that, like ABC’s “Fresh Off the Boat” — which started with the life of food personality Eddie Huang and then veered off in a different direction — there’s no way to know at this point how much influence Savage has.
And, the recent track record for network comedies centered on gay themes isn’t good — NBC’s “The New Normal” and “Sean Saves the World,” with Sean Hayes, didn’t last long; and CBS’ “The McCarthys,” another comedy about a Catholic family with a gay son, was yanked early from the schedule this year and is considered axed.
Even on HBO, the San Francisco-based “Looking” limped along for two seasons with poor ratings before being canceled.
So, my advice is to do what I do when a show doesn’t land in my wheelhouse — just ignore it to death. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but it’s usually best to let the audience decide.
Now, if “The Real O’Neals” starts featuring active Catholic-bashing, that’s another thing and should be addressed, but otherwise, if it’s destined to fall of its own weight, I’m not going to get in the way.
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Several LGBT-inclusive series were also renewed for new seasons. On ABC, the sitcoms Modern Family and The Middle will return, and reality series Dancing with the Stars will be back for a new season with the out judge Bruno Tonioli. The “Thank God It’s Thursday” block has all been renewed: Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal will return for their twelfth and fifth season respectively, and 
On CBS, Person of Interest was renewed for a new truncated season, while the third season of the supernatural drama Under the Dome, which includes a lesbian attorney, will premiere June 25. The CW picked up new seasons of 
In less happy news, broadcast is losing several LGBT-inclusive series. ABC’s Revenge, which boasted one of TV’s few bisexual male characters in fan favorite Nolan Ross, wrapped its fourth and final season this month. ABC also officially cancelled the sitcom Manhattan Love Story which featured a recurring gay character, Tucker. The CW officially cancelled Hart of Dixie with this month’s fourth season finale serving as the series finale. CBS axed the LGBT-inclusive comedies The Millers and The McCarthys.
Glee‘s final season wrapped up on Fox in March and it was announced that The Following‘s current season will be its last. The network has also cancelled freshman comedies Backstrom, Mulaney, and Weird Loners, as well as freshman drama Red Band Society. Fox also cancelled The Mindy Project which has included lesbian and gay recurring characters, but Hulu picked up the series and ordered a 26-episode new season. NBC cancelled their LGBT-inclusive freshman comedies Marry Me and One Big Happy, and drama Parenthood‘s final season wrapped in January.
