<<

May 14, 2014

NINE NEW SHOWS ORDERED FROM ABC STUDIOS FOR THE 2014-15 SEASON

ABC Picks Up “American Crime,” “Black-ish,” “,” “How To Get Away With Murder,” “Manhattan Love Story,” “Marvel’s ,” “Secrets and Lies” and “The Whispers” from ABC Studios

FOX orders New Drama “Red Band Society”

ABC Studios had another banner development year with nine new shows ordered to series. New dramas “American Crime,” “How To Get Away with Murder,” “Marvel’s Agent Carter,” “Secrets and Lies,” “The Whispers,” along with new comedies “Black-ish,” “Galavant,” and “Manhattan Love Story,” were picked up at ABC. New drama “Red Band Society” was ordered at FOX.

Returning ABC Studios shows “Castle,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Nashville,” “Once Upon a Time,” “Revenge, “Resurrection,” “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” and “” on ABC join “” on CBS, “” on Lifetime, “Perception” on TNT and “” on TBS.

ABC Studios drama “Mistresses” premieres on ABC on MONDAY, JUNE 2 (10:00-11:00 p.m., ET). “Benched,” a half-hour comedy for USA is currently in production.

“I am extremely proud of our slate this year. We reached our goal of remaining the number one supplier of scripted programming for ABC while finding opportunities to expand our reach at the other broadcast and cable networks,” said Patrick Moran, EVP, ABC Studios.

The new series are:

“AMERICAN CRIME” All over the news are reports about a young couple in Modesto, , who were attacked in their home. Matt Skokie, a war vet, was killed, and his wife, Lily, is unconscious, barely hanging on. Both sets of parents are at her bedside hoping for a miracle while four suspects are about to be arrested. The case sends shock waves into the community stirring up tensions across racial lines in this gritty drama.

“American Crime” stars Felicity Huffman as Barb, Timothy Hutton as Russ, W. Earl Brown as Tom, Richard Cabral as Hector Tonz, Caitlin Gerard as Aubry, Benito Martinez as Alonzo Gutierrez, Penelope Ann Miller as Eve, Elvis Nolasco as Carter and Johnny Ortiz as Tony Gutierrez.

“American Crime” was written, directed and produced by John Ridley (“12 Years A Slave”). Executive producers are John Ridley and Michael J. McDonald. “American Crime” is produced by ABC Studios.

“BLACK-ISH” Andre ‘Dre’ Johnson () has a great job, a beautiful wife, Rainbow (), four kids, and a colonial home in the ‘burbs. But has success brought too much assimilation for this black family? With a little help from his dad (), Dre sets out to establish a sense of cultural identity for his family that honors their past while embracing the future.

“Black-ish” stars Anthony Anderson as Dre, Tracee Ellis Ross as Rainbow, as Zoey, as Andre Jr., as Jack, as Diane and Laurence Fishburne as Pops.

“Black-ish” was written by who also serves as executive producer. Executive producers are Larry Wilmore, Anthony Anderson, Laurence Fishburne, Helen Sugland, Tom Russo, Brian Dobbins, Peter Principato, Paul Young and James Griffiths, who directed the . “Black-ish” is produced by ABC Studios.

“GALAVANT” Screenwriter/executive producer (“Crazy, Stupid, Love,” “,” “Cars”) teams up with Broadway and Hollywood award-winning musical team—composer (“The Little Mermaid,” “Aladdin,” “Beauty and the Beast”) and lyricist (“The Little Mermaid,” “Tangled”)—for a musical comedy fairytale of epic proportions. Once upon a time, the dashing hero, Galavant (Joshua Sasse), lost the love of his life, Madalena (Mallory Jansen), to the evil King Richard (Timothy Omundson). Now, our fallen hero is ready to take revenge and restore his “happily ever after.” But it won’t be without a few twists and turns along the way.

“Galavant” stars Joshua Sasse as Galavant, Timothy Omundson as King Richard, Vinnie Jones as Gareth, Mallory Jansen as Madalena, Karen David as Isabella and Luke Youngblood as Sid.

“Galavant” was written by Dan Fogelman who also serves as executive producer. Executive producers are Alan Menken, Glenn Slater and Chris Koch. “Galavant” was directed by Chris Koch. Abbey C Studios Ltd. produces “Galavant” for ABC Studios.

“HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER” The brilliant, charismatic and seductive Professor () gets entangled with four law students from her class, “How to Get Away with Murder.” Little do they know that they will have to apply what they learned to real life, in this masterful, sexy, suspense-driven legal thriller from and Betsy Beers, executive producers of “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scandal.”

“How to Get Away with Murder” stars Viola Davis as Professor Annalise Keating, Billy Brown as Nate, Alfred Enoch as Wes, as Conner, Katie Findlay as Rebecca, as Michaela, Matt McGorry as Asher, as Laurel, as Frank and as Bonnie.

Written by executive producer Peter Nowalk, “How to Get Away with Murder” is executive-produced by Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers, directed by Michael Offer, and produced by ABC Studios.

“MANHATTAN LOVE STORY” Have you ever wondered what your date was thinking? This romantic comedy exposes the differences between men and women through the unfiltered thoughts, and often contradictory actions, of a new couple who have just begun dating.

“Manhattan Love Story” stars Analeigh Tipton as Dana, Jake McDorman as Peter, Nicolas Wright as David, Jade Catta-Preta as Amy, Chloe Wepper as Chloe and Kurt Fuller as William.

“Manhattan Love Story” was written by Jeff Lowell (“Drew Carey Show,” “Spin City”). Peter Traugott, Jeff Lowell, Robin Schwartz, Rachel Kaplan and Jon Liebman are executive producers. Michael Fresco directed the pilot. “Manhattan Love Story” is produced by ABC Studios.

“MARVEL’S AGENT CARTER” “Marvel's Agent Carter,” starring “’s” Hayley Atwell, follows the story of . It’s 1946, and peace has dealt Peggy Carter a serious blow as she finds herself marginalized when the men return home from fighting abroad. Working for the covert SSR (Strategic Scientific Reserve), Peggy must balance doing administrative work and going on secret missions for Howard Stark all while trying to navigate life as a single woman in America, in the wake of losing the love of her life – Steve Rogers. Inspired by the feature films “Captain America: The First Avenger” and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” along with the short “Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter.”

Starring Hayley Atwell as Agent Peggy Carter, “Marvel’s Agent Carter” was written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. Executive producers are Tara Butters, Michele Fazekas, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely, Chris Dingess, Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Alan Fine, Joe Quesada, Stan Lee and Jeph Loeb. “Marvel’s Agent Carter” is produced by ABC Studios and Marvel Television.

“RED BAND SOCIETY” (FOX) What if a hospital was your high school, boarding school, summer camp and playground? What if it was the place where you fell in love for the first time and made the friendships that last a lifetime – never knowing how long that lifetime will be? And what if it was the most fun you ever had in your entire life?

From ’s Amblin Television, starring Academy Award-winning actress (“The Help,” “Fruitvale Station”) and based on the award-winning Spanish series, “Polseres Vermelles,” “Red Band Society” is a provocative, unconventional and, at times, comic high school drama told through the eyes of a group of teenagers who meet as patients in the pediatric ward of Ocean View Hospital in .

“Red Band Society” is produced by ABC Studios in association with Amblin Television. The series is executive-produced by Steven Spielberg, Darryl Frank (“The Americans,” “Falling Skies”), Justin Falvey (“The Americans,” “Falling Skies”), Sergio Aguero (“Y Tu Mama Tambien”) and Margaret Nagle (“Boardwalk Empire,” “The Good Lie”). Nagle wrote the pilot and developed the project for American television. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (GLEE, “American Horror Story”) directed the pilot.

“SECRETS AND LIES” Ben Garner (Ryan Phillippe) is about to go from Good Samaritan to murder suspect, after he discovers the body of his neighbor's young son in the woods. As Detective Andrea Cornell (Juliette Lewis) digs for the truth, the secrets and lies of this town come to the surface and no one is above suspicion. Ben’s family’s life will be turned upside down as he sets out on a complicated journey to prove his innocence in this thriller mystery from Barbie Kligman (“Private Practice”) based on the original Australian series of the same name.

“Secrets and Lies” stars Ryan Phillippe as Ben, KaDee Strickland as Christy, Natalie Martinez as Jess, Clifton Collins, Jr. as Dave, Indiana Evans as Natalie, Belle Shouse as Abby and Juliette Lewis as Detective Cornell.

“Secrets and Lies” was written by Barbie Kligman. Executive producers are Barbie Kligman, Aaron Kaplan, Tracey Robertson and Nathan Mayfield. “Secrets and Lies” was directed by Charles McDougall, executive-produced by Kapital Entertainment with Hoodlum Entertainment and produced by ABC Studios.

“THE WHISPERS” Aliens have invaded Earth by using our most unlikely resource to achieve world domination—our children. As the kids unwittingly help these unseen enemies, the clock counts down in this suspenseful race to save humanity.

“The Whispers” stars as Claire Bennigan, Barry Sloane as Wes Lawrence, as John Doe/Drew Bennigan, Derek Webster as Jessup Rollins, Brianna Brown as Lena Lawrence, Catalina Denis as Dr. Maria Benavidez, Kylie Rogers as Minx Lawrence and Kyle Harrison Breitkopf as Henry.

“The Whispers” was written and co-executive-produced by Soo Hugh with Amblin TV co-producing. Executive producers are Steven Spielberg, Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank and Dawn Olmstead. “The Whispers” was directed by Mark Romanek and produced by ABC Studios.

Media Contact: Janet Daily, (818) 460-6456, [email protected]

--ABC--