NBC might not be offering any new or returning comedies come this fall, but hopefully ABC knows we need some laughs as soon as possible. It sure seems like it, since the network announced their decision to picked up three sitcoms and one drama to series on Friday. Comedian Quinta Brunson is set to star in Abbott Elementary, the pilot of which she also penned, as one of “a group of dedicated, passionate teachers — and a slightly tone-deaf principal†who are “brought together in a Philadelphia public school where, despite the odds stacked against them, they are determined to help their students succeed in life.†Brunson will be joined by costars Tyler James Williams, Janelle James, Chris Perfetti, Lisa Anne Walter, and Sheryl Lee Ralph.
Based on a short film of the same name by Tim Curcio, with a pilot written by Maggie Mull and Justin Adler, Maggie stars Rebecca Rittenhouse as “a young woman trying to cope with life as a psychic,†alongside castmates David Del Rio, Nichole Sakura, Angelique Cabral, Leonardo Nam, Ray Ford, Chloe Bridges, Kerri Kenney, and Chris Elliott.
The only drama to be ordered to series by ABC today, Queens, written by Scandal writer Zahir McGee, features Eve, Brandy, Nadine Velazquez, and Naturi Naughton as four 40-something women who “reunite for a chance to recapture their fame and regain the swagger they had as the Nasty Bitches—their ’90s group that made them legends in the hip-hop world.†And with stage names like Professor Sex, Da Thrill, Butter Pecan, and Xplicit Lyrics, how could they not?
Finally, and unsurprisingly, the network has also picked up the new Wonder Years from executive producer Lee Daniels. With Don Cheadle providing narration, the reboot will be “a coming-of-age story set in the late 1960s that takes a nostalgic look at a Black middle-class family in Montgomery, Alabama, through the point-of-view of imaginative 12-year-old Dean,†played by Elisha “EJ†Williams. He’ll be joined by Psych’s Dulé Hill and Saycon Sengbloh as his parents Bill and Lillian, and Laura Kariuki as his sister Kim. All of which makes us want to get on our couch and start waiting for primetime now. Just kidding, we were planning on spending the next three months there anyway.