The ABC portion of the TCA Summer Press Tour begins today, and we will be tweeting throughout from @KSiteTV in addition to posting a run-down here.
Here are highlights from August 4, which will feature Tyra Banks, Muppets, Goldbergs, Shonda Rhimes, Quantico, Wicked City and more.
FABLife
From Disney/ABC Television Distribution, this lifestyle show will premiere on September 14 and comes from Tyra Banks. She’s surrounded by a group of people who were selected by “chemistry testing” between hundreds of candidates.
Chrissy Teigen, Joe Zee, Lauren Makk, and Leah Ashley are among the team on this daily syndicated program. The color yellow is involved heavily in the show’s design, as it is a favorite color of both Tyra Banks and Joe Zee.
Banks feels that there isn’t a lot of innovation in daytime, and that, like ABC’s Primetime has taken some risks with things like How To Get Away With Murder, it’s time to take risks during the day, ensuring that FABLife will be something unique and original.
Although the daytime TV market is focused on women, Tyra Banks assures that there will be things for men to enjoy, as well.
The Muppets
A room full of journalists was initially starstruck when faced with Kermit the Frog being on stage, with people treating Kermit as if he’s real, and Kermit playing along. The Muppets is a Modern Family-like mockumentary behind the stages of a new show featuring the Muppets.
Writer/Executive Producer Bill Prady (The Big Bang Theory) started his career writing for Jim Henson and he and Bob Kushell will be guiding this show. Prady had wanted to bring The Muppets back to TV for several years.
Miss Piggy eventually showed up soon after there was talk of the Piggy/Kermit breakup, and she thinks the breakup can give more interest in herself now that they are broken up. For example – who is Piggy dating?
Imagine Dragons will be featured on the show, but music will not be as much of a feature as it was on the original Muppet Show.
Reese Witherspoon and other celebrities will be showing up on the series. “There’s going to be a big celebrity every week,” Bob Kushell says.
Paul Lee Executive Session
ABC Entertainment Group President Paul Lee had a very good season last year, starting with the powerful “TGIT” line-up. He also talked about the plans to have good programming at both Fall and midseason. For the Fall, ABC has shows like Blood & Oil featuring the return of Don Johnson and Quantico with Priyanka Chopra, and new comedies like The Muppets.
Celebrity Family Feud has been the #1 show for the summer, and Lee is pleased with that performance.
Of Kings and Prophets is a “really big show” and they’ve “got to get this right” – so, they’re saving it for midseason.
“Many of the characters are coming back,” Lee says about American Crime Season 2. “The story is completely different. This one is going to be based in an elite school. The story is incredibly interesting. Really good.”
Lee won’t get ahead of himself on Marvel developments, but he is pleased with the Hollywood setting for Agent Carter. The theme for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2 is “Are You Inhuman?”
“We’re always #1 on Friday nights,” Lee says, crediting Tim Allen and Last Man Standing for leading off the night.
“The real gauge for us is passion,” Lee says about what they all look for from a showrunner.
Quantico
Series lead Priyanka Chopra was joined by Executive Producers Mark Gordon and Joshua Safran. Chopra thinks some of the best content in the world is coming from American TV, and she wanted to be a part of that “revolution.”
Chopra refers to her character Alex as “Jason Bourne in female form.” EP Josh Safran describes Alex as a good entry character for the audience, though Gordon adds that there are many characters that viewers will be interested in getting to know.
Chopra is not told in advance what is coming for her characters, and she recalls a conversation she had with Kevin Spacey where he talks about how doing a TV series “keeps you on our toes.” The identity of the terrorist will be revealed by the end of Season 1, the executive producers promise.
Wicked City
Ed Westwick and Erika Christensen star as a 1980 Los Angeles “Bonnie and Clyde” who go on a killing spree on Sunset Strip. The panel started with an updated promo reel where the producers talk about the show and its world.
The show will be a balance between the serial killers and the cops that are chasing them.
Dr. Ken
Dr. Ken is a new sitcom featuring Ken Jeong and a really irritating laugh track in its promo reel. Albert Tsai from Trophy Wife is in the show, though, which is a good thing. Jeong was a real-life doctor before he did comedy.
The Goldbergs
The Goldbergs Season 3 will start with a “Risky Business” episode, and we’ll also see how the fictional Adam Goldberg deals with puberty. Dana will be back at some point, there was a Thriller episode that will never see the light of day because they can’t license the song, and the room was all given some great Goldbergs swag including underwear.
Wendi McClendon-Covey spoke about the superfan who got a Beverly Goldberg tattoo, Adam Goldberg talked about the notion that the characters still haven’t aged, and Jeff Garlin talked about his personal “wearing underwear at home” habits as well as whether or not there’s more Curb Your Enthusiasm in his future. (Is there? Sounds like it’s up to Larry David to have good ideas.)
Adam Goldberg also revealed that there is a list of videos that his real-life family will not let him show during the credits.
T.G.I.T.
Series stars Kerry Washington, Viola Davis and Ellen Pompeo joined Executive Producers Shonda Rhimes, Betsy Beers and Pete Nowalk to talk about the groundbreaking Thursday night lineup which includes Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and How To Get Away With Murder. Davis and Nowalk talked about the memorable HTGAWM wig scene, Rhimes discussed social media responses, and more.
