The network announces a slew of new series and returning shows which make the cut for its 2014-2015 season line-up.
- May 9, 2014
AceShowbiz - NBC isn't the only network which has started unveiling its programming line-up for the next TV season ahead of its upfront presentation. ABC has also revealed a bunch of new series and returning shows for 2014-2015, bringing another work from Shondaland to the small screen.
"How to Get Away with Murder" from executive producer Shonda Rhimes, dramas "Marvel's Agent Carter", "American Crime", "The Whispers", "Forever", as well as comedies "Galavant", "Black-ish", "Selfie" and "Manhattan Love Story" join previously ordered "The Astronaut Wives Club" and "The Club" in the Alphabet's pick-up list.
"Murder", described as a sexy and suspense-driven legal thriller, stars Viola Davis as the brilliant, charismatic and mysterious criminal defense professor, who gets entangled with four law students from her class.
"Agent Carter" is a spin-off to Marvel's film "Captain America: The First Avenger". Hayley Atwell, who starred in the action movie and the short "Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter", will reprise her role as Peggy Carter who, a year after the events of "The First Avenger", builds her career as a secret agent while the hero is frozen in ice.
"American Crime" is written, directed and produced by John Ridley ("12 Years a Slave"). The racial drama is set in California's Central Valley. It revolves around the lives of the players in a trial for a racially charged murder.
"The Whispers", previously known as "The Visitors", is an alien invasion drama where kids are unwittingly used by the aliens to achieve world domination. It has Lily Rabe ("American Horror Story"), Barry Sloane ("Revenge") and Milo Ventimiglia ("Heroes") in the cast ensemble, with Steven Spielberg among its producers.
"Forever" features Ioan Gruffudd as Doctor Henry Morgan, New York City's star medical examiner who studies the dead to solve criminal cases and also find an answer the mystery that has eluded him for 200 years, which is his own inexplicable immortality.
Single-camera comedy "Galavant" from Dan Fogelman ("The Neighbors") is a fairytale musical centering on Prince Galavant (Joshua Sasse) and his quest for revenge against the king (Timothy Omundson) who stole his one true love (Mallory Jansen).
"Black-ish" is loosely based on the life of showrunner Kenya Barris. The story follows an upper-middle-class black man (Anthony Anderson) who struggles to raise his children with a sense of cultural identity despite constant contradictions from his liberal wife, old-school father and his own assimilated, color-blind kids.
"Selfie" is described as a modern take on "My Fair Lady". When self-obsessed Eliza Dooley (Karen Gillan) realizes being friended on social media is not the same as having actual friends, she enlists the help of marketing guru Henry (John Cho) to 'rebrand' her self-obsessed reputation and teach her how to connect with people in the real world.
"Manhattan Love Story", previously known as "My Thoughts Exactly", is a romantic comedy which exposes the differences between men and women through the unfiltered thoughts, and often contradictory actions, of a new couple who have just begun dating.
Meanwhile, getting the renewals are hit series "Scandal", veteran dramas "Grey's Anatomy" and "Castle", soap opera "Revenge", fantasy drama "Once Upon a Time" and freshmen "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." and "Resurrection"
