TV News: ABC Orders Full Seasons of ‘Revenge,’ ‘Suburgatory’

CHICAGO – Does ABC actually have a pair of new hits on their hands? Unable to find a freshman success last year with disasters like “The Whole Truth” and “My Generation,” the network has a much happier story to tell this year as a a few of their programs have not exactly set the TV world on fire but delivered solid numbers. Two such programs are on Wednesday nights as the net gave full-season orders to sitcom “Suburgatory” and guilty pleasure “Revenge” after this week’s ratings.

As we predicted, the fact that these shows are doing SO much better than last year’s same-time-slot occupants in “The Whole Truth” and “Better With You” was not lost on ABC. “Suburgatory” actually dipped a bit this past Wednesday but a 3.0 with adults 18-49 is still an impressive number for a new series, and is actually two-tenths higher than lead-in “The Middle,” which is considered a modest hit. “Revenge” was UP 13% (rare at this point in a season) and won its time slot in 18-49, which virtually guaranteed this week’s decision.

In more good news, “Happy Endings” rose 18% to a 3.3 rating with the key demo and ABC ordered more scripts for that sitcom. Now, more scripts doesn’t mean more episodes necessarily but it’s a step in the right direction. The show still loses a large chunk of “Modern Family,” the most-watched show on the night, and so there’s still cause for concern for people convinced that retention is key to a show’s success or failure.

This make NINE new shows that have already guaranteed that they will be on for all of 2011-12: “Up All Night,” “Whitney,” “New Girl,” “2 Broke Girls,” “Ringer,” “The Secret Circle,” “Hart of Dixie,” “Revenge,” and “Suburgatory.” That’s a remarkable number considering it’s not even Halloween and with “Person of Interest” expected to get an order any day now (maybe even today), it’s a number that should continue to grow.

[11]	By BRIAN TALLERICO [12] Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com [11]