TV News: Full Seasons Ordered For ‘Once Upon a Time,’ ‘Happy Endings,’ ‘Last Man Standing’

CHICAGO – ABC made some TV viewers very happy this week when they announced that two of their new shows and one of their almost-new shows would be on until at least May 2012 with full-season orders for “Once Upon a Time,” “Last Man Standing,” and “Happy Endings.” This brings the total of new programs given a full-season order to a remarkable 13. While few of the programs are what could be called breakout hits, there’s no denying that this freshman class has been pretty strong.

Once Upon a Time Photo credit: ABC

In more surprising news, five more scripts were ordered for “Pan Am.” Now, ordering more scripts does not mean they’ll actually get shot but it gets the program closer to full-season status than it was before. Clearly, it’s right on the bubble and it seems likely that it would be more appropriate to wonder how long the first season will be — 13, 18, or 22 — than if there will actually be a second. It would taking a stunning turnaround for that to happen.

“Once Upon a Time” has hit well with young audiences, debuting with a stellar 4.0 in the key demo and maintaining most of that rating, a near miracle in today’s market, for its second episode. “Last Man Standing” certainly isn’t a “Home Improvement”-sized hit but it does well enough for the network and the same can be said for “Happy Endings,” a show that doesn’t retain a large portion of its “Modern Family” audience, but it seems unlikely that a replacement would either. And “Happy” plays very well to young viewers in increasing numbers in that demo.

That makes four new programs on ABC given the full-season order — “Once Upon a Time,” “Last Man Standing,” “Revenge,” and “Suburgatory.” Other new shows guaranteed at least one full season include CBS’s “2 Broke Girls,” “Person of Interest,” & “Unforgettable”; NBC’s “Up All Night” & “Whitney”; FOX’s “New Girl”; and The CW’s “Hart of Dixie,” “Ringer,” & “The Secret Circle”.

Source: TV By the Numbers [11]

[12]	By BRIAN TALLERICO [13] Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com [12]