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ABC’s announced the renewal of its top five dramas — Nashville, Revenge, Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy — ahead of the network’s upfronts presentation next week in New York.
The alphabet network’s freshman offering Nashville, the country music soap from Oscar winner Callie Khouri, debuted to an impressive 9 million viewers. The series currently averages a modest 6 million viewers and a 1.9 in the key demo. Stars Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere earned critical acclaim, earning Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress and Supporting Actress. Nashville also stars Eric Close, Charles Esten, Jonathan Jackson, Clare Bowen, Sam Palladino, Powers Booth, Robert Wisdom and Chris Carmack.
It’s no surprise that Shonda Rimes’ critically acclaimed series, medical drama Grey’s Anatomy and political (don’t call it a soap) drama Scandal earned a renewal. A recent Forbes profile revealed that Rimes’ dramas account for 5% of the network’s total revenue, raking in an estimated $300 million a season. The Kerry Washington-led Scandal, now it its second season, averages 7.4 million viewers weekly and a 2.4 demo. The series also stars Tony Goldwyn, Bellamy Young, Jeff Perry, Guillermo Diaz, Columbus Short, Joshua Malina, Katie Lowes, Darby Stanchfield.
As Grey’s heads into its 10th season, the series remains a high-rated performer on ABC’s lineup even with high cast-turnover.
The Emily VanCamp-led Revenge will return for a third season with a new showrunner and hopefully better storylines. Call it the sophomore slump, call it what you want, the nighttime soap suffered creatively this season; the season also struggled with its move to Sundays, down double-digits from the first season.
Once Upon a Time enters its third season as solid performer for ABC, averaging almost 9 million viewers a week and a 2.7 demo. The network is will spinoff the series focusing on the Mad Hatter and Alice from Alice in Wonderland.
ABC’s favorite procedural, the Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic fronted Castle, was also renewed for a sixth season. The series has averaged almost 9 million viewers.
Comedies Modern Family, Suburgatory, The Middle, and The Neighbors were also renewed.
So happy to hear that “Nashville” has been renewed. It is a quality drama, with fantastic music to. Boot. I say ramp up the romance next season, specifically Gunnar & Scarlet. Can’t wait to see the whole “paternity” issue explode, but we fans really want to see Rayna & Deacon together.