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After a summer of stellar ratings, ABC Family has renewed its two freshman dramas and renewed one of its oldest.
ABC Family has officially ordered a third season of Switched at Birth and given back-orders to The Fosters and Twisted. Traditional format for ABC Family shows follows a 10-13 episode arc with a short break. All three shows will return with new episodes in January of 2014. The orders and renewal come after a summer of high ratings and critical acclaim, specifically for The Fosters. Most critics, TVSource included, have helmed it as one of the most groundbreaking television shows of 2013.
ABC Family president, Michael Riley, stated that “ABC Family has always been a home for groundbreaking storytelling with iconic characters and families and we’re thrilled to have The Fosters and Twisted join our lineup as breakout summer hits. We are very proud of the original series we continue to foster, bringing real and relatable characters to life for our viewers and know they are destined to become part of the zeitgeist alongside Switched at Birth and Pretty Little Liars.”
Charles Pratt, who helmed ABC Family’s recently canceled drama The Lying Game, will also join Twisted as a writer and executive producer for their back order episodes.
The Fosters has remained cable’s No. 1 network in primetime in Women 18-35 and No. 2 in females 12-34. Ratings for it and Twisted have made the new series, the top 2 new cable series among people 12-34 and females 12-34. Switched at Birth has average 2.4 million total viewers per episode. It has truly been a successful summer for the ABC Family network.
The Fosters initial ten episodes wrap August 5; Twisted’s summer run ends August 27, and Switched at Birth’s second season finale airs August 19.
The renewal and back orders of these shows comes after ABC Family has renewed Pretty Little Liars, Melissa and Joey, Baby Daddy, and new series, Ravenswood and Chasing Life.
Our take: Switched at Birth and The Fosters are two of the most eye-opening and groundbreaking shows on television. ABC Family’s decision to keep them around shows their commitment to quality programming. Twisted is a unique and mysterious drama with a diverse cast. Decisions like these make me so proud to be an ABC Family viewer.
[…] ABC Family announced back orders of episodes of The Fosters. The show will return in January […]