ABC orders full seasons of 'Scandal' and 'The Neighbors'

ABC announced today that it was ordering the back-nine episodes for the second season of “Scandal” as well as picking up freshman comedy “The Neighbors” for a full season.

If you were surprised that the Shonda Rhimes political drama didn’t already have a full season order from the network, you are not alone. But after cautiously ordering 13-episodes to start off with, ABC has been impressed enough with “Scandal’s” ratings in its competitive Thursday night timeslot to give it the full season nod.

As for “The Neighbors,” while the critics mostly panned the show, it has done fairly well in ABC’s Wednesday night comedy lineup.

There’s no word at this time regarding ABC’s other freshman shows, “Nashville,” “Last Resort” and “666 Park Avenue,” although the network did recently order additional episodes of “Resort” and “666.”