USA TODAY International Edition
TELEVISION ABC revives ‘ American Idol,’ ‘ Roseanne’
Dramas will be more episodic, less cliffhanger- y
BEVERLY HILLS ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey is preparing to say goodbye to two long- running series, readying several more for fall and gearing up for revivals of American Idol and Roseanne in midseason.
But first she’s grappling with ratings declines ( the network finished fourth last season among its target audience of young adults) and cost- cutting at the network that last week saw the cancellation of its planned live musical The Little Mermaid.
Scandal and The Middle are entering their final seasons, planned ahead, she told the Television Critics Association Sunday, because “we don’t always get to say goodbye in the way that we should.”
And fulfilling a promise to add diversity to The Bachelorette came sooner than some critics expected, in part because Rachel Lindsay proved “a fan favorite right from the beginning,” Dungey says. “I’m very pleased, because it was a very organic thing to happen.”
Less organic: The Bachelor in Paradise controversy, in which contestant Corinne Olympios claimed she was “a victim” after a producer lodged complaints of “inappropriate activity” implied as alcohol- fueled sexual assault. Producer Warner Bros. investigated and found the complaint unsubstantiated, and the show returns Aug. 14.
“There was no wrongdoing that occurred,” she said, but the charges “brought to light some safety issues that we want to be on top of. It was a little bit of a wake- up call.”
In other news about ABC series:
uQuantico, which struggled last season, has a new producer, and the show “will be a little bit more closed- ended episodic than anything we’ve done so far, so we are hoping that will give audiences new chances to tune in and connect.” The midseason run also will be shorter.
uDesignated Survivor will become less plot- driven, Dungey said, reiterating a promise she made in January. “We’re going to focus a little bit less on huge cliffhangers and a little bit more on character stories.”
uDoes ABC covet its own This Is Us? “I love to have an ensemble character drama,” Dungey said, and ABC has had plenty, from thirtysomething to Brothers and Sisters. ABC is interested, but “I don’t want to do a cheap imitation of somebody else’s show.”
uRoseanne’s eight- episode revival, which begins shooting in October, is “unflinching, it is honest, it is irreverent at times,” Dungey said, and “really topical. ... We are addressing how difficult it is for people to get medical insurance, we’re not necessarily talking about the occupant of the White House.”
Is she concerned about the star’s Twitter feed, which espouses unusual political conspiracy theories?
“I try to just worry about the things I can control.”