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On the heels of Once Upon a Time season 6 renewal, three more ABC shows have gotten the go ahead. According The Hollywood Reporter  sophomore comedy Fresh Off the Boat, and freshman drama Qunatico for a season 3 and 2, respectively. Another of ABC's sitcoms, The Goldbergs has also been renewed for a season 4. All these renewals are somewhat surprising because of how early they are but ABC has recently undergone a change in leadership. Unlike former ABC president, Paul Lee, current president Channing Dungey is apparently fan of the early renewal.

Paul Lee got pushed out today at ABC. There are many things you can ding the man for about his reign as head of that network: the misguided initial version of The Muppets, greenlighting Work It! and Mixology (and scheduling the latter after Modern Family, while letting Trophy Wife die on Tuesdays), failing to turn either of his Marvel shows into hits (Agent Carter, by far the better of the two, seems unlikely to see a third season at this point), and struggling in general with any dramas not created or produced by Shonda Rhimes. At the same time, Lee was wise enough to turn over as much prime time real estate as he could to Shondaland, and he's turned ABC into a great place for family comedies that are smart, funny, and reflective of what America looks like in 2016. Lee also not only greenlit American Crime, but ordered a...

A major shake-up is underway at ABC.

Paul Lee, who has served as the network’s entertainment president for the past six years, has stepped down, ABC confirmed on Wednesday.

According to the New York Times, which first broke the news, Lee “resigned on Wednesday after losing a power struggle with a higher-ranking executive,” reportedly Disney-abc Television Group President Ben Sherwood.

The article posits that Sherwood used ABC’s relatively weak ratings performance to make a case for Lee’s ouster.

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Succeeding Lee as president will...

Paul Lee has earned his victory lap. His network, led by Shonda Rhimes dramas Scandal, Grey’s Anatomy and How to Get Away with Murder, is the only one among the Big 5 that can boast about upticks in both total viewers and the coveted 18-49 demo for the recently completed season. And though it still trailed sports-boosted NBC and CBS in linear audience size, Lee has plenty of new additions, including Black-ish, Fresh Off the Boat and Murder, and a strong narrative about embracing diversity to tout. But rather than focus too much of his Television Critics Association summer

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ABC continues its commitment to great storytelling with the announcement of its 2015-16 slate of programming, including the addition of 10 new series. Paul Lee, president, ABC Entertainment Group, will unveil the network's new lineup to the advertising and media communities this afternoon at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall. Here's what Paul Lee had to say in a statement.

"Our new slate of shows continues the momentum from last year. ABC was the most buzzed about network, and the only major network to hold on to its audience and to grow in the target demo. Our 2015-16 schedule, with new shows and returning favorites that reflect our commitment to world-class storytelling, will solidify ABC's place as the network that raises the bar for what viewers expect from broadcast television.

ABC is the only major network to increase its Adult 18-49 audience during the 2014-15 season. ABC delivered 7 of the Top...

Secrets and Lies will give Nashville a winter breather next season.

During a conference call with reporters to discuss ABC’s new 2015-16 schedule, network president Paul Lee announced that Season 2 of the mystery-drama will air Wednesdays at 10/9c during Nashville‘s midseason break.

As previously reported, Juliette Lewis’ unflappable and formidable Detective Andrea Cornell will be the only character returning for the show’s second season.

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Other midseason ABC moves: Shonda Rhimes’ new series The Catch will take over How to Get Away With Murder...

ABC announced its 2015-2016 primetime schedule on Tuesday (May 12) morning and even with the addition of five new shows, what's most striking about the ABC roster is its stability. If you include Saturday, four of ABC's seven primetime nights are untouched from last season, while there's only one half-hour changing on Friday. Plus, at least for the fall, ABC only has one returning show new time period. ABC has set the new comedies "The Muppets" and "Dr. Ken" to premiere in the fall, along with the dramas "Quantico," "Oil" (formerly "Boom") and "Of Kings and Prophets." That leaves "The Catch," "The Family," "The Real O'Neals" and two shows without "The" titles -- "Uncle Buck" and "Wicked City" -- to premiere at midseason along with returning midseason shows "American Crime," "Galavant," "Marvel's Agent Carter" and "Secrets and Lies," plus "The Bachelor" and "Beyond the Tank." “Our new slate of shows continues the momentum from last year,...

The “Fresh Off the Boat” panel during Wednesday’s Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour got off to a very uncomfortable start when a journalist asked an odd question about how often chopsticks will be featured in the new ABC comedy about an Asian-American family.

“I care the most about the conversation that’s going to happen because of this show,” Chef Eddie Huang told the Pasadena, California, crowd of TV media and industry professionals. “This show has a huge place culturally in America. I don’t think you guys have seen a TCA with this many Asian faces on...

ABC Entertainment Group president Paul Lee found himself in the unique position of defending his network’s comedy “Fresh Off the Boat” from criticism lobbed at it by the man who inspired the series at the Television Critics Association press tour on Wednesday.

Lee took to the stage at the press tour a day after Vulture published an article by Eddie Huang, whose memoir the show is based on, in which Huang took exception, at length, to the way that the network had adapted his story.

Also Read: The Scene at TCA: Funny, Frank and Flippant Quotes From the 2015 TV Press Tour (Photos)

Naturally,...

Every network says it celebrates diversity. But ABC is going harder than any other broadcaster this season, airing three comedies in which race isn't just in the background, but right out front. In one case, it's even in the name. “To ABC's credit, we didn't want to do a show about a family that happened to be black,” Kenya Barris, creator of “Black-ish,” told TheWrap. “We wanted to do a show about a family that was absolutely black.” Also read: Paul Lee Talks ‘Black-ish,’ ‘Fresh Off the Boat’ and Diversity vs. Authenticity The network has given the show its ultimate vote of confidence: It.

ABC entertainment chief Paul Lee has a curious relationship with Dana Walden and Gary Newman. The studio they run, 20th Century Fox Television, is responsible for ABC's biggest hit, “Modern Family.” But under a new deal announced Monday, they'll also run Fox Broadcasting, one of ABC's rivals. Also read: Paul Lee Talks ‘Black-ish,’ ‘Fresh Off the Boat’ and Diversity vs. Authenticity Lee runs ABC's network and studio, and thinks Walden and Newman will do “extremely well” doing both jobs. “Running both of them is a challenge but it's very fulfilling when you get it right,” he told TheWrap. “You do both jobs,...

ABC has one of the most diverse fall programming slates in TV history, and critics want to know why.

At the Television Critics Association press tour Tuesday, ABC chief Paul Lee fielded questions from reporters pushing for a more detailed explanation for why ABC greenlit three ethnic family comedies (Anthony Anderson’s Black-ish, Cristela Alonzo’s Cristela, and Eddie Huang’s Fresh Off the Boat, coming midseason), plus another drama series starring a black actress, Shonda Rhimes’ How to Get Away with Murder.

“We’re taking a very good step along that journey,” Lee told critics at the Beverly Hilton on Tuesday.

"If you look at shows now that seem to lack diversity, they actually feel dated. America doesn't look like that anymore, and people want to see an America that looks like where they live." This was ABC entertainment president Paul Lee at his press tour executive session, discussing by far the most notable aspect of the network's freshman lineup of shows for next season. Just among the newbies debuting in fall are "Black-ish," starring Anthony Anderson as an affluent African American executive who's worried his kids are losing touch with their culture; "How to Get Away with Murder," ABC's latest Shonda Rhimes-produced series, starring Viola Davis as a criminal law professor; "Cristela," starring Latina comedian Cristela Alonzo (who also created it); and "Selfie," a "Pygmalion" riff that casts John Cho in the Henry Higgins role. Among the shows on the bench for mid-season: "Fresh Off the Boat," about an...

ABC Entertainment president Paul Lee held court at the Television Critics Assoc. summer press tour on Monday morning, where he fielded questions about Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.‘s sophomore mission, Once Upon a Time‘s imminent riff on Frozen, the network’s treatment of Trophy Wife and the impressive diversity on tap for the 2014-15 TV season.

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Addressing the topic of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s freshman run — which tread a lot of water until the big Captain America 2 crossover took shape — Lee acknowledged,...

ABC‘s Paul Lee certainly marches to the beat of his own drum. Once again, he did not adhere to the traditional practice of early renewals. He did not renew a single series until today when he, just like last year, proceeded with a shock-and-awe campaign that resulted in 19 series — 9 new and 10 returning — being picked up in the span of one hour late at night. When the dust settled, who is still standing from ABC’s pilots? There are just a few real contenders left. On the comedy side, those are Cristela and Fresh Off The Boat from 20th Century Fox TV, which look good. On the drama, it is mystery Secrets & Lies, which has a series penalty and Ryan Phillippe and Juliette Lewis as stars. The rest are considered dead or long shots. I also hear that status of soap The Club as a 10-episode straight-to-series drama for next season,...

ABC gave critics a first look at its new singing competition show that takes viewer interaction to a new level.

Titled Rising Star, the live show is based on an Israeli format that has a Voice-like audition twist. Here’s how it works: The singer takes the stage with a big video wall separating her from the audience. She starts to sing and viewers vote on whether she’s good or bad using a smartphone app in real time. There’s a meter on the screen as the votes are tallied as she sings. As the song progresses, photos of...

Despite ABC cancelling "Don't Trust The B---- In Apt. 23," Nahnatchka Khan is back in business with the alphabet network, which just gave a put pilot commitment to her new comedy "Fresh Off The Boat," according to Deadline.

Because a network must pay a penalty to the studio if they fail to air a put pilot, Khan's latest offering -- which she is writing/executive producing alongside producer Jake Kasdan -- seems like a fairly safe bet for next season. The series is based upon Eddie Huang’s memoir of the same name, set in the '90s and centered around a Chinese family that moves to Orlando, Fl. Huang is also executive producing.

It's already been a lucrative development season for Khan, who just sold "Fatrick" to Fox, with fellow executive producers Jim Rash and Nat Faxon set to direct the pilot. Rash and Faxon recently wrote and directed "The Way,...

Exclusive: Don’t Trust The B—- creator Nahnatchka Khan is back at ABC with a new single-camera comedy. The network has handed a put pilot commitment to Fresh Off The Boat, which Khan is writing/executive producing. Jake Kasdan also is exec producing the project, which hails from 20th Century Fox TV, where both Khan and Kasdan are based. Based on Eddie Huang’s memoir, Fresh Off The Boat is set in the ’90s and revolves around a Chinese family that moves to Orlando. (Huang’s real-life family is Taiwanese.) This is a setup Khan can relate to as she too is a first-generation American whose parents were “fresh off the boat.” Kasdan’s producing partner Melvin Mar also exec produces the project, while restaurateur/TV personality Huang serves as producer. The deal comes 10 days after another half-hour project from Khan, which has Nat Faxon and Jim Rash attached to direct/exec produce,...

Following a week of cable presentations that included appearances by Betty White and Oprah Winfrey, and not even 24 hours following a searing hot performance from disco legend Donna Summer, ABC's head of entertainment took the stage to talk about the network's midseason plans. Talk about tough acts to follow.

Then again, the Alphabet is not looking too shabby as it enters 2011. It has a strong Wednesday night comedy block, a factor Paul Lee, the president of ABC Entertainment Group, enthusiastically acknowledged as he announced early renewals for "Modern Family," "Cougar Town," and "The Middle." Two more sitcoms, the ensemble comedy "Happy Endings" and the Matthew Perry vehicle "Mr. Sunshine," are on the way -- "Sunshine" on February 9, "Happy" arriving April 13. ABC also has granted additional seasons to its successful dramas "Castle," "Grey's Anatomy" and "Private Practice" -- each a no-brainer for renewal to anyone who's keeping score. (The fates of "Desperate Housewives," "Brothers and Sisters," and Wednesday's freshman comedy "Better With You," are yet to be determined.)

All of this was preceded by Sunday's Variety report on ABC's collaboration with executive producer Salma Hayek to bring an eight-hour miniseries version of "Wicked" to the network. The miniseries will be based on Gregory Maguire's novel "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West," and "Band of Brothers" scribe Erik Jendresen. A significant development, considering that TV networks have virtually abandoned investing in miniseries and movies of the week.

Lee is still new in his position as ABC's entertainment boss, which puts him in the position of making ambitious changes to the primetime schedule. As such, his most often used word during his short question-and-answer session was "risk." For example, the chance ABC is taking by extending its Wednesday comedy block into 10 o'clock, a timeslot not traditionally seen as sitcom-friendly among broadcasters.

"We think it's a good risk," Lee told critics, adding that the network's comedies have proven to be highly repeatable. As such, he also announced two more comedies in development, "Man Up" and "Smothered." In his worst-case scenario, if it doesn't work, the network can explore launching a comedy block on another night - something Lee expressed interest in doing for the fall.

Fresh blood like Lee's is a welcome presence in any network, but particularly for the likes of ABC. The network happened to make changes at the top while it is, creatively speaking, in ascendance. Lee, the former entertainment head of ABC Family, inherited a primetime schedule that was already purring along smoothly as opposed to the usual smoking wreck most new entertainment heads have to fix. So to put it simply, ABC is Lee's to polish...or, screw up.

It could happen. The odds of that happening will go up the longer Lee's in the job, a fact we were reminded of when he assured critics that "we don't want cookie-cutter television." Such a declaration demonstrates a delightful level of confidence as well as a naïve hope that critics would overlook the existence of several Shonda Rhimes clones -- including "Grey's," "Private Practice," "Off the Map," and another project Lee mentioned today - toddling all over ABC's grid.

And as much as a viewer may praise Lee's fresh perspective, he has no plans for ridding us of "The Bachelor" anytime soon, saying that it fits in to the romantic side of ABC's brand. Lee's impact on ABC is yet to be measured in any meaningful sense, so it's not unreasonable to be optimistic about where he'll take it. Viewers will just have to wait and see.

Editor's note: This week IMDb TV Editor Melanie McFarland will be reporting from the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour, currently underway in Pasadena, CA. ...