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Exclusive: Mere days after Melissa McBride exited The Walking Dead spinoff with Norman Reedus, more change has come to the AMC series.

Stumptown executive producer David Zabel has joined the as-yet-untitled Twd spinoff as showrunner, AMC confirmed to Deadline exclusively. Zabel replaces current Twd showrunner Angela Kang, as the day-to-day boss on the now Reedus solo series that will be set in and shot in Europe. The spinoff is set to premiere in 2023.

Kang stepped aside to concentrate on other projects she has in development with AMC, we’re told. As Twd winds down its 11th and final season, Kang will serve as EP of the spinoff along with Scott M. Gimple, among others. WME-repped Zabel’s deal was sealed in recent weeks, before McBride’s exit was assured.

While scripts for the spinoff were pretty far down the line before McBride’s departure, a strategic pivot is taking place...

Twin Peaks Recap is a weekly column by Keith Uhlich covering David Lynch and Mark Frost's limited, 18-episode continuation of the Twin Peaks television series.The key image in Part 5 of the revived Twin Peaks is of a woman in ecstasy. Recall, however, the subtitle that series co-creator/director David Lynch appended to his thorny 2006 masterpiece Inland Empire: "A Woman in Trouble." The line separating rapture and anguish is a blurry one, especially for Lynch's ladies, who are as likely to end up exquisitely chiseled corpses (the ubiquitous Laura Palmer; Part 2's doomed henchwoman Darya) as they are world-weary survivors. For the moment, let's focus on Rebecca "Becky" Burnett (Amanda Seyfried), daughter of Rr Diner waitress Shelly Johnson (Mädchen Amick), though Becky's last name—taken from ne'er-do-well husband Steven Burnett (Caleb Landry Jones)—obscures the identity of her father. (Dana Ashbrook's now-law-abiding Bobby Briggs is the most likely candidate,...

While season 1 of Syfy's The Magicians ended on a particularly dour note, it doesn't appear that season 2 will be doing away with the dry, sarcastic tone it established. A new trailer for the second season has now debuted, and life appears to be looking up for Quentin, Alice, Penny, Margo and Elliot as they become Kings and Queens of Fillory. Check out the trailer below! The Magicians returns to Syfy on January 25, 2017. Based upon Lev Grossman's best-selling books, The Magicians stars Jason Ralph (A Most Violent Year, Aquarius) as Quentin Coldwater, a brilliant grad student who enrolls in Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy, a secret upstate New York university specializing in magic. He and his 20-something friends soon discover that the magical fantasy world they read about as children is all too real— and poses grave danger to humanity. Stella Maeve (Chicago P.D.), Hale Appleman (Teeth), Arjun Gupta (Nurse Jackie) and Summer Bishil (Towelhead,...

"I understand why you're afraid. I have plans... you're part of them" Quentin Coldwater and company must stand together to survive fear, fantasy, and malevolent forces in the new trailer for The Magicians Season 2, premiering on Syfy in January.

"Based upon Lev Grossman's best-selling books, The Magicians stars Jason Ralph (A Most Violent Year, Aquarius) as Quentin Coldwater, a brilliant grad student who enrolls in Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy, a secret upstate New York university specializing in magic. He and his 20-something friends soon discover that the magical fantasy world they read about as children is all too real— and poses grave danger to humanity. Stella Maeve (Chicago P.D.), Hale Appleman (Teeth), Arjun Gupta (Nurse Jackie) and Summer Bishil (Towelhead, Lucky 7) also star in this one hour drama.

Groundswell Productions' Michael London and Janice Williams (Milk) will executive produce. John McNamara (Aquarius) and Sera Gamble (Supernatural), writers of the pilot,...

Syfy’s The Magicians attempted to do a lot more than pull a rabbit out of its hat during a two-hour premiere on Monday.

But did the fantastical adaptation of Lev Grossman’s popular book trilogy turn out to be a magical time? Before you chime in with your thoughts on the new series from executive producers Sera Gamble (Supernatural) and John McNamara (Aquarius), a recap of the two-hour premiere:

RelatedThe Magicians Review: Syfy’s Answer to Harry Potter Has Its Own Nifty Tricks

Quentin (played by Aquarius‘ Jason Ralph) and Julia (Chicago P.D.‘s Stella Maeve) are grad...

Tinkering with the concept of life and death, special issue Revival #36 is set to be released this January. Also: a trailer for Lilin's Brood, Hitman: Agent 47 contest info, Don't Kill It first details, images from a Paranormal Activity event in L.A. and The Magicians.

Revival #36: Press Release: "New York Times bestselling writer Tim Seeley (Hack/Slash) and Eisner Award-winning artist Mike Norton (It Girl & The Atomics) will launch a special stand-alone issue in their ongoing rural noir series Revival this January.

Previously in Revival, the rural town of Wausau, Wisconsin was rocked by a vicious attack on its county courthouse, and Dana fought to protect Em from the scarred assassin Black Deer—casting a harsh light on the goings-on at The Farm in the process.

In Revival #36, 98-year-old fitness guru Lester Majak reassesses what it means to live forever in a city full of the undead.

“Issue...

Department of Homeland Security, meet your newest recruit: Peri Gilpin.

The Frasier vet has landed a recurring role on Scorpion‘s second season as Deputy Director of Homeland Security Katherine Cooper, according to TVInsider. Gilpin’s character will first appear in Episode 4 and will take the reins from Alana De La Garza’s Deputy Director Adriana Molina. (De La Garza, as previously reported, has been cast in the forthcoming Criminal Minds spinoff, Beyond Borders.)

RelatedCBSpoiler-palooza: Major Scoop on Good Wife, Big Bang, NCIS, Scorpion and 9 Other Returning Shows

Since ending her run as Frasier‘s Roz Doyle, Gilpin has appeared on CSI,...

As director and producer, few storytellers have utilized the wonderment and fascination (and sometimes horror) of children as points-of-entry into the wonderment and fascination of the adult world more effectively than Steven Spielberg has.  Conversely, Spielberg has also masterfully used the normalized responses of children to the abnormal as an approach to disarm world-weary grown-ups.  From Cary Guffey in "Close Encounters" to Henry Thomas and Drew Barrymore in "E.T." to Heather O'Rourke in "Poltergeist" to Christian Bale in "Empire of the Sun" to Haley Joel Osment in "A.I." to Dakota Fanning in "Taken" and "War of the Worlds," Spielberg has always know that there's something pure and primal in the reactions of children and that those reactions can be used to steer the reactions viewers of all ages. Steven Spielberg is one of the executive producers of ABC's new "the kids are not alright" drama "The Whispers," but his participation...

Katherine McNamara, who has been cast as Clary Fray in Shadowhunters

Ahead of network upfronts next week, a number of channels put in notices for pickups and cancellations over the week. Fox’s Backstrom, CBS’ Battle Creek, The McCarthys, and Stalker, NBC’s Marry Me, One Big Happy, State of Affairs, and Constantine all became one-season shows. NBC’s About a Boy also got a cancellation notice this week, as did Fox’s The Mindy Project and The Following.

Fox has also given series orders to Minority Report and Lucifer, while CBS has picked up Supergirl. Among returning shows, The Simpsons got a two-season renewal, while IFC renewed Comedy Bang! Bang!, and The Playstation Network gave its original series Powers a second season. NBC also renewed The Mysteries of Laura and The Night Shift, as well as the sitcom Undateable, whose entire third season will consist of live episodes.

———

Syfy...

I would say that you’ve got time to get reading, but if you’re going to be interested in the fact that Syfy has picked up The Magicians, you’ve probably already done the reading.

On the other hand, if the series is handled well it could easily take off like a rocket when released, so maybe this is a good time to tell you to make sure you know what everyone will be talking about.

Following Quentin Coldwater, the story will unfortunately be compared to the Harry Potter series by anyone who only gets the most cursory summary of what happens. It’s an edgier, darker spin on the general idea of going to school and learning magic really does exist, and the series of books tackle themes that are not only more relevant to adults, but in ways that create a far richer world.

It’s going...

Syfy has conjured a series order for The Magicians, an adaptation of Lev Grossman’s best-selling novels.

The Magicians stars Jason Ralph (A Most Violent Year, NBC’s Aquarius) as Quentin Coldwater, a brilliant grad student who enrolls in Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy , a secret upstate New York university specializing in magic. He and his friends soon discover that the magical fantasy world they read about as children is all too real – and poses grave danger to humanity.

Stella Maeve (Chicago P.D.), Hale Appleman (Smash), Arjun Gupta (Nurse Jackie) and Summer Bishil (Lucky 7) also star.

RelatedSyfy Sets Premiere Dates for Defiance,...

Fox is working on a new drama, and it’s no snooze: The network confirmed on Wednesday that it is developing Nod, a prospective series based on Adrian Barnes’ novel about most of the world’s citizens losing the ability to sleep, but for some mysterious reason, they aren’t getting tired.

Jason Richman (Lucky 7, Detroit 1-8-7) will executive produce and write the script for the show, which is focused through the eyes of Tanya and Paul, an “intersominial couple.” As one of “the Awakened,” Tanya is thriving without sleep while Paul is the one of the few people...

Mad Men’s Matt Long will play a doctor in Syfy’s Helix…

A man who you might recognise from many things, Matt Long has joined the cast of Helix – a science-tinged thriller now entering its second season – in the role of leading toxicologist Dr. Kyle Sommer.

Matt Long appeared in Mad Men for seven episodes as Joey Baird, and also played a young Johnny Blaze way back in 2007’s Ghost Rider. His most recent credits are Private Practice and Lucky 7, both were recurring parts.

Helix, developed by Battlestar Galactica executive producer Ronald D. Moore and produced by Sony TV, will see him play the newbie in a team of scientists trying to stop a devastating disease outbreak. He joins The Killing’s Billy Campbell and House At The End Of The Street’s Jordan Hayes, among others, in a sizeable cast.

More news as we hear it.

Source...

Less animation, plenty of reality, and another two-hour comedy block reduced — those are some of the quick take-aways from Fox’s 2014 fall schedule announcement.

First up: On Mondays, the network will launch perhaps fall’s most-anticipated new drama, the Batman prequel series Gotham at 8 p.m. followed by the sophomore return of Sleepy Hollow at 9 p.m. Fox has ordered 16 episodes of Gotham and 18 episodes of Sleepy Hollow. On Tuesdays, ambitious new reality show Utopia, in which contestants try to build a perfect society over the course of a year, will open for New Girl and The Mindy Project (which...

Fox's Broadchurch adaptation has added another series regular to its swelling cast. Lucky 7 alum Stephen Louis Grush has joined the cast of the ensemble event series known as Gracepoint. The 10-part series, which In Treatment’s Dan Futterman and Anya Epstein have been tapped to run, follows the events and investigation that unfold in the sleepy seaside town of Gracepoint after the tragic and mysterious death of a young boy. Photos: Midseason TV Preview Grush will portray Vince Novik, Mark's (Michael Pena) best friend and hard-working plumbing apprentice. Vince is loyal to Mark but the latter hasn't given him the raise he

read more...

Lucky 7 co-star Christine Evangelista has been cast in a recurring role on NBC’s firefighter drama series Chicago Fire. She will play Allison Rafferty, a new paramedic at 51, a firecracker who gives as good as she gets and knows what she’s doing when the bells go off. Evangelista is with Wme, Mjm Management and Stone, Meyer. Julian Sands (24) has been tapped for a heavily recurring role on NBC’s new pirate drama series Crossbones starring John Malkovich. He will play William Jagger, an aristocrat-turned-privateer and governor of Jamaica who dispatches Tom Lowe (Richard Coyle) to accompany inventor-mathematician Benedict Nightingale and his Marine Chronometer to England by way of a secret convoy. Sands is with Sdb and Seven Summits Pictures and Management.

Exclusive: NBC has put in development The Money Pit, a comedy series based on the 1986 feature starring Tom Hanks and Shelley Long. Amblin Television, the TV division of Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment, which produced the movie with Universal Pictures, is producing the potential series with Universal Television. Former Office writer-producer Justin Spitzer, who is under an overall deal at Uni TV, will write the adaptation and executive produce with Amblin TV’s Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank. The movie, written by David Giler and directed by Richard Benjamin, starred Hanks and Long as a couple who are tricked into buying a distress-sale mansion that becomes the proverbial “money pit,” requiring an endless string of repairs. This is the second sale for UTA-repped Spitzer this season. He also has a Detroit auto company comedy with producer Aaron Kaplan that has a put pilot commitment at NBC, and comedy Start-Up in development at USA Network.

As expected, ABC has cancelled Lucky 7 after two low-rated episodes. The drama is the first of the 2013-14 season to fall.

Lucky 7 revolves around a group of service employees who form a workplace family and win the lottery together. The cast includes Summer Bishil, Lorraine Bruce, Alexandra Castillo, Christine Evangelista, Stephen Louis Grush, Matt Long, Anastasia Phillips, Luis Antonio Ramos, and Isiah Whitlock Jr.

The series debuted to a disappointing 1.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 4.43 million viewers. It was last in its timeslot. This week, the second episode plunged 46% to a 0.7 rating with 2.62 million. It quickly became the network's lowest-rated show.

ABC has pulled the show from the schedule effective immediately and will replace it with reruns of Scandal, a drama whose season debut hit a new series high last night.

Maybe we should call it ‘Unlucky 7.’ The ABC freshman drama just became the first casualty of the 2013-14 fall TV season, getting the axe after only two episodes.

Lucky 7‘s cancellation is hardly surprising, considering how shockingly low its numbers were in its first episode and then how hard it fell in week 2. Despite having arguably the best partner of any new fall drama with Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Lucky 7 failed to connect with its audience, pulling in just 4.4 million viewers and a scanty 1.3 adults 18-49 rating for its premiere. The show’s chances of survival plummeted along with its audience in the second episode when it received a decidedly unlucky .7 adult demo rating.

What sunk this show? Perhaps its premise is to blame: the show explored the misfortunes that befall a group of lowly Queens gas station employees after they win a $45 million dollar lottery with...

The new season has just begun and it looks like ABC's Lucky 7 is already the frontrunner to be the first show cancelled.

Lucky 7 revolves around a a group of employees who work at a service station in Queens, New York. Their lives get turned upside down when they win millions of dollars in the lottery. The drama's ensemble cast includes Summer Bishil, Lorraine Bruce, Alexandra Castillo, Christine Evangelista, Stephen Louis Grush, Matt Long, Anastasia Phillips, Luis Antonio Ramos, and Isiah Whitlock Jr.

The series debuted last week to a very disappointing 1.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 4.43 million total viewers. It was in a distant third place in its timeslot, attracting less than half as many viewers as Chicago Fire.

After just one week, it's the second-lowest scripted series on ABC, behind only The Neighbors which airs...

It rarely happens, but ABC debuted a night comprised entirely of new programming on Tuesday, hoping that their big-name new property would meet its lofty expectations and with it launch a number of other shows that are arriving with considerably less fanfare. Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D kicked things off, with two comedies in the form of The Goldbergs and Trophy Wife sandwiched in-between the two dramas, with Lucky 7 (a remake of BBC One’s The Syndicate) closing out the night.

We’ll address the two sitcoms in a later post – one I liked, one I didn’t – and for now focus on the dramas. While Shield didn’t quite meet the wildest of ABC’s expectations, it still did extremely well in a tough time slot (opposite NCIS and The Voice) and registered the highest ratings for a drama since 2009. That’s great,...

It won’t be a development season if ABC, run by British-born Paul Lee, doesn’t adapt several UK formats. The network has put in development No Angels, a half-hour single-camera comedy based on the praised 2004 hourlong dramedy, which aired on Channel 4 for two seasons. Producing are Amblin TV and ABC Studios, partners on the new ABC drama series Lucky 7, also based on a British format. Written by Kat Likkel & John Hoberg (The Neighbors, My Name Is Earl), who will serve as showrunners, No Angels is about a raucous group of four female nurses working together and sharing the same house in a Bridesmaids-style girl gang comedy. British-born Julie Anne Robinson, who has helmed two episodes of the original series, is set to direct the potential pilot. She is executive producing with Likkel, Hoberg and Amblin’s Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank. Amblin’s portfolio includes series The Americans,...

ABC has tried ensemble dramas like Six Degrees, The Nine, and My Generation -- and they were all ratings disappointments and quickly cancelled. Will Lucky 7 be different and make it to a second season? We shall see.

Lucky 7 follows a group of service station employees who win the lottery. They think that the money will solve all of their problems but, of course, things become much more complicated. The show features the talents of Summer Bishil, Lorraine Bruce, Alexandra Castillo, Christine Evangelista, Stephen Louis Grush, Matt Long, Anastasia Phillips, Luis Antonio Ramos, and Isiah Whitlock, Jr.

The ratings are typically the best indication of a show's likelihood of staying on the air. The higher the ratings (particularly the 18-49 demo), the better the chances for survival. This chart will be updated as new ratings data becomes available -- usually the next day, around...

On ABC's new ensemble drama, Lucky 7, a group of seven gas station employees strike it rich with a winning lottery ticket. The cast includes Summer Bishil, Lorraine Bruce, Alexandra Castillo, Christine Evangelista, Stephen Louis Grush, Matt Long, Anastasia Phillips, Luis Antonio Ramos, and Isiah Whitlock Jr.

Will this series be lucky for ABC and bring big ratings? Is it lucky for viewers who are looking for a new dramatic TV series? Well, here's what some of the critics think:

Salt Lake Tribune: "Yes, TV can be serious. But it should also be entertaining. This is a drab downer of a show filled with characters who are, for the most part, hard to connect with. The money-can't-but-happiness message is delivered with all the subtIety of a baseball bat to the side of the head. It's hard to see that Lucky 7 is going any place...

Did you get Lucky tonight? (Disclaimer: If you want to actually get lucky, like, in the Biblical, horizontal-mambo sense, we advise not using lame puns like that. You can do better.) ABC's new drama Lucky 7 premiered tonight at 10 p.m., and we're dying to know what you thought. Do you agree that it's a decent show but not anything you're screaming to see more of? Or are you already fully in with your season pass secured? Lucky 7 comes from Detroit 187 vets David Zabel and Jason Richman, who adapted the series from the British version. It revolves around a group (of seven) blue-collar, everyday people who work at the Gold Star Auto Repair Shop in Queens and who (duh) win the...

The out-of-nowhere success of "Lost" in 2004-05 spawned a bunch of shows that attempted to replicate its formula in one way or another. There were the obvious, sci fi-tinged shows like ABC's "Invasion," CBS' "Threshold" and NBC's "Heroes" that looked to capitalize on a perceived appetite for "Lost's" more fantastical elements.

Some others, though, ditched the supernatural and went for the human side of "Lost": following characters who were bound together by a life-changing event. Shows like "The Nine," "Reunion" and to a lesser extent "Six Degrees" (which eschewed the "life-changing event" part to explore other, more esoteric connections). What they all had in common was that, with the exception of "Heroes" for its first couple of seasons, none of them really clicked with viewers.

ABC's new series "Lucky 7," which premieres at 10 p.m. Et Tuesday (Sept. 24), calls to mind those earlier shows, both for the way it's...

Joss Whedon's Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is arguably the best new drama this fall. So that other new ABC drama that scored the same premiere night as S.H.I.E.L.D. must be incredible too, right? Meh. Turns out that show is just Lucky 7. (Ba-dum-bump.) To help you decide which of the many new series debuting this fall are worth your time, we're reviewing all of the five network's newbies, and we've got gathered up everything you need to know about ABC's new drama premiering tonight that isn't S.H.I.E.L.D... Lucky 7 (ABC) Premieres: Tuesday, Sept. 24, 10 p.m. Competition: Person of Interest (CBS), Chicago Fire (NBC) Cast: Summer Bishil, Matt Long,...

Lucky 7 is yet another translation of British television for American audiences, and it’s about par for the course. While some efforts (mostly long ago and far away, with the exception of The Office) have come together to create long-lived, and beloved series, this isn’t an avenue of series creation that has a solid, recent track record.

Based on the British show, The Syndicate, it’s the story of a group of coworkers at a gas station who have been playing the same numbers for years, and fear for the jobs as rumors abound that the station is closing. All with their own monetary woes, which are laid out for us in great detail, this rag tag assortment of characters is about to find out that there are a lot of problems that come with their sudden riches.

The main trouble this show is going to have is in the translation of format.

Chicago – “Lucky 7,” debuting tonight on ABC to end their practically unprecedented attempt at an entire night of new programming, is a case of concept over actual character. The creators of this inert drama think cluttering their storytelling with various subplots will make up for the fact that you just don’t care about any of them. It’s a case of quantity over quality and that never works. I could be wrong but this one’s high on my list of shows that could be cancelled before Christmas.

Television Rating: 2.0/5.0

The premise of “Lucky 7” is one that I bet has been floating around pilot pitch meetings for years. What would you do if you and your co-workers actually won that lotto pool that you plug a buck or two into every week? How would it change your life? Your friendships? Your relationships? Such is the dynamic at the...

ABC’s “Lucky 7” starts with the classic “what if” scenario – striking it rich at the lottery – and subverts it with a heist gone bad. For years, the workers at the Gold Star Gas N’ Shop in Queens have been pooling their money on lottery tickets, and with the prize money at $45 million, they can’t help but fantasize about what they would do with the windfall: The boss’s wife would go to Bora Bora, Matt (Matt Long) would move his pregnant girlfriend and their other kid out of his mother’s house, and his ex-con brother Nicky (Stephen Louis.

We’ve all played the lottery, right? We've all dreamed of winning big and changing our lives, haven't we?

So what happens when a group of seven co-workers at a Queens gas station hit it huge with a shared ticket? That’s the story behind ABC’s new drama series Lucky 7, which chronicles the consequences from this victory and tracks the lives of all involved in it.

One of the Lucky 7 is Matt Long, who first came to TV prominence with his lead role in the short lived but still-remembered series Jack & Bobby. Long’s character, also named Matt, has a pregnant girlfriend, but, as you’ll see in tonight’s first episode, the win doesn’t bring an immediate happily ever after to this young family.

I sat down with Long recently to talk about the new series, as well as his reflections on Jack & Bobby...

TV...

On TV this busy Tuesday: The Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. assemble, NCIS goes rogue, NCIS: La goes nuclear, The Goldbergs and Trophy Wife introduce funny families, Chicago Fire flares again, Lucky 7‘s number comes up, Person of Interest says, “Hello, sailor” and Web Therapy runs out of time. In addition to The Voice and Fox’s comedies, here are 10 programs to keep on your radar.

8 pm Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (ABC) | Series premiere: Agent Coulson from The Avengers lives (!) and is assembling a worldwide law-enforcement agency in this heroic drama from Buffy‘s Joss Whedon. In tonight’s episode,...

Exclusive: ABC has put in development Every Other Saturday, a single-camera comedy from British writer Neil Forsyth, Jon Pollack (Go On, 30 Rock), Amblin Television and Universal TV. It revolves around a good-hearted yet multiply flawed father trying to win over his son after a divorce, despite only having custody every other Saturday. The show was created by Forsyth, whom Amblin found in the UK and brought to the States. The company developed Every Other Saturday internally before introducing Forsyth to Pollack, with whom Amblin TV toppers Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey previously worked on another ABC/DreamWorks TV comedy series, Spin City. Pollock came on board and will supervise and showrun through his overall deal at Universal TV. At ABC, Amblin TV has new drama series Lucky 7 as well as comedy pilot Middle Age Rage, which was kept in contention. The Wme-repped company is behind the biggest sale so far this season,...

It’s always good news when a proposed Our Kind of Show doesn’t have to go through the whole pilot process, waiting to see if it gets picked up to series. I hate waiting. The latest Our Kind of Show to be picked up directly to series is Extant, which is being produced by Steven Spielberg and Amblin Television, which didn’t hurt its chances.

As you may recall, last year Spielberg and Amblin had another show picked up directly to series, Under the Dome, and that has been quite the winner for the company.

It didn’t hurt CBS, according to Deadline, that it is the network of Under the Dome, when Spielberg and Amblin were shopping Extant to the networks. CBS apparently suggested that Extant could be paired with the Stephen King adaptation to form a Steven Spielberg night. I think we’ll all be good with that.

Beverly Hills, Calif. — Luis Antonio Ramos, starring in the new ABC series "Lucky 7," became emotional talking about the chance to play something other than a stereotypical Latino character.

"I was tired of playing bad guys and stabbing people in the neck," Ramos said Sunday.

Such work was "sucking away my soul," forcing him to leave Los Angeles and seek more satisfying parts, including on stage, he told a Television Critics Association session.

In "Lucky 7," Ramos' character works at a gas station in Queens, N.Y., and is a devoted family man. The series follows the impact that a shared lottery win has on the station's employees.

"That's the lottery for me," Ramos said of his character, choking up as he discussed the issue.

Civil rights groups and others have long criticized Hollywood for failing to reflect American diversity and for showing minorities in a limited light. Latinos often...

How much would your life change if you and your co-workers won the lottery? That's the question at the heart of ABC's new drama "Lucky 7," which follows the story of seven gas station employees in Queen, New York who, after chipping into a lottery pool for years, finally hit it big and discover that winning isn't all it's cracked up to be.

During the show's panel at the Television Critics Association summer 2013 press tour on Sunday (Aug. 4), the cast of the series sounded off on what they'd do if they struck it rich in real life. "I hope I would have the wherewithal to square away a little bit of it, and then I'd just have a blast," Matt Long ("Jack & Bobby") admitted. "Of course, if you were inspired by this awesome cause that you'd want to give to, then you would be able to do that and make a difference,...

Diane Haithman contributes to Deadline’s TCA coverage. Producer David Zabel appeared on two TCA panels today for two new ABC series: Betrayal and Lucky 7 (based on Kay Mellor’s British series The Syndicate), about a group of working class friends who win the lottery. (The show is set in multi-ethnic Queens, NY for the American version.) Without revealing any spoilers, critics at the panels noted that in both series the pilot opens with flash-forwards to some nasty consequences for some characters. Why? Zabel described the technique as an effective way to hook viewers for episodes to come. “These are not procedurals, they are character dramas. The device teases audiences with how crazy, dramatic or elevated that things are going to become,” said Zabel, an Ep on both dramas. Seeking audience investment in characters has led to other changes from the British version: that program did only 5 episodes for...

The Syndicate is to return for a third series on BBC One.

Another six episodes of Kay Mellor's lottery winners drama will air in 2015, according to Broadcast.

The first series of The Syndicate aired in 2012 and focused on five supermarket workers who strike it lucky, while series two - which debuted in March - followed six hospital workers who came up with winning numbers.

Series three will focus on the staff of a stately home and will shoot on location in Yorkshire.

"I'm delighted," said Mellor. "It's the first time I've been in a situation that I have a body of work ahead of me that will take me through the end of 2015."

The writer is also currently working on another BBC One drama; In the Club will explore the impact of a new baby on a modern family, following six very different couples who bond at the local Parent Craft class.

ABC Family’s Pretty Little Liars spin-off Ravenswood is making a major casting change ahead of filming its pilot next week.

Merritt Patterson (photo, left) will replace Elizabeth Whitson as one of the series’ leading ladies, Olivia, TVLine has confirmed. Patterson had previously been cast as Olivia’s best friend, but has since been bumped up due to “the direction the character is now headed.”

Whitson, as a result, will exit the project. The Hollywood Reporter first reported on the recast.

Related | Pretty Little Liars Spin-Off Ravenswood — Crossover Plans

Ready for more of today’s TV dish? Well…

• ABC’s...

The Syndicate's Kay Mellor is to pen a new drama for BBC One.

In the Club will explore the impact of a new baby on a modern family, following six very different couples who bond at the local Parent Craft class.

"Having given birth as a teenager I know how life-changing it is," said Mellor. "Birth is the ultimate creation; it changes you and your relationships forever.

"I'm delighted to be writing for BBC One again. Both [Controller of BBC Drama Commissioning] Ben Stephenson and [BBC Head of Independent Drama] Polly Hill instinctively understand my work. They encourage and trust me to deliver; as a dramatist you couldn't ask for anything more and for that I'm eternally grateful."

Mellor's past television credits include the series Band of Gold, Fat Friends and A Passionate Woman.

Her most recent effort - BBC One drama The Syndicate - has been remade by Us network ABC as the new series Lucky 7.

In...

This year, the fall television schedule is a decidedly crazy beast. I know, that doesn’t seem like the sort of thing that separates any year from any other, but television is in the midst of dizzying spins of theory, and comparisons to previous years show some serious changes.

Most striking is probably the extent to which the big networks are content to leave each other alone. Also noticeable is the unspoken admission that perhaps DVRs exist, and the schedule doesn’t really need to worry quite as much about who is watching what at the exact moment it airs. We’re still pretending to a degree, but there are hints.

At the moment, you’ve only got a quick look, but we will be constantly updating this page as any changes occur, and as the new shows are available for review (sure, we’ve seen them, but we aren’t supposed to “review” them…...

Are we all interested in ABC’s upcoming Lucky 7 just because Steven Spielberg is executive producing the show? Well, not exactly. The story sounds pretty cool, too. Especially if you play the lottery every week. Intrigued already? Hope you are, we have the first official trailer for the whole thing, head inside to check it out… In case you’re not so familiar with Lucky 7, let us first inform you that director Paul McGuigan stands behind the project which is based on the British TV show The Syndicate, created by Kay Mellor. It revolves around a group of seven gas station employees in Queens, New...

In addition to unveiling its new Xbox One entertainment console, Microsoft also used its presentation to announce the transfer of popular video game Halo into a television series. Steven Spielberg is on board to executive produce the live-action Halo TV series, Microsoft announced Tuesday. The series will include exclusive interactive Xbox One content that is created in partnership with 343 Industries and Xbox Entertainment Studios. Story: Microsoft Unveils Xbox One Entertainment Console For Spielberg, the news comes amid a busy development season with ABC this month granting series orders to lottery drama Lucky 7. TNT also announced at its upfront

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At ABC‘s upfront, there were a few things that the network wanted to make sure you knew. 1) They are really impressed with the idea that people are going to watch Rebel Wilson do just about anything, and 2) There isn’t anything they’re happier about than bringing you more episodes of television created by Shonda Rhimes.

On these notes, the network would love for you to know that more Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal are coming your way. These, ABC would like to impress upon you (as advertisers) are really good shows. Because… hellllooo… so many people watch them that we’re bringing them back. But wait, don’t think that you’re as excited as you can get yet, because if those are your favorite shows, then we have a new one for you to fall in love with, Betrayal.

Also on the agenda, and actually looking like they might be interesting,...

Maybe Olivia Pope needs to do some damage control for ABC, which brought back only two of the 10 shows it premiered last season. At the network’s upfront presentation on Tuesday, Kerry Washington appeared in a pre-taped clip as her character from Scandal, and offered advice to Anne Sweeney, the president of Disney/ABC Television Group, alongside Jimmy Kimmel. Discussing the problem of Dancing With the Stars, which took a ratings dip this season, Kimmel quipped, “For one thing, they’re not really stars.” There aren’t a ton of stars in ABC’s new lineup, either — but there are...

The Fall TV Season presentations for all the new network shows take place this week with the third announced earlier today. Here's a full breakdown of which concepts have made the final list over on ABC.

The network is changing up some of its serialized dramas - removing random repeats in favor of two "uninterrupted runs" of twelve episodes each (one in the fall, one in the spring) for shows like "Once Upon A Time," "Grey’s Anatomy," "Scandal" and "Revenge". The large gaps between the two half-seasons will be bridged by "limited series" designed around only 12-13 episode seasons.

Several other pilots didn't make the final cut and won't be seen including the high-profile "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" rip-off "Gothica", McG's rip-off of Baz Luhrmann's "Romeo + Juliet" entitled "Westside", the series based on Disneyland's Big Thunder Mountain ride, the Annie Potts-led "Murder in Manhattan" about...

Four new dramas are headed to ABC this fall.

First, in what is likely the most anticipated freshman series on any network, Clark Gregg lives as Coulson and leads Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. up against various global threats in this Joss Whedon-produced series.

Check out the first extended promo now:

 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Trailer

Then, in a surprise move, the network scheduled the Once Upon a Time spinoff - awkwardly titled Once Upon a Time in Wonderland - for Thursdays at 8 p.m. Are you ready to go down the rabbit hole with Sophie Lowe and company?

 Once Upon a Time in Wonderland Trailer

Next, Revenge will be followed on Sunday nights by Betrayal (seriously!), a series that sets up an unusual arrangement for a new couple: they are on opposite sides of a major murder case, as teased here:

 Betrayal Trailer

Finally, we have Lucky 7 (Tuesdays at...

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Winning the lottery -- it's the stuff of dreams. But for seven employees at a gas station in Queens, the dream is going to become a reality. Unfortunately for "Lucky 7," there may be a little bit of a nightmare included in this new ABC drama.

The story focuses on the employees of a gas station who have been chipping into a lottery pool for months with no expectation of winning. That's too bad -- they all need the money. Matt (Matt Long) needs to find a home for his girlfriend and kids. Matt's brother Nicky (Stephen Louis Grush) is a debt-ridden ex-con. Samira (Summer Bishil) just wants to go to Juilliard. Denise (Lorraine Bruce) would have the time to fix her marriage. The manager, Bob (Isiah Whitlock, Jr.) wants to retire. Leanne (Anastasia Phillips) can help her daughter realize her dreams. And Antonio (Luis Antonio Ramos...

After revealing its 2013-2014 programming schedule at Tuesday's upfronts, ABC released first looks at its new series. See videos below. "Lucky 7": Revolves around seven employees of a service station in Queens whose lives are changed in unexpected ways when they win a lottery jackpot. Stars Stephen Louis Grush, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Summer Bishil, Anastasia Phillips, Christine Evangelista, Lorraine Bruce and Luis Antonio Ramos. Executive produced by David Zabel, Jason Richman ("Detroit 187"), Darryl Frank, Justin Falvey and Steven Spielberg. "Once Upon a Time in Wonderland": Reimagination of "Alice in Wonderland," starring Sophie...

Following in the footsteps of NBC and Fox, ABC on Tuesday gave viewers a glimpse at the new additions to its 2013-14 lineup, including the buzzy Once Upon a Time spin-off, a Super Fun Night with Rebel Wilson, an ’80s-set comedy with another Bridesmaids vet and many more.

Related | Fall TV Schedule 2013 — What’s On When? And Against What?

Set your sights on the Alphabet Network’s fresh offerings below, and then hit the comments with your snappy judgments!

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., with Clark Gregg, Ming-Na, Elizabeth Henstridge (airing Tuesdays at 8/7c)

The Goldbergs, with Wendi McLendon-Covey, Jeff Garlin...