TCA: ABC Family Loads Up on Series
Miniseries Samurai Girl to debut; returning series include The Secret Life of the American Teenager , Greek , Lincoln Heights .
By Alex Weprin -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/17/2008 10:33:00 AM
Beverly Hills -- ABC Family had a flurry of news at the Television Critics Association press tour here Thursday.
The network announced 13 additional episodes of The Secret Life of the American Teenager, announced premiere dates for series Greek and Lincoln Heights and started promoting miniseries Samurai Girl.
Debuting Sept. 5, 6 and 7, Samurai Girl was the subject of a panel discussion during the tour. ABC Family president Paul Lee said the three-day launch was done to build buzz for the series.
"We did something very similar with Fallen last year,” he added. “It creates a real event, it is so marketable and promotable.”
Depending on how the show does, the show could have a future on the network as a series.
"It has every ability to be picked up as a series next year should we so choose," Lee said. "In that case, we would do it as hours [rather than the two-hour installments for the miniseries]."
Of course, if the network were to pick up Samurai Girl as a series, it would need to find a place on its increasingly busy schedule to place it.
With an additional 13 episodes of The Secret Life of the American Teenager on the way, the sophomore season of Greek premiering Aug. 26 and the third season of Lincoln Heights premiering Sept. 16, all to go along with established hits such as Kyle XY, the network might have a hard time finding a workable time slot for another series.
Lee brushed aside any concerns during the panel. "It's a great time for the network because we really do have a portfolio of shows," he said.
For the latest news and video from the TCA press tour, click here.
-
Did they say anything about "The Middleman"?
Gina - 7/17/2008 3:23:00 PM EDT
ABC Family's Summer Plans
05/04/2008'Make It Or Break It' Makes It At ABC Family
07/27/2009
