TCA: ABC Renews Wednesday Comedies

McPherson announces renewal of ‘The Middle,' ‘Modern Family,' ‘Cougar Town' for second seasons

By Melissa Grego -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/12/2010 1:24:09 PM

TCA 2010: Complete Coverage of the Winter Press Tour
ABC has renewed its freshman Wednesday comedies The Middle, Modern Family and Cougar Town for second seasons, ABC Entertainment Group President Stephen McPherson announced at ABC's TCA press tour session.

The trio was part of an entirely new night of programming launched from scratch this season on the network. McPherson said he is looking for a replacement in the fall for Hank, the show in the two-hour comedy block that did not make the cut.

McPherson's announcement about the comedies comes at the end of a broadcast portion of press tour that has been particularly newsworthy, with NBC announcing the reversal of their Leno experiment over the weekend and Fox announcing Simon Cowell would be leaving American Idol as a judge after this season and launch his X Factor next year. McPherson acknowledged the critics' appetite for news in kicking off his session, saying the shows would be hearing about the renewals "on your blogs right now."

The network also announced that the 10th season of Dancing With the Stars will premiere March 22 as a two-hour special at 8 p.m.  Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution will start March 26 at 9 p.m.  In the series, the chef and TV personality heads to Hungtington, W. Va., called the unhealthiest city in America, to start a new cooking initiative.

David Tanklefsky contributed reporting.