TCA: 'Scandal,' 'Apt. 23' to Get ABC's Top Lead-Ins

Paul Lee says net has "good launch pad" planned for 'Cougar Town's return

By Andrea Morabito -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/10/2012 1:28:41 PM

Complete Coverage: TCA Winter Press Tour 2012
 
Pasadena, Calif. -- Two of ABC's new midseason entries will get the benefit of its top-rated comedy and drama as launch pads, the network announced at the TCA press tour Tuesday.
 
New drama Scandal will debut after Grey's Anatomy on Apr. 5, with Private Practice moving to Tuesdays at 10 p.m. later that month, while comedy Don't Trust the B---- in Apt. 23 will premiere out of Modern Family on Apr. 11 after Happy Endings wraps its sophomore season.
 
Entertainment Group President Paul Lee reassured the room that the network will bring back Cougar Town, which was left off its midseason schedule, saying ABC has "a good launch pad" for a tentative return in March. Lee also said he would love to pair Cougar with Happy Endings and Apt. 23 in the future if the latter succeeds.
 
"I'm hoping we get a group of comedies that are young and irreverent and have as strong a voice as [creator] Bill [Lawrence] has," he said.
 
Also addressed is Lee's executive session:
 

• No decision has been made on the future of ABC's last remaining soap, General Hospital, yet, and Lee said that there is no timeframe for making one. "It depends on how the other shows do," Lee said after the session, in reference to new daytime shows The Chew and The Revolution. "It's not a decision we have to make immediately but will have to eventually."
• Lee didn't comment on Grey's Anatomy stars like Patrick Dempsey who have expressed desire to leave the show after their contracts expire at the end of this season, but said the show's creator Shonda Rhimes has a plan in place for the future of the series. "Shonda has a vision like nobody else," he said. "We've heard her vision for this season and beyond. I'm feeling very good about the show."
• Pan Am, which will end its episode run in February, is still in contention for next season and Revenge may relocate from the Hamptons, with Lee saying "it is in the cards" for the drama to move locations after this season.
• Lee defended the decision to put the critically despised Work It on the air, saying "I thought there was room personally for a very, very silly show." As for its premiere week ratings (2.0 rating in the 18-49 demo), Lee said, "It was right in the middle there, we'll see where it goes in the next few weeks."