ABC Picks Up ‘The Catch,’ ‘The Muppets,’ Plus 7 More Series

Soon it’s going to be all Shonda Rhimes, all the time on ABC. Rhimes’ new show The Catch is one of six new dramas and three new comedies to get series orders on Thursday. The thriller centered on fraud investigator Alice Martin (Mirelle Enos, The Killing), who becomes a victim of fraud herself by her fiancé (Damon Dayoub), joins Rhimes’ recently renewed series Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder. Jacky Ido, Jay Hayden, Elvy Yost, Alimi Ballard, Rose Rollins and Bethany Joy Lenz (One Tree Hill) will also star. 

Also picked up is Of Kings and Prophets, an epic Biblical saga of faith, ambition and betrayal, as told through the eyes of a battle-weary king (Ray Winstone), a powerful and resentful prophet and a resourceful young shepherd on a collision course with destiny. Haaz Sleiman, Maisie Richardson-Sellers (The Originals), Oliver Rix, Simone Kessell, James Floyd and Mohammad Bakri also star.

Previously titled Boom, the now untitled Josh Pate (Surface) and Rodes Fishburne project tells the story of Billy (Chace Crawford, Gossip Girl) and Cody Lefever (Rebecca Rittenhouse, Red Band Society), who dream of a new life beyond their working class roots and move to “The Bakken” in North Dakota, which is booming after the biggest oil discovery in American history. Don Johnson (Nash Bridges, Miami Vice) also stars alongside Scott Michael Foster (Chasing Life), Delroy Lindo, India De Beaufort, Caitlin Carver (The Fosters), Yani Gellman and Amber Valletta.

Quantico from Josh Safran (Gossip Girl, Endless Love) follows a diverse group of recruits who have arrived at the FBI Quantico Base for training. They are the best, the brightest and the most vetted, so it seems impossible when one of them is suspected of masterminding the biggest attack on New York City since 9/11. Tate Ellington, Graham Rogers, Aunjanue Ellis, Dougray Scott, Priyanka Chopra, Johanna Braddy, Yasmine Al Massri and Jake McLaughlin star.

The Family, formerly titled Original Sin, is a thriller that follows the return of a politician’s (Joan Allen) young son (Liam James) who was presumed dead after disappearing over a decade earlier. As the mysterious young man is welcomed back into his family suspicions emerge — is he really who he says he is? Zach Gilford (Friday Night Lights), Margot Bingham, Alison Pill (The Newsroom), Floriana Lima, Madeleine Arthur, Andrew McCarthy, Rarmian Newton and Rupert Graves (Sherlock) also star.

Finally, anthology series Wicked City, previously titled L.A. Crime, follows a different noteworthy era of L.A. history each season. The first season starts with a murder case from 1982, which is centered on the rock and roll, cocaine-infused revelry of the Sunset Strip. Taissa Farmiga (American Horror Story), Erika Christensen (Parenthood), Ed Westwick (Gossip Girl), Darrell Britt-Gibson, Karolina Wydra, Adam Rothenberg, Holley Fain, Anne Winters (Tyrant, The Fosters) and Gabriel Luna will star.

ABC has also ordered three comedies, a reboot of The Muppets, Ken Jeong’s Dr. Ken and The Real O’Neals. These new shows join recently renewed dramas Castle, Grey’s Anatomy, How to Get Away with Murder, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nashville, Once Upon a Time, Scandal, American Crime, Secrets and Lies and Marvel’s Agent Carter, as well as comedies Black-ish, Fresh Off the Boat, The Goldbergs, The Middle, Modern Family and Galavant. ABC has cancelled Forever, Resurrection and Cristela. [THR]

ABC Orders ‘Uncle Buck’ Reboot Starring Mike Epps to Series

Looks like ABC isn’t done yet, because their Uncle Buck reboot has just been ordered to series. In a spin on the original 1989 John Candy film, the comedy will feature an all-black cast led by Mike Epps (The Hangover) as Uncle Buck, a fun loving but irresponsible guy who needs a job and a place to stay. By happy coincidence, his nieces and nephew’s Nanny has just quit and his brother and sister-in-law need his help. Nia Long, James Lesure, Iman Benson, Sayeed Shahidi, and Aalyrah Caldwell will also star. [EW]

Fox Picks Up New Howard Gordon Drama ‘The Frankenstein Code’

Homeland creator Howard Gordon (The X-Files, Angel) will have one more show on the air next season. Fox has greenlit new drama The Frankenstein Code to series, which will star Rob Kazinsky (True Blood) as Jimmy Pritchard, a morally corrupt retired cop, who is given a second chance at life when he is brought back from the dead. Now younger and stronger, Pritchard will have to choose between his old temptations and his new sense of purpose.

The news follows Fox’s recent pickups of medical drama Rosewood and three new comedies, John Stamos’ Grandfathered, Rob Lowe’s The Grinder, and Jack Cutmore-Scott’s The Guide to Surviving Life. Fox has cancelled The Mindy Project, The Following and Backstrom. [THR]

Fox Renews ‘Bones’ for 11th Season; Showrunner Steps Down

David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel – as well as Michaela Conlin, ?T.J. Thyne, John Boyd and ?Tamara Taylor – will be back for another season of Bones, but the series’ longtime showrunner Stephen Nathan won’t be returning. Fox has renewed the crime drama for an amazing eleventh season, with executive producer Jonathan Collier and co-executive producer Michael Peterson stepping in to run the show. [THR]

CBS Orders ‘Rush Hour,’ ‘Limitless’ Adaptations and Four More Series

CBS is now getting in on the upfront action, picking up four new dramas, TV adaptations of Rush Hour and Limitless, a Criminal Minds spinoff, and medical series Code Black, as well as two new comedies, Angel From Hell and Life in Pieces.

Based on the feature film trilogy starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, Rush Hour follows a by-the-book Hong Kong police officer (Jon Foo) assigned to a case in Los Angeles, where he’s forced to work with a cocky African-American LAPD officer (Justin Hires, 21 Jump Street) who has no interest in being his partner. Aimee Garcia and Wendie Malick co-star.

Limitless, a TV adaptation of the 2011 film, centers on Brian Sinclair (Jake McDorman), who discovers the power of the mysterious drug NZT, and is then coerced into using his newfound abilities to solve weekly cases for the FBI. Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter), Hill Harper and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio will also star.

New drama Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders started off as a planted episode this year on parent series Criminal Minds. The spinoff focuses on a division of the FBI that helps American citizens who find themselves in danger abroad. The series stars Gary Sinise (CSI: NY), Daniel Henney and Tyler James Williams.

Finally, new medical drama Code Black is set in the busiest ER in the nation, where doctors must wrestle with their ideals and with the realities of saving lives in a complex and overburdened system. Based off a documentary, it will star Marcia Gay Harden, Bonnie Somerville, Raza Jaffrey and Luis Guzman lead the cast.

CBS has also ordered two comedies, Jane Lynch and Maggie Lawson’s Angel From Hell and ensemble series Life in Pieces with Dianne Wiest, James Brolin, Zoe Lister Jones, Colin Hanks (Fargo, Roswell), Angelique Cabral, Thomas Sadoski and Betsy Brandt. These six new series join previously picked up Supergirl and recently renewed 2 Broke Girls, The Big Bang Theory, Mike and Molly, Mom, Madam Secretary, NCIS: New Orleans, and Scorpion. CBS has cancelled Stalker, Battle Creek, The McCarthys. [THR]