We'd been keeping our fingers crossed that ABC would pick up Jessica Jones, the noirish superhero show based on Brian Bendis' amazing comic. But ABC passed on Jessica, and instead we're getting Terry O' Quinn in 666 Park Avenue, a conspiracy theory drama, and a disconcerting comedy about alien neighbors.
Take a look at the next crop of strange shows to come out of ABC, and let's hope one of them's a winner.
Deadline is reporting that while ABC passed on the Jessica Jones series, an Incredible Hulk series is still on the table. Guillermo Del Toro and David Eick are still attached to this show — but with Pacific Rim taking up most of GDT's time, we're not holding our breath for a new Bruce Banner show.
For now let's look at what has actually been picked up by ABC, and actually has a premiere date in sight.
666 Park Avenue
First up is 666 Park Avenue, a ghost show! It sounds suspiciously like a fancier Locke & Key, but we're pretty jazzed about getting Terry O' Quinn back on the small screen. Here's the official run down:
If you could make one wish, what would it be? And what would you do to get it? At 666 Park Avenue, all of your dreams and burning desires can come true: wealth, sex, love, power, even revenge. But just be careful what you wish for, because the price you pay…could be your soul.
Welcome to The Drake, the premiere apartment building on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Owned by the mysterious Gavin Doran (Terry O'Quinn) and his sexy wife Olivia (Vanessa Williams), The Drake is home to dozens of residents who are unaware they're living in the dark embrace of supernatural forces. They think their dreams are all coming true, only to find they've been lured into making, what feels like, a deal with the Devil. When a young Mid-western couple – Jane Van Veen (Rachael Taylor) and Henry Martin (Dave Annable) - is hired to manage The Drake, they soon discover that evil, obsession, and manipulation has a home.
Allow yourself to be seduced by 666 PARK AVENUE, and unravel the mysteries of this devilish new drama from Alloy Entertainment (Gossip Girl, The Vampire Diaries, Pretty Little Liars) and executive producers David Wilcox (Fringe, Life on Mars), Leslie Morgenstein (Gossip Girl, The Vampire Diaries) and Gina Girolamo (The Secret Circle, The Lying Game).
666 Park Avenue will air on Sunday nights at 10 PM (so expect slightly more adult content) starting in 2013.
The Neighbors
Next up is The Neighbors, which looks like yet another wacky ABC show that we'll be laughing both at and with. Here's the official synopsis:
Meet The Weavers: Debbie (Jami Gertz) and Marty (Lenny Venito). Marty, in hopes of providing a better life for his wife and three kids, recently bought a home in "Hidden Hills," a gated New Jersey townhome community with its own golf course. Hidden Hills is so exclusive that a house hasn't come on the market in 10 years. But one finally did… and the Weavers got it!
It's clear from day one that the residents of Hidden Hills are a little… different. For starters, their new neighbors all have pro-athlete names like Larry Bird (Simon Templeton), Jackie Joyner-Kersee (Toks Olagundoye), Reggie Jackson (Tim Jo), and Dick Butkus (Ian Patrick). Over dinner, Marty and his family discover that their neighbors receive nourishment through their eyes and mind by reading books, rather than eating. The Weavers soon learn that the entire community is comprised of aliens from Zabvron, where the men bear children and everyone cries green goo… from their ears.
The Zabvronians have been stationed on Earth for the past 10 years, disguised as humans, awaiting instructions from home, and the Weavers are the first humans they've had the opportunity to know. As it turns out, the pressures of marriage and parenthood are not exclusive to planet Earth. Two worlds will collide with hilarious consequences as everyone discovers they can "totally relate," and learn a lot from each other.
Dan Fogelman (the writer of Cars, Tangled, and Crazy, Stupid, Love), Director Chris Koch (Workaholics, Modern Family), Jeff Morton (Modern Family) and Aaron Kaplan (GCB, Terra Nova) executive produce this new comedy about close encounters of the 3rd kind, in New Jersey.
We loved Third Rock from the Sun, but we're not sure what to expect from this show. Here's a snippet from the script ABC posted on their website, it's certainly zany.
JACKIE JOYNER-KERSEE:
Oh, Larry Bird!LARRY BIRD:
Oh, Jackie Joyner-Kersee! I feel so deeply for you, my dear. I am going to pleasure you all night.JACKIE JOYNER-KERSEE:
I thought we were out of asbestos.LARRY BIRD:
I have a secret supply.
(then, to Weavers)
We can't thank you enough, Weaver family.Debbie, concerned, hits a button opening the garage door for ventilation.
DEBBIE:
Wait, what was that with asbestos?
The Neighbors will premere 9:30 PM on Wednesdays, starting in January.
Zero Hour
And finally there's Zero Hour which stars that nice doctor from ER, Anthony Edwards. Edwards plays a ghost hunter and publisher for a paranormal magazine, who eventually becomes embroiled in some sort of alien conspiracy himself. Read our rundown of the pilot script here, and here's official ABC synopsis:
As the publisher of a paranormal enthusiast magazine, Modern Skeptic, Hank Galliston has spent his career following clues, debunking myths and solving conspiracies. A confessed paranormal junkie, his motto is "logic is the compass." But when his beautiful wife, Laila (Jacinda Barrett), is abducted from her antique clock shop, Hank gets pulled into one of the most compelling mysteries in human history, stretching around the world and back centuries.
Contained in one of his wife's clocks is a treasure map, and what it leads to could be cataclysmic. Now it's up to Hank to decipher the symbols and unlock the secrets of the map, while ensuring the answers don't fall into the wrong hands – a man they call White Vincent (Michael Nyqvist). With his two young associates, Rachel (Addison Timlin) and Arron (Scott Michael Foster), in tow, along with Becca Riley, a sexy FBI agent (Carmen Ejogo), Hank will lead them on a breathless race against the clock to find his wife and save humanity.
"Zero Hour" stars Anthony Edwards ("Big Sur," "Flipped," "ER") as Hank, Carmen Ejogo ("Sparkle," "Chaos," "Away We Go") as Beck, Scott Michael Foster ("Californication," "The River") as Aaron, Addison Timlin ("Californication") as Rachel, Jacinda Barrett ("Matching Jack," "Middle Men," "New York, I Love You") as Laila and Michael Nyqvist ("Mission: Impossible – Ghost Patrol") as White Vincent.
"Zero Hour" was written by Paul T. Scheuring ("Prison Break") who is also an executive producer along with Pierre Morel, Lorenzo DiBonaventura ("The Transformers," "GI: Joe" franchise, "Salt," "Red") and Dan McDermott ("Human Target"). The pilot for "Zero Hour" was directed by Pierre Morel. The series is produced by ABC Studios.
So, which one are you most excited for? Any of them?