ABC has given full-season orders to “Once Upon a Time,” “Happy Endings” and “Last Man Standing,” and has ordered 5 additional scripts for “Pan Am.”
“Once” has been one of the biggest freshman success stories so far this season, with both of its episodes so far performing strongly opposite the NFL and (once) the World Series. “Last Man Standing” has dipped a bit since its premiere but is still doing well for ABC on a night where they haven’t had comedy success in a long time, and “Happy Endings” has done decently at retaining the “Modern Family” audience (and hit a series high last week when the World Series was rained out) while drawing increasingly strong reviews and buzz.
“Pan Am” had a strong debut but has tailed off sharply ever since. Despite that, the show recently hired former “Lost” executive producer Steven Maeda to join the writing staff in anticipation of a back-9 pick-up. The script order is the kind of compromise you often see with shows a network likes but is concerned about in terms of creative or ratings. It shows faith in the series, gives them a bit more money, allows the network to see where things are going and buys a little more time to make the call on the back-9.