ABC 2011 Fall TV Premiere: Suburgatory

With Better With You cancelled, that leaves the 8:30 p.m. spot open for something new and ABC is filling the gap with Suburgatory, a comedy series that follows a single father who moves his teen daughter from the city to the suburbs.

Suburgatory features a solid cast including Jeremy Sisto (Six Feet Under, Clueless), Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm) and Allie Grant, whom Weeds fans will recognize from her role as Celia’s often irritated daughter Isabelle. The premise sounds cute but the clips do an even better job of showcasing the humor in the series. I was really hoping ABC would find something good to put between The Middle and Modern Family if they weren’t planning on putting those two comedies next to each other. From the looks of it, Suburgatory is going to fit right in on Wednesday nights.

Below is ABC’s synopsis for the series and further down are a few clips from the premiere episode:

Single father George only wants the best for his 16-year-old daughter, Tessa. So when he finds a box of condoms on her nightstand, he moves them out of their apartment in New York City to a house in the suburbs. But all Tessa sees is the horror of over-manicured lawns and plastic Franken-moms. Being in the 'burbs can be hell, but it also may just bring Tessa and George closer than they've ever been.

Tessa (Jane Levy) and George (Jeremy Sisto) have been on their own ever since Tessa's mom pulled a "Kramer vs. Kramer" before she was even potty trained. So far, George has done a pretty good job of raising Tessa without a maternal figure in their lives, but suddenly he's feeling a little out of his league. So it's goodbye New York City and hello suburbs. At first Tessa is horrified by the big-haired, fake-boobed mothers and their sugar-free Red Bull-chugging kids. But little by little she and her dad begin finding a way to survive on the clean streets of the 'burbs. Sure, the neighbors might smother you with love while their kids stare daggers at your back, but underneath all that plastic and caffeine, they're really not half bad. And they do make a tasty pot roast.

The show stars Jeremy Sisto (Law & Order) as George Altman, Jane Levy (Shameless) as Tessa Altman, Carly Chaikin (The Last Song) as Dalia Royce, Allie Grant (Weeds) as Lisa, Alan Tudyk (V) as Noah Lerner and Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm) as Dallas Royce. Ana Gasteyer (Saturday Night Live) guest stars.

Emily Kapnek (Hung) writes and executive-produces this bitingly ironic single-camera comedy. "Suburgatory" was directed by Michael Fresco ("Raising Hope"), who also executive-produced the pilot. It is produced by Warner Bros. Television.

Suburgatory will begin airing Wednesdays this Fall (2011), 8:30-9:00 p.m., ET

CLICK HERE to view ABC’s Fall 2011 Primetime Schedule.

Image ©ABC