ABC Family release an announcement bursting with positive news today, including the fate of The Secret Life of the American Teenager, as well as orders for two new series and word on a TV movie set to premiere during the cable channels annual 25 Days of Christmas line-up later this year.
Those of you who can’t get enough Secret Life will be glad to know that the family-centered teen drama will be back for another season. ABC Family announced today that they’ve given the show the greenlight for a fifth season, which will take the series past the milestone 100-episode mark.
WhIle American Teenager is set to grow older, new series on the horizon include Baby Daddy and Beverly Hills Nannies, both of which are set to join ABC Family’s growing line-up of original series.
Baby Daddy is a multi-camera comedy executive produced by Dan Berendsen, and stars Chelsea Kane (Dancing with the Stars), Tahj Mowry (The Game), and Derek Theler (90210). The show follows a guy who finds out he’s the father of a baby girl when she’s left on his doorstep by his ex. He decides to raise the baby, with the help of his mother, brother and friends. A multi-cam comedy sounds a bit different than what ABC Family has been going with lately, but the premise certainly sounds like a good fit.
The other series is Beverly Hills Nannies, which is a reality show (“docuseries”) about nannies working in Beverly Hills. It comes from the production company behind the Real Housewives of Orange County and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. It sounds like a reality TV mixture of a childrearing/family element and a hint of the glamour and rich-life that works so well for so many other reality shows on TV these days.
Finally, Tori Spelling and Tia Mowry are set to star in an original Christmas movie called The Mistle-Tones, which begins principal photography this month in Utah. The film will star Mowry as a talented singer who hopes to nab the recently vacated spot on the local Christmas singing group only to learn it’s been snatched up by Spelling’s character Marci, who’s described as the “barely talented best friend of the group’s leader.” Drama! A sing-off may be in the cards for the characters and in all likelihood, life-lessons about the true meaning of Christmas will be learned. I’ll watch because I’m a sucker for sappy made-for-TV Christmas movies and I don’t think I’ve seen Tori Spelling in a quasi-villainous role since she played one of the evil Red Feathers in Troop Beverly Hills.
