ABC Family has renewed comedies “Baby Daddy” and “Melissa and Joey.” The network also ordered three new dramas: “Alice in Arabia,” “Recovery Road” and “Unstrung.”
“These three powerful new dramas are a great fit with ABC Family’s brand of original programming known for diverse stories that challenge as well as entertain our viewers,” commented ABC Family president Tom Ascheim. “We’re also delighted to produce more episodes of ‘Melissa & Joey’ and ‘Baby Daddy,’ two series that together have helped ABC Family establish a strong comedy block that continues to make our audience laugh out loud.”
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Created and executive produced by Dan Berendsen (“Sabrina, the Teenage Witch” and “Hannah Montana: The Movie”), “Baby Daddy” will move on to its fourth season with this order. It stars Jean-Luc Bilodeau (“Kyle XY”) as a bachelor raising a kid alone with the help of his friends.
Also picked up for a fourth season, “Melissa & Joey” will go on to celebrate its 100th episode on the new season. Starring Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence, the series follows Mel (Hart), a local politician who’s raising her younger siblings with the help of nanny/house manager Joe (Lawrence).
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Created by David Kendall and Bob Young, “Melissa & Joey” is executive-produced by Kendall, Seth Kurland, Paula Hart, Melissa Joan Hart, Lawrence and John Ziffren.
See the pilot descriptions from ABC Family below:
“Alice in Arabia” is a high-stakes drama series about a rebellious American teenage girl who, after tragedy befalls her parents, is unknowingly kidnapped by her extended family, who are Saudi Arabian. Alice finds herself a stranger in a new world but is intrigued by its offerings and people, whom she finds surprisingly diverse in their views on the world and her situation. Now a virtual prisoner in her grandfather’s royal compound, Alice must count on her independent spirit and wit to find a way to return home while surviving life behind the veil. The pilot was written by Brooke Eikmeier, who previously served in the US Army as a Cryptologic Linguist in the Arabic language, trained to support NSA missions in the Middle East. She left service in September 2013 as a rank E-4 Specialist.
Based on the popular young adult novel by Blake Nelson, “Recovery Road” focuses on a teenage girl dealing with addiction. Maddie has a reputation as a party girl who doesn’t think she has a problem, until she’s confronted one day by her school guidance counselor and forced to choose between expulsion and rehab. Trying to save face, Maddie chooses to spend her nights living with other recovering addicts at a rehab facility, and her days pretending everything is perfectly normal among her high school classmates and her closest friends. The pilot was written by Bert V. Royal (“Easy A”) and Karen DiConcetto (“Ruby & The Rockits”). Beth Miller (“12 Dates of Christmas,” “Revenge of the Bridesmaids”) and Craig Piligian (“Survivor,” “American Chopper”) from Pilgrim Studios and Danielle VonZerneck (“Left to Die”) will serve as executive producers.
“Unstrung” explores the sexy, cutthroat, and emotional stakes of the professional world tour of tennis as brother and sister Luke and Ellie Holt compete to move up the ranks. The Holts may seem to have it all in a world where success is not only determined by prowess on the court, but by looks, charm and the ability to hide your faults under pressure from fans, critics, opponents, and even your closest allies. But a major family secret threatens to turn their lives, and their hard-earned family “brand,” upside down. Emily Whitesell (“Life Unexpected”) will executive produce.