Updated October 18 a 11:49 a.m. ET: Freeform has just renewed “Alone Together” for a second season, months ahead of its series premiere.
Former ABC Family channel Freeform is adding a fourth night of original series in 2018, the Disney owned cable network announced on Wednesday. Additionally, the channel has set the premiere dates for “Black-ish” spinoff “Grown-ish” (January 3) and The Lonely Island’s “Alone Together” (January 10).
In addition to those new Wednesday comedies, here’s how the weekly calendar will look next year, all in Freeform’s own words:
- Monday nights will consist of unscripted originals kicking off with the series premiere of “Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings” in the spring.
- Tuesday nights will be dedicated to original dramas beginning Q1 with “The Fosters,” leading into “Shadowhunters” on April 3. “The Bold Type” and “Famous in Love” will carry out the drama block for the remainder of the year.
- Thursday nights will exclusively consist of genre programming beginning January 18 with the two-hour season premiere of “Beyond,” leading into the March 29 premiere of “Siren.” Thursday nights will also be home to “Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger.”
“At Freeform, we are committed to our audience; and this past year, we refined our programming strategy to be a destination for trendsetting originals that champion youth culture,” said Tom Ascheim, president, Freeform. “Our upcoming slate is our biggest, boldest and most diverse ever — we look forward to making each show its own event and delivering empowering and entertaining originals to our viewers.”
Here are the official descriptions for new series “Grown-ish” and “Alone Together”:
“Grown-ish”
Wednesday’s comedy block kicks off with “Grown-ish,” a half-hour comedy tackling current social issues and complexities facing both students and administrators; it follows Zoey, Dre (Anthony Anderson) and Rainbow’s (Tracee Ellis Ross) popular, entitled, stylish and socially active 17-year-old daughter from ABC’s Emmy-nominated comedy “Black-ish,” as she heads into her freshman year of college.
Yara Shahidi (“Black-ish”) will continue to play Zoey Johnson, Trevor Jackson (“Burning Sands,” “American Crime”) as Aaron Jackson, Jordan Buhat (“Summer of ’84”) as Vivek Shah, Emily Arlook (“The Good Place,” “Hand of God”) as Nomi Segal, Francia Raisa (“The Secret Life of the American Teenager”) as Ana Torres, Chris Parnell (“SNL”) as Dean Parker and Deon Cole (“black-ish”) as Charlie Telphy. Chloe Bailey, Halle Bailey and Luka Sabbat also recur in the series. Kenya Barris, Anthony Anderson, Laurence Fishburne, Helen Sugland and E. Brian Dobbins are executive producers. The series is produced by ABC Signature Studios.
“Alone Together”
“Alone Together” stars stand-up comedians Povitsky (“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”) and Aflalo (“Not Safe with Nikki Glaser”) as two overlooked millennial misfits from different backgrounds trying to make their way in the vain and status-obsessed culture of Los Angeles. These two only find salvation in their male/female strictly platonic friendship. Throughout the season Esther and Benji’s misadventures include shooting their own music video, standing in line for a Lip Kit Pop Up and even trying their hand at retirement life. Regardless of the escapade, you can be sure in their own warped way they will have each other’s backs while calling each other on their nonsense in a way that only best friends can.
“Alone Together” is created by Povitsky, Aflalo and Eben Russell (“Girl Boss”), who serve as writers and executive producers. Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, Akiva Schaffer, Becky Sloviter and Hunter Covington also serve as executive producers.
“Grown-ish” will debut on January 3 with two half-hour episodes beginning at 8 p.m. ET. A week later, “Alone Together” premieres in its 8:30 p.m. ET time slot.