Here, have 12 seconds of all the new shows ABC just made room for

By William Hughes  |  May 14, 2016 | 9:49pm
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As much as we like to joke about the day ABC went running through its crop of existing shows, tossing lit matches and cackling all the while, the network has been quietly accruing new series this year, too. Eight of them, specifically, which it’s now ready to show off in the form of some fast, 12-second-long Quick Look videos.

First up: Conviction, a.k.a., the show Hayley Atwell is on now that Agent Carter is off the air. Centered on a young socialite hunting for redemption by helping the wrongfully accused overturn their sentences, it remains to be seen whether Atwell’s new vocation will be worth the pain of breaking a nation’s heart.

Speaking of shows starring actresses who rose to prominence fighting evil and hunting for the truth, ABC’s also got a sneak peek of Downward Dog, starring Fargo’s Allison Tolman. We only get six seconds of this one, though, possibly because that’s all the time it takes to convey, “She has a dog, and it talks.”

Speaking of things talking when they shouldn’t: Rachel Dratch, as the titular Imaginary Mary, which is way weirder looking than we thought it’d be when we wrote about it back in January. Dratch stars as the Drop Dead Fred to Jenna Elfman’s Phoebe Cates, offering up relationship advice as she wrestles with the responsibilities of being an adult. Other relevant facts: the series comes from The Goldbergs’ Adam Goldberg, and features a CGI monster doing the Macarena.

Speaking of family dramedy, how about Speechless, which just got picked up yesterday? Starring Minnie Driver, it’s about a woman trying to keep her family together, while dealing with her wheelchair-bound son’s special needs. (Like teaching him how to give people the finger, apparently.)

Speaking of rudeness, people seem pretty angry in the first look at Shondaland’s Still Star-Crossed, the sequel nobody demanded to Romeo & Juliet. This one mostly focuses on the stuff we already know—i.e., the teen lovers die—but does have a couple suitably pulpy images on display.

Speaking of period pieces, that looks to be at least the start for Time After Time, from Scream and Dawson’s Creek creator Kevin Williamson. Starring Freddie Stroma as H.G. Wells, the show follows him as he pursues Jack The Ripper (Revenge’s Josh Bowman) into the modern day.

And finally—speaking of increasingly tired segues—there’s Kiefer Sutherland’s Designated Survivor, in which the former Jack Bauer looks surprisingly timid and weak as he takes the oath of office after a cabinet-clearing attack on the White House.

So, there you have it: ABC’s new shows, the stuff they got rid of Nashville and The Muppets to make room for. The question stands: Will all these new series pay off? Or will we back here next year, living through another cancellation wave?

UPDATE: Whoops, we forgot about Notorious, which is about a TV producer (Piper Perabo) and a lawyer (Daniel Sunjata) teaming up to manipulate the media. To be fair, though, the trailer for this one is even less memorable than the one with Molly Solverson and the talking dog:

 
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