ABC has given full season orders to freshman series “How to Get Away With Murder” and “Black-Ish” just a few weeks in to the season.
That means “HTGAWM” will run for 15 episodes, which is the what star Viola Davis‘ movie schedule allows. And “Black-ish” gets the typical 22-episode season run.
“HTGAWM” was the top series debut of the season and the biggest 10 p.m. drama debut in two years in the advertiser-coveted Adults 18-49 demographic. In it second week, “How to Get Away With Murder” suffered the expected premiere drop off (though more of a drop than most expected) of 18 percent over its debut episode the week before. It earned 3.2/10 in the key demo and garnered 11.8 million total viewers.
Also read: ‘How to Get Away With Murder’ Reviews: At Least Critics Can Agree Viola Davis Is Fantastic
Meanwhile, “Black-ish” opened as the No. 2 series debut and the No. 1 comedy debut on television in the advertiser demo. It also had the best-ever viewer retention out of “Modern Family” for any comedy debut.
The family comedy could not ask for a better timeslot that the 9:30 p.m. one on Wednesdays — after “Modern Family,” the top show in Wednesday primetime. Even with a slightly down (8 percent) “Modern Family” lead-in, “Black-ish” (2.8, 8 million viewers) had a slightly up (8 percent the other way) performance on Wednesday.
Also read: ‘Black-ish’ Series Premiere Draws Passionate Support and Derision
From Shondaland writer/producer Pete Nowalk, “HTGAWM” stars Davis as college professor and defense attorney Annalise Keating. It also stars Billy Brown, Alfred Enoch, Jack Falahee, Katie Findlay, Aja Naomi King, Matt McGorry, Karla Souza, Charlie Weber and Liza Weil.
Created by Kenya Barrish, “Black-ish” stars Anthony Anderson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Yara Shahidi, Marcus Scribner, Miles Brown, Marsai Martin and Laurence Fishburne.