A handful of fandoms can breathe a sigh of relief today, because ABC has kicked off renewal season a bit early and handed out fresh seasons to some of its most talked-about shows. The first big name is the fantasy series Once Upon A Time, which will officially come back this fall for a sixth season. The announcement has been made just a few days ahead of the show’s upcoming 100th episode this Sunday, March 6th.
Most excitingly, in an in-depth interview with The Hollywood Reporter that’s worth reading for series fans, co-creators Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz reveal that they see Once Upon A Time continuing on for the foreseeable future. Here’s what Kitsis had to say regarding the possible celebration of 200 episodes a few years down the line:
There needs to be a conclusion. At the same time, it’s the kind of show that can go on for as long as people like it because there are so many characters still left to be explored. And there’s always the possibility that it could continue with different characters.
It wasn’t only Once Upon A Time that got love today, though. ABC also renewed sitcoms The Goldbergs and Fresh Off The Boat for fourth and third seasons, respectively. Perhaps least surprising is the continuation of buzzy drama Quantico, which is now set to come back with its terrorism-fueled storyline in the 2016-2017 season.
All of today’s announcements were made by ABC’s new entertainment president, Channing Dungey, who replaced Paul Lee about two weeks ago. The renewals are Dungey’s first official duties as the head of the popular network, which should make fans of the shows that are saved happy with her promotion from a previous position as head of ABC Studios’ drama division.
We probably won’t see many more renewal or cancellation announcements until closer to upfronts in May, but we’ll be sure to keep you posted either way, so stay tuned.
