ABC commissions the Quinta Brunson comedy, The Wonder Years to Series

Quinta Brunson from ABC’s Abbott Elementary.
Photo: Emma McIntyre / Getty Images for Entertainment Weekly
NBC may not have any new or returning comedies this fall, but I hope ABC knows we need a laugh ASAP. That sure sounds like, since the network announced its decision to pick up three sitcoms and one serial drama on Friday. Comedian Quinta Brunson is expected to star in Abbott Elementary, the pilot of whom she also wrote, as one of a “group of dedicated and passionate teachers – and a mildly deaf principal” who are “gathered in a Philadelphia public school where, despite the odds hanging against them , they are determined to help their students succeed in life. Brunson will be joined by costars Tyler James Williams, Janelle James, Chris Perfetti, Lisa Anne Walter and Sheryl Lee Ralph.
Based on a short film of the same name by Tim Curcio, with a pilot written by Maggie Mull and Justin Adler, Maggie stars Rebecca Rittenhouse as “a young lady trying to cope with the medium life”, alongside her castmates David Del Rio, Nichole Sakura, Angelique Cabral, Leonardo Nam, Ray Ford, Chloe Bridges, Kerri Kenney and Chris Elliott.
The only drama to be commissioned from the series by ABC today, Queens, written by Scandal Writer Zahir McGee, introduces Eve, Brandy, Nadine Velazquez and Naturi Naughton as four women in their forties who “come together for a chance to regain their fame and regain the swagger they had as Nasty Bitches – their ’90s band that made them legends in the hip-hop world. And with stage names like Professor Sex, Da Thrill, Butter Pecan, and Xplicit Lyrics, how could they not?
Finally, and unsurprisingly, the network also picked up the new Wonder Years by executive producer Lee Daniels. With Don Cheadle providing the narration, the reboot will be “a coming-of-age story set in the late 1960s that takes a nostalgic look at a middle-class black family in Montgomery, Alabama, across the country. 12-year-old Dean ‘imaginative perspective, played by Elisha “EJ” Williams. He will be joined by PsychDulé Hill and Saycon Sengbloh as her parents Bill and Lillian, and Laura Kariuki as her sister Kim. It all makes us want to get on our couch and start waiting for prime time now. Just kidding, we were planning on spending the next three months there anyway.