Looking ahead to next season – one without “Black-ish” – ABC has ordered a comedy pilot with comedian Jo Koy (shown here).
It has also nenewed “Station 19” for its sixth year. “Grey’s Anatomy,” the show that spawned it, had already been renewed for its 19th year. And it announced that there will, at least, be an Oscar host.
At times, ABC has been the only network to have a situation comedy with a non-Caucasian star. That has included “Fresh Off the Boat” and the new “Abbott Elementary,” plus “Black-ish” and its spin-offs – “Mixed-ish” (which was canceled) and “Grown-ish” (which continues on sister channel Freeform).
Now – with “Black-ish” in its eighth and final season – it will try a pilot with Koy, who has based some of his comedy off his mixed roots.
In real life, Koy’s father was in the Air Force, based in the Philippines, and married a woman there. In the sitcom pilot, Koy will be a nurse with, ABC said, a “very Filipino mother.”
As for “Station 19,” its ratings have declined this season, as they have for most shows. They’re down 25 percent … but “Grey’s Anatomy” is down 37 percent. “Station 19” has now passed it as ABC’s most-watched series, 4.6 million to 4.2 million.
For younger viewers (ages 18-49), ABC said, the “Station 19” audience more than triples when adding in delayed viewing over 35 days.
As for the Oscars, Craig Erwich (the head of ABC and Hulu) confirmed there will be a host, but gave a few specifics about anything else.
Last year’s Oscarcast bottomed out. At its peak, the New York Times said Monday, the show had 55 million viewers; “last year hit an all-time low – 10.4 million viewers for a show without a host, no musical numbers and a little-seen best-picture winner, ‘Nomadland.’”
And this year’s ceremony on March 27? Erwich said only that there will be a host and that Will Packer, the “Girls Trip” host, “has his finger on the pulse of popular entertainment.