ABC Family Orders Murder Mystery, Jennifer Lopez-Backed Drama to Series

ABC Family

"Twisted"

ABC Family is adding to its drama slate.

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The younger-skewing cable network has greenlighted murder mystery Twisted (formerly Socio) and Jennifer Lopez's The Fosters to series, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Both scripted dramas will begin production this spring for summer launches. Their orders are in line with ABC Family's typical pickups, usually in the range of eight to 12 episodes. Additional series orders will be announced later this month.

“ABC Family is synonymous with groundbreaking storytelling and iconic characters,” said Michael Riley, president of ABC Family. “These new shows will bring the same depth, heart, close relationships and authenticity that our viewers have come to expect and will pair nicely with our already established pop culture hits.”

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Twisted centers on charismatic Danny Desai (Avan Jogia), a teen with a troubled past who recently reconnects with his two female best friends from childhood. He becomes the prime suspect when a fellow student is surprisingly found dead in her home. Maddie Hasson, Kylie Bunbury, Denise Richards, Sam Robards, Ashton Moio and Kimberly Quinn round out the cast of the Prodco-produced series from executive producer Gavin Polone, David Babcock and Greek's Adam Milch.

Sources tell THR that the project was renamed to be more emblematic of its murder mystery format. There was some concern that ABC Family would not pick up the one-hour drama to series due to its premise following the Sandy Hook shootings in Newtown, Conn. last December.

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Co-created by Bradley Bredeweg and Peter Paige and executive produced by Lopez, The Fosters (image below) is a one-hour drama revolving around a multi-ethnic family mix of foster and biological kids being raised by two moms Stef (Teri Polo) and Lena (Sherri Saum). Jake T. Austin, Hayden Byerly, David Lambert, Maia Mitchell, Danny Nucci and Cierra Ramirez co-star. Simon Fields, Benny Medina, Joanna Johnson and Greg Gugliotta will serve as EPs on the Nuyorican Productions/Prodco series.

ABC Family is not moving forward with comedy pilots Miseducation (formerly Phys Ed) or Continuing Fred. Still in contention for a series order is drama pilot Terminales.

Twisted and The Fosters join a growing scripted slate that already includes Pretty Little Liars, Switched at Birth, Baby Daddy and the outgoing The Secret Life of the American Teenager.

E-mail: Philiana.Ng@thr.com
Twitter: @insidethetube

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