'Designated Survivor' and 'Speechless' Get Full-Season Orders from ABC

Two more shows have gotten full-season orders this fall TV season, with both series hailing from ABC.

Freshmen entries "Designated Survivor" and "Speechless" have both been tapped for nine new episodes apiece, bringing each show's total number of episodes up to 22. As Deadline reports, pickups have tended come later in the fall TV season in recent years, thanks to cautious networks wanting to wait to see how freshmen shows perform before ordering more. But both "Designated Survivor" and "Speechless" have been impressive after airing only two episodes apiece.

The series premiere of Kiefer Sutherland drama "Designated Survivor" pulled in ABC's biggest audience in its timeslot in five years, building off its lead-in, "black-ish," and beating its 10 p.m. competitors on CBS and NBC. And Minnie Driver family sitcom "Speechless" attracted a decent 7.3 million viewers overall with its series premiere, but impressed by losing only 10 percent of that audience in its second week, and scoring higher among the coveted 18-49 demo than its previous timeslot occupant, "The Real O'Neals."

"'Designated Survivor' and 'Speechless' are two of the most critically acclaimed new shows of the fall season," said ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey in a statement. "We're very proud of the creative excellence in front of and behind the camera, and are thrilled to be giving our audience more episodes."

The only other series to get a full-season pickup so far is NBC's "This Is Us." Deadline predicts that CBS will soon order more of freshman entries "Kevin Can Wait," "Bull," and "MacGyver." Stay tuned.

[via: Deadline]

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